Holy Assassin*1
“The Church…?”
“Yeah. Um, they were wearing whitish, loose clothing. They had a pendant with the Church emblem on their chest, so I think it’s them.”
Ah—right, I feel like I’ve seen someone like that. Huh. The Church…
“… The Church that skimmed on blessings just because Panis Village couldn’t give enough donations?”
“Yeah. Exactly that, Asuma-sama!”
I see… makes sense. Hmm…
I probably shouldn’t say this, but first impressions are a thing. Yeah. Since I met the people of Panis Village first, honestly, I only have distrust for the Church for now. After all, they’re indirectly responsible for Panis Village’s hardships.
“So… why did you hide me from the Church person?”
“Huh? Well, Asuma-sama, it’s because you’re a god they don’t worship…”
Ah, I see now. Basically, it’s to prevent Panis Village from being labeled a heretical cult, right? Yeah, that’s a tricky situation. I don’t want to be treated as an evil god, and I also don’t want the villagers to be considered heretics because of me.
“But… people from other villages aren’t really that serious about the Church’s faith either, right? That’s normal. So Panis Village wouldn’t be punished or anything, right?”
“Yeah. I think it should be fine… but sorry, I was just a little worried.”
“It’s okay. I’m worried too! Thanks!”
Well… let’s put aside the fact that Mishisia might be overly cautious. Being careful isn’t bad. Alright.
As long as I don’t show myself being worshipped openly, the Church people probably won’t classify Panis Village as heretics. Probably. I mean, if they did that, there’d be no end to it…
“But why is a Church person here?”
“Hmm, I wonder… It was just one person, so maybe they just happened to be passing through town. I hear they’re often called to towns to perform healing magic, too.”
Ah—so for healing purposes… huh.
“Uh, when you say for healing, you mean…?”
“Oh, right, you probably don’t know much about it. Well… among the Church people, some can use magic to heal injuries and illnesses if donations are made.”
Another donation… Well, if it’s a fair exchange for services, that’s fine. But there’s something about religion that makes it feel slightly suspicious, I guess.
“So it’s not uncommon for one of them to be called to a town, and maybe that’s why they stopped by here too.”
“Stop by? Why bother…? Isn’t it fine to skip it…?”
“I think so too, but they probably want donations. Sometimes they even go around villages and towns that haven’t called for them, asking, ‘Would you like some healing magic?’”
Ah… like door-to-door sales? I see. That must be hard for them too.
Still, this raises some curiosity. If it’s just door-to-door sales, that’s fine. But if it’s something else… it could get tricky.
Putting the Church aside, the village is lively today as well.
I was supposed to head to the eatery, but to avoid the Church person, we took a slight detour and walked around. Even just walking, there were stalls selling gemstones straight from the dungeon, stalls selling jewelry made from processed gemstones, and stalls selling herbs—really lively.
Panis Village has grown, and the traces of its near-destruction days are gone. Completely gone.
“Everyone’s really come back to life, huh…”
Mishisia seems reflective. Well, she’s probably been around Panis Village longer than I have.
“Edele-san is happy too. The villagers’ lives have improved, smiles have increased… thanks to you, Asuma-sama.”
“No, no, I think it’s thanks to the slimes more than me…”
I haven’t done much myself. Even now, the slimes still handle the village’s food supply. They’re really hardworking. Today too, they were energetic and squishy as ever.
They’ve also helped with dungeon management, providing medicinal, poisonous, and antidotal herbs. Truly, I owe the slimes a lot. I can only bow my head in gratitude.
“Hm, Asuma-sama, you might not realize just how much you’ve influenced the village… Sure, the slimes are cute and useful…”
“Mishisia-san, don’t say that. I’ll get embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed!? Cute! Asuma-sama, so cute!”
Ahhh, Mishisia just squeezed me again! Does she sometimes think I’m a stuffed toy or a body pillow!? Hey! Stop it!
“Oh, Asuma-sama, there you are.”
While Mishisia was squeezing me, Edele hurried over and called out.
“Edele-san, what’s wrong?”
“Well… there’s something I need to tell you.”
Judging from her flustered expression, something bad must have happened…
“The Church envoy came to the dungeon front reception. And… they want to inspect the dungeon.”
