“…I’m just saying this just in case, Instructor. If you’re thinking of touching the temple, please just give up.”

    “…?”

    “Please don’t give me that ‘You can read minds too?’ look. I just know what you’re thinking since I can read your behavior patterns to some extent, Instructor.”

    “…That’s a pretty useful skill to have.”

    “Not really… Regardless, please don’t even think about touching the temple, Instructor. I’d rather see you catch the culprit and end the matter once for all. Touching the temple will only cause you trouble.”

    As if he had already decided that Lee han would storm the temple in his mind, Roen pleaded earnestly, as if telling him, ‘Be patient’.

    “I also feel a strong ‘displeasure’, ‘anger’, ‘hatred’, ‘contempt’, and ‘disgust’, towards the temple, but even so, attacking the temple is not something we should do no matter what.”

    “…Wait a second. Why do you seem to hate the temple more than I do?”

    Since ancient times, fake madness would never be able to hold a candle in front of real madness. The intense hatred that Roen showed just now was similar to the feelings Lee Han held toward mages.

    Just like he saw magic freaks as terrible monsters that must be eradicated from the world, the guy probably thought the same way for the temple.

    The only difference between Blackie and me is…

    I suppress my emotions well and try to act rationally.

    Just like now.

    “As you know, Instructor, the temple’s standing in the Southern Continent is quite high. To be exact, [Light of Brilliance]’s authority is. The priests of the temple are known as the chosen representatives of the Light of Brilliance, hence why their authority isn’t insignificant. And because of that, there are quite a few people among the commoners who’ll believe and follow their words without question.”

    “That’s something everyone knows, no? Who in the South doesn’t know that?”

    Lee Han shrugged, wondering why he was talking so long about something he already knew.

    But…

    “You know this and you’re still trying to attack the temple?”

    “…”

    “Instructor, attacking the temple is a completely different matter from attacking the Magic Tower. The reason you were able to attack the Tower without any problems until now is because you have a valid justification, power, and an unknown ‘backer’ protecting you, am I right?”

    “Y-Yeah.”

    “Now that you admit it, it’s easier to talk about it. I know it’s presumptuous, but I have to tell you this, Instructor. Even if the king is your backer, you cannot attack the temple. That’s the equivalent of turning ‘all the commoners’ against you.”

    “…”

    “That’s how strong and dangerous the power of faith that the temple—or rather, the [religion] possesses.”

    “…Ugg.”

    …Lee Han was a little surprised by two facts.

    One, this cold-hearted and shameless guy was surprisingly expressing his thoughts because he was genuinely concerned about him, and two…

    It feels like this kid already did what I was going to do.

    Of course, he didn’t have the talent to read someone’s mind just by looking at their eyes, but his gut’s feelings told him so.

    He guessed that the guy had put in quite a lot of effort on this matter in the past, or rather, in the ‘future’, and all that had gone down the drain.

    What he saw in the guy’s eyes was nothing but a look of despair.

    ….It seems like the future him clashed against the temple often.

    Are they like, mortal enemies?

    From there, he guessed that Blackie had a really, really bad relationship with the temple.

    …Anyway, he must’ve done the best he could. That’s why he’s telling me that attacking them is the worst decision I could make.

    “…Of course, I believe that you can destroy them by yourself, Instructor, but you still won’t be able to destroy the people’s faith and the hatred they’d thrown at you. No matter how well you take care of them, they’ll still worship and miss their [God], and in the end, they’ll create the second or third temple with their own hands.”

    “…”

    “Attacking the temple is a meaningless endeavor. It will only make the people direct their hatred at you.”

    “…”

    “Moreover…”

    …Their conversation continued, with the guy giving him more advice, more of his opinion, and even more of his rambling.

    Some people would probably get tired when they are being subjected to this, or even feel stressed. But Lee Han felt a completely different feeling as he listened to Blackie’s words.

    Rather than anger, what he felt was pity.

    This guy has a lot of resentment built up…

    It was the first time he had seen this guy talk so much. Perhaps it was because he had a lot of things built up in his heart, but he showed signs of developing anger disorder at such a young age.

    He must’ve suffered a lot from all those pent-up feelings.

    At least, he got it worse than me back when I was in the military…

    Lee Han guessed that the stress he was dealing with in his past life might have been nothing compared to the stress this guy was dealing with in his past life.

    …Poor guy.

    For the first time, he felt that the guy was pitiful, and so, he just silently listened to his advice.

    “…Why are you looking at me like that, Instructor?”

    However, the person receiving the gaze felt a sense of uneasiness.

    Usually, people didn’t know how they were perceived by others, but right now, the poor guy (Roen) couldn’t help but realize that in his instructor’s eyes, he might just look like a black puppy that had been soaked by rain.

    *  *  *

    In the end, Lee Han accepted his disciple’s advice.

    While he sometimes acted as his heart desires, Lee Han wasn’t a fool who’d let his emotions dictate his actions. Moreover, his special disciple gave him lengthy and logical advice, he couldn’t just ignore it.

    …Of course, if the temple crossed the line, he wouldn’t hesitate to employ the ‘kill and run’ tactics.

    I really need to seriously consider where I should emigrate to.

    He knew it’d be best not to pick a fight with the temple, but one always needed to prepare for the worst.

    However, when his thoughts reached that point, he hesitated. If it was him from half a year ago, he could have left without any regrets, but now…

    I grew attached to these guys…

    He had ended up with too many precious things.

    His people.

