Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Shadowed Sins
Guilty was quite middle-aged.
His appearance resembles that of a famous stage actor who retired and disappeared several years ago, and he is clearly recognizable even from a distance.
Vikir recognized him at first sight.
"It's the 10th or 9th time!"
The face may be different, but the evil essence inside is the same.
The stench that filled his nose was unmistakably demonic, weaker than before his regression, but still quite intimidating.
There was also another factor that boosted Vikir's confidence.
There were four shadows walking around Guilty.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.
A tall, sturdy man wearing a suit was walking right behind Quilty. He wore a black bag over his face.
He wears a golden name plate with the word "Ephebo" engraved on his chest.
Two lanky men, also in suits, are walking on either side of Guilty with black bags over their faces.
The words "pedo" and "hebe" are engraved on the breastplate.
A shadow finally walks in front of Guilty.
The shadow in front of her was a woman.
She was lithe and athletic, and her face was covered with a black bag.
The name tag on her chest said "Geront.".
3 men, 1 woman.
Vikir's attention was drawn to the man walking behind Guilty.
"Epebo, that must be him."
Vikir knew him well.
I'd been with him once before, on an assassination mission.
I'd gotten so close, only to lose it when one of the structures self-destructed.
I bent a steel beam and impaled it all the way through its torso, and it ripped it off and ran away.
'It was an undead of the Advanced Graduator class. It used the blunt techniques of the Quorvadis, so it was tricky to deal with.
Vikir held his breath as he waited for Guilty to arrive.
Finally, Guilty led his four shadows over the wall where Vikir was hiding.
Please wait.
[...]
Ephebo tilted his head to the side for a moment.
I feel like I smell something.
Vikir stiffened and stuck to the wall.
It's hidden in a lonely gap between walls, in the shadow of a cupboard.
[...]
Ephebo turned his head a little further away, towards Vikir's hiding place.
Just then.
"Well, well."
Ephebo's head returned to its original position at Guilty's voice from the front.
Guilty grabbed the hand of the fat man, who appeared earlier with a humanized smile.
The fat man smiled guiltily.
``I'm too busy to see you.''
``Well, these days, there are a lot of nobles who want to meet me to atone for their crimes.''
``Me too, hehe. For example...
The fat man turned to Guilty and said in a low voice,
``I'd like to buy an indulgence.''
``How much does an indulgence cost?''
"'1 Billion Gold.'
Guilty answered with a smile.
"One billion gold—that's enough compensation for any crime. Have you killed anyone recently?"
"Hey, hey, hey, no, it's not that big of a deal; I have a little one that I bought a while ago. There's a girl; she's savage, so it's a little rude, and then I spoiled her a little; she couldn't." "I couldn't stand it and ran away."
"Oh, so the slave is spoiled.
``That's right. Maybe it's because there's been a crackdown on illegal slavery lately, or maybe it's because the products are being sold without warranty. Anyway, that's why I took my friends. I disciplined her a bit on the way to get her, but it didn't last long as she kept running away, and she just freaked out and died. Are you going to buy yourself a billion gold worth of immunity just by killing a slave?"
"Unfortunately, no. On the way back from killing a slave, I burned down a village I encountered at a mountain pass out of frustration. I think I baked about 30 people.''
``Hahaha, then 500 million gold is enough, right?''
``Hehehe, the remaining 500 million gold is like a 'chip' to me. Me.
And they laughed coldly at each other.
Guilty nodded and said,.
"That's a good idea," Guilty said. "Runeism tolerates human failure. As long as we are humans, we are bound to make mistakes and sins. Therefore, we are willing to pay the price.""Yes, no matter what sins we commit. , you can atone for them." When your earthly coin hits the sacrificial plate, your soul passes from hell to heaven. This has been recognized by Pope Humbert L. Quovadis, a former cardinal of the Old Order of Runes. "
Guilty and Fat Noble at the end of the hole, give and take.
Ephebo, Fedor, Hebe, and Geront chased Guilty out of sight.
... Meanwhile, Vikir was listening to the entire conversation.
His sense of smell was numbed by the disgusting smell of the corpse that Guilty had left in the hallway just moments ago.
"I'm suffocating."
Well then.
A cold voice came from under Vikir's chin.
"Who wouldn't want to suffocate?"
