Beverick (1)
Beverick (1)
"...What is the meaning of this?"
Irene smacked his hand away with a sharp sound. She wiped the spot that had touched Beverick's hand with a handkerchief.
The gaze she fixed on him was filled with undisguised disgust.
"Apprentice Priest Beverick. I never made any such promise."
"Haha. Playing coy. It's fine. You don't need to hide how you feel."
"......"
Her expression said there was no point even talking to him. Irene spun around and knocked on the door to the priest's room off the prayer hall.
"Apprentice Priest Beverick has arrived."
"What? Already?"
Mierkant opened the door. He smiled warmly at Beverick, as he always did.
"Beverick. Welcome back."
"Ah. Yeah. Sure."
He answered indifferently, his eyes raking over Irene. He swallowed hard at the sight of her back, then tried to follow her out of the prayer hall.
But Mierkant blocked his path. He placed a hand on Beverick's shoulder and spoke in a tone that was warm yet firm.
"Surely you have stories from your time away? Fortunately, we have plenty of time, so I'd like to hear about your pilgrimage first."
"Do we really have to do this now?"
"If not now, then when?"
"Ah, fuck. Old bastard..."
The last words were little more than a mutter, but he said them loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Irene whipped her head around. She ground her teeth lightly, but Mierkant shook his head.
A forced smile.
Mierkant beamed and took Beverick by the hand.
"I've prepared tea. Let's go and talk."
"Yeah. Sure. Understood."
Hm.
I'm a troublemaker in my own right, but that guy was even worse.
A loose cannon among loose cannons.
Human garbage who made me look tame!
. . .
My prediction had been right.
Beverick was not a normal human being.
"Stinking little shits..."
He routinely kicked the orphans. He spat openly and sneered at them.
"If it weren't for Ra's embrace, you little shits would've starved to death. Keep your eyes open."
Most of his day consisted of pestering Irene until Mierkant caught him.
The church was only quiet on the occasional days he went out. Even so, I kept trying to strike up conversations with him.
"I polished your shoes until they gleamed..."
"Hey. Fuck off. Don't talk to me. You bedbug-looking little shit."
One. I let it slide.
"I don't quite understand this part. Could you teach me a little..."
"You dumb fuck. You don't even know this? Ask the old bastard. If you ask Irene, you're dead."
Two. I let it slide.
"I made dinner tonight. I was wondering if it was to your taste..."
"Ah. Fuck. Don't talk to me while I'm eating. Just looking at your face pisses me off."
Three...
Three en...
I can't let it slide a third time!
"What the hell is that bastard doing?"
My patience had reached its limit. The church headquarters?
Fuck that. Rather than grovel to a piece of shit like him, I'd rather look for another way.
I decided to just keep trying instead. I could still get to church headquarters without winning him over.
But things took a strange turn. After I happened to overhear Irene and Beverick talking, it sounded as though Irene's trip to church headquarters had already been decided.
The two of them didn't look like lovers. Beverick was the only one clinging to the relationship, and it was disgusting.
Late at night, I watched the two of them from outside the window after they happened to meet in the prayer hall.
"I told you. My father will back you. Why are you playing so hard to get? I'd say we've known each other for quite a while now."
"I have no personal fondness for Apprentice Priest Beverick. And the apprentice priest who will go to the church headquarters is Apprentice Priest Zahard, who is under me."
"What bullshit? You're supposed to come with me. You know the reason I'm in this shithole is because of you, right?"
"As I said before, I have no personal fondness for Apprentice Priest Beverick..."
"Hey."
The middle of the prayer hall.
Unaware that I was watching through the window, Beverick cornered Irene against the wall.
"Do you think I'm joking? I've been treating you nicely and now you think I'm a joke?"
"......"
"You. Think carefully. The son of Bishop Brody, who holds high standing in the church, is saying he'll take care of you. There are women everywhere who spread their legs the moment I crook a finger. Don't you know that?"
"Then go to those women. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because your face is pretty. Because I love you. You fucking bitch. Why won't you accept my feelings?"
"I hate how vulgar you are."
"Ah. Fuck."
Thud!
Beverick grabbed Irene's hand and pinned her against the wall. A weak groan escaped her.
Beverick moved. Holding Irene with one hand, he groped her with the other, his hand sliding down and brushing over her breast.
"...You've got one hell of a sexy body."
"Have you sunk so low that now you're going to rape me?"
"If I had my way, I would..."
Beverick drew a deep breath. He smirked and released her hand.
"It was a joke. A joke. You know, don't you, Irene? You know how much I love you."