    Acquaintances and friends who became close to him. He even got a handful of disciples with him. As long as they were still here, in the kingdom, it would be hard for him to leave, and he couldn’t just say that he’d just run away if things went south anymore. Hence why now he put attacking the temple as an extreme measure, as well as the worst direction he could take.

    And to Lee Han’s choice…

    “You choose well, Instructor! I also believe that you should never touch the temple.”

    The gray-haired status window guy expressed his joy.

    “You too…?”

    “Of course! You don’t believe in religion, so you probably think it doesn’t matter, but other people don’t think that way. The more difficult the world is to live in, the more the people of the world rely on God. In that sense, the power of religion in this world is absolute. Touching a place that’s directly connected to religions will just give the people to throw stones at you.”

    “…Why are you talking as if you’ve actually seen it?”

    “…Well, I kinda have. I saw Young Master Roen being stoned from ‘behind the screen’.”

    “…”

    “…Do you want to know more?”

    “No…”

    Lee Han thought he could stop listening now.

    On his way home, the status window guy came out from behind a tree, as if he had been waiting for him. But he wasn’t surprised to see the guy suddenly appear, as he was already accustomed to the fact that a lot of people he knew loved to suddenly pop up like assassins. However, there was one thing bothering him about the guy even as he listened to his advice. A ‘red mark’ on a part of the guy’s body that made him tilt his head.

    Could that be…?

    “What’s wrong with your neck?”

    “Huh?”

    “Did you get bitten by a bug?”

    “Oh, this? Um, Miss Karin bit me because I didn’t tell her that I went to the empire. It’s already been a month, but seeing how she keeps biting my neck and shoulder every time she sees me, it seems like she’s still angry at me. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just… Haa…”

    “…”

    “Did I do something wrong, Instructor?”

    “You trash who’s filthier than a Gnoll.”

    “Huh?”

    “Don’t say anything, you fuck.”

    “??”

    The guy opened his eyes wide, clearly didn’t understand what was going on, but in Lee Han’s eyes, his innocent expression was rather disgusting.

    Disgusting fuck, how could you be so good at fooling people like that?

    At this point, it’s a talent.

    A talent for pretending to be a dense motherfucker.

    Lee Han wanted to beat him up more than he wanted to destroy the temple, but he knew that doing so would only make himself look ugly, so he had no choice but to suffer in silence.

    *  *  *

    “…B-By the way, Instructor, why don’t you ask Judia Pierre directly about why she met the temple officials and about the content of their talk? I-I think you could get the information out of her…”

    Derrick asked cautiously. The instructor lashed at him for some reason, but he didn’t seem to be actually angry, so he figured that he’d ask that. And fortunately for him…

    “She won’t tell me anything. That bitch is crazy. Whether I torture her, beat her, or threaten her, she’ll just endure everything or try to commit suicide. She had no regard for life at all.”

    “…”

    Derrick received the answer he wanted, but hearing it made his face stiffened.

    “No, she does have a regard for life, she just doesn’t value her own life. She lives with the mindset that if she lives, she lives, and if she dies, she dies. Disgusting and unpleasant bitch.”

    “…”

    The instructor’s face was filled with displeasure, as if he found Priest Pierre’s way of life extremely disgusting.

    “This is why those bastards who dare to use the name of God as a shield are disgusting. They think that they’ll be forgiven for anything they do as long as they hide behind their God’s name.”

    “…They’re similar to modern-day terrorist groups.”

    “A bunch of lunatics. All of them.”

    “Hmm.”

    Derrick had heard about Priest Pierre’s circumstances; how she had two personalities, [Judia], the Dream Demon, and [Pierre], the heretic Inquisitor.

    The shocking thing about it was the fact that the reason Pierre was created was due to Judia who couldn’t stand to suffer as a test subject. In other words, that personality was essentially a personality that was created to ‘pass on Judia’s pain and suffering while she’s sleeping’.

    That was why Pierre hated Judia so much. And so, in order to affirm herself as a human being, she showed a fanatic obsession towards the temple. One could say that she was pitiful, but she had too much blood on her hands for anyone to feel pity for her.

    The Dream Demon is the villainess.

    She’s a really, really vicious woman too…

    Derrick thought that she was the type of woman who fit the trope of Villainous Young Miss better than anyone else.

    “Then, how are you going to deal with it?”

    “Deal with it? Through ‘dialogue’ like normal people, of course.”

    “…”

    “Hey, what’s with that silence?”

    “…N-Nothing.”

    Derrick couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth.

    Resolving something through a dialogue…

    That’s like, impossible for him, no…?

    Of course, Derrick knew that the instructor wouldn’t just use violence for no reason.

    Judging from his appearance and his usual behavior, someone might misunderstand him as a violent person, but he was actually a kind and sensible person.

    The only problem was…

    “Miss Irene, are you interested in serving the Light of Brilliance? Though you’re the adopted daughter of the sinful Galahad, and have learned the wicked thing called magic, as long as you serve the Light, your sins will surely be washed away—”

    “-You crazy bastard!”

    ─Crack-!!

    …The people around him forced him to be violent.

    That broke all his ribs? His stomach didn’t burst out though, which means the instructor held back.

    The instructor’s perfect hectopascal kick flew towards the other guy, making ominous sounds rang out from his body. But Derrick just nodded, knowing that the instructor had shown his mercy towards the guy.

    After all, he didn’t outright kill the guy. Indeed, he was someone whose patience and mercy transcended two worlds.


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