episode_0145

Chapter 6 Episode 1 – Unpleasant Revelation

“Mom..! Mom!!”

This voice clearly belongs to Sohee. But it was a little different from the Sohee’s voice I knew. Should I say that I have become more mature? I’m sure Sohee would have had a voice like this when she grew up.

Rather, why is Sohee looking for her mother so sadly? It feels like I’m looking for my real mother, not just an exclamation. Did something happen?

“Mom, open your eyes… . please… .”

Why are you doing this, Sohee? When you say that, it’s as if something is wrong with your mom. Of course, it is true that my mother was not in good health, but it was not serious enough to say such a thing.

‘…I see, this is a nightmare.’

It’s an unpleasant nightmare I have from time to time. The reason I have nightmares like this is probably because I am anxious about whether I will be able to return on time.

As soon as I realized it was a nightmare, the hazy fog that was blocking my eyes began to disappear. A hospital room with a familiar structure, a mother lying on the bed with her eyes closed. And Sohee is crying, holding on to her mother. The older brother looks distraught. And my sister-in-law wiping away tears next to her.

For a fiction created in a dream, it was quite realistic.

‘How can I wake up?’

I definitely remember having nightmares like this often, but I don’t remember exactly how it goes or how I wake up.

In the end, since it is a dream, it will wake up on its own if you just wait, but to be honest, I don’t want to be in a space like this anymore.

‘Will the door open?’

The door to the hospital room opened surprisingly easily. But the problem was that when I opened the door, beyond it was not a hospital hallway, but a space surrounded by pure white light.

“Ha, fuck.”

I walked along the pure white path, and eventually found a throne that was beautifully made.

“…Ha, you must be young.”

This space looks familiar. It’s bound to look familiar. Because it’s a shitty space that some pervert creates every time he invades my dreams.

I sighed and sat down on the throne. The soft texture could have been addictive, but it was only uncomfortable due to the unpleasantness of the space itself.

Afterwards, particles of light gathered in front of my eyes and soon took the shape of a person. Even if you make a fancy appearance like this, the only reaction you get is a scolding.

As soon as the light turned to Maria, my hand flew towards her cheek. Maria, hit with a loud sound, fell to the floor.

“Ha, thank you.”

Saying thank you after getting hit is a bonus.

“Ugh… .”

I’m clearly asleep, but why do I feel tired?

*

When you meet Maria, you have to beat her hard until she loosens up. As I always say, it’s not because I’m a violent person, but because it’s not easy to control my anger when I’m in this space. Maria wants to be hit in the first place.

In particular, the fact that I had a really bad time today also played a part. Therefore, the level of violence increased a little more than usual, and Maria seemed to have noticed this and looked worried.

“Zeek, what’s going on?”

“…I had a fucking nightmare.”

Maria raised her eyebrows at the word nightmare. The surprised expression soon turned into seriousness. That kind of expression doesn’t look like Maria.

“……What nightmare was it?”

“Why? Since I had a nightmare, are you going to make me have a good dream this time?”

“Zeek, I can make you have good dreams only if you want. However, apart from that, I need to know what kind of nightmare Zeke had.”

“……The monster chased me, I ran away and fell into the cliff, that’s the end.”

“Do you not want to tell me?”

I only gave it a cursory explanation, but Maria saw through my lie in an instant. Are they watching me all day to tell the expression on my face when I’m lying? It’s creepy.

“Enough about the dream, what is the business this time? Well, did you just come here because you wanted to get hit again?”

“This time, I came because I had something to ask of Zeke. I’m sorry.”

“If you apologize, don’t ask for a favor.”

“I’m sorry. I tried to do something with my own strength, but I was like an incompetent fly… . I couldn’t do anything.”

A writer named Seongmo calls himself a fly. Don’t say it, don’t say it.

“What are you asking?”

“Are you helping me!?”

“Let’s hear it first.”

To be honest, I was worried about what kind of favor that pervert would ask, but anyway, Maria is also a heroine. Since there is still 1% left until the walkthrough is completed, I have to grant that request.

At most, it’s a 1% difficulty level D event. Is there anything wrong with it?

“…I’m facing a big crisis right now.”

“What’s the crisis?”

“Life crisis… Yo.”

“Don’t hesitate, but speak clearly and in detail.”

In a life-threatening situation, was the Virgin Mary someone who could die?

“I’m sorry. Because of ‘rules’, I can’t talk about myself in my dreams. All I can tell you right now is that I am in great danger and I want Zeke to save me.”

“That bastard’s discipline, discipline, discipline.”

If you do something, you can’t do it because of the rules, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. What on earth is going on?

“Now that I think about it, you said you can’t use clairvoyance for personal purposes. Isn’t it against the rules to voyeurize on me?”

“Well, observing Zeke is… . It’s my duty.”

“What kind of obligations do you have? It’s absurd.”

If the duty is to wear it on your ears, it’s not an earring. If it’s on your nose, it’s not a nose ring. They just do whatever suits them.

“I know I’m asking too much. In fact, if all I was carrying was my life, I would have just let nature take its course. but… . I’m not supposed to die yet… . That’s why I had no choice but to ask Zeke like this.”

“……After.”

What should I do? The one who regrets it has to dig a well.

“Okay, I understand. I just need to protect you, right?”

“Yes! I will definitely repay this favor, Zeke.”

