8 – Raise a toast
A warm sunny day perfect for going out to play.
Emily, the church’s top priest, was wandering through a maze-like alley accompanied by two heresy interrogators.
“Where on earth do you live? “You’ve been spinning in circles for hours already!”
“If you ask us….”
After glaring for a moment at this useless human scratching the back of her neck as if embarrassed, Emily tore up the map she was holding in her hand.
A pitiful map broken into small pieces and scattered on the floor.
The map that prospective priest Rian created while staying up all night changed his life after only five or six hand movements.
Emily put a cigarette in her mouth, chewed on it, spit it out, rolled up her sleeves, and began to assume odd positions.
He places his hand on her head and appears to be exerting some force.
The useless duo had no way of knowing what the first priest was doing.
She stayed like that for a moment and then Emily opened her eyes.
She wrapped her divine power in her hands and destroyed the wall next door to her.
In an instant, the scenery changed and the house next door disappeared like a mirage, revealing a narrow new alley.
Her inquisitors clapped her hands and asked her,
“Have you received a revelation from the Lord? “How on earth did you see through it?”
“Did you just break something out of frustration?”
She glanced pitifully at the two sheep who had heard a strange noise, and then walked down the narrow path.
Grabbing her boiling insides, Lee In-jo followed her.
.
.
.
“Ah, I finally found it.”
Emily lifted her finger, glanced under her nose, and then kicked down the front door of the small two-story building that stood in her dark place.
“Excuse me!”
A neat-looking man comes down the stairs on the second floor, probably in a hurry after hearing the loud noise.
“Who are you to behave like this?”
“It’s your mother-in-law!”
Emily, who spoke indifferently, kicked the man in the stomach.
After holding down the man who was falling while clutching his stomach, she walked down the stairs without hesitation towards the second floor where her man had just come down.
At the end of a dark hallway illuminated only by faint candlelight.
The door is slightly open.
‘I found it.’
After several hours of struggling, Emily finally found her target, straightened her clothes, and with a noble gait, gently opened the door and entered.
A dark room with no sunlight at all, with all the windows blocked by wooden boards.
A candle swayed precariously, and a sickly-looking woman half-reclining on the bed opened her mouth.
“Who… Who are you? “Who are you so suddenly…”
Rather than being disgusting, Emily laughed at the sight, which was astounding at her stupidity and placed next to her bed.
She dragged a chair and sat down.
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“My name is Emily, a faithful believer and first priest of the Church of Telmere.”
“Oh, hello.”
A woman lowering her head awkwardly.
She looks a little thin due to illness, but she looks so beautiful that it makes many men’s hearts tremble.
Emily continued her words as she took out her water bottle that she had brought.
“It is none other than her husband who requested it from our denomination. “She begged me to help her get better.”
“My husband…” .”
“That’s why I came. “My specialty is making holy water.”
When I shake the water bottle slightly, a sacred energy gently spreads out from inside the bottle.
Open the lid and gently place it in her hand.
“If you eat this, you will get better. “I can stay with her husband in a bright place instead of a dark place like this.”
When she heard those words, her woman’s eyes shook.
Emily, with her benevolent smile, just looked on.
“Hey, how much money is there?”
“In carrying out the will of the Lord, money is a trivial matter.”
The woman looked back and forth between Emily and her water bottle, then closed her eyes and poured some of her holy water into her mouth.
“How are you feeling?”
“It feels a little warm inside… Ugh.”
“Now do you remember who you are?”
-What are you talking about? Omg.
The woman’s body burns in an instant, and her black smoke begins to escape.
A strange voice that cannot be distinguished as male or female begins to fill the room.
The demon vomits blood, screams, twists her body, and falls and rolls off the bed.
Emily just avoided it and just stared at it.
The devil desperately suppresses the black energy that is beginning to escape from his body and begins to crawl.
-Woman, honey. I’m so sick…
A voice that is uncomfortable to listen to.
Emily clicks her tongue loudly and gets past her demons and comes down to her first floor.
The man who committed the crime of heresy had already died after her body was burned.
The sound of her crying for her husband echoes through her house.
The Inquisitors frowned and left the house, as if they could no longer hear the sound.
