Chapter 523: City of Lamentation (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 523: City of Lamentation (4)
There's an old saying, tosagupaeng.
It refers to boiling the hunting dog after the rabbit has been caught, meaning you discard someone or something once they've outlived their usefulness.
The scene before me was a perfect illustration of that.
“Guuuhhh...!”
“Honey, oh, honey!”
“Cough...!”
“Dad!”
A group of men, groaning in pain from severed arms or legs.
Their families, wailing as they held them.
A cold corpse, and in front of it, a bereaved family member sitting stunned and vacant.
The one who seemed to be the cause of this incident, and the leader on the verge of death, his neck caught in the culprit's grasp.
The picture was clear, wasn't it?
That pale-faced bastard was the true culprit who orchestrated the food raid from behind the scenes.
The dying bandits were nothing more than hunting dogs.
And now that the hunt was over, it was the perfectly ordinary next step for a shady bastard to clean up his hunting dogs.
I felt no sympathy for the dying men.
Whatever their story was, they were the ones who tried to rob us. Why should I?
I had simply found a use for them.
“Go on ahead and wait. I'll be sending your colleagues and families to you one by one.”
“You... you son of a bitch... Kugh...!”
The most dramatic moment.
Just as he was lamenting his inescapable death, regretting his own naivety for falling for such a pathetic trick.
Crackle!
I dropped a bolt of lightning right on top of the man's head.
「Lightning Strike.」
Sensing the danger, the pale-faced man threw the bandit leader aside and dodged.
CRACK!
The lightning bolt struck the exact spot he had just vacated.
His face, which had been staring at a death that had briefly taken form, grew even whiter.
His already pale face became so bloodless he now truly looked like a walking corpse.
In that instant, I landed between the two of them.
The pale-faced man's eyes widened in shock as he saw me.
My hood was enchanted with perception-hindering magic, so it couldn't have been because of my face.
It must have been the pure white robe I was wearing.
“For a priest of the Orthodox Church to have found this place so quickly... Truly befitting the world's greatest religion.”
Just as I thought.
He saw me as some priest who had come to hold him accountable for attacking the Orthodox Church's volunteer group.
In that case, I had no choice but to play the part.
“So it's you. The vile heretic who dared to orchestrate the raid on the Orthodox Church's volunteer group.”
“Hehe... You're quick on the uptake.”
The man admitted it readily with a chilling laugh.
“But you've arrived too soon. You should have at least brought your colleagues.”
Does he really think he stands a chance against me just because it's one-on-one?
If so, he's gravely mistaken.
“The God I serve told me that even if you, your father, and your grandfather—three generations—all came at me at once, I would still win.”
Of course, the "God" I was referring to was me.
Flustered by the sudden insult to his lineage, a flush of red began to creep across the man's pale face.
“Ha, haha. You have tremendous confidence in your skills.”
He's pissed. Definitely pissed.
“Let's see those brilliant skills of yours for myself...!”
The moment he finished speaking, the man kicked off the ground.
As he rapidly closed the distance, an afterimage trailed behind him like a long tail.
I see.
So he does have the skills to back up his scheming.
He was fast enough to be proud of his abilities, but that was all.
Because I could see him clearly.
Swish!
As he reached me with a sharp whoosh, I extended my hand to match his speed.
I intended to grab his neck in one swift motion, just as he had done to the bandit leader.
Woosh.
But my hand closed on nothing but air.
The man who had been right in front of me dissipated like a mirage with a sneer, passing right through my body.
“Kek kek... Did you really think I would fight a monster like you?”
A mocking voice whispered in my ear.
Well, look at this guy.
He never had any intention of fighting me, did he?
That angry expression from my insult was all an act.
He's more cold-headed than I thought.
I quickly spun around.
Having passed through me and reappeared, the man was now running even faster.
At the end of his path was the bandit leader.
From the looks of it, his plan was to kill the one person who held clues to his identity and then make a run for it.
I instantly launched myself forward, closing the distance between us to zero, and whispered in his ear.
“Who said I'd let you do that?”
“Ugh-!”
Startled, the man twisted his body and swiped at me with his long fingernails.
I tilted my head back to dodge the attack, and he kicked off the ground again, changing direction.
The man, who had barely managed to create some distance again, had a look of utter dismay on his face.
“How... How did you keep up with my speed...?”
That's strange.
“Did you think I'd be slower than you?”
“O-Of course! You're a mage!”
Aha.
So he mistook me for an ordinary mage.
“Sometimes, even a mage wants to be faster than you.”
“What does that...!”
This time, I appeared behind the genuinely agitated man and whispered in a low voice.
“It means stop making a fuss and let yourself be caught quietly.”
“Huk...!”
It was just as the startled man was about to dissipate like a mirage again.
With a hand brimming with mana, I grabbed his neck before he could fully disappear.
CRUNCH!
“Keoheuk...!”
“How many times did you expect me to fall for the same trick?”
What a shameless bastard.
If he showed his hand so openly, even our Seo-yeon would have cut his head off by the third try.
Shin Yu-jeong would probably take about seven tries.
Unable to breathe properly, the man choked out a question.
“Who... in the world... are... you...”
It seemed he was finally starting to have his doubts.
“A faithful priest of the Orthodox Church.”
“Lies... Keok...!”
Before his suspicion could grow, I tightened my grip on his throat.
Finally, the man lost consciousness and his head slumped forward.
