Chapter 111: The Kingdom of Anselm
Noah was originally a believer of the God of Confusion, and also an Investigator for the Church of Confusion.
Every church has Investigators, specifically tasked with investigating Outer Gods, and Noah was the lowest-level Investigator.
Loren wasn't clear on Noah's full story. He wasn't a witch, and even though Noah helped players quite a bit, Loren couldn't be bothered to learn about him.
In short, while working as an Investigator, Noah met the daughter of a minor noble. That girl was disabled, had basically never seen the outside world, held no status within her own home, and was even bullied by the maids.
And Noah, as an Investigator, wasn't much better off. The moment he became an Investigator, his death was already predetermined. The meaning of his existence was to be a test subject, to die in the process of investigating Outer Gods.
Loren didn't know the specifics of what happened. In any case, two scraps from the edges of their respective worlds fell in love. This allowed Noah, whose life was as ephemeral as a mayfly's, to experience a love he had never known before.
Until later, Noah discovered that the girl was a believer of the Goddess of Love, and had become one because of him. In the end, she even became the anchor point for the Goddess of Love's descent.
That was the closest instance to an Outer God's descent, something even the God of Confusion couldn't stop. In the end, He could only place His hopes on Noah, for only love could stop the Goddess of Love.
"Between someone who loves you, and a world that does not love you, which would you choose?"
This was a question Noah often asked, because he regretted choosing the world that did not love him back then. Before her death, the girl bestowed a blessing upon Noah, or perhaps it was a curse. She cursed Noah to remain forever lucid, and to possess a degree of immortality.
At that moment, Noah was freed from the influence of the God of Confusion and saw the madness and despair of this world. And he had killed the only person who ever loved him. From then on, his life was filled with nothing but regret.
Eternal lucidity also meant his pain could never be alleviated. So he had only two goals: to resurrect that girl, and to kill the gods.
And this world had a fundamental underlying logic: life is equal, and no one can be resurrected.
Loren paid no heed to Noah. It was best to let things take their natural course. Loren feared that if he interfered, Noah might fail to kill the God of Confusion.
Moreover, Noah was just a clown. In Loren's view, that multiple-choice question held no real meaning. Only an idiot like Noah would kill the person who loved him and then spend the rest of his life regretting it.
Standing in the church, Loren silently recited a hymn. This time, he didn't use a hymn that was too effective. After all, he just wanted a blessing, not to actually produce a miracle.
The blessing of the God of Pain would lessen the pain Loren felt and provide some self-healing ability.
Perhaps this bit of self-healing ability seemed insignificant, nowhere near comparable to Mirrorheart's. But combined with the reversed [Shattered Love], Loren's self-healing ability became quite considerable. Moreover, Shattered Love could solve the issue of the Pain blessing being unable to heal severed limbs.
No miracle appeared. The Sufferer felt a bit regretful, but the fact that Loren was willing to come and pray was already a delightful surprise for him. He couldn't ask for more.
He felt writing hymns wasn't that simple a task either. Being able to compose two hymns already made Loren an unprecedented and likely unrepeatable figure.
"Let's go back."
After receiving the blessing, Loren didn't linger. He didn't like the atmosphere here either. The incessant screams were making his ears ache.
"Yes, Master Mentor."
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