CHAPTER 291: A CLUE

There was a small town in the basement of the residential area.

Phosphorescent stones were embedded in the walls, and torches were placed where there were no phosphorescent stones.

“…?”

“Who is that? I’ve never seen him before.”

“The chairman must have opened it with magic. Is he a guest of Chairman Noticad?”

“But I don’t see the chairman anywhere.”

People wearing robes engraved with the Rosicrucian Order symbol muttered as they looked at Ethan.

‘The security is thorough. I guess since there are few people, they can tell who opened the door.’

Ethan examined various parts of the underground town with the Eye of Horus.

‘High-level magic.’

Even magic that Ethan had never seen before was spread out here and there.

Moreover, artifacts were planted all over the place, and he could tell that they were prepared to intercept outsiders immediately if necessary.

‘It would be better not to fight in here.’

“Hello.”

Having thought that, Ethan greeted them politely.

“Sir Noticad is currently elsewhere. The Dawn Council’s pursuit is catching up.”

“…Who are you?”

When Ethan mentioned the Dawn Council, their expressions hardened even more.

Ethan continued speaking, unconcerned.

“I followed Sir Noticad, saying that I could treat the disease in my body and complete the ritual here.”

At Ethan’s answer, a believer who looked slightly younger than Noticad approached.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re from the Dawn Council…”

Ethan, who appeared out of nowhere, was quite suspicious in many ways.

As everyone tensed up, Ethan naturally approached the young believer.

The believer momentarily became wary and tried to use black magic, but Ethan’s words were faster.

“If you’re suspicious, you can check. What’s in my body.”

“…?”

“May I ask what your position is? I understand that Sir Noticad, who guided me here, is the chairman.”

“…Vice chairman.”

“Then you would know well. Take a look.”

The vice chairman narrowed his eyes and put his hand on Ethan’s body. At the same time, all the believers of the Rosicrucian Order grabbed their staffs. Ｒ𝘈ɴΟʙËs

They intended to unleash black magic immediately if Ethan made any false moves.

The vice chairman slowly took Ethan’s hand.

At that moment, an enormous amount of yin energy penetrated into the vice chairman’s body.

“Huk… huk…”

As the vice chairman let out a painful groan, the believers immediately drew a magic circle.

Just as the pitch-black energy gathered in the magic circle was about to be fired, the vice chairman urgently raised his hand.

“St-stop!”

“Vice Chairman!”

“Are you alright!”

“You bastard, what did you do to the Vice Chairman…!”

“Are you from the Dawn Council!”

“What happened to the Chairman…!”

“No, it’s not like that!”

The vice chairman shouted.

“This person has the ritual in his body! And it’s the unmodified original version of the ritual!”

“…What?”

“O-original?”

The bewildered believers lowered their staffs and approached Ethan. Soon they were astonished.

“I-impossible.”

“It, it’s true! It really is! This isn’t modified… it’s the original itself.”

“Such tremendous yin energy… no, how can it be there just like that…”

Everyone looked at Ethan with disbelieving expressions.

Everyone present knew very well about Extinction. It was because new believers no longer came to the Rosicrucian Order.

All of them had been working hard to modify Extinction, the ritual, as much as possible to summon gods according to the Rosicrucian Order’s goal.

That’s why they knew.

This person was a miracle. A miracle itself.

“H-he’s alive…”

“How can he be alive.”

Everyone was dumbfounded. It was the original version of the ritual. The original version of the summoning ritual was virtually considered to be something wrongly created within the Rosicrucian Order.

What good is it if the ritual itself is perfect?

There was no vessel that could withstand that ritual.

That’s why they had to go through the ritual several times, but it was modified to reduce the burden and increase the success rate.

But Ethan had the original version of that ritual.

Not only was he alive, but beyond that.

“N-no way. Wait, are you perhaps Ethan Whiskers?”

“That’s right. That person is Ethan Whiskers. That Ethan Whiskers.”

There were people who recognized Ethan.

