213 – EP.9 Foundation for Adults-3
***
The day of the Harvest Festival.
Maria, who was preparing to attend the Harvest Festival, received a call from Lumen.
Although she was reluctant, she could not ignore the call of her superior.
“What’s going on?”
When Maria spoke in a voice full of dissatisfaction, Lumen chuckled.
Even that laugh made Maria’s stomach twist because she felt like she was laughing at herself.
She was the one who saw Lumen accompanying the saint from afar.
The other day, I saw Lumen holding the saint’s hand and comforting him in a deserted place.
She was Maria who immediately wanted to intervene in that blasphemous situation and wield her great sword, but
She was afraid of incurring the saint’s hatred again, so she was able to endure it by gritting her teeth.
“Please go down to Solcio Village like this and bring the items to the family at this address.”
Lumen treated her Maria unchangingly, as if showing her qualifications for being in that position.
“Where am I?”
It was a strangely familiar address.
Without answering Maria’s question, Lumen took out her bag of money from her desk drawer.
“Please go to the market, buy food and daily necessities and deliver them.”
Lumen said soothingly.
“Why should I do it?”
Maria asked, dumbfounded.
“I am not giving instructions. The Holy Spirit is giving instructions.”
Lumen shrugged her shoulders.
At her words, her saint’s instructions, a faint light returned to Mary’s lifeless eyes.
“Seo, are you a saint?”
“Yes, Sister Maria. By all means, if Sister Maria did this, she said she would do it.”
“…….”
Maria looked at the money bag and snatched it up.
The money bag was as heavy as it looked.
Perhaps because she was so embarrassed that she had openly laughed in front of her, Maria tried to leave her room without even saying hello.
“Sister Maria.”
Lumen stopped Maria as she was leaving.
“…Yes.”
“Have a nice trip.”
Lumen spoke as if she were dealing with a child sending her on an errand.
***
Solchio Maria rode down to Solchio village on horseback and bought basic food and daily necessities at her market.
She then slowly rode her horse to the house written on her note.
The address was unfamiliar to her, so she asked a passerby for the location.
The passer-by politely answered the cult’s heresy inquisitor, ‘After passing the bridge, it is the second floor of the fourth house.’
It was only after she knocked on the door of the house that Maria realized that she had come to Antonio’s house.
Antonio’s mother was surprised for a moment to see her inquisitor, but then she smiled brightly at the food in her hand.
Maria was invited home, and she entered her old house with a strange feeling.
She handed over the rest of her money, which Antonio’s mother gratefully accepted.
From the outside, it looked like an old house that was falling down, but the inside was quite noticeable as it had been recently renovated.
“Huh? She’s a nun with big breasts!”
Antonio, who stuck out his face to her guest, welcomed her warmly.
Antonio took off his priestly clothes and showed the innocence and cheerfulness of a child at that age.
“Are you here today in place of the saint?”
Antonio chattered as he circled around Maria.
“Instead of the saint?”
“Yes! The saint came to my house every night and played with me.”
“I didn’t know because I was away from the saint these days.”
Because she lived away from the saint, she did not know what he was doing.
Maria smiled bitterly.
“Wow! Have you been away for a long time?”
“Well… Not for long.”
In my mind, it felt like an eternity.
“I guess you still want to see it. The saint also said he wanted to see the nun.”
“What?”
Maria’s eyes brightened.
“When the saint came, he would tell me various stories. Then, there were times when he would talk about the nun.”
At that violent reaction, Antonio tilted his head and added his words.
“Well, what did you say?”
“He may be tactless at times, but he is kind and sincere. And then…”
As Antonio continued her explanation, the corners of Maria’s mouth gradually rose.
“What else didn’t the saint say? That I’m not good enough…?”
Antonio, who had been listing Maria’s strengths for a while, pulled her lower lip up and thought deeply about something about her.
“He said it would be good if you were curious.”
“Curiosity?”
“Yes, curiosity. I want you to question everything.”
