Corrupted Priest-Chapter 22

Escape.

Behind the blue-haired woman, dozens of men walked dejectedly, their wrists loosely tied together with rope.

If nothing had happened after leaving Guis, they should have long since arrived at Kelton by now, but she was still walking along the road toward the city.

It was all because of an unexpected encounter. On her way from Guis to Kelton, she had crossed paths with a few members of the notorious "Snowbear Bandits," and that had been the start of all this.

Thanks to that chance meeting, she ended up a little inconvenienced—and the Snowbear Bandits, all eighty-three of them, were utterly wiped out.

At the end of the procession, a man kept glancing at the blue-haired woman walking ahead and made up his mind. No matter how strong she was, she was still human. If he sprinted at full speed and put enough distance between them, he could definitely escape. There was no way she'd abandon dozens of prisoners tied together just to chase after one runaway. If she did, the rest would surely scatter.

The man moved quickly. He had already slipped free from the loose bindings around his wrists.

Holding his breath, he carefully backed away a few steps. The woman didn't notice. Encouraged, he tried to increase the distance even more.

Thwip.

"Aaargh!"

A thrown dagger pierced his thigh. The men, still loosely roped together, watched with pained expressions as the man collapsed to the ground. They opened their mouths to speak, but the blue-haired woman slowly turned and began walking against the procession. Instantly, everyone fell silent.

"Aaagh!"

With a calm expression, she pulled the dagger from his thigh in one swift motion. Blood gushed uncontrollably, staining the white snow crimson.

She inspected the wound with her blue eyes and spoke curtly:

"You won't be able to walk anymore."

"P-Please, spare—"

Before he could finish begging, his head tumbled to the ground. The woman wiped the blood from her dagger and sword, then closed her eyes in prayer.

"Holy Flame, please burn away this man's sins."

A blue flame sprouted from the snow, consuming the corpse completely until not even ashes remained. Leaving the scene behind, she spoke again:

"Walk."

The dozens of men squeezed their eyes shut and resumed their steps.

Last night, this woman had stormed their hideout without a word, incapacitated every one of their comrades, tied up those still able to walk, and ordered them to follow. Those who couldn't move were simply executed and burned.

The Priestess of the Blue Flame calmly returned to the head of the line and continued walking.

By the time dusk fell, after half a day's march, she finally arrived at Kelton.

"Stop right there!"

The soldiers standing guard were stunned at the sight of dozens of men, all tied together and being led by a lone woman. Still, they dutifully did as they were trained.

"W-Who goes there?"

The woman lifted her black robe slightly, revealing the priest's vestments underneath. The soldier let out a sigh of relief and asked:

"You're a priestess of the Holy Flame Church, I see. Could you tell us who these men are, and why they're bound like this?"

The Blue Flame Priestess glanced back, then lightly poked the man at the front of the group with her sword sheath. The man quickly shouted at the top of his lungs:

"W-We are the Snowbear Bandits!"

Satisfied with his answer, the woman smiled and said to the soldier:

"There you have it."

The Snowbear Bandits were infamous; there was even a bounty on their leader's head. As the soldier studied the man who had shouted, he realized he was looking at none other than Bilke the Snowbear, the leader himself. It was hard to believe this famously savage man was now so meek.

"Um..."

The woman's soft voice snapped the soldier back to attention.

"Ah, yes. Are you planning to hand these bandits over to us?"

She nodded slowly.

"Yes. It's a bit too many for me to handle alone."

'A bit' was an understatement, but the soldier tactfully kept that to himself.

"Understood. But, Priestess, I must inform you of something."

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"Yes?"

"The man at the front has a bounty on his head. However, since Lord Kelton, who issued the bounty, has passed away, it'll take about a day for you to claim the reward."

The woman blinked her large eyes and asked:

"Lord Kelton has passed away?"

"Yes. Because of a rampage by the worshippers of the Evil God, the lord and all the citizens of Kelton were killed."

Hearing this dreadful news, the woman's face hardened.

