Chapter 208
Chapter 208
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 208
Chapter Title: For Elise
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—Ooooooo!!!!
—Oo, oo!!!!
—Long live eternal life!!!!
The old woman's grotesque antics seemed to give the followers quite a thrill. Their enthusiastic cheers were the perfect response to that shocking display.
Whether they truly wanted a sight like that was another matter altogether, but hearing them spout nonsense about a "blessed one" and "eternal life" in the face of such a monstrosity made it clear these bastards deserved to be beaten to death on the spot, no questions asked.
Evil little shits!
The cancer eating away at this world!
My sense of justice was sternly urging me to split their skulls open right then and there and seize every last coin they had.
"S-Saint! I can't see! Please! Let me see too!"
"Hmm... You're drawing attention, so stop jumping around. I'll lift you up."
I glanced around, slipped my hands under Elise's armpits, and hoisted her up just a bit. Not too high, or we'd attract eyes, so I went slow and steady. With my help, Elise finally beheld the truth, and her body trembled violently.
"...!"
She must have been so horrified by the evil beings before her that she could barely contain her urge for extreme violence. If I hadn't told her earlier to prepare and hold back, she might have charged straight into the crowd.
"Elise, calm down. We have to hold back for now."
"...Could you hold me up just a little longer?"
"As long as you need."
And so, I carried Elise as we watched the rally.
"If you receive our teachings and accept our blessing, you can escape your suffering and gain a sturdy body. The state of Sister Susan right now is merely the preparation for that..."
The preacher's words were just the usual spiel: do this and that'll be good, trust us and things will get better. Dull, worthless drivel not worth my attention.
But more than anything, my eyes were glued to that old woman's bizarre form.
Like a mummy, with frantic eyes darting about. A truly eerie sight, yet she stood there utterly still, watching the rally as if she had no soul at all... Yeah, that must be what it feels like when someone starved to death comes back to life.
Even starving slum-dwellers should recoil in horror at a thing like that, right?
Ah, my arms are shaking.
Why is my Elise so heavy?
"Our poverty and weakness come from the rich hoarding all the power and oppressing us with it. How long will you endure their tyranny? Now we have power. The mighty power of eternal life."
With the doctrine spiel wrapped up, the channel switched to a hate-filled talk show railing against capitalists and imperialists. Stirring up the crowd to destroy the old order and authority.
What better temptation for the destitute?
These wicked heretics were clearly burning with a fierce desire to flip the world upside down. The undead incident was proof enough, and trying to revive the living violated international law to boot.
"The power of eternal life. The blessing of eternal life. With this alone, you can seize the strength to resist them. Accept the baptism. Embrace the blessing. And salvation will be yours."
That was the gist of it.
The doctrine was evil, the ideology impure.
But it was a bit odd that slum-dwellers were falling for such a freak show. Sure, I'd only attended this one rally, so there might be more I didn't know, but cheering like they were watching a hot stripper at the sight of that twisted-up grandma? You'd have to be an extreme deviant for that.
"Saint. You can put me down now."
"Ah, yeah."
"...Your arms were shaking a lot. Was I heavy?"
"Nah, lighter than a feather. I've just got a bit of a tremor."
"...I see."
I set Elise down, and the speaker announced they were selecting baptism candidates. The crowd went wild, and I gripped Elise's hand tight to keep from getting separated.
Her face stiff, Elise spoke up.
"Saint. I sense evil magic right now. This alien energy... I can't describe it precisely, but it's definitely evil. It's thick in the air. This irrational atmosphere seems influenced by it too."
"Evil magic, huh..."
I couldn't sense a thing.
This must be the same energy Lisha mentioned.
"And that one called Sister Susan. She's extremely ominous. There are way too many suspicious things about her... I just want to destroy it all."
"Hold back for now."
"Yes. We must."
In the meantime, I clocked the winners.
Everyone wanted baptism, but only ten were picked.
Just one old person among them; the rest were young. Guided by other priests, the lucky ones vanished behind the platform.
And with that, the rally ended.
The speaker announced the next one would be in a few days, right here, then melted into the darkness. The moment he finished, the slum-dwellers surged out with hyped-up energy.
"Let's get out of here too."
"Right."
We followed the flow outside. One slip-up and it could've turned into a crush. We climbed the long staircase and emerged into pitch-black night.
Late hour.
Took longer than I thought.
"Shall we head back? Nothing more to see here."
"Indeed. We'll call it here for today."
Chilled air. Dark alleys. A few spots with fires flickering, but rare. No lit buildings—just most folks wrapped in straw mats, sleeping wherever.
All they've got is their lives.
What the hell are they exploiting from them?
"Saint. Their goal seems to be using that 'baptism' they mentioned to turn people into grotesque freaks like that heretic Susan."
"What's in it for them?"
"No idea. The wicked think in ways we can't follow."
Freakish faith lurking in back alleys. Slum-dwellers flocking to it. Promises of eternal life yielding horrific forms, priests looking just like those cultists in the sewers.
God, I hope it's something profitable.
Didn't spot any money-makers earlier.
I left the slums with Elise.
I overtook her as she tried to bow.
"Let's go. I'll walk you back."
"No need... I can go alone."
"You say you can, but am I gonna let you? If it was Krasheim, maybe, but this is just to your inn nearby. Least I can do."
