Chapter 155

In the basement, Sidrion couldn’t even drink a sip of water. It was only right when he was about to go insane from all the screaming and cursing that he was able to escape from the basement.

And so, Sidrion’s role in the temple didn’t change, and the days passed by the way they always did.

“Priest, is it true? Is it true that if I pray to God, I will be able to live?”

“Yes, it’s true. If your faith is sincere, you will…”

“You’re just like my deceased elder brother, Priest.”

“…”

“My elder brother said that too. That if I earnestly believe that I will live, then I really will.”

“…”

“My parents would be very sad if even I were to die, right? I hope I live. I really want to live.”

“…”

“Will I really be able to live?”

“God… does not turn away from the ones who pray with all their sincerity.”

The child died.

The child’s parents had sold off all their assets and even accumulated debt so that they could give donations to the temple in order to save their child.

After the child died, the parents were forbidden from entering the temple. One day, they had protested in front of the temple, crying. They were chased away with weapons.

Not long after, there was news that the parents had taken their own lives in front of their child’s grave.

That day, Sidrion couldn’t eat anything. He vomited everything that he forced himself to eat.

He couldn’t sleep properly either. He became skin and bones. Thanks to that, he was able to take a break from meeting the believers until he was once again pleasant to the eyes.

***

“Wait, hold on,” Yelena cut Sidrion off. Her head was spinning.

“The temple… did such things? And yet people still believed in the temple and went there to pray?”

To this day, the ill and their families were still going to the temple to pray and give tithe.

“Not every sick person who came to the temple died,” Sidrion replied calmly.

“…”

“On some occasions, even those who were terminally ill were miraculously cured. Then, of course, those miracles were attributed to the temple, even if it wasn’t their doing.”

“…Wow.”

“It was only one per every hundred, but that was enough for people who were desperate for anything to gather at the temple.”

Yelena closed her mouth.

She hadn’t thought that the temple was totally pure and upright. She had even heard people speak of the temple’s corruption, but…

‘I didn’t think it’d be this bad.’

Sidrion looked at Yelena’s hardened expression and slowly continued speaking.

“…It was two years later when I first met Kaywhin.”

***

Some more time had passed, and Sidrion was now 17. Around the time he reached adulthood, the temple was in crisis.

“The temple’s status is not what it was in the past.”

“We have been afflicted with disasters like droughts and floods, we don’t hold rituals for God…”

“Nobles are starting to doubt the temple’s role.”

“Those sly little nobles. I knew it the moment they started getting uncomfortable that we enjoy the same privileges as them…”

“We need to take action…”

Ironically, the nation’s longstanding peace was bad for the temple.

The temple leaders put their heads together. The Elder Priest gave his opinion.

“How about this?”

“Priest Bekah, do you have a plan?”

“You all know of Duke Mayhard. The one with all those rumors about being cursed by the devil.”

“We know of him, yes, but… what about him?

“We shall reveal those rumors to be true and hold a ceremony to drive out the demon.”

“Hmm?”

“After we find proof that Duke Mayhard was cursed by the devil and make it known to the world, we will make a tradition of holding ceremonies to eradicate the devil so that another devil’s scapegoat like Duke Mayhard doesn’t appear.”

“You’re suggesting we show the temple’s abilities in that manner, I see. It’s not a bad idea, but… how will we find the proof?”

“If we search thoroughly enough, won’t we eventually find something suspicious? If there isn’t anything, we can always make something up.”

“Would Duke Mayhard stay still?”

“And if he doesn’t? It’s only been a year since his family died and he suddenly inherited the duke title. He’s a kid who hasn’t even reached 20 years of age.”

“Hm…”

“One lone kid is no match for the temple. Don’t you agree, Chief Priest?”

“…All right. We’ll go with Priest Bekah’s idea. We’ll have Sidrion do it.”

Sidrion was sent to the fief as soon as he was ready.

The mission he was tasked with was simple: follow Duke Mayhard around and find something suspicious. If there really wasn’t anything…

‘They told me to get hurt.’

Sidrion would have to sustain an injury in a place with many witnesses. Then, the temple would claim that he had been hit by the force of the devil.

Sidrion scoffed as he made his way to the fief.

‘What a worthless mission.’

Note: Hi everyone! A few people asked what ‘chapter 7’ meant in a recently translated chapter. That’s the chapter number for the e-book version of this novel. E-books are typically longer and usually authors combines multiple chapters of a regular chapter-by-chapter novel into one e-book chapter. ^^