“At least I can fight better than your average soldier.”
“Really?”
I was confident I was better than the soldiers who got beaten by orcs.
But perhaps my answer was unexpected, because Sean’s eyes sparkled.
“So you know swordsmanship too?”
“Swordsmanship?”
“My dad won’t teach me because it’s dangerous. My dad is really good at swordsmanship. He learned it at a swordsmanship guild for three whole months.”
I had my doubts about whether three months was really worth saying ‘three whole months,’ but there was clearly a difference between learning and not learning.
Even mastering a single movement was better than knowing nothing at all.
The only problem was that I knew how to deal with monsters, but not swordsmanship.
“I don’t know swordsmanship.”
“Huh?”
Sean’s face showed clear disappointment.
“Not at all?”
“Nope.”
No matter how often unexpected situations arose inside the Tower, a Healer had no business swinging a sword.
“I could teach you some bare-handed combat instead.”
“Eh, that’s fine.”
“…Alright.”
But Sean shook his head and refused.
As if bare-handed combat didn’t appeal to him much, unlike swordsmanship.
He didn’t even realize how precious the opportunity that had fallen into his lap really was.
…
After returning to my room, I immediately opened the Gallery again.
With the minor issue resolved, I planned to continue my Theology studies.
[Blue Horse Tower Vice Tower Master Executed for Demon Summoning Research]
[LOL) Elf Body That Goes Hard]
[Is the Gallery on a potato server? Why so much lag]
“Hm?”
But when I opened the Gallery, I couldn’t resist my curiosity and clicked on a few posts.
The loading took a bit long, probably because of the attached images.
Title: LOL) Elf Body That Goes Hard
(A picture of a small green-skinned bipedal monster wearing a bikini)
[You piece of shit]
[Seriously, if I ever run into you on the street, it’s over for you]
[ARM BAND!!!!!!!]
‘Hm, so elves are monsters that look like orcs.’
I soon lost interest and moved back to the post I was reading in the Information Tab.
‘It’s a pain to find where I left off.’
Since the content was long, finding the last part I read was quite a hassle.
If there were a search function, it’d be different, but there wasn’t, so I had to scroll almost all the way to the end before stopping.
‘Well, I’ve read most of it anyway.’
The content was also nearing its end.
I could say all my efforts reading bit by bit whenever I had time had paid off.
Just as I thought I’d finish the remaining bit before dinner and moved to the next sentence.
-The Gallery service is restricted due to unstable server status.
‘…That’s inconvenient.’
The Gallery server that had been stuttering since earlier finally gave out like a potato server.
Fortunately, the post I already had open seemed fine, but I wouldn’t be able to open any other information posts until the server was restored.
‘Nothing I can do. I’ll just have to do something else while the server recovers.’
Of course, that was after I finished reading the current post.
Scrolling, scrolling.
I slowly scrolled down, reading the transcribed Scripture.
Even though I scrolled carefully, the scroll bar hit the bottom quickly since there wasn’t much left.
Soon, the old comments at the end of the post came into view.
I had finally read it all. Every single part of the Scripture.
‘So all that’s left is studying Pantheology, which covers twelve religions.’
The doctrine of the Flower Goddess Church, aside from interpretation, was already memorized, so if I just studied general theology, I could pull off a decent impression of a Priest.
However, studying theology would have to wait until the Gallery server was restored.
-503 Service Unavailable
I clicked on another post just in case, but all I got was an error message.
Without lingering on the unrecovered server, I closed the Gallery and got up.
There was still time before dinner, but I figured it’d be better to do something rather than lie in bed idly.
‘Now that I think about it, there was a Church.’
While looking for something to do, the Earth Church suddenly came to mind.
At the very least, a Church would have a theology book, or at least a related Scripture.
Especially since the Earth Goddess and the Flower Goddess were mother and daughter, even another religion’s Scripture would surely be helpful.
‘It’s better than doing nothing, at least.’
It felt like a hassle and a chore, but I figured the effort now would pay off later.
“Priest, it’s almost dinner time. Where are you going?”
“I’ll stop by the Church. I should be back before too late, but if I’m late, just leave me a loaf of bread.”
“Got it!”
I stepped out, seeing off the innkeeper’s daughter.
