episode_0112

After many twists and turns, I successfully brought the saint Selena to the demon sanctuary.

The existence of the demon sanctuary should never be revealed to anyone lightly.

But after the exiled saint escaped from the illegal slave market, if there was anywhere safe for her to be, it was here in Pifnel.

Since Selena couldn’t return to the Central Church anyway, and I planned to take her to Kubel, Algort would understand.

For now, I decided to let Selena rest here for a bit, and then I planned to investigate the situation in the underground waterway before returning to Kubel.

“I… I really messed up.”

Mirabel, the supervisor of the demon sanctuary, looked at me as I brought the saint and seemed to be at a loss for words.

Selena, still unaware of her situation, looked around anxiously with uncertain eyes.

“Don’t worry. There’s no one here who will harm you. First of all, your clothes are too conspicuous, so I’ll give you some new ones to change into.”

“Oh… thank you…”

Mirabel provided Selena with new clothes.

There was no reason for her to continue wearing her priestly robes.

I changed out of the clothes I had disguised myself as a slave trader and back into my original attire.

“By the way, where is Meruru?”

“Meruru is with her sister right now.”

“Ah… then I’ll go see Meruru for a moment. Please take care of Selena.”

“Got it. Oh, and I have someone checking to see if there’s any news coming from the slave market area. It would be troublesome if the culprit is identified here. Especially that man named Dorian, he’s not someone who would take this lying down.”

“Sorry for the trouble. I’ll leave her in your care.”

I left Selena with Mirabel for a moment and headed towards the inner part of the demon sanctuary where Meruru was with her sister.

It was still peaceful in the demon sanctuary, despite the grand escape show I had just put on at the slave market.

It seemed like the number of demons had increased.

Meruru was sitting inside, talking with Aruru over a table.

There was something that looked like an apple pie on a plate.

It looked rough, as if someone had made it themselves.

“Meruru! I’m back!”

Meruru confirmed that I had returned safely and waved her hand with a welcoming voice.

She then looked at me with a dazzling smile.

“Long time no see, Aruru.”

“Ugh…”

But Aruru, upon seeing me, immediately cast a shadow over her face and crossed her arms over her stomach protectively.

She still couldn’t relax her posture when she saw me.

“Is the job done? I’ve been waiting!”

“Yeah, for now. I’m going to stay here a bit longer and then head back to Kubel.”

“Meruru worked hard to help Unoah! I want to show it to my sister!”

“Yeah?”

Show what?

Meruru did help me a lot, but… I had a bad feeling.

“Please, don’t involve my family… I just want to go home…”

Meruru started to shed tears and suddenly began to act out a pitiful scene.

Aruru, seeing this, widened her eyes in surprise.

“Meruru, you don’t need to do that right now…”

“I haven’t had anything to drink for three days… I’ll do anything… just give me something to eat…”

Meruru even created her own setting to act out the role of a pitiful slave.

“What… what have you taught my sister…”

“It’s not something I taught her, it’s a natural talent. Misunderstanding.”

“What… what do you do when you’re alone with Meruru…”

Aruru narrowed her eyes and approached me, grabbing my collar.

As the atmosphere turned hostile, Meruru hurriedly restrained Aruru, who was flustered.

“Eek! Why, why are you doing this! I thought Unni would praise me!”

“You! Tell me honestly! What did this guy do to you?!”

“Yunoa is a kind person! He didn’t do anything bad!”

After that, Meruru and I went through a hard time trying to clear up the misunderstanding with Aruru, who was furious to the core.

Eventually, the misunderstanding was resolved, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Aruru’s gaze towards me had become even more guarded.

* * *

After Mirabel had someone investigate the incident at the slave market, it seemed that the situation had been roughly handled.

There had been a big fire at the slave market, but it seemed to have been somehow contained, with almost no casualties.

Upon hearing this news, I felt a mix of regret and relief.

There were plenty of scumbags at the slave market who wouldn’t even feel a thing if they burned to death.

But I didn’t want the slaves held there to suffer any more harm.