"What happened to the worshippers of the Evil God?"

The soldier answered, his voice filled with excitement.

"The Evil God's worshippers and the monsters they created were all slain by the Adversary of the Evil God, Priest Marhnak! After sustaining noble wounds in that battle, Priest Marhnak was unconscious for ten days, but just this morning, he finally awoke!"

Adversary of the Evil God—Marhnak? The woman thought for a moment and realized that the demon slayer of Guis, the one who had taken down a demon with a single sword, was also named Marhnak.

"Would it be possible for me to meet the Adversary of the Evil God?"

The soldier grinned broadly and said:

"Of course! Right now, Priest Marhnak is sharing drinks and conversation with other priests!"

"Hahaha! Long live Marhnak, Adversary of the Evil God!!!"

As the muscle-bound priest of the Restoration Church raised his enormous mug high, dozens of other priests followed suit and shouted in unison.

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

The Restoration Church priest gulped down his beer—enough to fill his massive mug—without pausing to breathe.

Thud!

He slammed the empty mug down on the table and bellowed:

"Another round! Hahaha!"

I sipped the drink in my hand, watching the scene. As expected, it tasted like nothing at all.

What had begun as a meeting to exchange information about the Evil God's worshippers I had dealt with had quickly devolved into a drinking party once my story was done. The priests of the Restoration Church had clearly been waiting for this excuse.

Frankly, it felt like all the praise for me was just a pretext—they simply needed an excuse to throw a wild party.

"Long live Marhnak, Adversary of the Evil God!!!"

'Murder!!!'

Mother seemed overjoyed by my praise. Every time the priests sang my praises, she would gleefully shout, "Marnak, the adversary of the Evil God!" in an excited voice.

I sighed, pressing down gently on my mother's writhing hand.

"Haa..."

The dozens of priests who were currently sharing drinks were friendly only because they didn't know my true identity. If they ever learned I was a priest of corruption, they wouldn't hesitate to draw their weapons and hack me to pieces.

Honestly, I wanted to keep my interactions with priests to a minimum. The less I met them, the lower the chances of being exposed. It was obvious.

I would have avoided this gathering if I could, but I was the only witness to the Evil God's worshippers, so I had no choice but to attend.

"Are you feeling unwell? Perhaps it was too much to expect someone who woke up after ten days to join a drinking party," Carmen said with concern.

Smiling faintly, I replied. His timing was perfect, just when I needed an excuse to leave. Long live Carmen.

I made myself look as gaunt and sickly as possible and answered in a low voice, "As you said, I'm feeling a little unwell."

Carmen looked over at the rowdy priests and whispered to me, "You can slip away quietly. If anyone comes looking for you, I'll handle it."

I nodded in gratitude and quietly slipped away from the gathering. As I returned to Carmen's tent, bracing against the chilly wind, a man awaited me.

A demon, chuckling, greeted me.

"A priest of the Evil God being praised by priests... it's too amusing a sight to keep to myself."

I dragged a chair over and collapsed into it. Dealing with priests always left me unconsciously tense, making me extremely tired.

"A demon wandering among priests without fear is no less impressive," I replied.

"Hahaha! Is that so? Well, I suppose it could be seen that way," he said.

"So why did you come personally?" I asked.

None of the other demon lords had come to Kelton in person — there was no reason for them to.

The demon smiled brightly and answered, "I heard that the great Priest Marnak captured the Evil God's worshippers so spectacularly that I had to come and hear the story firsthand! You might be tired of repeating it to the priests, but could you indulge me just once more?"

I didn't mind. Glancing at the demon's eager face, I agreed.

"Well, it's nothing special..."

Unlike with the priests, I told the demon the whole story truthfully, without a single lie. He laughed, his face animated with all manner of emotions.

"What a delightfully amusing tale! Hahaha! If I weren't trapped in this form, I'd follow you around like a loyal dog!" he said.

Honestly, I quite liked this demon. Traveling with him would surely be a lot of fun.