I didn’t know the direction of the Church, but finding my way wasn’t hard.
Religion held a significant presence here, so it wasn’t uncommon to see people heading to the Church even on weekdays.
In short, I followed someone.
As I entered the courtyard, I saw the back of a Priest who was cleaning.
As I approached to speak, the Priest must have sensed me and turned around first.
“Have you come to pray? Wait, those clothes…”
The Priest glanced over my attire and then widened his eyes.
“Flower-patterned clothes! Are you perhaps Priest Flawi?”
‘Word sure spreads fast.’
But that was a good thing.
I didn’t have to give a long introduction or convince anyone.
“Yes, I am Flawi, a humble servant of the Flower Goddess, Lady Iris. I came to ask if I could look at the Earth Goddess Church’s Scripture.”
“Oh! Please, come in. I’ll show you.”
The Priest readily offered to guide me without a moment’s hesitation.
“If you’d like, you can even borrow it. We’ve transcribed many copies, so we have plenty of spares.”
Indeed, the bookshelf inside the Chapel was packed with transcribed Scriptures.
So many that no one would even notice if one went missing.
I bowed my head to express gratitude for the Priest’s generous offer to lend me the Scripture.
“Then I’ll borrow it gratefully.”
“Lady Iris is a child of Lady Gaia, so it’s only natural.”
‘So even religions care about blood ties.’
It was a blasphemous thought a Priest wouldn’t dare have.
“Well then, enjoy your reading.”
The Priest who guided me bowed and left the Chapel.
With no one left to disturb my studies, I opened the Scripture with a peaceful mind.
And then, I had no choice but to widen my eyes.
‘…I can’t understand a single word.’
Just to be clear, I meant that literally.
Unlike the Gallery posts that were translated into Korean, the Scripture’s text was written in its original language.
I could occasionally decipher a few things using my memory of the phonetic chart from when I inscribed my name on the Symbol, but even reading a single page took quite a while.
‘I guess I’ll have to treat this as language study too.’
In the end, I tucked the Earth Goddess Church’s Scripture into my robes and stood up.
I planned to return to the inn and read it slowly over time.
As I was leaving, my eyes happened to meet the Earth Goddess Statue standing in front of the Chapel.
I held her gaze for a moment, then gave a light nod.
“Please don’t be too upset.”
It wasn’t as if I wanted to impersonate anyone.
I left the Church, confessing an excuse no one would hear.
It was well after the sun had fully set by the time I returned to the inn.
Despite my late return, the innkeeper’s daughter had saved me a meal. I expressed my thanks and was filling my hungry stomach when a familiar-looking message obscured my vision.
-The Gallery server has been temporarily restored.
‘Finally restored.’
Though I couldn’t help but be bothered by the word ‘temporarily.’
‘The admin will handle it.’
It was annoying, but it wasn’t something I, a mere user, could fix.
I set aside the useless worry and focused on the rest of my meal.
It wasn’t until I finished my dinner satisfactorily and was alone in my empty room that I turned the Gallery back on.
“..?”
The temporarily restored Gallery was ablaze with a single new hot topic.
And after scanning the posts, this whole situation wasn’t something the Main Admin could have solved from the start.
No, it was more accurate to say he couldn’t even attempt to solve it.
[From now on, Kyaru rules this place]
[Main Admin dead?? What the hell is going on]
[The Blue Horse Tower Vice Tower Master was the Main Admin???]
[What’s this about the Gallery closing down]
[People live here!!!]
[May the dead rest in peace.]
[No next Main Admin??]
.
.
.
[Gallery Closure Notice]
What I hurriedly clicked on was the newly posted notice.
Title: Gallery Closure Notice
Author: Gallery System
It has been confirmed that the Administrator who served as the server has died and is now absent.
We have activated a temporary server, which will last for 24 hours. If a new Administrator is not appointed within that time, the Gallery will be permanently closed.
If you wish to back up your posts, we recommend transcribing them by hand.
Only then did I understand the buzz.
As I sighed, wondering where I could find paper or a wooden tablet to transcribe things, a message appeared.
-Detected a user meeting the conditions.
-Would you like to become the Gallery’s Administrator? (Y/N)
-Time remaining until closure: 23 hours.
“Hm.”