… The Church person is going into the dungeon!? Seriously!?
“Whaaa… into the dungeon? Why?”
“I don’t know. I thought they’d come to ask me, as the village’s acting chief, for donations, but apparently not… Ah, they did mention donations subtly, but I deflected it.”
“That’s fine, Edele-san!”
Edele’s gutsy. But I agree. If the connection is already broken over money, we have no obligation to mend it for them.
“And before entering the dungeon, they bought some antidote potions. So I told them, ‘We’re out of stock, let me fetch some,’ and kept them waiting… what should we do?”
Nice work, Edele.
The Church person is, well… to put it bluntly, someone I need to watch. Having them delayed is a relief for me…
… but…
“No, just let them through.”
“Eh, really!? Asuma-sama, really!?”
“Yeah. Come to think of it, there’s not much they could do to cause trouble. Blocking them might make them suspicious or hostile, which would be worse.”
They don’t know there’s a “god” in the dungeon. The dungeon is open to the public, so even Church people can’t be denied entry.
“… If you don’t want them to enter, I could say something like, ‘Because you withheld blessings from us over donation issues, you are not allowed into our dungeon, the source of our wealth.’”
“But if we did that, you would be picking a fight with the Church, Edele-san…”
Edele is concerned for me, but there’s no need to worry that much.
“Besides… I also want to know how they’ll act.”
More than anything, I don’t know much about the Church. Allowing one person to enter to gather information seems beneficial.
A little nerve-wracking, but manageable.
So Edele returned to reception with a box of antidote potions.
And I…
“Time to do what I can. Namely, mass-produce antidote potions.”
“Really!? That’s really okay!?”
… So I went back to our temporary house and started mass-producing antidote potions. There’s nothing else to do…
“Yeah, but killing the Church person inside the dungeon is out of the question…”
“Of course, but… then, Mishisia-san, help bottle the potions!”
“Ah… okay… really? Is that fine…?”
Mishisia is more nervous than I am. Truly, she’s a kind person.
“Asuma-sama, are you here? Something about a Church person coming to the dungeon…”
“Oh, Lisas-san, hello. Yes, I know the Church person came. I’m currently mass-producing antidote potions.”
“W-Why…?”
Lisas also hurried over to report. Another kind person.
“Here, Lisas-san, help with bottling too.”
“Ah… really? Doing this… really…”
Might as well have Lisas help. More hands are better, especially for bottling.
“There’s nothing we can do besides hide when a Church person comes. They won’t do anything.”
“But they might take dungeon gemstones.”
“I let adventurers take them too, so I don’t see a need to distinguish.”
I know the gems hold mana and function as magic stones. But even if the Church person takes them, the amount they can carry is limited. Buying from adventurers is no extra trouble. And the Church probably has money anyway.
So we focused on mass-producing antidote potions.
I mix the herbs and water to make potions, Mishisia bottles them in small, bluish-white ceramic flasks, and Lisas corks them. The corks are made from bark resembling cork.
Finally, I drip sealing wax on the flask tops to seal them. Edele gave me the wax. I reused the metal seals I reconstructed, engraved with “Panis Village.”
Why seal them? To prevent refilled bottles being passed off as real antidote potions. All genuine potions are sealed; unsealed ones are frauds.
“Look at them piling up.”
“Once this is done, maybe I’ll make poison. We’re running low on what’s used in the dungeon…”
Once enough antidote potions are bottled, the next step is poison.
Dungeon traps with poison are limited to those left for adventurers. Falling poison from wires or pit traps with needles, etc.
Since I can deconstruct, absorb, and reconstruct traps at a distance and without the adventurers noticing, I can set up mechanisms like poison needles triggered by disassembling catches, or steam-powered poison sprays reconstructed with hot water.
So I need to stockpile poison, which means lots of production. Deconstructing in advance makes reconstruction easy.
… While working, something caught my attention.
“Huh!?”
“What’s wrong, Asuma-sama?”
“Well… um…”
I hesitated, then decided to speak.
“The Church person fell into a pit and got hit by the poison needles… they can’t move…”
What do you think about this chapter?
