The Exiled First-born of the Noble House. Rising to the Top With the Worthless Skill [Null Poison]

The Cross

I let Ralf and Esta head towards Charlotte and the rest first as I alone made my way to Graham first who was standing by himself.

“Graham, did you really come here just to see me off?”

“Good morning.
Yes, there was something I really wanted to give to you so here I am.”

“Did you now? But, I never told you when I was leaving though? How did you find out?”

“I did know the day you’d be leaving, just not the time.
But, I thought that if I came here to wait from early in the morning, I was bound to catch you at some point.
And thankfully, since you happened to be leaving so early in the morning, I didn’t even have to wait very long either.”

Graham said that while laughing but, if I had happened to be leaving at night, just what was he going to do?

Honestly, we had even thought of leaving late last night as well, so he could have ended up waiting for us even though we had already left.

It was a bit terrifying to even think of that………..but, regardless, since the worst case didn’t happen, I didn’t see any point in pondering over it any further.

“That was quite the gamble you took there.
Is this thing you want to give me really that important?”

“Yes………Well, whether it ends up being important or not depends more on you yourself Chris-san, but, I felt it was that important so I came.
Allow me to hand it over right away.”

Graham ruffled through the item holder on his waist and then pulled out a silver chain-like item.

Was this a……..necklace?

It was a silver necklace with a small golden cross was attached at its pendant.

“Is that necklace the thing you want to give me?”

“Indeed.
I was hoping you’d wear this on your journey.”

“I mean, you came all this way to give this to me so sure, I’ll wear it but………why is this necklace so important?”

“Rather than the necklace, it’s really this pendant cross that is important……….Since the clergy are oathsworn to not directly attack fellow human beings so this cross is given to anyone that reaches the Priest rank.
It may look cheaply built but its effect are very much real.
As long as you wear it, it will completely protect you against holy magic.”

“Just wearing it will block all attacks from the priests towards me? Are you sure you can hand me something this precious?”

From what I can tell, this necklace belongs to Graham himself.
Just lending it to me comes with a huge amount of risk I imagine.

We both know that the Cardinal, a pawn of Klaus, is waiting for us to ambush us at [Foro Neem] so if he really is lending me this, it’ll be a huge help for me but……..I couldn’t help but feel worried for Graham himself.

“It is fine, don’t worry.
Look, I have replica here so I won’t get found out.
As long you can return it back to me after the battle is done, all is good.”

“……….if that’s the case, I’ll gladly borrow this necklace from you.
Really, thank you, for everything.”

“No need.
It’s something I’m doing out of my own will so no need to feel too indebted to me.”

“Even if you say that, I can’t help but feel that way you know.
I know I asked this before, but seriously, why are you helping me so much?”

I do think we became pretty close especially after our dinner and all but at the same time, I can’t think of any reason why he’d go this far just for my sake.

When I asked his reasons out of curiosity, Graham simply hung his down, and refused to show me his expression.

“I’m not doing this just to help you Chris-san, I’m doing this all for my own sake as well.
Not just the Cardinal, but even a bunch of promising and talented bishops have gone with him right? If they all happened to disappear one day, it’d make it a lot easier for me to get promoted don’t you think?”

“………..is that really your reason?”

Since he said that in a voice much more low key than ever before, the bright atmosphere around us very quickly turned into something much darker.

For a moment, I wasn’t sure of how serious he was being so I asked that back but, when graham raised his head again, he showed a wide smile again making me feel a bit more relieved.

“——-just kidding.
I’ve said this before but I simply find you to be interesting Chris-san.
Perhaps even before we had our proper chat, I think I sensed that there was something similar about us.
The [Farmer] Chris, and the [Sword God] Klaus.
If I had to pick who to cheer for, I’ll always pick Chris-san.
The Cardinal is also sticking with Klaus-san for his own benefits right, so what I’m doing is basically the same.”

When he puts it that way, it does sound more reasonable.

The Cardinal has only been supporting Klaus openly for his own personal gains after all.

If that’s the case………..fine, I’ll gladly borrow his help as well.

“That explanation is surprisingly satisfactory.
I’ll take what I can get as well in that case.”

“Good.
Be sure to put an end to it all properly.
I’ll continue to cheer you on, even if from the shadows.”

“Yeah, once everything’s settled, I’ll come back again to meet you.”

“Do tell me all the stories when the time comes in that case.
I’ll wait for the reports of your victory.”

I did a firm handshake with Graham, gave my thanks once again, and then saw him off as he headed back towards the church.

After that, I quickly put on the cross pendant necklace, and then finally headed towards Charlotte and the others as well.