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Accidental Encounter.
The inn’s door rattled open. Those drinking on the first floor automatically turned to the woman walking in. They noted her brilliantly blue hair and eyes and her beautiful face that could make anyone gasp with admiration.
The ones admiring her quietly checked the priest of the Holy Fire’s attire and the sword she was wearing. Then, they turned their heads to their glasses. Priests weren’t the kind of people to avoid, but they didn’t need to get involved with them either.
Where drums beat, laws are silent. It was obvious that if they flirted with her or annoyed her, they would die as a group.
The woman ordered a light meal, sat down, and waited. Those sitting around her started conversing again.
“You know about that?”
“What now?”
“This is something I heard from the merchant I stopped by…”
“Don’t stall, and just tell me!”
The man waved his empty glass. His friend frowned, shouted, ‘Another beer here!’ and glared at the man.
“Happy now?”
“Heheh. Of course. Don’t be surprised to hear this. Now, the worshipers of the evil god are running rampant not only in our kingdom but also in the Eastern Dragon Kingdom, the Western Desert Kingdom, and the Northern and Southern Empires. They’ve really gone crazy!”
“Haven’t we already suffered catastrophic damage with Kelton and Eradico? This is happening only in the eastern part of the country, so I think they will soon invade our city.”
The man gulped down the beer and smiled.
“Still, it is said that our kingdom is the one with the least damage. Kelton and Eradico, someone arrived just in time, and he killed all the worshipers of the evil god.”
His friend grinned. The story had finally reached a point he knew.
“Marnak, the Great Enemy of the Evil God and the Savior of Eradico! You mean him.”
“That’s right. That’s right! People like me can have a drink comfortably because there are people like that! Long live, Marnak!”
The two clinked the glasses and drank. The man’s friend, emptying his glass, ordered another one and whispered in a low voice.
“But if Marnak comes to our city, I think we’ll need to pack our things right now. For some reason, it feels like there’s an incident wherever he goes…”
A warm meal was placed in front of the priest of Holy Fire, who quietly listened to their story.
“Marnak….”
In Kelton, he didn’t want the attention and disappeared, so she couldn’t meet him. But seeing him appear in Eradico after Kelton, the direction he was heading was somewhat similar to her own. Toward Pruina, the capital of the northern kingdom of Algor.
She hoped she ran by him on the way there.
*
We left Eradico and passed two more cities. The capital was getting closer and closer. The coldness of winter was swept away, and I realized that spring was approaching. It was still snowing all the time, though.
[Divinity: 3379]
On the way, I gathered plenty of divinity thanks to the fact that I had to clear the hordes of thieves who attacked us. Every time Mother stayed in our room in the city, she worked hard to retrieve the divinity contained in the bead, but because it wasn’t her own divinity, she hadn’t made much progress yet.
“Priest Marnak.”
While I was walking, Dachia sneakily approached me. Since we were walking all day, all we had to do was talk as much as our strength allowed. And Dachia was too curious about everything, so she always had a question ready. Especially for me.
She was asking Sajita and Carmen about this and that just now. Was it finally my turn? I replied with a smile.
“What?”
Her eyes gleamed.
“I’m not asking you to blame me for this, so I hope you don’t misunderstand. I’m just asking because I’m curious. I’m genuinely curious!”
“What kind of question are you trying to ask?”
Dachia licked her lips and asked.
“Every time Priest Marnak encounters thieves, you never leave a single one alive. Even if those people surrender and beg for their lives. Can you tell me why? I’m not blaming you.”
After her first murder in Eradico, there was no further hesitation in her killing. But that didn’t mean Dachia enjoyed murdering.
I grinned.
“Did you come to me after asking the same question of Carmen and Sajita?”
Dachia smiled shyly and nodded.
“That’s right. Walking around all day, a lot of questions pop up.”
‘Kill!’
Mother pointed out that she kept thinking of useless things because she was too comfortable. Of course, that voice couldn’t be heard by Dachia.
“Carmen said we couldn’t keep those thieves alive, saying they would certainly cause harm to the powerless civilians traveling this road. Sajita said he was killed to make him worth the money we’ll pay him but that he would try to leave them alive if I wanted. And for what reason do you kill, Priest Marnak?”
Why not show mercy to those who had given up resistance? I put my thoughts together for a moment.
“I believe in human possibility.”
“You believe in the possibility…? What does that mean? But if you believe in human possibility, you believe that even those thieves can be reborn as good people. So, shouldn’t we spare them?”
It was cute how she got excited when I only said one thing.
“As you said, I believe there is a certain possibility that these thieves will repent and lead a good life. Because people can change.”
She smiled at me but looked as if she still didn’t understand.
