---

104. Childhood Friend – Jinmyung

“Are you leaving? Where to? Why?”

Leo asked his father, who was setting up an altar.

But he didn’t answer.

He moved slowly, as if searching his memories, just completing the altar with uncertainty.

‘Leaving? He’s grown up enough?’

Thinking back, there was a time when I rummaged through the continent during the last Beggar Siblings scenario, visiting this village of Demos in search of my younger sister.

At that time, my father had vanished.

I thought he was staying away because of the incident with Hans, where my son killed him… but that wasn’t the case.

‘But this never happened before?’

Previously, when Lena was kicked out of the Monastery Church, I had sent her off and had gone hunting for a while to save travel expenses. I had to flee in a hurry after killing Hans, but until then, my father hadn’t said anything about leaving.

Leo pondered deeply. And soon realized what had caused this change.

‘Hunting.’

It was clear that from the very beginning, his father had planned to leave with his son behind.

So when Leo sent Lena away and focused on hunting to save for the journey, his father handed him snake liquor and asked how he felt about Barbatos, even suggesting he try selling jerky himself.

He was preparing to make his son independent.

Had Leo not killed Hans at that time and successfully sold the jerky, he would have surely heard the same words about leaving.

On the other hand, this time… Leo had stayed at the lodge for two months since the beginning of the scenario to avoid Lena. He concentrated on hunting while trying to put aside his feelings of keeping her as a friend.

Consequently, his father’s reaction was quicker than before. He grew close to Lena, holding hands and flirting, much faster than when he used to avoid coming to the lodge…

The {Hunting} skill likely played a role in eliciting this reaction.

Leo had hunting skills sufficient to fend for himself, and his father had been watching him closely every time. He even opened his mouth, saying, “Leo. You’ve improved a lot.”

I had always seized the moment to earn money then…

If it weren’t for someone named Minseo, he would have had to wait much longer.

Without a {Hunting} skill, he would have had to wait until his son grew up, until he reached adulthood.

But where was he going?

Leo scratched his neck, waiting for the altar to be completed. His father was pondering where to place the last candle.

‘It should go in the north…’

Although he knew how to set up an altar from {History of the God Ashin} information, he didn’t intervene. He stared at his father, who was lost in thought while holding the candle.

I don’t know this father’s name.

A dangerously taciturn hunter, he had cut off interactions with the villagers; no one called him anything but “Leo’s Father.”

It would be just as ridiculous as asking his father’s name for the son to inquire, so he had stayed silent all along, his name becoming irrelevant to him.

Not knowing his name, there was no way to know his past either.

From Sir Corin, the Holy Knight’s reaction, he seemed like a survivor from some slaughtered barbarian tribe…

Meanwhile, the last candle took its place. Among the eight directions, two candles were specifically placed in the north.

In truth, this was less about paying attention to the north and more about ‘hiding’ it. The deity was said to reside in the north, so it was a sign of trying to curry favor while offering to another god.

“Leo. Stand over here.”

The nameless father finished preparing the altar and called his son over.

A quick glance revealed that things were set up properly.

There were bone fragments that Barbatos would likely favor, the candles marking the eight directions, and… one precious item to himself.

The hand mirror placed on the altar was something his father cherished dearly.

I don’t understand why he carries a mirror while not even grooming his beard.

However, Leo hesitated slightly before approaching the altar.

‘Somehow, it feels unsettling…’

His father quickly set up the altar with the eagerness of having his son become a follower of Barbatos. Since he said it was a must for a hunter to serve Him, it seemed like a natural reaction…

But why did this father ask about how he felt regarding Barbatos?

When he had answered previously that he couldn’t like him, his father hadn’t set up an altar then.

So he had essentially given his son a choice. He had asked for his son’s opinion about the deity, even after having tattoos of Him.

It felt like a mystery remained unsolved. Having waded into something without knowing much had never ended well before…

Although doubtful, Leo stood in front of the altar.

It was partly because he had already answered that Barbatos was a necessary being to serve, but also because this ceremony wasn’t a crucial affair.

It was akin to telling a student entering school, “From now on, you will be a middle schooler.” It was merely a minor rite.

…It should have been like that.

“O mighty Barbatos, here lies your devotee. Please accept this offering and let this child…”

His father knelt and prayed beside the table.

Then, silence descended.

‘W-what’s happening?’

His father’s words stopped. He froze, mouth agape.

He hadn’t stopped.

The nine flickering candles had stiffened, and the sound of wind outside the lodge had vanished. The stench of dried bones on the ground also disappeared.

Rigid, Leo felt… an intense presence. Though he couldn’t see it, someone was looking down at him.

= A splendid offering.

A voice that vibrated.

A sound that was endlessly heavy and solid resonated in his brain, and the hand mirror resting on the table levitated into the air. In the still world, that offering floated and spun slowly as if someone was inspecting it.

Warm joy surged within him.

= To think you expect to become a devotee with such a meager offering… You have no greed.

The mirror snapped and folded multiple times. Finally, it vanished from his sight, leaving behind a sense of satisfying fullness that enveloped the lodge.

[ Achievement: Devotee of Barbatos – You can fulfill minor wishes by offering tributes. ]

= I have heard your prayer. You are now my devotee, and I will take the offerings you provide. In return, I will watch over you and grant you what you lack. However,

After a brief pause, it proposed.

