67. People waiting for help (3)
“You look like you still don’t like it.”
Bishop Andrew peeked into Arjen’s face and said. Arjen suddenly felt the corner of my mouth and clicked his tongue. The bishop looked at Arjen like that, then turned his head forward as if his interest had cooled.
“There are no wrong choices. If the strategy of the hero and Isis succeeds, it may be an ideal option. Well, since you’re acting like you’re not interested in everything in the world, I don’t know if you’re even thinking about what’s going on right now.”
Arjen rubbed the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“Then my choice would be relatively cowardly.”
“You shouldn’t try to deny that cowardice in front of the hero. The hero is not cowardly like us, and in the end, he is a person who has achieved the ideal that everyone has longed for. I don’t know if it’s self-consolation while reflecting on this situation alone.”
Bishop Andre kept a dagger and memorized words in his bosom. The feeling of the blade against his flesh set the engine on the bishop’s head. The cigarette butt, which may have been the number of cigarettes of the day, fell to the floor. The bishop frowned and picked up the butt. A faint orange flame remained.
“We are looking at the lesser evil, not the worst, and the hero is trying to achieve the best, not the second best. The lesser evil does not mean that there is no evil.”
“I don’t know why someone who is on a mission to save the world would want the best with such irresponsibility.”
“You are still mistaken, Arjen.”
The bishop shook his head and denied Arjen’s words.
“It is not the hero who is irresponsible, but our side. It is irresponsible for us to cut off cows for the sake of others, and cut them off endlessly. Whoever tries to understand the weight of that cow can never cut it off. Have we ever tried not to cut it off even once?”
A twisted smile appeared on Bishop Andrew’s lips.
“Me and you always had to cut it, and we will cut it in the future, so we will never know.”
The bishop rose from his seat. The sun had completely set before I knew it, and dusk was approaching from the horizon, pulling a boat. The blue that remained in the sky changed into a black shadow.
—
Baktin’s night was terrible.
There was no sky. The only thing that existed in the void where the sky should be was darkness. There was no romance like the light that the moonlight illuminates the sea and rises on the swaying black waves. I put on my hood and looked back. Isis and our party were waiting.
“It would be better for Isis to be carried by Georg. You will have to move at high speed.”
Isis nodded. I then nodded to Daphne to come closer. It was impossible for her to move as quickly and stealthily as we did.
“… Eh, me too?”
“I will carry you myself.”
“What do you mean you’re going to carry it to someone?”
I carried Daphne, who pouted, on my back. Daphne twirled her hand in the air as if she was flustered, then carefully placed her hand on my shoulder. When I turned to Isis, Isis was on top of Georg’s spacious back, as if lying on a floor.
“Do you remember the location?”
“Of course.”
When I turned my head at the gaze I suddenly felt, Marianne was staring at me. To be precise, my back with Daphne quietly on her back.
“why?”
“… .”
Marianne didn’t answer and turned her head away. And then he set off ahead of the road. I looked at Marianne’s back as she slowly walked away.
“Near midnight people will come out of the streets and start for the brewery.”
Bishop Andrew said in his usual voice. The bishop was wearing a shabby hoodie.
“one hour. Please remember to finish within that time. If an unexpected situation arises in the meantime, ask the hero to deal with it.”
Bishop Andrew then melted into darkness and disappeared. All that was left was our party, excluding Marianne. I moved my back once and put Daphne in a comfortable position. Daphne’s hand on my shoulder tightened unhappily.
“Let’s go too.”
The steps were not light. The night seemed to suck in my body rather than hide it. There is no light, so there is no shadow. Didi felt the ground was heavier than usual. I tried to ignore the eerie feeling and stomped my feet to land on the collapsed rubble overlooking the village.
“It’s starting to move.”
Georg said as he watched the crowd of people wriggling. One by one, people were opening doors from the shacks in the village and coming out into the street. We stared blankly for a moment. There was no life in the people’s gait. It felt like watching rotten pieces of wood walk on their limbs. I shook my head and came to my senses. I didn’t have time to look at them and feel sorry for them.
“Let’s hurry.”
More novels at noblemtl.com
No words were needed. Georg and I simultaneously kicked off the wreckage and ran down to the village. There was no wind, so I had to be careful even with the sound of running. We landed on the street, jumping over the roofs of buildings like shoplifters.
“Please get off now.”
Isis’ voice came. When Georg released his hand, Isis stepped on the floor and glared at the door in front of her. As if she had made up her mind, as soon as she approached the doorway, the shack door burst open and a familiar face peeked out.
“Saint? And… .”
It was the woman’s husband, the first man he had ever met. The man looked at us and opened his mouth, unable to hide his confusion. Isis looked up at the man and let out a short breath.
“I have come to help you, to heal your son.”
The man held the door and held it with a dazed expression, then quickly opened the door wide and motioned for him to come in.
“Quickly! Come in.”
rattle. The door closed behind us, and the man quickly closed all the windows in the house and took out a candle and lit it. The stench of people and the smell of unknown things in the house stabbed our nasal passages brutally. Every time the man moved, the smells mixed with each other and gave off a new scent.
good.
A candle was lit, and a man with a scruffy beard turned to us. There was a hint of disbelief and fear on his face.
“They hate the light. If you shine a light at night, it appears from somewhere like a full moon and cries out to turn off the light. It’s been a month since I can’t find any light here at night. The moon didn’t even rise before I knew it.”
