Chapter 19
“Ugh, damn!”
Was it because I was exposed to such overwhelming bloodlust?
My feet felt glued to the ground, refusing to move. In a panic, William drew his self-defense dagger.
But what good would swinging it wildly in the air do?
—Grrrrrl.
As if mocking his pathetic display, the beast’s growl grew louder.
His ears weren’t just ringing; it felt like they were about to burst. Worse, the bloodlust made it hard to even breathe properly.
“Keuh…gh…”
Just as he clutched his throat and was about to collapse…
Swish.
Pietà, the cat who had been silently watching William writhing in pain, even dropping the dagger he’d been clutching so tightly, slowly approached him.
Her movements were so light, not even a footstep could be heard, but…
*Creeeak—!*
*Creeeak—!!*
…the space between them was filled by a bizarre sound.
The sound of something twisting, breaking, and reassembling… a horrifying noise.
Simultaneously, the bloodlust pressing down on him gradually faded.
Through his whitening vision, a single shadow came into view.
“Huh-uk!”
William gasped, choking on air as if he might faint.
The cat’s shadow… was no longer that of a cat.
Clearly, Pietà had been small enough for William to hold in one hand.
But now, what in the world was this?
Was he seeing things?
“Grrrrrl.”
A massive body, at least three times… no, a minimum of five times larger than him.
The cat he’d toyed with for fun had, in an instant, transformed into a gigantic tiger he’d never seen or heard of.
The moment its blood-soaked, crimson eyes flashed towards him—
“U—uaaaaah!”
William spun around and desperately began to run.
But his pitiful attempt to flee—
“Keu-heuk!”
“…Khek!”
—ended with a single movement from the tiger.
*CRUNCH!* A vicious sound echoed through the alley.
“Huh-uk…!”
Wracked by indescribable pain, William convulsed, making gurgling sounds. The surroundings sank into silence.
As if no one had heard this commotion.
No, as if the commotion itself had never happened.
“H-heuk, p-please, spare me!”
William begged pathetically towards the beast. By now, not just his face but even the hem of his trousers were soaked with moisture.
*Hmph.*
Pietà snorted at the sight. He treated others’ lives like flies, yet thought his own was so precious?
Moreover…
‘…How dare he.’
He dared to cast out the frail Cierra, who groaned every night from an incurable illness.
Having just seen Cierra collapse and even cough up blood while he was off his guard, Pietà’s heart was unsettled.
“Grrrrrl.”
Pietà expressed her displeasure, biting down harder on William.
“Kuuuuh!”
Ignoring his struggles, she strolled leisurely through the alley. As expected, not a single person came out.
In fact…
“Huh-uk! S-save me! Huuuk, please, please, you b*stard!”
Even when he screamed for help to the people on the street visible beyond the alley, they just went about their business.
Some did glance towards the alley, but…
“Huh? Did I mishear?”
They passed by without seeing the massive tiger or the disheveled William right before their eyes.
Ah, it was then that William finally realized.
There was no way to escape this beast.
Grrrrrl!
The beast’s roar echoed once through the quiet alley.
And when one looked again later, there was nothing there.
***
‘Ah, seriously, why isn’t the item working?’
It was too unsatisfying to let the scammer go like that, so I bought an item from Arte’s shop.
[Comfort and Convenience, Don’t Miss Out on Either – <Thousand-League Glasses>]
[Item Description: Glasses containing the ability of Clairvoyance.
Can also be used to observe a specified target.]
It even came with an additional explanation that it could record the screen, so I bought it immediately, but…
‘Huh? Wha, what? Why isn’t it working?’
Forget recording, the screen itself was just black and wouldn’t show anything.
‘Give me a refund, a refund!’
“The screen isn’t visible. No, it’s just gone.”
If Arte were here, I could at least argue about this situation, but he’d left long ago, saying he would act as my ears.
‘He didn’t sell it to me knowing it was defective, did he?’
For a brief moment, suspicion bubbled up, but I quickly dismissed it.
From what I’d experienced, the person… no, the god was really quite kind…
‘Well, he’ll probably figure it out and come back soon anyway.’
I quickly cleared my mind and set Arte aside for now.
‘Actually, dealing with this situation here is the priority first.’
