"Merciful Lord, I have committed a grave sin. I am a sinner."
In a small, dark room within the Monastery, a young monk knelt piously before a Holy Image, confessing his sins in anguish.
The room, constructed from gray stone, had a window less than two feet wide. It was a stretch to even call it a window; it seemed to exist solely for ventilation.
"I took up that sinful sword only to protect myself, but through my own fault, I killed a man..."
The devout monk swung a leather whip, lashing his own bare back. It was already covered in bloody welts, the skin broken and raw in places.
"Oh, my devout lamb, I forgive you for all your sins."
A voice suddenly echoed in the silent stone chamber. It was so out of place with the atmosphere that it sounded exceptionally jarring.
The voice didn't come from the Holy Image, of course. It was the voice of a young man. Not far from the young monk's side, a youth was lying on a ragged mat, chewing on a foxtail grass stem and drawling the reply in a clumsy tone.
The youth's short, golden hair was strikingly bright in the dim stone room. The Monk's Robe he wore indicated that he, too, was a monk.
"Eric, that's enough! You killed three people. Don't you feel any guilt at all!?"
The young monk turned to his side and spoke to the youth with displeasure. The sudden movement pulled at the wounds on his back, and a wave of pain washed over his face.
"Who says I don't? I came here, didn't I? I feel very sinful... No, I mean, I feel very guilty."
The youth named Eric gave an awkward laugh and got to his feet. He placed a hand over his chest with a solemn expression, feigning a look of agony.
Eric was a new monk who had only joined the Monastery last year. Even after a year, he still had the rough manners of a commoner, just as he did when he first arrived. Yet, this was a man of noble birth; his father was said to be a very powerful nobleman.
But considering he was one of the Normans, it was somewhat understandable.
Although he acted like an out-and-out scoundrel, he excelled in his theological studies. Perhaps for this reason, the monk subconsciously felt he wasn't a bad person. It was a strange feeling.
He had met several monks of noble birth before. Most were the second or youngest sons of their families. Perhaps out of resentment for being unable to inherit titles or land, they were quite difficult to get along with.
In comparison, Eric was relatively tolerable among that group.
"Guilty my ass. Show me what you've got behind your back. You think I didn't see it?"
The young monk seemed to have noticed something earlier and reached for the object Eric was hiding.
Eric didn't try to hide it. The monk took the object into his hands.
It was an exquisitely crafted Silver Candlestick.
"This is your guilt? Eric, you've gone too far! Kneel and repent with me right now."
The young monk placed the Silver Candlestick back behind the Holy Image, then tried to pull Eric down to kneel on the floor and repent with him.
"Don't worry, it gets worse."
Eric smacked the young monk's hand away and snatched the Pure Silver Base. His fingers fiddled with the bottom, and with the sound of whirring gears, seventeen Silver Coins fell from the base into his hand.
Eric picked one up and blew on it. It vibrated with the standard, satisfactory hum.
"These Silver Coins are very pure. Our abbot certainly knows how to live well." Eric forcefully smashed the silver base against the wall. The candle arms snapped, revealing black iron underneath. The silver was just a thin plating.
"This..."
The young monk's expression changed, turning quite ugly.
There were only six Silver Candlesticks offered to the Holy Images in the entire Monastery. They were donated by King Canute when the Monastery was founded and were supposed to be solid silver.
He thought of the kind old abbot who always held up Saint Benedict as a role model. He couldn't believe it. He had always looked up to the abbot as an example...
"Finders keepers, shares for all. Philip."
As Eric finished speaking, three Silver Coins landed in the monk Philip's hands.
Philip stared at the Coins in his hand, looking dazed.
A few minutes ago, the wounds from the whipping on his back had brought him a sense of relief, but now, he just felt agitated.
Seeing Philip's expression, Eric decided to change the subject back to their previous conversation about Philip's accidental killing.
"Don't take it so hard, Philip. If we hadn't killed them, they would have killed us. They were the sinners, forcing a girl who didn't want to get married.
"Maybe our showing up wasn't a miracle, but like that simple-minded Priest said, who else but God could have sent us to stop them?"
Eric seemed to notice Philip's downcast mood and decided to bring up the stabbing incident again to distract him.
What happened was actually quite simple. Yesterday, Eric and Philip had gone to the Monastery's fields for their weekly farm work. On their way back, they came across several men chasing a girl relentlessly.
The girl seemed to be running away from a marriage. She asked Eric and Philip for help, but before they could even think, the pursuing men assumed they were accomplices who had helped the girl escape—corrupt monks from the Monastery. They came at them with pitchforks, and no amount of explaining worked.
He engaged three of them. A Basic Master Strike isn't very advantageous in a one-on-many situation. Plus, he had thrown his only weapon, a dagger, to Philip.
By the time he had snatched a pitchfork and beaten the men to a pulp, he discovered that Philip, through a series of coincidences, had stabbed one of them to death.
There was no other choice. With things having come to this, to protect Philip, the runaway girl, and himself, Eric could only kill the remaining three men.
This was the first time Eric had killed someone in this world.
The feeling was hard to describe.
