Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Church (3)
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“Stay quiet.”
Even though my mouth was covered, making silence inevitable, the mysterious assailant dragged me into the back alley, brimming with tension.
A normal civilian might have thrashed about in resistance to the kidnapping, but I was confident I could escape effortlessly if I wanted to. Instead of resisting, I scanned our surroundings.
As we ventured deeper into the shadowy alley, the bright, lively energy faded, replaced by a gloomy, oppressive atmosphere that hung thick in the air.
To think the mood could shift so drastically after just a short distance.
People really shouldn’t judge by appearances—they need to look deeper.
“Why are you being so compliant…?”
Seeing that I wasn’t resisting at all, the assailant actually seemed flustered.
“What’s your game?”
I had simply followed her order to stay quiet faithfully, yet here I was getting scolded for it. An inexplicable sense of injustice welled up inside me.
Was this how Nia felt every day, getting “affectionate” scoldings from Rainy?
She came to a halt at a certain point and dragged me into a dilapidated old house that looked on the verge of collapse.
Then she chanted some strange incantation. The fact that they were hiding their organization’s location with such secrecy suggested they weren’t just your average criminal outfit, as I’d suspected.
Rumble.
We stepped onto what looked like a basket, and pulleys whirred as it descended to the ground.
“Follow me.”
Maintaining her domineering attitude, she dragged me along.
The underground space was vast enough to accommodate hundreds at once, and I felt a quiet thrill at having been properly brought to their lair.
“Hanna, who’s this guy?”
Just as I was forcibly seated in a creaky chair, a hulking man with a menacing face approached with heavy footsteps.
Surprisingly, I sensed a considerable level of holy power emanating from him.
He seemed on par with the captain of our escort team.
‘Is this guy the boss?’
As I gauged his aura, the woman called Hanna sat in a chair, crossed her legs, and nodded toward him.
“Some big shot from the top floor of the High Blood Hotel. So I snatched him up on the sly.”
High Blood Hotel, huh.
It seemed that was what they called the hotel where Laura and I were staying.
I could guess why they’d named it that.
Probably because the Church had been sucking the congregation dry—literally.
“Hoo, top floor of the High Blood Hotel… We’ve caught ourselves a real whale. Hang tight, I’ll fetch the boss.”
‘Ah, so he’s not the boss after all.’
Given his rough appearance, I’d thought there was a good chance he was in charge, but my guess was off.
Once the menacing man disappeared, I surveyed my surroundings while waiting for this “boss” to show.
Fortunately, there were no torture devices in sight.
The restraints were uncomfortable, sure, but as long as they didn’t resort to torture, I didn’t mind playing along a bit longer.
Hanna stared blankly into space, apparently as idle as I was.
I gestured toward my mouth, signaling her to remove the binding.
We were already deep in their hideout, so screaming wouldn’t help anyway. It was about time she let me loose.
“…”
Dain seemed to understand my body language. She hesitated for a moment, then shuffled over hesitantly and undid the restraint.
“Phew…”
Freed at last, I savored the sensation of liberty and shot her a sidelong glance.
Dain avoided my gaze but stole peeks at me now and then, as if she felt at least a twinge of moral guilt over kidnapping me—and curiosity about who I was.
Well, anyone staying on the Church’s VVIP top floor would pique interest, naturally.
To satisfy her curiosity, I stated a plain fact.
“I’m from the Hero Party.”
I usually avoided casual speech right from the start, but I wasn’t about to show respect to kidnappers.
“Huh?”
Dain’s expression soured at my words.
Clearly, she didn’t buy my claim of being a Hero even for a second.
“Great, a delusional liar… This is bad…”
Dain scratched her head in frustration, muttering curses.
Normally, I’d summon the Purifying Flame to prove it on the spot.
But seeing her tousle her hair in despair was amusing, so I didn’t bother.
As I watched quietly, I sensed someone approaching from afar with steady footsteps.
My mouth was free now, but my body was still bound, so I twisted around to see who it was.
‘A little girl…?’
Emerging from the darkness was a girl with snow-white hair, looking even younger than Marey.
She wore an outfit like the saintess robes Rainy had donned.
I didn’t know her exact identity, but no matter how I looked at it, she didn’t belong in this dingy underground lair.
She seemed better suited to standing on a pulpit, leading prayers.
“We greet Your Holiness, the Saintess.”
Dain stood up straight, bowing deeply with a mix of tension and reverence as the girl appeared.
“…”
Saintess? I had no idea what that meant.
Dain rose from her seat and smacked the top of my head.
“It’s the Saintess! Show some respect!”
How was I supposed to show respect when she’d bound me up like this?
I protested at Dain, who had lightly snapped my head.
“How am I supposed to show respect when I’m trussed up like this?”
“Oh…”
She was the type to kidnap people out of the blue but apparently wasn’t too bright.
“Dain, could you step back now?”
Even the girl couldn’t tolerate her foolishness and dismissed her. Dain flushed red and scurried off.
Now, only I and this self-proclaimed Saintess remained.
She seemed to trust the chains binding me enough to leave us alone together. I briefly considered snapping them and turning the tables to extract info from her.
But for now, I waited to hear what she had to say.
“Pleased to meet you, sir. I am Kani, leader of the Church Revival Council and the designated Saintess of this generation.”
Kani brushed her pure white hair behind her ear and bowed politely.
I processed her words before responding.
“So this is how you treat guests around here—kidnapping them?”
“Haha… I sincerely apologize for that.”
“Whatever. Untie me already. And drop the Saintess act. That’s a serious crime.”
Kani didn’t flinch at my words, merely offering a faint smile.
“I fully understand why you’d doubt that I’m the Saintess. The Church has kept the next one’s identity under strict wraps, after all.”
“Even if you were the real deal, why would the Church hide it? A Saintess is a massive symbol.”
“Hehe, would you hear me out?”
I nodded without a word.
I wasn’t sure how credible she was, but for someone like me whose goal was to gather as much intel as possible, there was no downside.
“You’ve no doubt heard about the previous Saintess, Rainy.”
Rainy’s name came up out of nowhere, making me tense, but I kept my cool.
“Yes, I’ve heard of Saintess Rainy.”
“She was truly remarkable. Full of conviction in her beliefs, unyielding to the Church’s pressure, never losing her dignity—a wonderful woman.”
To my ears, it sounded like Rainy was a troublemaker who flatly refused to listen to the Church no matter what.
“Having dealt with Saintess Rainy, the Church resolved to install a puppet Saintess who’d bend to their will for the next one. That’s when they started the group indoctrination program for Saintess candidates.”
“…What kind of program?”
“It’s a form of brainwashing from a young age. Things like ‘Everything the Pope does is right’ or ‘Never resist the Cardinals’ orders’—vile stuff.”
Apparently, after Rainy wouldn’t toe the line, the Church had gone behind her back with this nasty scheme.
If her story was true, the Church had more than enough justification to face my rod of justice.
“I was one of those candidates. The difference was that I started the ‘education’ relatively late, so I wasn’t brainwashed.”
“…”
“That’s why, after becoming Saintess, I resisted their unjust orders and got exiled, just like Saintess Rainy. That’s the story.”
I couldn’t entirely rule out that she was delusional.
But somehow, it didn’t seem out of character for this rotten Church to pull something like that.
“Exiled and erased from the records, I gathered like-minded comrades who want to reform the Church, and now I lead the Church Revival Council.”
Her golden eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“Someone on the top floor of the High Blood Hotel must wield considerable power.”
She gently took my hands in hers.
“Will you help us?”