LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 6
6 – Virtue Points
I gazed absentmindedly at the pink sky reflected in my glass during my free time after morning prayers.
The birds up early were singing outside, but I was unable to focus on their beautiful songs.
My mind was occupied with the little incident from yesterday.
‘Why didn’t it hurt even though I healed the saint?’
Just yesterday, I treated the saint’s curse late at night, but didn’t feel any pain.
Does the cured disease not hurt?
Has the Goddess secretly enhanced my skill?
I entertained various such hypotheses.
But it was unlikely that the petty Goddess hid something like a hidden piece in my skills, so all were rejected.
And so, the conclusion I arrived at.
‘Why bother with such trouble… Let’s just let it go.’
Isn’t there a saying that ‘what’s good is good’?
Despite the puzzling lack of pain after the treatment, it was good for me, so let’s leave it at that.
And… it was enjoyable to observe the saint’s body without any pain.
[The Goddess is looking at you with disdain]
Eek, it seems the Goddess is reading my thoughts again.
‘Dear lecherous Goddess, can you please stop reading my thoughts? Humans have the right to entertain wicked thoughts in secret, you’re violating my rights…’
[The Goddess insists that she needs to read your thoughts to determine if you’ve repented]
‘Oh dear, perverted Goddess. Haven’t I already shown through my conduct that I haven’t repented?’
[The Goddess says that it doesn’t seem like it at all. And she’s not a pervert, so stop calling her that]
Despite my pleas for the perverted
[The Goddess has brought good news]
“Good news, you say?”
[The Goddess gleefully announces that she has added a store feature to the system]
A store…
I’d wondered why there hadn’t been a mandatory store in this ice-age fantasy current reality. It seemed as if the Goddess knew my fantasies too and had made time to create it.
“Hm, Hm. This really is good news. So, what can we purchase from the store?”
[The Goddess tells you to figure it out for yourself]
As soon as the Goddess conveyed her message via the system, with a pop! a new page of the system appeared in front of me.
It was easy to tell that this was the store.
After all, ‘Store’ was written at the top…
[Store]
Passive Strengthening 1 (Cold Pain Immunity): It removes pain from colds after using absolute cure. (500PP)
Stat Enhancement: Increases the desired stat by 1, excluding luck. (5000 PP)
I was momentarily at a loss for words at the sight of the barebones shop.
“So, is this what you call a store, with only two items for sale?”
[The Goddess, sounding annoyed, suggests you should be grateful she made it in the first place. She maintains that despite there only being two items, they are all useful]
This comment left me speechless.
Indeed, this was a store made especially for me by the busy Goddess, and the items for sale weren’t terrible.
Passive Strengthening seemed to be an item to gradually improve my exclusively Negative Passive in stages, and the Stat Increase was nothing less than an item to increase my stats.
All of them were necessary items for me who was vulnerable and had to groan every time I received treatment.
“……Upon reflection, I may have been too harsh. So, what is this currency concept called PP? I know we don’t use such currency in the Empire.”
[The Goddess explains that PP stands for Merit Points. She mentions that you will accumulate PP every time you perform a good deed]
“To note, how much PP do I have?”
[The Goddess explains that you have a total of 400 PP]
“Hmm… So I only have a measly 400? That’s not enough to buy anything from the store…”
[The Goddess explains that you need to accumulate more PP]
“How do I accumulate PP?”
[The Goddess says the way to accumulate PP is…]
***
The way to earn PP was simple.
From the moment I heard that PP was a virtue point, I realized the method of earning it was to practice good deeds.
For instance, helping old people on the street, showering children with candies, or counseling a young man troubled with unemployment…
All you had to do was perform good deeds, quite literally.
However, I did not understand this PP system at all.
“Does it make sense to work as hard as a dog all morning and only earn 5 points!?”
Regardless of how many good deeds you perform, only a miniscule amount of PP could be obtained.
[The Goddess explains this is because PP is something you should slowly accumulate by performing good deeds]
“But even so, this is too less! I have to work for a full 1000 days to enhance 1 stat!”
[The Goddess replies she has prepared another method as she assumed you would complain]
What a flexible yet perverted Goddess.
She even created a system reminiscent of gambling, considering even she thought the reward was too young.
“So, what’s the other method then?”
I excitedly questioned the void where the system message would appear.
Then a quest window popped up along with an uninspiring beep.
[Sub Quest: Please cure the offspring of the fallen target, Grid’s son Kuckulet]
Reward: 1000PP, slightly increased chances of high priest appointment.
※ If failed, the Grid family will die.
Even without accepting the quest, the guide that I previously saw is now leading me.
“It turns out to be work after all…well, alright. I’m going although it seems like I’m going to suffer again, the pay’s tempting.”
An ominous future of suffering post-treatment of merchant’s son or whatever floated in my mind, but the number 1000 had deceived me.
‘Right, I’m destined to be enslaved under the Goddess…’
With a sense of slight despair.
I walked along following the guide’s blue line.
***
A humble neighborhood slightly detached from the dazzling capital.
This was where the fallen traders and nobles ousted from the capital gathered and formed a slum.
The only buildings in town were old, decayed, panel houses.
Within one of them, in a damp, mossy, and humid room, is the descendant of the once renowned Grid family, Kuckulet, cradling his ailing son.
A few days ago, his son Kuckulrus started running a fever that burned like fire, was coughing, and was in pain– until he finally lost consciousness.
The inability to prevent his son’s death was entirely Cuculet’s fault.
If he had not succumbed to alcohol after the separation from his wife; if he had not squandered the family fortune in a spree; if he had come to his senses and revitalized the business.
Maybe he could have afforded to hire a doctor or at least beseech a priest…
“My only son would not have died…”
Wave upon wave of regret surged within him amidst innumerable ‘what-ifs’.
And regret piled high, blooming into despair.
Cuculet clutched his son, losing color by the second, as if promising not to let go.
“The situation has been driven to this point due to my failings. But why does heaven wish to take away my son?”
Cuculet gazed up at the sky with a resentful look in his eye.
He wanted to wail at the cruelty of the destiny ordained by the gods he had always put his faith in.
But he knew.
This was not about the gods, but about his own sins.
“There’s no point in venting my misplaced resentment on you. All-powerful yet impotent, you can’t possibly assist in any way”, he thought to himself.
Knowing this better than anyone, Cuculet decided to accept the impending death of his son.
“If I only had the money to find the saintess and save my wife, I could have saved this poor child of mine…”
Amidst his regrets, a masculine voice reached Cuculet’s ears as his eyes were closing.
“Are you Mr. Cuculet?”
Sluggishly, Cuculet opened his heavy eyelids at the sound of his name.
Peering at the origin of the voice, he couldn’t help but express surprise.
The man was a youth with deep silver hair evocative of wind and a pair of black eyes reflecting emptiness and a sense of vacancy.
Seeing that this youth bore a striking resemblance to the deity he had been serving, Cuculet briefly thought that his prayers had reached the heavens.
“I’ve come to treat your son. Hmm… maybe I should treat you as well while I’m at it?”
The young man, who had spoken in a nonchalant manner, proceeded to lay his hands on the cheeks of both Cuculet and his son.
A warm, comforting energy swirled around Cuculet.
Wholly consumed by the sensation, Cuculet closed his eyes.