ALL-ROUNDER HEALER CHAPTER 278: MUSCLE PARADISE

“Hmph! Hmph!” (Macho Man)

 

“Huff! Hrrr!” (Macho Man)

 

“……” (Rook)

 

 

　The day after I heard about the Great Church and the Stella Church, I came to the Stella Church to see what kind of place it was.

 

　The church is not as big as the Great Church, but it is bigger than an ordinary inn. However, although the building was made of wood, the wall panels were withered and falling apart, indicating that it was deteriorating.

 

 

“Fuu! Ayyy!” (Macho Man)

 

“Huuuua! Hiho!” (Macho Man)

 

“……” (Rook)

 

 

　After all, is it because the church is located along the outskirts of town and close to the slums that they don’t have any money? It doesn’t make sense that the Great Church is so splendid while the Stella Church over here is left in this state.

 

 

“Ho! Ha! [Enhance]! Go!” (Macho Man)

 

“Let’s go! Muscles! [Enhance]!” (Macho Man)

 

“……” (Rook)

 

 

 

　No… I couldn’t stop pretending that I can’t see it anymore…

 

　I don’t know why, but in this church, muscular half-naked men are doing weird poses when using [Armament Enhancement].

 

　I don’t get it at all!

 

 

“Aaaaa! My Mithril Sword—Aaaaaa!” (Macho Man)

 

“Hey! Stop it! Don’t burn! Oooooh!” (Macho Man)

 

“……” (Rook)

 

 

　But they failed.

 

　The half-naked, muscular men are crying as they strike muscular poses like bodybuilders.

 

　Apparently, they had burned their expensive weapons.

 

 

“Umm…” (Rook)

 

 

　My voice leaked out unintentionally.

 

　I have seen many men in other churches in other parts of the world who try [Armament Enhancement], and many who fail and end up ascending to heaven, but the situation is a little different in this church. The way they are putting their energy into it is different. …It’s kind of a “muscle, macho” [Armament Enhancement].

 

　I wanted to talk to them about it, but the atmosphere was not conducive to that, so I walked past them and headed toward the church.

 

 

“Excuse me.” (Rook)

 

 

　I opened the creaking door and entered the church.

  

 

　The inside of the church is neat and clean, but the couches and pillars look old, and there are no glass windows, so the whole place is dimly lit.

 

 

“We don’t allow people to enhance their weapons in the church.” (Priest)

 

 

　An elderly man at what appeared to be an altar in the back of the church said to me.

 

 

“Oh, no. I was wondering if you would allow me to pray here.” (Rook)

 

“Oh, I see. It’s wonderful to see young people–come this way.” (Priest)

 

 

　He led me in front of the statue of Tessretia.

 

　Where I knelt down and clasped my hands together.

 

　Tessretia, the supreme god, the god of light. The gods of the four attributes. And a nameless, dark-attribute-like god that I don’t know if I should add to this list. Furthermore, the mysterious god whom I met at the time of my reincarnation. I prayed while thinking of these gods.

 

 

“Hmph! Achoo!” (Macho Man)

 

“Hi! Ho!” (Macho Man)

 

“……” (Rook)

 

 

　Perhaps it’s because the walls of the church are so shabby and gaping, but the men’s ferocious voices are echoing from outside.

 

　The somber atmosphere instantly turns into a muscle paradise.

 

 

“…no good, I can’t concentrate.” (Rook)

 

“I guess so.” (Priest)

 

 

　Said the priest who had walked up next to me.

 

 

“How did this happen…? It must have all started with that legend, but then again…” (Priest)

 

“The legend? You mean that ‘if you were blessed by the gods, you could successfully strengthen your armaments‘ kind of thing, right?” (Rook)

 

“? No, I think the rumor is something like ‘if you show the gods your well-trained body, you will succeed in enhancing your armaments’ or something like that.” (Priest)

 

“Eh?” (Rook)

 

 

　Hold on. It’s a little different from what I heard before.

 

　I believe it was a man who received a blessing from the church and succeeded in [Armament Enhancement] so many times that people started copying him, but it didn’t work, and became resentful of the church, leading to an incident, so they stopped giving people the blessing. I believe the story was something like that…

 

 

　Perhaps the legend has evolved into something else in the process of being passed down. In that case, it would be important to know which one was the original and which one was the altered one, but in that case, it would be impossible to deny the possibility that the truth could be different from the evolved story.