Meanwhile, the devil’s hand crawled down the first floor stairs and grabbed her man’s burned hand.
Emily created a large flame from her hand and set her entire house on fire. She then went out and looked at the burning house for a moment.
Sometimes, among the demons, there are idiots who lose themselves in the memories of the humans they have swallowed.
They, thinking they are humans, crawl out under the sun on their own and burn to death, or are taken care of by heretics who love their bodies, which always ends in this unpleasant ending.
I can’t do this anymore.
When you see a scene like this, not only does it not give you any sense of faith, but even your original faith disappears.
Honestly, I wanted to turn a blind eye to them.
Would Brukin, the hero he admired, have saved them?
“…Should I just go and ask?”
On that day, Emily applied for a transfer to her church and left for Kenthemeul without looking back.
When I asked Brookin about this later, he answered as follows.
‘If you truly loved him, you would have endured the devil even with evil, so don’t worry too much. If he died after drinking holy water, he is either a devil or not.’
This is what she thought after kicking Brukin, who was drinking the holy water she made to cure a hangover.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a devil or a human. ‘If you drink holy water as a toast, you are a human being, but if you drink poison, you are a devil,’ she said.
***
Emily felt pain as if her hand would break.
Julius, a man with amazing blonde hair who is looking at me with his eyes open, is holding her hand as if he is going to break it.
The cloudy eyes of Cecil, who is sitting next to me, look at him lovingly.
It doesn’t feel good either. Even if it means breaking your arm, you have to check it.
That is dangerous. Her instincts whisper to her, and her divine power flowing from her hands warms her drink and begins to emit her flame.
“…Cecil is not feeling well and cannot drink much.”
Anyone can see that it is a lie.
There is no way a woman who looks so energetic would be so weak that she can’t even get a few drinks.
Doubt soon turns into confidence.
I don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s definitely a devil.
Horrible memories from the past flash through Emily’s mind.
Julius is like my son. We must stop it before it runs down a path that ends in destruction.
Emily tries to get people to drink the holy water somehow, and Julius stops them.
Cecile, who was watching this, tilted her head and quickly snatched the glass from Emily’s hand.
The two eyes widen at the same time.
“?”
“Three, Cecil!”
Julius hurriedly threw up his hand to stop this, but before he could, Cecil gulped down the alcohol that had turned into holy water.
“”… ….””
Both of them froze at the sight.
After a while, Cecil’s face turned red.
Just as Julius’ face was about to twist, she opened her mouth.
“Ah, ahahahaha!”
“…?”
“Ahahahahaha! This! Delicious!”
Cecile, with a gaping face, grabbed Julius’ hair and started pulling it.
Julius was dragged wherever she went without even lifting a finger.
When the villagers see this, they start laughing again.
“hahahaha! “It didn’t look like that, but you’re really weak at drinking, aren’t you?”
“If you’re that cute, it’s not enough to live up to it, hahahaha!”
The serious atmosphere from earlier disappeared as if it had never happened, and the inn was once again engulfed in a noisy atmosphere.
Emily stared at Cecil, but she seemed unconcerned.
No, it was nothing.
Now she was on Julius’s back and started twirling her hands, and a pure white energy began to flow from her hands.
That can’t be possible.
Before Emily could gather her confused mind, a spark burst out of her hand.
The villagers were shocked, the flames grew stronger, and then boom! With a sound, they turned into beautiful birds.
White birds, blazing like flames, chirped and sang, and gently perched on the shoulders of the villagers.
A warm and majestic energy surrounds them, and even more excited voices praise Cecil.
“This is my first time seeing something like this! “Not only does she have a pretty face, but she also has strong faith!”
“I’m jealous! Julius!”
“Hey! “Talia is standing here dead?”
White birds gradually flock to Talia, who died standing still.
It looked like a scarecrow in a wheat field, and everyone burst into laughter.
At that time, a fearful voice was heard outside the door.
“Sniff, sniff, I can feel the smell of the strong. Is this Julius? “I finally found it!”
The door burst open and an old maid prosecutor, Renelle, appeared, dressed in disgraceful clothes.
The villagers burst into laughter, shedding tears, and then began to cry.
Her heart broke when she saw the face of the fallen genius prosecutor.
