Chapter 925 – Poor Hunter, Night (7)
Isabella’s crumpled cigarette butts piled up one by one on the silver metal ashtray, and before we knew it, a huge mountain of butts was born.
-Whoop.
Cigarette smoke billowing above cherry-colored lips.
It’s been a very long time since I quit smoking, but whenever I see it, I just want to smoke one.
“He smokes a lot.”
“Did you add anything?”
I haven’t added anything, but what can I say, the saint of the world tree is wearing a sacred-looking veil. As I was smoking a cigarette so deliciously with my thighs crossed in a bad posture, I once again felt like the world had completely collapsed.
When I looked next to her, I saw Azelin sitting in a dark, poorly ventilated room, coughing dryly with an effortless expression on her face.
“Cough. Collock.”
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes… Are you okay? King Molyeong.”
It seemed like it was a little difficult to breathe, but it didn’t look like she was very uncomfortable, so from Azelin’s resigned attitude, we could tell that this poor saint smoked quite a bit on a regular basis.
-Taak.
Still, do you still have a conscience?
Snapping her fingers to purify the surrounding air, Isabella sighed as she scratched at the plastic pack of her fresh cigarettes from her breast pocket with her fingernails.
It seemed like she wouldn’t be defeated even if she competed with the ugly madam of the red-light district.
“Wow, there are so many things to be stressed about. These days, the denomination is so scary, and the old pope is in critical condition. And it’s just that it’s not known to the outside world, but in fact, Mokinism is half destroyed…”
“You’re an old Pope. Isabella!”
Azelin was startled by Isabella’s displeasure and stopped her by waving both her fists.
However, Isabella remained unfaithful and put another cigarette in her mouth. Her pretty face filled with boredom once again inhaled the hallucinogen smoke.
“Anyway, we are keeping World Tree’s remains. Don’t let the divine power and magical power you hold on to go away… There should be no disturbance around you. “You know, right?”
“I’d like to hear more about the situation of that denomination.”
If we were to call a closed group, the most powerful force was the church.
They alternated between sunny and shadowy places, engaging in vicious acts that I could not even imagine, and were not reluctant to massacre, experiment, rape, and sell them as slaves simply because the World Tree wanted them to.
It would be correct to say that the ghost story of human trafficking that has been floating around is the work of a giant world tree.
Since they were con artists, robbers, and slave traders who moved carelessly behind the scenes, I wanted to hear everything while I could communicate.
-Talk.
Azelin, who was holding my collar, looked up cutely and muttered.
“… The World Tree of Justice is purging all Church members who defy his will. People who enter monasteries often raise their families within the monastery. If even one person harbors a different mindset, everyone will be killed.”
They use such hard-line measures to deal with their own forces.
It is a coping method that can be easily found in history, but it is a reasonable prescription only when the situation and justification match well.
‘Still, the church seems to be moving forward somehow…’
In fact, isn’t this a group that should have collapsed long ago?
I would like to think so, but it is also a polytheistic religion to begin with. As all the world trees do not move in unison, it seems that each faction is divided and some spread good influence properly.
“Yes, but… Recently. The world’s trees that used to communicate with humans stopped giving oracles one by one. “Maybe.”
The tree that was trying to hold on to authority, including justice, probably withered away the other world trees.
The most effective way to silence those who go against your will is to remove their head.
There will be backlash and it will build up. No matter how loud the ants are, they are still just ants.
In fact, the forces of the moderate faction, including Isabella and Azelin, were so weakened today that they were practically in a state where they barely had breathing machines.
“Probably, the World Tree of Sacrifice is like that too…”
Azelin, now a gloomy squirrel, lowered her head and wiped away her tears.
Isabella doesn’t know, but she seems like a religious person. How could she shed such pure tears over the death of one of the world’s trees?
“Black. Why are you petting me… ? King Mokyeong… ?”
“Would you like to call me brother?”
“… Brother, yo?”
“Yes.”
“Brother…”
Damn, I like you. If there is such a thing as a purity fetish, that would be me.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
Isabella, who opened her eyes, immediately shouted at her, but my ears had already tasted the sweet and sour squirrel.
In my heart, I made a promise to myself that I would somehow absorb the forces of the moderate faction just by looking at Azelin’s cute and docile face.