“That’s correct.”

When Ethan nodded, the two who recognized him let out a sigh. As far as they knew, Ethan Whiskers was a renowned teacher recognized by the Sword Saint and Master Regia.

“Then with the original version of that ritual… in such a short period… he became that strong?”

“That doesn’t make sense…”

The believers’ jaws dropped.

‘Well, this has cleared up their suspicions.’

“Can you properly explain how this happened?”

The original version of the ritual inside Ethan’s body.

And Ethan mentioning Noticad’s name.

The vice chairman began to have some trust in him.

But that was only for a moment.

“Big, big trouble!”

“…What’s wrong?”

“The, the chairman above…!”

One believer urgently came down carrying someone on his back.

It was Noticad’s corpse.

At that moment, everyone’s gaze fixed on Ethan.

“E-Ethan… you said the chairman sent you here…”

‘To make them trust me completely.’

The surest way to build trust is to arouse suspicion and then clearly resolve it.

He had intended to resolve the matter whether he was caught or not, but he didn’t expect to be discovered so quickly.

‘It’s much more effective to resolve suspicion.’

Ethan put on a dejected expression right there.

“How could this be… Chairman.”

“What happened?”

At the vice chairman’s stern expression, Ethan let out a sigh.

“As I mentioned just now, there was a pursuit by the Dawn Council. I had some trouble with those followers of the Moon… sigh, I never imagined things would turn out like this. They tried to kill me first. Saying they couldn’t let me, the result of the ritual, live. In the midst of that, Sir Noticad risked his life to guide me here.”

“!”

It was clearly a suspicious situation, but Ethan knew too much for that to be the case.

Even the most important parts of internal affairs.

Therefore, the suspicion was resolved, and the resolved suspicion turned into trust.

‘They’re clearly in great conflict with the Dawn Council. I can definitely use this.’

But there was no need to embrace the Rosicrucian Order.

‘If the Rosicrucian Order had the definite ability to cure Extinction, they would have surely come looking for me. But these people have lost too much about Extinction.’

Moreover, the Rosicrucian Order didn’t even know that Ethan was suffering from Extinction.

‘The Rosicrucian Order has already declined.’

They don’t have a way to completely cure Extinction. From the looks of it, the possibility of them stealing the original magic book of Extinction, which is expected to be in the possession of the Dawn Council, also seemed low.

‘Then it’s best to use them to check on the Dawn Council’s movements and stop them.’

They owe Ethan a great debt.

‘Even if I just get rid of them all here, the Rosicrucian Order would have nothing to say.’

Setting aside the evil deeds they’ve committed for now, there’s the Extinction that’s affecting Ethan himself right now.

“The Dawn Council bastards continue to target me. To prevent me from curing this Extinction and becoming a perfect vessel for a god.”

Ethan’s story contained details that only someone inside the Rosicrucian Order would know. The vice chairman judged that Ethan must have heard various stories through the chairman.

“You know everything.”

The vice chairman bowed his head respectfully.

“The chairman said that a god has taken residence in my body.”

“Ohhh…”

“Ohhhhhh…!”

At Ethan’s words, all the believers prostrated themselves.

In addition, all the believers who had been hiding here and there came out.

‘I thought there weren’t many, but…’

There were far more than expected.

‘I guess they’ve developed amazing hiding skills from constantly being chased by the Dawn Council.’

They didn’t even register on Ethan’s senses.

‘This might be more useful than I thought.’

“Oh god…”

“Everyone, please stand up. I have one request. That’s why I came here. Chairman Noticad opened the door and told me to come here.”

Mixing lies with truth made it all too natural.

“God, you don’t need to make requests of us. Just give us orders. We will follow your will.”

‘Blind faith. This is why cults are easy to handle.’

“First, please bring everything related to the treatment of Extinction.”

***

Shaaah-.

In a dark room.

Ethan heard all the explanations related to the Rosicrucian Order through the vice chairman.

