211 – EP.9 Foundation for Adults-1
***
“Saint!”
Maria spoke brightly and pretended to know the people on the other side of her.
The eyes of the two men and women turned to her voice.
Maria often walked across her hallway.
Maria felt her head spinning as she saw the heterogeneous combination of the saint and the lumen.
“Ah, Sister Maria.”
The first to react was Lumen.
In Lumen’s sunken eyes, Maria was reflected, unable to hide her embarrassed expression.
“Chief judge.”
As if an explanation was needed, Mary looked at the saint and Lumen alternately.
“I had something to discuss with the saint. It’s also related to Sister Maria, so let’s go in and talk about it.”
I suddenly had a bad feeling.
Mary instinctively looked at the saint’s face.
The saint was looking at the tree outside her window, shaking with its bare branches.
Saint and Lumen passed Maria and headed toward the room.
Maria, who was standing blankly, figured out the situation and followed after them.
Just like that, Maria returned to the room again.
She was the last to close the door when Maria, who followed behind, closed the door.
“Sister Maria.”
Her name came out of Lumen’s mouth.
The bad premonition she had just felt ran down her spine, giving her an eerie feeling.
“From now on, Sister Maria’s position is again that of Inquisitor.”
“…Yes?”
Maria’s eyes widen as she asks what this means.
Lumen faced her green eyes directly and looked at her without making a single movement.
“This is what the Holy Son decided.”
When Lumen moved out of the way by slightly turning her body, the figure of the saint came into Maria’s field of vision.
The saint had his back turned and was quietly looking at the scenery outside her window.
“What is that….”
It feels like her heart is sinking. Maria couldn’t understand the current situation at all.
She looks around her room.
I prepared water for him in case he was thirsty.
The towel with which he wiped his body every day out of fear that he would feel uncomfortable with sweat.
Finely ground medicine for him.
A cot brought to check his condition at all times.
She had confidence in worshiping saints no matter who came from the church.
She was confident that she understood the saint’s feelings well and was helping him to avoid discomfort.
That’s why I don’t understand.
Then who will take my empty seat?
“Then, who will accompany the saint…?”
“It hasn’t been decided yet. However, it looks like I will be taking on the position until an appropriate number of people are available.”
The lumen came back between the saint and Mary, and the saint’s appearance looking out the window was obscured by the lumen.
Mary lifted her head slightly and continued to look at the back of the saint.
“But the Chief Judge…”
When she asked, ‘Aren’t you busy?’, I thought the answer would have already been decided.
“I… Why did this happen…”
Mary’s gaze continued to turn to the saint.
She was shouting.
I was screaming that I wanted to hear an explanation from your mouth, not Lumen’s, about why I had to leave your side.
Maria was devastated by the overnight change in attitude.
“Stand, saint.”
Mary called him.
But what comes back to her is turning away.
“Sister Maria. Let’s go out first.”
Lumen approached her and turned her body and pushed her slowly.
Even as she was pushed aside by her judge, Mary did not take her eyes off her saint.
***
Lumen and Maria left the room and remained silent due to the awkward atmosphere.
The two walked down the hallway without saying anything. I don’t know where the final stop was, but Maria silently followed Lumen.
The place where our steps stopped was Maria’s room.
“Sister Maria.” Putting her door before her, Lumen called to her.
“You said this before, right? ‘The Holy Son will help you with your stagnant faith.'”
“…….”
Maria did not answer. Despite that profane response, Lumen continued to speak steadfastly.
“Think about those words carefully.”
Lumen laughed softly.
Maria glared at her superior, who was making no sense, then opened the door and entered the room.
Two priests face each other across the door.
“You’re probably exhausted from nursing the sick, so please start your daily routine tomorrow. It’s your first time working as an Inquisitor in a long time, but I think you’ll get used to it quickly.”
– Bang
The door closed in Lumen’s face.
Lumen’s eyes widened at that loud noise, and she quickly let out a sigh of relief.
“Well… It’s difficult.”
It was a complaint full of fatigue.
***
After recovering his body, In-ho suggested that the Pope have dinner that day.
The Pope was surprised by the sudden request for a meal, but since he had something to say, he broke his previous promise and arranged a table.
Pope and In-ho, a meal for two.
A war of nerves with knives and forks began.
“I woke up in a hospital bed today, but I don’t know if I can eat too much.”
The Pope spoke while cutting meat with a relaxed expression.
These were the first words spoken by the Pope, who had been quiet since the meal began.
“It’s not like we’re worried about each other. Rather, isn’t it easier without me?”
The Pope laughed heartily at the blunt answer.
“No, I feel more comfortable when there is someone called a ‘saint’. Thanks to you, the church’s income… I made a mistake with my words. Since donations have increased. I think it would be good to think of it as a kind of symbiotic relationship. I earn money; “You live a life of propriety.”
The Pope was still smiling.
“Anyway, you must not be in a very happy mood when you look at my face, so I’m curious as to why you suggested a meal.”
“I have something to check.”
“Is it about Antonio?”
Suddenly, the old Pope’s eyes turned to In-ho.
“Just in case, you already know.”
“I get all the news about people coming in and out of the church. Especially when it comes to suspicious messengers.”
The Pope lifted the glass between his thumb and index finger, twirled it around, and took a sip of wine.
“I’m glad there’s less need to explain. I didn’t think the Pope would know Antonio’s name.”
“Actually, I didn’t know. I found out thanks to the information I got from interrogating the messenger.”
“So you don’t know about Antonio until then? That he was deposed for blasphemy?”
In-ho did not hide his bewildered expression.
“There is only one reason for the dismissal of trainee priests and trainee nuns. That is something that educational institutions take care of. Every year.”
The Pope spoke as if explaining a farmer sowing seeds and harvesting.
“As it happens, I was dismissed because I asked a question to the saint. It was not because I had anything to do with the saint.”
Inho’s face hardened even more at the Pope’s explanation.
“Then for what reason was it dismissed?”
Inho could not believe that the reason Antonio became like that had nothing to do with him.
“That child… All apprentice priests who are dismissed have the same thing in common.”
The Pope said as he put down the glass filled with wine.
“I’m just too curious.”
The Pope shrugged his shoulders.
Inho felt the urge to punch that frowning face.
Anyway, the Pope continued his explanation.
“Those who question the Word and raise objections to the doctrine are the ones who will bring chaos to the order of the denomination. So, we must wipe them out before they grow in the bud. That is all.”
“Is that all?”
Inho muttered the Pope’s last words.
“That’s right. So you’d better not be too curious.”
The Pope wiped the juice running down his chin with his hand.
“Ah, the Harvest Festival is coming soon. It’s Solarium’s biggest event, so this time you’ll have to lead the service yourself.”
“…I see.”
“I will decide the words to be used in worship. Please bring paper and pen for the next meal. You will have to write them down in your own words as I say them.”
Inho nodded his head slightly, and the Pope cut the remaining meat with a satisfied look on his face.
“Anyway, why do you want to change the number of people involved?”
The Pope, who was putting the last piece in his mouth, spoke as if he suddenly remembered something.
“Sister Maria?”
“Please don’t say that our relationship has worsened. There is no excuse more absurd than that.”
“It’s no big deal.”
Inho replied indifferently as he cut the meat with a knife.
He put a small piece in his mouth and cleaned his mouth with a napkin.
Inho answered, throwing the napkin covered in sauce and gravy on the table.
“I’m not very curious.”
inho is planning a massacre involving the hypocrites