Only then did Vikir think he had failed and back away.
Dolores stared at him, her face cold.
Dolores just came out of the gap in the wall, looked very dissatisfied, and accused Vikir.
"What did you just do?"
Vikir was speechless.
He could not tell the truth about the existence of the devil.
...?
Seeing that Vikir was silent, Dolores seemed to have misunderstood.
"Do you think I'll be grateful for this useless thought?"
"...?"
What is it again? Vikir looked up, confused.
Then Dolores said:.
``You think I'm offending the author, Guilty!'' But that's not the case. Don't be afraid to face him! Why are you treating me like a coward!?''
Vikiel suddenly realized what Dolores had misunderstood.
She couldn't understand why Vikil hugged her and hid between the walls.
She thought Vikil was trying to keep Dolores away from Guilty or something.
Why was Dolores so uncomfortable meeting Guilty?
The answer was in a newspaper article I read recently.
[Who is Nighthound, the villain who terrorized the imperial capital?]
March 0, yesterday morning. A mysterious creature appeared and ravaged the 00 nursery school.
[The Faithful House in Danger, is it okay as it is!?]
Meanwhile, within the Quovadis family, the Old and New Order factions are currently at odds.
Some have criticized the family for being slow to respond to the terrorist crisis due to internal strife.
[Old Order vs. New Order: Quovadis squabbling over terrorists!?]
The battle between the Old Order and the New Order is as old as time, and the two factions have been at odds over whether or not the sale of "immunity charms" and "indulgence charms" by the denomination is justified.
[Is the "Night Hound" a real villain?]
Whether this is a travesty created by the Old and New Orders or the manifestation of a truly rare evil, it remains to be seen. ...
There are two factions within the Quovadis of the Faithful.
The Old Order faction, led by Cardinal Humbert, and the New Order faction, led by Cardinal Martin Luther.
The Old Order and New Order factions differed in many ways, but one of the biggest differences was the acceptance or rejection of indulgences.
An indulgence was a certificate that excused a person from a sin, a sort of talisman.
The idea was that you had to pay a ransom equal to the weight of your sin to offset it.
The Rune religion of the Old Order sold indulgences, raised vast sums of money, and built a powerful organization.
These were mainly older, high-ranking monks.
On the other hand, the new order criticized the old order system and attempted to reform it.
A young, junior clergyman was a member of the New Order faction.
St. Dolores was a prominent figure in the New Order, known as the "Awakened Young Bloods."
She has followed a very different path from her father, Cardinal Humbert, her old-order godfather, and is known to have a somewhat rocky relationship with his daughter. Ta.
The guinea pig who walked down the hallway was a typical figure of the old order.
His family, Indulgentia, was also one of the Old Order's most powerful pillars.
Therefore, it is easy to imagine that St. Dolores and Guilty, the director of the orphanage, do not get along very well.
In fact, Guilty said something very terrible to Dolores just now.
``Even if you offend a saint, you can repent by paying an offering.''
In retrospect, Guilty may have thought Dolores was hiding between the walls.
No, he should have known.
Is that the reason?
Dolores was so angry that tears welled up in his eyes.
Her normally gentle voice trembled with her emotions.
"This kindness is just an inconvenience; my family is mine! You say that often...!"
Besides, Dolores doesn't like Vikiel at all. had . problems at school.
To them, Vikiel was a lazy, careless, late worker, a lazy brat with a lazy outlook on life, and a rude brat who didn't know much about nighthounds.
Dolores exploded with stress and frustration at the same time. The embarrassment of having her family's inner affairs exposed to an outsider, the self-loathing that makes her want to hide in fear when she sees Guilty even for a moment, her delicate feelings towards the nighthound that upset her family, and everything else.
"You're the worst!"
She endured, but she was still young and immature.
With that, Dolores turned her back on Vikir and disappeared into the hallway.
"..."
When she was gone, Vikil was alone.
"What do you mean?"
It didn't matter that the saint was angry now.
Sure enough, thanks to Dolores' distraction, Guilty and Ephebo passed by Vikir without a second glance.
In many ways, this is a blessing.
Vikir immediately started chasing Guilty.
Since it was daytime, his mask was off, but his eyes were already glowing an eerie blood red.
The night dog bared its teeth.
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