Editing Skill Tree Goddess:Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 4===

…What kinds of skills did a healer need?

Gilbezos tried to figure that out while wandering the city with his new party.

“Excuse me. Wait just a moment, adventurers.”

A young male priest called out to them on the main street. He looked to be in his late twenties.

“I am Sophocles Fang. You are on your way to hunt Yuileen, the SS-rank Uroboros-type dragon, correct? To protect Temple City Aeropremise. Then please visit the temple first. We can provide you with an item I am sure you will find useful.”

“?”

They had no real reason to refuse and the priest had been most polite to an adventurer who lived in an inn. Even one this short. Plus, Gilbezos was terrified of battling that huge dragon, so he welcomed a detour.

The priest guided them to the largest temple in the city. The big gate was flanked by large goddess statues. Specifically, they were about 30 metora tall.

“…I know it’s supposed to make them look grand, but doesn’t this let us look right up their skirts?”

“Getting your hopes up? But there’s no underwear to spy on if they didn’t sculpt the part underneath the clothing. Grin.”

As soon as he stepped through the gate and onto the temple grounds, a wave of dizziness struck Gilbezos.

“Ah ha ha. Back when I was still a monk in training, I always felt lightheaded when I walked through the gate.”

Acting like a tour guide, the priest pointed out some kind of a pointy stone pillar in the center of the large rectangular plaza. Was it a monolith? No, it could be more precisely defined. That was an obelisk.

“It was apparently excavated from a distant spiritual site and brought here, so it creates a holy ground that only humans can approach. If it could be mass-produced, the world might be freed from the threat of monsters.”

Temple City Aeropremise tended to be built vertically, so the temple also had several sharp towers in addition to its main building. Someone was visible in a window high up on one tower.

“Who is that?”

It was a girl. She was probably some kind of holy woman, but her blue clothing scattered with gold, silver, and gems looked quite expensive. Heavy too. She also wore a crown of flowers, likely made from those blooming in the garden. It looked handmade and seemed out of place with the rest of her gorgeous outfit.

She must have noticed Gilbezos looking up at her because she slipped back away from the window.

Could she be the Saint he had heard so much about? She looked to be 14…no, maybe 13. But of course, Shirayuri was only 10 and she did a crafting job. This girl’s skill at creating the Saint’s Jewels appeared to be real, so maybe one’s job and age had little to do with each other.

The bearded man got right to the point. Grownups could be amazing in some ways.

“So what is this useful item you mentioned?”

“We do not expect you to fully defeat an SS-rank dragon. That would be asking too much. So please take this with you. It is an anti-dragon Seal Talisman made by Saint Yulatia Fines herself.”

“?”

Gilbezos had never heard of a talisman like this.

Was it as useful as the Saint’s Jewels?

“No matter how much HP your opponent has left, they can be enclosed within this talisman as long as they are rendered unconscious. This allows you to avoid the hellish marathon of wearing down a dragon’s astronomically high HP.”

“That’s incredible.” The bearded man sounded impressed by this explanation. “So even sleep or faint would work?”

…It was questionable whether status effects like that would work on a major boss, but this was better than nothing. And maybe they could improve their odds of success by combining the status effects with some other skills. Gilbezos would gladly accept that talisman.

“Come here, Gilbezos. I was so bored. Hmph.”

The goddess was all over him as soon as he left the temple grounds.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen her for a bit, had he?

“It’s cheek rubbing time★ Followed by a ‘look how high you are’ for a combo attack★★★”

“Gyahhhhhh!? Where did this come from!? Besides, where have you been?”

“Some weird barrier wouldn’t let me on the temple grounds. I was so lonely.”

The 18-looking goddess was in full childish sulking mode. With her lips pouted and everything.

…Wait? So a temple to the goddess doesn’t let its own goddess inside?