Chapter 42: Church without Missionaries (7)

Moretti, dragged away by the bodyguards, was thrown before the bereaved family of the believer who died in the attack.

I heard that he begged for his life, offering an enormous amount of compensation.

And unexpectedly, or perhaps naturally, the bereaved family eventually accepted the compensation and agreed to let Moretti live.

I didn’t want to judge their choice in any way.

Revenge wouldn’t bring back the dead, but they knew better than anyone how miserable life could be without money.

In this city, money sometimes, no, almost always, held more value than life itself.

So I had no right to comment on their decision.

However, just because an agreement was reached with the bereaved family, I had no intention of letting Moretti go free.

Compensation for the damage caused to our Church had to be settled separately.

After a certain ‘agreement’ was reached, Moretti consented to transfer a significant portion of his mafia businesses to the Church.

In return, we promised to spare his life, and he was currently detained in the church.

This measure was actually taken with more consideration for the future than for immediate compensation.

If we had killed Moretti on the spot, it might have actually given the remaining forces a reason to unite.

There was a high probability that various mafia executives, coveting the dead godfather’s position, would declare a vendetta under the pretext of revenge to become the new leader.

That’s why Moretti wasn’t killed immediately.

If he was held hostage by us, the remaining mafia forces would also find it difficult to act recklessly.

Naturally, internal opinions would be divided among those prioritizing the godfather’s safety, ambitious individuals wanting to use this opportunity to create a new order, and hardliners calling for revenge against us.

If time passed with such divided thoughts, they would inevitably fall apart.

Loyalty among criminals was mostly an illusion.

Once a leader’s authority was tarnished, even those who had pledged loyalty as if they would give their lives just yesterday would quickly turn their backs and eye the coveted empty seat.

Therefore, from the Church’s perspective, it was far safer and more efficient to keep Moretti alive and slowly, legally, receive the transfer of his assets, rather than rashly killing him and providing a pretext for large-scale revenge.

So, the former mafia godfather was scheduled to be detained here for the time being.

In a solitary cell deep underground, beneath the church floor where ‘The Saved Ones’ resided.

As for when he might see sunlight again… no one knew.

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After the Family’s attack incident, the back alleys, which had been unsettled for a few days, quickly regained stability.

Despite the sudden mafia attack, the residents’ sentiment towards the Church did not waver.

Perhaps because death and injury were so commonplace here, people paid more attention to the dramatic changes that followed the incident itself.

Eyewitness accounts of that day, greatly exaggerated, circulated throughout the streets.

“Did you hear?”

“They say the Church took down all those terrifying mafia members in just a few hours.”

“I heard they even dragged the famous ‘Godfather’ like a dog and made him apologize in front of everyone!”

“No way, that’s a lie….”

“No, it’s not!”

“I saw it!!”

“It’s true!”

The residents’ trust and support for the Church, which had been ambushed but had instead easily repelled the strong enemy, soared even higher.

Rumors spread like wildfire, and the prestige of those who believed in God grew day by day.

Now, near the church, even incompetent gangsters didn’t dare to hold their heads high.

The Church’s control over public order had become that firm.

Once the situation was somewhat organized, we began to actively utilize the various businesses transferred from Moretti.

First, we started hiring people from among the poor who were receiving support from the Church, especially those willing to work, for these businesses.

The number of people getting jobs gradually increased, and the streets saw a slow rise in people going to work instead of homeless individuals.

Of course, blindly hiring uneducated personnel was clearly inefficient to some extent.

At first glance, it seemed close to an unnecessary expenditure on labor costs.

However, they worked harder than anyone else to not waste the opportunity they had barely obtained, and it wasn’t entirely a loss either.

The newly hired residents from the poorest strata tended to spend most of their salaries immediately.

Instead of investing or saving, they used the money to purchase urgently needed food, clothing, and daily necessities for themselves and their families.

As they did so, the sales of shops near the Church naturally had to increase.

And all the stores in this area were establishments displaying the Church’s Sacred Mark.

Therefore, as their sales increased, the tithes coming into the Church also increased.

Consequently, a significant portion of the labor costs spent formed a virtuous cycle, re-entering the Church through various routes.

Due to this flow of money being sown and returned, the back-alley economy began to liven up.

Residents got jobs and could enjoy an improved life through consumption.

Thanks to this, the suburban area was gradually becoming a better place to live.

Hope, rather than despair, was more evident in people’s expressions.

“Now, children.”

“Shall we pray?”

Everyone now realized where the beginning of such change had originated.

“Thank you for today as well, Lord Radiance.”

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The church operations were now beginning to enter a stable phase.

Various tasks were systematically organized, and necessary procedures were being established one by one.

Thanks to this, there wasn’t much for me to worry about at the moment.

