Ch.6363. People Waiting for the End (4)

“Will we get new supplies today?”

“I hope some good items come in.”

We walked slowly through the village entrance, listening carefully to the residents’ conversations. There was nothing suspicious. They were simply going about their daily lives. That was what seemed so strange. No pessimism, no suffering. Yet the world my eyes beheld was filled with wounds.

“It’s too…”

“Peaceful. I was under the impression it wasn’t originally like this.”

Bishop Andre responded to Daphne’s observation in a cold voice. The villagers glanced at us occasionally before returning to their conversations. The bishop stared at them for a moment before approaching one of the residents. The villagers seemed wary of us and slowly backed away.

“What brings you here?”

A middle-aged man approached us. Like all the residents here, he wore shabby clothes and had disheveled hair. He had a rough but simple appearance, and judging by his thick arms and calloused hands, he seemed to be a fisherman.

“I’m Andre Jung from the Royal Interior Ministry. I’ve come by Her Majesty’s order to investigate the recovery progress and living conditions in the Barktins area, but…”

Bishop Andre calmly stepped forward using a false surname, but the man frowned and waved his hand dismissively.

“No need. What more do you want to know? Your people are already driving us crazy telling us to leave and go elsewhere. Don’t stir up trouble and just go back. As you can see, we’re living quite contentedly here in our own way.”

The man was taking a rather hostile stance. The bishop, not getting caught up in his attitude, kept his composure and made a calming gesture with his palm facing downward as he met the man’s eyes.

“I haven’t come to rush your departure. There might be people who need help, or supplies that need to be transported. I won’t mention the relocation issue.”

The man grimaced and shook his head. I felt another sense of dissonance at his irritable demeanor. Some villagers merely glanced in our direction, while others didn’t even bother and continued their conversations among themselves.

It was strange. This kind of reaction wouldn’t occur even in a normal village, let alone one in ruins. At the very least, if someone in the village was arguing with an official-looking person, there should be at least a few curious onlookers.

“It’s fine. Our village is doing well without any of that. We’re receiving regular supplies. There’s nothing more for you to find in this village.”

Bishop Andre seemed to be thinking the same thing as I was, as he turned away from the man and looked around. The man couldn’t hide his anxiety at the bishop’s reaction and frantically darted his eyes following the bishop’s gaze. Then, he suddenly grabbed the bishop’s hand.

“Look here, I appreciate your concern for our village, but truly, we don’t need anything. Please, just go back.”

The man’s attitude had abruptly changed from anger to a pleading tone. The bishop’s eyes flashed as the man held his hand. I saw the man’s eyes trembling. The bishop couldn’t have missed what I saw.

“Since we’ve come here by Her Majesty’s orders, we must bring back something. We’ll consider your situation, but we can’t leave without conducting any investigation.”

Otherwise…

The bishop briefly turned his head toward me and Marianne, who were disguised as soldiers. It meant that if they continued to resist and interfere with the investigation, we might have to arrest them.

“Are you really doing this?”

“There’s nothing strange about an investigation. We’re not here to harm the villagers.”

The bishop calmly retorted, suggesting the man calm down, but the man’s anxiety only intensified.

“That’s not it. That’s not what I…”

“Honey, what are you doing here?”

The man froze. His head turned with a creak. I looked at the woman approaching us. The woman, seemingly the man’s wife, gently linked arms with him and looked at us. Like him, her appearance was far from neat.

“Who are these people?”

“It’s nothing. You should go back first.”

At that moment, the bishop quickly spoke up.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Andre Jung from the Royal Interior Ministry. We’re here to investigate the affected areas. Would you mind cooperating with us?”

The man’s expression turned ashen, and the woman’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the bishop’s words. The bishop’s eyes were constantly capturing their every change.

“Oh my, you’ve come from far away. Yes, yes, I’d be happy to cooperate.”

“You! I told you to go back inside first!”

The man panicked and pushed his wife away. The woman stared blankly at her husband, but he ignored her and angrily lashed out.

“How many times do I have to tell you! Your broken leg has barely healed, you shouldn’t be walking around carelessly! Go back inside now.”

The woman blinked as she looked at the man’s hand on her shoulder. Then, placing her hand over his thick one, she whispered in an infinitely light and soft voice.

“Honey. I told you. Getting angry is all meaningless.”

The man’s eyebrows twitched. His eyes filled with terror, then quickly returned to normal. The woman gently pushed him aside and approached the bishop with a smile that reached her eyes. Wisps of hair stuck out from her round, tied-up hair.

“Interior Ministry official, how can I help you?”

Daphne’s expression was turning pale, but Bishop Andre standing before her showed no reaction and simply smiled.

“I’d like to take a look around the village. Not all of our investigation team has arrived yet, so we plan to stay in this area for a while and examine things slowly.”

“I see. Then my husband and I will guide you.”

The woman turned to the man, who couldn’t say anything and just nodded. Not only was the man’s sudden change in attitude concerning, but the woman’s overly calm demeanor was also troubling. It was as if the husband’s emotions weren’t being transmitted to her at all.

“The village seems peaceful. I was under the impression that there were many long-term patients and injured people here until recently.”

