I Have a Sailing Game-Chapter 137 - 128: Missionary

"I think you’re very strange."

As the two of them steered the small boat, Hudson suddenly spoke beside Rogel.

"How can you be so kind-hearted and yet so ruthless at the same time?"

Hudson couldn’t understand, his voice carried an unusual confusion.

He saved the woman’s son, yet killed her husband right before her and her son.

This didn’t seem like something a purely kind or purely evil person could do.

Hudson had seen many people.

Generous good Samaritans, notorious villains, and timid people on the fringes.

But this was the first time he had met someone as "strange"... or perhaps "contradictory" as Rogel.

"What’s so strange about that?"

Rogel smiled.

"Out of sympathy, I saved her son."

"But her husband tried to kill me over a few Copper Coins, so I had every reason to kill him."

"Tit for tat, is that so hard to understand?"

Upon hearing this, Hudson fell silent.

It really did sound simple.

But, is it really that simple?

He sensed the crux of the matter.

This couldn’t be merely resolved by tit for tat.

But Hudson couldn’t articulate or exemplify the "contradiction" he felt at the moment.

He could only ponder for a moment before speaking again.

"If you greatly admire a child, but his father attempts to kill you and fails, would you kill his father?"

Then, Hudson added.

"And the child would have no one to care for him, would hate you for it, and seek revenge on you when he grows up."

Rogel looked at him with some surprise.

... Why was this guy suddenly asking philosophical questions?

"Kill."

Rogel replied blandly.

"What about the child?"

Hudson immediately responded.

"He hasn’t provoked you, and you greatly admire him."

"Yet, because of you, he loses his father and has no one to care for him in the future." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"I would take care of him," Rogel replied calmly again.

Seeing that Hudson wanted to ask more questions, Rogel spoke again.

"Such problems typically have only two choices."

"If you kill, you commit an irreparable mistake to a child you admire."

"If you don’t, a scum who means you harm goes unpunished, leaving you living in fear every day."

"So what should you do as a person with a conscience?"

Upon hearing this, Hudson’s brow furrowed deeply.

With his already dulled emotions, his brain felt like it was about to overheat.

In response, Rogel’s tone remained calm.

"For me, the question only requires splitting into two parts to solve."

"First, someone wants to kill me, so I kill him instead."

"Second, a child I greatly admire has no one to care for him, and I would take care of them."

"As for a middle ground or harsher methods, I have those as well."

Rogel looked at Hudson.

Since he asked, might as well explain it clearly.

"One option is to render his father a cripple, yet alive, and I take care of him. This is a middle ground, but it means caring for two people: one wants me dead now, the other may want me dead in the future."

"While this retains some goodness, it’s indecisive and leaves future troubles."

"The other option is to kill the child together with him."

"Neat and clean, eradicating future troubles, with no one left to seek revenge."

"Of course, neither of these would be my choice because I’m not that merciful, though I do hold onto a bit of conscience."

After hearing this, Hudson’s brow was still deeply furrowed, looking at Rogel with eyes as if he were looking at a monster, unable to relax for a long time.

"What if that child you raised grows up and seeks revenge on you?"

"Future matters are left for the future to judge."

Rogel’s expression was calm.

"Is this the right thing to do?" Hudson rubbed his brow.

Whether it was the aftereffects of the Secret Medicine or the complexity of the question, he felt mentally exhausted.

"I think it’s right, and that’s enough."

After saying this, Rogel looked at the turbulent seawater outside the small boat.

...

Giant Claw City, Mother Goddess Church.

A middle-aged man in a blue robe embroidered with ocean waves kept his eyes closed, softly chanting a prayer to the Mother Goddess statue in front of him.

Behind him, a few Believers were recounting the recent events.

"Missionary Sir, that Witch Demon named Rogel committed heinous crimes in Nadewilo and then came to Giant Claw City to commit atrocities!"

"He and an Exorcist named Hudson killed three of our Believers!"

The Believers angrily recounted the events involving Rogel and Hudson.

After finishing speaking.

The blue-robed Missionary continued to chant the prayer.

After finishing the prayer, he opened his eyes, revealing a pair of azure blue eyes, slowly turned around, and picked up a Mark-like item from the table, holding it in his palm.

"The Mother Goddess is loving and merciful, nurturing all things in the world."

"Yet, there are always those who defy and disrupt order, bringing chaos to the world."

His eyes seemed to shine with a divine light.

"I will follow the will of the Mother Goddess to bring the wicked to justice."

The other Believers around him all showed expressions of devout fervor.

"Follow the will of the Mother Goddess, bring the wicked to justice!"

Dong—

Beside him, two Devoted Knights in blue and white Heavy Armor thumped their Greatsword, emitting a heavy sound.

...

Shh!

Under the Purple radiance, a hideous giant Bat Monster let out a miserable scream, its bones stripping from its body uncontrollably, blood splattering.