The man lit a fire and held a candle to light the inside of the room. And I could see the child lying on the cot, covered with a blanket.
“My son is over there.”
The man lit the inside with a candle. I knew then where most of the stench came from. The left side of the bed covered with a blanket was grotesquely swollen. It is probably the place where the right arm that the child is said to have been transplanted is located. The man carefully grabbed the child’s blanket and lifted it up.
“Oh my gosh.”
“… You’re crazy.”
Daphne and Georg muttered at the same time. Flesh and tentacles covered the child’s neck. It was like a tumor that grew in size by feeding on the child’s life. It was to the point where I didn’t even know if the child was conscious or breathing. It might have become something like soil that grows tentacles. Isis approached the child with a calm face.
“It is getting worse day by day. Now they seem to be growing hour by hour. My wife likes the more bizarre the child looks, and she is going crazy.”
The man put down the candle and knelt down.
“I don’t know what brought you here all of a sudden, but if you want to help us, I’ll do anything. Holy maiden, please save our son.”
Isis raised her hand. A golden halo was converging on Isis’ palm. It had the same nature and form as magical power, but there was a different name for the saintess’ magical power.
divine power. that holy and holy power.
“Illroy.”
Isis looked at me. Isis’s blue eyes shone with the light of the candle and divine power. It was still an incomplete, unstable eye.
“Please watch outside.”
However, it was also the eyes of someone who vowed not to regret it again.
“… Sure.”
Isis turned around and immediately put her hand on the tentacle that sprouted from the child’s body and energized it.
—
The number of heretic inquisitors brought by Bishop Andrew was not large. Four people who judged their skills to be met. Arjen, Marianne, himself, and the vice-captain of the Heretic Questioners. The bishop lined up at the brewery, following the woman who guided him with a blank smile.
“You really came, Home Secretary.”
Bishop André nodded, and the woman walked with familiar steps through the darkness and crowds to join the ranks of those entering the brewery. The brewery suddenly opened its mouth. People began to disappear into the darkness of the brewery, one after another.
Stay focused. always be conscious of me
Bishop Andrew gave the signal and entered the building. The sound turned into an echo of the footsteps of people coming in without a hole to escape.
rattle.
The brewery door was shut tight. People began to slump on the floor casually.
that buck that buck
As soon as the door of the brewery was closed, ‘Teacher’ came in. Bishop Andrew involuntarily strained his eyes and tried to look at him, but as the villagers all began to bow their heads, he lowered his head at the same time. All I hear is the sound of a thick book being placed on a podium.
“Thank you for gathering like this today, brothers and sisters.”
palak palak. ‘Teacher’ left only a greeting and flipped through the book, then suddenly closed the book with an empty voice.
“Today, I am going to do a sermon in a slightly different way than usual.”
jerk, jerk.
I heard ‘teacher’ leave the podium. He knelt down and looked around at the sitting residents, then opened his mouth.
“Some time ago, an outsider visited this town.”
I heard the sound of the teacher’s clothes brushing. It seemed that he was behind his back. Then, slowly, he moved his steps and continued talking.
“Especially yesterday, I heard that believers in the God of Light, members of the Puritan Church, visited this village. That is, a ‘saint’ in a very high position.”
The voice was cold and heavy. Bishop Andrew had a hunch that something unusual was about to happen.
“Today, I would like to ask you directly how well you understand our beliefs and my teachings.”
jerk, jerk. The ‘teacher’ who was walking with his hands behind his back suddenly stopped and raised his voice.
“Now, among these, when the saintess visited the village for relief work, the brothers who were directly healed by her, please look up and look at me.”
Silence arose. It was like a bit of hesitation among people. And ‘teacher’ was someone who knew how to use silence. He stood still and remained silent until the villagers raised their heads. The longer the silence, the heavier and more revealing it becomes. When they got to the point where they could hear each other’s breathing, they finally started to move.
Swoop.
One raised his head. It was the woman who was sitting in front of Bishop Andrew. And starting with her, people began to raise their heads one by one.
“It is very nice to see you being honest.”
Contrary to what he said, his voice didn’t sound good at all.
“Please come forward and stand in line. And the other brothers, please look up and look at me and these brothers.”
Bishop Andrew raised his head. In front of the line of people, I saw the figure of ‘Teacher’. ‘Teacher’ stepped in front of the woman, grabbed her by the shoulder, and met her eyes.
“Do you remember where you were treated?”
The voice of ‘Teacher’ had a resonance that seemed to break through the inside. The woman nodded in a blank voice, then opened her mouth.
“I broke my left leg, but the saintess healed it.”
“Is that so?”
‘Teacher’ let out a long sigh as if it was a pity.
“I have told you many times that power is deceit and is our enemy. How can you not understand?”
Then, he raised his head again. In the hands of ‘Teacher’, there was an iron hammer that he did not know where he had taken it from.
“Break it.”
The woman was given a hammer.
“Make it the way it was before the force soiled your legs.”
There was silence. The woman nodded and lifted the hammer with trembling hands. Bishop Andrew could see the fear and determination in her eyes at the same time.
“Are you afraid?”
“… no.”
“Then let me help you myself.”
bang.
The hammer struck the woman’s left leg.
This is the wife right? Dang brainwash is scary af.