When the bishop casually asked, the woman let out a small laugh.

“Since the Saint visited once, there haven’t been many injured people. My broken leg was healed that way too.”

A dreamlike voice. The woman’s steps were very slow.

“The Saint healed our physical wounds, but she couldn’t heal our emotional wounds. This is all because of the teacher who visited our village recently…”

“Honey!!”

The man shouted so loudly it could burst eardrums. Daphne flinched in surprise, and Bishop Andre turned to look at the man. The woman turned to look at her husband and smiled. But there was no trace of laughter in her eyes.

“Oh my, I almost made a mistake. I should be guiding you around the village, but I keep talking about other things.”

“It’s alright.”

Bishop Andre nodded that it was fine, but subtly emanated a killing intent. He seemed to be analyzing the situation, piecing together what the woman had unconsciously said. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t probe further about this “teacher.”

“This building is used as a school for children…”

The woman pointed to buildings made of wooden planks one by one. The people walking the streets looked no different from those at the village entrance. They would occasionally speak to the woman, but they only cast suspicious glances at us.

“Well, that’s roughly the structure of our village.”

“Thank you for your kind guidance, ma’am.”

Back at the village entrance, the woman and man were seeing us off. After yelling at his wife once, the man hadn’t opened his mouth again and had been constantly looking around as if watching for someone. Bishop Andre glanced at the man, then raised his gaze back to the woman.

“When you visit again later, other villagers will welcome you kindly too. Everyone’s just not familiar with you…”

“I understand. Then, we’ll come again.”

Bishop Andre turned around and left, and we followed behind him. As I walked, I slightly turned my head to look at the village entrance. The woman who had guided us was still standing there in the same position, watching our backs.

‘…What is this?’

For a moment, I felt like I had made eye contact with the woman, and I had to hurriedly turn my head away. I moved my feet to the clanking sound of armor. It felt like the woman’s empty gaze was still following my back.

“We’ll need to conduct a thorough investigation tonight.”

The bishop said in a low voice. Daphne nodded beside him.

“The people… they’re strange. Looking at their expressions, they seem to have no problems…”

“The fact that there are no problems is what’s strange. With the whole village in that state.”

George also frowned, saying it was strange. Trying to erase the woman’s gaze that kept appearing in my mind, I spoke.

“Also, unlike the man at first, his wife didn’t seem to care at all about who we were.”

“Right. The man argued about eviction orders and such.”

Even without saying it out loud, we all knew that village was strange. Marianne, who had lifted her visor, exhaled expressionlessly.

“Are you okay, Marianne?”

“Yes. No problem.”

In Marianne’s eyes, the same subtle killing intent as Bishop Andre’s was gleaming. As I narrowed my brows with concern at her pale cheeks, Bishop Andre turned his head toward me.

“Still, it’s fortunate that our visit wasn’t fruitless.”

“You mean that ‘teacher’ the woman mentioned?”

The bishop nodded with a chilling smile.

“Yes… I don’t know if it’s a person or not, but that ‘teacher’ is likely one of the evil deity worshippers. Not their leader, of course…”

The bishop clenched his hands together. The veins on his hands bulged prominently.

“We need to catch him and reach the root of their organization. It’s been a while since they’ve shown themselves on such a large scale.”

The bishop’s rosary shook as he spoke. Seeming to think he had shown too much anger, he cleared his throat softly.

“If we can detect what form of worship activities they engage in at night, if we can understand how they operate. It would be easier to round them all up at once.”

The bishop rubbed his swaying rosary.

“I’m looking forward to tonight.”

==

Night.

Marianne followed behind Bishop Andre, wrapped in a camouflage cloak. The inquisitors moved more stealthily than shadows. Even walking on grass made no sound of rustling leaves, and running quickly didn’t even make the cloak flutter.

“There’s no light at all.”

The bishop said in an emotionless voice. This was the usual Bishop Andre that Marianne knew. A voice like a blade carved from icicles.

“The perfect environment for those creatures.”

The rain had stopped. But the sky hadn’t cleared. No stars, no moon—just a black curtain that stared down at them like someone’s pupil. There were no lights in the village either. No bonfires, no fires in tin cans, no lamps or lanterns. It wasn’t even midnight yet, but there was hardly any sign of people.

Bishop Andre extended his hand and signaled to the inquisitors. Like mist disappearing into the air, the inquisitors naturally dispersed and vanished into the darkness.

Marianne stood behind Bishop Andre, looking at the village. The village with no lights or signs of life looked no different from the ruins outside. The bishop took out a watch from his pocket. Five minutes to midnight. The bishop’s eyes flashed, and simultaneously, changes began in the village.

Creeeeak.

Creeeeak.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The doors of the village began to open one by one, and people started walking out. In silence, without a word. The villagers gathered like sewage flowing into a drain and began walking toward one place. A half-collapsed brewery at the very edge of the village.

The door of the brewery creaked open, and the darkness inside began to swallow the people one by one. Bishop Andre put his watch back in his pocket and looked at the brewery.

So that’s the place.

Very faintly, but distinctly sinister and ominous energy was escaping through the cracks of the brewery door like smoke.