Chapter 168 – Goddess of the Hearth – [Three]

That’s how time passed again, and it was when there were about two weeks left until the wedding.

‘Boooooooooo…’

The sound of a horn trumpet alerted everyone to the village’s crisis. The hastily assembled Players of Happy Village stood in their respective positions, hurriedly armed.

From up ahead, Seong Juri’s bewildered voice could be heard.

“What is this? After over a year of peace, is a crisis about to hit us all at once?”

Seo Yun raised her head and looked at the sky.

More precisely, she looked at a ship floating there. A massive ship emitting intense light in that sky. Along with the light, the ship cast a huge, dark shadow over Happy Village.

“A Sun Ship?”

At first glance, it looked like a Ghost Ship. If she hadn’t seen that ship before, she would never have guessed it was the Paladins’ warship.

The battered and crumpled appearance of the Sun Ship was hideous. It looked impossible to float even on a calm lake, let alone in the sky.

“That is a Sun Ship, right?”

At Seo Yun’s question, Oh Haengun nodded with a stiff face.

“It’s a Sun Ship, probably. And the guys on board are, of course…”

From the Sun Ship, a magically amplified voice echoed.

「We are the Crusaders. The protectors of humanity, the eternal adversaries of the Kingdom of Immortals. And now we declare to you once more. We have come to receive what knights undertaking a Holy War rightfully deserve, so you shall lay down all your weapons, prostrate yourselves, and humbly await the knights who will descend to collect the Tribute.」

She already knew who the owner of that voice was.

“Sir Benoit?”

He was the man who, because of his good voice, often served as the speaker on the Sun Ship. A Paladin of the Sun Ship, but actually a Player by origin, not an NPC, probably.

But he was said to have remained on the Sun Ship, fought in the final battle, and died…

That Player Paladin, who was clearly said to be dead, continued speaking from up there.

「This is not what we command. It is what the Sun God speaks.」

The lines from before were being repeated. Hearing this, Seo Yun spoke.

“Stop talking nonsense and come down.”

That voice seemed not to have reached up there. Seo Yun requested an amplification Spell from Oh Haengun, then, even taking out her Halo, shouted towards the Sun Ship.

“Come down! The Hearth Goddess’s Angel commands it, so hurry up!”

After Seo Yun shouted a few more times, the Sun Ship slowly descended. From within its tattered hull, a group of Paladins walked out. Recognizing the distinctive Armor of one of them, Seo Yun was startled.

‘As expected, Sir Benoit…’

That Player Paladin, whom Sir William had brought and introduced inside the Sun Ship before, was there. Also, the Armor of the other Paladins was all familiar. They all seemed like people Seo Yun knew.

Oh Haengun asked.

“You guys, you died…?”

And Sir Benoit answered as if grumbling.

“Died? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“I heard you guys attacked Pygma Mule’s Ghost Ship. And that you all met your end then…”

At Oh Haengun’s words, Sir Benoit became irritated.

“Though it’s not something to say proudly as a member of the Crusaders, we have never fought that guy in battle as part of the Crusaders. It’s a clear matter that someday we will smash that Skeleton and the ship he’s on—”

Cutting off his words, Seo Yun interjected.

“There’s no need to smash that Skeleton guy’s ship again. You already destroyed it, didn’t you?”

Sir Benoit looked this way and muttered.

“You, you’re an Angel, aren’t you? I truly don’t understand why an Angel would talk such nonsense.”

“Sir Benoit, you know me. Your God even gave an Oracle to treat me well. Why do you keep acting like you’re seeing me for the first time?”

“Your God? How dare you.”

Sir Benoit drew his sword. Considering that this Paladin was actually an Earthling, it was utterly bizarre. It was a reaction befitting a Paladin of the Immortal Kingdom, not a Player.

The Players of Happy Village also went ‘Uh-oh,’ and all drew their weapons.

Eventually, the Paladins gathered here and the Happy Village Players pointed their weapons at each other. Seo Yun also drew her Flaming Sword and thought about what on earth this situation was.

Why are the Paladins suddenly acting like this? How did people who were said to be dead return, and why don’t they recognize us?

“Hey, go bring the Paladins. The ones staying in the village.”

At Oh Haengun’s whisper, a village Warrior ran off.

A short while later, he brought the Paladins as the Chief instructed, among them were Sir William and Sir Marshall. Those two Paladins seemed shocked to see their returned comrades.

“Benoit? Is it really you?”

Sir Benoit was also surprised to see his fellow Paladins staying in the village. When he removed his Helm, it was confirmed to be Sir Benoit. He muttered.

