How the Cult Saves the World

'Cough!'

The thing that wrapped around Troy's neck in an instant was a collar of restraint, imbued with the power of Maseen.

Maseen's energy suppressed Troy's strength and brainwashed him in an instant.

The one who threw it at Troy was 'Hamel', who was watching the monsterization experiment.

Hamel, the High Priest of the Aldone Branch of the Rizes Church, was very pleased with Troy, who had single-handedly dealt with the tribesmen who had become monsters.

'You're good enough to be... a pet for me.'

After that, Hamel dragged Troy to the Aldone Kingdom and started to treat him like his dog.

He could have addicted him to Happy if he wanted to, but he didn't bother.

He didn't want to risk losing a useful dog if he failed to turn Troy, who had superior strength among the Monts, into a monster.

'From now on, you'll wag your tail for me.'

As a result, Troy was forced to do things he didn't want to do and was exploited by Hamel like a slave.

He harmed people against his will and suffered from it when the brainwashing wore off.

He desperately hoped and hoped that someone would save him. But salvation did not come easily, and he thought he would never escape from this hellish place. Until then.

Salvation finally arrived.

"I've come to save you."

The words that came with a warm smile. Troy almost reached out his hand to him in an instant.

But it was only for a moment. He remembered Hamel.

'Can I really trust him?'

Was this person different from Hamel?

A distrust of humans rose in the wounded beast.

---

Troy stared at me blankly and then flinched and backed away.

I looked at him for a while and thought.

'He's more pitiful than I thought...'

Troy Mont. The sole survivor of the Mont tribe, a black panther beastman, and the direct descendant of the chief.

He was the main culprit of the disaster that would start in Bahano. He was a tragic character who was treated like a slave by Hamel, the High Priest of the Aldone Branch of the Rizes Church, and lost all his tribesmen to him.

Because of that, Troy naturally harbored a deep grudge against him. And in winter, Hamel headed to Bahano with Troy.

Then, unexpectedly, Troy's restraint was released. Troy took advantage of that opportunity to perform a forbidden spell that only the chief and his successor of the Mont tribe could perform, in order to avenge his family.

When Troy performed the curse at the cost of his life, coincidentally, the Rizes Church carried out a monsterization that covered the entire Bahano Kingdom. Thanks to that, even those who became monsters became sacrifices for the curse, which grew like a snowball.

'Well, in the end he died and Terdius lifted the curse... but I didn't have much attachment to him.'

The Troy Mont in front of me didn't look like someone who would do such a thing. His eyes were filled with innocence and he was shivering by even looking at me.

'...He's pitiful and sad.'

I tried to smile at Troy. The disaster would not happen now. In Woosebeop, saving Troy would prevent the disaster from happening, and he could also be used conveniently if I tamed him well.

For example, I could ride on a black panther beastman instead of a horse. He was fast, could communicate, and even strong.

'But if I actually ride him, I feel like I'll look bad.'

But it was a real feature in the game. Although Troy's personality was a bit fierce, he was fine once he got close.

But in Woosebeop, getting close to Troy was quite difficult.

'Hmm...'

I looked at Troy for a while and then glanced at the iron bars of the prison. Getting him out of here was my priority. However, I couldn't just release Troy.

No matter how much he had been brainwashed so far, his basic strength was considerable.

If I compare it, he would be slightly stronger than Chester right now. He was strong enough to compete with Terdius in Woosebeop.

So if I opened the iron bars right now, he might hurt us and run away. Besides, he had wounds all over his body so I didn't want to let him go.

'First of all.'

I opened my inventory and took out a medicine I had made beforehand when I made various kinds of medicines before leaving for Bahano. I opened the lid and sprayed the liquid on Troy. He flinched and shuddered. Then his body fell to the floor with a thud.

"Ma-Master?"

As Troy lost consciousness, Zain who had been watching behind me came up with a fuss.

"Did you kill him?"

He came up to me with a startled look.

"Do you really think I would do that? I just put him to sleep."

What I sprayed on Troy was a sleeping drug I had made in advance when I made various kinds of medicines before leaving for Bahano.

"Oh, I see."

"I'm going to take him and treat him. So open this up."

I pointed to the iron bars with my chin and he followed my order with a nervous face.

"You're going to treat him? What if you get caught by the Rizes Church?"

"They'll make a fuss if he disappears, but they won't know we took him."

Zain still frowned with worry, but he obediently opened the iron gate.

"Pick him up."

"...Me?"

"Then should I do it?"

Zain pouted. But he obediently picked Troy up and put him on his back. I took out an extra robe from my inventory and covered Troy with it. I also hid his tail perfectly and went outside.

I let Zain, who was carrying Troy, go up the stairs first, and I followed behind him.

