Chapter 35
Chapter 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: 8. The Lord Watches Over Everything. (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The night before, on the very day that horrific incident took place. Lisa looked down at the woman convulsing on the ground right in front of her, struck by a holy arrow, her expression utterly devoid of emotion. Even after watching everything unfold from afar, she still found the whole situation utterly bewildering.
Isaiah the priest was always sharp and decisive when it mattered, even if his usual behavior was a bit sloppy. But when he failed to return even late into the night, she couldn't help feeling anxious while handling paperwork in her office. That's why, despite it being well past the time she should have been asleep, she had led the parishioners in scouring every corner of the village in search of him.
It must have been when she returned to the church, her soul seemingly drifting out of her body, convinced they would never find him.
"Aaaagh!"
A piercing scream suddenly echoed from somewhere nearby. Hoping against hope, she rushed toward it—and that was how she witnessed Isaiah the priest trembling violently, caught in the grip of a woman.
Joy at finally finding him was quickly doused like cold water over her head when she saw the danger he was in. Her momentarily frozen mind spun back into motion, and without a shred of hesitation, she nocked an arrow conjured from her divine power.
Pfuk—
The arrow lodged straight into the woman's forehead.
Struck by the lightning piercing her brain, the woman shuddered violently. Moments later, Isaiah the priest, who had locked eyes with her, collapsed forward onto the ground.
After somehow rescuing Isaiah from the clutches of that vagrant, she let out a sigh she'd been holding back and glared at the woman still twitching in convulsions.
She had no idea who the woman was, but one thing was crystal clear: this bitch was the ringleader, and she'd dared to lay hands on her property. Her eyes darted around for something sharp to finish the job, and when Bishop Lisa spotted a small dagger on the ground, she gripped it tightly and picked it up.
Aiming the blade at the woman's throat, she slashed without a moment's hesitation. The wretch clutched at her neck, foaming at the mouth as she begged for mercy, but it didn't last long. With a final death rattle, she went limp, eyes rolled back in her head.
"P-Priest!"
The parishioners arrived late to the scene and rushed over in a panic upon seeing Isaiah collapsed on the ground. Lisa ignored them and thoroughly examined his prone body first. Her face gradually hardened into a stiff mask.
'Fuck... what the hell did they do to him...'
There wasn't a single inch of him from head to toe that was unscathed. Everything was mottled with bruises, so regardless of the circumstances, he desperately needed treatment right away.
Unable even to think of moving him somewhere else, she dropped to her knees on the bare ground and placed her hands over Isaiah the priest's body. Channeling her divine power to the limit, she began chanting a healing spell. A turquoise glow emanated from her palms, warmly enveloping his form.
Then she whipped her head toward one of the parishioners standing nearby in haste.
"Parishioner! Hurry back to the church and grab whatever holy water is left! Now!"
"Y-Yes! Right away!"
Surviving a beating like that would be a miracle in itself. Pushing her daily divine power to its absolute limit to heal Isaiah, sweat soon began beading on her forehead.
"Ugh..."
Isaiah the priest shivered, trembling from the cold. In her urgency to treat him, she'd momentarily forgotten he was naked.
'Something to cover him with... I need to cover him up...'
She frantically looked around for anything to drape over him, even belatedly. But nothing suitable was in sight, and just as she considered snatching a parishioner's clothes to use,...
"Will this do?"
"Ah, yes... thank you."
A silver-haired woman stepped forward, promptly removing her robe and wrapping it around him.
This was the very woman who had been facing off against the one holding Isaiah hostage just moments ago.
"Did you save him?"
"Yes... more or less. We ran into each other by chance. You seem to be from the church... Hmm. A bishop, I take it?"
She had deduced it at a glance from the rosary around Lisa's neck. Displaying clear wariness, Lisa scanned the silver-haired woman up and down.
Judging by her outfit, she looked like nothing more than an ordinary adventurer, but figuring out Lisa's position just from the rosary's appearance meant she was no ordinary person.
But that wasn't important right now...
"Could you tell me what happened?"
"Yes, of course."
