The Priest of Corruption

"I enjoyed the match. It was very impressive.”

Her eyes curved softly, the mole near her eye fluttering as she smiled.

After my shower, I found Writhing Curiosity seated in the waiting room. Lady Dachia sat nearby, watching the demon with a hint of discomfort.

"I thought you would be an uptight nerd, but seeing you run wild like that, it seems you've been holding back, huh?”

After a cold shower, I felt a bit ashamed of my past rampage, intoxicated by the atmosphere. To be honest, I had indeed gotten too excited.

“It's not like that.”

The demon slowly rose and walked towards me. A light robe draped over her shoulders, revealing almost all her bare skin. As she reached out her hand towards my face, her gown lifted, revealing her pure white skin.

"If you still have some steam to let off, I can...” 'Kill!!!'

Slap!

Mother, in the form of a girl, jumped out, smacking the demon's hand away and landing neatly on the floor. The demon blinked a few times, grinned, and scooped Mother into her arms.

'Kill!! !'

The demon just hugged Mother, who was struggling and demanding to be let go, and chuckled. "You mean he's yours? You're so cute. So cute.” 'Kill...'

Eventually, Mother gave up resisting and drooped her shoulders. The demon turned to me, rubbing the non-resistant Mother's cheek.

"By the way, I meant it when I said it was impressive, you know? But it was all staged from the middle of the fight, right?” Staged? What Bigfoot and I did was something beyond just a stage.

"It wasn't. It was just that Bigfoot and I had a mutual connection. Through that 'bond' we completed a great play. He was a very good partner.” "That's what staged means. Isn't it?” "No.”

Writhing Curiosity sat back on the chair, still holding Mother in her arms.

"But the response to that stage was very good. I'm considering putting some staged fights in the future. Of course, I'll have to find good actors first. Speaking of which, would you like to work with me? It looks like you have enough qualities to become the star of my underground arena.”

"I appreciate the offer, but I will decline it.” "You're so cold.”

"I have to unlock Mother's seal.” 'Kill...!'

Two eyes filled with deep emotion. Mother squeezed out all her remaining strength and struggled violently, then got out of the demon's arms, ran straight to me, and jumped. 'Kill!!!'

I reached out and took Mother into my arms. Mother raised the middle fingers of both hands, glaring at the demon. 'Kill!'

The demon chuckled again and said to me.

"Well, it's a pity, but if you don't want, there's nothing I can do about it. But is it okay for me to use your ideas like this?” "I don't mind.”

I was just using what I had seen in the past anyway. "Really?” "Yes. Feel free to use it.”

"Still, it bothers me to just use it, so if it becomes a success later, I'll reward you generously.”

I replied with a smile.

"If you insist, I will not refuse.” ***

After leaving the underground arena, I headed to the bakery with Lady Dachia. The same bakery where she had bought bread last time.

To be honest, I wanted to buy Mother a lot of delicious things, but I had a fatal problem when buying delicious things. Loss of taste. Because of that flaw, I couldn't tell what

was delicious.

But now it was different. Because I had someone to taste for me.

"There are so many delicious things besides cream puffs, so I'll take responsibility for choosing them instead of Priest Marnak, who can't taste them!”

'Kill!'

In my chest pocket, Mother's hands wriggled with excitement.

"But we might have to get in line. It's so popular that many people are always waiting to buy something.”

Without Writhing Curiosity around, Lady Dachia babbled next to me like a fish in water.

"The bakery sells so well that it bakes bread twice a day, you know? By now, the bread for dinner must still be hot. Very warm and fluffy!” 'Kill...!'

At the words 'warm and fluffy', Mother lifted her finger in anticipation of eating warm bread. "There it is!”

In the direction Lady Dachia was pointing, there was a very large building that looked like a bakery. In front of the entrance to the building, where dozens of people could enter at the same time, there was a line of just the right length.

Lady Dachia pulled my sleeves and said vigorously.

"Let's hurry up and get in line!”

"All right.”

As I followed her to the back of the line, I spotted a red-haired woman with a familiar face exiting the shop with an armful of bread. The red-haired woman left the building, humming as she walked down the street. Only her back was visible from where I stood.

Did I see it wrong? The red-haired woman I knew was someone who couldn't possibly be here in the capital. I must have seen someone who looked like her.

With that thought, I lined up for the bakery with Lady Dachia. This time, I made quite a bit of money in the arena, so I put aside my worries about money, bought all the bread Mother wanted to try and went back to the dorm.

***

"Whoop.”

