Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World - Chapter 74: Jonah Is No Longer A Baby (2)

“Eung-ae. I’m baby Jonah. I can’t walk on two feet.”

“What are you talking about, Jonny Boy… If your body has recovered, come down…”

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to!”

I protested by wrapping one arm tightly around Ellie’s neck and flailing the other.

Opportunities to legally cling to Ellie’s body, clad in a tight full bodysuit, are rare.

I must make the most of it now…

For that reason, I briefly clung tightly to Ellie’s back, marking my territory here and there.

Karen, wrapped in various evidences including the mark of One Who Devours the Twilight, spoke in a cautious tone.

“Sir Jonah. How do you plan to handle this matter?”

“How? What do you mean?”

“About the aftermath. If you instruct me on what to disclose and what to conceal at the Temple, I will comply. Otherwise, I’ll handle it at my discretion.”

“Ah, about that…”

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I nodded.

“Just keep it all a secret!”

“Yes?”

“Inquisitor Karen came here alone to punish the heretics, despite everyone’s dissuasion. Believing that the only way to save Inquisitor Ian was to kill the person who cast the blessing…no, the curse.”

“It wasn’t really a curse, so killing the caster wouldn’t have solved anything…”

“I know. Just pass it as a setting where you were that mentally stressed!”

“Setting…?”

I gave Karen, who was tilting her head in confusion, a more detailed explanation.

“Even if I had to fight alone, I made it back to the center of the first floor, only to find that what awaited me there were the remnants of a fierce battle and fragments of a monster I had never seen before.”

As I said this, I handed Karen a thorn I had cut from the King of Thorns.

“Thought to be non-existent, The One Who Devours the Twilight managed to summon the Floor Guardian of the first floor by using some method, but being exhausted from the ritual, they ended up perishing along with that Guardian!”

“What? But then wouldn’t Sir Jonah’s achievements be erased?”

“It doesn’t matter. I came up with this while I was nibbling on Ellie’s nape, thinking it tasted rather salty.”

“Jo-Jonah! You were thinking that?!”

Ellie, trembling and shaking her body. Only after adjusting her center of gravity so that we didnt fall, did I continue speaking.

“The summoning conditions of the Floor Guardian of the first floor. This must not be disclosed.”

“Why not? I do not claim to fully understand the Goddess’s will, but if I may venture a guess, the first floor seems like a training ground that turns ordinary people into adventurers.”

“That’s exactly what it is.”

“Oh… Oh Goddess… Ah, anyway, if we can regularly subdue the Floor Guardian, it would significantly enhance the growth of adventurers, which would align with the Goddess’s intentions, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s a valid point. However, it seems you are not fully aware yet… What I want to keep secret is not the usefulness of the Floor Guardian but the summoning conditions.”

“What kind of conditions are they that you wish to keep them hidden?”

Karen, Ellie and Lydia blinked their eyes. And for some reason, even Lemon and Apple, sending a sinister glance this way, held their breath waiting for my words.

After a brief pause, I opened my mouth with a calm voice.

“The corpses of all the monsters and elves on the first floor. A fierce desire for revenge. And a sincere wish towards the World Tree.”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Karen’s expression harden as if she had realized something.

Yes. If it becomes known that the corpses of elves are a summoning condition, it would certainly put the lives of novice elves at risk…

“I understand. The faith that should go to the Goddess could flow to a god who is already dead.”

“What?”

“Yes. Devoting faith to a god who is already dead returns nothing but emptiness. You don’t want to create victims like the elves of the past. Jonah understands.”

“What?”

“As an elf, I also agree with Jonah’s opinion.”

“It’s not from my generation’s experience, but I’ve heard that clinging to unrewarded prayers is like slowly approaching death.”

“……”

My head began to ache slightly at a perspective completely different from what I had thought.

“Isn’t anyone considering that using an elf’s corpse as material could harm innocent victims? Especially Lemon and Apple. They are elves.”

“But the corpses of elves are already circulating in the market. In other words, they are already frequently targeted.”

“Innocent victims fall into the hands of looters by the dozens every day, regardless of race.”

“Ah.”

That’s right. Thinking about it, the corpses of elves were already being traded at high prices.

In other words, whether I disclose the summoning conditions or not, elves are a top priority target for looters.

To officially buy and sell them, a somewhat complicated procedure is needed but…not everything in the world has to go through official channels.

“So that’s it…the reason why Lemon and Apple are always in danger of being captured and killed is not because they like being forcibly tied together, but because their ransom is expensive….”

