Chapter 246

Headaches are generally difficult to avoid if you sleep for more than 18 hours.

Ghost Duke tried to get out of bed, but couldn't because it was too painful. He got up and bumped his head on the bookshelf at the head of the bed.

The bookshelf placed by the bedside is a source of psychological trauma.

Although I have forgotten many of my past memories, some physical memories have never been forgotten.

This includes the bookshelf by the bed.

I almost knocked myself silly, waking up from a nightmare only to be knocked unconscious by a bookshelf. This common experience and scenario has left a huge psychological scar on my memory.

So why insist on having such a bookshelf installed by your bedside?

Perhaps because I'm used to being hit, if I'm not hit like that after being woken up from a nightmare, I feel like I'm still in the nightmare.

There were no windows, only a vent, and he didn't know the exact time.

His current residence has become a place similar to a shelter in Fallout. For a guy like him with a sadistic heart, the benevolent one really spoils him.

He saw the shotgun on the table next to him, and the pain and what had happened came back to him.

They're spoiling them a bit too much. Besides, who gives high-level gear to someone who just started in the beginner village? They can't use it if their level isn't high enough.

Ghost Duke thought to himself, then picked it up and examined it closely.

However, he had witnessed its power firsthand. As a shotgun, the feedback from firing it was like that of a laser cannon. It could even blast a hole in the clouds. He found it hard to believe that this thing was a shotgun.

But at least this thing adds another means of attack to my arsenal, and judging from its power, I'm not so weak as to be pitiful.

That's a good thing, I guess.

But speaking of which, since that's the case, could we make an exoskeleton or something? Although piloting a Gundam in a magical story is very unethical, the visual impact would probably be quite impressive.

Putting aside the Gundam concept, I at least need to be able to withstand the power of a shotgun. How many shots can I probably fire?

Thinking this, he got up and looked around his room.

It looked exactly like the residence of a scientist researching steam technology, but in reality, all Ghost Lord could build was a steam engine. And even that was only theoretical knowledge; he wasn't actually involved in mechanics. Just looking at those gears gave him a headache.

Forget it, I won't tempt fate. It seems she asked Lady for this. I'll see if I can push my luck a little further.

Thinking this, Ghost Duke felt he should get up.

She claimed to be working for the Benevolent Ones, but because she was truly unable to do many things herself, and she didn't really need someone to do chores for her, Ghost Duke's tasks were so easy that she felt a little guilty and would occasionally offer to help if there was anything she could do.

He pushed open the door and left, looking down the corridor, hesitating about which side he should think about.

This place, as his new residence, actually belongs to the Arbitrator's domain, because the Arbitrator is away on business and his area has been lent to the Benevolent.

Because the area designated for the Benevolent was completely destroyed, and although it is still under repair, it is still a place that has been completely renovated. It will probably take about a year to fully rebuild it.

We are indeed short-staffed.

However, Ghost Lord wanted to take a bath, since he had just woken up and must have been lying in a pool of blood before he died. He also needed to have his sheets and blankets changed afterwards, as he himself reeked of blood.

He walked like this, familiarly pushing open the bathhouse door, and paused for a moment amidst the steam from the hot water.

Someone is using it right now; the person has their back to the door, and you can tell it's a naked girl.

The reason I say she's a girl is because she appears to be around sixteen years old; she still looks a bit childish.

If it weren't for the fact that Ghost Duke knew this guy had lived for almost a thousand years, he probably wouldn't have been able to tell just by looking at his back.

"Excuse me," Ghost Duke said expressionlessly, then turned and closed the door to leave.

This might be a bit unexpected, considering that as a healthy otaku, half the reason for coming to this other world is because of cute girls. Perhaps I should have acted a little more lewdly, or a little more flustered.

Furthermore, one shouldn't have an expression as if seeing a corpse preserved in formalin.

There's a reason for this. Due to various factors, almost all of the Benevolent One's non-combat subordinates are women. She recruits people ranging from humans to monsters, and is quite selective about their appearance. After all, it's just about taking care of daily needs; those who aren't good-looking are simply not accepted.

For this reason, the church then divided into activity areas. Everyone clearly agreed on who owned which area. Occasionally, a decimal might temporarily lend their area to someone else if they didn't want to use it, but most of the time, nobody was interested in visiting each other's areas.

In other words, because there were once twelve saints here, there were probably thirteen bathing areas built. Each place was decorated with elements very characteristic of the saints.

Regardless of gender, under stricter rules, this area was reserved for saints only. The quarters for attendants were generally quite large, and naturally included bathrooms. Therefore, even for bathing, they wouldn't use the saints' quarters.

But that was a long time ago when things were much more strictly controlled. Ever since the war, when the space meant for twelve people was reduced to three, people have basically been free to use it however they want. When there are more people, the rules are stricter, but when there are fewer people, it doesn't matter much; people are quite lenient with each other.

At this point, Ghost Duke was just looking for an excuse to go to that kind of place for a bath. Although he shouldn't be going to such places in name, well... he didn't want to explain. There were plenty of other places, so there was no need to hide away. Besides, the Benevolent One had nominally given his permission.

Therefore, in the past year, there have been about five or six times when the two bumped into each other while taking a shower. At first, Ghost Duke was indeed surprised that she didn't cut him off, but later he got used to it and just watched people leave.

He returned to his room and obediently soaked himself in the wooden tub in his bathroom.

Actually, it's not bad. My own bathroom isn't small, and it even has a pleasantly sized pool.

This style is a bit too Japanese. As descendants of the Yellow Emperor, we should actually choose to shower instead of bathing.

