Chapter 125 : Chapter 125
Chapter 125 : Gluttony
The priest was in a rush.
To him, who had lived a life with no reason to encounter danger, this incident was no different from a disaster.
The embers of calamity, which began when the holy object that used to obediently devour sacrifices at appointed times suddenly ate two knights of the Temple, instantly grew into a conflagration.
For some reason, the holy object had been devouring people who entered the underground of the Temple at random, and it was only today that it finally stopped its gluttony.
In a situation where it was unknown when the holy object might go on a rampage again, there was no way that Jing and Ria, who were dallying and whispering to each other, would look favorable to him.
“Are you saying you won't listen to my command right now?”
Ria's body stiffened at the priest's warning, which was like a threat.
“This woman is someone who has absolutely nothing to do with us.”
Ria gazed blankly at the back of Jing, who stood in front of her.
One thing was certain in the midst of the confusion: the fact that he was trying to protect her.
Despite knowing all that, Ria did not know what she should do.
If she followed the priest's words, she had to betray Jing, and in order to help Jing, she had to become a criminal.
While Ria was unable to open her mouth hastily, it was Jing who became the priest's next target, as he didn't care who the opponent was.
“That is for me to decide. Don't engage in useless resistance and follow quietly.”
He gestured arrogantly with his head to the knight guarding his side, as if he had no interest in whatever Jing said in the first place.
The sacrilegious thought of how priests could be so similar whether in the countryside or the city briefly crossed Ria's mind, but her attention was soon drawn to the unidentified object held in the hands of the knight who approached at the priest's command.
The object itself, wrapped in silk-like cloth, was strange, but what caught her eye more was the attitude of the two knights transporting it.
It was strange that two able-bodied men were attached to carry something merely long and thin, and both of them were terrified as if they might die at any moment.
Unlike Ria, who sensed unease, Jing was enduring the approaching fear.
The behavior of the priest, who stayed as far away from the sword as possible, and the knights who moved it upon receiving the command—all of them knew what 'that thing' could do to a person.
The fact that they made the trip all the way to this distant place must mean that something went wrong with the holy object.
Thinking that the assumption of an unexpected gluttony being the cause of that abnormality would be correct, Jing rolled his eyes and checked on Ria.
It would be better to escape even on a boat with a torn sail rather than being subjected to this.
Having made his judgment, Jing whispered to Ria again.
“Miss Ria, step back when I give the signal. Don't be flustered even if my actions become aggressive.”
“Wh-where are you telling me to step back to? Even if I run away from here……”
“You would become a fugitive.”
Jing knew well what that meant, as he already had experience being thrown into the same crossroads of choice.
He also knew that the choice was entirely one's own responsibility.
“But is that more important than losing your life?”
At Jing's question, Ria looked at him with a surprised face.
In fact, this was a gamble.
Normally, one would choose to give up their life rather than become a fugitive.
However, Ria was a person chosen by Ran.
Just as he himself had been chosen by him in the past, which remained vivid in his memory.
So, it was a gamble of whether Ria would also choose the other side rather than that obvious path this time.
Of course, he also didn't want to stand by and watch a promising young person die like this.
“……What about you, Jing?”
It wasn't clear whether she was postponing her choice or sincerely worrying about him, but at least she didn't treat him like a madman, so Jing smiled brightly.
“There are only three opponents.”
The ones to be wary of were not the knights the priest had brought.
It was the holy object held in their hands.
Stiffening his expression, Jing explained the worst-case scenario to Ria, who was looking at him anxiously, in a voice as nonchalant as possible.
“……And if, just in case, something happens to me, you must not look back and head for the island.”
To Ria, who immediately showed signs of refusal, Jing quietly raised his hand to stop her words.
“When you arrive, bring Ran-nim and Ratel back. That is the fastest way. Do you understand?”
At Jing's firm question, as if there were no other options, Ria had no choice but to nod her head.
“What are you muttering about!!”
Jing could no longer convey words to Ria because of the thunderous scolding from the priest, who was bothered by the two of them having a quiet conversation.
“Follow me without doing anything foolish.”
At the command given in a voice clearly showing signs of tension, Jing stepped forward, pushing Ria slightly back.
Fortunately, such a small movement of Jing's did not seem to enter the priest's sight.
The scrawny man's gaze was fixed only on the holy object in the knights' hands.
“Unwrap it.”
When he, hiding behind the remaining one knight, commanded while swallowing hard, the two knights also unwrapped the cloth with tense faces.
Soon after, the holy object revealed its appearance before everyone's eyes.