‘Up until now… it’s been really hectic.’

I let out a small sigh, recalling the past few breathless weeks.

Finally, at long last, I could regain some leisure.

‘How long has it been?’

I walked along a familiar path with light steps.

A hum unintentionally escaped my lips.

The place I was heading to was none other than the pizza shop, my original part-time workplace.

I had been continuously caught up in unintentionally bizarre incidents, so I couldn’t even fathom how long it had been since I last walked this route to work.

‘To be honest, with the Church’s income, I don’t need to earn my own living expenses anymore….’

Still, there was such a thing as moral obligation in human affairs.

When I first arrived in this unfamiliar city with nothing, the pizza shop owner, Jenny, had readily offered me a job without asking any questions and had consistently looked after me with a warm heart.

Thinking back now, it was a grateful memory.

So, considering her kindness, I couldn’t just abandon it as unnecessary now.

‘I should try to do it as long as I possibly can.’

Before I knew it, a familiar sign came into view.

I lightly opened the door and stepped inside.

Ding-a-ling.

With the cheerful sound of the bell, a girl bustling about inside the shop looked up with a brightened face.

“Welcome… Oh, Eve-nim!”

A girl with neatly tied brown hair.

“Eri, it’s been a while.”

Her name was Eri.

She was one of the Church’s believers who had been covering my part-time shifts for the past few weeks while I was frantically busy with church affairs.

“Thank you so much for everything, Eri.”

The girl replied with her usual energetic smile.

“I’m glad if I could be of even a little help to you, Eve-nim!”

She was truly a very kind child.

Just as Eri and I were engaged in such small talk.

A familiar, welcoming voice came from the kitchen.

“Eve!”

“You!!”

“You rascal, get over here right now!!!”

And then, before I could even react, I was caught by Jenny, who rushed out from the kitchen.

She grabbed both my cheeks with her rough hands and began to knead them like pizza dough.

“Awooo… Owner-niiim…!”

Jenny, who had been stretching my cheeks like well-ripened sticky rice cakes, finally let out a somewhat mischievous laugh, as if satisfied.

“Heh heh, this is the texture, this is it.”

“Uhuhuhu….”

Her laughing voice was a bit jarring, but I felt a corner of my heart warm at her affectionate greeting.

After being tormented like that for a while, I stepped back, cupping my tingling cheeks.

Jenny spoke first.

“How long has it been, Eve?”

“So… are your family matters resolved?”

“Huh?”

While I was just tilting my head in confusion, I saw Eri smiling shyly beside Jenny.

That bright smile.

It seemed that child had tactfully made up some story for me.

‘It’s not like the Church affairs are a huge secret, though.’

Most of the residents of 13th Street here probably already had a vague idea about the existence of the Church of Radiance and my role, so telling the truth wouldn’t cause any major problems.

But… thinking about it again, explaining it to Jenny, who knew the original me, was a bit, no, quite awkward.

How could I tell her that during just a few weeks off from my part-time job, I had suddenly established some strange religious organization?

And then, that I had pushed out the local gangs, and while I was at it, taken down a drug cartel, and even completely smashed a terrifying mafia…

Thinking about how to explain these bizarre stories made me a little dizzy.

So, I decided to prevaricate.

“Yeees… family matters are all resolved.”

Since our Church members call each other brothers and sisters, if you think about it, it’s a family matter… right?

After rationalizing it to myself, I formally apologized to her.

“I’m sorry, Jenny.”

“For suddenly taking such a long break.”

“The shop must have been busy too….”

“What’s between us? You even found me a kind and diligent substitute like Eri… It’s fine, it’s fine~.”

She waved her hand, showing her generous heart.

‘She’s truly an angel….’

I even thought that the title ‘Saintess’ might be more fitting for Jenny than for me.

After catching up like that after a long time and chatting with Eri for a bit, I familiarly changed into the staff uniform.

The smell of baking pizza, which I hadn’t smelled in a long time, felt comforting.

The usual counter spot also felt somewhat nostalgic.

It truly felt like I had returned to my daily life.

I even thought that if I went back to my lodgings after finishing my part-time job, I might actually be able to sleep soundly tonight.

Just as I was about to start working, my gaze suddenly fixed on one spot.

‘Huh?’

On one side of the shop’s glass entrance, there was a familiar symbol I hadn’t seen before.

A Sacred Mark.

It was the emblem of the Church of Radiance, something I dealt with all the time.

Noticing my gaze, Jenny, who was briefly clearing a table, smiled broadly and began to explain.

“Ah, that?”

“Listen, Eve, while you were gone… this neighborhood has undergone a truly enormous change!”

“A new group called the Church of Radiance has emerged, and you wouldn’t believe what amazing things those people accomplished this time-“

“…….”

I unconsciously avoided her gaze.