The Priest Wants to Retire

EP.104 Those Who Could Not Become Saints (4)

”····What is your purpose?”

It was a reasonable question.

Now that the identity of the woman who suddenly attacked her was somewhat clarified, Beltein’s only task left was to uncover her hidden intentions.

Could she really ask her a question now?

Even if she did, would the woman in front of her answer willingly?

A deep anguish briefly swept through Beltein’s mind, but without any decent options available, she could only tremble her dry lips.

”Ehh~? We meet after so long, and you start off like this? How about we talk about our love lives instead? It’s the first time I’ve seen your face since the ‘Baptism’, and sticking to stiff words is just too bleak~”

”····!

Beltein’s complexion turned pale instantly.

Baptism.

Just hearing that short word made her steady breathing visibly falter, showing the immense power that phrase held over her.

A dozen children gathered in a wide, pure white room, along with unfamiliar men writing something down, watching them closely.

The holy sigil etched on the cold floor. In the middle, a peer girl dragged out, not understanding anything.

Eventually.

With someone’s strong voice shouting ‘Start’, the sigil suddenly glowed.

A scream that could tear through the ears.

Blood fluttering through the room.

And.

‘I’ll go first····! Over you, sister!’

The back of a small, fragile girl standing in front of her.

That hellish torment became a nightmare blooming in her mind simply by closing her eyes.

A nail that couldn’t be pulled from Beltein’s mind.

”Ugh!”

”Haha, what’s wrong? Are you feeling nauseous?”

Beltein, desperately covering her mouth with one hand, collapsed weakly onto the floor, while the woman’s cheap mockery weighed her down once more.

But right now, as she struggled to find her breath like a person about to hyperventilate, she had no room to retort against such humiliating words.

How long had it been?

While the woman enjoyed Beltein’s pitiable state hunched over on the floor, she leisurely spoke.

”Oh right, how’s Welna doing?”

”!?”

The woman’s playful remark echoed in Beltein’s mind just as the air in the office froze solid.

”Wow, who would have thought that crybaby Welna would become a saint before all of us? The hopeless Welna, who was always crying, just because a butterfly landed on her head. Truly, you never know what the future holds. I’m really envious, you know—”

Bang!

The stacks of paperwork piled high collapsed, hit by something swift, and the light that had been dispelling the darkness of the office flickered and went out amidst the commotion.

”If I just even touch Welna with a fingertip····. No matter what it takes, even if it means selling my soul to a demon, I will definitely kill you····.”

”Haha, still sticking up for your little sister, huh?♪”

It happened in an instant.

Beltein, who had been collapsed on the floor just moments ago, charged at the woman in front of her, climbing on top of her and jabbing her fountain pen at her bronze neck.

”Yes, this is how it should be! This is the least I can do for the fun of teasing! It’s a world of difference from our kids who stand there blankly even when I cut off a fingertip without any reaction!”

But despite having a sharp object pressing against her artery, the woman’s composed demeanor showed no signs of shaken.

Her face, perfectly visible even in the thick darkness, seemed like someone enjoying the current situation.

Was this arrogance showing that she could suppress someone as weak as Beltein at any given moment?

While Beltein tried to propose the most plausible hypothesis floating in her confused mind, she shook her head in denial.

No. This woman seemed to be of no concern.

Even if her throat pierced by the dull metal at that moment, the woman would certainly smile brightly through the hole in her throat.

The series of attitudes displayed by the woman before her was unequivocally beyond the normal range of comprehension.

”Didn’t you ask what my purpose was?”

”Ugh!”

Chwa-reul-leug!

Chains that appeared out of thin air tightly ensnared Beltein’s body, which was on top of the woman.

It was this that interrupted Beltein’s lethal assault.

Instantly, the tables had turned. No, that was a misjudgment.

Beltein re-confirmed that she hadn’t held the reins in her conversation with this woman and would never hold them in the future.

”Huff!”

As the chains entwined around Beltein’s curved form, causing her pain, every time they pressed close, a moan of pain slipped from her lips.

Using that sound as a prelude, the woman continued her speech.

”Naturally, it’s revenge♪.”

With Beltein atop her with arms tangled in the air, the woman cheerfully lifted Beltein’s vulnerable chin with her index finger and smiled brightly.

”Even now, if I close my eyes, it clearly comes to mind. How they forcefully poured this into us while we resisted, crying, refusing to accept. When we were busy fighting to become saints, only to beg to be sent home when the time came. I distinctly remember one of them kicking when we were all crying. Honestly, I wet myself back then, you know? Haha. Thankfully, no one noticed with all the blood gushing from every hole I had.”

Her demeanor was one of nostalgic reminiscence.

Gently caressing the stigmata located on her abdomen, the woman, with her eyes gently closed, was lost in unsettling thoughts that defied description.

”I thought I was surely dead, you know? My body torn to shreds, blood boiling, feeling like all my insides were burning. When I was barely breathing, half my body reduced to ash, I thought that was it for me. But guess what? When I opened my eyes, I found out I was still alive. Yes, I was alive.”

As the woman’s lively expressions gradually turned indifferent, the air in the office, now infused with unsettling thoughts, began to lose warmth as well.

”We were alive.”

”W, we!? Ugh!”

A rough wave of killing intent rippled from the woman.

The chains that synchronized with that energy tightened their grip on Beltein, further imprinting a light wound on her pale cheek.

”Ah, sorry? Did I go too far?”

”Ugh!”

The woman carefully licked the blood flowing from Beltein’s cheek and savored it in her mouth.

”Mmm~♡”

”Guh, guh!”

Beltein couldn’t move an inch.

She was sure this was not merely due to the chains entwined all over her body.

Like a frog thrown before a snake, she found her body stiffening up against her will.

In the face of this overwhelming pressure, she felt utterly powerless, unable to do anything but chew on her sense of helplessness.

”Ah! Just to let you know, even though we survived, very few of us are in good shape? Out of those, there are only a handful we can have a proper conversation with, and I’m the oldest, but honestly, it’s exhausting. I was always the cutesy baby raised with care by my brothers. Always taken care of wherever I went! Never even had to get my hands dirty! Always had my computer given o····!”

”····?”

A twitch.

The woman’s words, which flowed like a river, abruptly cut off, and sensing something ominous in the noticeably shifted atmosphere, Beltein instinctively held her breath.

‘Computer····?’

Even the knowledgeable Beltein had never heard such a strange term in her life.

Code? Spell? Magic?

No, she had been told that it had a concrete form and limited usage since it was something transferred, so Beltein guessed it must be some object.

”No. This is wrong. This isn’t my memory. Go away. Disappear. Go away! No! No! No!! No!!! No!!! No!!! No!!! No!!!”

With an unexpected change, Beltein’s consciousness stirred once more.

Suddenly grasping her head, the woman looked desperate, struggling to shake off something invading her mind.

That image of her trying to tear away what was overwhelming her head was nothing short of agony and endless desperation.

”Ah! Sorry! Where did I leave off?”

Just as the cheerful smile of the woman, once energized, returned to innocence without a trace of her earlier excitement, she prepared to continue her speech.

”Hero Punch──!!!”

Ku-gung─!!!

A thunderous voice comparable to the sound of nature’s calamities. A fierce impact shook the entire building.

Beltein’s eyes widened as she instinctively sensed what was causing this massive tremor.

”H-Hero!?”

”Come on····. I told you not to make a fuss····. I said if you failed, just to withdraw····. Sorry. We’ll continue this story later.”

”W-Wait!”

Beltein’s hurried interruption barely formed into a complete sentence before the clearly visible form of the woman had already faded like vapor.