Myths Reawakened

Cards?

You’re talking about gambling, aren’t you?

Vichy thought of a silver-haired woman, her brows furrowed. “Boss, gambling is wrong.”

She was right. Everyone knew that they should swear to fight gambling and drugs unconditionally.

Wayne hid his approval under a mask of indifference. “Makes sense. Keep going.”

His approval bolstered Vichy. “A gambler loses nine out of ten games. Things never end well for them. Addiction could beget false confidence and the urge to retaliate. They might take loans and destroy their own relationships. If it’s someone with a high status, the harm they could do would be even greater.”

She was unusually talkative once she got started, every word imbued with her distaste for gambling.

“You’re so right, Vichy. I agree.” Wayne helped her up with a supportive hand on her shoulder.

“This subordinate is honored to gain your approval.”

“But I like playing cards.”

“...”

Vichy’s eyes twitched. She would like to make an insolent remark that this man and a certain goddess were a match made in the Divine Realm. Both were adept at psychological warfare.

“Speak. Have you lost your voice?”

“Actually... actually...” Vichy lowered her head and spoke against her conscience, “There are many benefits to playing cards. It can keep the brain active and allow mages to de-stress in their busy schedule of work and training, keeping their thoughts stable and their minds relaxed.”

“Go on.”

“Card games are also good for building connections and enriching life experience, leading to more opportune encounters and acquisition of knowledge. That is especially important to mages.”

“Good. I assumed you’re a stubborn old knight given how little you talk, but you’re surprisingly tactful.” Wayne gave her another approving pat to the shoulder.

Vichy lowered her head silently. She was only a knight, so whatever her boss said was law.

“Since you’re so good at listening, you’ll be following me from now on. I’ll give you a three-month trial period. If you perform well, you’ll enter a second trial.”

Wayne couldn’t figure out what the Goddess of Darkness’s plan was, so he decided to keep Vichy for now. He’d play by ear. While the goddess wasn’t to be trifled with, he was no pushover. He would give as good as he got.

He definitely didn’t do this because he thought of a certain silver-haired knight and wanted some fun.

All things aside, the former Darkness Knight was easy on the eye. Even though he wasn’t going to lay a finger on her, she would be nice as eye candy. The way Vichy had been a staunch follower of the chivalrous code of conduct, but had no choice but to break her principles to keep her job, especially, gave him the thrill of corrupting a respectable woman.

Since he couldn’t actually do that, he had to seek that fun from Vichy.

He wasn’t at fault. Everyone had seen the Goddess of Darkness push Her chosen knight into the burning pit.

“Wait, did the woman just use me to mold Her knight?”

***

That night, the sound of slapping could be heard in the Holy Maiden Basilica.

Yes, Wayne and the ladies were playing cards.

Vichy played terribly, wholly unlike a chosen knight at the card table. Since her two superiors were also playing, though, it made sense for her to lose nine games in a row.

After the card games, Wayne and Anastasia took their leave. Judging by how much of a hurry they were in, they had to have something important to discuss.

Ines crossed her arms and smiled at Vichy. “You’ve lost thirty-six games to me. According to our bet, you’ll have to serve Wayne for three hundred and sixty years. Work hard. Both he and I will treat you well.”

“As you wish!” Vichy said with a poker face. She didn’t understand what the goddess was thinking.

“What are you waiting for?” Ines said. “I’ve returned the body to you. My current body isn’t suitable for intense exercise, so you go ahead and help Anastasia take him. Shoulder as much burden as you can for her. She’s a good Holy Maiden, whom I truly appreciate. Don’t let her suffer too much.”

Do you hear yourself, Goddess?

Vichy tried her best to stay composed, but her composure still broke. Since her goddess had issued an oracle, and she had lost the bet, though, she walked toward the Holy Maiden’s bedchamber on her own.

Due to the Church of Darkness not having enough guest rooms at the headquarters, the Holy Maiden’s bedchamber had become a guest house—a guest house for Wayne, the envoy of the Church of Nature.

Watching Vichy march to her fall, Ines murmured with a smile, “You’re interesting, too, but I have more important things to take care of. I can’t tame you personally in the meantime.”

A dark vortex emerged. With a kick of her foot, Ines fell backward into the darkness along with her tipped chair. Beyond the vortex was the Divine Realm of Darkness.

That day, the Goddess of Darkness’s corrupted partial thoughts returned to her trusty Divine Realm.

Now, back to the guesthouse.

There was not much to be said about what was happening. Wayne had taken out Hard Times and translated some of the phrases for Anastasia[1]. She was a quick learner. In no time, she was able to apply what she had learned and embody the essence of those phrases.

Tongue-biting thrill, playing hard to get, in too deep to stop, haste makes waste... Also, the Jade Maiden’s Kama Sutra, too. Well, that was actually completely made up. He wouldn’t get into it[2].

Vichy reached the door of the guesthouse and heard what sounded like cards slapping the table, as well as the impassioned murmurs of an intense argument. Her hand halted right before making contact with the door. She wasn’t sure whether she should knock.

Remembering the Goddess of Darkness’s order, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before knocking gingerly. “Boss, I’m coming—”

“Out.”

“Boss—”

“Out!”

“...”

Vichy weighed her options. She had to follow the orders of both the goddess and Her consort, so finding a middle ground between their orders, she chose to stand guard outside the door.

To prevent rumors of the Holy Maiden stealing a boy toy from Nature’s High Reverend from spreading, she considerately created a soundproof barrier.

***

The next day, the Holy Maiden was unable to attend the welcoming ceremony for the Church of Nature due to health reasons. The Envoy of the Church of Nature was absent, too. Hearing that the Holy Maiden was down with the weather, the envoy had traveled several meters to knock on the door next to his, bringing her the folk remedies of his home country.