“They’re currently looking for the culprit over there. The atmosphere isn’t great, and people seem tense, so be careful.”

Mirabel warned me with a worried expression.

But from what I heard, despite their efforts to find the culprit, they seemed unable to pinpoint anyone.

It would be best to return to Kubel with the saint before they got caught.

I explained the situation to Selena, the saint who had become a slave without knowing English.

I also told her the real reason I had saved her.

When we returned to Kubel, she would need to activate the Goddess’s crystal.

After all the trouble we went through, there shouldn’t be any issues with the crystal not working.

“I still believe that you are a saint.”

“Is that so….”

To be precise, it’s not that I believe, but that I know.

Selena bowed her head with a bitter expression.

She probably knew better than anyone else.

That the hero she had chosen as the Goddess’s oracle was a trash hero of the highest order.

“The hero may be dead, but there are still things you must do as a saint. I found the Goddess’s crystal that was used to summon the first hero in the early days of the kingdom. The only person who can use it in this world is a saint like you.”

“But I’m not sure anymore.”

“I understand how you feel. But you must do it. You know better than anyone else, right? Contrary to what the world believes, you didn’t intentionally choose a ‘fake hero.’”

Saint Selena was blaming herself.

And she already seemed to have given up on a lot.

It’s true that she pointed out the trash hero.

But it wasn’t her fault.

If blame must be placed, it should be on the Goddess who pointed out the trash hero.

“For now, let’s go together.”

I told Selena.

She had no other choice.

* * *

“Whether you planned it or not, an incident occurred, so we should get a refund.”

In front of the ruins of the auction house at Pifnel Slave Market, with the collapsed pillars scattered messily, Dorian protested to the owner of the auction house.

He had paid a whopping 3,000 gold to win a slave at the auction, only to have the slave taken by a villain.

His anticipation of taking the former saint to his room for some ‘fun’ had turned into anger.

“Dorian, we are also victims. Look at the state of the market right now. It will cost quite a bit to repair this.”

“So you can’t refund my money?”

“There are rules even here. Isn’t it your fault for not keeping an eye on the slave?”

“What did you say? You little…!”

Dorian grabbed the collar of the slave market owner, Lotus.

But Lotus was not only the owner of the slave market but also had countless connections to the underworld.

Dorian may be the son of a noble, but his power pales in comparison to the power of Yangji.

It was difficult to overpower Lotus, who was known as one of the kings of the underworld, with bones as thick as those of a lotus root.

“Let go. Shouldn’t we show some courtesy to each other? If we fight with all our might, it will be Dorian who will suffer the most, right?”

“……Tsk.”

Reluctantly, Dorian released the hand that was grabbing Lotus by the collar.

It was frustrating, but his words were true.

Even Dorian, who had the power to eliminate someone he disliked without anyone knowing, found it burdensome to confront Lotus, who was practically the owner of the slave market.

He had connections with the assassination squad, bribed several people in the royal palace, and had deep ties in Yangji.

Of course, he was just the owner of the slave auction house, living like a rat in the dark underworld, but he was not someone who could simply fight based on who had higher or lower status.

“It’s regrettable that this happened, but we are dealing with it in our own way as well.”

Lotus said with a sly smile.

He had already released people and was moving to find the culprit who caused this incident in the slave market.

He had already identified a suspicious individual.

On the day of the incident, there was a slave merchant who had come to arrange a deal for the first time.

He had brought a very rare and highly marketable Suhin slave and wandered around the market.

Due to the closed nature of the market, there were not many merchants who came to trade.

And that day, the new slave merchant was the only one.

On the very day of such an incident, a new face appeared in the slave market.

Although there were not enough clues, Lotus had a hunch that the new slave merchant might be related to this incident.

“As I mentioned earlier, the market has suffered greatly as well. We will definitely find the culprit and make them pay. When that time comes, make sure to call Dorian as well. If you’re lucky, you might even find the lost slave.”

Lotus said to Dorian.

Dorian had no choice but to agree to his words.

But deep down, he cursed Lotus, who never returned a single penny.