A priest of the Gwanghuigyo.
A priest of the Gwanghuigyo.
The red-haired woman quietly waited for my answer at the entrance of the cave. As if I have no intention of hostile to you, so please be assured.
What answer would suit an uninvited guest in the middle of the night? After thinking for a while, I inadvertently patted my mother’s head on my thigh. The silky texture of her hair, felt on her skin, was gently scattered.
‘ㅅ…a…r…ha…s…’
Mother rustled and muttered something, but luckily she didn’t wake up. I slowly turned my head and looked at the red-haired woman.
“Please tell me your name. Wouldn’t it be hard to readily trust someone who doesn’t even reveal his name?”
The red-haired woman’s eyes softened at my answer.
“I did this. Usually, when approaching a stranger, it’s easier to identify myself than a few letters of my first name. My name is Cardisho. He is the priest of the Gwanghuigyo.”
Gwanghuigyo, which enshrines ‘light without warmth’. I had heard of it. Like the priests of the Reformation Church, who serve the scale of punishment, they were priests who did good deeds by eliminating monsters or humans who harmed them rather than helping people in trouble.
In other words, priests who specialized in combat. Only then did my eyes go to the not-so-long metal bar behind her back. When the battle begins, the power attached to that metal rod will burn with the color of light allowed to them. I suddenly asked a question.
“What color light do you deal with?”
Cardisho, the red-haired woman, opened her eyes slightly.
“Hoo. You must know a little about our Gwanghwigyo, right?”
“I don’t know very well. There are only a few rumors I have heard.”
“okay?”
The woman smiled and tapped the metal bar behind her back before answering.
“’Light Without Warmth’ undeservedly allowed me to deal with the orange light.”
“He must have been quite tall.”
The newly initiated priests of the Gwanghuigyo dealt with the purple light, and as they handled the light in the reverse order of the iridescent light, they became heavier and harder. In other words, purple was the weakest and red was the strongest.
It may feel like it makes no sense that the light becomes heavier and harder, but like the miracles in the name of authority, it was a reality and a natural phenomenon to them in the first place. Rumor has it that the priests of Gwanghuigyo are always waiting for someone who can handle the white light to appear, but rumors are just rumors. I knew that the Gwanghuigyo priest who handles the real white radiance hadn’t appeared yet.
light without warmth. Like the name of the god they serve, they dealt with light without a single point of heat. You may wonder how light without heat can really be a weapon, but the light handled by the priests of Gwanghuigyo boasted hardness and sharpness that could not be considered light instead of heat.
To put it simply, they were crusaders who used light weapons that had no heat but were hard and could be extended to any length. Of course, as light is light, the moment they used their powers, the surroundings couldn’t help but shine brightly with the intense light emitted by the powers attached to their weapons.
What was even more sinister was that the priests of Gwanghuigyo were unaffected by the light they created, but their enemies had to endure the glamorous blind spots and wage an all-out war against the priests of Gwanghuigyo.
Therefore, unlike the priests of the Reformation Church, who deal with the enemy with the heaviness of their weapons, the priests of the Gwanghuigyo Church used agile movements and fatal eyeballs to beat the opponent one-sidedly.
Cardisho looked at me and smiled bitterly.
“In case you don’t believe that I am a priest of Gwanghuigyo, I would like to show you my power, but if I show it, the two people who are sleeping soundly there will be startled and wake up, so I hope that you will trust me.”
It didn’t have to be. Because the thin metal armor she was wearing was blessed by God. Although I cannot differentiate between the divinity of the good god and the evil god, the worshipers of the evil god absolutely avoid falsely calling the priest of the good god.
In fact, from the moment Cardisho introduced herself as a priest of the Cult of Light, I knew that she really did come here to help us with good intentions. Apparently, she seems to know exactly where this place is, so it seemed good to get information about the location of a nearby town from her.
“Come in and sit down.”
“Excuse me.”
With a light creak, Cardisho strode forward and sat down on an empty seat near the campfire. She was paying close attention not to wake the two lying on my thighs. Cardisho looked around the campfire and slowly raised his head.
“There is no sign of eating. Didn’t you find something to eat?”
“I wasted most of my time looking for this cave, so I couldn’t afford to get anything else to eat.”
Thanks to that, both Jamel and my mother slept after eating a few honey candies that I always carry with me.
“Oops.”
Cardisho, who clicked his tongue briefly, rummaged around his waist and held out a small pouch.
“It’s the beef jerky I prepared to eat, but it’s okay to eat it. because it didn’t hurt Instead, it will be a little too hard.”
It was not a situation to refuse food.
“thank you.”
I quickly took the bag and checked inside. The small pouch was filled with well-dried beef jerky. If you eat sparingly, enough to eat for several days. I tore off a piece of jerky, put it in my mouth, and chewed it. After chewing on it a few times, it was definitely something that made me understand why Cardisho warned me that it was hard.
If I just gave this to my mother, she would say that her jaw hurts. I’ll have to soak it in some water tomorrow.
Cardisho quietly observed my actions and smiled.
“Your hand strength is better than it looks. Ordinary people would have to use a lot of effort to tear apart the jerky made from that demon meat.”
“Well, I have a strong body.”
I answered her roughly and shredded the large pieces of beef jerky to make it easier to soak tomorrow.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You gave me beef jerky, but can I avoid the question? Feel free to ask.”
Cardisho pointed to my baggy priestly robe that Jamel was wearing. Because Jamel was wearing it, the priest’s clothes lost the power of the divine protection and were just normal clothes.
“Are the clothes you lent to the wet woman?”
“you’re right. I am Marnak, a priest who enshrines the goddess of maintenance who protects daily life.”
