After defeating the floor 60 boss and collecting the loot, we resupplied and rested at the mansion in the Harpy Archipelago before returning outside the tower.
Though the rest stops changed as we climbed higher in the tower, the routine of hunting bosses and heading outside remained the same. But this time felt different. Just looking at the hundreds of people trailing behind us as we casually walked down chatting made that clear.
Trainee commanders, mercenaries, adventurers, priests, temple knights, and arrested scammers... While I understood why they insisted on following us, it was still uncomfortable.
"Is this because of the Heavenly King?"
"Must be. It''s the first time someone directly connected to the Demon Lord has appeared."
This commotion was naturally due to the Heavenly King.
About half the crowd following us consisted of priests, nuns, and temple knights. While it made sense for the contracted trainee commanders and mercenaries whose contracts had expired, seeing priests rushing out of the tower en masse was clearly unusual.
Then again, it would be stranger if religious folks didn''t make a fuss after witnessing an actual demon.
The Goddess of Life bestowed holy power upon the land and occasionally watched over humanity through prophecies and visions. No one could deny her existence given the miracles - healing severed limbs and preventing plagues and famines based on faith. But the Demon Lord was different.
When asked "What exactly is the Demon Lord? And where are they?", even the religious officials had no answer.
The tower''s existence remained a mystery that neither the Goddess Faith nor Magic Tower could clearly explain, and humanity had yet to fully explore its interior. They could only guess that non-living things wearing monster disguises attacking humans must be the Demon Lord''s doing.
"But this time, someone claiming to be a Heavenly King appeared and committed atrocities against humanity. They''ll be talking about directly confronting real evil for a while."
"Ah, I see. But what is there to discuss?"
"They may need to change interpretations of doctrine and scripture, along with temple policies. For example... regarding support for the hero''s party? They won''t make direct demands of us, but there will be busy internal discussions."
When Irene explained this, I thought the temple already provided unlimited support whenever we requested it. But she shook her head as if reading my thoughts.
She quickly explained what she meant.
"Well, this is embarrassing to say, but it''s because I became a Saint."
"Why does that matter?"
"Yeah, isn''t it better that you became the hero party''s Saint?"
When Irene mentioned becoming a Saint with flushed cheeks, people immediately started murmuring. Even as we rested and chatted at the Harpy Archipelago, the priests hovering nearby shifted excitedly. They seemed eager to jump in and explain if given permission.
But Irene didn''t notice this as she gently accepted Katie and Grace''s embraces from both sides, shuddering with embarrassment at drawing attention to herself.
Eventually Grace and Katie dragged the embarrassed Irene to a cafe, where they forced her to replenish with sugar and caffeine while she explained. This caused a surge of customers following us into the cafe near the mansion, but setting aside such minor details-
Come to think of it, if we''d sold and researched the dark mage''s crystal heart before attacking the fortress, we might have learned how to open the gate. We''d forgotten to process it in our rush to dig tunnels with the vibration stone.
"Hmm, is it because Irene became a Saint? People keep following us."
"When we left today, that cafe from yesterday was packed too. Maybe people are starting to make pilgrimages to places Irene visited?"
"That''s... a bit overwhelming..."
As we took a gate from the mansion to the city and headed toward the Magic Tower, it felt strange having gray priest robes and white armor constantly visible around us like celebrities followed by crowds.
Though no one directly approached to avoid interfering with our party''s movements, they watched our every action intently. Well, in a world without human rights, could you expect privacy?
Come to think of it, they were being quite proper compared to people who used to rush forward just to touch Jesus''s robes. Of course, if any man tried rushing at us, I planned to immediately smash his jaw.
"Ah! Welcome! Shall I contact Lady Charlotte''s research lab?!"
"Ah, please do."
"Byproducts? Here for byproduct processing, correct?"
"Yeah. Both mid-boss and boss monster byproducts."
As we entered the Magic Tower, instead of the burdensome religious gazes, an excessively fawning mage rushed out.
Though we could have easily found our way from the counter, he came running with his plump belly jiggling as if unwilling to wait even that short distance. He seemed to be a mid-to-low rank mage under Charlotte''s influence. Not wanting to hear middle-aged flattery, I spoke firmly like giving orders, leaving no room for conversation.
Even so, the middle-aged mage bowed deeply showing his crown as if grateful, then scurried back to the counter. Whether it was the misery of an aged mage who hadn''t advanced in rank, or a researcher doing field sales, his palm-rubbing and bowing was artful.
Charlotte rushed over in less than 3 minutes after being contacted, either because he was part of her faction or because they''d only thought about the mid-boss loot after receiving the ogre mana stones.
Her maid Mari frantically chased after calling "My lady! My lady!" but Charlotte ran over with her robe fluttering, completely disheveled unlike her usual self, and delivered shocking news.
"Roland, huff, the gate, it''s blocked again-!"
"...Oh, for fuck''s sake."
As she reported that the path to floor 61 was blocked.
That bastard, no wonder he died so peacefully.
Enjoy the chappy!