How Could the Envy Monster Be So Careless? (Typo-Corrected Version)

At dawn in Tevalinburg, located on the great northwestern highlands, the fog was thick. Being at a high latitude, night fell very late, and daylight came just as late.

Yet no matter how slowly time passed, three in the morning still arrived.

Sir Davis Tevalin, who had used all his Level 1 Permits to gain experience before dawn, met Bein Spencer by the fountain in Bell Tower Square.

This meeting was far too uneventful—so uneventful that Ergons felt he had overdone it.

He had made so many preparations specifically for this acquaintance, yet Bein Spencer, whether absentminded or for some other reason, noticed nothing at all.

Of course, the fact that Bein noticed nothing only proved that Ergons and the Adenauer Siblings' efforts beneath this calm surface had not been wasted.

The two merely exchanged a few words about their experiences over this period. Ergons Tevalin also learned that the armored knights he had knocked out and killed had actually belonged to the Church.

Luckily, he had not taken out and used those breastplates engraved with floral patterns. Otherwise, they would have been easy to recognize.

Even without the Holy Light emblem on the chest, the Church's standard plate armor was somewhat different from ordinary armor.

"Adam! The plate armor he gave Adam was stripped from those knights whose throats he slit after knocking them out."

That explained why William had mistaken Adam for a Foot Knight at first glance.

The two crossed the square from the fountain and headed toward the church bell tower. Bein Spencer said he would introduce him to the deacon group from the Church of the Holy Guardian in Gaudy City, the capital of the earldom.

Relationship with Bein Spencer has worsened. Affinity -2 / Hatred +8

Ergons found it strange. He had not even said anything, so why had their affinity dropped again?

Ever since learning about this man, the relationship between them had seemed bizarre whenever he checked the connections of people he knew.

+56/-60

What kind of relationship was that? Love and hate? A pair of lovers trying to kill each other?

Then, after he had subdued the Adenauer Siblings and begun studying how Sir Davis should interact with this man, while cramming information about Pastor Spencer, who had died half a year ago, something unexpected happened.

He had neither provoked nor offended him, yet Bein Spencer's affinity suddenly plummeted again.

Not only had their affinity dropped by twelve points, but hatred had also risen by as much as twenty points, changing the values to +44/-80.

Eighty points of hatred—if this were a game, the man would probably stop at nothing, day and night, to kill his enemy.

And forty-four points of affinity merely meant that his sense of recognition had reached the bare minimum.

The ironic part was that as soon as Bein Spencer voluntarily mentioned introducing the deacon group to him, it dropped again!

This man had already become envious and hateful of Sir Davis to the extreme!

+42/-88

Perhaps this Priest would lose his head in a moment of rage and strike him down without mercy!

"This guy can't be allowed to live."

Ergons made the decision instantly and prepared to act at once. Once they entered this bell tower, they would be inside the church, where a deacon group was waiting.

If this fellow suddenly made a move then, anyone could guess whom those deacons would help.

"I haven't visited Godfather's graveyard in a long time. My situation among the higher-ups is practically common knowledge. There's no need to meet the deacon group in the middle of the night. It's so late; we shouldn't disturb their rest. Let's go to the graveyard instead."

As they reached the foot of the bell tower, just before he came into contact with the deacon group displayed on the map, he deliberately brought up Godfather.

He wanted to see whether he could provoke him further. From the Adenauer Siblings' description, he had begun to understand the root of the strange relationship between Bein and Davis.

Relationship with Bein Spencer has worsened. Affinity -17

That stimulus really did lower the affinity again. Hatred did not rise, but whether it rose or not no longer mattered, because affinity now represented Bein Spencer's last shred of reason.

That affinity was the safety catch, the final warning line preventing hatred from turning into harmful action.

The moment the affinity dropped, Bein Spencer exploded!

His eyes turned bloodshot, his muscles tensed, and he suddenly shoved Ergons Tevalin, who had been walking beside him, away.

Drawing his Warhammer, his face flushed red, he roared with near-twisted fury, "He has a real son, so what are you pretending to be—a dutiful son and grandson? When you entered the city, you had time to tremble on top of your aunt, but no time to visit the old man?

You dare talk about visiting the old man's grave in front of me? What, are you afraid I'll dig up his grave? The old man had favored others since childhood. I wonder whether he still remembered who his real son was—or were you born from your mother and the old man?"

Damn, those words were vicious. Even knowing he was cursing Sir Davis Tevalin, Ergons still felt that was unbearably nasty!

From the information he had, this man should not have been a match for Davis. So how did he dare to actually come at him?

Ergons had already intended to get rid of this menace. His hatred was too high, and he posed far too much danger to his disguise as Davis.

However, he would not draw his sword immediately. Dressed in casual clothes, he was certainly more agile than the other man, who wore chainmail beneath his Priest's robe.

He dodged attack after attack with such ease that the affinity continued to fall, while hatred rose again.

The quantified hatred of a fight to the death was quite accurate. Bein Spencer put every ounce of strength he had into it. Perhaps because he was counting on Sir Davis not fighting back, he swung his one-handed wooden hammer with all his might!

The square-brick pavement of the church bell tower plaza was smashed apart, sending chips of stone flying everywhere.

To bystanders, it truly looked exceedingly dangerous. Yet only Ergons, standing at the center of the "storm," knew that attacks of this level were flashy but utterly useless.

The deacons inside the church were all stunned.

Pastor Alphons, who looked plump and seemed accustomed to a life of comfort, took one stride and leaped from a window seven or eight meters above the ground in the tower.

"Stop!"

"You're brothers, children cherished by the Holy Light! Why are you fighting?"

Pastor Alphons' words were useless. Bein Spencer's love and hate for Davis had completely lost balance. He truly wanted to kill him.

Every time his hammer missed, his hatred rose a little. This was not very harmful, but it was deeply humiliating.

Bein Spencer absolutely could not accept that he had already attacked with all his strength while the other man dodged so leisurely.

However, anyone who truly believed Ergons was merely dodging would be mistaken. He was waiting for an opportunity.

Bein Spencer swung his hammer horizontally and missed. Ergons deliberately pretended to stumble over the shattered bricks scattered beneath his feet.

As he braced himself against the ground, he picked up a palm-sized sharp stone fragment, waiting for the chance to throw it.

That chance came immediately.

Seeing him fall, Bein Spencer did not hesitate. He brought the hammer down with all his strength.

Ergons naturally took one perilous step backward and avoided it, but the innocent ground was smashed instead!

With a bang, shattered stones sprayed everywhere again.

But this time was different: Bein Spencer's movements suddenly stopped!

Whenever he struck the ground before, both the fragments blasted away by earlier blows and the newly shattered stones had scattered in every direction.

But this time, he froze in pain, dropped his hammer, looked incredulously at his wound and then at Ergons, before collapsing weakly amid spurting blood.

"Bein! How could you be so careless?! Priest, hurry and save my brother!"