"I feel the same way," I said.

After laughing for a while, the demon's expression turned more serious.

"Since you shared such an entertaining story, I can't leave without repaying you. I actually have some news for you."

News?

"What is it?"

The demon glanced around and whispered quietly, "A priestess of the Holy Fire Church — Qingyan, who looks fantastic with her blue hair — is wandering around holding a crude drawing, searching for you."

At that moment, a chill ran down my spine. Crap.

"D-Does she know I'm alive?" I stuttered, unable to hide my panic.

The demon shook his head. "She doesn't seem certain that you're alive. But she definitely isn't giving up on finding you. In fact, I rushed here to Kelton to help you avoid meeting her."

I asked cautiously, "Is she already here in Kelton?"

"I saw her heading this way, but strangely, she hasn't arrived yet. Maybe she met an untimely death on the road?" the demon joked.

No way. If she was coming here, I had only one choice.

I had to leave Kelton tonight with Carmen.

I decided to ask the demon for a favor — to help us escape in the dead of night.

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

The demon grinned brightly and said, "I was just getting bored. I'll help you."

That night, with the demon's help, I left Kelton with a drunken Carmen in tow.

Staying in Kelton with even the slightest chance of encountering her would have been pure madness.

After all, she was the strongest human I knew — the one with four and a half fingers.

Later that night, Qingyan, who arrived late and was sipping her drink at the gathering, asked a Restoration Church priest beside her:

"Do you know where Priest Marnak, the Adversary of the Evil God, is?"

The priest, a massive man, flexed and roared, "Long live Marnak!!!"

Realizing she likely wouldn't meet him that night, Qingyan decided to stay in Kelton until the next day to catch a glimpse of the Adversary of the Evil God. After all, she needed to collect the bounty anyway.

Of course, Marnak had already fled Kelton.

Two weeks passed after our escape from Kelton. We passed through two cities but never stayed more than a day in any of them. Thankfully, Carmen agreed with my reckless decisions, always smiling.

He was truly an excellent client and a great travel companion.

Continuing westward in search of Carmen's mother, we spotted a carriage in the distance, surrounded by about a dozen escorts.

Carmen squinted at it and said to me, "Marnak, I think that's the crest of House Irmel."

After two weeks of traveling together, Carmen had asked if he could speak more casually, and I had agreed, seeing as we were about the same age.

"You mean the Irmel of the Southern Grand Lords?"

I hadn't dropped my formal speech, just because it was more comfortable for me. We had both gotten used to the strange mixture of formality and informality between us.

"Yeah. That white camellia crest you see belongs to House Irmel."

Irmel was one of the four Grand Lord houses of the Northern Kingdom.

"Should we greet them?"

"No need. Since they aren't flying the lord's banner, it's probably just a branch family or a child of the main line. We can quietly pass by."

We decided to quietly walk past the carriage.

As we passed by, my sharp senses caught something.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

The muffled sound of someone struggling, mouth gagged.

I quickly whispered to Carmen, "House Irmel has a lot of money, right?"

"Loads..." Carmen replied.

I made up my mind.

"Someone inside that carriage is bound and gagged. Likely the rightful owner of the carriage."

Carmen's face hardened. Knowing his personality, I knew what he'd say.

He looked at me and said simply, "Can you help?"

"Of course," I replied.

With a determined look, Carmen shouted loudly, "We demand to see the person inside the carriage!"

There was no answer.

The guards surrounding the carriage immediately drew their swords in perfect unison. Their hostility confirmed our suspicions.

Now it was time to act, not talk. I drew my weapon, the "Butcher," and revved it up. The harsh metallic whir greeted me.

WHIRRRRRR!

The Butcher smashed through a steel sword and tore through the enemy's neck.

"Argh!"

An arrow shot from behind me pierced another enemy's eye, stopping him mid-charge. I swung the Butcher, splitting the wounded man in half.

Wiping the blood off my face, I smiled.

"Eight left"