What is the reward? Even if I wanted to use my clairvoyance, they would say I couldn’t do it because of the rules.

Rather, is it just a feeling that the number of heroines who are increasingly incompetent and just giving food is increasing?

“So, where is your body?”

“Ah… . that is… .”

“No way… .”

“I’m sorry. Not only can I not tell you where I am… . To begin with, I didn’t even know where I was… .”

“No, this is not it. I don’t even know where it is, so how do I find it and how do I protect it? Search the entire land mass of this vast empire? That doesn’t make sense.”

No matter how many banshees there are, they cannot search every building within the empire. This is assuming that even this is within the empire. If you make a mistake, you may have to search not just the empire but the entire world.

Maria just lowered her head and didn’t know what to do.

“Ha. Okay, what can I expect from you?”

“Ugh… .”

In the meantime, I can’t believe you flinched because you sold a little. I’m really shocked.

“First, I need to dig into St. Mary’s Church. Anything can happen there.”

“……Be careful.”

“Is there anything I need to be careful about? It’s not like I should look for it myself.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being careful.”

Maria smiled her characteristic, embracing smile. I wasn’t sure because it was a dream, but it seemed like there was something unpleasant behind that smile.

The dream began to crumble at just the right time. I was slowly organizing what I had to do after waking up, when Maria faintly disappeared.

“Zeek. Please don’t break down.”

“Huh?”

“…No matter what truth you face.”

“What… .”

Before I could finish speaking, the dream completely collapsed.

*

*

There is “…, so… processed. next… . Director, are you listening?”

“No, I wasn’t listening.”

“I’m confident so I have nothing to say.”

The daily routine always begins with Mariela’s morning report. Most of the business is handled on the Mariela Line, so without these reports I wouldn’t know what’s going on in the bureau, so these morning reports are essential.

Of course, in situations where everyday things are the main focus, there is nothing particularly important, so most of them are erased from memory.

“Are you tired? Or is there something else that bothers you?”

“Um… . It’s something to worry about. Yeah, that worked out just fine. Mariela, you said it was your faith from birth, right?”

“Yes. My parents were believers of the Virgin Mary Church. But why is that suddenly happening?”

Mariela is a member of the Virgin Mary Church. To be precise, Mariela herself was a believer in the Virgin Mary Church from birth, as her parents were believers. Although he is not particularly devout or obsessed with the Virgin Mary, he faithfully follows the essential teachings of the Virgin Mary Church itself. Should we say that this is a positive case in which only the good parts were selected?

“Hmm. Just in case, I’m asking, do you know where the Virgin Mary is?”

To the question asked without much expectation, Mariela answered as if it were obvious.

“If it is the Virgin Mary, she is watching over me from Nazareth.”

“Ah. Well, okay. I expected you to say that.”

The Virgin Mary is in Nazareth. The entire empire knows this. The problem is that we don’t know exactly where that place called Nazareth is. Perhaps the Church of the Virgin Mary was deliberately trying to hide it, but even when searching the scriptures, there is not even a hint as to where Nazareth is.

I sighed and lay down on the sofa.

“Should we dig up St. Mary’s Church?… .”

“St. Mary’s Church? Asking about the location of the Virgin Mary… . Surely you don’t plan on making the Virgin Mary a pixie?”

“Oh, it’s sharp?”

“Are you serious? If you do something like that, St. Mary’s Church won’t stay silent… .”

“I know that.”

It is said that things have declined recently, but St. Mary’s Church is still St. Mary’s Church. The greatest religion in the empire, and the second most powerful group in the empire next to public power, with its own armed force called the Crusaders.

Kidnapping the Virgin Mary, the most important person in that group? It is no different from a declaration of war.

However, if there is a cause, the story is different.

“The Virgin Mary herself asked for it.”

“Yes?”

Mariela looked like she couldn’t understand.

“The Virgin Mary appeared in my dream and directly asked me a favor.”

“……Are you saying you received revelation from the Virgin Mary?”

“Okay. Since this is an issue that has been agreed upon with the parties involved, St. Mary’s Church will have nothing to say.”

“……The director made a revelation… ?”

With a blank expression, he continued, ‘Director, a revelation…’ Mariela mutters ‘?’

Was my revelation really that shocking?

“I, I, have never once broken the ‘rules’ in my life… . Why do I… .”

The basis of St. Mary’s Church is to maintain discipline. This does not simply mean keeping the law or morals. The Virgin Mary teaches its believers to establish their own rules and stick to them.

It is said that the Virgin Mary uses her clairvoyance to observe whether the believers are living according to the rules, and bestows a ‘miracle’ on those who follow them well. In fact, there are quite a few cases of believers receiving miracles.

Because of this uniqueness, the Church of the Virgin Mary is similar in form to Christianity, but its foundation is most similar to Buddhism.

In any case, it is natural for Mariela, who has maintained discipline throughout her life, to feel betrayed. I must have tried harder to keep discipline than anyone else, but I received a revelation because I was like a bastard who was always lying down and scratching my stomach.

However, if you find out the true nature of the Virgin Mary, you will feel a greater sense of betrayal.

“Don’t be too upset, it seems like a revelation, but in reality it’s just unpleasant. Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t meet? If you find out the true nature of Maria, you will definitely be disappointed.”

It was an attempt to comfort Mariela in his own way, but for some reason, Mariela’s expression only became more serious.