* * *
There was nothing else he wanted.
Since the man had called him all the way here under the pretext of an oracle, the elimination of the three individuals was absolutely necessary for him.
He would not refuse the deal.
After all, if they were all placed on the same scale, it would be better to keep one person than to leave three.
[Good. I will do as you say.]
The man seemed to ponder for a moment, then nodded.
It was done.
He had succeeded.
A feeling of relief washed over him like a tide.
Even without his full power, a God was still a God.
Although he had brazenly proposed a deal, the psychological burden on Eren had been unavoidable.
“And one more thing.”
Eren saw the man’s brows narrow, but pretended not to notice and continued speaking.
“Give me the ‘chance’ you mentioned before, too.”
[……]
“You want me to take care of three, and I want two things. Even calculating roughly, I’m losing out, so you should at least do this much.”
[Do you dare to calculate profit and loss in a deal with Me?]
A low, deep voice pierced the air.
Although overwhelmed by the fiercely glaring eyes, Eren held his back straight and met his gaze.
The thing a person who has someone to protect fears the most is losing that person.
Sometimes, they fear it more than losing their own life.
Just like Eren now.
[I admit your audacity, Stranger. I shall accept your deal.]
The man’s hand rested on Eren’s forehead.
[My true name is ㅡㅡㅡ. The contract is established, My contractor.]
When he came to his senses, the man he had seen earlier was already gone.
It seemed he had lost consciousness briefly due to the contract with him.
Looking outside, he saw that the sun was setting, indicating that a considerable amount of time had passed.
He hurried outside, worried that Ashard might be waiting, and began to hear a very loud commotion.
A familiar voice.
It was Ashard’s.
“Ashard-nim…?”
He thought Ashard might be trying to come inside since he hadn’t come out for so long, but the moment he was about to open the door, Ashard blocked it from the outside.
He looked through the small window in the door, but Ashard’s back blocked his view of anything.
“What’s going on?”
“Don’t come out. Stay there for a moment. I’ll take care of it soon.”
…Take care of it?
While wondering what he meant, a pure white ceremonial robe came into view over his shoulder.
The long white robe, stretching from neck to ankle, was clothing only priests could wear.
Eren silently looked out the window.
“What… is that…?”
Priests charging like maddened beasts.
Ashard was holding them back.
Something suddenly flashed in Eren’s memory, and he spun his head toward where the man had been sitting.
A worn-out book lay at the man’s feet.
The book of the oracle, which recorded past prophecies.
Without hesitation, he picked it up and opened the very last page with writing on it, where ancient script was neatly arranged.
‘—The one who becomes one body with Eren Nefendis will become the next Light of this place.’
Eren read the oracle book silently for a moment, then smiled faintly and immediately tore out that section.
The page with the oracle was ripped into shreds and floated down to the floor as dust.
‘This crazy God…’
Of all things, to issue an oracle like this.
A headache suddenly surged.
The ‘Light’ written in the oracle book could be interpreted in two ways.
One was the Light of the Empire, the Emperor.
The other was the Light of the Temple and the most powerful position, the Pope.
The fact that the oracle had not spread widely and was only known to the priests meant that the latter was highly probable.
As he had said before, the temple was a place full of corruption and irregularities.
This applied to money, and also to rank.
For the oracle delivered to such priests to be about the Pope—the highest rank a priest could attain, a position no one could treat carelessly—it was natural for them to lose their minds.
Furthermore, the condition was none other than to “become one body with Eren Nefendis.”
To put it literally, if they had intercourse with him, they would become the Pope.
Only now did he understand why the contents of the oracle were kept so secret.
‘They want to obtain the position easily, but they don’t want the rumor to spread that they became Pope in such a manner.’
Eren scoffed at the undignified sight of them charging forward, as if they had buried all the dignity of a priest in the ground.
Like God, like his priests, they say.
The sight of them firmly believing this kind of oracle and acting like this was ridiculous.
