The Half-Puny Priest Hopes To Retire

184 – Trojan Horse

The most promising priest in the current system. Lovell Wright.

His morning was unusually early compared to others.

As soon as his eyes open, he lightly relieves the fatigue of his body by stretching, then reads the newspaper for a while while sipping his own coffee without asking for help from an attendant.

A time of prayer when all the sleep remaining in the body has run away.

It has been relatively recently that Lovell has been able to stop missing even a single day of morning prayer, something that most elderly priests neglect.

It was around that time that he, who was sometimes criticized for being an arrogant genius and filled with envy and jealousy, came to be called a model priest with both ability and character.

”I hope that he will find peace and well-being on his journey… ”

It’s been a long time since the sacred chanting, without any disturbance, blends in without hesitation with the quiet air unique to dawn.

Knock.

The sound of someone knocking disturbed the faithful silence.

”Excuse me. Priest Lovell. I have something to tell you urgently… Sorry. You’ve been praying for a while in the morning.”

”It’s okay. I have just finished praying. What’s wrong?”

The identity of the unfamiliar guest who visited Lovell’s room early in the morning was Sister Marianne.

His dark face clearly showed signs of deep fatigue.

It was inevitable.

After Beltane joined her hero party, she lost her focus and the workload within the monastery increased exponentially, causing not only her but all the priests of her monastery to suffer from overwork.

No matter how capable a predecessor is, it is only natural for successors to experience disaster.

The vacancy of Beltane, who single-handedly handled tasks that should have been handled by dozens of people, was far beyond what a single criminal could handle.

Management of donations. Prayer petitions from high-ranking officials. Holy water production. Order of maiden shares. Select clergy to join the adventurer guild. Reconstruction of a neglected church. And so on.

The fact that the clerical processes within the monastery, which would have been paralyzed long ago and would have been inconvenient even if they had already been paralyzed, were now running smoothly was also thanks to the various business advice that Beltane sent Marianne in letters whenever he had time.

Just this week, about twenty priests left the monastery because they were tired of the workload.

These days, the number of workers, which seems to be insufficient despite the increase, is decreasing by the minute.

Even though I sent several letters to the Vatican requesting to improve the work situation of the clergy in the monastery, the only response I received was the irresponsible response that this was also God’s will.

This must be what the sailors left behind on a shipwreck with a broken sail must feel like.

Although they did not say it out loud, everyone working at the monastery was saying something similar to that.

”The other day, a cult member again requested a personal meeting with Priest Lovell. This time too, he is holding out that he will never open his mouth unless it is Priest Lovell, who has been rumored to have a relationship like that of sworn brothers.”

”All right. Please leave it to me.”

”Thank you…”

When Lovell smiled and readily accepted the offer, she let out a sigh of relief, as if a day had passed.

The saint’s exclusive guardian priest and the hero party priest. Lazy’s Lowville.

Nowadays, it is rare to find a person whose name has not been heard, and his status has long since spread beyond the capital and throughout the islands.

If asked to name the person who benefited the most from such a phenomenon, it was clear that everyone would bring up Lovell’s name.

Long before the fact that Raiges was a member of the hero party was made public, his eccentricity of claiming to be Raigis’ right-hand man and showing his face at all kinds of events was now seen as a foresight that foresaw the future.

The fact that several of his fiancées, who had demanded that Lovell break off the marriage, claiming that he had clearly gone crazy, belatedly grabbed him by the leg of his pants and clung to him, was reported in major newspapers.

However, Lovell himself did not show any signs of trying to take advantage of his soaring position.

A connection with the hero of the century who is the saint’s exclusive servant and a member of the hero party.

Despite the pressure from those around him to somehow take advantage of that tasty bait, he seemed to be perfectly satisfied with the fact that his existence was of benefit to the Rayges.

Morning prayer has already become a daily routine.

That also wasn’t actually directed at the main god.

”Isn’t the picture a little bigger than yesterday…?”

”Ah! Did you notice! In fact, just yesterday we invited a famous artist to make the painting a little bigger!”

”Ah…”

Marianne’s regretful gaze was directed at a painting that took up an entire wall.

Lazys, who covered himself only with a light cloth, was heading home from the sky, being hugged by baby angels.

