Chapter 16: Bishop Otto

Red, having been caught, wasn’t flustered in the slightest.

How could he possibly be a foot fetishist?

All he liked was White Silk Ice Cream.

Of course, if it looked good, Black Silk Chocolate would do as well.

In short, to reiterate once again, he was not a foot fetishist.

“Hmm… hard to say,”

Litt said, looking at Red like that.

“Otherwise, Lady Letia wouldn’t have tried to pawn off her stockings to pay her debt.”

“That’s her problem!”

Red protested indignantly.

“I really never forced her to give me her stockings, okay!”

“What if she insisted on giving them to you?”

“Then I’d have no choice but to reluctantly accept them.”

After Red said that instinctively, the two fell silent on the spot.

“……”

“……”

“Do you believe I was joking just now?”

After a long while, Red finally couldn’t hold back and spoke.

Litt’s face still wore that gentle, spring breeze-like smile, her hands folded in front of her chest in a devout prayer.

“The Lord will forgive your sins.”

“I really was joking!”

“Do you think the Lord would believe your nonsense?”

Litt quietly scooted over a bit.

“Of course, the Lord’s boundless love will embrace your somewhat peculiar XP.”

“I don’t even think it’s such a strange XP…”

Red muttered softly, but Litte heard his muttering clearly.

“You admit that’s your XP now?”

Faced with Litt’s innocent yet kind smile, Red quietly looked away.

“Uh, ahem… so, Litt, what was the job you said you wanted to introduce me to before?”

At times like this, changing the subject was a good tactic.

Honestly, having been teammates for so long, there was no way Litt didn’t know about his little quirks.

So seeing Red like that, Litt didn’t press further but took out a piece of paper and handed it over.

“This is the job I’m introducing to you, but you’ll have to go to the guild first since it involves going to a dungeon.”

Red took the paper from Litt and examined it carefully.

It was indeed a commission—to follow an adventurer squad called Dawn to explore certain areas of the Fifth Layer of the dungeon.

But the specific details could only be clarified in person.

“The reward for this commission is decent, and it’s not a dangerous job, quite suitable for you.”

“Sounds good,”

Red said, putting the commission away.

“I’ll head to the guild first. Litt, you’re about to go to the monastery, right?”

“Yes, you go ahead.”

Red packed up his gear and headed for the door.

Litt followed him to the entrance, and as Red opened the door, she spoke softly.

“Be careful, make sure you come back safely.”

Those few words made Red freeze in place for several seconds.

“…Yeah, I will.”

Red waved and stepped outside, looking up at the rising sun.

The sun was warm; staying here was far more comfortable than the cold base at Dawn’s Edge.

After Red walked away, Litt closed the door and removed the mask covering her face.

The pure, innocent white nun vanished, replaced by a somewhat disheveled priest.

“Whew…”

Letia slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Role-playing was a bit tiring, but once you got used to it… there was a strange sense of satisfaction.

She had been following the script’s direction, trying her best to play the role of the healing white moonlight for Red.

The original “Litt” seemed to still be in the town of Ye Ming, but her position was slowly being squeezed out by Letia.

Emmm…

Did this count as being a Minotaur?

Speaking of which, she had been investigating the White Church’s Mission these past few days.

Strangely… some members of the White Church’s Mission hadn’t entered the monastery, and their whereabouts were deliberately concealed.

Especially the Coach at the very center of the Mission’s convoy—who was inside, how many people there were—still unknown.

Her current appearance was based on the blurry image in the script, mixed with some of her own imagination, but even so, there was a significant chance of resemblance.

Plus, she was still using the original name; if a fake met the original, that would be quite awkward.

To avoid this, she had to quickly figure out the White Church Mission’s intentions and send them off.

At the same time, she needed a genuine White Church identity.

At worst, if the worst happened, she could explain it as having the same name and somewhat similar appearance.

After all, the image of “Litt” given in the script was quite vague; hers was only an approximation—not exactly the same.

This excuse, while not guaranteed, had at least a 50% chance of getting her by.

More importantly…

The first person Red met wasn’t the original Litt, but me, Letia!

As long as the script didn’t involve something like world line correction, she should continue to play the role of this white moonlight.

At that moment, the Crystal Ball in Letia’s pocket buzzed.

“Hello?”

“It’s me, Otto. How was the wine I sent you a few days ago? Forgot to tell you, it’s fifty-six degrees alcohol content, so don’t drink too much.”

The voice from the Crystal Ball was a slightly insincere male voice.

“…”

Letia twitched at the corner of her mouth.

What good was this information now!

Where were you before?

“I suppose you’re not calling just to chat. Did you get the thing I asked you to help with done?”

“Of course. You can trust my efficiency. The White Church identity you wanted has been prepared. But since you were originally from the Holy Church, getting two identities at the same time wasn’t easy…”

“Just say what you want straight, Mr. Otto.”

Letia was blunt with the person on the other side.

“Priestess Letia…”

The voice sighed.

“I am your Bishop, after all.”

“Alright, alright, my dear Bishop, just speak plainly. My brain isn’t too sharp, I can’t understand your roundabout words.”

“In short, more money is needed.”

“…Damn!”

Hearing the amount he asked for, Letia almost threw the Crystal Ball out of her hands.

Fine, she was already short on money, and now this Otto guy was squeezing her dry; she was left penniless.

She had just told Red she didn’t have a single copper coin, and now that had come true.

Perhaps it was karma.

Letia looked at her empty wallet, then at the amount Otto quoted…

Her heart bled.

***

Several days later, Red entered the guild once again.

Unlike the usual quietness, today the place was unusually lively.

Red glanced around and quickly noticed everyone held their Adventurer Licenses.

Here for recruitment?

Following the line of people, Red soon saw someone he absolutely did not want to see.

Liz.

It was undeniable—the Dawn’s Edge was full of beautiful young women and a strong, elite adventurer squad.

Its popularity was understandable.

A simple recruitment announcement would bring a large crowd of applicants.

As Red stepped into the guild, Liz immediately saw the man who was all too familiar to her.