Chapter 88

Name: Sonia Yaivan

Class: Wandering Mage

Level: 42

Favorability: 20

Stats

Strength: 6 (+70)

Agility: 3

Intelligence: 140

Luck: 40

Knowledge is Power

For a mage, knowledge is power.

Strength is increased by half of the Intelligence stat.

Sadism

When attacking an opponent of a lower level, damage

is increased by Level Difference x 5%.

Handmade

With outstanding dexterity, one can craft tools and other items well.

Permanent Disability

Cannot run or walk quickly.

There was an old saying that one should be wary of women with pink hair. The wandering mage Soya, who also appeared in the original work, could be described as the character who best fit this saying. It was because even though she didn't sleep around or commit acts of trolling that would drive the protagonist crazy, her actions were those of a very bizarre bitch.

Her real name was Sonia Yaeman. But no one called her by her real name, instead calling her Soya, her registered name in the Mercenary Guild. The reason she didn't bother registering with her real name at the Mercenary Guild was that Soya had a cuter nuance to it. Because of this, her commonly used nickname in the Korean fandom was Sausage and Vegetable Stir-fry.

Soya's first appearance was in the quest for the Four Heavenly Kings' Flowing Falkios. At the time, this physical immune slime was plotting to steal the high-purity magic stones produced in the Dwarf Kingdom and the Magic Tower, absorb them into its body, and become a perfect slime, both physically and magically. Soya came under suspicion as the culprit in this magic stone theft incident.

To clear this false accusation, Soya, who had been investigating independently, joined the protagonist's hero party, and they finally caught the culprit, Flowing Falkios, clearing her of the false charge. Afterward, you could choose whether or not she would join as a companion, but Flowing Falkios had already gone to the underworld before he could hook the hero and Soya up, so it could be said that Soya and I had no point of contact at all right now.

"Who are you?"

Soya's large breasts jiggled as she bowed her waist slightly toward me. The Lusius I had possessed was on the shorter side for a man, but seeing Soya this close up made me wonder if she was a giant race hybrid; she was that tall.

If I faced her head-on, I could only see Soya's collarbone and smooth jawline.

Thanks to that tall height, when Soya bent her waist, her voluptuous cleavage was clearly visible to me. As a man of the cloth, I couldn't bring myself to publicly stare at such an obscene sight on the street, so I turned my head and spoke.

"I am the Southern High Priest of the Archdeity Church and the lord of the Peta Territory. Peta Lusius. And who might you be?"

Soya seemed slightly surprised by my answer. Her half-lidded eyes widened a little, and she took a step back. The staff in her hand was noticeable. The 'Permanent Disability' trait was activated as well. But the Soya of the original work was a woman who walked around perfectly fine on both legs. When I directed my gaze to her staff, Soya shook it and said,

"Ah, I had some unpleasant business with the Magic Tower recently... Anyway, my apologies. I'm the mage Sonia Yaivan. What brings you here...?"

Only then did Soya seem to notice the corpses. Glancing at the corpses loaded onto the cart, Soya spoke.

"You've come to hand over the corpses. I heard that three dispatched A-rank mercenaries died."

"Yes. It's a very unfortunate matter. A disgraceful incident occurred at the Magic Tower."

"A disgraceful incident?"

Soya's expression turned somewhat anxious at those words. Why was she so anxious? There was no reason for Soya to be connected to the incident at the Magic Tower. She had no reason to register at the Mercenary Guild under the name Amber, nor could she be a stooge for a character like Evangeline.

Soya bit her fingernails and frowned slightly. When a delicate-looking woman made such an expression, it felt sexy in its own way. As I was looking at Soya with a strange gaze, she spoke as if making an excuse.

"Ah, don't misunderstand. It's just that I've been unpleasantly involved with the Magic Tower recently, so I was worried I might get caught in the crossfire."

"I see."

I nodded without much thought. While I was talking with Soya, the Mercenary Guild manager confirmed the mercenaries' identities and then spoke to me.

"Yes. It matches the information we received. I've confirmed the two corpses. Thank you for coming to hand them over in person."

"Don't mention it."

I bowed my head and prepared to leave. The verification process was taking more time than I'd thought, and it seemed I should be getting back soon. It was a shame I couldn't fuck the mage Soya here, but in the original work, she was an eccentric character that took quite a long time to conquer. It wasn't easy to fuck her just by meeting her once on the street.

So I turned to leave without any lingering regrets. I wanted to see her give me a paizuri with those huge breasts or suck my cock with a vacuum fellatio, but I'll just have to make Sieri do that when I get back later.

Even as I was leaving, Soya still looked lost in thought. She didn't seem to have much interest in me either; while I rode back in the cart, she remained seated on a chair outside the Mercenary Guild, immersed in her thoughts. As I was heading back, one thing was bothering me.

Soya's leg. It was a mystery who had done that to Soya's leg. Did the Falkios quest not end well? If she'd been attacked by a monster, she would have been dead, so that had more credibility. Since Falkios, who should have been the mastermind of the incident, had half-heartedly stolen the magic stones and gone to the Demon King's Castle, the falsely accused Soya had no way to clear her name.

Seeing as she said she had unpleasant business with the Magic Tower and that one of her legs was completely disabled, it seemed she had been harshly tortured. Then, recently, some evidence must have been found to clear her name, and she was released.