Let’s go back to work. There were a lot of things I hadn’t talked about yet.
“If you think about it, Perpatua, even that saintly woman couldn’t avoid bad times.”
“Yes. I couldn’t find any evidence, but I think it was probably a trick on the part of the World Tree. Even though he was never the type of person to go like that.”
Isabella muttered, lightly chewing her lips.
“… And, unidentified brainwashing continues within the church.”
“Brainwashing?”
“Yes. It’s like a sudden curse with an unknown cause, neither method nor prognosis… He loses his reason and follows the will of the church, but at the end, he chooses to die on the battlefield or on a mission with tree roots growing in his brain.”
Brainwashing, I remember hearing something similar from Wiki or Alba.
The Pope and other major figures in the current church were all prisoners of the World Tree, losing consciousness and looking like pets.
“Yes. The old Pope and the strong Cardinal. Saints of each order, their candidates, and even small children. If you enter the church right now, you will see mesmerized zombies imitating their lives while wearing only human skin. Honestly, I don’t know anymore what the World Tree is trying to achieve. How should I express it… Their own paradise that obliterates human ego? It seems like they are aiming for something like that.”
In my opinion, the World Tree of Justice seemed to be slowly turning away from the authority and power in this world.
‘In other words, I was just wasting my time.’
If you look at the movements of other world trees, you can see that they are somehow trying to stabilize this unstable social situation and the world in chaos.
There was speculation that the World Tree of Justice was taking care of this purifying environment and was thinking of abandoning the world, including the church, at the right time.
“Many priests around me also turned their backs on me like that.”
The relatively gentle force suddenly split and differentiated due to brainwashing, and what remained were two people and a few dozen members hiding in a small village, storing the remains and waiting for the right moment.
“If the remains are revealed to the world, they will attack at no cost.”
“Don’t worry about that. Are you moving today?”
It is impossible to use space magic to move the body of Prosperity, which has divine status.
It can withstand everyday impacts without difficulty, but the problem is magic attribute. Prosperity’s body, like an egg yolk floating in water, suffers irreparable damage from even the slightest impact, so I couldn’t even dare to unseal it and move it to the altar without me.
-Nod.
After Isabella nodded and cleared the air around her once again when asked if she was doing it today, she said to Azeline:
“Mr. Deputy?”
“Yes.”
The cute flying squirrel stood up with both hands together, and as soon as he chanted a small spell, the walls on all sides were pushed aside and the room expanded.
The table with the ashtray on it was also instantly sucked down.
Several vibrations rang out as if the entire room was warping somewhere, and then a small coffin submerged in gray dirt came into view within the long wall.
“The World Tree of Prosperity wanted to leave in human form. Maybe he was trying to express something to King Mokryeong.”
Azelin spoke clearly as if making an announcement and walked toward her coffin, wrapping her divine power around her body.
-Drur.
Open tube. The body and face of the woman who self-deprecatingly called herself a country girl had the appearance of a very voluptuous and beautiful goddess, as was expected from her previous title.
“You were trying to express something to me?”
“Yes.”
Expressed to me in human form… ?
Are you saying you want to be eaten?
Isabella and Azelin’s frosty gaze caught my expression as I was thinking about not being able to do it. I cleared my throat.
“Hmm.”
“Perhaps it means that he thought about humans that much. “Isn’t this a simple sincerity without any deep meaning?”
That may have been the case, but I guess the crown really likes everything.
【… !!】
I think it’s a line crossed to think that it would be a good idea to turn the corpses of the legendary five world trees into wall-mounted toys for juniors.
What are those watermelon-shaped breasts and sow-like hips covered by that white cloth…
“It’s pretty?”
“… “No way.”
No, my taste is more like Azelin.
Realistic, slim, cute, kind, and pure, huh?
When my beloved horse chestnut and ebony grow up, they will be like that.
“What is the estimated time?”
“If we can’t do it, it will take three days. If there is too much interference, it will take four days. Because the representative has to walk while maintaining the difficult magic of divine power…”
Azelin, who was watching the world of prosperity with sad eyes, wiped away her tears and shouted bravely at Gonna.
“I’ll try my best to get there within two days!”
