Chapter 31

Ｒｅａｄ ｏｎ ＫａｔＲｅａｄｉｎ​ｇＣａｆｅ

In his childhood, Oswin was called the “Pig Prince”.

He was the child of the wealthiest family in the city, but at the same time, he had the ugliest appearance.

Eyes as small as needle holes, a flat nose with large nostrils, and dull, thick lips.

He always sweated profusely, and his face was shiny with oil.

As time went on, he grew fatter.

“Look, the Pig Prince is coming!”

“Ew, he stinks! He smells like sweat!”

Children would cover their noses and run away when they saw him.

Some children would scream or cry, saying their skin would rot if they touched him.

It wasn’t just the children who disliked him.

“Is this thing really my son? He looks like a piglet…”

When his father was drunk, he would always beat Oswin.

His mother didn’t stop him. She just stood far away and sighed.

There were no warm words or comfort.

Oswin was loved by no one.

At the age of ten, Oswin began his first act of revenge.

He stole and killed the rabbit of the child who had bullied him the most.

The child cried for days, searching for the rabbit.

Oswin felt a thrill.

‘That’s right, cry! You should feel pain too!’

From then on, Oswin began to destroy the things that the children who bullied him cherished.

Dolls, toys, and especially their pets.

“Waaah, my cat…!”

Every time the children cried and mourned, Oswin trembled with pleasure.

Oswin’s inner self was becoming more twisted.

Yet, outwardly, he always maintained a kind appearance. That way, he wouldn’t be suspected.

On weekends, he volunteered at the church, giving people the impression that he was a “good boy”.

“Oswin is really kind-hearted. His looks are a bit unfortunate, though…”

But they didn’t know.

They didn’t know that Oswin was stealing children’s pets every night.

At twenty, Oswin became a priest.

Through his volunteer work at the church, he naturally came to believe in God, and by luck, he was chosen by God and gained the ability to wield divine power.

Oswin’s divine power was perfect.

So perfect that it overshadowed his ugly appearance.

Thanks to this, the mockery about his looks completely disappeared.

At least, no one outwardly showed disgust toward him anymore.

People believed Oswin was “pure-hearted, despite his appearance.”

They thought he was chosen by God because of his pure heart and that was why he could wield such perfect divine power.

Of course, that was a mistaken belief.

Oswin’s inner self was more twisted than anyone else’s.

Oswin still found pleasure in the suffering of others.

Now, he even found pleasure in the suffering of those who didn’t bully him.

Oswin’s targets were mainly young and beautiful girls.

Having lived his entire life with an ugly appearance, Oswin had an obsession with beauty.

A twisted obsession.

He felt intense pleasure when he saw beautiful girls trembling in fear or writhing in pain.

Under the pretext of “salvation”, Oswin adopted pretty and cute girls from poor families, locked them in his mansion, and crushed their spirits.

He frightened them, starved them, beat them, and mentally broke them.

Eventually, the girls would submit and obey, and each time, Oswin felt deep satisfaction and superiority.

“…Ellie will end up like that too, hoho.”

Oswin sipped expensive wine, celebrating having Ellie in his grasp.

In truth, when he went to the Leyton territory, he hadn’t expected things to turn out this way.

He had only planned to admire Ellie’s beauty and play with her under the pretext of giving her a blessing.

But the Lord of Leyton had ignored Oswin and blasphemed against God.

His two young sons had also acted arrogantly.

So Oswin had taken Ellie, even at some risk.

Now, he was no longer the powerless Pig Prince but the respected Bishop of the Diaz Cathedral.

“You can’t just ignore me…”

From now on, Ellie would never leave this mansion.

She would writhe in fear and pain, eventually swearing obedience to Oswin.

She would follow Oswin, not the Lord of Leyton, as her father and live with him for the rest of her life.

All he had to do was report to the Papal Court that Ellie had been confirmed as a witch and eliminated.

As the bishop of the cathedral, he had full authority to judge and eliminate witches on his own.

There would be no issues.

The only slight concern was…

“The Lord of Leyton won’t just sit still.”

The Lord of Leyton would surely hold a grudge against Oswin.

After all, he would never get his precious daughter back.