He wanted to escape this unpleasant temple immediately.
‘Crank-’
The door burst open, and the person visible was, as always, Ashard.
He quickly grabbed Eren’s wrist and began to run away from the priests.
The warmth he felt was comforting.
He was led by Ashard’s hand.
His stride was wide compared to Eren’s shorter steps, so the distance between them and the priests was gradually closing.
Just as he thought they would soon be caught and turned to look behind him, Ashard whispered softly.
“Use the artifact.”
It was a voice so faint it was barely a murmur, visible only by the movement of his lips, so he didn’t catch it at first.
Confirming that Ashard’s gaze was directed at his ring finger, Eren belatedly realized his intention and urgently activated the artifact.
A bright light came out of the ring, which Ashard had personally placed on his finger on a past day, and began to envelop them.
When he could see in front of him again, they were not in the temple but in a secluded alley.
Not a single ray of light entered the place, so he couldn’t tell where they were, even trying to examine their surroundings.
“Where are we—”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Did those bastards do anything to you?”
Ashard grabbed Eren’s shoulders and shook him, asking the questions.
Eren, whose body was thoroughly shaken by his hands, gave a small laugh.
Although it was dark, Ashard was clearly visible.
His brow was furrowed with worry.
His lower lip was tightly bitten as if he was anxious, and his eyes incessantly searched his condition.
“Is this a time to laugh? Do you even know what those bastards were trying to do to you?”
“Ashard-nim.”
“Damn it. I really shouldn’t have let you go alone.”
Ashard roughly ran his hand through the disheveled hair on his forehead.
Eren, who had been staring at him, hugged him tightly, as if to calm him down.
He felt Ashard’s body flinch and stiffen, but he ignored it and put more strength into his arms.
Ah, he really liked this man so much.
It was a feeling he hadn’t felt for a while.
His mood, which had been low because of the priests who couldn’t hide their dirty desires, seemed to float up.
Although he hadn’t done much, just seeing Ashard in front of him was enough to make him feel better.
[Contractor. You must handle all matters with your own strength. If he intervenes in the world again, ㅡㅡㅡ will not stand by.]
The man’s words kept echoing in his mind.
Even this seemed to have a restriction on it, as he couldn’t hear the exact words, but it was certain that Ashard would be in danger if he got involved with those three people again.
“I’m fine.”
His voice trembled.
But unlike the sound escaping his lips, his heart was firm.
The only way to protect him.
The only way he could be with him.
Eren buried his face in Ashard’s embrace.
“So, let’s go home, Ashard-nim.”
“…Alright.”
His large hand slowly stroked his hair, as if unable to refuse.
Eren smiled faintly, feeling pleased.
Since they couldn’t go back to the temple, they looked for a nearby carriage rental.
Unlike the Fridit family’s carriage, it was hard and jolted roughly, but Eren got into the carriage without complaint.
The darkness that had already encroached crept in through the curtains covering the windows.
It was dark outside, to the point where they couldn’t clearly see where the carriage was heading.
A somehow eerie feeling washed over him, and Eren tightly closed his eyes and leaned against Ashard.
As if it were the most natural thing, Ashard’s large hand began to caress his cheek.
Whenever they rode in a carriage and he leaned against him, Ashard would stroke his hair until he fell asleep.
That was what was supposed to happen… but the touch he had just felt instantly stopped.
When he opened his eyes, feeling something was strange, his body, which had clearly been sitting in the carriage, was lifted into the air.
The loud roar that he hadn’t heard before reached him belatedly.
He realized the situation only after his lifted body violently dropped to the ground.
There was no way he couldn’t know, as he felt an immense pain, as if all the bones in his body had shattered.
‘Was it… an accident…?’
Hot, red liquid blocked his eyes, making it impossible to open them properly anymore.
The same went for trying to grasp the situation.
His instincts screamed that he had to open his eyes, but he couldn’t control them.
* * *