Thinking about it that way made Soya seem a little pitiful. I suppressed the unsettling feeling and headed for the church.

"Welcome, High Priest."

Priest Elson welcomed me. It looked like the preparations were all finished. I didn't know how many funerals the original Lusius had attended, but for me in this life, this was my first time attending a funeral.

"Priest Elson, could you please tell me about the funeral procedure once more? I'm worried I might make a mistake at a funeral to console the dispatched priests for their deaths."

"I will be by your side and inform you of everything one by one, so you don't need to worry too much, High Priest."

"Having you here is a great help, Priest Elson."

I gave a broad smile and began to observe the funeral proceedings. Priest Elson was guiding me through the funeral procedure with all his heart and soul. My role was simple. I just had to maintain a very solemn expression, stand next to the coffin, and when Priest Elson, who was presiding over the funeral, stated the phrase beginning with 'The High Priest, on behalf of the Pope...', I just had to act according to that phrase, and it would be over.

Contrary to my worries, the funeral was so easy there was no room for error. At most, all I had to do was sprinkle the holy water prepared by the church into the empty space or read a prayer text beside the corpses. But while the actions themselves weren't difficult, managing my expression was incredibly hard. For the full two hours of the funeral, I couldn't yawn or show a bored expression.

If my own family or acquaintances had died, I wouldn't have had such thoughts, but this funeral was for a stranger whose face I'd never even seen in my life. I had to struggle just to maintain a sorrowful expression. When I felt a yawn coming, I bowed my head deeply, and when I felt I was about to lose control of my expression, I briefly closed my eyes and thought of other things.

After the funeral ended, the cart drivers moved the coffins to transport the deceased priests to the cemetery.

I sat down on the church steps where the funeral had been held and watched the scene. People were walking behind the priests' coffins, wailing. Seeing their popularity, they seemed to have been quite well-regarded priests in this region.

The atmosphere would probably be similar for the other priests, since they were a carefully selected group of candidates. And that meant I had to maintain an even more solemn and serious expression while conducting the funerals.

I couldn't help but lament the fact that I had to do this crap for a few more cities. As I let out a deep sigh, Priest Elson, perhaps misinterpreting my sigh, came up beside me and said,

"Life and death are natural things. Please don't be too heartbroken, High Priest Lusius."

Seeing him talk such nonsense, it seemed my acting was quite effective. I played along with Priest Elson's words.

"You're right, Priest Elson. I shouldn't be too heartbroken. Then shall we hurry? The remaining priests here must also miss the embrace of their families."

"Yes. Let's move, High Priest."

My desire to finish quickly and return home was greater than my heart for mourning the deceased. As I got into the carriage, Priest Elson followed and boarded. The cart carrying the remaining corpses led the way, and our carriage followed its tail. The atmosphere of the territory after the funeral was dreary beyond compare.

In the distance, I could see them digging tombs to bury the priests in the foothills. Originally, we were supposed to watch over and participate in this whole process, but fortunately, we had many places to visit now. Priest Elson looked at the tomb-digging scene as if it were a shame.

I just stared blankly at the ceiling, waiting to arrive at the next territory quickly.

"It's the mages of the Magic Tower."

It was a single remark from Priest Elson that broke me from my thoughts. I raised my head and looked out the window. Indeed, a group presumed to be mages of the Magic Tower was standing in front of the Mercenary Guild. Priest Elson added.

"Those are the ones in charge of the Magic Tower's public order, but why have they come here..."

The mages of the Magic Tower were surrounding the Mercenary Guild in a circle. There were mages chanting a spell, and there was a woman collapsed on the ground. I knew who that woman was. It was the wandering mage Soya.

"Wait, Priest Elson. Please stop the carriage."

"What?"

When Priest Elson couldn't answer properly, I gave the order to the coachman myself to stop the carriage. Then I jumped out of the carriage and ran towards the Mercenary Guild. I didn't know what the situation was, but I felt like if I just left Soya here, she would end up dead for some reason.

The Mercenary Guild came into view in the distance. I was running toward them, crossing the wheat field. The mages surrounding the Mercenary Guild looked absolutely murderous. On the ground, Soya was collapsed, struggling to get up, but she was unable to move an inch. It was clear they were suppressing Soya with some special magic.

As I got closer, the mages at the rear spotted me and pointed a finger. A few of the mages turned around and aimed their staves at me. I hastily raised my hands and shouted.

"I am Peta Lusius, lord of the Peta Territory and Southern High Priest! Don't shoot!"

No matter how much I had heal and all that, it would still hurt if I got hit by magic. Since I had to get there alive, I started waving my hands and making myself known as much as possible. The mages whispered amongst themselves and then lowered their staves.

Thanks to my shouting, the mages surrounding Soya also realized I was approaching. They also muttered amongst themselves, and then the oldest mage turned his body toward me. He had a bushy beard, and his face was full of wrinkles.

At a glance, he was overflowing with the aura of an old fogie, and I could predict that talking to him would not be easy. The mages waited patiently until I came up from the wheat field to the main street of the Mercenary Guild. I grabbed the high ledge with one hand and leaped up in a single breath, able to meet the mage captain's eyes.

The aged mage's back was stooped, so despite his considerable build, he could meet my eyes. In the distance, Priest Elson was running over, taking the long way around. The old mage, after confirming Priest Elson's approach, let out a sigh and asked me.

"What brings the lord of the Peta Territory here?"