He'd probably be out for half a day in this state, but just in case...
「Dig.」
I used my mana to dig a large pit in the ground.
“Let's just put you in here for a bit.”
I tossed the unconscious man inside and then returned the earth to its original state.
He still needed to breathe, so I left only his face exposed.
Finally, I wove the mana flowing through the ground into a rough lattice to reinforce its binding power.
“Hmm, this should do.”
With his level of skill, there was no way he could break out of this.
I settled the rising dust with a gust of wind and approached the bandit leader, who was staring blankly in my direction.
Then, I delivered a line to faithfully resume my role as a priest.
“Are you all right, Brother?”
A benevolent question.
And then, something absurd happened right before my eyes.
Thud!
Hearing my voice, the man finally came to his senses and suddenly slammed his head into the ground.
“I'm sorry, Father!”
“......?”
“It's all... it's all my fault. Please, punish only me and show mercy to my comrades. I beg you!”
“......”
It seemed he thought I was going to deal with them next, after the pale-faced man.
Well, he wasn't exactly wrong...
I got the gist of it.
The bandit leader's character.
“This doesn't seem to be the time to assign blame.”
“Yes...?”
The man slowly raised his head.
I looked around, putting on the most pitiful expression I could muster.
There were two ways to get help from a man like this.
Either threaten the lives of his family, or guarantee their safety.
“First, let's tend to the wounded.”
“Th-Thank you...!”
For me, deeply immersed in my role as a priest, only the latter option remained.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We gathered the bodies of the dead and buried them.
The bandit leader, who introduced himself as Andrei, seemed to want to bury each person one by one in a sunny spot, but he didn't say it out loud to me.
He knew that treating those who were still breathing was the priority.
After staunching the wounds of those who were gushing blood, we returned directly to the volunteer group's relief center.
“Wh-What is all this...!”
The priests were shocked by the sudden appearance of a large group of critically injured patients.
But it was only for a moment.
“Gather all the priests!”
“Yes, Director!”
Under the command of the director, who had quickly composed himself, the priests began to pour out their divine power.
The wounds slowly began to heal.
Those who had passed the critical stage were immediately laid on makeshift beds inside the relief center.
They said a second round of treatment would begin as soon as their divine power recovered.
An exhausted-looking Michael approached and asked me.
“What on earth happened?”
“Ah... well, you see.”
I explained the whole story.
How I had planted my mana on the food supplies to locate the bandits' hideout.
How I had met and fought the true culprit there, and how I had saved these men just as they were about to be disposed of.
“Hah... So that's what happened.”
Michael clicked his tongue with a short sigh.
Was it my imagination, or had his gaze upon me grown deeper?
“To act with such foresight, thinking several steps ahead... You are truly amazing, Brother.”
“It's all thanks to you trusting me, Director.”
“Hahaha!”
“Haha!”
Our moment of mutual flattery and laughter was brief.
I sent him off, as he was exhausted from overusing his divine power, and headed to a makeshift tent set up next to the relief center.
Andrei was being held there.
Whether he was tricked into it or not, he was the leader of the bandits who tried to rob the volunteer group.
I couldn't just let him roam free.
As I entered, the man, who had been pacing anxiously inside the tent, rushed over.
“Oh, you're here! My comrades...”
“They've passed the critical stage. A second round of treatment is scheduled to begin sometime tomorrow.”
“Ahh... Th-Thank you so much! Thank you, Father!”
The man was relieved to hear his comrades had been saved.
“Brother.”
“...Yes, Father.”
“You and your comrades have committed a very grave sin. You admit that, don't you?”
“Th-That is.”
His face turned pale.
He bit his lip hard and nodded grimly.
“I admit it. I may have been deceived by that man, but in the end, I was the one who accepted his offer.”
The more I talked to him, the more curious I became.
Judging by his upright character and attitude, he seemed like someone who would have lived a life far from crime.
I guess even the most virtuous person can't help themselves in the face of starvation.
“As things stand, it will be difficult for you and all your comrades to avoid punishment.”
“Keuk...!”
Andrei gritted his teeth, swallowing a groan.
This should be enough.
Now that I've plunged him into deep despair, it's time to throw him a thin rope of hope.
“However, our Director said he would give you a chance.”
The man's eyes flashed.
“A-A chance, you say...?”
“Tell us everything you know—the identity of the enemy who provided you with information and commissioned the raid, who's behind him, everything. The Director has said he will reduce your sentence in proportion to the value of that information.”
Of course, he never said that.
In fact, this whole business about punishment was something I made up.
Sorry, Michael.
But you know my heart, right?
This is all for our own good, so please bear with it even if your ears are burning. [A Korean idiom for when someone is talking about you behind your back.]
Andrei accepted the offer before I could even finish my sentence.
“I will tell you everything I know, without leaving a single thing out.”
It was the expected outcome.
If he didn't accept, not only he but all his comrades would be dragged to the Orthodox Church to face judgment. He had to do it.
“Alright, then. Please, speak freely.”
With a tense expression, I focused my gaze on his lips.
How much could he possibly know?
As a mere hunting dog, he probably didn't know much.
Still, if I could be a little greedy, I was hoping for the man's identity, or a small hideout.
It would be great to get a clue I could latch onto.
“The man's name is Stan.”
So the pale-faced bastard's name is Stan.
And next...
“He's a dog of the Romanian government.”
“...Excuse me?”
Why are you popping up here...?