Chapter : 112

“Elin.”

At the sound of her name, Elin’s body jolted.

Smiling awkwardly like someone caught red-handed doing something wrong, Elin was scolded by the blonde-haired female priest who shared her room.

“You, are you going to the orphanage again?

What on earth have you hidden there?

Is there a kid you’re concerned about?”

“No!”

The hand that struck her friend’s back was urgent.

The children staying at the orphanage without their names registered had to be kept a secret from others.

It was by the grace of His Holiness the Pope that they were allowed to stay within the orphanage, but it was a clear special privilege.

If the other priests found out, they wouldn’t be pleased, and the children, who were finally under the Church’s protection, might be kicked out again to wander the streets.

Deceiving her friend was an easier choice for Elin than that.

“I’m going to teach them about faith!”

“I’ll believe you.”

At her friend’s scolding, Elin hit her friend’s back one more time before scurrying out of her room.

She had no desire to force them to study the holy book, but it wouldn’t hurt to know a line or two from it, being in the Church and all.

If they were lucky in the future, they might even be able to aim to become priests.

They couldn’t just grow up as nameless children in the Church forever, after all.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t do anything to displease the higher-ups.”

“I know.”

Elin answered gently. Her own life was precious to her, too.

She quickened her pace.

Neither Elin nor her friend knew that this would be the last moment they would see each other alive.

* * *

The surroundings of the orphanage were unusually quiet today.

Children were generally not good at listening to adults, and no matter how early they were told to sleep, they rarely obeyed easily.

They were more the type to ponder how to stay up late without their teacher finding out.

Fel was no different. He acted mature, but a child was still a child.

“Did they say we’re having meat stew today?”

As their existence was a secret, the amount of food given to the children was on the smaller side.

For some reason, they were having stew with plenty of lamb today, so maybe they had all eaten their fill and fallen asleep early.

“I should just make sure their blankets are on properly and head back.”

Perhaps because they were still young, they all tended to sleep restlessly.

Even if the weather wasn’t cold, they could catch a cold if they weren’t careful, so it was better to check on them thoroughly.

Elin quickened her pace toward the room where the children were staying.

As she walked, Elin felt a slight strangeness.

Was this place always this… devoid of any human presence?

It was strange. Her heart stirred uneasily.

In front of the children’s door, Elin had a strong premonition, almost like a prophecy.

The moment I open this door, there’s no turning back.

Should I come back tomorrow morning to check if the children are safe?

Hesitating, Elin bit her lip and finally threw the door open.

“Fel! Kids!!”

The moment she opened the door, her premonition became a certainty.

The children were nowhere in the room.

The broom Fel used to sweep with his small hands, the doll Lia always carried, saying her parents gave it to her, and the wooden toy Toma used to play with—all of it.

As if they had never existed in the first place, as if it had all been a midsummer night’s dream, everything had disappeared.

“…Elin?”

Someone placed a hand on her shoulder from behind.

“Gah!”

With a small scream, Elin turned around.

“What brings you here?”

“Director…!”

She was so startled her heart almost dropped. Elin grabbed her arm and asked urgently.

“The kids are gone! We have to—”

“What are you talking about, Elin?

This is a storage room. There’s no reason for children to be here.”

The director looked down at Elin as if she were saying something strange.

What? Was I really dreaming?

“Oh dear. The pressure must have been great with the exam coming up. I understand.

I’ll overlook you leaving without permission, so just go back to your room for today.”

“But, Toma, Lia, and Fel….”

The names of dozens of children tumbled from Elin’s lips.

Was it all really my delusion?

In that moment, Elin saw the twitching corner of the director’s mouth in her two eyes.

There’s no way it was all a delusion!

Shoving the director’s body with all her might, Elin immediately started running somewhere.

“That damn thing!!”

At the voice exploding with anger from behind, Elin’s anxiety soon became certainty.

The children are in danger! Maybe I’ll never see them again!

But what do I do after I find them?

What can I, a mere priest, do?

She was not a high priest in charge of a corridor, nor a cardinal who decided on important matters of the Church.

Her only notable feature was, at best, being a holy power user.

Moreover, in Lumen Asteria, being a holy power user wasn’t even an advantage.

But, even so!!

‘Nuna!’

On a hot summer day.

She couldn’t bring herself to betray that child who had been diligently sweeping the yard even with a face flushed red with fever.

If she betrayed that little one, she would regret it no matter how high a position she attained!

I don’t want to leave any regrets!

With that one thought, she ran to the place her instincts urged her to go.

She ran and ran, and the place she arrived at was a door that seemed to lead to a basement.

By then, her cheeks were covered in tears, and she was out of breath.

Even the director, who had been running to catch her, stopped her pursuit, as if not wanting to come near this area.

Wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks, Elin slowly opened the heavy iron door.

Stairs leading to the basement.

She descended the long, long stairs that continued as if falling into hell.

I’m scared, I’m so scared⋯. I want to turn back.

Suppressing the desire to turn back time and again, Elin headed endlessly downward.

The scene that confronted her was a hell created by the man called the Pope.

