We headed out to the forested outskirts of Rondane to defeat the Outer God.
Just me and the female knight named Muyeon!
Under normal circumstances, I might have been happy to be out with a woman, but our destination was a place with an Outer God.
If things went wrong, I could face something worse than death.
But for some reason, I didn't feel scared.
Something that would have had me trembling in fear normally.
Is this also an effect of the Super Coward Mode?
In contrast...
"Phew, I can do this. I can do this. I can do i— Ouch, I bit my tongue. It hurts. Ugh."
Muyeon, walking behind me like a stalker, was trembling so much it reminded me of my old self.
Honestly, like Argarta, I had hoped to hunt the Outer God with the Hunter. Being separated from him was painful, but I was somewhat relieved to hear I'd have a partner.
But of all people, my partner had to be a coward.
I wondered how someone like this was even in the Knight Order.
Thinking back to the prison, her physical abilities seemed incredible, enough to smash the ground with her axe.
But in this state...
When I glanced back, Muyeon flinched and looked startled.
"Is this the right way?"
"Yes, y-yes. The map says to just keep going that way."
Taking the opportunity, I asked something I was curious about.
"By the way, they told us to go hunt an Outer God, but isn't it a problem that just the two of us are going?"
I tried to subtly voice my dissatisfaction, but only the obvious answer came back.
"They said not to talk about Knight Order matters with outsiders... And they also said not to worry because it's not a very high-tier one... A-and..."
"Aren't you expecting too much for a criminal...?"
A criminal.
Yeah, honestly, she's right.
Even though it's not me, Raydan Tanton has that label attached, so people's views of us can't be favorable.
From their perspective, we're just pawns; it's good if we take down the Outer God, but it doesn't matter if we don't.
That's why I'm risking my neck under these unreasonable conditions to shed this identity.
I need to survive this Outer God encounter too, gain my freedom, and then either quit the Knight Order or something.
Rustle.
"Gah."
"...What's wrong?"
Come to think of it, I realized quite a bit of time had passed.
Since it was a circumstance I couldn't explain to Muyeon, I racked my brain, then scratched the back of my head and spoke.
"S-sorry, but I need to... answer nature's call..."
"Ah, uhm, I see. I didn't think of that. Please, go ahead..."
This is oddly embarrassing.
I almost wished I had a male partner instead, but remembering the question from the marble earlier, I had a feeling nothing good would come of that either.
This is better.
I went into a nearby thicket, and as soon as I confirmed Muyeon wasn't looking my way, I turned my back to her and lowered my head.
I hadn't come to relieve myself.
I came to briefly take out the Lesser Outer God that had been holed up in my pocket.
I gently reached into my pocket and pulled it out. The Lesser Outer God popped out.
It flew up, clung to my face, and rubbed against it. I could feel just how stifled it must have been.
I gently pinched the nape of its neck with my thumb and forefinger, peeled it off, and placed it on my palm.
At first, it seemed disoriented, looking around, but then it seemed to relax, wearing the same blissful expression as before, becoming soft and pliable.
"You were really cramped, huh? Sorry I couldn't take you out sooner."
I spoke in a whisper. The Lesser Outer God didn't say anything, just grinned widely.
The kid's not talking.
It did speak, albeit haltingly, back in the underground prison.
Since it didn't speak last time either, maybe it's related to what the leader Lesser Outer God said about becoming weaker when separated from the group.
It feels oddly calmer than before, too.
"M-Mr. Tanton?"
"Yes."
"We should probably get going soon..."
I turned just my head to look. Muyeon was looking down the path we needed to take with a slightly anxious expression.
I was just trying to steal a moment to let it out, so I guess there's no helping it.
Thinking that, I looked at the Lesser Outer God and was startled.
"Ugh!"
I, I can't believe this.
No creature in the world could possibly look at you with eyes that sparkle this brightly.
Being subjected to this eye-beam attack, full of the desire to play just a little longer, made me think I might be punished by heaven if I ignored this look right now.
"Ah, no... You have to go back in now..."
Perhaps thinking the eye-beams weren't working, the Lesser Outer God fluttered up and latched onto my collar.
And it wasn't just that; it started trembling, expressing its anxiety.
"B-but still, no..."
My brain, trying to succumb to the violent cuteness, I forcibly resisted and tried to refuse.
But then I saw it.
It lifted its face, which was buried in my clothes, and looked at me with moist eyes.
And it tilted its head.
"Ah."
In the end, I had no choice but to declare my defeat.
"Ms. Muyeon... I'm sorry, my... shoelace seems to have a problem..."
"Ah, was that it?... Please resolve it as quickly as possible."
I felt a bit sorry for Muyeon, but what could I do?
This was a matchup that anyone, not just me, would inevitably lose!
Hearing my words, the Lesser Outer God beamed a bright smile, flew up again, and hugged the back of my neck with its whole body.
...Fine. As long as you're happy.
That's what I said, but my heart was racing with guilt and fear.
I was making a knight of Rondane wait, for heaven's sake.
