Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 1639: Chapter 1637: This World Is Actually...!?

”T-this can be done?”

”Of course it can, but...”

At this point, the receptionist looked troubled as she glanced at the Priestess of the Goddess.

”But if we proceed this way, it will be recorded in your record, you know. Because as it stands, the reason you accepted this commission seems to be because of Sir Knight here, and he’s the main combat force, right? Although for now, you don’t intend to hide this, if it’s recorded, I think it will make your future upgrade assessments quite difficult.”

”This...”

Hearing this, the Priestess of the Goddess’s expression changed slightly. Indeed, if two adventurers were acting together, forming a team would be fine. Experienced veterans mentoring newcomers is expected, but right now, Fang Zheng clearly doesn’t intend to officially become an adventurer, though he is effectively completing the tasks, which means that the Priestess of the Goddess essentially plays no role in the commission.

As the saying goes, once something happens, it may happen again. If the Priestess of the Goddess really helped Fang Zheng take on this commission, then her other commissions and tasks in the future will be questioned whether she even got involved or if it was handled by the man beside her.

In such a case, the Priestess of the Goddess wouldn’t have any achievements, and naturally couldn’t upgrade.

”What a hassle.”

Facing this answer, Fang Zheng also frowned.

”Then forget it, I know where the location is anyway. I’ll just go there and handle it directly, then come back and report it to you guys.”

”But doing this doesn’t count as accepting the commission, so there’s no payment.”

”I don’t lack money, treating it as free work isn’t bad, right?”

”Sir Knight, you’re making things difficult for us by doing this...”

The receptionist showed a bitter smile. Although Fang Zheng spoke lightly, the rules of the Adventurers’ Guild are such that, if someone is willing to undertake commissions for free, it might give others the illusion that they can post free commissions within the Guild. But if the reward is taken without payment, it could lead to criticism.

”What does it matter? If by any chance the bandits’ hideout gets hit by a mudslide, do you think you could give reward to the mudslide? Just consider it a natural disaster, and there, the problem’s solved.”

”That’s not a valid excuse, you’re being unreasonable...”

”Um...!”

Just as the receptionist was arguing her case, the Priestess of the Goddess seemed to have made a decision and stepped in.

”Well, I-I am willing to take the commission on behalf of Sir Knight.”

”Really? You should understand what that means.”

”Yes, but... Sir Knight saved my life. Without him, I might already be dead...”

At this point, the Priestess of the Goddess couldn’t help but think of the body of the swordsman still lying in the cave, clutching her name tag tightly.

”So... I want to repay Sir Knight.”

”... Alright then.”

Hearing this, the receptionist sighed helplessly. Then she picked up a scroll, wrote a few strokes, and put it away solemnly.

”Come on, don’t look like that. Maybe we’ll fail the mission, who knows? You see, if we fail, then it would be a clean slate, right? As a newcomer, it’s normal to fail one or two missions in the beginning, right? You don’t have to worry about breaking Guild rules, do you?”

”Please don’t joke about it, Sir Knight.”

Facing Fang Zheng’s words, all the receptionist could do was sigh.

”But, you must bring this lady back safely. If she fails to return to the Guild safely, there might be suspicions that you attacked and killed an adventurer.”

”Don’t worry, with me here, not a single hair will be harmed.”

Thus, the two accepted the commission at the Adventurers’ Guild, and then the next morning, Fang Zheng and the Priestess of the Goddess left the small town together.

”Speaking of which, how are your other two companions?”

Walking along the road, seeing the Priestess of the Goddess alone, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but ask curiously. The Priestess of the Goddess paused for a moment, then answered softly.

According to the Priestess of the Goddess, the female magician seemed to have suffered quite a shock, shutting herself in since waking up. Meanwhile, the female martial artist intended to collect her companion’s corpse and return to her hometown together. Talking about this made the Priestess of the Goddess a bit wistful. Yesterday was her first time leaving the temple to become an adventurer and setting off for adventure, and then these things happened... If everything had gone smoothly, they might have formed a team and continued adventuring together.

But now, in just one day, they’ve gone their separate ways...

”These things happen, you just have to get used to it... by the way...”

As they talked, Fang Zheng looked at the Priestess of the Goddess, which reminded him of a joke he once saw on a forum.

”Looking at you reminds me of a joke I once heard.”

”A joke?”

”Yes, you see, we say there are two kinds of clerics...”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng pointed at the Priestess of the Goddess.

”Look, at the mage robe with low leg defense, the flashy but impractical magic wand, and after using up the Divine Arts, they become a burden to the team — we call them false clerics.”

”Ah? Ah?”

Facing Fang Zheng’s response, the Priestess of the Goddess was at a loss and a bit disgruntled, after all, aren’t all clerics like her?