While treating him, Lisa heard the full story of what had transpired. It felt like her insides were crumbling away. To think he'd suffered something so horrific...
'Those... fucking bastards...'
She shouldn't have killed them so quickly. She should have kept them alive and made them suffer more... Regret flooded over her intensely.
But there was no undoing what was done. She turned a sharp glare on the corpses, which no longer even felt warm to the touch.
And with anger lacing her voice, she commanded the parishioners.
"Burn them all. The Lord will punish these scum Himself later."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And... if possible, keep today's events from reaching the ears of the main cathedral. If they get involved, it'll just give us headaches. I'll handle it at my level."
"Understood, Bishop..."
With that, the parishioners exchanged glances and sprang into action. They pushed the corpses littering the roadside to the edges and quickly cleaned up the area.
Things always got complicated if the main cathedral found out directly. From the emblems on the dead men's chests, they were all from the Eusteny Guild. If mishandled, it could escalate into a holy war between the Holy Faith Church and his old hero comrades—something they had to avoid at all costs.
So, to prevent that..., she planned to seal the lips of her own subordinates first.
"Miss Adventurer?"
"Yes...?"
"I'd appreciate it if you reported today's events accurately to Guild Master Reina."
"Yes, I will..."
"And... if possible, let's keep this from turning into a fight between our church and your guild. We'll keep quiet on our end too... Please, I'm counting on you."
"..."
She flashed a smile at the adventurer woman before her—a warning wrapped as a request. It was clear who would suffer if things blew up, so the woman simply nodded without a word.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ And so, back to the present...
Clank—
After finishing the treatment and confirming that Isaiah the priest had awakened, she quietly stepped out of the room. Perhaps from staying up all night tending to him, a sudden wave of dizziness made her vision blur, and she had to steady herself against the wall.
"Haa... Why the hell do I have to rack my brains over that bastard..."
She had no idea.
Honestly speaking, Isaiah the priest hadn't done anything wrong. He was the victim, so there was nothing to blame him for. Yet an inexplicable rage boiled inside her like a furnace, refusing to be contained.
'I told him to watch himself...'
In the end, she figured it was just his accumulated karma catching up. Especially since the Adventurer's Guild knew him as the guy who always got what he wanted with a little begging—they must have meticulously planned and executed this.
'Can't even lock him up somewhere...'
It was complicated.
If Isaiah were just some worthless commoner or a street bum, she'd have tossed him straight into the church basement and fucked him senseless whenever she pleased.
But he was unmistakably a shepherd devoted to Saintess Amaness, with far too many eyes on him. At least dozens of people came looking for him every day, so if he vanished even for a single day, the village would buzz with rumors about him in no time.
And if that happened, the church would flip upside down just like the night before in an instant...
'Maybe at least cast a tracking spell on him...?'
It wasn't like she hadn't considered it. She'd tried multiple times, but each time, she shook her head no. If she attached something like that to Isaiah's body, she'd know exactly where he was rolling around with women—but the problem was whether she could stomach seeing it.
Pretending not to know when she did was hard enough, but witnessing the scene with her own eyes...? She had no confidence she could keep her sanity then.
Unable to suppress the molten rage, she might end up killing whoever the woman was, no matter who it was.
"Haa..."
Lost in such thoughts, she suddenly found herself at the church's main gate. A high-ranking visitor had arrived, yet her mind had been entirely on him all day without a hint of tension... She couldn't help but let out a wry chuckle. What was she, some lovestruck girl?
'I'm such an idiot... What's so great about that jerk anyway...'
With thoughts of quickly finishing her report and hurrying back to Isaiah's side, she flung open the gates.
Neigh—
A magnificent dark wooden carriage filled her vision, accompanied by the horses' whinnies. Its ornate colors and embossed patterns everywhere sent chills crawling up her spine.
Clank—
"It's been a while, Bishop Lisa."
The carriage door opened next, revealing an elderly woman. Wrinkles etched from years of hardship and hair streaked with white. Dressed in robes that trailed to the floor, she smiled gently at Bishop Lisa.