[You have killed a Shadow Bat and gained Combat Experience.]

Rogel put away the Skeleton Spirit Staff and stepped forward to pick up the dropped items.

Hudson, standing silently to the side, said nothing.

The Shadow Bat is not an easy monster to deal with.

These creatures usually appear in dark caves or dense forests, their fangs carrying venom.

The trickiest part is that they possess the extraordinary ability to sneak into shadows and attack their enemies.

Yet, this monster was effortlessly dealt with by Rogel, who simply raised his Magic Staff, chanted a spell, and cast a purple light.

This made Hudson, who had been prepared to help, quietly put away his secret potion.

Is this the true strength of an Extraordinary...

[You have found Shadow Bat Fang ×2.]

[You have found Shadow Bat Wings ×2.]

[You have found Shadow Crystal ×1.]

Rogel glanced at the final Shadow Crystal; unsurprisingly, it was a material.

After putting it away, Rogel looked over at Hudson.

"Let’s go to that Dung Coral Island now."

Hudson silently followed, glancing at the disappearing Skeleton Spirit Staff in Rogel’s hand.

Why did I get into the exorcist business in the first place?

He couldn’t help but fall into silent contemplation.

...

The two of them sailed the small boat across the sea.

The destination, Dung Coral Island, was still quite a distance from Giant Claw City.

Hudson remained silent.

But he didn’t seem to be daydreaming; instead, he seemed to often be lost in thought.

In fact, he had many questions he wanted to ask Rogel.

"You owe me twice, right?"

Hudson said.

"Let me ask you a question, and it’ll cancel out one time."

Rogel nodded, saying nothing.

Seeing Rogel nod, Hudson pondered for a moment.

"...Where did you get all this equipment and knowledge from?"

He was utterly puzzled.

Rogel clearly didn’t know even the basic knowledge like meditation, so where did he acquire the powers of an Extraordinary and the knowledge of an alchemist?

Did he fish them out of the sea?

"Your question... er."

Rogel felt a bit of headache over this.

"How should I put it..."

"I guess you could say it was like fishing it up."

He stated.

It wasn’t wrong; if he hadn’t fished out a bottle of Magic Potion, Rogel might never have found the cave.

No cave, probably no powers today.

"..." Hudson’s mouth twitched: "That doesn’t count."

"That can’t count."

"You still owe me twice."

Hudson emphasized.

"Why doesn’t it count?"

Hudson said nothing, just looked at him.

Undoubtedly, his gaze made his point — fishing it up, do you take me for a three-year-old?

"You were the one who insisted on asking."

Rogel shrugged, feeling somewhat helpless.

Why does it seem like no one believes the truth?

Hudson was silent for a moment.

"Then let’s say it’s half."

"You still owe me one and a half."

Rogel’s mouth twitched.

Can such a thing even be counted as half?

"Alright, alright, half is half." Rogel didn’t want to continue this abstract conversation.

Hudson appeared to lack substantial emotions due to the secret potion, yet he wasn’t completely cold and unfeeling, giving him the impression of being... like a single-minded wolf?

Hudson nodded, but soon, he squinted his eyes.

To their back, a large ship was now sailing toward them.

Seeing his expression change, Rogel turned to look as well.

A blue flag with the pattern of the Mother Goddess was fluttering in the sea breeze.

"Trouble."

Hudson frowned.

As an exorcist who had been working in Giant Claw City for many years, he was naturally aware of the Mother Goddess Church.

The Mother Goddess Church in Giant Claw City wasn’t in its nascent stage like in Nadewilo.

They had been rooted in Giant Claw City for many years, deeply entrenched, constantly spreading Faith to the commoners, squeezing the survival space of quasi-extraordinaries like Hudson.

This could only be done with power.

Seeing the situation, Rogel also frowned.

He could now summon the Deep Sea Blood Touch to give these folks a taste of monster shock.

But if the Deep Sea Blood Touch was sent to him, it wouldn’t be able to watch over the Gelin.

If the Mother Goddess Church people tracked him down while simultaneously going after Lina and the others, he wouldn’t be able to help them in time.

Rogel did not panic, instead observing his surroundings.

In his rear, the destination, Dung Coral Island, was already coming into view.

"Row faster, let’s head to that Coral Island first."

Rogel calmly said.

With that, he pulled a potion from his pocket and tossed it to Hudson.

"Drink it when needed, it allows for underwater breathing, hold onto it."

Then, he took Hudson’s oar and quickly paddled toward the Coral Island behind.

Meanwhile, the people from the Mother Goddess Church naturally also spotted their little boat.

"Full speed, overtake them."

The tall, blue-robed Missionary ordered, the light blue mark on his hand gleaming brilliantly.

Beside him, two Devoted Knights armed with greatswords stood in readiness, followed by several fervent believers wielding Flintlock Guns.