"Then, take care, everyone."

After finishing her short adventure with me, Diena hurriedly left the village.

"You could have stayed a bit longer."

"Yeah, it feels like we didn't have enough time."

"If you ever come by Dedris, please make sure to visit us."

The three companions, who had bonded with Diena over breaking out of prison and sharing drinks, also said goodbye with regretful faces.

"Yes, if the four of you ever visit my hometown, please look for me. I'll make sure to treat you well."

Diena decided to head back to her rural hometown in the southern outskirts of the Kingdom of Lilias.

The reason for her hasty departure was undoubtedly me.

After all, considering what happened in the boss room beneath the temple, it's natural she'd want to distance herself from me as soon as possible.

Even now, whenever our eyes met, she would quickly look away, seeming apologetic, while her face would faintly redden, perhaps due to some lingering feelings.

‘Well, I suppose it makes sense. We do look alike.’

Surprisingly, my face as a woman wasn’t all that different from my face as a man. My features were just a bit softer, more feminine.

Diena must still associate my face now with the female version of me.

"Take care, Ken."

"Yeah, the four of us will visit you sometime."

"Haha, but that’s a journey of two weeks by carriage, you know?"

Even so, we smiled at each other, shaking hands like old friends.

In that final moment, Diena finally looked me in the eyes properly and gave me a sincere goodbye as a friend.

Once Diena had left, I turned away.

"Hmm..."

"Is something bothering you?"

"No, it's nothing..."

I immediately began examining the blueprint for crafting the cursed sword, which I had obtained from the temple’s underground.

Completing the crafting of the cursed sword itself was the final task Adrian had assigned me.

So, now that I had found the blueprint, the next step was to make the sword.

‘But... judging from the contents, it’s not really a cursed sword but a holy one.’

Most of the required materials, fortunately, were items I already had.

For weapons like this, high-ranking rare weapons such as cursed swords often used dragon materials.

And recently, I had defeated Tarlos, the ancient dragon and boss of Tarlos’s Tower, which meant I had all the top-grade dragon materials.

Thus, I had nearly everything I needed for crafting the sword.

Almost.

‘Quench the blade in the Tears of the Goddess?’

As I read through the instructions in the blueprint, I stopped and rubbed my temples.

This stumbling block lay in the section detailing how to forge the blade.

It instructed me to combine various high-grade minerals with a dragon heart and then quench the blade in the Tears of the Goddess.

But it didn't explain what exactly the Tears of the Goddess were.

It was frustrating that such a crucial detail was left out, but it was probably intentional for security reasons.

The blueprint had been hidden in the temple’s underground, after all.

They wouldn’t list out every detail so explicitly.

It seemed like this blueprint was intended for a successor who already had a general understanding of the materials involved.

"The Tears of the Goddess? ...Emily, do you know anything about this?"

While I was struggling with the blueprint in our room at the inn, Emily peeked over my shoulder to look at the part I was stuck on.

Then, as if something clicked, she responded.

"Well, I don’t know for sure, but someone high-ranking from the royal palace mentioned something similar once."

"Really? Who was it?"

"I'm not sure... but they were definitely important."

Emily pressed her fingers to her temples, as if trying to recall.

"Ah! I remember! They wore one of those necklaces that priests wear, so they must have been a priest! Their clothes were really fancy too."

"A priest?"

"Yeah! One of the people from the palace who visited me mentioned something about the Tears of the Goddess. If it’s something related to the goddess, I bet a priest would know something."

"That makes sense..."

Indeed, as Emily said, the Tears of the Goddess must be a material related to the goddess.

I didn’t know what it was or where to find it, but consulting a priest seemed like a reasonable idea.

‘So, should I head to the royal palace?’

The person who visited Emily must have been an envoy sent because of the ‘Child of Prophecy.’

If that was the case, then they were a genuine palace official and not just a misunderstanding.

‘But the palace is far away… and also…’

There’s Raphne.

Though Raphne is no longer under a curse or the ‘Child of Prophecy’ of the demons, there’s still an issue.

She is a fugitive.

Not just any fugitive but one who escaped alongside a criminal charged with high treason.

‘While I’ve returned to my male form, that’s not the case for her.’

Raphne's image remains recorded in the magic stones used for identification.

Adrian had mentioned that erasing the records would take time, so it was risky to go anywhere near the palace for a while.

“All right, I’ll try visiting a nearby church tomorrow.”

"Was that helpful?"

"Yeah, thanks to you, I have a lead now."

Thanks to Emily, I now had a direction for finding the Tears of the Goddess.

When I thanked her, Emily blushed shyly and smiled bashfully.

"Hehe, then as a reward, I’d like something."

"A reward?"

Right now, Raphne and Mary had gone to the marketplace to buy supplies for our journey, leaving just Emily and me in the inn room.

Gulp.

Could it be something… risqué?

For a moment, an indecent thought crossed my mind.

"Ahh~ This feels nice. Every time we get a chance like this, those two always get annoyed."

What Emily wanted turned out to be simple—she just sat on my lap and hugged me tightly.

She rested her head on my shoulder, wrapping her arms around me, savoring the rare moment when it was just the two of us.

"I’m sorry for being trash..."

"Huh? Why would you say that, Ken?"

"No reason..."

