Chapter 130
Chapter 24 Achievements (6)
In fact, until a few days ago, Belego had been gossiping about Kay with such determination.
In other words, he made an effort to let others know the truth about Kei.
As you can see from the way I’m struggling alone now, that effort didn’t last long.
The high priest of the Church of Agnotia, who had heard of his actions, warned him.
-Even if you don’t, there are many eyes watching you. Don’t be rash.
What the heck is that guy, that a high-ranking member of the church is talking about?
Shiik, food!
Even after sweeping the desk clean, I couldn’t control my anger, so I took a rough breath and walked away for a while.
Suddenly, Belego looked toward the window and took a deep breath.
His image was reflected in the window against a particularly overcast sky.
A robe wrapped around the abdomen with a white priest’s uniform and a belt embroidered with gold thread.
It was the attire that proved that Belego was a layman.
“Whoop whoop.”
Belego became a priest in Gearco.
It took 100,000 hers, which is ten times more than the 10,000 hers that were blown up in a failed attempt to kidnap Kay.
‘Although I’ve used up a lot of my leftovers.’
It wasn’t a big problem since he had become a priest like this.
‘I just need to refill the safe.’
This priestly uniform will make that possible.
As I stared at the reflection in the window, the feeling of being pushed to the floor because of Kei started to feel much better.
That moment when Belego started stroking his stomach with a satisfied smile.
Without warning, the door to the office burst open.
Surprised by the sudden incident, Belego turned to the door.
And as soon as I found the person standing there, I wrinkled my face.
“What are you so surprised about?”
Unlike Belego, who is generally rich and has a good complexion, he is skinny and has a pale complexion.
“Raytan Protoram!”
Reytan, the second son of the deceased Earl of Protoram and the current owner of the Protoram family.
He was the younger brother who almost kicked Belego out of the family.
Upon Raytan’s appearance, the servant who delivered the news of Kei quickly left the office.
It’s just that I ran away before the sparks flew. It’s better not to deal with Belego who met Reytan.
“What did you come here for!”
Belego glared at Reitan with ferocious eyes and fired at him gnashing his teeth.
Cedaltman Castle, where he was placed after being ordained a priest, was a month away from Kimol, where Raytan was staying.
It meant that it was not a place to come without any business.
“I hope I came to see my brother.”
Contrary to Belego’s sharp reaction, Reytan, who wiped his pale face, responded with a languid voice.
“I stopped by on my way to see Priest Gernima.”
Belego’s brow furrowed deeper.
‘I met Priest Gernima?’
Isn’t it the senior priest in charge of the general management of the Chedaltman Shrine?
‘Why did Raytan meet him?’
Scared to question it, Raytan clicked his tongue and said.
“I heard that my older brother poured money into becoming a priest.”
Really pitiful, as if he were about to die, and his contemptuous tone.
“Whoa, really, I can’t get used to your stupidity even after time passes.”
Every time you go through something that you grew up with, you feel the shame once again.
“Why throw away money where everything is going to ruin.”
Aside from knowing what you lack, you feel dirty when you realize it once again through others.
“Why don’t you rather send food to the worms in the slums, then you could have filled the stomachs of people worse than dogs and pigs.”
Wouldn’t it be even more disgusting if the words came out with an attitude that looked down on the other person like that?
I’ve been through it for over 30 years, but I couldn’t be calm if I wanted to be calm.
Even worse is the learned helplessness.
Belego, implicitly accepting that he was stupid, just shuddered in the face of an outpouring of insults.
“Anyway, don’t even dream of using the family wealth for temple work. I came to say that.”
Reytan crossed his arms and shot at me with a pitiful look.
“Don’t contact the family for nothing, that’s what I mean. Did you understand?”
Belego trembled with a flushed face at the feeling of contempt he could not get used to even after experiencing it hundreds or thousands of times.
And just then, a knock was heard at the door.
“Tsk.”
Reytan, stunned by the appearance of others, turned away without even listening to Belego’s answer.
He opened the door and strode out of the office, just as he did when he entered.
The apprentice priest standing in front of the door widened his eyes in surprise.
However, the apprentice priest quickly looked away after seeing Belego’s expression left in the office.
He decided to ignore it by pretending not to see it.
It was a well-known story that brothers in the Protorams were better friends than enemies.
I didn’t want to get caught up in a fight between nobles.
“Chief Priest, the criminals to be discerned have arrived… … .”
So, pretending not to know the situation right in front of me, I mentioned the business that came to Belego.
“aaa!”
Belego didn’t even pretend to hear what the trainee priest said, and started venting his anger by randomly throwing things in the office.
I was so shabby that I couldn’t say a word in front of Raytan’s scorn.
I didn’t want to admit it, so I ran amok like a madman.
It was understandable that the attendant had just run away without looking back.
But things didn’t last as long as usual.
“Whoop, whoop.”
After a while, Belego sighed and looked back at the door.
Then, trembling, our eyes met with the apprentice priest standing outside the door.
At the time when Belego was being ordained a lay priest, it was the moment when the warning of the highest priest who supervised the appointment came to mind.
It was because the eyes of the High Priestess of the Agnotia Church were the same green as that apprentice priest.