"..."
Come to think of it, this was the first time walking alone with her at night since smashing the kobold shrine. Stretch it a bit, and we even shared a blanket back then.
"Elise. Meet at the guild front tomorrow morning too?"
"...Yes. That sounds good."
We walked and chatted about what time tomorrow.
"Sunrise it is then. Here we are."
"..."
Elise's inn came into view.
Near the Adventurer's Guild.
"See you tomorrow, Saint. Rest well."
She stopped and bowed.
"Yeah, you too. Catch you tomorrow, my divine friend."
"Hee-hee. Divine friend, is it?"
"Brother too."
"Brother... Thanks for today then."
I watched her go in, then turned away.
Truth be told, walking her back was because thinking of heading to the inn alone gave me a bad feeling. I could already picture Winia bitching about me being late, no matter the excuse.
"Goddamn it."
I was working!
Don't get mad!
Muttering prayers like that, I trudged back to the inn. Moon said it was around dawn. Please let Winia be asleep. Heart pounding, I cracked the door and peeked in.
—Creeeak.
"I-I'm back... You asleep?"
The room was pitch dark.
Good. Both already...
—Fwoosh!
"Whoa!"
Suddenly, light flared up.
Startled, I threw up my arms over my eyes.
"Our little darky."
"W-Winia?"
"Do you. Fucking. Know. What time it is?"
"Uh, dinner time? Did my Winia eat? L-Looking prettier in the night light. Didja wake up?"
She was in her usual sleep set: a luxurious red lace lingerie ensemble... Tired Winia meant extra cranky.
"What?"
Arms crossed at my lame deflection, Winia glared daggers, looking seriously pissed. Her massive tits hid her forearms entirely, utterly seductive, but I just gave an awkward grin and looked away.
"Katt, you're back? You're super late."
Cloudy rubbed her eyes awake.
"Y-Yeah... Work dragged on."
"Till now? Our Katt worked hard. C'mere."
"C'mere what? Sis, know what time it is?"
"Mm, no clue?"
"It's dawn. Dawn."
"He said work ran late. What can ya do? Drop it and get up here. Katt, come on. I'll hug you."
Cloudy was sweet, but Winia was fuming. I stripped in the corner, eyeing them warily, when Winia grabbed her staff and approached.
"H-Hey! What! Why grab that!"
"I told our little darky not to stay out late, didn't I?"
—Whoosh!
The staff whipped like a lash—way beyond my dodge. Naturally, the hook caught my neck. —Gack, urk?! Winia yanked, and I toppled forward!
"G-Guh! Cloudy! Stop Winia!"
"Mm... What to do?"
I wailed for Cloudy.
No, I was working! This ain't right!
"Stop what? You fucking darky! On your knees now!"
"Eek! Ack! Winia! Sorry! Work finished late! Couldn't help it! Wanted to come back early too!"
"You think that excuse flies with me? Huh? Know how long I waited?!"
Winia shrieked, gripping my nape.
"But what can I do if work runs late?!"
"Raising your voice now?"
"Th-This ain't raising my voice. Just saying..."
In agony, Cloudy got off the bed and hugged Winia from behind.
"Winia, enough. Let him go. Katt worked hard too. Can't even praise him for it?"
"No, sis. If you let it slide here, he'll wander again."
"How much wandering does Katt even do?"
"Still..."
"Give Katt some pride?"
Even Cloudy faltered against Winia.
Repeated violence.
Henpecked husband life.
I steeled myself and stood.
"You're right, Winia."
"Huh?"
—Pop!
I slipped the staff off my neck and struck a director's fist art stance.
"Honestly, now that I handle mana and I'm fucking strong as hell, I can't keep living with my pride shredded like this. Winia, time to treat me nice... My power can't be stopped! So no kneeling! Apologize to me!"
I couldn't take it anymore.
With power in hand, I needed to reassert my authority and make Winia submit...! I said it with all the gravitas I could muster.
It worked? Winia stared blankly.
—Pfft.
"Our little darky thinks that piss-poor mana lets him mouth off to me?"
Pfft. She smirked like I was pathetically beneath contempt, then suddenly unhooked her bra, baring her breasts. Her elastic mega-boobs bounced free from the cups.
"Suck some tit, darky."
With a little-devil grin, Winia said.
"...?"
"You think I wait for that and you'll be late? C'mere."
"Y-Yes'm."
I shuffled close, and she pulled me into a hug.
"Why're you so damn cute, darky? That tough-guy act was adorable."
My director's fist art and protests were cute?
"So I'll forgive you♡ Worked till night? Good job today?"
"Wh-What is this attitude switch..."
Winia was utterly unpredictable.
We climbed into bed, and she gave me a lap pillow. I couldn't keep up with her ice-to-fire flip, but sucking her nipple like a baby as she wanted melted away all my worldly worries.
"Ahh, aaah... Our darky sucks so good."
What could Cloudy do but watch?
"Katt, tough day?"
"Yeah."
"Need comforting?"
She mounted me smoothly, her lower mouth engulfing my stiff cock, and started a slow cowgirl ride.
...Life's worth living.
Sucking Winia's tits, feeling Cloudy's inner walls.
Shit, who wants to work after this?