Chapter 7: BOSS Direct Hiring

“Hmm?”

Inside the chapel, Truth’s small hand gripped Suna’s neck and pinned her to the wall, silently admiring how the girl trembled all over.

Tear after tear rolled down and dripped onto Truth’s hand.

So it was this little mage who had been spying on her— something Truth hadn’t expected.

Her response had been to grab her by the throat on reflex. Now what? Eliminate the witness?

Oh, come on. She wasn’t going to kill her.

Sure, she could be violent when fighting, but when it came to NPCs she had a soft spot for, she was actually pretty gentle. See? The girl was still alive, wasn’t she?

While she was considering what to do with Suna, the latter suddenly spoke up:

“Y-You… cough… What did you do to Truth…?”

Me? What did I do to… Huh? Is this girl in shock or something? Truth blinked, puzzled by Suna’s words.

“At least… at least let her go, please, Demon-senpai…”

That ominous aura, that brutal behavior— Suna immediately jumped to a conclusion: Truth had been possessed by a demon. Some demons were known to take over people’s bodies just to commit atrocities.

Why? Why did something like this have to happen the moment Truth returned from the Mistlands? First Kral, now a demon possession? Was it that good people were just destined to suffer?

At the same time, Truth finally caught on to what Suna was thinking.

Wow. Someone’s imagination sure was running wild.

Among demon-kind, there was a class known as the “Descending Demons.”

They had no physical form and could only manifest by possessing others, often summoned by desperate souls to carry out revenge.

So the only logical explanation in Suna’s eyes was: Truth had been possessed by one of them.

Cute.

Well, she wasn’t exactly wrong. The assassin panel did list Truth’s race as “Demon.” Just… not that kind of demon.

Looking at the pale-faced little mage, shaking like a leaf… Oh well. It’s not like I’m some horrible villain. I’ll let her live— for now. Maybe she’ll come in handy as bait later.

Truth pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for silence.

Suna instantly went quiet.

Then Truth tilted the girl’s chin upward, forcing her to meet those blood-red eyes.

Just one look, and Suna instantly understood the message the demon wanted to convey:

Keep your mouth shut.

Don’t speak a word about what you saw tonight. Got it? Suna nodded frantically, which finally prompted Truth to release her neck and stride off into the night.

As she stepped out of the chapel, the moonlight caught on her bloodstained priestess robes.

The holy garment shimmered with a hint of divinity, but far more with blasphemy.

Only when the demon’s presence had completely faded did Suna dare to cough out loud.

Her sobs echoed through the blood-scented chapel.

Should she say something? Should she tell her father about the demon?

But if she stayed silent, wouldn’t that creature go on to hurt more people?

Faced with the demon’s threat, Suna was caught in a wrenching dilemma.

Just then, her neck suddenly burned.

Alarmed, she fumbled for her pocket mirror and saw it— an agonizingly hot, twisted symbol branded into her skin.

“T-This is… a demon’s mark…” Suna’s pupils contracted in fear.

……

Because of the curfew, Deya City’s nights were eerily quiet.

But whenever the patrol teams finished sweeping a street, all kinds of people would creep back out from the alleys.

Truth had mugged a few petty thugs for their pocket change and checked into a cheap inn.

First things first: get rid of the blood-soaked priestess robe.

“This body is… really kind of sexy, huh…?”

With a swish, the robe fell to the floor.

Truth stood half-naked before the mirror, ears flushed bright red. Smooth skin. Taut little stomach. And that pale…

“No no no, stop it! I’ll fall to depravity at this rate!”

She quickly pulled on a plain brown dress common in Deya, and added a cap resembling a newsboy hat to cover most of her head.

Finally, she could sit on the bed, legs together, and think straight.

First, she had mostly figured out the so-called “gods” of this world.

They weren’t all-powerful beings— they were just higher-tier entities with a faith-building management mechanic tacked on.

If the Goddess of Life had been truly omnipotent, she’d have teleported into the chapel the moment Truth started that little stunt earlier.

But she didn’t. Probably too far from Deya… and considering the kind of followers she had, even if Truth were in her shoes, she wouldn’t bother protecting them either.

【Name: Truth】

【Level: LV.2 (8/28)】

【Race: Human】

【Attributes: HP 48, Constitution 52, Mana 99, Intelligence 72, Strength 22, Agility 31, Faith 142】

【Skill: Healing Mist (Proficiency 17%)】

【Trait: Fogveil Exemplar (Fusion Progress 2%)】

Staring at the panel in front of her, Truth let out a sigh.

So she really couldn’t level up without healing people, huh? And this so-called “Fogveil Exemplar” trait wasn’t doing anything useful yet either.

Still, she had a hunch— once the fusion progress hit 5%, something might unlock.

That meant one thing: time to go grind.

If she remembered right, there was a Tier 1 dungeon beneath Deya City.

Might as well check if she could access it.

In Legend of the Illusory Realm, just about every major location hid a dungeon.

Otherwise, what would be the point of all that gorgeous map design?

With that, Truth left the inn.

The owner smiled warmly and waved as she passed:

“Off to heal someone again, little priestess? Don’t worry if your robes get stained with blood— my wife runs a clothing shop just across the street. She’s got every style you can imagine.”

“Can you get me a priestess robe then?” Truth asked, planning to wear the vestments of the Goddess of Life to avoid unnecessary trouble.

“Of course! My wife even specializes in making them for the goddess’s faithful!”

Reassured, Truth made her way toward the dungeon entrance.

She picked up a wooden stick by the roadside and carried it like a wand, strolling alone down the street.

After all, casting spells bare-handed was a mid-tier technique— way too flashy for now.

She remembered the dungeon entrance used to be around 200 meters from the old village.

But Deya City had expanded well past that by now.

After evading a few patrols, Truth finally arrived at the place she remembered and found a massive underground marketplace sprawling before her.

“Uh… great. It turned into an adventurer’s black market.”

Truth stared at the quiet-yet-bustling black market, utterly speechless. Yeah… opening the dungeon here was going to draw a crowd for sure.

Five minutes later, she located a sealed entrance in a stone wall tucked into one corner. She pressed her hand to it and channeled her mana:

【Tier 1: Deya Underground Labyrinth – Activation Countdown: 9 hours 18 minutes 46 seconds… 45 seconds…】

Ah. She’d nearly forgotten the Deya Labyrinth only opened during daylight hours.

And there were still nine hours until sunrise.

“Tch… annoying.”

Just then, a long, narrow shadow stretched across the stone wall in front of her.

A raspy male voice called from behind:

“Are you a priest, a mage, or an elementalist?”

Truth turned and found a hooded figure shrouded entirely in a black cloak. She replied calmly:

“Priest.”

A pick-up attempt? Or maybe human trafficking? Either way, Truth’s eyes lit up—was this a chance to farm some EXP?

“Good. I’ve got a job for you,” the man said. “We’re headed to a tavern to discuss a bit of business, and we’ll need you to handle something within your ability. How about 5 silver coins?”

He pulled out five gleaming silver coins from his pocket.

If Truth said yes, they were hers on the spot.

In times like these, no one dared cheat a priest.

After all, you wouldn’t want your life on the line only to find your party’s priest won’t even glance your way, would you?

And that… kind of let Truth down.

Oh. So this was BOSS Direct Hiring… huh?