The Priest of Corruption

BA-BUMP!

A blue cup was resting on the table. This holy relic was almost neglected by the church, and it wasn’t that important. The priest of the Flame Church remained silent for a long time. But eventually, the priest’s mouth slowly opened.

“What happened to the person who stole this relic?”

The apprentice, who had received the relic from the ranger, bowed his head.

“I heard from the rangers that he was beheaded on the spot.”

The priest went silent again for a while.

“The body…what did you do with the body?”

“They couldn’t afford to retrieve the body, so we only recovered the holy relic.”

He placed the blue cup in the apprentice priest’s hands.

“Priest?”

“Take it and go back first. I’m thinking of going on a pilgrimage.”

“A pilgrimage all of a sudden?”

“Yes. By the way, do you know where exactly the thief was killed?”

Ten years ago, one oracle came down to all churches. The end will fall on this earth, extinguishing life. What followed was a time of great chaos, but ironically, nothing has happened in the 10 years since. As a result, some argued that this oracle meant a distant future. In contrast, others saw it as a divine revelation to focus on the life in front of them.

*

It was a dark night. The moon shone, and my eyes welcomed its light. I was walking with one hand holding the rope that tied the heads of eight people together and an unconscious man in the other.

“It’s a very peaceful night, isn’t it? Mother?”

‘Kill!’

“I couldn’t have taken all the equipment and money from the bodies. If I did, they would say I’m a priest who values money over life, Mother. I’ll be satisfied with this sword you reminded me to take.”

‘Kill!’

“Yeah. As you say, it would have been fine if I had brought some money. It’s really thrifty. But that’s okay.”

I crunched through the snow.

“I’m in a little trouble right now, so I need money, but I’m not desperate for it either. Because you are by my side.”

‘Kill…!’

While the Mother of Corruption was deeply moved to tears, I arrived at Guise again. It was thanks to my ability to walk without sleep we made such a good time.

As I approached the front gate, the guards rushed to work. They raised torches as they shouted.

“The gates are closed! It’s late, so if you want to enter Guise, come back tomorrow morning!”

I walked a little closer and showed myself. A red torch shone over the white priest’s robe I wore, and the traces of the battle once marking them miraculously vanished.

“My name is Marnak, a priest and one of the mercenaries who left in the morning at the lord’s request. I don’t mind coming back tomorrow morning, but this friend on my shoulder needs treatment right now. Can you let them in now?”

At my polite words, the two guards quickly spoke to each other. The man who appeared to be the senior of the two said.

“You mean from the ten mercenaries that left in the morning? That priest?”

“Yes.”

“But what about the others? How come only you two returned?”

I raised the heads bound with a string.

“Can you see this?”

The young guard’s trembling voice called out.

“That’s a head! A human head!”

On the other hand, his senior remained calm.

“I’d like you to explain the specifics, priest.”

I explained to the guard that these heads belonged to the thieves and that Pierre and I were the only mercenaries who survived. After a brief moment, the senior said something to his companion and sent him somewhere.

“Wait a minute, I’ve delivered the news inside. What’s his condition?”

“He’s a little hurt, but I think it’s okay to wait a little while because the maintenance goddess is taking care of him.”

In fact, the protection of the Mother of Corruption held Pierre’s life safe. But after a while, two big men and a red-haired lady in a thick overcoat walked over, breathing heavily. It was the young receptionist lady from the mercenary guild.

The woman, blinking her pale green eyes a few times, started belting out instructions.

“Hurry up and take him to the hospital.”

“Yes.”

I carefully handed Pierre over to them.

“He may be a little heavy.”

The two big men smirked at my warning. I held Pierre with one hand, so they thought he would be light. However, their expressions changed as soon as they accepted him into their arms. In fact, he was a man as heavy as his size would indicate, although I carried him casually.

“Please take care of him.”

“Yes.”

The two more polite men quickly entered the city with Pierre. The red-haired receptionist turned to me once we were alone.

“Priest Marnak, you can also enter. I’ve already asked the guards for permission.”

“Thank you.”

As we entered Guise through the west gate, the receptionist lady started chattering.

“By the way, I didn’t think you would be, but you’re very strong.”

“I’m just a little strong.”

“I heard the heads in your hands were the culprits behind this case. It would be much better to keep the heads in our mercenary guild than to keep them yourself.”

“I agree.”

I had no lingering feelings for these heads in the first place, and I just had to get the 29 silver coins they were worth. The receptionist glanced at my face and smiled.

