ALL NOVEL Chapter 20
“Calm down. I truly regret that it has come to this…”
“Ugh, uuh, uuaah…!!”
The only young man left alive in the village.
I wanted to ask him what had happened, but he was in no state to calm down.
“Father, Mother!!”
The death of his parents.
It wasn’t just that the entire village had been slaughtered, but that among them were his parents, which prevented him from calming down at all.
“What should we do?”
“…We’ll have to wait until he calms down. Tell the knights to search the surroundings. We need to form ranks as best as we can and prepare for any ambush.”
“Understood.”
No sooner had Yan given the orders than Liriez began directing the knights to survey the area.
“…….”
Leaving the young man wailing at his parents’ corpses for the moment, Yan quietly headed to the center of the village plaza.
“Not here….”
The Holy Sword is missing.
The Holy Sword that should have been planted here, the one that had stood in the Village of the Holy Sword for hundreds of years, was nowhere to be seen.
“Someone must have pulled out the Holy Sword….”
The Hero of the Holy Sword had appeared.
But where that hero had gone was entirely unknown.
And understandably so, for all the villagers had been massacred.
“I wonder if the murderer knows where the Holy Sword is…? Or rather, why did they kill these people?”
Yan couldn’t grasp the attackers’ motives.
“It seems they noticed the Holy Sword’s aura and arrived faster than we did, but what reason could they have to kill the villagers like this…?”
No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t make sense of the situation.
Yan slowly reached toward the spot where the Holy Sword had been.
“Saintess of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess, Yan asks. Spirits of the Moonlight, answer me… huh?”
Yan attempted to call upon the spirits lingering in the ground.
But even the spirits were absent.
As if they’d sensed the fear of what had happened here and fled elsewhere, the Moonlight Spirits that should have been anywhere were nowhere to be found.
“…I truly don’t understand.”
It felt like there had been a systematic cover-up of what had happened here.
In the end, no one besides the lone survivor, that young man, knew the truth.
Yan cautiously approached the young man, but….
Bang—!
“!!”
The sound of gunfire echoed from a distance.
Yan hurriedly dashed forward, thrusting his hand out.
Clang—!
The lance of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess deflected the magical bullet.
The young man fell to the ground in shock, while Yan aimed the lance into the darkness.
“Who’s there? Reveal yourself.”
[……So it’s truly the Saintess.]
The sound of footsteps echoed.
Emerging from the pitch-black darkness, a Death Knight with glowing red eyes stepped forward.
[I was just going to back off, but I felt a bit uneasy about it.]
“Dark Knight…!”
[Step aside, Saintess.]
Click.
The Dark Knight loaded his shotgun, aiming it at the young man.
[Right now, I’m feeling quite unpleasant. I came back after being messed up for leaving loose ends with that person.]
“That’s none of my concern.”
[True. It’s none of your concern. So….]
Bang—!
The barrel of the shotgun spewed fire again.
Magical bullets scattered, targeting not just the young man but Yan as well.
“In the name of the Goddess!”
Yan stood still, praying.
The robe that had covered her vanished in an instant, leaving only a blue garment clinging to her body.
The conquest of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.
Her arms were exposed to the armpits, and her legs were exposed to the pelvis, only covering essential areas accurately.
[Indeed. Is that what they call ‘high-leg monokini’? Hehe, I must say, even after waking up after two hundred years, I still can’t keep up with the modern world.]
The Dark Knight mockingly chuckled, cracking his jaw.
[Is that really clothing?]
“Shut up, demon race. How dare you speculate on the Goddess’s will while steeped in darkness?”
[It’s just ridiculous to attempt to fight while wearing only underwear. Setting embarrassment aside, exposing that much skin….]
Bang—!
[If you get hit by a bullet that can even pierce armor, your skin….]
“Hmph.”
Yan stood unfazed.
The scattered magical bullets hit Yan’s entire body but fell powerless to the ground, merely scattering apart.
“It seems you’ve just recently been revived, so let me enlighten you, Dark Knight.”
Yan raised both hands high.
The lance that burst forth from her hands was gleaming with massive energy, radiant in its light.
[Shit, this is a total disaster from the very first mission.]
The Dark Knight sheathed his shotgun on his back and drew his sword and shield.
[Do priests nowadays get stronger by exposing more skin?]
“Disappear, dark entity!!”
Kwah—!
[The world is going insane.]
Crackle.
The last thing the Dark Knight saw was Yan’s smooth armpit.
*
“Exposing oneself is not something to be ashamed of.”
The nun who came to the salon tightly held my hand as she prayed.
“The blessings of the Moon Goddess can be received through moonlight. Just as plants grow by absorbing sunlight, we priests sleep naked every night to receive the moonlight of the Crescent Moon Goddess.”
“…….”