I alternated my gaze between the still-unresolved situation with the elf and the Pope.
The Pope looked gloomy.
It seemed he had relied heavily on the scammer.
‘At least he’s not resenting me.’
Whether it was because I was the Saintess, or because the Pope had a gentle disposition…
Probably both, I thought, as I opened my mouth.
“Your Holiness. Please release him now.”
“But—”
“You, who receives divine revelations, know. What kind of being Lord Arte is.”
I added firmly to his hesitant form.
“Lord Arte has no need for offerings, nor does he desire anything.”
Especially if it was a being created by his own child, akin to his own offspring; that would be even more true.
“That’s ri—right, Saintess. What folly have I been…”
Fortunately, the Pope seemed to snap back to his senses at my words.
“It’s due to my lack of faith. I started believing that if we offered a being crafted by the god, Lord Arte’s power would surely grow stronger and greatly influence the continent… I ended up believing those words without realizing it…”
Perhaps he had just wanted to believe it so badly.
His recollection was filled with deep self-reproach. His expression had faded like old parchment.
It wasn’t that I was trying to cover up his mistake, but a part of me felt sorry for the Pope.
‘It seems he was completely taken in by the scammer’s words…’
Moreover, Arte could only deliver one word of divine revelation per year.
And even that was always about the Saintess, and with strange words like ‘Endure’ (‘존버’), interpreting that alone must have been exhausting.
Faced with a situation full of uncertainties and growing questions, it must have been hard to resist those sweet whispers.
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I remained silent.
Meanwhile, the Pope took out a key and unlocked the elf’s manacles.
*Click.*
The cold, restraining manacles disappeared from him.
The elf, as if he couldn’t believe it, gingerly felt his own wrists.
Seeing the relief in his eyes made my own nose sting. I bowed my head to him first.
“It’s late, but I deeply apologize for our mistake.”
“Proxy of the World Tree. Please forgive my discourtesy.”
The Pope followed with an apology as well. His voice was thick with guilt and fear.
He couldn’t help it. Elves were the beings closest to Grid, the God of Earth and Benevolence.
Especially since Grid, unlike other gods, was manifest in the form of the World Tree in the elves’ nation.
‘Would the term ‘divine punishment’ exist for no reason?’
We had Arte on our side, but remembering the conversation I had with Envy this morning, he didn’t seem very reliable…
‘Regardless, it’s true that the Pope was about to commit an unforgivable mistake.’
“A-ah, no! Please don’t apologize!”
It seemed he had been prepared to accept any responsibility, but he quickly waved his hands in refusal.
“On the contrary, I should be thanking you for saving me. I was a bit worried about actually becoming a sacrifice, but…”
As expected of a race that lived in harmony with nature, their magnanimity was as vast as the continent itself.
“Thank you, Proxy of the World Tree.”
“Please, just call me Hazel. I’m not even an elder.”
The elf, no, Hazel, scratched his cheek slightly and gave a bashful smile.
That smile showed not a single trace of resentment towards us.
While that was a relief…
‘What should we do about this situation now?’
Just because we apologized, telling him ‘You can go on your way now’ was absurd.
The ultimate responsibility lay with us.
*Sigh…*
I swallowed a sigh and subtly leaned towards the Pope.
“I think we need to send Mr. Hazel back to Luld. What do you think?”
Luld was the nation founded by the elves. It was also a forbidden land, a nation where humans couldn’t enter without an invitation.
“Y-yes. Of course, we should, but…”
“But what?”
What now, why is the Pope hesitating again?
As I looked at him with an urging gaze, he tightly shut his eyes.
“It’s just that… I only have 50 florins on hand right now.”
He even added that the money was scheduled to be withdrawn tomorrow for missionary funds.
In other words…
“You mean you don’t have a single penny to send Mr. Hazel back. No, before that, you’re completely broke?”
“Yeees…”
The Pope nodded, still keeping his eyes tightly shut.
*Ha, haha. We’re properly screwed.*
I could only let out a hollow laugh at this hopeless situation.
I thought there was nothing left that could surprise me.
But then…
***
About 20 minutes later.
“Lord Hazel, no! Head Priest Hazel! Congratulations on joining the faith!”
…How did we end up in this situation?
