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My curiosity grew just as rapidly as Bedler’s intense gaze continued. If he was going to bring up heresies out of nowhere to pique my interest, then he should take responsibility instead of clamming up like that. Wasn’t it just cruel to leave me hanging? One of the two most frustrating ways to talk to someone was to start a conversation and then abruptly stop, and the second was—

“Ah, I apologize.”

Luckily, Bedler seemed to realize his rudeness and hastily broke the silence. Fine, I’ll let it slide since he spoke up before I had to push him.

“As I mentioned earlier, I sensed the presence of heresy in you, brother. However, I can’t quite pinpoint which god’s influence it is.”

Still, my curiosity wasn’t fully satisfied, so I subtly glanced at Tannian. From the way Bedler was talking, there really seemed to be some heretical aura I wasn’t aware of. But how could Tannian, who I’d spent almost a year with, fail to notice an aura strong enough for a stranger to detect immediately?

I might have brushed it off as a lack of experience if Tannian were a novice priest. However, Tannian was the next in line to become a saint. If anyone would have missed it, it should’ve been Bedler—not Tannian.

“I’m not skilled at detecting heresy.”

Sensing my gaze, Tannian quickly defended himself, saying that this wasn’t his area of expertise.

That sounded odd. Just last summer, I watched Tannian use his holy tracking spell to utterly dismantle the Twilight Cult. It was like having a god’s-eye view of everything. And now he was telling me that he was weak at detecting heresy? If that was the case, then only someone like Enen would count as strong.

“Couldn’t you just use your tracking spell to find out?”

“Haha, the tracking spell only works on heretics who have received direct power from a god. Traces left behind are a different matter entirely.”

That didn’t make sense. Wasn’t it still heretical energy whether it was a heretic or just a trace?

“If I go into more detail, I’d have to delve into theology… Do you really need me to?”

“No.”

Sensing an incoming overload of unnecessary information, I shook my head firmly. I didn’t need to know that much.

“We heresy archivists are especially sensitive to heretical energies. In this field, at least, I’m more of an expert than Tannian.”

Bedler’s additional explanation seemed reasonable, so I decided to let it go. I didn’t know much about holy spells or priests in the first place, so it would be ridiculous for me to argue. If the experts say so, then I’ll just trust them. There was no point in overthinking it.

Besides, it made sense that different priests would specialize in different areas. Knights and mages had specialized skill trees, so it only made sense that priests would, too.

“Brother, if it’s not too much trouble…”

Apparently still unable to figure out the source of the trace, Bedler tilted his head in thought before speaking cautiously.

“Could you remove your clothes?”

?

My mind went blank for a moment.

***

Naturally, he wasn’t asking me to strip for some inappropriate reason.

“It’s just that relying solely on intuition has its limits. I think I’ll need to confirm things more directly by looking at the trace.”

It was like asking someone to remove their mask to see their face because just hearing their voice wasn’t enough. Well, that was true. Looking directly would be more reliable than relying on the aura he felt under my clothes.

“Of course, this is purely my personal curiosity, so please feel free to refuse. I’m actually sorry for even asking such a thing…”

“It’s fine. Taking off my shirt isn’t a problem.”

Although Bedler stepped back a little, perhaps noticing how strange his request was, backing out was a crime since he’d piqued my curiosity this much. Now that he’d caught my interest, I was curious myself.

And I realized something after he asked me to remove my clothes. I should’ve known earlier when Bedler was staring at my upper body.

It’s the scar.

A scar ran from my left shoulder down to near my right hip, like a long highway. It was a parting gift from Kagan, who gave me a final strike before he died. No matter how I looked at it, it could only be that. He had muttered something about ‘the Eternal Blue Sky’ when he cut me, so it must be connected.

“Ah, this is it.”

When we moved to a more secluded spot and I showed him the scar, Bedler, who had been wearing a complicated expression, suddenly broke into a wide smile.

Now that I think about it, he really was an oddball. Even the Minister had grimaced when he saw this scar for the first time, calling it ghastly.

Is it his thirst for knowledge?

He reminded me of Gerhardt, who had dedicated his life to the study of the North’s history. Bedler seemed like the kind of person whose curiosity and desire for knowledge came before anything else. Otherwise, why would he react like this?

“Ah, I see. It’s vast yet confined, turbulent yet serene. With such a complex nature, it’s no wonder it’s difficult to grasp.”

“I see.”

He was using some strange expressions, but I ignored them. If this was the way experts spoke, then so be it.

Bedler spent a long time examining the scar before nodding, looking quite satisfied. The confusion he’d shown in the booth was gone, as if he had now identified exactly whose trace this was.

“Thank you for indulging my request.”

I gave a light nod in response to Bedler’s near-90-degree bow. I only cooperated because I was curious myself, and I had my own favor to ask of this heresy expert.

“So, did you figure out which heresy it is?”

“It’s the ‘Eternal Blue Sky.’ It’s a god worshiped by the nomads in the North—a unique deity that is both a nature god and an animal god.”