Suddenly, the iron bars next to where Troy was caught my attention.

'There...'

Like Rovel, there was also an underground prison. The people in there were those who were addicted to Happy. But unlike Rovel, most of them were close to 'monsterization'. So it was hard to save them right away. So today's goal was only to rescue Troy Mont.

I looked at the underground prison where people were for a while and turned my head.

'I'll have to come back.'

I hoped they could hold on a little longer.

---

When we returned to the inn, it was already dawn. Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone after we left the Rizes Church chapel. The bastards of the Diego Church or Rizes Church only trusted 'Gaho' and their security was lax. Thanks to that, we were able to bring Troy safely to the inn.

"Huff, huff."

Zain laid Troy on the bed and breathed heavily.

"He's so damn heavy."

I ignored his annoyance and looked at the message window that appeared in front of me.

[Subquest 'Light of Hope' 3. <Rescue the Beast of Aldone Kingdom> Clear!]

[You have received the subquest reward.]

[The subquest has been updated!]

[Subquest 'Light of Hope' 4. <Salvation of Aldone Kingdom>

Description: You have rescued the beast within the time limit in Aldone Kingdom. Now, it is time to punish the Rizes Church that is trying to disrupt the kingdom.

Objective: Eliminate the Rizes Church's Aldone Branch within a week (This quest is a linked quest)

Success: Next quest clue

Failure: -

Final reward: ???

[Do you accept?]

[Yes/No]

In the original novel, the 'Light of Hope' quest ended when I prevented the disaster. But now, the quest continued. Maybe it was because it knew my will.

'How interesting.'

I smiled faintly and accepted the quest. Even if the quest ended here, I had no intention of letting the Rizes Church bastards go. This worked out well.

Then, I turned my gaze to Troy, who was lying on the bed. There was a restraining device on Troy's neck that contained magical powers. The High Priest Hamel used that to suppress Troy's power and brainwash him to control him.

"What is this...?"

Zain, who had been annoyed until now, noticed my gaze and pointed at the restraining device and asked.

"A restraining device. It must have been used to suppress the power of the Mont tribe."

"They treated him like a beast. Those trashy bastards."

Zain cursed and reached out to Troy's restraining device. At that moment, I grabbed Zain's wrist and stopped him.

"Don't touch it. It contains the power of the Rizes Church."

"What? You mean..."

"Only a High Priest could have made something with this much magic. Probably the High Priest in charge of Aldone."

"...That's evil."

I reached out to the restraining device as I heard Zain's muttering. Zain might not have felt the magic flowing from the device, but I could.

A feeling so unpleasant and disgusting that it made my skin crawl. Maybe because my divine power from Kyros had grown stronger, I could sense it more clearly.

"Master, be careful."

"I'm fine."

As soon as my hand touched the device, Zain looked at me with worry. I infused my divine power into the device. A warm sensation left my body, and the device glowed white.

Pssst-

The device, shrouded in white light, made a small cracking sound and disappeared.

"Wow... You really look like the leader of a religion every time you do this."

Zain exclaimed. I retorted that he should have known that by now and opened my inventory. Then I took out a healing potion and tilted Troy's neck towards me before pouring it into his mouth.

Even in his sleep, Troy gulped down the potion well. He must have been deprived of proper food and water by Hamel.

Soon, Troy's eyelids fluttered after he finished the potion.

"Ugh..."

Troy moaned softly and opened his eyes. The sleeping powder I sprayed on him was not ingested orally, so he woke up quickly.

Troy's yellow eyes looked at the ceiling. As I saw his focus returning slowly, I opened my mouth.

"Did you sleep well?"

I tried to sound as gentle as possible, but even that seemed to scare Troy. He startled and sat up abruptly. He then crouched on the bed like a cat, ready to jump out of it at any moment.

"...!"

He was clearly on guard. It was understandable, considering what he had gone through with Hamel. But I felt a bit hurt.

'I was nicer to him than in the Dominance route.'

I felt a bit bitter. In the Dominance route, I only played by choosing the given options, so I didn't do anything to heal Troy after I rescued him. That made it very hard to get close to him.

'But now I removed the restraining device and healed him.'

I smiled bitterly, trying to hide my feelings.

"Are you feeling okay? It seems like you're fully healed, but let me know if anything bothers you."

Only then did Troy look at his own body. Most of the wounds on his body had disappeared, and there were hardly any scars left. He seemed to realize that and his eyes widened. Then he reached for his neck, where there was nothing.

"Oh. I removed the device. You're free."

At that, Troy's gaze turned to me. His eyes scanned me intently. He looked like he had something to say.

But soon,

Thud-

Troy jumped out of the open window.