Renelle is taken aback when she sees the villagers who suddenly start wailing loudly, but before she can open her mouth to say anything, she hears her pleasant laughter.
“Ah, ahahahahaha!, Chirp! Fly away!”
The incarnations of flame, who were sitting on Thalia’s body and leisurely preening her feathers, rush towards Renelle.
“Uh… Huh? “Wait a moment..B.”
The birds surrounding her body chirp and sing. Her fluttering body begins to float, and her pure white birds fly in the sky, carrying her struggling body.
It is a beautiful sight to see.
A scene like a bride wearing a pure white dress flying in the sky. Surely she will relax a little today.
The night deepens with the sound of applause, and the village becomes peaceful.
If it were not for the fact that Emily and Julius’ worries were deepening as well, there would be no paradise.
***
After the grand welcoming ceremony, Julius walked slowly, feeling the warmth of Cecil on his back.
I walk along a path with fallen leaves blowing, which makes me feel at ease just by looking at it.
Cecil, who had been making a fuss, has been quiet since before. Did he fall asleep because he was tired?
As Julius carefully carried her, he remembered what had happened to her earlier.
She is clearly a devil, but how can she stay fine even after drinking holy water and use the flames in her body so freely?
During her lifetime, Cecil was unable to properly use the power within her.
But even though she was a devil, she wielded the flame like a faithful servant of God.
My head is a mess. Now I have no idea what is what.
He opened his mouth inadvertently out of frustration.
“…What kind of harmony is this? .”
“…That’s the power of love.”
A voice whispering softly in my ear.
Goosebumps run down my back.
As soon as I look back, a dull blue light catches my eye.
Cecil made eye contact for a moment, then smiled and got off the back.
There is no sign of being drunk anywhere. After looking up at the sky for a moment and taking a small breath, she continues her words.
“It doesn’t matter whether the recipient is a devil or a human. If the recipient toasts it, he or she is a human, but if he or she toasts it with poison, he or she is a devil.”
She whispers softly.
“If you have love and change your thoughts, the world is surprisingly less painful.”
“… ….”
“So accept it, Julius.”
Cecil slowly raises her tiptoes while stroking his face.
Julius’ face slowly lowers and the two lips meet.
Her tongue, which had been sticking to her, fell, and she ran away first, as if she was embarrassed.
Julius touched his lips for a moment,
Next to the trail, I lean against a tree with fallen leaves and ponder the taste in my mouth.
I could taste the fishy, sweet taste of red blood from her lips.
***
Inside the rickety carriage, her blonde-haired boy twists her body wildly.
“Have fun!, Uncle, uncle! “Do something fun!”
“The holy flame given by the Lord cannot be used for your momentary entertainment.”
“I usually curse at things like gods and tell them to look after me! “I did it to give you Annora!”
Shocking words coming out of a child’s mouth! Look around, who taught you such mean words?
“That’s what my uncle always says!”
“Ah, Lord, look upon my sins today as well and forgive them.”
The child grabs Kryle’s collar as he shakes his head and begins to shake it.
I can’t handle the combination of my father’s mischievous personality and Cecil’s liveliness.
Kryil sighs as he drops Layla, who has now started playing with her nose.
“It’s just this one time. “Not twice.”
“Yes, yes!”
Shaking her head, Layla clings to her window and rolls her expectant eyes.
A huge demon running from far away with countless red eyes blinking.
This is not good for education.
Krail muttered softly and flicked his fingers.
-Just right
The devil, who was rushing at the ground with his huge body, freezes in midair.
An unrealistic sight illuminated by beautiful starlight.
The child’s eyes brightened even more and Cryle clapped his hands.
-Pair
Flames slowly bloom from the devil’s body, and as if a skein of thread is unraveling, the gigantic body emits white light and embroiders the sky.
“Wow, it’s pretty.”
Rayla opened her mouth wide open at the beautiful sight, and Krail chewed on a cigarette.
Beautiful sight, wonderful night sky.
The coachman driving the carriage looked at the slightly damp underside for a moment and comforted his horses.
If I had known I would get caught up in something like this, I wouldn’t have come.
Except for the coachman, who uttered a small curse at the union leader who handed over the work to me without any explanation.
It was a perfect night.