Unwanted Marriage Proposal (3)
"Please, come in. Lady Elenoa."
"...Yes."
Elenoa suppressed the look of disgust rising on her face and bowed her head in response to Bishop Harkan's welcoming smile.
"Please, have a seat. I never imagined that Marquess Olivion, captain of Artia, and Lady Elenoa would grace us together. However..."
As he gestured for the two to sit at the table, Bishop Harkan glanced at the silver-haired man standing behind Elenoa.
His demeanor was remarkably calm, contrasting sharply with his striking bright white hair that seemed to capture the eye and mysterious red eyes that gleamed like embedded jewels. Harkan studied him intently before demanding an explanation from the pair.
"Might I ask who this gentleman following you is?"
"You needn't concern yourself with him."
"He's my attendant. I'll vouch for his status myself."
"Hmm, very well then..."
His attire suggested a commoner, yet the relaxed poise he exuded was irritatingly conspicuous. But with Riod and Elenoa shielding the silver-haired man, Harkan decided to drop the matter and turn his attention elsewhere.
"It seems Marquess Olivion is here to offer thanks for our dispatched priests. Then, Lady Elenoa... has the duke conveyed his intentions to you?"
"...Yes."
Just last night, as Eunhyeon and Yuria had predicted from Abros's tale, the political marriage proposal had struck Elenoa like a bolt from the blue.
The very next day after hearing it from her father Abros, Bishop Harkan—who had come to see her—beamed with satisfaction as he gazed at her. Elenoa averted her eyes, her expression one of reluctance.
"Ahem, to visit the temple in person the very next day with your answer... I'm positively delighted."
"......"
"Ahem, then let's first conclude Marquess Olivion's business."
Riod nodded at Harkan's gaze, drew a pouch of coins from his breast pocket, and placed it before the bishop. Harkan smiled and reached out to inspect the contents.
"Heavier than expected. For the marquess to show such generosity... what?"
Upon checking the pouch, his expression hardened as he confirmed not stacks of gold but bundles of silver coins.
"...What is the meaning of this, Marquess?"
This wasn't merely below expectations—it was a pittance not even reaching his toes. Harkan's face twisted in fury.
"I intend this reward to go precisely to the four priests who joined our expedition."
"I didn't ask what this amount is for!"
"It's double the compensation paid to the adventurers who participated in our expedition via the guild. Is there a problem?"
"Do you not grasp what's problematic here?! What in the world are these bundles of silver coins! And there's no sincerity toward the temple at all!"
His outburst wasn't over the lack of gold coins per se.
What enraged Bishop Harkan was the pouch stuffed with mere silver bundles instead of gold. For a dispatch request mission, the client's offered sum typically dwarfed what Riod had provided—by a factor of ten, no, a hundred.
"I don't follow. If this reward is distributed to the temple priests who joined our expedition, wouldn't it still be a fortune to them personally?"
"Do I look like I'm talking about the priests?! I'm saying there's no sincerity toward the temple itself—surely you understand that!"
Typically, compensation for requesting priestly support in Artia's expeditions included not only personal rewards for the priests but also payments to the temple organization itself.
It was a system where one group requested aid, dispatched its members, received payment in return—and skimmed a "introduction fee" in the process.
A collective preaching in the gods' name, embracing the masses with warm hands, yet revealing itself as the most avaricious and worldly of all. Naturally, this made Harkan's rage at the paltry sum compared to standard dispatch fees all the more explosive.
"Curious. Were you expecting me to show respect to the temple while offering such 'generosity'?"
"What did you just say?"
"I have no intention whatsoever of showing sincerity to you or this Vesta temple. I can't fathom why you assume it's obligatory."
"H-How dare you spout such blasphemy against the temple!"
"I don't see why I should show you respect. Your 'sincerity' during this expedition was so lacking—why should I afford you the treatment and deference you demand?"
Loathing perilous expeditions that threatened their lives, prizing self-preservation above all, yet craving unparalleled respect and deference—this hypocritical double standard was utterly repulsive and infuriating.
"Do you think the temple will quietly swallow such an insult?!"
"If Anies learns of this, she'll have a grand laugh."
"Ha! You seem ignorant, Marquess, but even if you and the archbishop swept battlefields as comrades, our temple has its strict canon law. As long as I'm here, no one can touch me!"
Furious at Riod's conduct, Bishop Harkan lost his composure, his voice rising as he panted heavily.
"With this pathetic sum—!"
Finally, he hurled the silver pouch Riod had offered to the floor. The knot loosened, spilling coins everywhere.
"Bishop Harkan, the reason I sought you today is indeed regarding the proposal you made to my father."
"...?"
Harkan frowned at Elenoa, who had been silent until now, as she suddenly spoke up at this odd timing.
"I refuse."
"...! Why?!"
"I don't want to."
"W-What did you say?"
"I despise your son. His filthy gaze slithering over my body makes me sick—I can't bear it. So, consider this marriage talk never happened."
"Can you take responsibility for those words?"
"...Are you threatening me right now?"
"Threatening? I'm merely offering help. To guide you onto the path of a devout priestess..."
"I'll handle my own affairs."
Elenoa cut off the bishop's persistent urging, her eyes resolute as she firmly stated her will.
"How... how dare you repay my goodwill with such insult and think it'll pass quietly?!"
His face flushed, voice booming, all trace of composure gone.
At the moment he'd awaited, Eunhyeon—standing behind Elenoa—slowly stepped forward toward Bishop Harkan.
"What are y—!"
As Harkan scowled and opened his mouth to bellow, Eunhyeon flicked the bishop's exposed forehead with his index finger.