“No wonder I couldn’t see you, you were here? Why on earth…”

A brief Silence flowed, then Sir Marshall shouted.

“Undead!”

“Huh?”

“Undead! Wraiths have descended to bewitch us! Those vile things dare to take the form of our comrades… Light!”

Sir Marshall stretched his palm forward. The flash that burst from there covered Sir Benoit, who had removed his Helm.

“Ugh, what the…”

Sir Benoit groaned and covered his eyes, but that was it.

If they were Undead wraiths, they should have taken fatal damage from the Sun God’s Divine Spell or burned, but he was fine. Soon after, as if his vision had recovered, he opened his eyes again and even protested with a bewildered face, asking what on earth they were doing. Sir Marshall’s hand began to tremble.

“It seems they really have been revived… not by the Immortal Kingdom’s Resurrection Spell, but by other means.”

As Oh Haengun muttered, Seo Yun continued.

“You mean the Meteorite revived them?”

“Probably. The Rulebook says Paladins wander the world, right? Unable to accept that even those who died and disappeared are gone, it recreated them to fill in the world’s components…”

Seo Yun glanced at the tattered Sun Ship. It seemed the Meteorite didn’t have the capacity to fully restore the Sun Ship; even looking again, its condition was severe. It was evidence that the battle that day must have been unprecedentedly fierce, that there were no survivors from that day.

“…Died and were improperly revived or something, what on earth are you talking about, Sir Marshall?”

“Exactly that!”

Seo Yun saw Sir Marshall and Sir Benoit were arguing. Seo Yun approached and asked.”So, what have the Crusaders come to our village seeking?”

At that question, Sir Benoit looked at Seo Yun. Meeting his gaze, Seo Yun flinched. Sir Benoit, whose face had been filled with a sense of injustice just moments ago while arguing with Sir Marshall, now spoke with an utterly expressionless face.

“Offer the Meteor Fragments.”

“Huh?”

“Offer the Meteor Fragments.”

His voice was suffocatingly devoid of emotion. Seo Yun groaned inwardly as she thought.

I feel like I’ve experienced something similar before. When was it?

The Archangel Seraphim came to mind. After the troll made that meta comment, that damn Archangel’s voice probably turned mechanical like that.

So, just like back then, is the Meteorite now speaking through Sir Benoit’s mouth? Did the Meteorite revive them and send them here to gather its fragments?

“Why the Meteor Fragments?”

In response to Seo Yun’s question, Sir Benoit answered in an equally mechanical voice.

“It is the tribute the Crusaders must collect. Since all lands in this Mortal Realm lie beneath the sun, your village, which has also received the sun’s grace, naturally belongs to the Crusaders’ territory. You must duly offer supplies for the Crusaders’ activities.”

“And if we refuse to offer them?”

She asked just in case, and this answer came back.

“Do I really need to explain? How knights deal with wicked subjects who refuse to pay tribute?”

Sir Benoit was saying they would attack if their demands were not met. That they would attack Happy Village, which they had become quite close with through all the events so far, for just such a reason.

Seo Yun looked at the Happy Village Warriors. Despite their unreasonable demands, no great anger was rising on their faces.

Were they scared? That didn’t seem to be it.

Given the significant help they had provided to Happy Village, it was too soon to harbor hostility just because the Paladins were making such demands now. She had even heard that when the Skeletons tried to occupy the village, they managed to hold out thanks to the Paladins fighting for days without sleep. Having received such numerous favors, they likely had no heart to fight Paladins who were clearly not in their right minds.

Soon, the people of Happy Village began discussing among themselves.

“What should we do? They’re asking for it, should we give it?”

“Meteor Fragments? Can we just give away something so precious?”

“We’ve gathered quite a bit more while hunting those kobolds, haven’t we? If we don’t give away personal property and only offer the Meteor Fragments kept as the village’s communal assets…”

As someone said that, Gaeulbi shouted.

“No!”

Everyone looked at Gaeulbi. Gaeulbi hurriedly spoke.

“The Meteor Fragments themselves are far too precious to hand over carelessly, and we shouldn’t accept the demand itself! Those bastards are trying to collect tribute from us now. If it’s tribute, it’s not something they’ll take just once and be done with; they’ll try to take it regularly from now on. Do you really intend to offer it to them periodically? By force?”

“But can we just start fighting with those friends right away?”

“Even so! In the first place, if we give Meteor Fragments to those bastards, they’ll just take them and offer them all to the Meteorite, right? That much of the Meteorite’s power would be restored! We can’t help the Meteorite cause more havoc!”