“Oh my, it seems a little rat has found its way here.”

“Lady Elin, would you please keep these children a secret?”

A cold voice and a gentle voice intersected.

“Your Holiness… the Pope.”

Maybe the Pope was actually a twin.

That would be more believable.

There was no way the gentle Pope could have created such a hell.

“You just discovered this place, right? So, so….”

“Take care of her, Benaya.”

As if denying her desperate belief, the Pope commanded his long-time subordinate.

A man who had appeared from behind in an instant cut Elin’s Achilles tendon.

It happened so fast she didn’t even have time to feel the pain.

Rolling on the floor, Elin couldn’t understand and just blinked her eyes.

In the terribly surreal situation, the fallen Elin could only pant for breath.

“I believe I told you to take care of her.”

“Elin is a holy power user.”

“So?”

“She is a bit old, but with her holy power, she should be a suitable offering.”

At Benaya’s words, the Pope looked at Elin as if assessing her value.

The moment that cold gaze landed on her, a terrible sense of reality hit her skin.

This isn’t a dream. I want to deny it, but this is reality.

She barely managed to steady her ragged breathing.

Get a grip, Elin.

You have to save one, just one of them.

Instead of being taken down so helplessly, it’s right to save at least one person.

That’s right, but…!

Tears flowed down her cheeks against her will.

I want to live! I want to live! I don’t want to die like this!

It was natural.

She too was a young girl with far more days ahead of her than she had lived so far.

But, there’s no one else but me.

“You trust your nuna, right?”

Elin whispered amidst a faint moan.

That was all she could say.

But, this is enough.

Elin muttered softly.

“I’m prepared….”

Elin offered all her holy power as a sacrifice and prayed and prayed to God.

Almighty Lucius.

If you are truly the benevolent god of light and the father of all, please save these innocent children.

If they have sinned, it is only the sin of not being born to good parents, the sin of naively believing in the goodwill of adults.

“Please.”

Was it because her prayer was closer to a threat that God did not answer?

Benaya approached Elin.

Lifting Elin’s body, unable to even resist with her tendon cut, Benaya laid her on the blood-stained altar.

Her back became soaked with blood.

Elin’s expression was colored with horror.

Just how many children had been killed in the name of this ritual?

“Curse me all you want.”

The Pope smiled.

“For the sake of the Church, I can become a demon.”

Did he want her to rain down curses? But instead of a curse, Elin prayed to God with utmost desperation.

To save the children, to save Fel, to save the poor children who had committed no sin.

And, the last sound she heard was—

‘It has reached.’

Those three syllables.

* * *

“What are you thinking about?”

Lucius’s hand fluttered in front of my face.

“A flashback.”

At the monotonous reply, Lucius made a face that said,

‘He’s saying something weird again.’

I was just recalling the official story posted in the announcements after Part 2 of the story ended.

I carefully spoke to Lucius, who was still staring at me.

“How altruistic do you have to be to sacrifice your life for others?”

What Elin did was, at best, a gamble, but the stake was her life.

I couldn’t understand the heart that, despite shedding tears in the face of a gamble that could all be for naught, still offered up its life.

Seeing Lucius’s feigned serious expression, I realized my mistake.

“I’m the type of person who values my own life the most, you know?”

Lucius’s eyes were full of disbelief.

I didn’t know whether to be happy that our sweet potato hero was distrusting of others, or sad that my own conduct was so undesirable that even the sweet potato hero distrusted me.

Should I celebrate with a drink first?

It’s a good thing, after all.

“When I make a move, it’s usually a gamble with a decent chance of winning.”

“What’s your standard for a decent chance of winning?”

Beside me, Lerwon-sunbae hit the nail on the head.

“A 50% win rate is a freebie!”

At my shout, this time even Lerwon-sunbae started looking at me with distrustful eyes.

Why! I dumped all my gacha pulls even with a 0.7% pickup rate!

“50% is a great deal! Not going for it is a loss, you know?”

“People don’t usually gamble, Theo.”

“Usually, people don’t even gamble at all.”

Getting hit from both sides at once is a bit tough, no matter how I think about it.

“In the end, you’re just worried about Fel, who was left behind at the Church, right?”

“Correct.”

“You know that things got so big because you accused him of heresy yourself to shut him up, right?”

“I know….”

This person keeps trying to hit me in the solar plexus, how cheap.

The moment I was about to make a joke, Cian’s and Lerwon-sunbae’s expressions hardened.

“What’s wrong with everyone? You look like you’ve seen my father.”

Haha! I laughed out loud, but Lucius avoided my gaze.

Lerwon-sunbae, who had slightly opened his mouth, closed it and nodded his chin lightly.

At the silent urging to look behind me, I kept laughing.

“Sunbae, you were already scary enough, stop it.”

“It seems I am quite scary. I am very interested in hearing the details-”

My neck creaked like Pinocchio’s.

The moment I looked back, I was met with my father, who was smiling more benevolently than ever.

“Let’s hear the details in my lab.”

X-bal, I’m screwed.

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