But it doesn't matter, I'll do whatever makes me comfortable, and no one will criticize me for doing it inappropriately.

But why would a benevolent person go there to bathe at this time?

Ghost Duke couldn't help but let his mind wander a little, after all, it was rare to see a benevolent person traveling light.

She usually wore rather elaborate nun's habit and layers upon layers of clothing for decoration and adornment. It wasn't that she looked bad, but rather that she was far too conservative, making her appear older than her age.

Although he is indeed not young.

As Ghost Duke soaked in the water, the pool turned a reddish-black color after the dried blood on his body was washed away, making him look as if he were soaking in sewage.

However, the water was actually still clean enough to drink, and the medicinal herbs used for bathing here were so good that it was hard to doubt it.

Ten minutes later, he put on the bunny pajamas hanging on the wall. He even got a replica of his favorite pajamas.

These nice pajamas really give me a warm feeling inside.

He walked out, wiping his head with a towel, and then stopped at the door.

A girl in a dress sat on his desk, casually flipping through what he had written in his notebook.

"Wow, I almost didn't recognize you." Ghost Duke was shocked. He had bumped into this girl taking a shower more than once, but this was the first time he had seen her wearing a skirt.

This is truly something I've never seen before.

“I saw illustrations of people wearing these kinds of clothes in your book, and I thought they looked quite nice,” the benevolent person said casually. “Is there a problem?”

“No problem, but shouldn’t you be busy dealing with matters concerning the Demon God’s Seal?” Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment before saying, “Shouldn’t you be very busy?”

"My junior will be covering for me for a few days today, so I'll take a short rest," the Benevolent One said softly. "As for the Demon God Seal, that's not something I can decide on a whim. There's a meeting in two days, and I'll use those two days to think about what to do... What is this?"

She opened a sketchbook, inside which was a drawing of a rather handsome girl. Although her mutated form was quite large, it was still immediately recognizable as Deedris.

“That’s what I drew of her after she might become a demon god. I drew it before you said she had the demon god mark.” Ghost Duke paused and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

"If it turned out like this, it would really look great. I'm starting to get interested."

"Right, right?" Ghost Duke nodded and said, "So, have you decided?"

"At least giving you the Demon God Seal is reliable. This is also an important matter these next two days. I need to find Dedeline and ask her what she thinks."

"So you guys do consider other people's feelings."

"I had no choice but to do this. This ability is highly dependent on the user's mood. As you saw, the Arbiter should have been the strongest unit. But because he felt guilty, he couldn't even defeat me not long ago. The Demon God Seal is even more so; its effectiveness depends heavily on the user's acceptance." The Benevolent One paused, then said, "Another question: you seem to have drawn quite a few pictures related to me. It seems you really enjoy drawing me wearing different clothes?"

"Of course, the main reason is that you always wear the same thing." Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment, looking at the guy in front of him who was very different from his memory. After hesitating for a long time, he said softly, "Can I pat your head? Smooth your hair or something... I vaguely remember that I have a very cute little sister. Although I have forgotten a lot of details, she feels a lot like you."

"Is that an excuse? Whatever, do whatever you want." The Benevolent One didn't care. She picked up another book, written by Ghost Duke, which also contained her own illustrations.

Ghost Lord wasn't lying; in this world of scarcity, his stories were indeed quite interesting. Even the benevolent would sometimes seek them out for entertainment.

Ghost Duke walked over and stroked her fur several times, but after realizing she didn't react at all and getting bored, he sat down helplessly on the chair next to her. He casually sketched the image of the Benevolent One reading his book.

His art style was still the same as the anime style from his original world. Although it was very unusual at first, Ren'ai eventually got used to it and accepted that this guy's art style was different from the murals.

He had also seen the paintings of this world, and they were indeed breathtaking. Because of the realistic style, and because most of the paintings were very beautiful, the results were excellent. However, Ghost Lord's sketches were realistic; the rest were more like anime.

However, Ghost Duke is in a very good mood right now. What could be better than having a cute girl reading what he wrote?

It was written to be seen by others.

Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment, then looked at the Benevolent One and said, "By the way, what if the Arbiter has been wiped out by Ark outside?"

"Why would you have such a thought?" The Benevolent One asked casually without any expression. "However, it is entirely possible. Theoretically, Ark has the potential to kill a Saint. But the prerequisite is that the Arbiter is psychologically conflicted, or as you put it, has locked his life force. If he is locked in, at most he will return feeling very unhappy after losing the battle."

"What if you really die?"

“That’s alright. As a judge, one can be swayed by the justice one upholds. It’s better for such a guy to die.” Ren’ai said softly, “You should talk to him more if you can, maybe you can change his mindset.”

"Me? You overestimate me." Ghost Duke was taken aback. "I'm not at the level to be able to enlighten someone like a god."

“At least you changed me,” the Benevolent One said softly. “Honestly, I’m still very grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. So what do you want me to do in return? You can name anything you want, and I’ll accept it as long as it’s not too much. I definitely can’t do something like tearing down the church, and I doubt I can do anything like that either. But we can talk about other things.”

"Can I hold you in bed and sleep with you now?" Ghost Duke casually uttered a dirty joke; this guy never paid attention to his words.

"Can."

“…Um, I was just kidding.” Ghost Duke looked at her serious agreement, hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head.

“You can consider it,” said the Benevolent One. “Don’t ask for anything material anymore. Those things that I can easily obtain are not compensation in my eyes. You have changed a saint and made her kind again. Is there anything that only I can do for you?”

"Actually, you've given me far too much, but I haven't given anything in return." Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment before saying, "If it's alright, could I change how I address you?"