The Priest of Corruption

War of Nerves.

[If I said I don’t know, would you believe me?]

Obviously, it was a brazen lie, and even Mother didn’t feel the need to answer such a lie.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Aurelius eventually declared surrender. He playfully raised his hands and tapped his metal chin.

[Contrary to the rumors, the Great Enemy of the Evil God seems to need some reason to capture the worshipers of the evil god.]

He talked about the duty of a priest that worshipped the gods, but of course, it had nothing to do with me as a Priest of Corruption. I replied with a smile.

“I’m here now as a mercenary. Our employer forgot and left out some information about this quest.”

Metal eyes that I could not read emotion from looked down at me.

[You came as a mercenary…]

‘Kill!!!’

While Mother was getting angry at him for stalling, I pondered. Could I get some information here by stalking Aurelius? Or should I tell my party members to break the contract and leave? Looking at his behavior, he definitely knew the cause of this raid. Besides, I needed information about the actions of the worshipers of the evil gods, which I was sure were closely related to the main quest.

While I considered using force, Aurelius spoke.

[Trusting the priest’s reputation, I will tell you the reason. Can you keep my secret?]

I looked up at him and answered.

“If it’s a secret worth keeping, I will.”

After a moment of silence, Aurelius continued in a low voice.

[Bring ‘that.’]

The guard who had been standing next to him disappeared somewhere. Aurelius buried himself in his chair as we waited.

[The worshipers of the evil god began to attack our group after I was handed over a ‘thing.’ I promised a client to ship the ‘thing’ to the capital and received advance payment.]

The blood of the snow bat flowed down my cheeks from my hair. Roughly wiping away the blood, I brushed my hair back.

“From what I’ve seen, I don’t know the price, but the damage to your group seems terrible. Isn’t that enough to consider giving up on this delivery?”

[I have received the Immortalium. And I’ll get the other half in the capital.]

That explained his persistence.

The guard returned after a while with a box. The box, or rather chest the size of an adult’s torso, was engraved with strange patterns. Aurelius tapped it after the guard handed it over.

[This is that ‘thing.’ To be honest, I don’t know why the worshipers of the evil god are after it. I showed this item to another priest killed at their hands a while ago, but he said he didn’t know why they were targeting this object.]

He slowly opened the box and smiled.

[Maybe Priest Marnak, the Great Enemy of the Evil God, is different, so I will show you.]

What was inside the black box was a copper-colored necklace. If there was something special about the necklace, it was a holy thing.

‘Kill!!!’

It was a holy relic in which Mother’s divinity was sealed. I immediately realized why the worshipers of the evil god were after this. But how? I had Mother’s hand, but how did they find the relics sealed with Mother’s divinity?

Hundreds of thoughts filled my head, but I answered Aurelius calmly. It felt like his eyes were trying to bore holes in me.

“I don’t know either.”

[Is that so? Actually, I didn’t have high expectations. You, put this back in place.]

The box was closed. I considered cutting them down here and taking it, but there were too many things at risk right now to act recklessly. There was the fame I had built so far and the party that came with me. Besides, to run rampantly and seize that relic would be abandoning the search for the other relics I stood to find with Carmen.

There was still plenty of time left before we reached the capital. No one knew what might happen along the way. I smiled quietly at Aurelius.

“I understand your situation, but since the hidden circumstances were discovered, wouldn’t it be right to change the conditions of our contract?”

Aurelius tapped his metal chin.

[What do you want?]

I answered him by raising two fingers.

“You’ll have to offer twice the amount you promised.”

*

Aurelius agreed to the terms I offered, grumbling at me about quitting my priest career and just becoming a merchant. I shared the good news with my party, and they praised me.

‘Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill…’

Mother, in the form of a girl in my private barracks provided by Aurelius, walked around tapping her chin. She clasped the still unabsorbed orb of divinity. Honestly, it didn’t seem like she would come up with a new method just because she was thinking while going around like that, but it was fun to watch her because she looked too cute.

“Whoo.”

After I took a shower and dried my hair, Mother stood tall in the middle of the barracks, staring at me. I smiled and asked her.

“Have you thought of something new?”

‘Kill! Kill!’

As Mother grew accustomed to that new body, now she could communicate without even touching me.

“Mother.”

‘Kill?’

Mother tilted her head at my gentle call as if she had no idea why I was calling her.