“Have you been looking at us with such eyes?!”

“Hmm…not bad.”

Lemon was shocked. Apple nods calmly. Lemon, even more shocked, distances herself further.

They really are characters you never get tired of watching. It’s fortunate that we arrived in time to save them this time.

If the timing had been slightly off…then we might have had to summon the Floor Guardian with the corpses of Lemon and Apple.

“Ah…”

I sighed deeply and buried my nose in Ellie’s hair. And just then, the duration for the mini sanctuary ended.

My body had already fully recovered, so it didn’t matter…

“Kheuk!?”

Suddenly, I feel my blood boiling throughout my body, followed by a surge of intense pain.

“Jonah?!”

Ellie, who had half given up and was quietly carrying me, gasped and twisted her head, and Lydia, catching her gaze, immediately prepared a potion, while Karen readied a healing spell using holy power.

Just as Lydia was about to pour the potion into my mouth, holding my chin, I squeezed out the last of my strength and shook my head.

“It’s okay, really…!”

“Don’t be stubborn. We don’t know what kind of aftereffects there might be. Just drink the potion first.”

“Ah…no. I’m really fine.”

“There was poison on the thorn. The power of the Dagger detoxified it, but there might still be some left…”

Lydia, stroking my back, tries to feed me the potion again. But this isn’t something that can be fixed with a potion. And that’s because.

“Pow…er…”

“Huh?”

The feeling is similar to when I drew powers from a gacha.

A sensation of something changing deep inside my body. There might be a brief pain, but it won’t last long.

Since there’s no process like forcibly engraving knowledge into my head or optimizing my body like a skill, I just need to endure the moment the power is imprinted onto my soul.

Sure enough. Just a few seconds ago, I felt like my insides were turning over, but now only a refreshing clarity remains, as if I had received a full-body massage.

And then, the method of using the power naturally comes to mind.

“Basilieus.”

As I utter the name of the power, I feel the texture of wood above my head.

A design merely consisting of a ring-shaped woven ash tree with some decorations. A crown…though it’s too crude to be called one.

I wonder if this is what it feels like if you strip all the thorns from the crown of the King of Thorns.

However, the power contained within it could not be ignored.

“Grow.”

At that single word, a blade of grass nearby swiftly grew and bloomed into a flower.

It was similar to the scene just before the King of Thorns appeared, where the surrounding nature grew wildly.

Yet, the warm energy that had spread throughout the body inevitably drained away, leaving a hollow feeling.

It wasn’t a matter of using the slightly improved mana that had recently become more usable.

It was the pure divine power that remained in the body after absorbing and purifying the distorted blessing that had once afflicted Ian’s body. That was the driving force behind the plant’s growth.

As a flower bloomed with just a word, those around began to marvel.

“Jonah, what is this…?”

“The power of the World Tree. It’s my first time seeing it.”

“Anyway, the Labyrinth is a place directly managed by the Goddess. This must also be the will of the Goddess.”

“…It truly is the power of the World Tree.”

“Except for Miss Eve, don’t us elves still possess some powers?”

Quite useful.

It might be weak now, but if I gather more divine power and study how to use it, it will definitely be helpful.

However, the rapid growth of a plant that has consumed divine power is merely an incidental effect.

Like any other power, the moment it inhabits me, I just know how to use it.

Like now, I can materialize the power and not consume divine power. Just possessing it accelerates my own growth rate steeply.

It is as if I grew the plant a moment ago.

…And this growth boost effect applies to all types of growth.

It includes not only the achievements gained through ordinary training but also the rewards given for surviving a labyrinth.

Other powers possess their own formidable strength. Just as Cena caused a minor natural disaster using the relatively easy-to-acquire elemental powers of a god.

But Basilieus is different.

It has no special power in itself. However, if I strive to become stronger, it promises greater rewards than anything else.

“So…”

The name Basilieus means ‘king’ in Greek.

It’s a name that fits perfectly with a typical returned king’s type of power.

Gripping Ellie’s waist tightly with my thighs, I straightened my back. Then, with a deliberately solemn voice, I began.

“Jonah is now no longer a baby. He is a king.”

“Ah, elves do not serve a king. The Elven Forest has been a republic for 400 years.”

“A king who doesn’t bring in money is a sword that’s not needed! It’s a revolution!”

“……”

I was promptly dethroned.

…Now that I think about it, being a fallen royal seems to have its own charm, doesn’t it?