55. Salvation Church (5)
“That is….”
“….”
“You will know when you become a devout believer.”
Steam is leaking out. I already felt exhausted.
Doesn’t that mean that in order to get information, you have to keep looking here?
I was suddenly dragged in and infiltrated, and it turned out to be a long-term battle. Rotten.
As I sat there speechless and speechless, the woman gently smiled and stood up.
“Too much time has passed. I’m busy with work, so I’ll have to go now.”
“Ah…”
“If you tell the guards at the exit, they will give you food right away, so don’t worry. For now, feel free to go on a field trip today.”
…’First of all, what about today?’
“There are people guarding places where entry is prohibited, so you just don’t have to go to those places.”
After saying those words, the woman turned around without any hesitation.
Only when the woman’s figure was no longer visible did I drink the cooled tea in one go and lean back comfortably in the chair. My body, relieved of its tension, became limp belatedly.
‘That woman is quite unlucky.’
I was confident that I would come again—
of course, I thought I was a poor person, so it was natural. It’s a place that gives out free bread and water, and if you’ve never been there before, you might not know it, but once you’ve been there, it’s natural to come back again.
‘…Let’s take a look inside first.’
For a moment, I wondered where Lord Lien was and what he was doing and why he hadn’t come in yet, but that was only for a moment.
she is a knight A knight who controls crazy dogs named murderers. It would be a luxury in itself to worry about her like that.
Even if you worry, you should worry about me.
With that, I threw away my thoughts about her and began to slowly walk around the inside of the building.
There was nothing special. Even the guards look exactly like an ordinary temple and would fit the bill of a Holy Knight.
That makes it even more suspicious.
‘I can’t believe it’s clean even though it smells so suspicious. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
Should I go into the room where the guard is?
As I was quietly scanning the guarded rooms, someone came into my field of vision.
The happy smile that seemed to have no worries in the world was so foreign that I couldn’t help but be drawn to it.
Dwarf physique. Although the material is rough, the clothes are clean in their own way.
The person who crossed the interior without hesitation and headed somewhere, probably having been here once or twice…
‘…a girl?’
He looks to be about 12 years old. Could he be a believer here? I guess I’m poor.
Although his complexion is not bad and he is smiling happily, there is a distinctive look of hunger left on his face. It must have been a while since he escaped from starvation.
Additionally, looking at the loaf of bread in her arms, she was half-convinced that it was a poor believer, but the girl seemed to have sensed her gaze and turned to look at her.
Our eyes met and an awkward air settled down.
“…?”
The girl rolls her eyes as if trying to guess her identity.
After checking the face, the girl scanned the face from head to toe and then looked at the face again, straightening her back without realizing it. The girl, after seeing her face scrunched up due to the disguise for a moment, clapped her hands as if she knew something.
“ah!”
“…?”
“You are a new believer!”
“Yes?”
“Nice to meet you! My name is Shiia!”
“Uh, nice to meet you…?”
Why is it so bright? Are you poor? Did I guess wrong?
Anyway, this kid clearly has a crush on me. I just needed a way to get some information, so I’m grateful that you approached me like this.
They held hands like ferns and shook them. Suddenly, a smile blooms on the girl’s face.
“Seeing as I don’t know your face, I guess you’ve been here not long ago. Did you come today or yesterday?”
“Today…”
“Aha, then you must still feel awkward and suspicious about everything. But there’s nothing to worry about. This is a place that really gives food without any conditions.”
The girl continues her explanation, naturally leading me somewhere.
The child’s voice contained only unwavering faith without any doubt.
…Something strange. How can you be so sure?
“We don’t force you to believe in religion. We just give you more food if you believe in it. Are you a poor person? I am also a poor person. You can believe it because a fellow poor person says it after experiencing it first.”
“I see.”
“And… this is the prayer room. People who are just starting to believe for the sake of food pray here.”
“…Does that mean that there is a separate prayer room for devout believers?”
Wow, this is awkward. You should have had a conversation with your child to know this.
The conversation ended a little awkwardly, but fortunately, the child nodded calmly, as if he didn’t feel anything was suspicious.
“Yes. There is a separate prayer room in the basement. There, we listen to the priest’s speech about real salvation. Salvation is real.”
The child’s eyes were hazy as he said that. There I held my breath for a moment.
Is it brainwashing? It’s probably brainwashing. To speak with such confidence would be difficult without brainwashing.
…but.
‘Strange.’
It is not the cloudy eyes that are uniformly seen among those who have been brainwashed. Rather, the child’s eyes were sparkling with hope.
My eyes, which had been blurry for a moment, only relaxed for a moment as I imagined a hopeful future.
‘why?’
What did they do?
I looked down at the excitedly chattering child with a complicated expression. My eyes must be showing their confusion right now.
Even if you think about what to leave out, there is no way to know right now, so first you have to find out about the prayer room located in the basement.
He erased his complicated expression and smiled softly. Yes, it’s just a clumsy and faint smile, but since I’m a ‘poor’ who doesn’t usually smile anyway, this will be enough.
As expected, the child faced me without the slightest suspicion.
“How do you get into the prayer room?”
“Ah, a ‘real prayer room’? I don’t know.”
“…Huh? You don’t know?”
“Yes. I know the entrance, but only the priest knows how to open it.”
Is that so? Well, it would be difficult for anyone to sneak in.
“Then, can you at least tell me the location of the entrance to the prayer room? I’d like to believe in the ‘salvation’ you mentioned, but I’m curious where I will pray if I become a devout believer.”