“The answer you came up with after thinking about it for so long is to sneak in and steal it? And kill those who stand in the way if we get caught?”

Mother nodded vigorously with a proud look.

‘Kill!’

“A perfect crime if there aren’t eyewitnesses? Do you really think that makes sense? Come here.”

‘Kill!’

As I spread my arms, Mother rushed to me. I continued talking slowly, brushing her soft hair.

“Since we still don’t know the skills of this Gold Man Aurelius, we must refrain from hasty action.”

Strictly speaking, the Golden People, whose whole bodies were metal, weren’t a good match for me; the Priest of Corruption and metal didn’t rot.

Among my powers, the Pit of Corruption was completely useless. The Curse of Corruption wasn’t meant for combat in the first place, and at best, I only had two cards left, Corruption Arts and the Giant. In the end, to kill the Gold People, I had no choice but to use physical force that exceeded their strength.

“In the best case, the worshipers of the evil god somehow seize the relic, and in the process of recovering it, I will take Mother’s divinity and return it to Aurelius.”

‘Kill?!’

Mother raised her head and, with her eyes wide open, said, ‘Oh?! Was there such a way?!’

‘…Kill?’

“You’re asking me if I’ve been hiding that I was a genius? That’s overpraising me. And Mother would have thought of it if you had more time. But that situation won’t happen easily.”

‘Kill?’

When she asked why I answered with a smile.

“As Mother saw earlier, he didn’t care whether some of the guards died or not, and he was just protecting his merchandise with his direct guards. It will be quite difficult for the worshipers of the evil god to steal his things without Aurelius’s knowledge.”

‘Kill…?’

“For now, I’m going to keep an eye on the situation. There are still too many things we don’t know about Aurelius and the worshipers of the evil god following us. Just trust me on this, Mother…”

Kyeeeeeeeeeeh!!!

A scream like nails across metal cut me off. The snow bats had returned to attack.

“I think the worshipers of the evil god are trying to keep accumulating our fatigue by poking and retreating. This is a bit annoying; I just took a shower, and I’ll have to delay Mother’s hand massage a little.”

‘Kill?!’

“We need to save the guards who are fighting now. Turn back into a hand. I’ll give you a lot of massages later.”

‘Kill…’

Mother stood with her arms drooping and turned into a hand with a flash of dark light. I quickly put her hand in my pocket, grabbed the Butcher, and ran out of the barracks.

Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Unlike before, it wasn’t just snow bats this time. They were led by a roughly 2.5 meters tall beast with a goat head and hooves and a muscular upper body like a human. White fur speckled their skin, and it was a bipedal monster known as a Capel.

Bang!

“Aaaaaah!”

One of the guards, hit by the Capel’s horns, was thrown into the air and crashed to the ground. I turned on the Butcher and rushed over the snow.

Whaaaaaaaaaang!

The Capel’s gaze met my eyes as he was about to rush toward the other guard. The Butcher’s roaring engine was perfect for attracting the enemy’s attention, just like now.

“Haap!”

Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

The Capel, who roared in response to my scream, rushed me with his head lowered. The tips of his sharp horns aimed to gore me.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaang!

I just swung the Butcher. The blades of Immortalium spinning at the high-speed ground the Capel’s horns to dust. The Butcher didn’t stop there and split its head, splattering its brains across me. Despite finishing a bath minutes ago, I was already soaked in fresh blood and brain fluids.

I would have to take another bath.

Thud.

The Capel’s body collapsed without a head. I looked around for my next target.

Ignoring the snow bats, the total number of Capels who attacked us was six. I could feel the divinity of the worshipers of the evil god who controlled them from a distant place. So, these guys were cowards.

When I was about to leave for the next Capel, something popped out of the forest and ran straight at me. I reflexively identified what it was as I was about to swing the Butcher, then stretched out my left hand and grabbed her by the neck. Her fluffy purple hair went flying around her.

I lifted Pearly by the neck, and still, she gave me a cheerful greeting while coughing.

“Long time no see! I’ve been thinking a lot about you! Did you think about me a lot?”

“Not at all.”

“It’s okay! It’s okay! I even thought enough for your share!”

There was a reason why I put the Butcher away when I realized this was who was chasing me.

“I want to ask you something.”

Pearly, rolling her purple eyes round and round, smiled broadly.

“What will you do if I answer?”

It was because she had a very big mouth.