= The offering you have provided is excessive, and you must have some wishes. Speak, O one who has angered Oriax.

With that permission, Leo’s body regained its freedom. He instinctively gasped for air, shocked into a fit of hiccups.

Moving in a world frozen in time felt surreal. The air was dense. Breathing in felt like gulping down water.

“P-please remove this mark.”

Raising his palm, he squeezed his lungs to speak, but the words barely flowed out and hovered in front of him.

Was that enough? A gentle voice returned. The resonant voice was mixed with laughter.

= Is that truly what satisfies you? You are as devoid of greed as your father. If that is how you wish to proceed…

“W-wait a moment!”

Leo urgently inhaled the surrounding air and shouted. The mention of obtaining something more made him reveal his true intentions.

“Please give me… the power to stand against Oriax’s apostles.”

[ Achievement: Child God – You become stronger against Ashin and the Apostles. ]

Prince Eric de Yeriel.

He was an ‘apostle.’

According to {History of Ashin}, apostles were those who borrowed the powers of Ashin.

While ordinary devotees prayed and offered tributes to harness Ashin’s powers, it was a vastly indirect method.

For instance, the act of Leo’s father burying the heart and head of the game after every hunt had been, frankly, an inefficient offering ritual.

This world belonged to the deity.

Every blade of grass and cloud was His possession. Hence, to offer anything from this world to Ashin required complicated rites.

To enhance efficiency.

Even now, the candles marking the eight directions blocked the deity’s gaze with the marvelous flickering of fire (as if it could be blocked at all), while laying out the corpses of prey that Barbatos favored to provide a dwelling space for Him; this was still just a simplified ritual, and Barbatos must have only received a fraction of the recently vanished hand mirror.

However, an apostle was somewhat exempt from these ceremonial acts.

Of course, having a proper ritual would be much more effective, but apostles had a close contract with Ashin, granting them better efficiency in their offerings. They could borrow powers far more directly than devotees.

So to deal with the apostle Prince Eric de Yeriel…

= Very well. You shall become my apostle. All that you offer will be my power, and that power shall also become yours…

[ The achievement ‘Devotee of Barbatos’ is enhanced. ]

[ Achievement: Apostle of Barbatos – You can borrow the power of Barbatos according to the offerings you make. You cannot serve other deities. ]

The hoofprint stamped on Leo’s palm chased away the emblem of Barbatos.

= Now, my apostle. Speak your name to prove your service.

“My name is Leo.”

A moment of silence passed. Leo, feeling confused, waited, and Barbatos quietly asked again.

= …Your name is not Leo. State your true name.

“What? My name is indeed Leo…?”

He became flustered and glanced left and right. Could he be asking for Minseo’s name? But…

As he hesitated, Barbatos spoke again.

= You do not know your name. Fine. I shall be forgiving since you are the first apostle in hundreds of years. You must repay this grace. Your name is… ‘Reb.’

As soon as the name was spoken, the frozen world burst apart! A whirlwind of sorts descended around him.

But this wasn’t wind or anything. It felt like something had exploded and spread out, but the stiff candles showed no movement whatsoever.

Reb thought it oddly resembled the cheerful laughter that Kasia had unleashed, which had shaken the prairie.

= Now speak. State your name.

Barbatos urged him on, persistently requesting his name.

“My name is Reb.”

“…Grant me the honor of serving you.”

As soon as Reb finished speaking, the candles flickered once more.

The previously rigid father completed his stopped sentence and suddenly stood up. Seemingly as if nothing had happened, he approached his son as if it were all over.

Barbatos had vanished.

“Reb. I will be leaving now. You have grown up enough. You hunt well… Tomorrow, try bringing the jerky to sell.”

“…Yes.”

Reb nodded, unable to hide his bewilderment. As he adjusted back to reality, he twisted his wrist and rolled his shoulders to relax.

The nameless father noticed the hand mirror was missing while tidying the altar, his eyes widening in surprise.

He looked around under the table and on top, searching for where it had gone, and then stared incredulously at his son.

The deity had responded.

He had heard that Barbatos would take tributes during the offerings, but seeing it happen firsthand was a first for him.

Even the heads of the game buried in the ground had disappeared when he dug them up later, but to see something vanish in a split second like this was astounding.

Truth be told, he didn’t know much about the rite of offerings. Everything he knew was from what his parents taught him, and he had lost the chance to learn the rites of ceremonies at a young age.

This sole ritual of announcing that there was a new devotee was all he remembered seeing.

‘That day,’ he himself became a devotee of Barbatos. It was a day he could never forget…

Reb and his father stared at each other blankly for a moment. Though for different reasons, both were unable to contain their surprise.

Was it fortunate for Reb? As usual, his father asked nothing. Silently cleaning up the bone fragments, he collected the few candles that hadn’t melted and put them in a drawer before retreating to his room.

Reb too laid down on his bed and tried to sleep.

But his heart raced, and the voice of Barbatos that echoed in his mind made it difficult to fall asleep.

Later he would realize, but no longer was there Leo. There was no one in this lodge or in Demos with such a name.

Only Lena’s long-time childhood friend, ‘Reb’ remained.