Considering his formidable military power, it was a bit frightening, but surely he wouldn’t march his army all the way to this city.

That would mean starting a war, and if it was confirmed that his daughter was a witch and had been eliminated, the royal family and the Papal Court would undoubtedly side with Oswin.

“Hoho, you should’ve behaved better, Lord Leyton. Why did you provoke me and lose your precious daughter? Well, it’s a good thing for me.”

Oswin slowly rose from his seat.

He was thinking of taking Ellie to the mansion’s basement.

The basement was filled with gruesome tools for torture.

Normally, the process would involve keeping Ellie in the “all-white room” for a few days to break her spirit, but Oswin couldn’t wait any longer.

Ellie was the most beautiful among all the girls he had brought here.

Moreover, she was of noble birth.

She must have grown up being treated like a treasure in the castle.

The thought of breaking Ellie filled him with excitement to the point where his body reacted immediately.

“I’ll spoil you rotten, hehe… huh?”

Oswin tilted his head.

Through the window, he saw a girl with white hair standing in the mansion’s garden.

She wasn’t one of the girls he had adopted.

None of the girls he had adopted had such white hair.

Oswin approached the window and examined the girl closely.

“!!”

A look of shock appeared on Oswin’s face.

Upon closer inspection, the girl was incredibly beautiful.

She had perfect features, like a doll.

First-class?

No.

Grades were meaningless for this girl.

She was an angel.

An angel descended from heaven.

Oswin pressed himself against the window, breathing heavily.

“Ha… ha…”

His small eyes burned with desire.

He didn’t think about how the girl had bypassed the tight security and entered the mansion garden.

He was only consumed by the strong urge to possess her somehow.

Oswin stumbled out of his room.

He was out of breath, and sweat poured from his body, but he ran desperately.

He was afraid the girl might disappear.

By the time Oswin, dragging his heavy body, arrived in the garden—

“Ah…”

◈

The girl had knocked over a golden angel statue.

After climbing over the wall, Lucy walked through the mansion’s garden.

It was a beautifully maintained garden.

The landscaping was well-tended, and the grass was neatly trimmed.

A short while later, Lucy stopped when she saw a statue placed in front of a fountain.

An intricately carved angel statue.

Could it really be made of gold?

Lucy cautiously reached out her hand.

She wanted to touch the statue.

When she touched it, the surface of the statue was incredibly smooth and polished.

It really was made of gold.

Lucy gently pushed the statue.

Then, the statue slowly tilted and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“…”

Lucy was startled.

She had only given it a light push, but it had fallen over.

She thought she should leave quickly before anyone saw.

“Ah…”

But it was already too late.

A man was standing nearby.

A bald, fat man.

He strangely reminded her of Groose.

But his face seemed a bit uglier than Groose’s.

“Haa… haa…”

The man was sweating profusely, breathing heavily.

His gaze was fixed on Lucy.

“This… it just fell over on its own…”

Lucy said as she picked up the statue.

Fortunately, the statue was light enough for Lucy to lift on her own.

“!”

When she stood it back up, she noticed the statue’s face was dented.

It must have hit the ground when it fell.

Lucy glanced at the man, who slowly approached her.

“Ah, what a… beautiful child…”

“…”

Lucy frowned.

She had been complimented, but why did she feel so disgusted?

That probably meant…

“Bishop Oswin?”

“Y-yes… I’m Bishop Oswin… You know me…”

A smile of joy spread across Oswin’s lips.

Meanwhile, Lucy’s face turned cold.

Lucy asked him,

“Where is Ellie?”

“…Ellie?”

Only then did Oswin seem to regain his composure, his expression hardening.

“Did you come here looking for Ellie?”

“Yes.”

“Kekeheheheheh…”

Oswin let out a laugh.

“Ellie can’t leave here. She’s suspected of being a witch.”

Oswin took a step closer to Lucy.

“Now that I look at you, you also have the traits of a witch. I think I’ll need to investigate you as well…”

Oswin, breathing heavily, reached out to grab Lucy’s shoulder.

And just as his hand was about to touch her,

Swish!

A black streak flashed through the air, and Oswin’s arm floated into the air.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
He called for a witch, so he got a witch.

What a prophet!