episode_0129

“Hmm, giving 2 silver to one person…”

Inside a small yet splendid temple, a middle-aged woman chuckled softly. Beside her, a kindly-looking old man smiled compassionately and spoke.

“Poor little lambs have found their way to the light here.”

Despite the compassionate expression, the old man’s eyes gleamed with deep greed. The chief guard sitting across from them brushed his long beard under his chin and spoke.

“They look like lucky villagers who have firmly grasped their share… How about showing mercy and letting them settle here?”

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

“Hoho, if we don’t help, who else will? Let’s consider this as the will of God and take care of them with all our hearts.”

Though the stained glass poured colorful light onto the sacred temple floor, the conversations within were dirty and repugnant.

The statue resembling the form of God, created by humans, looked down upon them with a mineral gaze. While the wrath of God could be terrifying, they showed no fear.

Because they did not consider what they were doing as sinful.

For the guards, extracting from the weak was necessary violence since some of the money was used to maintain the temple.

The middle-aged female priest kidnapping virgins to draw blood and shower every night was not out of youthful desire but an unavoidable pain to ensure the longevity of the temple.

The elderly caretaker taking orphanage children to the underground chamber under the pretext of sending them to the temple in exchange for a meal was not for indulging in flesh but to show mercy so the orphaned children would not suffer from hunger and could return to God’s embrace.

They believed that escaping punishment was evidence that what they had done was not a sin, and the faint trace of holiness remaining on their bodies was proof of their passage to heaven.

“Oh, is this the temple?”

To them, the one sent by God had arrived.

With white hair shining with curiosity, eyes sparkling like gold, skin as pale as porcelain but as white as moonlight. Delicately curved eyes and a gentle smile, the divine seal engraved on the back of the hand resembled a real-life depiction of a “saint” from a fairy tale.

“I guess the statues here don’t move, do they?”

Considering the abilities he possessed, terms like “Divine Retribution” or “God-sent Executioner” might be more fitting, but no one in this place knew that.

“Well then, I’ll go in now…”

“Huh?!”

As the three engaged in a meaningful conversation for the temple, they encountered Lian walking out from the inside.

The guard, captivated by Lian’s unforgettable beauty, thought, “She’ll fetch a high price,” while the middle-aged woman twisted her body with a remembered face.

The caretaker just chuckled and thought, “Looking at her face, she must be quite fertile.” Following such thoughts, he continued with disturbing musings like, “It’s good to have many children, they are so tender…” However, only the kind grandfatherly appearance was visible on the surface.

“Oh, hello!”

Due to the atmosphere of the temple, Lian naturally assumed that the three people she met were “good people.” Each having different reasons to like Lian, they smiled and engaged in light conversation.

“Well then, I’ll go first.”

After some casual conversation, the chief guard left the temple to fleece merchants. Subsequently, the middle-aged woman spoke softly.

“I’ll guide you through the temple since you’ve come this far.”

“Ah… No, it’s fine. I was just a little curious…”

Ryan, for some reason, sensed the scent of a middle-aged woman dressed as a man in front of him. For some unknown reason, it felt eerie, making his hair stand on end.

As she forcibly maintained her youth through dreadful acts, the age of the middle-aged woman seemed to surpass imagination. It was even more than the elderly person beside her.

Men in the comedy world instinctively reject women who hide their age with disguises, cross-dressing men who have no intention of hiding their masculinity, and others, regardless of the laws of the comedy world. It was the power of genes left by ancestors who had seen many dreadful things for their descendants.

For these reasons, Ryan subtly avoided the middle-aged woman.

“Oh, please take a look around before you go.”

As the middle-aged woman stuck clingingly to Ryan’s arm and uttered words that made his skin crawl, Ryan’s face turned pale as if a cockroach had fallen on his forearm.

“Oppa!”

“…! Oh, Iris, I’ll be right there! I’m sorry, but my companions are waiting for me! Well then, goodbye!”

Ryan quickly pushed the woman away and ran towards Iris standing at the entrance of the temple.

“What were you doing here?”

“Oh, I was admiring the temple because it’s fascinating.”

Influenced by the comedy filter, the middle-aged woman froze in an awkward posture as if embracing the air, then blushed and stiffly turned away.

Emphasizing her femininity, she tried to run towards Ryan and Iris after flicking her hair behind her ear, but at that moment, unlike Ryan’s warmth, she felt nothing but coldness.

“…!”

Caught in the fierce gaze directed at a filthy fly clinging to her older brother, the middle-aged woman could only stare at the two of them helplessly in a confused and awkward position.

Due to Iris’s intense gaze, she involuntarily shivered, her eyes inadvertently avoiding the harshness.

“Sister, what were you doing with that… woman?”

“…..!?”

Oh, oh, woman?!

To a woman who could strip even a child’s skin for the sake of her appearance, the word “woman” was nothing short of taboo.

Given her exceptional looks from birth and her current age when her appearance was at its peak, when Iris spat out those words, her sense of inferiority exploded.

“That darn wench!”

However, she couldn’t curse aloud. Iris’s aura was too intimidating. Instead, she sneaked a glance at Iris, pursed her lips, and thought to herself.

“She seems like a virgin. If she has such exceptional looks, she could regain ten years of youth!”

Imagining Iris with tears and snot dirtying her pretty face while clinging to her legs, she smirked unpleasantly. If Iris had seen her expression, it was a smile so filthy that it would have driven her to raise her fist in anger.

Iris quickly left the temple, trying to pull her brother away from the unpleasant woman’s gaze. As a result, the dirty woman’s smile continued for another minute.

The elderly man walked past the smiling middle-aged woman and made his way to the temple entrance.

He saw children he had never seen in the village walking with snacks in hand, laughing joyfully. Unconsciously, the old man licked his lips.

“There seem to be quite a few of them, so tasting one wouldn’t hurt.”

If several children go missing, they would have to search frantically even if just one child is not visible. This means that the group would have to stay in this village for a few more days.

There was a need to tie down the feet of the group, so putting one child on the dinner table was an unavoidable task.

“How much suffering must they have endured?”

The old man smiled brightly at the children and pursed his lips. It seemed like there was a bitter taste of blood and a tender meaty flavor on the tip of his tongue.

“If God has chosen me, we can all go to heaven together. So don’t worry.”

If my blood and flesh become theirs, those children will surely be able to go to heaven together!

When the old man bought his position as a substitute official with money, he had some awareness that he was committing a sin, but now, not even that remained, firmly believing that it was a sincere choice for the children.

Lian’s goal is to protect his precious group. This means that the three people who want the young children, virgins, and commercially valuable slaves in the group are recognized as Lian’s ‘enemies.’

Once beings who should not be turned into enemies were turned into enemies, their fate was inevitably sealed.

***

“There are quite a few pretty ones here. Maybe I can take care of one or two…”

The chief of security chuckled as he peeked out the window at the group walking around. His gaze skimmed past Lilly stickily.

“…!”

Nero, with a keen sense, noticed the lecherous gaze scanning his woman and quickly looked around, but due to the chief of security’s quick shift in gaze, he did not notice.

“There seems to be someone skilled here. I should be careful.”