"What insolence is this?!"
His head jerked back slightly from the flick. Harkan roared and grabbed Eunhyeon's collar, but Eunhyeon merely stood with eyes closed, silent.
Even as his collar was shaken in fury, Eunhyeon finally opened his eyes, fixing Harkan with a cold stare.
"Wh-what?! Why look at me like that...?"
"Ten years ago, you killed an apprentice priestess."
"...!"
"Under the pretext of granting mercy with rank and position as bait, you raped an apprentice priestess. When she later got pregnant, fearing exposure and reprimand, you poisoned her food and murdered her."
"H-how do you know that...! Ngh!"
Harkan stared in shock, blurting out before hastily clamping his mouth shut.
This stemmed from Eunhyeon delving into the mind of the sole survivor girl from Bram Village, previously attacked by necromancers, replaying her past memories—and developing a new ability from it.
Not reconstructing past scenes in reality like Illusion World, but simply reading the target's memories.
Extracting memory data, rapidly sifting through decades with Thought Acceleration.
A fitting authority named Memory Reading.
Verdandi's powers—body acceleration, thought acceleration, time reversal—dominated combat utterly, but Urd's offered versatile utility beyond battle.
Having parsed fifty years of memories and distilled the essentials, Eunhyeon's face radiated thick killing intent, pressing down on Harkan.
"Ugh... grrrk!"
Sensing his body hairs standing on end, breath stifled under the pressure, Harkan stumbled back in terror he couldn't articulate.
"A-are you trying to kill me...!"
He glared fearfully, but Eunhyeon offered no reply.
"On top of that, you dispatched low-ranking priests under the guise of 'gaining experience' for peanuts, skimming over 80% in fees."
"S-stop...!"
"Even embezzling temple donation funds with higher priests."
"H-help me! Marquess! This man's threatening me!"
"And your son, whom you tried to marry off to Lady Elenoa? He killed a brothel whore he impregnated and forcibly took her child to raise."
"M-Marquess!"
No matter his pleas, Riod ignored Harkan's cry for aid.
He merely watched impassively, while even Elenoa beside him glared with contempt.
"If this came to light, your life as Fernin's branch bishop—and as a priest—would be over, wouldn't it?"
"Y-you! What makes you think you can destroy me?!"
Trembling under Eunhyeon's killing intent, Harkan still shouted defiance.
His struggles seemed pathetic; Eunhyeon smirked faintly and withdrew the pressure.
"Haaah...!"
His legs buckled, nearly collapsing him to the floor—but pride stronger than humiliation kept him from fully falling.
"Even Marquess Olivion and Lady Armitas couldn't uncover my secrets!"
These were facts Eunhyeon gleaned solely from reading Harkan's memories; all evidence had been perfectly eradicated, as Eunhyeon knew from those same memories.
Despite the bishop's self-admission of crimes, the inability to punish him made Elenoa clench her fists, trembling in rage.
"You... how can you call yourself a priest after that?!"
"Lady, temples serving gods are made by men, and priests serving gods are men too. This is a place where people live. I merely used every means at my disposal to protect the faith of the priests serving gods here and the people's belief in the doctrine!"
"How... how can that be?! You're no priest serving the goddess! Don't defile Vesta's name for your own desires!"
"I'm defiling Vesta's name? Heh, kehahaha! Then why hasn't the goddess revoked the blessings she's bestowed upon me?"
"...!"
Elenoa shuddered in shock as Harkan mocked her, radiating holy power from his entire body.
"Why... why hasn't the goddess...?"
"Well, punishing you as we are now is indeed impossible for us."
"Ha?"
Harkan squawked in surprise at Eunhyeon, who calmly admitted their limitations.
"That's why I called you. A 'priest' who can judge you."
"What do you—"
Clap!
"Come on in!"
Bam!
With Eunhyeon's clap and shout of entry, the large door to the bishop's chamber flew open with a thunderous kick.
Crash!
Harkan stared blankly at the door hurtling into the room's far glass window, then shifted his gaze to the petite girl now standing in the doorway—his face draining of color.
Her golden blonde hair reached the floor, owing to her extremely small stature.
Slender and frail even compared to Erin, still at Aiter, her childlike appearance belied an inner age over forty. Eunhyeon smirked, thinking who could believe such a thing.
Gazing at this woman whose growth had halted differently from Iliana—one of the great heroes—Harkan trembled more violently than under Eunhyeon's killing intent.
"A-Anies... guhkk!"
In a flash, she launched herself, slamming a fist into Harkan's gut. As he writhed in agony, she swept his legs, toppling him.
Straddling his chest in mount position, the girl in pristine noble priestess robes raised her fist.
"This'll hurt, you bastard."
She began pummeling Harkan's face mercilessly.
Thud! Thwack! Bam!
"S-stop...!"
The blows weren't light; every muscle from waist to shoulders fueled punches from a clear-cut infighter.
Thud! Thwack!
"Sto—!"
"Shut your hole, you trash."
Harkan's face swelled into a bloody mess, her fists stained red, yet the girl's one-sided assault showed no sign of stopping.
Each hit whipped his head aside; blood burst from his mouth, teeth scattering like corn kernels across the floor.
"This is Vesta's iron fist of justice, delivered personally for you. You dog-fucking bastard!"
Archbishop of the Vesta Temple, state religion of Erenia Holy Kingdom; comrade to Riod and Iliana, one of the six great heroes.
The 'Infighter Priestess,' Anies Yersalreka, grinned as she sentenced the bishop, now a battered heap on the floor.
"You're fired as of today."