episode_0023

It was not anywhere else, but inside a temple, that a priest almost died because he got entangled in a dispute over the throne of another country.

However, it is not common for the damage suffered by a priest to be reported to the Pope.

Because the life or death of a single priest was a very light matter to the Emperor of the Holy Empire.

However, the fact that the person who reported it was ‘Bishop Haman’, the place where the incident occurred was the ‘Temple of the Labyrinth’, and that it happened at a very sensitive time had a major impact.

“This is the Deltrak Empire ignoring the Holy Empire. Don’t you think you can just sit back and do nothing? You must give them a proper warning this time.”

“Before that, there’s something important. Is that priest okay? He shouldn’t be hurt.”

“Ah! Yes, it doesn’t seem like he was seriously hurt. But the psychological shock must have been huge.”

That way, you can eat a lot, so even if there is no shock, you have to say that it exists.

“Of course, it must have been a huge shock to have experienced such a difficult situation. I’m relieved to hear that you’re safe.”

“I will make an appointment with the Deltrak Empire.”

“Hmm.”

The Pope, carrying a backpack on his back, was lost in thought.

It has not been long since the labyrinth opened.

The diplomacy of each country is being carried out closely.

In the midst of all this, an unfortunate incident occurred, and coincidentally, the victim was our church.

“I think anyone who fills their own stomach with this will be very disappointed.”

“!!”

Those who were preparing to feast on the Deltrak Empire stopped rolling their heads.

“You must negotiate with consideration of what is in His best interest and what is in the best interest of our Holy Empire’s future. Do you understand?”

“… Yes, I understand.”

During that time, the Pope was a man who never once said a word about taking money by ripping off other countries.

But the fact that he specifically told me not to think about filling my stomach meant that he was planning to use this incident as ‘propaganda’.

“When the sun was covered by dark clouds, the door to the labyrinth opened. I thought about that day for a long time and thought about it. Why did that happen? Why did the door to the labyrinth open when the sun disappeared?”

Gulp-

Everyone swallowed and became tense at the Pope’s meaningful words.

“We have to find out. What is the identity of that labyrinth? Why did He send down an oracle to tell us to block it?”

“Oh, you are right.”

“The labyrinth has just opened. Each country is checking each other and breaking through the labyrinth. This means it is a very important time.”

“Yes.”

The Pope was warning us not to be blinded by the greed before our eyes and commit a mistake.

“What’s your name?”

“Yes?”

“The priest who did something great.”

“Ah~ I am Arthur Priest. He is a priest so talented that he is the youngest to become the Chief Healer.”

“If this matter is resolved well, please give me a generous consolation money. Didn’t the priest protect the honor of our country?”

Imagine if Arthur the priest had accepted the offer because he was blinded by the money of the day.

It was a problem to get involved in another country’s imperial dispute, but wouldn’t it have been an international problem if a member of the imperial family had died within the temple?

It’s mind-boggling to even imagine how we would deal with the existence of a priest who made a dishonorable choice.

“If this incident were to become known, wouldn’t it be an example to everyone?”

“You are right. I will let everyone know about this.”

The Pope’s command was given.

Soon after, the irrational violence experienced by a senior healer in the church and the admirable spirit shown in confronting it became known to the priests.

“These days, the problem of corrupt priests is no joke, but this priest is amazing, even if I don’t know who he is.”

People who are simply amazed upon hearing about this incident.

“Of course a priest should be like this! So what’s that priest’s name?”

People who are interested in the priest who did such a thing.

“Senior healer? Where are you from? What? Neutral? Then maybe we can pull you over to our side?”

And there are even people who are trying to see if they can attract capable priests to their power.

The Holy Empire was abuzz with various reactions.

Doesn’t everyone have pride in their country in their hearts?

These days, the corruption of the priests is causing problems for the Shinto Empire.

The story of how the priest maintained his dignity even in life-threatening situations was enough to make me feel proud and warm my heart.

Yes, that’s right.

Nationalism worked here too.

◎ ◎ ◎

“Congratulations.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“Yes, I will definitely do that.”

I didn’t know things would get this big.

There was no rumor going around about Princess Kanabi’s existence.

However, the incident was reduced to the fact that I was almost seriously injured when I got caught up in the business of a noble family from the Deltrak Empire fighting over the succession.

