After what seemed like another eternity, Justinian finally woke up, this time in better condition than before, and definitely in another room.
One that seemed to rejuvenate him, even strengthen him, like he was under an absurd amount of unnatural energy.
"Where am I...?"
Justinian stood up from his new bed and checked his surroundings. Golden pillars and engraved walls surrounded him, making the overall room look more opulent and regal than either Feryll’s room or even his own.
Which means he should be at least somewhere important.
[False Divine: Active]
’Huh...?’
Justinian glanced at his body, noticing his veins glowing faintly and small horns protruding from his head, visible but weaker than when he activated the skill himself.
It seemed the new location was definitely the reason for his odd recovery.
"Am I... in a church?"
He crossed his arms, wondering how he could have gotten here, but then it all started to make sense.
It should have been Cassia’s doing; she did think Justinian was an arcanist, and if he really was one, then the divine energy of the church should also seep into him.
And surprisingly, it worked, even if he wasn’t an actual arcanist.
"Right, Feryll and the rest of the guild, I need to make sure my command was enough to stop them from being executed."
Justinian quickly left the strange room he had been in, and outside, Cassia awaited him, pacing in quick circles while the opulence continued even outdoors.
"Justinian!"
With a burst of energy, she sprinted toward him, her heart racing. Without a moment’s hesitation, she swept him into a tight embrace, a surprising display of affection that took them both off guard.
"I’m so sorry...!"
She cried out; the thought of almost losing him was enough to stop her from acting tough.
"I’m fine now, Cassia. I apologize for making you worry..."
Justinian whispered, reciprocating her embrace as he reassured her he was fine.
And even if his words didn’t work, his appearance certainly did; anyone would think he was okay after seeing him.
He looked like the definition of a dragon in mortal form.
"What about the craftsmen?"
He asked, still worrying about their safety.
"They’re fine... the dark elf explained everything."
Cassia replied, but then her sadness gave way to something similar to anger as she looked at Justinian with sunken eyes, clearly worried sick.
"Don’t leave without telling me, and better yet, don’t leave at all without me by your side."
The way Cassia gripped Justinian’s arm with her gauntlets made him wince; despite his semi-divine form, she was still strong enough to cause him pain.
This realization led Justinian to understand why he had passed out.
It wasn’t due to incompatibility with the power or even a misuse of it. The issue was that his body simply couldn’t keep up with his skill. He possessed the abilities of a master, but his body couldn’t sustain them, leading to a shutdown, especially when he activated his domain and slaughtered multiple bandits at once.
That’s when his body completely gave out, considering it was already worn out from hours of fighting.
’I can’t believe it... something so obvious yet I didn’t even think about it.’
Justinian couldn’t help but be disappointed in himself; he thought it was just system backlash, but it turned out it be just his own negligence.
But he couldn’t show that weakness to Cassia, especially after she had just gotten done crying.
"I’ll keep that in mind."
"You won’t just keep it in mind, I’ll make sure it stays there."
She sternly spoke, like she was his mother.
"I’ll look forward to it then."
Justinian nodded; he didn’t know how to reply.
"But that reminds me, why did you go on such a perilous task?"
"I wanted to get the help of the craftsmen for future projects in the duchy; I couldn’t force them to work after all."
Cassia didn’t seem to like his answer at all; her brows snapped together.
"You could have made me or Lord Lucas do that job!"
Once again, she reprimanded Justinian, but he didn’t mind; it was clear it was out of pure care and concern rather than actual anger.
One that Justinian had taken for granted when he decided to have fun as a stranger for a while.
"You’ve made your point, Cassia."
He smirked, patting her on the shoulder.
"I’ll need to talk to the guild again. I still need to employ them."
Cassia stopped him, shaking her head in refusal.
"No, I cannot allow that, especially with you looking... like that."
Referring to Justinian’s current otherworldly form, if he were to go out in that state, it would only lead to the formation of a full-blown cult.
"And you also don’t need to, Lord Matthias is already on it."
"Matthias...?"
Justinian tilted his head; at this point, it seemed like his steward had the ability of mind reading with how he orchestrated plans ahead of Justinian.
’Aren’t I supposed to be the otherworlder here?’
"And you also have more important things to handle."
"Like what?"
"Well... my father may want to talk to you again, this time in more detail."
She said in a low voice, like she was trying to hide that she was the reason for this sudden meeting.
"What about my current... appearance?"
"My father is used to the Gods’ meddling; he wouldn’t mind it at all."
Her explanation seemed sound, but it lacked details on how she could be sure everything would be fine. Her father was a powerful count, and if he overreacted, well... you already know what will happen.
’But I’ll take her word for it, I do owe her.’