“Whew…”
It was only after arriving home that I finally let out the sigh I’d been holding in.
I heard a small chuckle from Seol, who was perched on my shoulder.
That laugh brought a wave of embarrassment I’d been trying to ignore.
“Don’t laugh… It was seriously humiliating.”
[Why? You’ve gotten even better at acting.]
“Don’t tease me.”
Honestly, if I hadn’t changed my appearance, I don’t think I could’ve pulled it off.
Taking on the name and appearance of Daniel had acted like a kind of mask.
[No, really. I mean it.]
Seol leapt lightly to the floor as he spoke.
I could feel the sincerity in the way he seemed to press out each word.
“Heh…”
But what good is praise for acting? It’s not like I’m planning to be an actor.
Still, I was able to get Aysol to agree more easily than expected to show me the inside of the temple.
It wasn’t just about seeing the inside—I’d wanted to check the condition of the kids brought in under the guise of “education,” and I’d gotten exactly what I wanted.
‘Well, it helped that he was the one who brought up the charity work with the poor.’
I suddenly remembered the look in Priest Aysol’s eyes as he stared at me.
Maybe making a fuss about calling me over to the estate and then ghosting him for a few days had worked better than expected—his eyes were practically blazing with desire.
As strange as it sounds, it wasn’t a gaze you’d expect from a priest.
Then again, it made sense.
A man like him would break temple taboos if it benefited him.
I was glad things were going smoothly, but there was still a nagging unease I couldn’t shake.
[What are you thinking so hard about?]
At Seol’s voice, I reflexively shook my head—then paused.
Maybe saying it out loud would be better than stewing over it alone.
This time… I wasn’t working alone, after all.
“I’m thinking it all went too smoothly. Feels off.”
[Hmm…]
Seol nodded like he understood, then fell into thought.
Watching him, I added:
“I mean, it could make sense if you look at it one way, but it also feels like they’re playing dumb on purpose. Like they already know everything.”
The reason I’d gone in Daniel’s form without changing it again was to test if the temple had caught on to my existence.
After all, when I first met Jack and Derek, Priest Aysol had been there too.
Of course, he hadn’t even spared me a glance when I left with the kids—but you never know.
If the temple already knew someone was looking for the missing children, then I’d have to scrap the plan immediately.
That’s why I’d left this bait.
‘When I returned from meeting Aysol, and even today—no one followed me.’
Even more telling, Aysol hadn’t checked whether a noble youth named Daniel even existed.
And this was information Raizen had confirmed—so I could trust it.
[I get what you’re worried about, but this place is crawling with idiots who wouldn’t even notice, let alone sense, the presence of a divine beast.]
“True.”
Just then, a low voice spoke from behind me.
“He was sharp enough to weed out spies during personnel replacements. It’s the opposite of how careless he’s acting now.”
I turned and saw Raizen with his usual calm expression.
He still wore his knight’s uniform, but now that his face had returned to normal, it felt strangely out of place.
Like a prince in peasant clothes, if I had to describe it in Korean terms.
‘When did he follow me inside?’
Last time, he’d only seen me to the doorstep.
He’d come in so naturally, I hadn’t noticed until now.
And here I was, pretending not to notice on purpose.
God, I’m pathetic.
Still… I didn’t hate it.
Honestly… it was kind of cute.
‘I’ve gone nuts, haven’t I?’
Shaking off the pointless thoughts, I got back to the topic.
“Yeah. Actually… I all but announced myself, and yet they haven’t made a single move. It’s weird.”
“Or maybe Priest Aysol is just a subcontractor. The reshuffling of personnel was handled by the Central Temple, not Crete Temple, which might explain why Crete is acting so sloppily now.”
The word “subcontractor” rubbed me the wrong way.
‘Is that even a thing in this world?’
Since magic existed here, this world hadn’t undergone industrialization.
Products weren’t made by assembling parts from different workers—they were crafted by a master or a master with apprentices.
That kind of division of labor didn’t really exist.
‘Anyway, that’s not important right now.’
A subcontractor.
Maybe it was a term here.
Raizen would know more about this world than I did, after all.
“I guess that makes sense, but even so, it’s still odd. Crete Temple had been practically abandoned for a long time. So how did the Central Temple even decide who to remove?”
“That part stood out to me, too, so I looked into it. There was a standard.”
“There was?”
Raizen nodded.
“They removed those who didn’t fit in with the others.”
It was a vague answer, but once I thought about what kind of priests had worked at the Crete Temple, the meaning became clear.
“Priests who didn’t commit corruption… who weren’t indulgent?”
“Exactly.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
I wanted to say, ‘Seriously?’—but deep down, I already knew the answer.
The truth was that this empire’s official religion, the Temple of Sis, had long sustained its power by pretending to have divine strength.
When threatened, they’d invoke the saints of the past to protect themselves—because they had been real.
Not of the fake god Sinoa, but of the ancient gods who preserved humanity.
The Temple had even crafted intricate magical devices disguised as relics, too sophisticated for most to detect, all in their hunger for power.
Thinking back to the novel, I could now understand the despair Raizen must’ve felt when he realized divine power didn’t actually exist, and the truth behind the Temple.
That didn’t excuse trying to resurrect the Demon King to destroy the world, but… I got it.
“…So the priests they brought in are the kind who’ll mind their own business as long as their rice bowls are full. Or if they do care, they can be easily bought.”
“Yeah. The truth is, they never caught the spies—they just got swept up by accident.”
“If that’s the case… then you’re probably right. Aysol and the two priests working with him don’t fully understand the Central Temple’s true intentions.”
That also explained why the energy from a demon core hadn’t been detected on Crete Island yet.
The children were being indoctrinated with twisted teachings to ensure their loyalty to the religion, and then…
‘They’ll be handed over to the Central Temple—or dark mages—under any excuse.’
So, the temple’s role was, quite literally, just to secure test subjects.
In fact, it might’ve been thoroughly used and manipulated by Kim Minsoo and the Duke of Luavis.
That didn’t mean the temple’s sins were any lighter, though.
“We should check the inside of the temple first before jumping to conclusions. We can also check on Tommy’s condition.”
“…Yeah.”
As Raizen spoke, a rich rose-scented pheromone softly wrapped around me.
The anxiety inside me quieted down as if it had been a lie.
‘…I should be rejecting this too.’
I should’ve told him not to do it.
I should’ve drawn a clear line.
Especially if I still had no intention of accepting Raizen, or forgiving him.
Raizen somehow noticed the emotional walls I’d lowered—and was starting to cross the line in subtle ways.
The problem was, I didn’t completely hate it.
But that wasn’t the only issue.
‘Why is he going along with me like this?’
Raizen wasn’t the type to act like this.
Normally, he would quietly gather information and evidence, and once it was confirmed the children were being used as sacrificial offerings for the magic cores, he’d catch the real culprit then.
That would’ve been the most accurate and efficient method.
Yet Raizen claimed that his goal was to uncover the temple’s hidden schemes, and because of our contract, he was adjusting to me.
Even going so far as to play the ridiculous role of a guard knight to a spoiled noble brat.
“Hyung.”
Raizen responded immediately to my call.
“Yeah?”
“…You wouldn’t normally act like this. This kind of thing is inefficient, right?”
“You’re right.”
He didn’t hesitate at all.