"......."
"Stop playing hard to get and come to me. You said you wanted to join the Day Priestesses, right? Do you have any idea how many connections you need just to apply?"
Beverick stroked her cheek.
"Let's do this the nice way. Hm? I'll help you, so all you have to do is say one thing. That you'll be mine."
"......."
"Even if you leave the church, you have nowhere to go, right? Remember that the only place for you is here, at my side. Right now I'm being generous and waiting for you, but..."
Beverick turned his head sharply.
"I've waited long enough. No more. When the day comes to submit the dispatch request to church headquarters, you'll choose me. And that day, I'll have you."
"I will not go to the church headquarters."
Irene spoke firmly.
"The one going to church headquarters is Zahard, a promising young sprout of Ra who joined after me."
"...Is that so?"
Beverick mulled it over for a moment, then smiled darkly.
"Then fine, let's change the terms. If you don't say you'll be mine, neither of you will go to the church headquarters."
"...What do you mean?"
"Well, with my father's influence, it's not impossible. This branch might as well be abandoned anyway."
Beverick whistled lightly.
"Yeah. That'll work. If you don't say you'll be mine, no one goes. Far from sending that guy to the church headquarters, I'll make you rot here with him for the rest of your life."
"…How utterly vicious!"
"You're pretty when you get angry like that. Get angrier."
He whispered into her ear.
"That just makes me want to fuck you even more."
. . .
I'd overheard a disgusting conversation. Irene aside, my path to church headquarters was as good as blocked, so I moved quickly.
The Sacred Relics at the Church of Ra headquarters were all things too precious to simply let slip away. I needed information. Information about Beverick.
First, it was important to verify whether everything the bastard had said was true.
When I went to see Matier, he welcomed me with obsequious bows.
"Oh! I should have come to you first!"
"You look better. Business must be booming?"
"Haha. I've merely managed to keep the wolf from the door."
"Your tribute payments have fallen a bit behind your growth."
"......."
"Let's do this right, Matier. Stay within the line. As long as you do, I won't interfere."
"In the name of Ra!"
"Yeah."
I gave Matier a simple order: bring me information on Beverick. He scoured the marketplace and soon returned with a thick bundle of it.
"Apprentice Priest Beverick. He's notorious."
"In terms of ability?"
"No. He's notorious as trash who treats brothels like his own home."
I skimmed the records and clicked my tongue.
This bastard. He's no ordinary piece of trash.
This guy was absolute fucking trash.
"He squanders what little donations the church receives on gambling?"
"He's done his part in shaping the Church of Ra's image."
"How the hell does he get in and out of brothels?"
"I'm told he runs up tabs under his father's name. He pays them off regularly once a month."
"He mostly sleeps outside?"
"That too, with his father's money..."
"So he's riding daddy's coattails for all they're worth."
So he's from a silver-spoon family. I let out a sigh. Goddamn it.
The situation was tangled beyond belief.
"Should I just kill him?"
"P-please spare me!"
"Not you."
What would happen if I secretly buried Beverick in the mountain behind the church? If it turned into a simple missing-person case, hmm...
A search order would come down on the church branch immediately. If I mishandled it, acting rashly could backfire.
Black Steel, which I'd worked so hard to build up, could get dragged into this. So could Hector and the others.
I set that aside as a last resort and rubbed my brow.
Was this the first truly troublesome choice I'd faced in this world?
-Seeing you agonize is oddly satisfying.
Hey.
You're supposed to be on my side.
"...First."
I'd swallow my pride a little longer. I'd try a bit more, and if it still didn't work, I'd cut my losses.
That seemed like the best option for now. Of course, I'd keep gathering material for option two piece by piece.
"Matier. Gather every record of this bastard's brothel and gambling den visits. Along with all his other illegal activities."
"Are you planning to blackmail him?"
"What do you take a priest of the Church of Ra for?"
"...My apologies. Though, no matter how you are, Priest, blackmail is..."
"You read me exactly right."
I shrugged. When the time came, it would be a full-on mud fight.
Both sides might end up with too much to lose. If I forced him into submission with blackmail, it could blow up in my face later.
The defining trait of trash like this is that you never know which way they'll jump.
Or was killing him and disposing of the body the answer after all?
...Let's hold out a little longer for now.
"A hopeless bastard deserves a hopeless solution. Of course, I'll give him a chance to repent first."
"Sometimes you frighten me."
"What? Look at this guy."
I stared at Matier steadily.
"Not sometimes. Be afraid of me all the time."
"...Yes."