“The Pope has said that the blessings of the Crescent Moon Goddess are infused in the skin, so if covered by clothing, one will receive less of the Goddess’s blessings.”
“…ha.”
It sounded ridiculous, but it seemed to be true.
The attire of the visiting priest looked absurd as well, exposing her sides with a design that made her waist and hip lines visible.
Moreover, it left little to the imagination about her underbust.
“The current Pope has led the ‘Reform of Grace’ for fifty years now. Thanks to him, we’ve realized something new.”
“What is it?”
“Exposure is equated with defense.”
“…….”
If we went back 500 years, I’d probably be slapped and prevented from even stepping on the battlefield.
“See here.”
Yet, I couldn’t help but feel trust as the priest demonstrated directly for me.
“If I draw a line with a knife on the clothing part, a red mark is left, but….”
“!!”
She pulled on her skin.
“…if I flow Divine Power into the exposed area, it won’t get hurt. Just like how magicians use shield magic.”
“That’s really something.”
It was absurd, but it was indeed true.
“Alright. They say that the exposure of priests correlates with their faith and defenses. So why do adventurers wear what they do?”
“The blessings of the Goddess do not discriminate based on faith.”
“…Seriously?”
“Yes.”
According to the priest.
The Crescent Moon Goddess’s ‘increased defense with exposure’ blessing doesn’t discriminate between believers.
This was a tremendous blessing for adventurers, and as long as the Goddess’s blessings existed, there was no need to wear armor.
“Bikini Armor is stronger than full plate armor, so why would anyone wear something that heavy?”
“It is the end times.”
“At first, some people said that too. But now it’s different. Nowadays, the more you cover up, the more dangerous it becomes, Sister.”
The priest handed me a badge, which served as a token for our conversation.
“Believe in the Goddess, Sister.”
“……Ha.”
The priest gathered her clothing that she had left at the salon and left.
She carried away what could only be described as a ridiculous garment, with covers that barely concealed essential parts based on the abdomen, looking like a rag that would reveal everything with just a gust of wind, calling it a nun’s habit.
‘This is insane.’
I couldn’t understand it no matter how much I thought.
What? The more skin I show, the safer I become?
What kind of religion is this?
“Lucius, what do you think?”
“Huh?”
“Do you think it’s right for me to walk around with my arms and legs fully exposed?”
“That, that….”
Lucius hesitated and couldn’t answer.
This naïve young man too—
“Wait!!”
I discovered a contradiction.
“If women are safer when exposed, why don’t men expose themselves!!”
“…….”
Cospako didn’t say a word.
“Ha, haha! That’s it! This salon is just a place selling lewd designs! The customers are like that too! Adventurers are too! Haha, haha! Everyone’s trying to deceive me?! Huh?”
“Lady. It’s simply for a very straightforward reason.”
Cospako bitterly laughed and pointed at himself.
“The Goddess of the Blue Moon does not grant exposure blessings to men.”
“…Huh?”
“The Pope scolded, asking how on earth a man could think of walking around clad only in underwear.”
“Is it alright for women to walk around like that in underwear?”
“That is not underwear. It’s Bikini Armor….”
“Ugh, seriously!!!”
I couldn’t contain my anger.
“This is gender discrimination! Why do only women have to bare themselves?!”
“Master, do you perhaps wish to see a man’s bare form?”
“That’s not it!”
My heart’s mana bubbled.
At the same time, fury welled up.
“Alright! Let’s say I’m wearing a miniskirt! Then will I be safe?!”
“Uh… Master.”
Lucius spoke to me in a serious tone.
“I think it’s better to be safe than for you to feel a bit uncomfortable.”
“…….”
“It might be a little uncomfortable to wear, but that discomfort could save your life, right?”
“That’s true. The logic checks out. It makes sense.”
If that were full plate armor instead of a miniskirt!
“Sigh…. Fine. Just give me a robe.”
“Lady, you aren’t trying to go into the Adventurer Guild, are you?”
“Why again?”
“Clothing must fundamentally match the time, place, and situation. The Adventurer Guild does not allow adventurers who do not consider safety to enter.”
“So what you’re saying is….”
I pointed at the full-body robe.
“I can’t enter without exposure?”
“That’s correct.”
“…….”
Should I kill them all?
If I can’t get supplies, materials, or magic stones from the Adventurer Guild, our journey would be severely hindered.
“Lady. I don’t really want to suggest this, but if you’re worried about it…?”
“What is it?”
“This is….”
Whispering.
“……Bring it.”
“Ta-da! Here are the shorts.”
“No, where did the pumpkin pants go?!”
“What? Who would wear such a thing?”
“How is this shorts?! It’s just underwear!!”
“Except for being skin-tight, it is indeed shorts. The name is minispats….”
I had no choice but to wear it to enter the Adventurer Guild.
The Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.
I will surely get rid of it.