At any other church, the absurd excuse would’ve led to rumors of the Holy Maiden losing her purity running rampant, but not at the Church of Darkness. It wasn’t because the leadership of the church was naive, but because Anastasia had established such an image that even though the Pope had unreasonably arranged for Wayne to live in the Holy Maiden Basilica, no one suspected anything.

First, the Pope’s and the Holy Maiden’s devotion to their faith was unquestionable. Second, Wayne was a spy planted in the Church of Nature, making him one of their own. The Pope must have made the arrangement because they had confidential matters to discuss.

Last but not least, the former Darkness Knight, Vichy, was at the basilica as well. The righteous, noble knight would stop anything impure from happening.

They had always been good at making up justifications.

It wasn’t until the next afternoon that Wayne walked out of the Holy Maiden Basilica with an afterglow. He had lived up to expectations and alleviated the Holy Maiden’s illness. He would prescribe medicine to her later, which would cure her within a few days.

The Holy Maiden had fallen ill because of exhaustion, having worked hard for her faith for countless nights without any complaint. A light injury wouldn’t stop her from staying at the frontline, slaving away with complete devotion.

Such a heavy workload would make even the healthiest person fall ill, let alone when she was already over a hundred years old. The betrayal of the Great Sage made her blame herself for disappointing her faith. As a result, she collapsed.

(눈_눈)

In Vichy’s heart, she cursed as much as there was grass in the Church of Nature’s headquarters[3].

Wayne led Vichy to the Pope’s office.

Before closing the door, Pope Ivan put his hands in his pockets like he was the biggest man in the room; after closing the door, Pope Ivan bowed his head and stood to attention like a servant.

Wayne sat at the massive desk and said, “Relax, Ivan. This is Knight Vichy. The goddess had left. You’re the most important figure of the church at this moment.”

“The goddess is always with me,” Ivan said, leaving nothing to chance.

How shrewd of you!

Wayne nodded to himself before standing up, yielding the desk to Ivan. At the end of the day, Ivan was his father-in-law. Wayne was quite partial to Anastasia and found Ivan much more agreeable than Auston.

If Auston was even thirty percent as good a man as Ivan, Wayne wouldn’t have been making up lies to see him launched into the sky.

It’s all Auston’s fault!

Ines had left for an unknown reason. Wayne guessed that She was returning to Her Divine Realm to study Her corrupted thoughts.

He was no longer as confident in his corruption as he had been. Even with Her thoughts corrupted, the Goddess of Darkness was able to do whatever She wanted, and the abomination in the inner world could even ignore Wayne’s corruption altogether, crushing his white foam.

The world was vast with many powerful individuals. He shouldn’t assume he was at the top of the world just because he had killed a few demons. Besides, even if he was at the top, enemies could come from above the top.

The path to evolution was long. He could take pride in himself, but he shouldn’t allow himself to get prideful. Say no to the Seven Deadly Sins!

Ivan insisted on standing like a subordinate. Wayne didn’t press.

“Before Her departure, the goddess specified that you would still be in charge of the major decisions at the church,” Wayne said. “Do not make concessions just because someone has connections. A no is a no.”

Ivan didn’t dare to talk back, so he nodded and asked when Wayne would be heading to the warehouse. The weather was dry, he said suggestively. So beware of fire.

“That can wait. There are two things I need you to do,” Wayne said. “First, the Church of Darkness has to support the Church of Nature. You turned me down last time on the grounds of your principles, so I had no choice but to bring the goddess over to warn you...”

“I’ll only be here for ten days, and it’s been four days. Arrange a reciprocal visit to the Church of Nature for your Holy Maiden so that the two churches may sign a non-aggression treaty. It may not work, but it’ll at least quiet the dissents.”

“Second, look into the Great Sage’s supporters. Have you heard of the God of Storm and Thunder? The faith’s been on the rise lately, with an evil faction pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The goddess scorns their existence, so the Church of Darkness must cut ties with them immediately.”

Ivan glanced at Darkness Knight Vichy. The goddess’s knight had been following Wayne’s order like his personal bodyguard, serving him by day and serving him by night. The hand behind it all was clear.

Though the goddess had not spelled it out, She had given both Her Holy Maiden and chosen knight to Wayne. The church, naturally...

“I’ll make the arrangement as soon as possible so that the Holy Maiden may return to the headquarters of the Church of Nature with you.”

“That’s decided then.”

Wayne nodded, heading to the treasury of the Church of Darkness with Ivan leading the way.

Like a mouse walking right into a barn.

1. The raw references Adventures of Tintin because Tintin’s official translation is 丁丁 (ding-ding), and 丁丁 is a slang term for penis. The adventures of Tintin thus become the adventures of male genitalia. As the innuendo doesn’t exist in the English title, I’ve opted for a different book title for a similar effect. ☜

2. In the original, this line strings together four four-character idioms that all start with the character 欲, which means ‘desire’. Then the author references Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, a cultivation manual from Jin Young’s classic wuxia novel, The Return of the Condor Heroes. Jade, 玉, is pronounced the same as 欲 (yu), ‘desire’, and 經, ‘sutra’, is pronounced the same as 惊 (jing), ‘shock’. The author replaces the first word and the last word of the name of the manual to turn it into a false four-character idiom to go with the previous four, which more or less means, “The lustful maiden’s heart shudders.” ☜

3. The original is “The knight’s heart is like the Church of Nature’s headquarters, filled with endless grass.” Grass, pronounced ‘cao’, only differs in tone from the swear word 操(cao), meaning “fuck”, so it’s commonly used as a substitute for the curse. ☜