“Then can you take me back to the guild house? It’s a bit scary to go alone because it’s dark.”

There was no trace of fear anywhere on that beautiful smiling face.

“I will.”

‘Kill!’

I patted my struggling Mother’s hand and moved on.

The receptionist, who introduced herself as Erin, talked the entire way. ‘Are you a good swordsman? What happened today? If you search those heads in the wanted list, you might get an additional reward,’ and so on. My cheeks were red from the cold, and the Mother of Corruption was wriggling in my pocket.

‘Kill! Kill!’

“Thank you for accompanying me!”

Erin smiled brightly and accepted the string of heads. A pretty girl with those heads in hand…it felt a bit grotesque, but it wasn’t a very strange sight in this world. Anyway, where do I sleep today? I wished there was an empty room where I slept last night.

“Priest.”

“What?”

“Do you have a place to sleep?”

“I’m going to look for one now. Won’t there be an empty room for me somewhere in this big city?”

A room that I could afford with a budget of ninety bronze coins.

“It might be difficult to find a room on this cold morning.”

Erin smiled.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to sleep over here?”

Ba-bump!

My heart raced.

‘Kill!’

Mother’s hand wriggled violently.

‘Kill!’

“I knew everything. I said yes because I knew everything. Mother, there’s not a grain of black in my heart for that red-haired receptionist. I’m telling you.”

Unfortunately, Erin’s suggestion was really pure. The Mercenary Guild had several guest rooms, and Erin lent me one. Once safely inside and alone, I brought up a personal tool to soothe my Mother, who was very upset.

Squeeze. Squeeze.

When I took out Mother’s dried hand and gave her a massage, the voice I heard melted drowsily.

‘K… I… L… L…’

Knock.

A sudden knock on the door. I quickly put my Mother’s hand in my pocket and opened it. Standing at the door was Erin again.

“What brings you here?”

Erin slowly blinked and held out the basket in her arms.

“I thought it would be uncomfortable for you to sleep in a priest’s robe, so I brought some extra clothes. Did I happen to wake you?”

I accepted the basket and smiled.

“No. Thanks to you, I can now sleep comfortably.”

“That’s a relief. Then, get some good sleep and help me complete the paperwork related to this matter in the morning. Since the priest is the only one who is fine, there are many parts that you need to explain.”

“I will.”

Erin nodded, closed the door, and left. I took off my priest’s clothes and put on the men’s clothes she gave me. They were so big that I could fit two of me in them, but they were comfortable. I folded the priest’s clothes and placed them by the bedside.

The reason why there was no trace of any battle left on this robe was very simple. It was a priest’s robe with the protection of the real maintenance goddess. To put it simply, it had an automatic recovery function. Though normally, it wouldn’t activate when worn by priests who didn’t believe in the goddess of maintenance, I was an exception. As a priest of corruption, I could use objects containing the protection of other gods to disguise myself as any priest. All this was thanks to the Mother of Corruption.

‘Kill!’

“Don’t worry, Mother. I didn’t forget that I was rubbing your hand.”

When I pressed her hand, her voice melted away.

‘K… I… L… L…’

*

Knock-knock!

I woke up to another knock on the door. As I opened the door, I was greeted by rich red hair and a consoling expression of Erin.

“I wanted to let you have a good night’s sleep, but something happened that I had to wake you up for.”

It was time to wake up anyway. My body didn’t require much sleep.

“I’m fine. But what’s going on?”

“The lord wants to see the priest.”

The lord? Suddenly? I didn’t have any connections here.

“Do you really mean the lord?”

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to know what this is all about?”

“That’s…”

Erin’s explanation was simple. Galad died, and he was the illegitimate son of the former lord. That was to say, he was the half-brother of the lord Thredon Philian, who now reigned over Guise.

“I don’t know the details, but that’s the only thing that comes to mind. But it’s weird. From what I understand, the lord treats Mr. Galad as someone who doesn’t exist.”

“I’ll change my clothes and be out in a moment.”

“Yes.”

After putting on the priest’s robe, I headed to the lord’s mansion with the guards already waiting for me.

I was met by a slender figure with a dull-looking face. The cold-looking middle-aged man sitting in front of me was lord Thredon Philian, the current ruler of Guise.

And I immediately forgot a lot of the countermeasures I had thought of beforehand. It was because the hand in my pocket drew a large ‘X’ with her index finger as soon as she saw the lord. Meaning he was not a creature to be judged by the fingers. Among the options, there was only one that could take a human form.

Thredon Philian. He was a demon.