“But Princess. Apart from their possibility, people who have already grown up don’t change easily. Especially those who have committed a crime. Possibilities are just possibilities, and that’s why I kill them.”
She smiled playfully and kept asking questions. Dachia really enjoyed talking about these topics.
“Even though there is a possibility that they will repent?”
“Yes. And I think those who have committed wrongdoing are more likely to fall on the easy path again. The first time is always the most difficult.”
She pondered for a long time as we walked.
“But do we really have the right to judge them as we please? The gods don’t say anything to us unless it’s through an oracle. Those oracles they occasionally speak to do not talk about this kind of authority, so it’s difficult to interpret. They’re all vague.”
‘Kill!!!’
Mother said, ‘Me! I authorize Marnak to do everything he wants to!’ But, of course, her voice didn’t reach Dachia this time either. I answered her with a smile.
“I don’t kill evil thinking I’m judging them. I’m just trying to take on the responsibility.”
“Responsibility?”
“The responsibility that I will bear when the wicked I release do evil again, and the responsibility that I bear for cutting off any possibility for them to repent. I have decided to take the latter.”
After a brief pause, I continued.
“Of course, I have no right to judge them, so this indiscriminate killing may come back to me at some point, but I have decided to live this way. It was a terrible experience when a bad person I saved killed someone good.”
Sanctus died because I spared the wicked Lieberkel. That day, I buried the mutilated body of Sanctus and made up my mind. If I couldn’t take responsibility until the end, I wouldn’t leave even a single person alive, no matter the possibility of repentance. It was a perverse thought, but I decided to stay that way.
Dachia silently looked into my eyes. She then spoke very, very carefully. So that I wouldn’t get hurt.
“Can you tell me the story about that? Unless it makes you uncomfortable.”
I grinned. In the past, I was hesitant to dare to bring up the name of Sanctus, but now that I killed Lieberkel, there was no reason to hesitate.
“There’s no reason for me not to tell, but I guess I’ll have to put off telling my story until the next opportunity.”
“Yes?”
“Look over there.”
Suddenly, out of the forest, the road split into two paths. On the other side of the road, a long procession was busily moving in the same direction.
Dachia looked in the direction I pointed.
“They’re coming for us.”
Two men on horseback veered off to approach us. Carmen shouted.
“Marnak! Do you see that?”
“Yes.”
He hurried up to us.
“Since we’re going in the same direction, I think they will propose we accompany them.”
It was less noticeable because Carmen, Dachia, and I had our bone weapons sheathed, but the white bone spear that Sajita was carrying was something that really caught the eye. That large troop seemed to see us as mercenaries.
It was also not uncommon for a large-scale group of higher-ranked people to hire the mercenaries they ran into. The horses galloping through the snow stopped before us, and the man in the lead politely asked.
“Are you mercenaries?”
Dachia answered them.
“They’re all hired by me.”
The man softly smiled.
“Then, except for the young lady, all the others are mercenaries. That’s good. Don’t you all want to meet our lord? Perhaps he will make you a good offer.”
“Wait.”
“Yes.”
Dachia came back to us and asked.
“What should I do?”
Sajita opened his mouth first.
“I think it’s okay to meet him. Besides, we might be able to find valuable items in a group of that size, and even if they didn’t recommend it, we have to talk to them anyway. ”
Sajita, explaining this in a rapid-fire burst, went silent. Carmen looked at Sajita and smiled, then nodded.
“I also agree with Sajita’s opinion. Princess.”
“So do I.”
When even I agreed, Dachia nodded.
“Then let’s meet him.”
When we gladly accepted, they said we could come into the procession. They got on their horses and left first, saying they would tell Lord. Dachia watched them go.
“Should we buy a horse in the next city?”
I replied with a smile.
“I don’t know how to care for a horse in the winter.”
In fact, I just didn’t know how to take care of horses. Horses also didn’t like me as the Priest of Corruption.
Carmen, who was standing next to me, nodded.
“Me either, Princess.”
Sajita also silently nodded his head, and that sealed it. Dachia smiled.
“Me either. We’ll just have to keep walking, then.”
We cleaned away our regrets and moved quickly to join the procession.
*
The Lord, dressed in gorgeous red, welcomed us.
[Nice to meet you! Anyone we meet along the way is welcome except for thieves!]
A mechanical sound that mimicked a human voice greeted us. The man had golden metallic hair and skin. The lord, who introduced himself as Aurelius, was from a gold-mining family.
Well, it wasn’t surprising that most of the top-tier groups in the upper class were gold miners.
Aurelius greeted us warmly.
[Come on, don’t stand there blankly staring and come in! Before the food we have prepared gets cold!]