Jing was momentarily captivated by it, forgetting his own situation.
Glowing ethereally as if a thousand years of time were meaningless, it was emitting an attractive force through its entire blade that pulled people in.
What brought Jing back to his senses, as he was about to take a step forward unconsciously, was the reaction of the people around him.
The knights, who carefully placed the cloth on the ground as if they were afraid even to touch it, quickly stepped back.
Reproaching himself for losing his soul despite knowing the nature of their fear, Jing pushed Ria toward the direction of the boat.
“Don't dawdle and go set the boat afloat!!”
After a brief moment of being flustered by his sudden rough speech, Ria ran backward as if bouncing.
Perhaps they didn't expect someone to resist against a priest and knights of the Temple, and especially to run away openly, as all three knights were slow to react.
Or it could be that Jing was too fast.
Jing, who sprang forward in an instant, grabbed the neck of one knight who was trying to draw his sword and slammed him to the ground.
While he, who fell with a clatter, collapsed without even being able to scream, the remaining two calmly swung their swords toward Jing.
“You idiots!! You should protect me first!!”
The sound of the terrified priest screaming rang out, but it didn't mean much.
Because both the one whose wrist was caught by Jing and the last one whose knee was kicked also ended up falling to the ground soon after.
The priest's mouth fell open at the sight of an old man who had won a small martial arts competition in the countryside taking down three knights in an instant.
“Y-you, what kind of fellow are you? Do you think you can be safe after daring to do such a thing?!”
“I don't think I would be safe even if I followed you as I am.”
Jing answered calmly and turned his back just like that.
Tearing his gaze away from Sierra's sword, which was glowing exactly as the knights had placed it on the ground.
He heard the irritated priest shouting something from behind, but Jing did not look back.
His instinct was telling him that he had to get away from the holy object as quickly as possible.
By the river, he saw Ria clumsily setting the boat afloat.
However, as if the sail that had been soaked in water wouldn't unfold easily, it couldn't gain much speed.
'It won't be of much use, but…….'
Jing reached out his hand.
Was it just his imagination?
Whether the direction of the wind followed along just in time, the sail that had been stuck together from being wet slowly regained its shape.
It was at that moment.
Jing realized that his choice was a mistake.
But as always, time that has once passed does not return and a choice likewise cannot be taken back.
“Kyaaaaaah!!!”
Ria's high-pitched scream and her horrified face entered his sight.
This time, Jing made a choice he wouldn't regret.
Rather than turning back to pointlessly confirm the source of fear, he chose to push Ria out of the boat.
“Jing!!!”
“Go to the island and bring Ran-nim and Ratel back. And……”
He conveyed his request to Ria, who was falling blankly below the boat.
Ria reached out her hand toward him, but Jing did not take Ria's hand.
This time too, he chose to leave final words instead of grabbing Ria's hand.
“Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a glorious death. This is merely a murder.”
Next moment, feeling the surroundings completely blackout, Ria disappeared from Jing's sight.
It wasn't just Ria.
Everything was nothing but darkness, as if the surroundings had been eaten by the shadows.
It felt like something like a brown ball of fur had caught in his sight just before being devoured by the darkness, but such a thing soon vanished from Jing's mind.
Because he had to fight against fear in a perfect darkness he was experiencing for the first time in his life.
***
Although the direction strayed just a little bit from the plan, anyway, the initial goal of herding the leader toward the food storage was halfway achieved.
Well, according to the somewhat excessively optimistic old saying that the beginning is half the battle.
“Kkwek, look carefully. Kkwek, as we go forward, steep paths will appear twice in total. Kkwek, if possible, I want to go around the path, but……”
I, who was explaining the structure of the cave by roughly drawing it on the floor again, looked at the half-wit who was closely examining the floor.
“Kkwek, come here and check this.”
“Kkweeeek?”
Whether he had already forgotten about almost dying at Ratel's hands, the half-wit approached me obediently.
The half-wit fellow had a very minimal usefulness.
He grasped the situation outside in his own way, and above all, he could express it in words.
“Kkwek, so the places where other orcs are swarming right now are here, and here, right?”
I asked again, pointing to the structure of the cave drawn on the floor.
“Kk, kkwek?”
The half-wit fellow tilted his head.
“Kkwek, head movements can be done horizontally or vertically, in straight lines. Kkwek, no need to put a rotation in.”
Unlike the expectation that he could help in grasping the location of the remaining orc packs in the cave since he had split off from the orc group, the half-wit fellow could not bring out an answer clearly.
“He can't recognize it because your drawing is too strange.”