“Really? Now you too can be saved. That’s great!”
“Okay, so…”
“Um, but the location of the entrance to the prayer room is not allowed. I wanted to tell you, but the priest told me not to do so.”
…Don’t you know everything about this guy? He acts as if he will answer anything you ask, and is secretly ironclad. Are you playing with me now?
Instinct or intuition was speaking. This guy is wrong. No matter how much I ask, he won’t answer.
You have to find out yourself or find someone else and ask.
Without hesitation, I decided to find out for myself.
I don’t have time, but at what point will I find someone as good as this kid? It’s a good thing if you don’t raise suspicion by asking questions for no reason.
First, let’s get rid of this kid who is still making noise next to us.
… As soon as I could think about it, a boy from far away raised his voice in this direction.
“Shiia! What are you doing? I have to go!”
“Oh, Paul! I’m sorry, but I think I have to go.”
“Really? Then there’s nothing we can do. Go ahead.”
I didn’t plan on catching it anyway… but the look in my eyes from a boy named Paul was quite harsh.
Unlike a girl’s, her eyes are full of caution.
It looks like he’s about 16 or 17 years old. Is that why? He had a bigger head than the girl, right?
I felt like I would immediately tell the security guard if I showed even the slightest sign of suspicion, so I tried to make my face look as harmless as possible, but I heard a clear voice again, as if I hadn’t left yet.
“Oh, and you look tired. If you came from far away, it would be easier to stay nearby. It’s hard to go back and forth, right?”
“Okay, thanks for the advice.”
“See you then!”
The child disappears after the boy. He vaguely said, “I told you not to talk to people you’ve never met before.” A pounding sound was heard.
I stared at his back, but the moment the boy glanced back, I quickly turned around.
As I slowly headed towards the entrance, I touched my face just enough to keep the dirt from peeling off. It was an action that came about after thinking about the girl’s comment that she looked tired.
‘Did I look that tired…?’
Well, it’s only natural that I was brought here in the middle of paperwork without even taking a break. Damn my son.
After confidently going through the entrance, I turned around and silently headed to a deserted area around the building.
Of course, I didn’t forget to take some food with me when I left.
If they were brainwashed, they would usually do it by mixing food with medicine, so I received this to confirm.
‘…There’s nothing wrong.’
It’s just plain bread and water. The unexpected result stopped the accident for a moment.
Then… why were you able to gather believers so aggressively? Is there something I don’t know about? Or are you really dragging me into that lame argument? Using ordinary bread and water as bait?
‘….’
My head is blank. I feel like I got hit by something. It felt like my throat was burning, so I lifted the water bottle I had checked and tilted it to my mouth.
But before I could get it down my throat, I asked,
“Who are you?”
“Bwaak! Kwaak-kul-kul-kul-kkul…!”
A cold voice pressed down on my body.
Damn it, I swallowed the wrong water. As I coughed with my head down, I saw a very wet dirt floor in my field of vision. I can’t tell the color because it’s dirt, but I’m sure it’s not blood.
Well, I don’t feel any fishy or salty taste in my mouth. Fortunately, it looks like he only spit out water…
‘…that’s not fortunate!’
Did you get caught? You must have been caught after all?
If you get caught here, you will be in trouble in many ways. No, it’s more than difficult, it’s dangerous. I roughly wiped my mouth and focused on the sound of footsteps coming from behind.
‘3…2…1… now!’
As it was a close situation, the decision was made quickly and the execution was also quick.
Without any warning, I leapt forward without looking back.
“ah…!”
Fortunately, the voice with a look of frustration is getting further and further away, as if he is not chasing me.
I kept running without slowing down, touching the windows of rooms that seemed deserted one by one, in case they caught up with me even if it was too late, and pushed myself into the only open one.
***
An unknown person disappears. Lien looked at the back with a helpless face.
I could chase it if I wanted to, but I didn’t have to.
If you make a fuss for no reason, you could endanger not only yourself but also the Count who will be inside.
‘But why does the back look so familiar…’
Even the coughing sound is familiar.
Where have you seen this person before? It’s my first time coming here. There is no connection with the poor… huh? poor?
Now that I think about it, the Count disguised himself as a poor man and infiltrated.
…oh my god.
Lien’s face turned white.
‘Why were you there!!’
What on earth was the person who was supposed to be inside doing here?
First of all, I’m glad it looks safe! no no! That’s not important now!!
‘…Should I chase after you too?’
As if gauging the distance, his narrowed eyes scanned the street and stopped at a place where he seemed to have found something.
Wet soil revealing its presence in the middle of the road.
Due to the nature of the soil, it only appears black no matter what liquid is spilled on it, so it is impossible to determine by color, but it is possible to come up with a few hypotheses considering the surrounding situation and environment.
‘It looks like the liquid was spilled not long ago, so that would mean it has something to do with the Count. Plus, the Count had a bad cough a little while ago…’
Normally, I would have thought about sniffing, but this is a slum.
Not only was there a smell of all sorts of sewage coming from everywhere, but even from the floor, Lien put that method out of her mind.
There was nothing she couldn’t do if she wanted to smell it, but… as a knight from a noble family, there was no way she would touch unknown wet dirt or stick her nose in something that wasn’t even her lord’s order.
That’s why Lien, who came up with the most plausible hypothesis based on all the possibilities based on the circumstances, fluttered his eyebrows.
No way….
“Blood?“