“Our Rosicrucian Order always keeps the chairman position vacant to honor the eternal chairman, Sundrake. Therefore, Noticad, who is called the chairman, is actually one of the highest executives. The same goes for me. And under me are the Rose Apostles.”

As it was a religion separated from the Dawn Council, there were many similarities.

“Under those Rose Apostles are the First Order and Second Order level personnel…”

The Rosicrucian Order seems to operate with a structure similar to the Dawn Council, but the level is no match for the Dawn Council.

‘It’s quite interesting. The things they do are perfectly suited for the Demon Empire, but they can’t spread their wings there and have come over to the Holy Empire to operate.’

It’s not because the Holy Empire is easy. It’s because this country is quite lenient towards religion.

On the other hand, the nobles of the Demon Empire, and the emperor, never show tolerance towards religion.

‘If the continent is destined to perish, they want to destroy it with their own hands.’

It’s hard to find sane people in the Demon Empire. The higher you go up the upper class, the more so.

‘That’s why the gameplay was fun though.’

There’s only one rule there. Only strength receives respect and recognition.

“This ritual will be performed with the Rose Apostles. First, we’ll start with a check.”

Shaaah-.

As Ethan stepped onto the magic circle, a reaction immediately appeared.

“Ah…”

The vice chairman saw the aura of yin energy rising from Ethan’s body. Yin energy sinking endlessly cold.

It was the legendary black magic itself that Sundrake had created by burning his life.

The Rose Apostles groaned. Even though it was just a check, a considerable amount of mental strength and mana was consumed.

A situation where they felt like they would faint if they kept looking. The vice chairman quickly perceived this and proceeded with the ritual.

The important thing was to extract the power of that Extinction.

Like the modified version of Extinction, lowering its power.

But because it was such a mighty power, they didn’t know where to start.

“Begin modification.”

“Yes.”

While the vice chairman and the Rose Apostles were treating Extinction.

Ethan was deeply submerged beneath the ritual.

Numerous scenes were passing before Ethan’s eyes.

‘My memories.’

They were moments of struggling to survive.

The days of suddenly becoming Ethan Whiskers and doing numerous things to literally survive.

‘And the New World.’

Ethan was a subscriber with enough power to change the landscape of the New World, the battlefield of gods.

‘That was ultimately for my survival too.’

In the end, they were things done looking only at short-term survival and the near future.

‘I should think about it.’

If Extinction is cured and life is no longer threatened, what will be done then.

This place was no longer fake for either Ethan or Yedam. (+)[1]TLN: Remember Yedam? If so, you’re truly the real readers. But if not, well, he’s MC’s name before he became Ethan.

‘Not just the treatment of Extinction, but the next step. And I need to think about the step after that too.’

What Ethan wanted now was no longer just simple survival.

Grrrr-.

Like sinking into a great sea, Ethan’s body kept going down.

The lower he went, the darker his vision became, and Ethan’s thoughts accelerated.

In the midst of this, light came down from above.

That light became a giant hand, wrapped around Ethan who was sinking down, and lifted him up.

At the same time, Ethan opened his eyes.

“It’s become clear.”

It felt like the fog in his head had cleared.

-Survival probability increases!

“We’ve succeeded, Lord Ethan!”

Rose Apostles sprawled all around. Only the vice chairman was standing in place.

Ethan checked his body condition.

‘Is it because this is where Extinction was directly created? It’s quite good.’

It felt like being freed from chains that had been binding his whole body.

Of course, it wasn’t a perfect body condition.

‘But at least it feels similar to when I awakened.’

Ethan was surprised at his light body condition, as if he had just molted.

-You have received a new quest!

-Survive as Ethan Whiskers -6

And a new quest arrived.

—

Translator Note:

Ah yeah, forgot to mention. Changing the structure of Rosicrucian Order from “president”-related title to “chairman”

* 1. TLN: Remember Yedam? If so, you’re truly the real readers. But if not, well, he’s MC’s name before he became Ethan.

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