Crawling Wait.
A priest of the Church of Purification.
Those who served the Scales of Retribution dressed exactly as one would imagine when thinking of a holy knight—heavy steel armor and massive war hammers.
In this game, priests of the Church of Purification were considered one of the easier classes to play.
At first glance, their thick armor seemed terribly cumbersome, but it was enchanted to become lighter the deeper the wearer's faith. Likewise, the seemingly normal-weight war hammer would grow heavier the moment it was swung at an enemy, empowered by the wielder's faith.
A class specialized in close-quarters combat.
The first to speak was a middle-aged priest of the Church of Purification, his face covered in scars, each one radiating a sense of seasoned experience.
Definitely someone to avoid facing head-on in battle.
"Devotion for a righteous life. I never expected to meet a priest of the Goddess of Preservation in a place like this. I am Orbus, the weight on the Scales of Retribution. These two behind me walk the same path—this large fellow is Cornu, and this is Petina."
At Orbus's introduction, the two priests behind him—Cornu and Petina—bowed politely.
"A pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure."
Petina was a woman of average build, with light brown bobbed hair that suited her well. But it wasn't Petina who caught my attention—it was Cornu.
He was a full head taller than an average adult male and had a single, large horn growing from the center of his forehead. Cornu was a member of the One-Horned race, rarely seen in the human-centric Northern Kingdoms.
"I'm honored to meet you as well."
Still, I didn't let my interest in the One-Horned show.
These people were capable of wielding holy attacks—lethal to a Priest of Corruption like me.
Sure, I could use items blessed by other gods and pass myself off as a priest of a different faith, but if they ever saw through my disguise, there would be no way to maintain friendly relations.
A class with a glaring weakness—one that could never hope to build trust with those who embodied that weakness. That was the nature of a Priest of Corruption.
Just as the awkward silence between me and the priests of the Church of Purification began to settle, Erin naturally jumped into the conversation.
"The priests from the Church of Purification will be staying here for a while, helping out with mercenary work—just like you, Priest Marnak!"
That was, at least, a bit of good news. It meant I'd still have opportunities to acquire the relic I was after.
So… should I start building some rapport?
Come to think of it, I didn't have to steal the relic. Just touching it would be enough for me to absorb its holy energy into the essence of Corruption—then I could return it afterward.
The problem was that the moment I absorbed the energy, some corrupt divinity would inevitably leak out.
I needed to pull off three steps:
1. Acquire the relic by any means.
2. Put distance between myself and the priests to safely absorb the essence.
3. Return the relic undetected.
It was a headache.
Straight up asking them, "Hey, can I hold your holy relic for a sec?" would get me treated like a lunatic. Obviously.
Another theft? At this point, I was less a Priest of Corruption and more like a Thief of Corruption.
"Priest Marnak?"
I'd been thinking too long. The scarred man, Orbus, studied my face closely.
"It seems we have other matters to attend to shortly, so we'll go drop off our luggage for now. Let's save the heart-to-heart for another time."
Yeah. I needed to refine my plan anyway. I smiled and replied,
"I look forward to our next meeting."
The three priests bowed and naturally made their way toward the inner area of the mercenary guild.
Inner area?
As if she'd read my mind, Erin spoke up while watching the priests walk away.
"They'll be staying here at the guild while they're in town."
"Is that really okay?"
"Our guild usually offers lodgings to visiting priests for a small fee. It's part of the service we provide."
No way…
"Then, when you let me stay here last night…?"
Erin gave a bright little smile.
"Yes! Of course, it was because you're a priest!"
A winter wind from outside suddenly blew through the small warmth in my heart. Right. Of course it was.
Her bright, greenish eyes blinked at me.
"Wait—did you think I let you stay because I was interested in you?"
"Absolutely not."
That was completely correct. I had been sure this lovely young woman was harboring mischievous affections for me. Like a pencil—sharp and direct.
"But actually… I was interested in you. So I guess you were kind of right."
"...Sorry, what?"
Erin glanced around cautiously, then leaned in close and whispered in my ear. Her warm breath tickled.
"A large shipment of food is expected to arrive tomorrow night. I was wondering… could you perhaps cast a blessing of preservation on them to keep them from spoiling too quickly?"
I pulled back slightly and rubbed my ear.
"Why are you whispering that into my ear?"
She just grinned mischievously like a little rascal.
"Guess why?"