“Don’t overdo it. The one with more energy should work. Leave it to your brother.”
“… Yes? Oh, pa?”
Azelin tilts her head. Oh, that’s cute.
‘Anyway, in three days…’
I guess I won’t be able to see the night for a while.
I thought it would be better to attach some people and watch over them.
* * * * * * *
Lunch on the day Lee Si-heon left.
The night I waited for the guild I had formed in the dungeon where I usually worked, I received an unexpected confession and apology.
“Sonny. I’m sorry. A bonus was added to the overdue salary.”
Why did the noblemen, who were usually 30 minutes late for dinner, show up on time and receive a bonus on top of their overdue salary?
Bam felt a sense of discomfort at the sight of the old men with their faces turning pale, as if they had met King Mokryeong while walking down the street, and was handed a money bag without realizing it.
“Bonus? It’s not a bonus, it’s a fair salary that they have been stealing.”
Everyone was shocked when a woman at the window walked up to them. Judging by her name tag on her chest, she seemed to be a member of the association’s executive staff.
“The more difficult times are, the more we should help, so what on earth are we doing? Don’t think you’re unlucky. “I’m just trying to stop the association from trying to bury it as an example?”
The young woman scolded her men loudly, then continued her conversation, and then she came to Bam again and bowed her head.
It was uncomfortable at night when she was always scolded, but for some reason, she couldn’t erase the feeling of pleasure in a corner of her heart.
‘… ‘I can’t work today.’
You may know who reported it, but this is how rumors spread, and you may not be able to find anything.
I couldn’t erase the anxiety inside, but for some reason.
The association said they would find a much cleaner and safer job.
“Really?”
“Go in and rest today. The settlement amount will probably be quite a bit. There will be a lot more.”
Bam, who was about to open it, couldn’t hide his excitement and lifted his sore ankle and ran.
You don’t have connections for nothing!
On the one hand, Bam felt burdened by this favor.
‘It’s definitely that person.’
Lee Si-heon, King Mokyeong. Trying to lure you into his kingdom… A person who knows something is bad but cannot understand its true feelings.
The night he left the dungeon and sat down on a bench to count the money, he applauded in surprise at the amount, which was much more than he expected. I was disturbed by Lee Si-heon’s face that appeared in my mind, so I thought quietly under my breath.
‘… As expected, I accepted this. If you wipe your mouth completely, it will be a problem… ?’
What should I do?
Just as a token of gratitude.
Picking up a cell phone with a blacked out screen and borrowing a café’s Wi-Fi that had a poor signal, Bam silently typed the text that wasn’t working.
[Men’s gift recommendations]
Various products floating above the broken screen.
Perfume, clothes, shoes, watches, etc.
‘… ‘It’s expensive.’
The cheap ones were probably ones that belonged to Lee Si-heon, the king’s status, or Mana, and the ones that looked vaguely worthy of the name were all jaw-droppingly priced.
‘But.’
At night, I looked back at the clothes Lee Si-heon had bought me that I had kept in my drawer.
Apron… Various tableware. Hair tie. There were so many small gifts I received. Every single one of them was a burden to Bam.
‘So I said I wouldn’t accept it…’
She yelled at me for throwing it away, asking what I should do.
‘Ah.’
The night she blinked at the screen of her phone, her eyes were fixed on the clothes and hat that she thought would go well with the man she had been seeing for two weeks.
‘… ‘One million won.’
To Lee Si-heon, it’s nothing special, but at night, it’s like the sky.
However, when he turned to look at the man he didn’t know if he was his brother or uncle, he thought about a few things in his head and closed his eyes tightly.
-What is it, a gift? You? Did you like me that much?
“… “What do you say?”
A sight that makes you giggle and laugh.
Bam, who timidly covered his mouth with both hands and chuckled, stood up and looked for a store that sold clothes, feeling like he was holding groceries in his hands.
“Go when you have time… I could buy you a gift. “You’d be very surprised, right?”
I’m just giving it back because I did something for it.
At night, wearing clothes with loose stitches and holes, I thought about that and ran, moving my sore ankles hard.
“I’ll give it to you if you come in the evening.”
That night when I was busy buying clothes and secretly hiding them.
I waited with a floating heart. Lee Si-heon did not come.
