Chapter 136: I Respect and Love You, You Know! (45 Extra 3)

At sunrise.

Herbert, having changed into a fresh set of clothes, sat at the cave entrance holding the sleeping Valentina in his arms, his expression calm as he gazed at the slowly rising sun ahead.

After a night of hard toil, at sunrise Herbert had an epiphany about the philosophy of life, the changes of all things in the world, the workings of the universe, the rise and fall of fate…

He was enlightened.

Force is mutual — the harder you push, the more effective it is.

But brute force alone is not advisable; when dealing with fragile objects, one must learn to use clever strength.

This insight, Herbert named — the First Law of Sunrise.

This transcendent sage-mode lasted for quite a while before Herbert came back to his senses and shook his head.

"Nie Nasha."

【"…"】

"Stop playing dead."

After his thousand and one calls, Miss Xie Shen, who had been silent the entire night, finally resurfaced.

【"Ehe~ you called me?"】

Herbert wore a transcendent expression, a beauty in his arms yet his heart undisturbed, while internally he raged:

"What the hell were you just watching for!?"

Damn it, why?

【"Ahahaha~ you two were all tangled up doing this and that, wouldn't it be rude of me to interrupt?"】

The jokester god laughed dryly for a while, then teased: 【"Or did you think you needed me to help set the mood?"】

【"Keep the beat? Or shout in your ear? Surely you don't expect me to chat with you and distract you, right?"】

Herbert couldn't help rolling his eyes, speechless: "Is that what I'm talking about? I'm asking why you ignored me when I was calling for help earlier!"

Before he had fully gotten his way with Valentina, Herbert had been crying out to Nie Nasha for help in his heart.

Save me, save me, save me!

Yet at that time, Miss Xie Shen was silent, turning a blind eye to his crisis of chastity, watching him die without lifting a finger!

【"Ahem, I was, uh, asleep back then, asleep, haha."】

After laughing awkwardly for a while, Nie Nasha grew a little embarrassed and angry, snapping: 【"Besides! You're not the one losing out here!!!"】

What are you barking about?

Did you lose out?

You bastard really deserve to die!

"Oh, you have a point there."

Herbert stroked his chin, his thoughts uncontrollably drifting back to the fierce battle earlier, and nodded in deep agreement.

"Indeed!"

What you said does make sense.

【"Hah!"】

The jokester god let out a cold laugh, extended a shadow tentacle, and made a dangerous "I'll cut it off" gesture in front of Herbert.

"Hah."

Herbert snorted, clamped his legs together, stopped messing around with her, and got to the key matter: "Alright, serious talk — my Chastity Oath hasn't been affected at all, right?"

In the oath he had sworn, his life must remain pure.

But what happened last night was clearly not something that could be associated with purity.

No matter how you looked at it, Herbert's actions last night were a pure oath-breaking, a complete betrayal of his own vow.

But the truth was, from start to finish of the battle, he hadn't felt any change in himself.

No change at all — referring to the oath.

Although Herbert had already confirmed it repeatedly himself, the power of the Sacred Stigmata remained, completely unaffected.

But just to be safe, he still wanted to confirm with Nie Nasha.

【"What problem do you think there could be?"】

Nie Nasha snorted irritably, sneering: 【"She's not even human; even if you wanted to break the oath, you couldn't."】

"But the records in those scriptures…" Herbert thought of those fierce brothers he had seen in the scriptures.

【"Can they compare to you?"】

The jokester god scoffed, retorting: 【"You can even obtain the power of monsters — can they? Why are you comparing yourself to them?"】

【"My dear ally, please remember well your identity — you are not some weak mortal, but my contractor!"】

【"Do not place yourself on the same level as them."】

The deity spoke arrogantly, the mortal listened calmly.

"Mm, you have a point there."

Herbert was of course well aware of this.

But although he understood it in his heart, after actually putting it into practice, he still couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

It's fine.

Really fine.

The Sacred Stigmata is still here!

And after that sigh of relief, Herbert's heart gradually began to stir.

His last worry in his heart was gone — he could now freely go around getting close and cuddly with everyone.

Back when he was at the monastery, because he worried about breaking his oath, and also worried that his authority wasn't high enough and others would spy on him, he had never taken the initiative.

But now, the hidden danger had been removed, and there were no more worries at the rear.

【"I'm saying — haven't you noticed yet?"】

?

Herbert tilted his head in confusion, puzzled: "Is there something I should have noticed?"

And hearing this matter-of-course retort from him, Miss Xie Shen grew angry.

【"Fine!"】

Nie Nasha harrumphed in fury, vexed: 【"You worry about other people's oaths sanctioning you — did you never think to have my blessing reward you?"】

"Oh? Oh!"

After a moment's reaction, Herbert suddenly understood.

That's right.

I'm not only a holy knight blessed by the good god, but also a contractor favored by the evil god.

How could I have forgotten that?

Nie Nasha had been constantly tempting him to have in-depth exchanges with the monster girls.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot."

【"Forgot?"】

Hearing the icy voice of Miss Xie Shen, Herbert jolted awake.

Oh no!

【"You actually forgot? Do you have even the tiniest bit of respect for me!?!?"】

Although he realized his mistake, Herbert still couldn't resist being a little cheeky at this moment.

He spread his hands — the meaning he wanted to convey was self-evident.

"Respect? You? That's…"

You say that, ah, right?

【"Heh heh, good good good! Since that's the case, then I have to let you properly recall just what is… true terror!"】

【"This time, I'm going to assign you twenty trolls! Twenty!"】

"You said what trol… ah!"

!!!!

At this moment, certain dark memories Herbert had already forgotten suddenly awakened.

No!

At this critical juncture, he hit upon a quick-witted idea and shouted: "Of course what I feel for you isn't respect! It's reverence!"

【"No, thirty… hmm? What did you say?"】

Herbert knew he only had one chance, and hurriedly said: "My relationship with Her and my relationship with you have never been the same!"

"She gives me strength, so I respect Her, but that kind of relationship is too distant!"

"Our relationship isn't like that at all, is it? We're more intimate, more familiar… you'd agree, right?"

【"You…"】

Nie Nasha listened to Herbert say all this, and the anger in her heart mostly dissipated; she said, speechless: 【"Sigh, I clearly know you're full of nonsense…"】

"But you still can't bring yourself to do it, right?"

Herbert spoke with sincere and genuine emotion:

"Right?!"

No trolls.

Please.

Miss Xie Shen!

Don't send trolls!

(End of this chapter)