◈20. Delsi’s Skill
The item I retrieved from my inventory was the ‘Polydroid User Manual’ that had come bundled with Rubin’s new device.
Flipping quickly through its pages, I scanned the contents with a mix of hope and desperation.
‘Maybe… just maybe, the information I need is in here.’
The knowledge of Elixir crafting was an ancient art, lost to time.
Long ago, humanity had learned the recipe from ancient texts, but the nobility monopolized it, treating it as their exclusive privilege.
This selfish hoarding meant the recipe was never widely shared and ultimately vanished into obscurity.
But what if… someone who existed before it was lost—someone from the distant past—still retained that knowledge?
With that thought, I began poring over the manual for Rubin, the ‘ancient’ Polydroid, hoping to uncover something valuable.
‘And there it is—”the Elixir recipe”!’
On page 192, under the section labeled <Main Functions>, I finally found what I had been searching for:
<Main Functions>
— In urgent situations requiring an Elixir, your Polydroid can generate the recipe for you.
— Simply use the recipe print function on your capable and friendly companion, who is always ready to assist!
— Detailed instructions on how to use this feature, refer to the following section.
A method to restore a technology lost for over 200 years was lying here, spelled out in a little manual I had carelessly tossed aside before.
I had dared to hope, but I didn’t expect the answer to actually be there.
Hoo… Huu…
Taking a deep breath, I steadied my excitement and forced myself to calm down.
I turned to the high priest currently on watch—Delsi.
“Delsi, I think I need to head to the west annex for a bit.”
“…”
“Delsi?”
“…”
Delsi’s pale green eyes darted around the room, pretending not to hear me.
Judging from her awkward expression, the other high priests must have instructed her to ignore any requests I made to leave the room.
Undeterred, I called her name a few more times until I finally got a response—not from Delsi’s lips, but from the beak of the duck-shaped puppet she always carried.
[No… You can’t.]
“Excuse me?”
[You can’t go out. Your Holiness must rest… Please don’t leave… Quack…]
“…Quack?”
“That is true, but I have something urgent to do in the west annex. It’ll only take a moment.”
[…….]
“I’m telling you, just for a moment. I’m not trying to escape. Don’t worry.”
[…….]
“You said you’d always trust me no matter what… Was that just a lie?”
[Quack… Quack…]
Even when everyone else dismissed and ridiculed Nikellus as a rogue, Delsi had always stood by his side.
Their bond ran deep in the past, and Delsi had once said with conviction that she’d never turn her back on Nikellus, no matter what others said.
And yet…
‘Well, maybe she has a reason to doubt me. After all, I did promise not to cause any trouble, only to come back practically half-dead.’
Unlike Bliss, who would have used brute force and weapons to keep me confined, Delsi wasn’t resorting to such measures.
But her firm stance was clear.
It seemed persuasion wouldn’t work this time.
That left me with only one option.
‘Distract her for a moment and sneak out.’
Nikellus’s body—my body—had S-grade physical capabilities, far superior to Delsi’s.
Although Delsi excelled in high-level mental skills, her physical stats were only E-grade.
If I moved quickly enough, there was no way Delsi could catch me.
I felt a twinge of guilt, but—
‘I’ll apologize later with an Elixir in hand. For now, making that is the top priority.’
Determined, I addressed Delsi again.
“Alright, fine. Could you get me some warm water? My throat feels a bit dry.”
[Ah, yes, of course! One moment! Quack—]
The moment Delsi turned away to pick up the water pitcher near the fireplace, I sprang into action.
I bolted from the bed, my feet hitting the floor with purpose.
Behind me, I heard the startled crash of the pitcher hitting the ground, but I was already at the door.
‘Freedom is just a step away!’
I grabbed the doorknob, a thrill of triumph rushing through me—
“Stop! You can’t! Please, stop!”
Delsi’s panicked shout pierced my ears, accompanied by a wave of immense mental force.
[“Stop right there!”
Her command carried the weight of a powerful skill, one that immediately seized control of my body.
And just like that, I froze in place.
…I can’t move. So, that’s her ‘skill’.
It wasn’t my will that had stopped me.
I tried to twist the doorknob again, but my hand remained frozen in place, completely ignoring my will.
Barely able to move my head, I turned to look behind me.
Delsi was covering her mouth, her face a mix of shock and regret.
[I’m s-so sorry, quack—I got so startled that I accidentally used my skill…]
The skill she just used on me was something I recognized: [The Voice That Moves Souls (??).]
It was a mental-type skill that forced its target to obey the user’s ‘voice’ absolutely.
This skill was notoriously difficult to counter, even with L-grade mental defense items or skills.
‘As expected, it’s a dangerous ability.’
Was it called [The Whisper of the Fallen King]? I remembered Bliss had a similar skill, though it functioned very differently.
Bliss’s skill had stricter activation conditions and shorter durations, whereas Delsi’s had no such penalties.
In the wrong hands, it was a weapon capable of raising an army of unwilling soldiers and toppling entire nations.
Delsi’s habit of communicating through an item like the duck doll instead of her own voice was her way of mitigating the dangers of such a skill.
[I’m r-really sorry… I didn’t mean to, quack…]
Hearing her tearful voice from the duck doll, I paused my thoughts for a moment.
