episode_0007

007 – Hyde draws a perfect lot #3

Priest Manaan was born as the third son of a frontier baron and lived a faithful life.

He was not interested in the fight between brothers over the right to succeed the family, and from early on, he had his sights set on high places.

‘Now that the king has fallen, the era of nobility is over. Now the world belongs to the church.’

He received a recommendation from his hometown priest, and after sharpening his discipline at the monastery in Durgien, he was promoted to the rank of priest.

And there he met Bishop Archibald, a man who would later be called Archbishop, and was greatly influenced by him.

Priest Manaan strictly followed Archibald’s teachings and claimed to be his confidant.

After such efforts, Manaan was promoted to a priest with a bronze plaque, and with the recommendation of Archibald, he was able to take up a post as pastor at the church established in Agarpe’s territory.

‘I will become a bishop with a silver plate in this chapel of Agarpe and help Archbishop Archibald! And one day, I too will be an archbishop… !’

Priest Manaan was an arrogant and proud man.

Then, a kid from whom he didn’t even know where he came from came and started talking to him.

“If I cure Lady Agarpe’s illness within a week, you will be removed from this church. I own this church.”

It was very funny.

‘You idiot. ‘You said you could cure Psyche’s illness?’

However, Manaan has been working hard on mental and physical training for nearly 15 years.

I wasn’t stupid enough to get angry at stupid people in a place like this. Manaan spoke leisurely, wearing a mask made of dignity.

“Monk Hyde, you, a foreigner, may not know this, but the church is not something to be bought or sold. If you want to gain authority over this chapel, you have no choice but to be officially appointed by the denomination.”

“Manaan, do you think I don’t even know that? If I cure Lady Agarpe’s illness this time, I will be officially appointed as the priest in charge by the church. You will be excommunicated.”

stir.

The Cheolpae priests frowned at that story.

This is because excommunication was not something one would dare to talk about casually.

“Hey, that ignorant guy has a pierced mouth! Excommunication!”

“Let’s stop listening to this nonsense and kick it out right away!”

Iron-clad priests who roll up their hands.

Soon Manaan raised his arm and stopped them.

“We are being excommunicated? Why do you think so?”

Manaan, the priest of the Bronze Plaque, was a man specializing in preaching and debate. Since he was fighting, I decided to accept it instead of avoiding it.

Rather, it will be completely destroyed.

While I was looking at the dark-haired young man’s lips with that thought in mind, he spoke calmly.

“Romans 6:23.”

“… … .”

When Manaan beckoned, the iron priests placed a thick Bible made of parchment into Manaan’s hands. I opened the heavy Bible and searched for the ‘Book of Romans’ and found Chapter 6, Verse 23, and there it was written:

“The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life in the Savior.”

“You have sinned. There is no choice but to pay that price with death. Still, wouldn’t excommunication be better than actually dying?”

“… … .”

Manaan was confident that this wooden monk would have some knowledge of the ‘Holy Scripture’. However, the interpretation was so intuitive that it was at a beginner level.

Just when I thought there was a possibility that he was a fraud who only memorized a few verses and talked like a parrot, the iron-clad monk Gurban shouted.

“What crime have we committed, you idiot!”

“Stupid guy? Anyone who calls their brother a fool will be damned in the fire of hell. Matthew 5:22. If you get struck by lightning and die now, you are guaranteed to go to hell. This is the rule of Elohim.”

“Huh, really. What the heck-.”

Gurban, the iron-clad priest, was speechless.

The tongue of this wooden monk was so radical and extreme, but it was like the teeth of a poisonous snake that pounced at every opportunity.

‘… Are you saying you should go to hell just because you’re a fool? Was there really such a phrase?’

The Iron Plate priests now kept their mouths shut and looked at Manaan’s notice.

Manaan, the shepherd of the priests, was lost in thought.

Manaan thought of Archbishop Archibald’s healers who would soon arrive.

‘When they come to this chapel and see the chaos like now, how will they evaluate me? You may feel like you can’t deal with a single wooden monk.’

Archbishop Archibald’s evaluation of Manaan may also fall.

Manaan nodded, thinking he needed to sort things out quickly.

“Good. Monk Hyde. If you can cure Lady Psyche of her curse, I swear to Elohim that we will resign from the priesthood of this church. But the bet must be equal.”

Sze-.

Manaan raised his finger and pointed to the mouth of the wooden priest who was talking without knowing what was going on.

“If you cannot cure your illness within a week, I will pull out your tongue. Don’t mention God’s name carelessly─. This is the third commandment. You’ve been talking nonsense about God’s rules. You have to pay that price, right?”

Manaan was a priest for 15 years.

There was no way he would lose in an argument about passages from the ‘Bible’ to such a fresh-faced kid.

When Manaan looked at the young man in triumph, thinking that he had landed a blow, the young man nodded without hesitation.

“Good. I also swear to God.”

bang-!

After answering that question, the strange young monk left the chapel.

Soon, the iron-clad monk Gurban asked, rubbing his half-naked forehead.

“Ugh, that fraudster. He shows off with a few Bible verses that he barely knows by heart, even though he doesn’t have any blood on his head! But, Priest of Manaan, is it okay to bet carelessly?”

Manaan smiled leisurely at the story of the Iron Blade priest.