A sublime and suspicious mural depicting Lovell, who is worshiping it with tears in his eyes, reaching out his hand in sorrow toward the sky.

I couldn’t close my mouth whenever I saw the magnificence of the fiancé’s photo on the bedside, which looked like nothing more than a prop.

”It is a bit disappointing that we were not able to perfectly capture the holiness of the Lages Priest, but it would be quite an achievement to be able to recreate, even to a small extent, his brilliance with the dexterity of a mere human being. It’s unfortunate, but I decided to be satisfied with this level.”

”Ah, yes…”

This man. He probably had a screw missing from his head.

Except for his somewhat narcissistic temperament and bad manners with women, he was a prosperous adult, but how did he end up ruined to this point?

After his consciousness of her, which had fallen into a coma after accidentally touching her saint, was restored by Priest Raiges, Marianne secretly felt afraid of the transformation of Lovell, who had become his fanatic of her of.

”The events of that day seem as vivid as if they were yesterday! In the darkness where neither sound nor light can reach! A ray of light that guided my soul, which had been abandoned for several months! If it weren’t for Priest Rayges, I would still be alone in that dark space, contemplating my loneliness! Is it so! The brilliance is as if it came down from the sky…”

It’s starting again.

Once Lovell’s speech lasted three to four hours, Marianne listened with one ear and passed it on with the other.

◈◈◈

”You’re a little late. Did anything interesting happen?”

”Haha, I was just having a quick chat…”

A conversation that at first glance seems like a couple enjoying an intimate meeting.

However, the place where the conversation took place was not in the underworld of gracious sunlight, but in a dark basement.

A place that is considered a kind of urban legend among the island’s citizens.

The underground torture chamber of the monastery.

No matter how much of a pagan rebels against God’s will, there are only a handful of high-ranking clergy who know of the existence of this place, which directly contradicts the Vatican’s claim of humane treatment.

”Leaving aside the introduction, please tell me the main point. What on earth do you have to tell me? Mr. Liza?”

Lovell forced the corners of his mouth that were about to stiffen from tension to pretend to be relaxed.

The opponent was a first-class dangerous molecule who attempted to assassinate a warrior known as the strongest human being, and was fully equipped to do so.

Lovell could not easily trust either the layers of restraints wrapped around her body or the heavy iron bars that stood between her and himself.

Standing in this heavily guarded space where an indescribable ominousness prevailed like a thick fog, even the slightest movement, such as twitching her fingers or blinking her eyes, was beyond her strength.

”Oh my, I was so excited because I thought we could tell the story of the savior together for the first time in a while. It’s such a pity… We are the savior. No, I’m an ardent follower of Priest Rayges.”

”····”

How can you stay so calm?

Lovell suddenly broke out in a cold sweat as he held on to her incessantly twitching shoulders.

According to the information Lovell received, she said that if she were an ordinary person, she had been subjected to such torture that she would have skipped meals just by hearing the story.

It was just yesterday that her advisor, who was in charge of torturing her, went crazy for unknown reasons.

That means that until just yesterday, she had been subjected to all kinds of terrible tricks that made her physically and mentally unusable.

Lovell has seen it countless times. She speaks of pitiful beings who have been tortured so cruelly that their minds and bodies have been reduced to rags.

The sight of a person who was naturally broken like that calmly talking to himself as if he were having a normal everyday conversation was just scary.

If it weren’t for the sense of duty that came from her reverence for the Reijis, it was clear that Robel would have run away from this spot right now.

”We must protect public and private life. Of course it is nice to discuss the excellence of Priest Raiges, but if that is really all you want to tell me, then, if you will excuse me, I will leave. Mr. Liza.”

”Ha, I understand… I will teach you especially to Priest Lovell… Ah, what a shame…”

Did it come over? Did he come over?

The more she mixed her words, the more intense they became, and in the midst of the ominous clouds of war, she rang out her throat.

”Thanks to you, I’ve had fun so far. I plan to give everyone involved in the Holy See the most painful ending possible, but I will make a special exception for you.”

”What is that…?”

Kwasik.

It was right then.

The sharp chain that appeared from a blind spot pierced Lovell’s abdomen mercilessly.