‘Is she expecting me to get angry? Well… If it were the old Nikellus, he probably wouldn’t have let this slide.’
Even though Delsi hadn’t feared Nikellus much in the past, she now looked pale, repeatedly apologizing with a trembling voice.
[Quack, quack… I-i’m truly sorry…]
“It’s fine. I’m not hurt or anything.”
[Yes, but I made such a grave mistake—Wait, what?]
Delsi stopped mid-apology, his eyes widening in disbelief as she stared at me.
Her expression made it clear she wasn’t sure she’d heard me correctly.
So, I repeated myself.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
[You’re… not mad, quack…?]
“Why would I be mad? If you think about it, I was the one who startled you by suddenly trying to run off without explaining anything. If I’d properly explained what I needed and why, you wouldn’t have been so surprised, and you wouldn’t have accidentally triggered your skill.”
As I spoke, Delsi’s face slowly morphed into an expression of utter disbelief, as if she’d just seen a ghost.
‘She’s really shocked. Did I change my tone too suddenly?’
Until now, I’d had plenty of interactions with the other High Priests.
But this was the first time I’d ever had such a long conversation with Delsi.
I realized Delsi must still be thinking of me as the old Nikellus, so my sudden shift in attitude probably made her feel uncomfortable.
To smooth things over, I quickly offered an explanation.
“Ahem, you probably heard a little, but I’ve had a change of heart. From now on, I’m going to keep my temper in check and try not to worry the people around me too much.”
[Ah… I see…]
“Now, about why I want to go to the west annex… I’ll tell you, but could you release your skill first?”
[Oh! The skill! I’m sorry!]
As if she had momentarily forgotten, Delsi looked surprised and quickly dispelled the skill.
I lowered my voice slightly and then shared my secret and grand objective with her.
Upon hearing it, Delsi froze for a moment, her shoulders shaking in surprise.
[What!? You really think you can make that? But the recipe was lost 200 years ago…]
“I can’t guarantee anything. Honestly, I was going to try it first without explaining it to you because I wasn’t sure either. I didn’t want to explain and try to convince you before I was sure of it.”
I gave a sheepish smile and then asked her one last time.
“So, what’s it going to be? Will you help me get to the west annex?”
In the end, Delsi agreed to help me, but with two conditions.
The first was that she’d accompany me, and the second was that I couldn’t leave in my current form—I needed to disguise myself.
She was adamant about this, saying she didn’t want Luciana to find out that she was taking me out against her orders to watch me.
For some reason, Delsi seemed genuinely afraid of displeasing her.
Perhaps it was because Delsi, being quiet and reserved, looked up to Luciana as an older sister figure, someone who was her opposite in personality.
Anyway, we ended up agreeing on the disguise, but I couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Is this really what you call a disguise?’
I changed into a standard priest’s outfit and, for the finishing touch, attached a fake mustache that I hastily borrowed from the apprentice priests.
To top it off, I wore thick glasses, also borrowed from them, to hide my face.
The mismatched outfit, the mustache, and the glasses…
It was such a ridiculous combination that practically shouting, “I’m a suspicious person!”.
And sure enough, after walking around for a little while, I could feel the harsh stares aimed in our direction.
I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘…It feels like I stand out even more than when I’m not in disguise.’
Still, Delsi seemed to believe in its effectiveness, walking confidently without bothering to cover her face.
Fortunately, the priests we encountered outside didn’t seem to recognize us, probably out of courtesy, since we’d made some attempt at disguise, signaling that we didn’t want our identities to be revealed.
As we were making our way to the west annex, we heard the sound of metal banging.
Thump… Thump…
I looked in the direction of the noise and saw workers removing tiles from the street.
“Looks like construction’s going on.”
[Yes, the tiles were cracked here and there, so they’ve been removing them. They’ve been unable to do this for a while due to a lack of funds, but I heard that the golden statue Your Grace brought was sold for a high price to an antique collector. Now they have the money to start repairs. Quack—]
“Ah, I see. With the money from the statue, they’ve finally started repairs. The road was pretty worn down.”
I nodded, listening to Delsi’s explanation.
The cathedral, being centuries old, had many broken parts—staircases, road tiles, and especially the trees lining the streets, which had been neglected during times of financial trouble.
‘Did they hire new gardeners? It looks so much more refined now.’
Looking at the newly cleaned streets and trees, I couldn’t help but feel proud.
“It’s nice to see the hard work paying off.”
[Yes! Thanks to Your Holiness, the old things are slowly improving. I feel so… Quaack!]
Suddenly, the duck-shaped figure of Delsi’s doll let out an odd, high-pitched scream.
Delsi herself quickly ducked behind me.
The reason for her sudden panic was obvious:
‘Luciana!? What’s she doing here?’
It was Luciana, who should’ve been busy sweating it out at the eastern annex’s training grounds.
Instead, she was wandering near the west annex.
She must have sensed us, as Delsi’s sudden movement had caught her attention.
‘We’re in trouble. It’s too late to escape now.’
I quickly ducked behind a tree, but it was futile, as Luciana had likely caught a glimpse of us.
Thud, thud.
I could hear her footsteps approaching slowly.
This was a bad situation.
However, sometimes, the human brain works miracles in moments of crisis.
‘Wait a minute, why do I need to run away?’
