Chapter 41: Church without Missionaries (6)

I was looking down at the man kneeling at my feet.

“…….”

He still had a dazed look on his face.

His shirt was torn from being roughly dragged here.

His hair was disheveled.

He was truly a pathetic sight.

I asked him.

“So, you wanted to see me, Mr. Moretti?”

“…….”

Even when questioned, he just stared up at me with that same blank expression.

In his stupefied face, there was no trace of the dignity of the once-notorious mafia godfather.

He looked down on the weak and treated others’ lives carelessly, but strip away that facade, and he was no different from them.

Only his true, terrified, and wretched trembling self remained.

‘For the sake of such a worthless human being….’

I clenched my teeth without realizing it.

I knew now.

I had learned from the things I experienced since coming to this city.

That there might not be any special reason for all evil deeds.

That the trivial motives of such trash, who act solely on their petty desires, weren’t worth trying to understand or even care about.

However… it was a different story if innocent people were caught up in such atrocities.

I calmed my emotions and spoke again.

“Because of this attack… twenty-seven citizens in the church suffered serious injuries, and two ultimately lost their lives.”

Although the situation ended quickly, it was also a surprise attack.

Because it happened so suddenly, not every response could be perfect.

Lives were caught in the crossfire during the battle.

‘I personally healed most of the injured, but…’

There were some for whom it was too late to help.

That’s why I had just come from closing the unseeing eyes of those two people.

So, facing the cause of all this, I had no choice but to ask.

“What on earth were you thinking, committing such an act?”

“Uh, uh…?”

Moretti belatedly came to his senses.

He seemed to finally sense that the atmosphere was unusual, and the chilling killing intent emanating from the mercenaries surrounding him.

“There must be some misunderstanding… a misunderstanding! It’s… I mean…”

He belatedly started to cobble together excuses.

But the more he did, the colder the surrounding atmosphere became.

In front of those who had already witnessed innocent blood, no satisfactory answer could have existed from the start.

Feeling the pressure tightening around his throat, Moretti added more words with growing urgency.

“Wait. Hear me out. Compensation, yes, I’ll compensate you. If you… if you let me go… one million credits! I’ll give you one million credits! Ah, no, ten million! I’ll give you ten million credits in cash right now! And I’ll never… I’ll never come near your territory again!”

It was a pathetic and desperate struggle, like a sea cucumber spewing out its innards when facing a predator.

“My… I’ll hand over all my casino operating rights too! Corporate bonds, real estate, whatever you want…!”

But I felt no sympathy for him at all.

“Can that money bring the dead back to life?”

His voice, which had been desperately spewing out one offer after another, died down as if by magic at that single sentence.

A moment of silence.

I no longer looked at him.

I simply gave my final instructions to the people standing beside me.

“Everyone, well done.”

“Please take this man away now.”

“First, make him bow his head before the victims’ families… and then, let their will decide his punishment.”

“Understood.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the bodyguards who had been waiting immediately grabbed Moretti by the hair.

“W-wait…! Wai…! Ugh…!”

The mafia godfather, who once commanded numerous subordinates and had amassed a vast fortune, was thus dragged away and disappeared into the darkness.

================

After everything had settled down.

I was looking around Moretti’s hideout for a moment.

“………”

In the hallways and rooms, the uncollected corpses of Salvatore Family members were strewn about.

If we considered cause and effect, this incident was their responsibility.

We had merely defeated the enemies who attacked us first.

But facing the scene where people had died, I didn’t feel the same sense of satisfaction as when playing a game.

War, regardless of victory or defeat, ultimately means someone gets hurt and someone loses their life.

Only a bitter taste lingered in my mouth.

“…….”

As I looked down at the corpses with a heavy heart, one of the bodyguards standing guard beside me cautiously approached.

It was Lonzo, a former fixer who was now a member of ‘Los Salvados’.

Observing my expression, he asked softly.

“Are you alright, Saintess?”

“Yes….”

I replied weakly, then suddenly flinched.

‘His injuries….’

His entire body was covered in scars that told of the fierce battle he had just fought.

His right prosthetic eye was shattered, and a couple of his fingers were missing.

My heart sank.

I struggled to compose myself and barely managed to speak.

“….. You’re injured again.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

As I reached out and touched him, a bright light momentarily enveloped him.

Soon, Lonzo carefully touched his face.

His vision restored, his fingers moving perfectly.

Confirming that all his injuries had been completely healed, he bowed his head to me in respect.

“Thank you, Saintess.”

I replied in a heavy voice.

“This is all I can do for you.”

It was true.

The ones who resolved this incident were not me, but him and the other former mercenaries.

All of ‘Los Salvados’ fought without sparing themselves.

In truth, the mafia was by no means an easy opponent.

They might have seemed to fall easily, but their total strength was immense.

The scale of their entire organization was so vast it was embarrassing to compare them to street gangs, and they had a considerable number of combat personnel stationed at their various enterprises.

If they had properly gathered their forces and attacked, we would never have been able to deal with them as easily as we did.

Therefore, the only chance was that moment when the enemy misjudged our strength.

To capitalize on that tactical advantage and end the situation as quickly as possible, Lonzo and the other former mercenaries had to fight desperately.

Even as limbs were blown off, innards spilled out, and heads were smashed.

They continuously received ‘miracles’ and rose again, perfectly healed, to strike down their enemies.

However… no matter how much their wounds healed, the pain wasn’t stopped.

Just how much pain must they have endured to fight again despite that?

“…….”

My heart grew heavier little by little.

Strictly speaking, they had endured all of it to protect me.

Every time someone was injured in battle, a stone-like guilt piled up in my heart, piece by piece.

In the first place, the ‘Church’ itself was started to gather people who would protect me, as I had no power of my own.