Disappointed in myself for expecting something improper, I gently patted Emily’s head.

She let out a contented purr, like a cat, and laughed softly in my arms.

The next day, I left the inn alone and headed toward a small church in the village.

The village we were staying in was called Rivible—a small village, but a lively one with a decent market and an adventurer's guild.

Thanks to that, there was also a small church dedicated to the goddess.

"Is this it?"

I pulled up the hood that covered my head and looked up at the church building.

Even if it was small, a church was still a church.

The building was about two stories high, with a small bell hanging from a clock tower.

The reason for wearing the hood and leaving the others behind was simple.

Whenever I took off my hood, my delicate features drew the attention of the village women, who would often hover nearby.

There had even been a case where someone followed me all the way to the inn.

After that incident, I made an effort to keep my hood on in unfamiliar villages.

As for leaving the others behind, it was for a similar reason.

‘They’re far too on edge.’

Especially Raphne.

If any unfamiliar woman approached and spoke to me, Raphne would get very defensive, practically ready to bite.

Of course, I was partly responsible for that.

After all... I had proposed to all three of them at the same time.

Their behavior was understandable given the uncertainty that there might be yet another woman, so I couldn’t argue against it.

It was entirely my own doing.

Emily and Mary were also wary of other women, though less overtly.

As a result, several incidents had occurred, leading me to develop a habit of handling important matters alone whenever possible.

‘I really wish they would understand.’

I walked up to the church, practically praying to the goddess that the priest here would know about the Tears of the Goddess.

If they didn’t, my next step would be to head to a larger church in the city.

The journey alone would be time-consuming, and the larger the city, the more dangerous it would be for Raphne, who was still wanted.

Hopefully, I could get the information I needed here and be done with it.

With a nervous heart, I opened the door and stepped into the church.

━Creak.

The characteristic creak of an old wooden door echoed throughout the tall-ceilinged building.

The sound caught the attention of someone inside who was cleaning, and they turned to look at me.

"Oh, what brings you to the church?"

The person cleaning was a woman dressed in a priest's robe.

Her long, dark indigo hair shimmered, matching well with her black robe.

She smiled at me warmly when she noticed I had entered the church.

‘Oh no, it’s a woman…’

I instinctively pulled my hood further down and lowered my head.

"Um, well, I…"

I didn’t expect to meet a woman even here at the church.

I thought for sure that in a small village church like this, I'd be greeted by an elderly priest.

"Hmm?"

Seeing me like that, the priestess, who had been wiping the floor, tilted her head curiously and approached cautiously.

"Is it... a confession, perhaps?"

"...Excuse me?"

"...You've committed a sin, haven't you?"

She looked at me with serious eyes.

‘Ah, well, I suppose covering my face like this does give that impression…’

Entering a church discreetly, lowering my head, and keeping my face covered—it certainly wasn’t normal behavior.

...Even though I was indeed a fugitive.

"N-No, that's not it…"

Since it was clearly a misunderstanding, I tried to wave my hands and correct her.

"Hehe, it's all right. Everyone gets like this. Come now, don’t be afraid, this way."

But she held onto the misunderstanding and grabbed my hand, pulling me along.

"No, really, that’s not what—!"

"Are you seeking help from a man? Well, I may look like this, but I am a fully ordained priest! I even have a certificate from the Archbishop at the royal palace. You can trust me!"

It seemed she might have been rejected before because she was a woman; she pouted in annoyance.

Without even listening to what I had to say, she urgently pulled me along.

‘What, is she trying to meet some kind of quota or something?’

She moved with the eagerness of a salesperson trying to secure a deal.

Of course, there wouldn’t be any sort of incentive involved, but it seemed like a habit she had formed from frequently losing people who came to the church.

I hurriedly placed my hand on her shoulder to correct the misunderstanding.

And then—

"Whoa!"

"Kyaa!"

As she rushed forward, she lost her footing on the still-wet floor she had just cleaned.

Thud.

She stumbled, tripping over her own feet, and fell.

I tried to catch her, but my own foot slipped, and we both ended up falling together.

"Ouch... I-I'm so sorry! I was in the middle of cleaning, and I completely forgot!"

"No, it’s fine, but…"

"Are you alright? H-Here, let me help you up…"

Luckily, she hadn’t fallen too hard on top of me and immediately got up, offering her hand to help me.

I was fine—my physical abilities made this kind of fall nothing to worry about—so I reached out to take her hand.

And then—

"……"

"…Oh."

I instinctively touched my head, only to find that my hood had slipped off.

Of course, that meant—

"Ah… Aah…"

The priestess's pupils began to tremble violently, her pale face turning bright red.

“Ah… kyaa…”

“Kyaa?”

She flailed her trembling lips, trying to say something.

Finally, she pulled her outstretched hand back toward her chest and spun away from me, shouting.

“Kyaaaaa!! A demon is here trying to seduce me!!”

And with that, she grabbed the holy water from her pocket and poured it over my head with all her might.

“I am a priestess dedicated to the Goddess!! I won’t be tempted by a demon like you!!”

Wet. Very wet.

‘So it wasn’t that she refused to hear confessions just because she’s a woman.’

I realized there’s always a reason why people avoid certain things.

Please support the series on NovelUpdates

Read Here for premium chapters