The funnier fact was that the knight was obediently listening to a criminal's words.
What is this?
It strangely feels like the roles of superior and subordinate are reversed.
I looked at Muyeon from the thicket. She looked anxious.
It's a bad thought, but why do I feel like I could use this to my advantage?
She reminded me of a wife who, even after witnessing her husband's affair, says nothing and silently endures it.
Not that I'm that kind of person.
As I was scratching the Lesser Outer God's chin with my fingertip, an even more anxious voice reached me.
"I-is it done now? We really have to go..."
I guess it's really time to go now.
This time, the Lesser Outer God seemed satisfied. It slipped back into my pocket and gave me a thumbs-up.
Then, the pocket gradually sank down, and its form disappeared completely.
I hadn't known until now, but it was one of the Lesser Outer God's abilities I realized while being with it.
This should mean it won't be discovered by Argarta or the other knights.
Although it couldn't hide its scent from the Hunter.
"Mr. Tanton...?"
"Yes, just finished! I'm coming out!"
If I stayed any longer, I might arouse suspicion, so I ran out.
When she saw me, Muyeon's expression looked much more relieved than before.
"You weren't answering, so I thought you'd run away and was about to activate the sigil..."
"I only have one life."
The bear mascot sigil stamped on my hand was also on Muyeon. Using it supposedly enforces the contract terms absolutely.
It can't command me to die, but if I have no intention of hunting the Outer God or try to run away, it can impose penalties related to that.
"Sorry. Let's get going again."
"Yes..."
Muyeon subtly hid behind me and started walking behind me like a shadow partner.
"Please guide me to the next part of the path too."
"Ah, y-yes, you can go that way."
A few minutes after we started walking.
We were walking in complete silence, and for some reason, the awkward atmosphere felt suffocating.
I could finally empathize a little with how Argarta must have felt.
"Ms. Muyeon?"
"..."
"Ms. Muyeon?"
"Ah, yes? What is it?"
"Could you tell me a bit about the Outer God 'The Gardener' that we're supposed to hunt?"
I'd heard which Outer God we were hunting, but I didn't know the details.
I heard it was weaker than the Warden, but that was only because we defeated it using a loophole.
It felt more like exploiting a gimmick to beat an otherwise unbeatable boss.
I figured she might not speak well, given the personality I'd glimpsed from Muyeon during our short time together.
"Um... you can tell me slowly..."
"The Outer God Gardener assigned to us, while deemed 'non-huntable,' isn't that threatening."
"There's no distortion phenomenon. It's a case where it's coiled up in the forested area. It's inconvenient, but entry and exit are easy, so escaping isn't difficult. However, penetrating deep into its core is very tricky. But it doesn't come out of the forested area, so it was left alone."
"Uh, uhm."
"D-did that help?"
I was overwhelmed by the words that spilled out in an instant.
"It was helpful."
"Th-that's a relief. I studied a lot so I wouldn't hold back the other senior knights..."
She brushed a strand of pink hair that had escaped her hood behind her ear, her red cheeks glowing.
"Escaping is easy, but getting close to The Gardener is very difficult... The closer you get... the more the danger skyrockets."
So getting close is the hard part.
"How exactly does it attack?"
"Th-that, I don't r-really know either. Everyone who went deep inside disappeared without leaving any information."
Without information, it was a bit hard for me to move recklessly too.
The Super Coward Mode isn't perfect either.
It just replaces reality so things aren't scary, that's all.
This is ultimately just a skin mod; the underlying power doesn't change.
It would be nice if I could communicate with it like with the Warden.
The difficulty would change exponentially depending on the Outer God's attitude.
My biggest weapon right now is my ability to converse with Outer Gods.
If the Outer God is friendly towards me, I can pull off what's called a 'free win.'
But if the Outer God is hostile, that's a different story.
Just like a sword made from an Outer God can still hurt me, if an Outer God goes on a rampage, I'd be helpless against it.
And summarizing what Muyeon said, I could assume it was basically hostile towards humans.
"We're almost at the place where the Outer God is."
At Muyeon's words, I looked ahead.
It seemed to have been there since a very long time ago. Rusted iron fences and the creepily growing vines using them as pillars created an ominous atmosphere.
It felt like a warning, telling you never to come beyond these fences.
"I-it gets really dangerous from here, so be careful... Mr. Tanton? D-don't read that!"
While looking around near what appeared to be a gate, I noticed something inscribed on it and unconsciously moved towards the writing.
Hello! Today, let's learn about 'The Gardener's Garden'!
The Gardener's Garden is a place guarded by The Gardener, where humans don't often set foot.
It kinda makes me feel like The Gardener must be a little lonely T.T
Anyway! The Gardener's Garden is hard to get into, so people call it the 'Land of Death,' but they say once you're in, getting out is actually easy!
They say there's some 'plant' that The Gardener cherishes inside, but no one has actually seen it, so there's no way to prove it.
That was today's story about 'The Gardener's Garden'!
Oh, for fuck's sake.
I firmly decided to believe that the Outer God writing these inscriptions must be completely brainless.
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