– You will have to be faithful to your other duties.
It was a pinch that he gave money and became a priest.
Due to the political situation within the church, it was decided to appoint him inevitably.
Even so, I have no intention of letting the church’s reputation be tarnished.
As long as you have received a sharp warning, you can be kicked out at any time if you do not fulfill your given role.
So what should I do?
“I’ll prepare and go, so tell me to wait!”
Even in the midst of anger, I have no choice but to do my job.
“Yes, yes!”
As soon as Belego shouted, the trainee priest hurriedly ran.
‘I came in with a lot of money, but I can’t get kicked out before I even try it properly.’
With a thud, Belego headed towards the side door leading from the office to the ancestral room.
‘Sacrificial room.’
A place used by priests to offer sacrifices to the gods.
The purpose of the sacrifice is, of course, to use the power of the gods.
‘Tsk, this is more complicated than I thought.’
Unlike the apostles, who are called God’s agents and use their powers at any time while embracing divinity in their very existence, the priests needed a little more cumbersome procedure to use the powers of God.
It was necessary to use various offerings according to the prescribed rules and forms.
It can be seen as temporarily borrowing the power of a god through that procedure.
It was possible thanks to the Divine Shard he received at the time of his appointment.
In the world, borrowing and using the power of a god was expressed as ‘received divine protection’.
If you receive divine protection once or twice, like that for decades, traces of divinity will remain.
This was the reason why the pupils of high-ranking priests and high priests were tinted with gold, albeit faintly.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Belego, who had just become a priest.
‘East… … Should I lay down the wool?’
He was a novice among beginners who did not fully understand the procedure for holding an ancestral rite.
So, he stuttered and prepared the ancestral rites through the textbook he received before his appointment.
Originally, they would have raised an offering before the sinner came and received divine protection in advance.
I had to move diligently as much as I was delayed because of Raytan who came to me.
After a while, Belego lit the torch on the sacrifice he had prepared diligently and recited the prayers of the Church of Agnotia.
Then, a change occurred in the torch that began to burn the sacrifice.
The usual red flame started to take on a soft golden light.
The flame gradually became smaller and permeated Belego, who led the ceremony.
“Whoa.”
Belego, who had succeeded in receiving Agnotia’s protection, stood up.
“Grunt.”
Now it was his turn to go see the work assigned to him.
It took a while to leave the room and move down the hallway.
Arriving at the waiting room, Belego was confronted by the security guards who brought the criminal.
“Nice to meet you, priest.”
The soldiers politely saluted him upon his arrival.
Belego, who had fallen to the floor because of an unwelcome guest, felt very little better.
“Who are you to identify?”
When Belego raised his chin, the soldiers immediately dragged the two men.
As the soldiers knelt down, Belego swallowed dry saliva unobtrusively.
“Whoa.”
After catching his breath, Belego knelt and approached those who were sitting.
Right after that, when he used the protection he had stored in his heart, Belego’s eyes turned golden.
As for their allegations, I had already been informed through documents, so it was obvious what to ask.
“Are you guys the ones who killed the owner at the inn in Zagomita two days ago, stole the goods and fled?”
“Oh no!”
“We are unfair!”
The two people who were suppressed by the soldiers answered with crying voices.
If someone who knew nothing had seen it, they would have thought that they might have been framed.
It was so pitiful and desperate.
However, although human eyes and ears can be fooled, the divine power cannot be fooled.
Agnotia’s power to distinguish between lies and deceit, betrayal and hypocrisy, was flawless as always.
“Oooh!”
A terrible stench emanated from the men as soon as they claimed their innocence.
“Oh, those bastards! Wow! Those guys are the culprits!”
Belego hurriedly covered his nose and screamed.
It was, in effect, a sentence of guilt for them.
“no!”
“You impostor!”
A violent backlash ensued, but the soldiers kicked them out and stunned them.
“You worked hard, priest.”
“Oops, oops… … .”
Afterwards, the soldiers started flattering with bright smiles.
Belego could not come to his senses because of the stench that lingered.
This is the second time he has been blessed.
One of them was a ceremony to show that it was used at the time of being appointed.
This was the first time I had actually used the Authority to differentiate.
When I first encountered the stench of lies and deceit, I felt so much pain that I couldn’t come to my senses.
Agnotia of purity.
His power distinguishes lies from deceit, betrayal from hypocrisy, under any circumstances.
For that reason, the priests of Agnotia had a close relationship with the priests of Pinelpenia and the peace corps.
In the case of Agnotia, she can discriminate the guilty through her powers, and Pinelpenia can help the investigation by reading the records left at the scene.
It is safe to say that collaboration with the police and security forces was the main task of the two churches.
‘It’s also a big source of income for the two churches.’
In exchange for carrying out the request, it is to make an offering to the church.
In other words, as long as he became the priest of Agnotia, he had to keep taking on this stench.
When I remembered that fact, the road ahead became blocked.
In the end, Belego got nervous and left the rest of the work to the probationary priest and the guards and left the waiting room.
The unimaginable stench still seemed to linger in my nostrils.
“Damn, damn… … .”
Belego, who had been rubbing his nose so hard that he crossed the corridor, suddenly stopped after looking out the window.