Upon reaching the dorm, Lady Dachia and I discovered Sajita training solo in the expansive backyard of the inn. Drenched in sweat, he thrust the white Bone Spear into the air, then stabbed once more. Noticing us, Sajita, who had been spearing with all his might, offered a quiet smile and spoke.

"You're back?”

In response, I hoisted a bag full of bread.

"Since I bought your share, I'll bring it to your room too.”

He bowed his head slightly in thanks.

"By the way, did you just train all day today?” Sajita shook his head at Lady Dachia's question.

"No. In the morning, I stopped by a blacksmith's shop to buy things and leave the equipment to be maintained. In the afternoon, I trained as you just asked my lady.”

"You are always so hardworking.”

"I'm not particularly hardworking, it's just that a mercenary's body is their property, so this is natural. It's not something that deserves praise.”

Seeing the fingers holding his spear tingling, it seemed like he wanted to train a little more before the sweat on him cooled.

"Lady Dachia. Let's just go upstairs.” "What?”

Lady Dachia, who soon understood what I meant, glanced at Sajita and nodded her head.

"That sounds good. See you at dinner.”

"Yes, Lady Dachia.”

Sajita finished answering and began to focus on throwing out the spear again. We left Sajita behind and headed to my room. As soon as we entered the room and closed the door, Mother jumped out in the form of a girl with a dim light.

Mother landed on the floor with her hands wide open towards me. 'Kill!!!' "Yes, here it is.”

I smiled and handed the large bag of bread straight into Mother's arms. Mother took the bag of bread and groaned in joy. 'Kill!!!!!' ***

Mother's face was more serious than ever before. 'Kill.'

A voice commanded silence. Dachia and I stood still, watching Mother. She leapt up, balancing perfectly on the edge of the bed. "Wow!”

Dachia admired Mother's feat. From the edge of the bed, Mother beckoned Dachia, who quickly fell silent. The room was quiet.

Then, Mother sprinted from the corner of the bed, jumped, and spun in the air. She completed two perfect spins before landing back in her original position. With her elbows shaped like a sharp awl, Mother swiftly fell onto the bed.

'KILL!!!'

Her elbow, falling like a beam of light, mercilessly struck the pillow. The pillow was in pain, unable to scream as dust rose.

Without checking on the pillow, Mother jumped up and slowly raised her left hand.

Yes, just like I had done.

'Kill!'

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ! !”

Clap, clap, clap!

Dachia clapped and cheered, while I was overcome with embarrassment. Dachia turned to me.

"Did you see that? It was exactly the same! You did it just like that!”

I groaned and covered my face.

"Mother, please don't mimic these things.” 'I! ! !'

Mother shook her head resolutely. 'Kill!! !'

She shouted, 'Kill them all!!!'

I was so embarrassed I wanted to disappear. ***

"Now, now! He's coming. The newcomer who's heating up our underground arena! The rookie who made the crowd hotter than ever! Call him, everyone! Call him by his name!!!” "Human Butcher!!!” "Human Butcher!!!”

"Come out now, Human Butcher!!! This time I bet everything on you!!!!” "Kill! Kill! Kill!!!”

Clink.

A man in a black mask, dragging a huge iron club, walked out slowly.

The crowd recognized the weapon the Human Butcher was holding.

"Hey, that's Bigfoot's club!”

"No way?!”

"Yeah!!! The Human Butcher killed Bigfoot and took his weapon!!!”

"How terrifying is this!!!”

"The Human Butcher who 'killed' Flying Bigfoot took his weapon!!!!”

"Does he eat even the bone marrow from his enemies?!!! He's so scary!!!”

Unlike the last match, the Human Butcher walked quietly towards the center of the arena. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ! !”

Even without taking any action, the crowd's anticipation grew. They were excited to see what kind of show he would put on.

Marnak, who had finally reached the center of the stadium, quietly asked his opponent, 'Headbreaker,' who had already appeared.

"Is your real name 'Getum'?”

Headbreaker tilted his head in response.

"How do you know that?”

"So, you are Getum.”

Once the two players were in position, the host shouted.

"Then let's start the match!!!!” Crash!

An evil god worshipper. No, Getum, the head of the evil god worshippers, was crushed. Flesh, brain, and blood scattered. His headless body fell to the floor. Blood dripped from his crushed neck, wetting the arena floor.

Silence fell over the spectators. Marnak slowly turned and walked back to the entrance, leaving the crowd behind.

He had no intention of taking pleasure in killing. Not at all.