I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

From earlier times, I had always become extremely cold and emotionless when under significant stress or in urgent situations.

Thanks to this aspect of my personality, I had managed to solve various problems since falling into this world, but perhaps due to the influence of the Outer God, it seemed to be getting more pronounced.

‘Even so, I’m really not keen on this one.’

I was currently trudging toward a place notorious for the frequent appearances of bandits. If it hadn’t been for the story about the black market in the harbor village, I might have avoided this kind of situation altogether.

‘Of course, I heard these guys are pretty vile…’

The extent of their vileness was such that they were notorious not only for simple robbery but also for cases of pleasure, killing and rape. The forces from Luminaries should have come out to eliminate them long ago, but they were still running rampant due to various reasons like understaffing, the remoteness of this area, and the fact that their activities started not long ago.

‘Even Mr. Ender said it would be best to annihilate them, but taking private measures without a trial…’

The source of this information was Ender. Information about evil targets to purge was communicated through Lyla’s owl familiar.

‘I’d prefer to avoid this kind of thing as much as possible, but I don’t have a choice. For survival and my objective, I need to firm up my resolve.’

To ensure the success of this plan, I had meticulously formulated everything. However, it seemed my inner turmoil was apparent, as Talia spoke up.

“…Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’ll definitely be fine.”

I replied without looking at Talia.

‘I need to act, but if she asks about my well-being, what can I do? Well, it’s not a big deal.’

There was something more burdensome than Talia’s small mistake. Dealing with Talia in her current state felt a bit overwhelming. Talia’s voice was also tinged with tension and awkwardness.

“They did say this path is safe.”

“And with this appearance, no one will notice us. Don’t worry; we just need to find that person.”

Talia answered in a heavy voice that she understood. Meaningless conversations, lines I had prepared for the plan. Setting aside Talia’s awkward acting skills…

‘Why, of all things, does she look like that.’

Right now, Talia didn’t resemble the blonde girl I knew but instead looked like a burly man with a hulking frame. This transformation was due to using an additional transformation potion procured from Lyla.

‘I deliberately chose this appearance for myself.’

A handsome young man with black hair and green eyes. According to Lyla, due to the high cost and difficulty of obtaining the transformation potion, she couldn’t pay much attention to Talia’s appearance. But still, to turn a once beautiful girl into such a figure…

‘At least Talia seems to be okay with it, which is a relief.’

While informing her of the plan and the lines to memorize before setting off, I eventually asked,

—So… are you okay, Talia? No matter how I think about it, this appearance seems a bit rough.

—I actually like it because I look like a warrior.

—… Really?

—Yes! Now, I feel like I can beat up those kids who teased me for being parentless!

Although it was fake, Talia had smiled broadly, inflating her rough muscles.

‘Well, this appearance does fit the plan.’

I intentionally put my hands on my waist and raised a finger as I began to speak with somewhat of an annoying tone.

“You know it well, right? You absolutely have to protect me. Be careful not to scratch that item! My plan is perfect, so nothing should go wrong, but still—”

“Hey, you there! Stop immediately!”

What impeccable timing.

A bandit.

“Tell your porter to drop all the bags. If you don’t want an arrow in your knee.”

Why the knee, of all places?

An irksome voice echoed from somewhere amidst the bushes and rough rocks. They were probably hiding well, aiming at me.

“A bandit? The village definitely said this path was safe…”

At my words, laughter poured out from all around.

It was the moment when the information I had separately asked from Ender came to light.

The bandits would deliberately place their people in places like taverns and introduce safe paths to lure passing merchants.

“I was one of those deceived. Although I dressed shabbily, I couldn’t hide my noble appearance, making me seem naive and unaware of the world. But that’s not all.”

Recalling the role I had, I calmly continued my act.

“Talia, prepare for battle! No matter what, we must protect this heirloom!”

In truth, what was inside Talia’s bag were just a few branches, filled to appear bulky.

I approached Talia, looking around nervously as if cornered like a rat.

“What are you doing, Talia! Prepare to fight!”

“Uh… I… uh…”

“Do I need to explain again how important that heirloom is? If you can protect it even at the cost of your life, it would be an honor!”

When I shouted intentionally in a trembling voice, Talia looked at me in surprise at the convincing act.

“If it’s money you want! I’ll give you what you demand!”

I purposely displayed a conflict.

No matter how desperate bandits were, they didn’t want to risk injury or danger if they could avoid it.

“Are you just going to watch as I get into danger?!”

This time, I raised my voice intentionally high-pitched, causing Talia to awkwardly open her mouth.

“Ah, miss! I told you this plan was reckless. If we get caught by the bandits—”

“You fool! How could you call me that!”

I added more interest to prevent the bandits from intervening immediately, allowing them to gather the intended information.