 

　And we can’t rule out the possibility that both are correct. There could be more than one way to successfully enhance an armament.

 

　… Well, to put it bluntly, I think there is a strong possibility that both are just rumors and nonsense.

 

 

“It is truly deplorable that they would believe such rumors and expose themselves like that in front of the church…” (Priest)

 

“I agree.” (Rook)

 

 

　I too have a macho brother who posed and grunted in front of our house every single day! I think it would be a bit depressing if they kept doing it here, and that’s deplorable, isn’t it?

 

　After that, I had a little talk with the priest and left the church.

 

 

“Now…” (Rook)

 

 

 

　Since I’ve come all the way to the church, I might as well take the opportunity to do my first commemorative [Armament Enhancement]!

 

 

“Then what should I enhance…” (Rook)

 

 

　This enhancement is a trial. The first thing to do is to see what it’s like to do [Armament Enhancement]. So, I want to try it with items that will not cause any problems even if they fail. However, it would be a waste to enhance an item like a goblin’s knife, an item that would be worth a bundle or three even if it were to disappear. I don’t want to spend an item that costs 10 gold coins on something like that.

 

　So, I’d like to try it on an item that has some chance of being used…

 

 

“There is a possibility of using it, but even if it disappears, it will somehow work out… In that case, the staff I had at the beginning, the Dark Crystal Short Sword, the Mithril Alloy Cudgel… Well, I wonder which I should use?” (Rook)

 

 

　The first thing I thought about was the Mithril alloy Cudgel I had in my hand.

 

　And from the magic bag at my waist, I took out the [Enhancement Scroll].

 

 

“……” (Rook)

 

 

　I wrapped the [Enhancement Scroll] around the Mithril Alloy Cudgel and placed it on the ground.

 

　The scroll will then be activated by touching the scroll and saying “Enhance”.

 

　The weapon will then be enhanced… or it will disappear.

 

　If I succeed, the weapon will be enhanced, and I will be happy. If… but by any chance I fail, it will disappear.

 

　Disappear. Gone. It could disappear… If it disappears, you have to buy a new weapon again, and it will be hard for a while because I will lose my main weapon.

 

　One of two things. …No, it’s not such a simple fifty-fifty thing. Depending on the success rate, I should be more optimistic, or I could be more pessimistic—

 

 

“Ahh… no good. I can’t challenge it using the Mithril Alloy Cudgel.” (Rook)

 

 

　I couldn’t make a decision for a moment, thinking about what would happen if I failed.

 

　I retrieve the [Enhancement Scroll] and sneak into the shadow of the church and take out the wooden staff from the magic bag.

 

　This way, even if it disappears in the worst-case scenario, it won’t be a problem and I’ll be in a better mood.

 

 

“Alright! Let’s do it!” (Rook)

 

 

　Wrapping the [Enhancement Scroll] around it—and activating it…

 

 

“Well… let’s do it anyway.” (Rook)

 

 

　No, I heard everyone here is doing it. It may be just the gods’ requirement, and it’s free if I just do it.

 

 

　I looked around, made sure I wasn’t attracting attention, and then, relieved, I very hastily said, “Hmph! Hmph!” and do the bodybuilding pose just to see what could happen.

 

　Yeah. …I’m not being watched, but it’s still a little too embarrassing…

 

 

“Now, let’s go! Enhance!” (Rook)

 

 

　Then I activate the [Enhancement Scroll].

 

　The scroll dissolved into particles of light that enveloped the wand.

 

　The light quickly subsided, revealing a staff that looked exactly the same as before.

 

 

“Is it successful?” (Rook)

 

 

　Fearfully touching the staff, I lifted it up and waved it to check.

 

 

“Is there any difference from before the enhancement?” (Rook)

 

 

　No? Is it possible? It’s strange if something hasn’t changed, or if the risk-reward isn’t right, or if it’s a loss…

 

　Hmmm, to begin with, I’m not completely sure what specific elements are enhanced by the [Enhancement Scroll], or what happens to them.

 

 

 

“I guess I’ll have to do some research to check?” (Rook)