Chapter 504
Chapter 504
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 504
Chapter Title: Junior Priest Kim Katt
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"Winia. But can you really hold out on your own? Lately, you collapse after just one go. Won't you have to come right back out after going in?"
"Hilarious, seriously. Blackie, you've gotten way too full of yourself lately."
"Then I guess we need to put you in your place quick."
"Even when I try to put Blackie in his place, I can't anymore. I end up getting the punishment instead."
He knew that full well.
"Huh. No wonder you've been so meek lately—that was the reason?"
"I don't know. Hurry up and walk."
Winia had a face beaming with excitement. She was so damn cute every time he saw her, it was driving him crazy. No helping it—as soon as they got to the inn, it was infinite thrusting time.
As they walked along, flirting like that, a familiar redheaded woman came into view up ahead.
What the hell is that bitch doing here?
"...?"
It was Lizette, the fierce-looking woman with big tits dressed in something like a red cheongsam martial arts uniform. The moment their eyes met, they both stopped in their tracks.
A brief moment of sizing each other up passed between them.
"Ahh... You're the married guy, right?"
Lizette was the first to speak.
She glanced at Winia for a second before saying that.
"Yeah, that's me. Nice to see you. Doing well? How's the Guild Master?"
Lizette hadn't changed a bit since the last time he'd seen her. But now, looking at her like this, she seemed fragile. Well, back then he'd been a move or two behind her, but not anymore.
He could clearly feel that he could win now.
Even if he stripped off the combat priest gear set under his cape and fought her bare, it'd be his victory. His sharply honed senses coldly assessed the gap between them.
"I'm doing fine, no issues. What, you happy to see me too? Sis is just living day by day. She seems kinda low-energy lately, though."
"Why's she low-energy?"
"Who knows? More importantly, your vibe's changed a bit, hasn't it? Something happen?"
Lizette narrowed her eyes, clearly sensing he'd gotten stronger. Of course, there was no reason to fight her. Above all, they'd been comrades-in-arms.
"Eh, just this and that. Anyway, how's the slum extortion racket going?"
"Fuck off, you bitch."
Lizette shook her head with a tired expression.
"Tried rebuilding it, but all the old organizations vanished completely, so it didn't work out. I mean, every crime outfit in the slums just up and disappeared? Not a single bastard left. So I gave up. Maybe later if they pop up again, but not now."
"You bitch..."
Good thing it tanked hard—would've pissed me off if it'd been going well.
Still, hearing that the slum crime syndicates had been rooted out made him feel good, like it was because of what he'd done. Doing good deeds really did bring good results.
"So, looks like I can't keep that promise to go extort together."
"That so? Too bad."
"Swing by the Martial Artists' Guild sometime. Mariel mentions you now and then."
"Oh? Yeah?"
With that, Lizette waved and brushed past him. Hmm, it'd be nice to have a chance to spar sometime. But he had no desire to go back to the Martial Artists' Guild.
If Lizette or that other woman asked to see his dick again, it'd be trouble.
"...Blackie? Who's that woman?"
As Lizette walked away, Winia looked up at him with a suspicious face.
"Ah, kinda like a comrade-in-arms. I mentioned her a few times, right? She's an advanced instructor at the Martial Artists' Guild—we got tangled up somehow."
It was the first time Winia had seen her face, but he'd told her the story several times.
"Oh, that advanced instructor? But her vibe was kinda weird."
"Weird vibe?"
"..."
Winia furrowed her brow slightly, closing her mouth with an expression like she was interrogating him as she stared at his face. Wait, no way—was she misunderstanding that there was something between him and Lizette right now?
No chance in hell, dead or alive.
"Nah, it's not like that, Winia. Just acquaintances. We've even fought tooth-and-nail twice."
"Bullshit. With tits that big, she's totally your type. Friends my ass—you're just close 'cause of the big boobs, right?"
The big tits being his type was a fact.
"I swear on my life, absolutely not, Winia."
"Whatever. Piggyback me."
Winia seemed a bit pissed after that short exchange with Lizette.
Guess when we get in, I'll have to grope her tits for a good while to cheer her up.
In the end, they headed to a nearby inn, where he soothed Winia's mood. Of course, not even five minutes in, her mood wasn't just soothed—it flew straight to the stars.
* * * The next morning, he headed to the guild with Cloude and Winia in tow.
The staff from yesterday had said to come back today, so they might be able to head out right away. He'd said goodbye to Karin and Risha before leaving.
"Serial killer, huh... Heh, Cat can't lose to that. Go get 'em, Cat?"
He had no idea what exactly she meant by "go get 'em," but Cloude smiled and pumped her fist, so he decided to psych himself up.
"I'll push myself to the absolute limit."
Anyway, Winia went to the counter, chatted with the staff, and came back with a certificate. She handed it to him and said,
"Blackie, they approved what I asked for yesterday. They've got a fast carriage ready, so we can head out whenever."
"Ooh, really?"
So they set off immediately.
The destination was a village called Ohil on the outskirts of Isvant. Just your standard rural spot living off farming and local fruit specialties—nothing special.
The serial killings had happened around that village. There were multiple missing persons too, but they were probably long dead by now.
Accidents sure do happen a lot.
But wait, didn't Korea have around 4,000 traffic accident deaths a year? More people died in accidents every year than a full regiment of soldiers, but honestly, he'd never seen anyone die while living there.
Adventurers just kept crawling into accident sites, so they ran into this stuff all the time. Whatever. They boarded the prepared fast carriage and headed for Ohil Village.
It took about a day and a half to reach the village. He could never get used to these carriages. Dragging his half-asleep body off, the harvest-season rural scenery hit him full force.
"Ugh, a serial killer case—terrifying stuff."
The coachman who parked the carriage said that as he greeted them.