“also.”
‘Ummm.’ As she nodded, she felt a little more affection than before.
“By the way, have you seen any suspicious people on the way here?”
“Hmm. No one else even sniffed, but Cardisho is the first person I met here.”
“You don’t have to sleep. That kind of honorific is a little burdensome.”
“All right.”
After hearing my answer, Cardisho touched his chin and thought hard about something. After a while, she asked me another question.
“Then have you seen any wild animals?”
“Come to think of it, there were no animals either.”
If I had encountered an animal, I would have caught it and roasted the meat somehow.
“It wasn’t because of my mood either. Actually, I haven’t been here for a few days, but I haven’t encountered a single rat here in ‘Wandering Forest’.”
“In the meantime, you discovered the light we made.”
“yes.”
I realized that this woman named Cardisho is more capable of reasoning than I thought.
Even though I searched for several days in the forest where I could not hear the sound of life alone, it was very remarkable that I calmly looked at the other person’s condition and approached them favorably, rather than being hostile to those I found after a few days.
Well, if you were a normal person, unless you were insane, you wouldn’t have come to search this place after hearing rumors that there are people who conduct biological experiments.
Suddenly, I turned my gaze to the beef jerky, which I was shredding with my hands.
“Then why don’t you give this to us?”
“I bring enough and share it, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
If so. should be thanked
“By the way, in Gwanghuigyo, do you usually go searching alone?”
Then you’ll be vulnerable when you sleep at night.
Hearing my question, Cardisho laughed bitterly.
“Of course not. Originally, it was a principle of two people, one team, but I was a little short of hands because of the people who recently left to support the annihilation warfare. They just couldn’t afford to send two priests to this uncertain information. Well, I am enough by myself.”
There was a subtle confidence in her voice. I wonder if a priest who handles orange light would have such confidence.
I’m sure I’ll get all the info I need sooner or later. I got to the point.
“How long does it take to get to the nearest town from here?”
“It’s a nearby town. hmm. If you walk due south for about two days from here, you will come to a small village.”
Two days? Two days was enough to walk. If I turn my mother into a hand, carry her in my arms, and walk with Jamel on my back, I’ll be able to reach her in one day.
Cardisho gave me a quick glance and tilted his head.
“By the way, are you good at finding the way? Hmm… Is this kind of question rude?”
‘If you find your way well, there’s no way you’ll get into trouble in a place like this…’ he mumbled. I replied with a bit of resentment.
“It wasn’t that I was in distress because I was lost. I just fell off the ship while fighting the bandits.”
“Yes, I guess.”
Out of courtesy, the answer was clear. Cardisho’s eyes looking at me were full of subtle sympathy. She tapped her chin, pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“Well, it’s unlikely that you’ll find any sharp clues even if you search here for a few more days, so I’ll take you to a nearby village on the way back to the church.”
“If you are helping us out of fear that we might get lost, then you don’t have to. I don’t want to interfere with what you’re doing.”
She shook her head and smiled.
“I was just about to get tired of this lonely forest. Even the warm light would tell you to help the person in front of you rather than chasing an enemy whose existence is uncertain. When the sun rises tomorrow morning, I will go to the temporary shelter I have made, pack only the things I left behind, and leave this loathsome forest together. In my gym bag, there are a few foods that are softer than that beef jerky, so I can feed the two people who are sleeping soundly there.”
In fact, having a guide would have been much better. What are you doing to refuse here? I shoved a piece of shredded jerky into my mouth and nodded slightly.
“Then, please take care of the nearby village.”
***
Next morning. As soon as he woke up, Jamel, who discovered Cardisho, was startled and said, ‘It’s an ear ghost!!! There is a red ghost with priest Marnac’s brother!!!’, but other than that, nothing special happened.
However, my mother, who had just woken up, tilted her head after staring at Cardi Show for a long time with something subtle in her eyes.
‘killing…?’
Mother thought for a long time, squeezing and opening her fingers, then pulled my collar tightly.
‘Kill and kill.’
One word that this is the first time.
“Are you having any problems?”
‘killing!’
What my mother wanted to say was very simple. The number of fingers is counted, but it is ambiguous to cut and say something.
Your mother can’t count the number of fingers correctly?
If he couldn’t see his fingers at all, it would have something to do with the devil, but seeing that he talked about it separately, it seemed to be a different story than that case.
He said he was dealing with the orange light, so maybe something like protection was hanging on him. If not, he has a sacred object that obstructs his mother’s gaze.
“Are you able to guess?”
‘killing!’
answer yes.
“About how many?
Mother raised both palms at once.
Three and a half fingers on the left hand and four fingers on the other hand.
If the number of fingers on the right hand is correct…
“The day is bright, so let’s move. This forest tends to get dark quickly.”
Looking at Cardisho, who was looking at me with a kind smile, I made a short resolution deep in my heart.
If you think there’s going to be a fight, let’s concede a little.
“Jamel.”
“yes! Priest Marnak! I’m wearing all of those clothes! We can start now!”
“I tore up some jerky and soaked it in water. Would you like some?”
“yes! I want to eat!”
‘Hat killed?!’
bewildered expression. My mother opened her eyes wide and looked straight up at me.
“Of course there are mothers too.”
‘Kill and kill.’
Hearing that there was something for my mother, my mother nodded her head with a comfortable expression. I handed them the pre-soaked beef jerky and headed to the makeshift hideout she had made with Cardisho.
However, what greeted us when we arrived at the temporary shelter was a mess. Cardisho did not get angry when he saw his luggage dug up, but rather smiled broadly. The widest smile he has ever shown.
Her red eyes twinkled and she licked her lips lightly.
“You finally showed your tail.”