So there was no guarantee that something like this wouldn’t happen again.

If a crisis arose later, they would fight again.

They would bleed in my stead, and perhaps even lose their lives.

“…….”

Truthfully, I am not that good a person.

Like anyone else, I was the type of person to feel the pain of a small thorn in my own finger more than a large wound on someone else.

Therefore, for my own safety…

To return home safely, I had believed that using others didn’t matter.

However… suddenly, the gruesome corpses of the mafia members I had seen earlier came to mind.

Most of them met such a terrible end not by their own choice, but due to a single mistake made by their leaders.

That’s why it was chilling.

Because I realized that such an end could one day befall ‘Los Salvados’ who were protecting me now.

Seeing them so wounded and injured with my own eyes, my heart sank once more.

Wasn’t pushing someone else to fight in my place something that actually required tremendous resolve?

And so, a question suddenly arose in my mind.

Selling God’s name.

Using a spiritual faith I myself wasn’t sure of as bait.

Did I have the right to ask someone… to die for me?

In return for that… I even had a premonition that perhaps, in the distant future, countless people might truly suffer.

‘If such a moment truly came, could I bear all of it?’

It was then, as I stood there blankly, lost in thought.

Lonzo suddenly called out to me.

His voice was laced with concern.

“Saintess?”

“Yes?”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

When I came to my senses and looked at him, Lonzo slowly reached his hand towards my face.

As his rough hand gently wiped my eyes, I belatedly realized the tears streaking down my cheeks.

“Ah….”

I was flustered.

It was true I felt a little melancholic, but not enough to show tears.

It was just that… because my body had changed like this, my emotions weren’t well controlled.

Nevertheless, even the other bodyguards around began to look at me with worried eyes.

Even though they were the ones who had suffered horrific injuries during the battle and endured the pain.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Everyone here is used to these kinds of scratches.”

“That’s right, now, stop your tears.”

The rough-looking former mercenaries even awkwardly comforted me as if soothing a child.

“But… you all fought so hard for me, and I can’t even pay you properly.”

The money provided by the Church was pitifully low compared to what they used to earn as mercenaries.

Especially for them, compared to the fees they received when they were top-tier mercenaries… they were essentially throwing themselves into dangerous work for almost no pay.

However, at my worried words, Lonzo shook his head gently but firmly and said.

“The reason we follow you, Saintess, is absolutely not for money.”

In fact, he even added that they didn’t need a single cent of payment.

Then, as if confiding a secret to an old friend, he slowly began to tell his own story.

“The income I earned as a fixer, honestly, was enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life without working.”

“But strangely, the more money I made, the deeper the thirst I felt.”

As his story continued, the other bodyguards who were standing guard or resting nearby began to look our way one by one.

Their gazes held a strange sense of camaraderie and seriousness.

“If I had been born with a silver spoon, become the child of a corporate executive, and eventually risen to the position of a megacorp chairman, would this terrible craving have been satisfied?…”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“The lives I saw them lead didn’t seem particularly happy either.”

“It seems humans are beings who are always dissatisfied with something.”

“I pondered for a long time about the cause of that unfulfillable craving.”

“After gaining fame and rising high, and also falling to rock bottom… I truly realized.”

Lonzo paused for a moment and looked straight at me.

He continued his story, indifferent to the gazes of those around him.

“What is truly important to humans is not money.”

“When the moment came that felt like the end, the only thought that came to mind was… how truly upright and without regret my life had been.”

By then, almost everyone around was listening to our conversation.

In the heavy silence, Lonzo spoke again with emphasis.

“My vow to fight for you, Saintess, might have been from a desire to follow God’s word, or perhaps to repay even a fraction of the grace I received from you.”

Lonzo’s eyes shone with more seriousness than ever before.

“But another equally important reason is… because I believe that the path you walk, the direction of your thoughts and actions, is truly just.”

“That is why I willingly fight according to your will.”

“Because it is something I can be proud of to myself.”

He declared firmly.

“I’m not the only one.”

When Lonzo looked around, all the other bodyguards nodded with gentle smiles, as if by prior agreement.

Including the former Sicarios, the fifty members of ‘Los Salvados’ had gathered here one by one, following the small hand of goodwill I had extended to them in their despair.

Surprisingly, they believed in me more firmly than I believed in myself.

That what I do, now and in the future, will be just and right.

Therefore, it wasn’t out of a sense of debt for saving their lives, nor a desire for heaven in the afterlife, but by their own choice that they protected me and fought on my behalf.

Everyone said the same.

Faced with such almost blind trust, I, who lacked conviction, felt rather small.

Was that why?

I unconsciously muttered as if protesting.

“I… I’m not that good a person.”

“I might not be the kind of person you think I am.”

“If you expect too much… you might resent me later, thinking you were completely deceived.”

“I’m just… just about the same as everyone else….”

They were rambling, incoherent words.

I was grateful for their unwavering faith, but at the same time, perhaps I didn’t want to disappoint them by revealing my insignificant self.

After I finished speaking, a brief silence fell.

And….

“Pfft.”

Lonzo, who was closest, his shoulders seemed to shake slightly, and then a low laugh escaped him as if he couldn’t hold it back.

“Heh… Hehehe…!”

That was the beginning.

Then, suddenly, as if on cue, laughter erupted from all sides.

At first, it sounded like a few suppressed chuckles, but soon, as if contagious, everyone was laughing out loud.

It was genuine, unfeigned laughter, filled with joy.

I was completely bewildered, unable to understand why they were laughing.

Embarrassment washed over me, making my face flush.

“Wh-why is everyone laughing…?”

They offered no explanation to my question.

Only the sound of untimely, cheerful laughter filled the air for a while, as if a boisterous party had broken out.

“Why…?”

I didn’t know what to do and just stood there blankly.