Since this matched my suspicions, I nodded. Of course it was related to Kagan’s final strike. If it had been some ordinary curse, it wouldn’t still be causing this unhealable penalty.

That bastard. I had hoped it wasn’t true, but it looked like he really did hit me with divine energy. So, that wasn’t just an ordinary cut—it was divine punishment. No wonder it hit so hard.

Anyway, I felt more at ease now that we knew the source. It wasn’t some random god I’d never heard of, and asking for Bedler’s help would be easier since he was familiar with this god.

“I have a favor to ask as well.”

“Oh, of course. Please feel free to ask. If it’s within my ability, I’ll gladly help.”

Thankfully, Bedler had no intention of shirking his duties as a priest as he responded with a bright smile.

Good. Since he’d said that much, I could ask without holding back.

“About this heretical energy… is it possible to cleanse it?”

I asked carefully, my heart pounding a little. If Bedler was a specialist in detecting heresy, then surely he could also cleanse it, right?

The reason this scar had remained for so long was because of that cursed ‘Eternal Blue Sky.’ It was lodged in my body and refused to leave, which was why the wound wouldn’t heal. If I could evict this insane squatter, then the scar would definitely heal too.

Please. I don’t want to carry this thing for the rest of my life. If I had to show this scar every time I shared a bed, they’d honestly be horrified, not to mention that neither Louise nor Irina even knew I had this scar yet.

“Ah.”

The moment I saw Bedler’s subtle reaction, I knew. It wasn’t going to work.

Damn it.

That’s right. If this were a wound that a priest could heal, then someone would’ve done it long ago. After all, there had been plenty of priests who had tried to treat me right after the war, and surely one of them would’ve sensed the heretical energy if it had been something they could remove.

“I guess I asked for too much. Forget I said anything.”

Still, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. After learning the source of the scar, I had hoped that maybe I could get it healed as well—

“I can make it fainter.”

“What?”

Hope surged within me again. Did he mean he could weaken this unwanted guest in my body?

“Suppressing it would be impossible if it were divine punishment directly bestowed by a god, but your wound appears to be inflicted by a human. If the heretical energy was channeled through a human vessel, then it can be suppressed.”

My mind raced at this promising news. So, the wound wasn’t entirely the fault of the Eternal Blue Sky, but rather that bastard Kagan?

I silently apologized to the Eternal Blue Sky for wrongly blaming it with Kagan’s crime.

“Of course, completely erasing it is impossible. But even just weakening it should restore much of your health, so you can find some comfort in that…”

“Of course. I’d be more than grateful for that.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

With a small smile, Bedler began reciting a prayer as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Ugh!”

“Argh—“

However, we coughed up blood at the same time.

What the hell was happening now?

Both Bedler and I collapsed onto the ground, writhing in pain. After having my hopes so high, the unexpected shock hit me like a sledgehammer. It felt like a titanium spear had pierced my heart.

Beside me, my blood-spitting comrade Bedler was groaning in shock, struggling to lift his head. I almost called him ‘quack,’ but one look at his face kept me silent.

“Th-This is… strange. The god’s energy… the will of this god is too strong.”

Bedler muttered in confusion, spitting out the blood pooling in his mouth. He didn’t look like someone who had been careless. In fact, he looked like someone who had been diligently attempting a healing and was blindsided by the result.

“This only happens when a god is enraged… but for a wound caused by a mere human to invoke this level of interference?”

Still mumbling to himself, Bedler suddenly turned to me with a look of uncertainty.

“Brother, I need to confirm something.”

“What is it?”

“Have you ever killed an apostle of the Eternal Blue Sky, desecrated a shrine, or insulted a holy relic?”

Just hearing those ominous words sent shivers down my spine. Who in their right mind would do something so insane? Even a god who loved humanity would turn into an angry deity after that kind of treatment.

And the fact that something clicked in my mind made me shudder even more.

“An apostle is someone favored by a god and is acting on their behalf. You could think of them as the equivalent of a saint in the Dawn Sect. Holy relics are items bestowed upon these apostles by the gods.”

While Bedler helpfully continued explaining the terms and I stayed quiet, something indeed came to mind.

Unfortunately, the more he explained, the more my nagging suspicions turned to certainty.

An apostle?

“The final offering to the Eternal Blue Sky is myself.”

Judging by what Kagan said before, it seemed like that bastard was an apostle, after all. I was the one who landed the final blow.

A shrine?

“Team Manager, there’s a building that looks like a religious site—“

“Burn it. We can’t leave any rallying point for the Ga’ar tribe.”

Yeah, I probably burned it down when we wiped out the remnants of the Ga’ar tribe. I remember smashing a wolf statue at the entrance, too.

A holy relic?

“Master, this is—“

“Just throw it in the storeroom. There’s no need to take care of it.”

Could it have been that greatsword and scythe Kagan always carried around?

…

I’m fucked.

What should I do now? All this time, it wasn’t Enen messing up my life—it was the Eternal Blue Sky.