”Then what is a true cleric?”

”Hmm... a fully enclosed armor that provides a sense of security, a Power Hammer that can smash a demon’s head, and a spiritual leader who leads the team into battle?”

”That’s not even a cleric!”

Upon hearing this, the Priestess of the Goddess couldn’t help but retort.

”Hahaha, just kidding! But to be honest, the clerics I know don’t wear armor, though they’re pretty similar otherwise.”

”Is, is that so?”

”Yes, well... I once had a companion who was a cleric, about your age. She was delicate and frail, had a weak appearance, always holding a wand in her hand, very caring about others’ pain. She was a very gentle girl.”

At this point, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but think of Fina.

”So, what happened then?”

”Well, during battles... she’d put down the wand and take out a meteor hammer from her bag and smash it directly at the enemy.”

”...Huh?”

Hearing this, the Priestess of the Goddess was completely stunned.

”Really?”

”Of course, she was on a pilgrimage at the time... Ah, which means traveling the world alone. You know, a girl traveling alone, especially a pretty one, in the wild has a high chance of encountering bandits and creatures. But typically, she’d bash them to death with her meteor hammer.”

”This...this...”

After hearing Fang Zheng’s words, the Priestess of the Goddess was completely at a loss.

”But, isn’t that not what a cleric should do...?”

”Isn’t it? Divine Arts have a limited number of uses, right? If you’re on a long adventure, and accidentally run out of uses, and can’t rest immediately, wouldn’t you be useless? Not having a way to protect yourself could be very dangerous. Just like this time, your Divine Arts didn’t really help, did they? If you had the power to protect yourself, maybe the situation wouldn’t be so bad, right?”

”Ah...”

Hearing this, the Priestess of the Goddess lowered her head. Indeed, as Fang Zheng said, although she could use Divine Arts, she could only use ”Little Healer” and ”Holy Light”, and these two weren’t used at all in the previous battle. During the entire battle, she was like a wooden figure, only able to watch helplessly as her teammates were attacked and killed, without being able to do anything.

If she could swing a meteor hammer to smash those creatures...

Ugh... still feels a bit hard to accept.

By dusk, the two finally found the mountain bandits’ lair.

”Looks pretty lively.”

Looking at the brightly lit bandit hideout not far away, Fang Zheng chuckled and picked up his greatsword.

”Well, wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Saying this, Fang Zheng grabbed his greatsword and silently vanished into the shadows.

These bandits had set up sentries, but for Fang Zheng, they were practically nonexistent. He first stealthily slipped into the lair, where the bandits were laughing while drinking and eating meat, and playing with the loot they had stolen.

Hmm... doesn’t seem like there’s much here?

Looking at this seemingly ordinary bandit gang, Fang Zheng was a bit puzzled. He hadn’t directly attacked because when he saw the commission about this gang before, he had a bad feeling, so to be safe, he planned to investigate first.

But now it seems...

”Fireball Technique!”

Suddenly, just as Fang Zheng was thinking, a scream rang out. Then a fireball fell from the sky, landing in the bandits’ lair. An explosion and flames shot up, blasting the entire bandit hideout to smithereens.

”You brutal thieves!”

At this moment, a petite girl with bright red hair, draped in a black cape, leaped down, landing among the bandits.

Seeing the girl, Fang Zheng was immediately shocked, quickly bending down to hide in the shadows. Then he peeked out and stared at the girl in amazement.

And it seemed Fang Zheng wasn’t the only one shocked. In fact, the other bandits upon seeing the girl were also frightened. The bandit leader, still drinking and eating, jumped up, pointing at her with a pale face.

”You-you-you, you’re the one with no patience, who loves misusing magic, and is the Thief Hunter... Lina Inbas!”

”Correct!”

On hearing the bandit leader’s answer, Lina Inbas chuckled, then swung her magic forward!

”Boom!!!”

Watching the bandit camp engulfed in flames, and the bandits being blasted away, Fang Zheng swallowed silently, then turned and stooped away.

Sneak away...

”Eh? Sir Knight?”

Upon seeing Fang Zheng return so quickly, the waiting Priestess of the Goddess was a bit surprised.

”What did you do, over there...?”

”Someone beat us to it, we should retreat.”

”Ri-right now?”

”Of course, you saw, right? That’s a very powerful mage, with her here those bandits are done for. Best not to add to the chaos... Alright, let’s go...”

”Ah... sure...”

Seeing Fang Zheng acting as if eager to avoid trouble, the Priestess of the Goddess was a bit puzzled, but she nodded obediently.

Fang Zheng immediately turned and whisked the Priestess of the Goddess away from the scene at top speed.

Now he finally understood, what a bizarre world this is!