“There is no way such a charlatan could cure Psyche’s illness, right? Archbishop Archibald said that Lady Psyche’s illness would never be cured.”

To Manaan, Archbishop Archibald’s words were absolute.

Even if Archibald made ice with fire, Manaan could trust it.

And the Cheolpae priests who heard the story were also embarrassed.

“Yes? Lady Psyche’s illness will never be cured… !?”

“… Well, then why does His Majesty Archibald send a healer to the Agarpe domain? It won’t get better anyway… .”

Manaan remained silent instead of answering.

It wasn’t good to say too much about the Archbishop’s plans.

Instead, Priest Manaan silently prayed penance.

‘Lord, forgive my sins in your name.’

Betting carelessly is inherently a “sin.”

And the penalty for that sin was death and the punishment of eternal hellfire.

To escape from that punishment, if he simply prayed a light penance, Manaan would become a new person.

─Even if it is a person guilty of murder.

# # #

“You idiots!”

I laughed out loud as I left the church and walked down the street.

I couldn’t help but be happy because the ‘church’ came into my hands.

“Although it was old and broken… !”

My own church.

Anyone who dreams of becoming a pastor could not help but be excited. It’s an old and broken building that needs to be slowly repaired.

Rather, it was a plus factor to think that I could decorate it from scratch to my liking.

“Things are going so well that I feel like all the 5 years of stress is gone.”

Do not swear or swear carelessly.

It was the teaching of Matthew 5:22.

I was wondering what would happen if I mentioned this and said that I would not accept the bet, but Manaan, the bronze priest, easily fell for my provocation.

Of course, even if I hadn’t accepted the bet, there were about four ways to kick out these evil pseudo-priests, but I felt good that things were resolved easily.

“… Well, you think it’s a bet you can never lose, right?”

Healing Lady Psyche’s illness.

If you listen to the story of Galatea and Manaan, you will hear that no one has been able to cure Psyche’s illness until now.

Even the miraculous ‘sacred power’ was not omnipotent.

Also, in this barbaric world where people do not even wash their hands when examining people or performing surgery, it is honestly close to impossible to diagnose and cure Lady Psyche’s illness using medical knowledge.

They say that the full-fledged concept of ‘medical hygiene’ was created by Pasteur in the 19th century. This world was, at best, from the 10th to the 17th century.

“But I am different. I am a 21st century human.”

Also, through five years of experience, I was able to roughly understand what disease Lady Psyche was suffering from.

After walking the streets at a brisk pace for about an hour, a rather large mansion appeared in front of me.

The four-story mansion was built with ivory-colored bricks stacked one on top of the other, and looked more like a fortress or castle than a house.

How many rooms are there?

Is the authority of a count equal to that of a provincial governor and a military commander combined?

While I was thinking that, a security guard wearing armor made of leather and iron plates stopped me.

Cheolkeong-.

“This is the private property of the Count Agarpe family.”

For a soldier who was not a knight, he was well armed.

The pattern engraved on the blue surcoat worn over the armor is an eagle with spread wings.

I spoke confidently.

“My name is Hyde, a monk who came to treat Lady Agarpe’s illness. I heard that you can receive a wooden plaque with your waiting number written on it.”

Sze-.

I handed out my ID card and pass that I had prepared to take out. A security guard with a short brown beard looked me up and down, frowned, and asked.

“Is the person who wrote the pass the Knight of the Crusade of Heavenly Punishment, Galatea? I’ve heard that name too. Are you sure about the pass you received from her?”

It seems that Galatea, the bronze knight, was a famous person around here. Well, he was kind-hearted, talented, and had an attractive face, so he was bound to be popular.

While I was wondering why I didn’t know about such a person until he was given the stigma of ‘Rust’, someone came towards us making a clanking sound.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

He was a tall man, similar to me, with healthy tanned skin. He was an impressive man with a straight face as if measured by a ruler and short, blond hair.

What was even more impressive was that he was wearing silver plate armor, not even chain mail. It would be better to call him a real ‘knight’.

The eagle symbol was engraved on the chest of the plate armor, which was very cool. The security guard gave him a light salute and handed him a pass.

“Sir Loras. I was checking this person’s ID and pass.”

“Oh, that Galatea’s pass. I don’t think it’s a forgery. I know her sign. good. I would like permission to enter. monk… Hyde?”

Slurp-.

It was a knight looking at me with narrow eyes.

Did you say Loras?

He seems quite capable.

His expression was so confident that it was almost arrogant.

She must be at the same level of skill as the bronze-clad temple knight Galatea I met, or even higher.

Is this the knight of Agarpe?

It was indeed a count’s family.

“Follow me.”

I walked behind Loras, who was walking ahead. Loras, wearing a red cloak on his shoulders, looked as proud as a triumphal general, and the maids looking at him blushed.

“Look, it’s Lord Loras. When did you return to the territory?”

“I heard you took second place in the tournament this time? So cool!”

“Who is behind it? He looks like he’s a foreigner, but he’s as tall as Lord Loras.”

When I entered the entrance of the mansion after passing through the garden, which was in full bloom with beautiful summer flowers in many ways, my heart was pounding, my hands and feet were shaking, and I felt dizzy.

Psyche.

I’m here!