It wasn't fear, nor was it excitement. It was more like an unsettling emptiness.
When the blade pierced the man's body, it barely felt real, like chopping into a piece of damp wood.
He even froze for a second when the man fell.
Blood flowed out, its warm, coppery-sweet smell quickly spreading through the air.
Only then did Eric realize he had truly killed a man.
The feeling wasn't glorious, nor was it as heroic as he might have imagined.
"Eric, I'm not thinking about that right now. That's not what's important..."
"Hm?"
"Er, COUGH COUGH, no, that's important too, but the matter with the abbot is also important. The abbot, he..."
Philip coughed, trying to cover his embarrassment.
"Alright, alright. I was just joking. The abbot is busy with this and that all day. Maybe someone under him is taking kickbacks on their own initiative. That guy Lait, for example."
"Right, right! The abbot probably doesn't know. He probably has no idea, no idea at all... There are so many people in the Monastery..." Philip chimed in happily.
Eric looked at Philip and shook his head.
'This kid is a lost cause. Does that abbot really have that much Charm? It's not like he's a woman.'
"The vice-abbot wants me to set off for Xialing tomorrow to get a new market permit from the Count of Xialing. I might be gone for a few days. Philip, don't let Lait into my room."
Seeing Eric leave the room, Philip sighed.
"Honestly, with Eric acting like this, will the Lord truly forgive him?"
He shook his head, then subconsciously felt for the Silver Coins he had just put in his pocket. It was empty.
??????
"ERIIIIIIIC!!!!!"
Hearing Philip's roar, Eric ran toward his own room with a Speed he had never before displayed, his face contorted from the sheer velocity.
Once in his room, he quickly shut the door and threw three locks.
He then pulled out a total of seventeen Silver Coins from his pocket. Their purity was quite high—they were solid silver, on a completely different level from the silver pence circulating in the market. One was equivalent to a hundred silver pence.
He tossed them in his hand, listening to the crisp clinking sound with a satisfied nod. Then, the Silver Coins vanished from his palm.
[Monastery's Silver Candlestick (7/7). Silver Candlestick collection quest complete.]
[Accept reward?]
"Yes."
[Strength Experience +50, Agility Experience +12, Item Reward: Decent Nail Hammer (Holder: Strength Level +3, Agility Level -1)]
A black Nail Hammer appeared in his hand out of thin air.
[Strength Experience has reached the upgrade limit. Level 8 → 9]
A warm current instantly flooded his body. Eric grabbed the corner of a nearby table and squeezed. The solid wood corner immediately snapped off.
"Open system panel."
[Celestial Salvation System]
[Name: Eric Outville]
[Status: Mild Cold (Duration: 2 days)]
[Identity: Second Son of Robert Outville, ordinary monk of King's Bridge Monastery, Junior Priest of the Lucifer Servant Society]
[Title: None]
[Strength Level: 9]
[Agility Level: 8]
[Intelligence Level: 11]
[Physical Strength Level: 12]
[Oratory Level: 8]
[Reputation: Utter Disgrace (51/100) Daily: +0.0001]
[Devotion: Sinner (16/100) Daily: -0.00015]
[Money: 66 Groschen]
[Exchange Points: 5682]
[Evaluation: Unfortunately, this is you.]
Note: The average person's stats are all 7.
[Skills: Basic Master Strike, High Level Stealing Skill, Intermediate Swordsmanship, Low Level Riding Skill, Low Level Curse.]
[Equipment: Decent Nail Hammer x1, Lockpicks x10, Substandard Kuman Saber x1, Second-hand Milan Plate Armor Shoulder Guards x1, Decorated German Barrel Helmet x1, Worn-out Black Tights x1, Cecilia's Underwear x2, Decent-Quality Chain Armor x1, Cat Eye Potion x2, Berserker Mushroom x3...]
[Current Objectives:
(Incomplete) Ambition of a Noble's Second Son,
Conditions: Obtain at least one Baron's Domain, one Warhorse, and three servants.
Reward: Full set of Warhorse Armor, Warhorse Gauntlet x1, Nail Head Hammer x2, Giant Middle Helmet x2, Aachen Scale Armor x2, Aachen Scale Armor Shin Guards x2, Charlemagne's Skull x1, 50,000 Groschen...
(Incomplete) Establish the Man Island and its Archipelago Kingdom,
Conditions: Obtain the Isle of Man, possess the [Viking] trait, Reputation Level: Renowned, hold at least one Earl's Domain.
Reward: Obtain Title [The Great and Terrible], Augsburg Plate Armor Shin Guards x1, Augsburg Plate Armor Shoulder Guards x1, Nuremberg Chest Armor x1, Chain Armor Shin Guards x1, Heavy Chain Armor x1, 500,000 Groschen...
(Incomplete) March on Jerusalem!
Conditions: Participate in the First Crusade as a main commander, occupy territory of at least one city.
Reward: Obtain Title [Sword of Heaven], Sassanian Sword x1, Saint George's Sword x1, Zor's Chest Armor x3, Zor's Shoulder Guards x3, Zor's Helmet, 80,000 Groschen...
... ]