Chapter 545
Ben, you really can be such a sweet boy sometimes, you know that? Myriad sighed. Its a shame you use so much of the rest of your time to be a bastard.
Excuse you, bastardry doesnt even take up an hour of my time a day. I have brief bursts of it every few months or weeks at most.
Sure, but when you do Im left remembering them for weeks after.
Sounds like a you problem, I basically forget the second Im done.
That really was a nice thing you did for Verbum, Helori agreed, not adding her own opinion on the topic of the rest of Bens attitude. It might be worthwhile to get you to do that for the rest of the summoned if you can. It would be good for morale.
With what time? I had to skip sleeping last night to make that happen, doing that for two hundred people would break me.
As if you arent already breaking, She shot back before walking over to him to plunge her arms into her chest. Youre still getting headaches, I take it?
Off and on. They really arent that bad.
Except the strain to your mind is beginning to extend to your soul, which on the one hand shouldnt be that surprising since thats what youre actually thinking with, but on the other is still troubling.
Um, okay, consider me troubled. How worried should I be?
...Probably not at all, She admitted. A little strain isnt going to hurt you, at least not in a case like this, even if its bizarre to see. I dont even know how youre managing this right now. It doesnt make sense.
Okay, Im going to take that as its fine. The headaches are infrequent anyway so its probably not a big deal and Yuzu would have said something the last time I saw her if it looked worrying. Speaking of, is she okay?
She's fine, Myriad reassured him. Giving a blessing just creates a different type of strain compared to casting a normal spell. Shell need a few days to recover from it but her teacher will be able to help speed things up on that front too.
Okay, cool then.
With nothing else on his mind, he was prepared to give them an easy night while he focused on whatever books they could make him, but he felt Helori fidgeting, the sensation made all of the worse thanks to her arms still being inside of him.
Something on your mind Helori? And if youre done, can you pull those out.
...I have a favour to ask, She admitted after a seconds hesitation, leaving his side to go back to sitting atop Myriad.
Okay, what is it then?
He felt a little on guard, the fact that she was hesitating to just say it couldnt help but make him suspicious, but the actual request seemed harmless enough.
With the next wave coming, I was interested in having my main church renovated to help ease the minds of any of my people whore going there to seek comfort. Obviously, youre the first name that came to mind.
Wait, is that all? Thats fine. Jeez, with the way you were hesitating, I was worried you might have a secret grandchild too.
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Absolutely not.
Cool, so whats the issue then?
...With the war efforts in full swing and given Im a smaller goddess, I dont actually have much I can pay you for your services.
It felt shameful for her to admit that, especially when what she was asking for was an entire renovation, but if she wanted it done by the best option she had available then she didnt have much choice. All she could do was hope that hed be a bit flexible on prices if hed be willing to do it and waited while she watched him think, getting an answer that surprised her.
Okay, you dont need to pay me, Ill do it.
Wait, really?
Is that so surprising?
A little.
Unlike some other gods, she didnt particularly hold any of Bens greed against him, but that didnt mean she expected to be spared from it. Since she didnt have much money, shed thought hed try and get her to spend some of her faith to raise one of his attributes. The fact that he was going to do it without trying to negotiate was a bit of a shock.
Why? Youre my pal, I dont mind helping you out when I can if its nothing crazy. Of course, there is one thing I wouldnt mind.
She waited as he paused, feeling like things had gone back on track. Of course Ben would want something, this was surely where hed ask to have an attribute raised, but instead he surprised her again.
Just tell me what a good student Ive been.
What?
Whenever I ask you to teach me something I do my best to learn it, but to this day you still deny it every time I talk about how great a student I am. It cuts me deep, Helori, I just want to feel appreciated.
He looked at her with earnest eyes, leaving her feeling almost guilty. Any time hed say something like that shed always brush him off, but would it really be so bad to just give him some approval? With all the work he did, how could it be?
Trying her best to show her own sincerity, she once again jumped off Myriad, walking over to Ben to pat his head.
Youve been an excellent student in the couple years Ive been teaching you now, Im very proud of you.
It would have felt like an incredibly sweet moment too, if the notification that rang out didnt immediately ruin it.
Looking at him through narrowed eyes, seeing him try to keep the thrill of the title from his face, only one thought came to her mind.
You planned this.
A little, He admitted. I thought I might get one if you ever properly acknowledged me as your student, but it really did kind of hurt that you never did you know.
You are actually the worst.
But Im going to be renovating your church free of charge with the only thing I got being a title. This worked out okay for everyone so while Im up here show me some floor plans and Ill figure out what Im doing.
And hopefully get some good benefits for it too.
He didnt really know what effects he could expect from it but hed take what he could get. If it helped him level his magic or mind skills then that would be great, but even if it only did something like raise his mana or intelligence, he would happily take it. Neither was the true point in holding such a title.
Hed wanted those potential benefits all the way back when hed first got Helori to teach him, before he had a single awakened skill to his name, but now he had a different desire for it. Name recognition. Enough parts of his status got him in trouble from people randomly finding out what he had, not just every part that was related to his sacrilege in some way, but both his enemy titles along with others that placed him as some sort of adversary to the gods, with only his apostle title to really improve his image.
Now though he had another defense, no matter how small it might have been, that would hopefully make anyone who managed to get a peek at what he was to pause before acting too rashly. He was officially no longer just the apostle of the god Myriad, but also the student of the goddess Helori. Add in all of his blessings and the few other positive titles he possessed too and hopefully if he was ever in a bad situation again, it would be enough for anyone to give him a chance to explain himself before things came to blows.
And in a pinch, this might help me if I ever need a favour from anyone in her church too. I already get on well enough with her and her apostle so its not like that was a major worry, but it never hurts to have the benefit around if need be. Youve given me something worth way more than money here Helori so just you wait, Im going to make your church a masterpiece.
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