Ratel, who was looking down at the floor from beside the half-wit, suddenly disparaged my drawing skills.
“Kkwek, what's strange about it? Kkwek, the strange thing must be your eyes.”
“The strange things are your aesthetic sense and your hands. You drew a rat wearing a hat and told us to look at what?”
This time, he cut down my drawing even more specifically.
“Kkwek, a rat. Kkwek, this is where we are, and these two places are the two entrances that were just blocked. Kkwek, why can't you recognize this?”
“……This was an entrance? Not an ear?”
Even at my kind explanation, Ratel gave me a sense of humiliation by looking back and forth between the floor and the two entrances.
The sense of insult was greater because his expression was truly serious rather than meant to mock me.
Between Ratel and me, who were looking at each other while being mutually shocked, the half-wit, who was sneakingly checking our moods, opened his mouth slightly.
“Kk, kkwek.”
I couldn't know exactly what he was saying, but seeing him nodding his head repeatedly, it was definitely an affirmation.
I looked down at the fellow who had unknowingly sided with Ratel and agreed that my drawing skills were crappy.
“Kk, kkwek?”
However, naturally, no malice was felt from him either.
“……Kkwek, it's nothing. Kkwek, then as expected, riding the cliff above to go to the food storage will be the safest path.”
I answered while pointing with my hand at another cave that probably looked like a rat's eye in Ratel's eyes.
“Kk, kkwek……!”
At my bitter answer, the half-wit fellow shook his head while diligently adding hand and foot gestures.
“Kkwek, I know there is no path leading this way.”
“Kkwek?”
When I waved my hand as if it were bothersome, the half-wit's eyes grew round.
“Kkwek, it's not that there wasn't one from the beginning.”
“Are you saying there was originally a path that went over this hat?”
I glared at the protagonist fellow who was specifically using the word 'hat'.
I didn't know about other things, but this time malice was felt.
That narrow-minded fellow was making fun of my drawing skills.
“Kkwek, yes, this ‘food storage’ is the most important place after the leader's room. Kkwek, usually, important things are meant to be protected even if other things are sacrificed to that extent.”
“So you're saying other places were collapsed in order to not collapse the food storage.”
The fellow, who answered smartly, looked up at me.
“It's a relief you've got the direction right this time. I can't even drag you around in that form.”
“Kkwek, because someone didn't butt in pointlessly this time. Kkwek, unlike someone who drifted down without any thought, I checked the location.”
At my answer, Ratel furrowed his brow.
When I looked at him because his supposedly serious expression was strange, he opened his mouth while letting out an 'ah' sound.
“No, seeing that your drawing is in that state even though your eyesight is fine, I was just thinking it was a matter of skill.”
There's nothing wrong with my eyesight or my skill, you bastard.
The thing that interrupted me as I was about to tell him that the only problem here was his personality was the leader's voice.
“Kkwek!!! If you don't want to die, don't dawdle and start the guidance!!”
The fellow, who approached while shouting, glared at me and Ratel alternately.
“Kkwek, if a sign of doing even a bit of nonsense is seen, kkwek, know that both of you will be eaten alive. Kkwek, and you, you watch these two well.”
The fellow, who gave an unreasonable command to the half-wit, walked forward with a stomp.
The half-wit left behind stuck behind me and Ratel according to the boss's words and began to monitor us by staring point-blank to a burdensome degree.
I, who had started a more bothersome journey thanks to someone, glared at Ratel, who seemed to have no thoughts.
“Kkwek, don't act emotionally more than this.”
The fellow, who was walking forward with a stomp unlike an emergency ration, looked back with a face as if he didn't know what I was talking about.
“Kkwek, don't feign ignorance. Kkwek, I'm talking about the neck story.”
“What's the problem? In the end, things turned out as you wanted. That leader will now target me, and you've become able to naturally blend in with the orcs.”
How do you have to perceive human relationships for this to look like blending in naturally?
“Kkwek, the fellow could have attacked you right away.”
When I pointed out his recklessness, Ratel narrowed his eyes.
“Who are you worrying about right now?”
“Kkwek, naturally the leader's story. Kkwek, if you kill the fellow because you can't control your strength, all the hard work until now will become a huge struggle.”
At my warning, a sneer was hung on the corners of his mouth.
“What does that matter? Your goal has been achieved.”
Leaving a short answer, Ratel turned back without lingering and followed behind the leader and the half-wit.
So, it means it was an action entirely meant to screw me over.
With a renewed realization, I moved the rest of my steps at the sensation of the half-wit pushing me from behind.