I covered up Talia’s awkward acting with my scolding.

“Fight for your life… huh? What are you doing now!”

Talia dropped the bag and started to run.

I had no intention of involving Talia in the upcoming fight.

“No! You ungrateful…!”

I pretended to feel betrayed. And then immediately pretended to be desperate.

“Don’t come any closer! Don’t touch me! If you do, Luminaries will come after you!”

As I thought the time had finally come, my hair began to lengthen. My black hair turned into long blonde locks, and my skin became more delicate and fine-lined.

“Seems like you used your head, miss. But you were just a dumb girl who thought she was smart.”

As the short effect of the second potion ended, the form I had previously transformed into reappeared.

Lyla had grumbled about why I waste money on such things, but seeing the bandits approaching showed that the effect was undeniable.

“Did they really think there would be a foolish noblewoman caught in such a naive scheme? No, probably they hoped there would be.”

And I perfectly fulfilled that need.

“Hey, boss! This is really big, isn’t it?”

“What are you ogling at, you idiot. You want me to pull out your eyes?”

Oh, even the boss was out. The band of bandits wasn’t that large to begin with, consisting of barely over ten men.

“Bless me toward the darkest underground. 〈Forbidden Transformation〉.”

In preparation for any possibility, I recited a prayer and stood upright. My tear-streaked face feigned crying, making the bandits even more delighted.

“… Huh?”

At the next moment, the hand of the bandit who reached out to me was instantly swallowed by my cloak.

“W-what the…!”

“That guy’s arm…?!”

The bandit, whose arm had been devoured in an instant, collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out.

“You… damn bitch!”

With a whoosh, a club was swung at me. However, the cloak moved on its own, extending its hem like a tentacle to crush the club.

“This bitch is a witch! She deceived us!”

“Still, one woman is…!”

The cloak extended its tendrils and pierced through the head of one bandit. As it writhed and twisted, it then tore his head off, and the cloaked tendrils disappeared under the edge of the cloak with the stolen head.

“Take her down all at once!”

Fools. Just as they rampaged without knowing their place, they still believed they could beat me as they charged forward. They swung their swords aiming for my head, while arrows flew from behind. Of course, the excellent cloak easily blocked the attacks, and the arrows couldn’t penetrate it either.

“What the hell is that damned piece of cloth?!”

The bandits fell one by one, succumbing to the cloak’s tendrils. While I killed a few, the rest were merely immobilized by breaking their legs or tearing their tendons.

“My acting skills seem to be still useful.”

Having successfully hunted the bandits, I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t done such a thing since high school, so I feared my skills had gotten rusty, but luckily, they hadn’t.

‘This should be enough for the future. I’ll have to practice these various roles against bandits from time to time.’

From afar, seeing the situation sorted, Talia returned, her bear-like body moving towards me.

“It worked.”

“Yeah… it went pretty well.”

“Wasn’t that a bit much?”

At Talia’s words, I looked at the scattered bandits.

“No, not that. Was it really necessary to layer those transformations?”

Talia asked why I hadn’t just traveled in the guise of a woman from the start.

“They would’ve been more on guard. When the transformation is undone and it seems like my true nature has been revealed, it makes it look like there’s nothing more to worry about.”

“Wow… why go to such lengths?”

Talia clicked her tongue in disapproval.

“We even transformed in the forest, then went back to the mage’s house. We even talked about getting an appraisal for an heirloom.”

“Right, exactly.”

“And you even went to a village tavern you didn’t need to, just to hear the false information the bandits spread.”

“Being thorough is important. Since Luminaries and mercenaries are targeting us, even more so.”

I spoke as I used the cloak’s tendrils to gather the bandits in one place.

“Thanks to that, I confirmed no one was monitoring us.”

Talia tilted her head, puzzled by what I said.

“If there was anyone following us besides the bandits, they would’ve attacked the bandits to rescue us, seizing the opportunity for a big reward.”

Even if someone had seen through my transformation or had been secretly tracking me from the beginning, there was nothing I could do about such a case anyway.

“Mister, just what kind of life have you lived…?”

Well… there were many things. I sighed as I recalled a past I didn’t wish to remember.

“Ah… mister? You perverted scumbag!”

I thought I had subdued them all. One bandit got up, a dagger in his hand as he rushed at me.

“… Ah.”

I didn’t want Talia to see this. The cloak, excited by the taste of blood, reacted first and swallowed the bandit whole. With a gross squelching noise, the bandit couldn’t even scream properly before being buried in the cloak and dying.

“Um… perverted, really.”

I spoke with an aggrieved expression, but Talia nodded as if in agreement.

“You did seem a bit perverted.”

“… Go keep watch. Don’t think about coming near until I signal.”

I sighed as I looked at the gathered bandits.

“I have to call those guys again.”