Time to meet the village chief.
As usual, he asked around and made his way to the chief's house. Sure enough, the old man—who looked exactly like every other village chief—greeted them with suspicious eyes.
"...Adventurers?"
"That's right. We heard the adventurers sent to solve the case went missing, so we're here to take another crack at it. The missing ones haven't come back?"
"...No. Come inside first."
They went straight into the chief's house and listened to his complaints and frustrations. He'd paid to call adventurers, but they vanished, and now another person had died.
"It was so gruesome!! Even the soldiers were useless!"
Due to the demon incidents, soldiers had been dispatched even to this remote village, patrolling from one place to another to establish security, but the crimes didn't stop.
"Calm down. That's why we're here to solve it. Anyway, guide us to the crime scenes."
"Seeing it won't tell you anyth—"
"We won't know anything if we don't see it, so just guide us. I'm a busy man. And the lady here is a mage, so it'd be wise not to show your displeasure too obviously."
Pointing at Winia, the chief bowed his head.
"...My apologies."
From what he gathered, the chief thought the previous adventurers had just run away. Couldn't blame him for the attitude. Anyway, he was here to make money, so he didn't care about that crap.
The chief guided them right away.
The fields outside were in full harvest.
The chief should've been helping out too, but his clothes were spotless. It looked like utter peace, yet a serial killer was prowling around—what a fucking joke. As they headed to the scenes, villagers' eyes turned their way.
"A-Are those the adventurers who came back?!"
"Please! It's so scary I'm gonna die! Save us, please!"
"A serial killer showing up? This can't be real! Uwaaaah!!!!"
"We can't even go out at night! The last adventurers all ran away!"
The harvesting villagers swarmed like they'd seen saviors, begging desperately. Every one of them had terror in their eyes.
Maybe he should reassure them here.
"Heh heh heh, no worries. I'm Cat, Junior Priest of the Brass Celestial Society. I double as an adventurer. Now that I'm here, relax and get back to your work."
He flung off his cape as he spoke.
Flash!
The brass-colored trim on his combat priest breastplate reflected the light. The high-end, expensive-looking armor would instill positive feelings in the villagers. Bringing peace of mind to people was the proper way of Fusion Confucianism too.
"A p-priest?!"
"Priest...!"
The villagers' eyes went wide at the armor.
When would they have last seen gear like that?
Even he perked up just glancing at it after waking up.
"Junior Priest."
He immediately pulled out his Junior Priest certificate from his pocket and held it up. Flash! It too gleamed brass in the sunlight. Now the villagers were outright shocked, shouting.
"It's a priest!"
"Uu, uwaaaah!! The priest is here! The priest is here!!!"
"Priest! A priest from the Brass Celestial Society!!!"
"Call everyone!! Bamel! Hurry and gather them all!"
Why call people?
Glancing back, Cloude, Winia, and even the chief looked flustered. Soon, people swarmed like bees.
"Priest! Bless us, please!"
"I can't sleep from fear!"
"Save us, please!"
"Kill the serial killer, please!!!! We can't live like this in tragedy and injustice!!"
They clung to him like beggars after bread. The serial killer must've instilled real terror.
"You crazy bastards... No, that's not it. Calm down!"
His loud shout quelled their frenzy. As he tried to give a speech, a middle-aged man in a straw hat tearfully begged him.
"Priest! Please, I beg you! Hold funerals so the victims' souls can be saved!"
"Funerals?"
"They're the ones murdered by the serial killer! If a priest like you holds the rites, it'd be perfect! Please, have mercy and help us!"
I don't know how to do funerals, you bastards...!
"Priest!"
"Priest! Please!"
All the villagers burst into tears and knelt.
Fuck.
"...Fine. Lead the way."
He couldn't just walk past as a follower of Fusion Confucianism.
They were led to the village cemetery.
The victims who'd already died were all properly buried. Even the unidentified bodies were tucked away in a corner. They just wanted a famous church priest like him to help send them off peacefully.
Less a professional funeral, more about comforting their hearts.
The villagers sniffled, sending him sad looks.
"...Doesn't matter what god you believe in. Pray to the ones you follow."
His appropriately priestly words made the villagers bow their heads solemnly.
Solemn.
Damn, suddenly he was holding a funeral for the villagers.
Confessing he was a total hack priest in this gloomy mood felt off, so he put on a solemn face and chanted something prayer-like.
"Mahaprajnaparamita Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva... Cast off the pains of this world and rest in peace by the gods' side..."
In this world's religions, regular folks believed the dead went to their chosen god's side. With polytheism dominant, as long as it wasn't some killer cult, most doctrines didn't clash.
Some believed in reincarnation, others in paradise. He gave a spiel that covered those bases.
"Uuuhhuk!"
"Hic! Hans! Why'd you leave me?!"
"Euhuk!"
The cemetery turned into a sea of tears in an instant. Sorrow. Like the grief of black folks massacred under imperial whips—it permeated the air.
The serial killer had inflicted brutal pain on innocents just for his pleasure. That motherfucker—he'd make sure to hack him limb from limb. It was only right as a seeker of Fusion Confucianism and Junior Priest of the Brass Celestial Society.
The funeral wrapped up simply.
The villagers just wanted to honor the dead.
"Priest, hurray!"
"Brass Celestial Society, hurray!"
"Thank you!! Priest!!"
The villagers kept thanking him, praising his benevolence. They'd even feed him during his stay. Score—free meals.
"Even if you never see them again, overcome that sorrow and stand tall. The living must live on. Anyway, now I'd like to check the crime scenes."
"I know them all! I'll guide you!"
One villager shouted with a moved face.
Well... Holding one funeral had made them cooperative. Claiming to know everything, he'd drag the guy around today to scope out the spots. It was a profitable trade.