Seo Yun didn’t know why Gaeulbi was opposing so actively, but she agreed with the opinion itself.

Meanwhile, Seo Yun thought.

What about the Sun God, who should be leading the Paladins? What is he doing now, not stopping his Devotees’ atrocities?

That’s when it happened. A Paladin rushed out from inside the Sun Ship and urgently spoke.

“Um, Sir Benoit? The high Priests are calling for you.”

“Why during a mission?”

“They say an Oracle has descended… They order you to stop your actions immediately.”

“An Oracle?”

Muttering questioningly, Sir Benoit entered the Sun Ship with the other Paladins.

Only then could they breathe a sigh of relief. Seo Yun said.

“It seems the Sun God is stopping that crazy behavior? I hope they just retreat as the Sun God orders…”

However, despite the Sun God’s solemn command, the Sun Ship did not withdraw from Happy Village.

Whenever Seo Yun approached and asked why they weren’t leaving, only one answer came back from the Sun Ship in a mechanical voice. ‘Hand over the Meteor Fragments.’

Considering that, according to the setting, Lord Cairo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sun Ship, had disobeyed the Sun God’s commands a few times before, it wasn’t a completely nonsensical situation, but it was still a hard-to-understand affair.

In the novel, Commander-in-Chief Lord Cairo disobeyed the Sun God’s commands when he believed the command was wrong. But a hero who disobeys a god’s command just to collect some tribute? From the perspective of having met that Paladin in person, it was utterly unimaginable.

A day passed, and the Sun Ship still did not leave.

By this point, Happy Village also had to make a decision. Should they fight like last time? Or should they comply with their demands?

To decide that, another village meeting was convened.

“Thinking about it, those Paladin gentlemen tried to plunder us from the first time we met, right? Since their memories from after their Resurrection seem to have been erased, it’s not that surprising they’re trying to plunder again like back then.”

Oh Haengun spoke self-mockingly, and another Player said.

“If we fight, can we win? I heard that Epic Level Troll Mage gentleman who helped us last time Ascended and is gone. What remains in the Mortal Realm is a degraded avatar.”

And then Gaeulbi, burning with an oddly intense fighting spirit, argued.

“We can win. Unlike back then, we have three Level 15s and Mister Arnold too. We even have a considerable number of Paladins on our side, right? And if we die, Seo Yun can probably Resurrect us, so don’t be too scared…”

But in Seo Yun’s view, the people of Happy Village didn’t seem to have much desire to fight. Well, after living in peace for over a year, suddenly facing a situation requiring a large-scale battle would just leave them dumbfounded. Especially since the opponents were those Paladins with whom they held no grudge, there was no reason for any desire to risk the village’s survival to fight.

And throughout this entire situation, Seo Yun felt a terrible sense of frustration.

A frustration born of anger. This unreasonable situation was bad enough, but there was one more reason that made it so infuriating.

The fact that those Paladins had returned for such a purpose made Seo Yun’s blood boil.

‘Those Paladins are already dead. Honorably and splendidly, fighting for others.’But to think that even those heroic memories were erased, and he reappeared in this land only to commit such acts of plunder? All according to the Meteorite’s will?

Seo Yun recalled Oh Haengbok, who had died earlier. She had seen many fallen Warriors until now, but no man had died as impressively as he did.

She wondered if even that Orc might be resurrected as a Monster or NPC.

It seemed entirely possible. After all, Sir Benoit, who was clearly a Player, had suddenly been resurrected and was now behaving like a Paladin NPC.

Come to think of it, the Meteorite being frugal with resources was already a familiar affair. The Meteorite probably thought it was better to resurrect a dead Paladin Player, roughly manipulate their memories, and release them as an NPC rather than creating a Paladin NPC from scratch.

Then what about Oh Haengbok, who had shown himself to be the most Orc Warrior-like of them all? He too might have caught the Meteorite’s eye and been resurrected as some Orc Monster, only to go around attacking people.

Even his death might be desecrated in such a way…

Seo Yun also recalled Kim Jihyeok and the other fallen Warriors. Those who had lived hard lives and died deserved to rest. The thought that their souls might not rest peacefully after death or enjoy themselves in Heaven, but instead be horribly exploited, made her already simmering anger grow even stronger.

Suddenly, Seo Yun remembered the wedding scheduled for next week.

Spring was coming soon. If things continued like this, instead of a wedding, they would have to hold a funeral, and the ceremony would likely be postponed for several months.

She couldn’t just let that happen. Absolutely not.