Maria’s thoughts deepened at the confusing words.
She was able to return to the church only after being served tea brewed with cheap tea leaves.
As soon as she arrived at the main gate of the church, Maria was surrounded by paladins.
“What’s going on?”
When Maria asked, looking around at her large men wearing her armor, her paladins pounced on her without answering.
“Hurry and arrest him!”
That was all she heard as her hands were bound by the rope that flew out of nowhere.
As she struggled, Maria was struck on the head by something blunt, and she immediately lost consciousness.
***
Maria got up from the bed with a gasp.
She looked around her, it was her room.
The rope that bound her hands had disappeared somewhere, and Lumen was sitting next to her.
“…This place?”
“This is Sister Maria’s room.”
“I didn’t ask that.”
Maria responded sharply.
“So, this is what you asked? Why were you arrested?”
Redemption? She looked at her own body, unbound by anything.
“…….”
After showing positivity through silence, Lumen cleared her throat.
“Saint… No, Kang In-ho has been arrested.”
Kang In-ho. The saint’s real name.
It was a name I hadn’t heard in a really long time.
“Yes?”
At her foolish words, she asked, forgetting her hostility toward Lumen.
“The harvest festival service began, and the saint… Kang In-ho made insulting remarks to everyone who attended the service.”
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Lumen recited the situation without changing his expression.
“What an insulting remark….”
“The Pope accumulated money illegally, Bishop Gillian enjoyed sodomy and killed people to cover up this, and Garto, the leader of the Holy Knights, even forcibly took a woman who had her husband.”
Lumen imitated Kang In-ho’s voice and described the situation.
“…….”
Maria’s face became increasingly pale.
“He continued to insult people by pointing out people who attended the service and was subdued by the leader of the Holy Knights.”
Lumen delivered it in a simple way, as if reading a fairy tale.
“So… What happened?”
Maria’s hands began to tremble.
“Contrary to what he shouted from the podium, he was captured obediently. There was no resistance whatsoever.”
“And then the sainthood verification ceremony was held right then and there. Because I did the exact opposite of what I had shown so far. And the result was….”
“What is the result?”
Maria swallowed her saliva.
“He did not shine with his sword. The Pope said he was a devil in the guise of a saint.”
– Kuung
Something huge fell into Maria’s chest.
Anyway, Lumen continued her words.
“It is presumed that the reason the devil was able to hide the saint and imitate him was when he went to Madini village for relief work. So, we plan to send people to Madini village to search for the saint. That’s right.”
“The trial… The trial… Why…”
Maria shook her head.
“The trial is already over. He will be executed soon.”
“Why! You didn’t even listen to my testimony as an attendant!’
Outrageously, Maria screamed.
“Your purity is in doubt, Sister Maria.”
Lumen leaned forward, her face set.
Not Lumen, who looked tired and buried in administrative documents, but Lumen, the Inquisitor who had interrogated thousands of criminals.
“You’ve spent a lot of time with that demon. That’s why many people think you’re contaminated. That’s why I locked you in this room.”
Lumen got up from his seat and headed toward the door.
“After the execution, the investigation will begin on you, so please wait here.”
The door closed, and I heard the sound of the door being locked from outside.
“Wait a minute! Chief Judge!!!”
Maria jumped out of bed and clung to the door.
“He is definitely a saint. A saint! He was definitely not a devil or anything!”
Maria shouted to Lumen through the door.
“Why is he a saint?”
A question is heard from outside the door.
Mary remembered the words she had once heard from the saint, and her body stiffened.
As she remained still, the words of her Lumen came through her door again.
“Why is he a saint?”
“…….”
“The sword did not shine either.”
“His behavior did not match that of a saint.”
“The Pope said he was not a saint.”
“But why… Do you call him a saint?”
“…….”
“Look at that. You don’t have any confidence in yourself, so what are you trying to prove?”
With those words, Lumen’s footsteps faded away.
Maria buried her face in her hands, listening to the sound of footsteps echoing through her empty hallway.