Just that alone has earned me the attention and congratulations of many people.

The concern was for my body, and the congratulations were for the reward given to me for being a role model for everyone in the church.

‘I knew that the government was taking money from many countries, but I didn’t know they would give it this generously.’

I had enough money in my pocket to easily buy a house in any large city.

I didn’t go around bragging about how much I got paid.

Not only that, but he also received secret offers from various places to join their forces.

He declined, saying he wanted to remain neutral for now, but left it open for him to contact him if he changed his mind at any time.

I wondered why they did that, but I found out later.

The church used this incident for propaganda purposes.

‘I didn’t know that the vacancy in the Raphel area would be this serious.’

Sir Raphel, who had been taking care of me all this time, led the punitive force and entered the labyrinth.

For the first few days, the absence of Sir Rapel didn’t feel that great.

There was no problem with the temple.

However, soon after the expedition force left, rumors about what had happened to Princess Kanabi quickly spread, and chaos broke out in the temple.

Even though the number of knights guarding the temple increased thanks to Sir Raph’s intervention, it was not easy to stop all the people who came to see me.

It would have been easy to stop them if there was a rappel light, but it was a shame.

I arrived at Princess Kanabi’s hospital room, exhausted from dealing with a lot of people.

Two knights guarding the front of the hospital room.

Among them, the article that had something to do with me bowed its head toward me.

I smiled and accepted the knight’s greeting.

“Have you had lunch, sir?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What do you think, Princess?”

“I think you’re still okay.”

As the news of that day’s incident reached Princess Kanabi’s ears, she learned everything that had happened at that time.

However, a rather important part of the incident that day was missing.

The fact that the knight watched me until I was deliberately put in danger.

I concluded that only the knight and I knew.

‘I apologized even after hearing that I had already informed the temple.’

He came with a sincere apology, his expression full of worry because things would get worse.

‘He said, ‘Hate the sin but not the sinner.’

As a priest, I couldn’t be cruel to someone who repented of his mistakes.

I don’t know if it was an insincere apology, but the gentleman truly regretted and repented his actions.

I once heard many confessions from believers.

That’s why, when I listen to it, I can roughly guess whether it’s an apology that’s being told in a lie or an apology that’s being made with sincerity and remorse.

I decided to forgive the knight since I received a proper apology, and we both agreed to remain silent about what he did.

‘I never intended to talk about what the knight did in the first place.’

Telling what the article did only complicates the situation.

So I neatly cut off the matter with the article and informed him.

In a situation where I had to continue treating Princess Cannabi, there was no reason to do anything that didn’t help build rapport.

When I showed mercy first, the knight became surprisingly gentle.

Before I could open the door, the driver turned the handle and opened the door for me.

“Thank you.”

As I went inside, I confirmed that the lights were on and spoke to Princess Kanabi.

“You left the lights on.”

Usually when I come to the hospital room at this time, Princess Canabi has turned off the lights.

The reason, of course, is auditory hallucinations and illusions.

Quite some time has passed since Princess Canabi was cursed.

Judging from the fact that the curse didn’t have any effect, it seemed like they couldn’t find the monsters on the way into the labyrinth, but the problem was that the curse’s effects grew stronger as time passed.

At first, she only felt hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and pain in her left arm, but she also occasionally experienced blindness or deafness.

‘And the biggest problem is that the cycles are getting shorter.’

Although I visited frequently, I did not receive treatment every time I visited.

There were also times when I would just have a quick conversation or stay by his side while he ate and then go back.

But these days, I have to get treatment every time I come.

Otherwise Princess Canabi would have been in too much pain.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tolerable.”

When I went to the hospital room, the person who said he was fine suddenly changed to saying he was bearable.

If a patient person’s words changed, he must have been in a lot of pain.

The pain was so excruciating that I thought I would die, but since I couldn’t sleep, Princess Canabi had lost a lot of weight since I first saw her.

“Why didn’t you turn off the lights?”

“Turning off the light didn’t help. Maybe it was because the symptoms got worse, but my vision changed.”

“How long will the effects of my treatment last?”

“… About an hour and a half?”

“At that level, it’s not treatable.”

If you receive treatment, you only have 1 hour and 30 minutes to get rid of the side effects.

To that extent, it was as if my promise to do my best to prevent the curse from getting worse was not being kept at all.