That teasing tone made my chest pocket start writhing violently.
'Murder! Murder! Murder! Murder! Murder!'
I quickly grabbed at my chest and forced a serene smile.
"A blessing to prevent spoilage is no trouble at all. In exchange, would it be alright if I stayed at the mercenary guild a while longer?"
Casting a simple blessing of corruption without being noticed by the priests of the Order of Edification was an easy task for me.
"If you're staying, then I'd be happy!"
Happy? Happy?! I gently pressed down on my writhing chest pocket, trying to act nonchalant.
"Then I'll humbly accept your hospitality for a few more days."
"Yes! And if you get bored staying in your room, come out and keep me company. For now, I've got some work to get back to, so please excuse me!"
Erin scurried off to her desk, and I returned to my room with two gold coins in hand.
MURDER!!!
"Mother, that's quite enough. Could you please use kinder, more refined words?"
Murder! Murder! Murder!
"What are you talking about? I'm only staying here to recover the relic. I have not even a speck of wicked intent toward that charming red-haired girl. Truly."
Murder...?
"I mean it. You've watched over me for the past five years—you know better than anyone. There's only you for me, Mother. No one else. In fact, let me show you just how sincere I am!"
I began massaging the palm of Mother's hand, filled with earnest devotion.
S…a…l…v…
Corruption's Mother, seemingly about to speak again, ended up trailing off, lost in the bliss of my massage.
---
Once I had soothed Mother's temper and descended to the first floor of the mercenary guild, I found only one man sitting there—Cornu, the one-horned. He looked up and smiled warmly as our eyes met.
"Oh, if it isn't Priest Marnak!"
Feeling it was time to gather information about the relic, I naturally walked over and took a seat across from Cornu.
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon. It's truly a pleasure. But where are the other priests?"
"Priest Orbus and Petina went to pay their respects to Lord Guis."
"You didn't go with them?"
Cornu smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek.
"Well, considering my race… some of the lords in the Northern Kingdom tend to avoid my kind."
Indeed, many nobles in the Northern Kingdom—where humans were the majority—were uncomfortable even facing non-human races.
"Lord Tredon wouldn't care about that at all."
Erin, having approached unnoticed, pulled up a chair and joined the conversation. Cornu responded with a generous smile.
"Really? Then perhaps I should've gone with them after all."
"Lord Tredon may be stiff and cold in social matters, but he's an incredibly competent ruler. He also draws a sharp line between public and private matters. A lot of people in Guis are very loyal to him, so be careful if you ever feel like criticizing him."
"I'll keep that in mind."
I casually raised a question.
"Still, why did the other priests go to see the lord? There's no law that requires priests to greet the local noble when entering a city."
Which meant… they had another reason.
Cornu glanced at Erin before slowly opening up.
"In truth, we're on a pilgrimage, following a prophecy from ten years ago. Priest Orbus believes that the 'apocalypse wearing the shell of life' refers to a demon."
A demon? Shit. Things were taking a very bad turn. I kept my expression neutral and asked:
"Don't tell me… they suspect the lord is a demon?"
Cornu waved his large hand, chuckling.
"Goodness, no. If we really thought Lord Tredon was a demon, do you think I'd be sitting here so casually? Priest Orbus is simply conducting his usual check. He has a 'relic' that can discern whether someone is a demon or not."
Disaster. Absolute disaster. It couldn't get any worse.
If Tredon were a recently possessed demon, the two priests might've been able to deal with him. But he had survived forty winters in that body already.
If he sacrificed that body—one he'd grown deeply attached to—he could summon a part of his true form from across the world.
BOOM!
The ground shook. A massive explosion. Screams echoed through the city.
Cornu and I leapt out of the mercenary guild in a panic.
And we saw it.
A piece of the demon, descended into this world, shattering the lord's mansion.
GRAAAAAAAAAH!
Its body was wrapped in thick, jet-black hide that no blade could pierce, and the rows of sharp teeth inside its gaping maw were each the size of a human skull.
CRASH!
A gigantic hammer of pure white light slammed down on the demon's head.
It was the 'Hammer of Judgment,' one of the signature powers of the priests of the Order of Edification.
Cornu turned to me, his face urgent.
"We have to help!"
I stared at the massive, black crocodile-shaped demon rampaging in the distance, and said:
"Go ahead. I'll follow shortly."
While the three priests held the demon at bay, I had something else to do.