* * *
“Hey, the soup’s burning. You should stir it.”
It wasn’t until Erdian gently tapped the back of Seo Woohyun’s hand that his hand resumed stirring the pot.
Stirring the soup with one hand while trying to pat Malrang on the head with the other made his movements awkward.
Though it could have been from multitasking, Erdian liked to think Seo Woohyun was flustered because of him.
He didn’t want to believe that the kiss they shared in the carriage meant nothing to Seo Woohyun.
Seo Woohyun diligently stirred the soup until Raullet brought the thief over.
Fortunately, the soup didn’t taste or smell burnt.
The thief knelt awkwardly by the campfire, his earlier bravado about starving to death long gone.
Now, he stared at the ground, his shoulders hunched.
It seemed Raullet had given him a solid hit behind the carriage.
Once the skewered meat and vegetables were perfectly cooked, the priest, Caro, nervously brought the first skewer to Erdian.
A devout follower indeed.
Erdian accepted the skewer with a gentle smile, then unexpectedly turned to the thief and asked,
“What were you planning to steal from our carriage?”
“Anything of value…”
The thief’s voice trembled as he answered honestly.
Marvin, a notorious thief known throughout the nearby estates around the Great Forest, was now consumed by fear.
He had finally realized the identities of those he had crossed.
‘These people… they’re high-ranking members of the temple.’
A knight who subdued him in an instant, a priest who made him spill everything without causing any physical harm, and men who looked like they had never done a hard day’s work in their lives—it was absurd that he was only now putting it all together.
“He admitted to stealing many valuable items from noble houses. He also confessed to stealing from clergy from our temple and others on several occasions.”
Giselle summarized Marvin’s confession.
Erdian’s expression shifted subtly upon hearing the report.
He pointed his skewer at Marvin and asked,
“Do you believe in Erdian?”
As soon as he finished the question, Seo Woohyun gripped his ladle tightly.
A god pretending to be human was asking someone if they believed in him.
It was a fascinating situation, especially considering what had happened between them in the carriage.
‘Is he asking to see if the thief believes in him, so he can spare him? He’s supposed to be kind to his followers, after all… But why is he holding that skewer? Surely he’s not planning to give it to him if he says yes, right?’
The skewer in Erdian’s hand kept the atmosphere from becoming too serious.
But the thief seemed to take the question differently.
“If I start believing in Lord Erdian and sincerely repent, will you forgive me? Will you spare me from being handed over to the other estates…?”
As a wanted thief, he knew he wouldn’t be released easily once handed over.
His plea was clear: he was begging for his life.
Seo Woohyun and the others heard it that way too.
But Erdian simply smiled brightly and replied, “No. Why would I?”
It was a curt rejection, even though his question had seemed to offer the possibility of salvation.
Marvin’s face twisted in frustration.
“Belief in a god is a human choice. It’s not something you can be forced into. And Erdian isn’t a god who forgives scoundrels just because they claim to believe in him. Do you understand, Marvin?”
“…Yes.”
Marvin lowered his head, cursing inwardly.
‘Then why the hell did you even ask me? This smug bastard is just toying with me, isn’t he?’
Though anger boiled inside him, he didn’t dare shout.
Causing trouble now would only hasten his demise.
Once everyone else had been served, Marvin finally received a skewer.
He ate it in silence, hands still bound.
The savory grilled meat tasted like his last meal, making him feel even more sorrowful.
Why had he chosen to rob these people of all people?
If he could go back in time, he’d have run the other way without looking back.
No matter how many times he regretted it, what was done was done.
Still, since they had given him food, maybe there was a slim chance of survival.
He clung to that hope, desperate to stay alive.
Tentatively, he spoke up.
“Um, Priest…”
Though there was no reply, he felt their eyes on him, waiting for him to continue.
His mind raced, and unorganized thoughts spilled out.
“…I know I’ve done wrong, but I never stole from the poor. Just from rich nobles and, well, generous priests like yourselves. Besides, I didn’t take anything from you, right? Can’t you let this slide just this once?”
He thought his appeal was decent, even touching, but the injustice he felt only grew.
‘These guys, they didn’t even catch me stealing anything! Why am I being treated like this just for trying? Sure, I’ve stolen from others, but shouldn’t they be the ones hitting me, not these people?’
“Haha.”
Erdian chuckled softly at Marvin’s pitiful logic.
Even Seo Woohyun was stunned.
He thought himself to be pretty clueless sometimes, but he had never met someone more oblivious than this thief.
‘And it’s not like he didn’t steal. He just got caught before he could.’
At least Malrang admitted to his mistake.
Erdian found it hard to believe how immature his thinking was, even compared to a ten-year-old.
Curious if Giselle shared the same thoughts, Erdian asked him subtly.
“Did you hit him hard on the head during your talk?”
At the question suggesting the boy might be acting strange due to a blow to the head, Giselle quickly shook his head.
“No, I didn’t hit him during our conversation.”
Erdian’s gaze naturally shifted to Raullet.
Sensing the expectation for an answer, Raullet swallowed the food in his mouth and immediately reported the truth.
“I didn’t hit him on the head either.”
“Then why does he seem so out of it? He’s completely clueless, like he’s lost his mind.”
Erdian gestured towards the thief with the end of the skewer he was holding, only pretending to eat.
The thief looked frustrated but kept his mouth tightly shut.
“Just eat quietly and behave. Our temple, unlike the neighboring ones, doesn’t follow the ‘no killing’ rule.”
At the thinly veiled threat that they might kill him if necessary, the thief flinched, and Seo Woohyun swallowed hard.
‘…A world where even priests can say something like this without issue.’
The Erdian temple had no rule against killing.
Of course, pointless murder was condemned, but it wasn’t explicitly forbidden.
‘I guess it can’t be helped in a time when fistfights are closer at hand than the law, especially with frequent territorial wars….’
The priests here were indeed a bit different from the kind of religious figures modern people might imagine.
Seo Woohyun absentmindedly stared at the crackling fire.
He had lit it earlier using divine power.
‘I thought I was adapting well to this world….’
This place had gods, divine powers, and even dragons—things that didn’t exist where Seo Woohyun had lived.
He glanced at the person who had brought him here.
Sensing his gaze, their eyes met.
The memory of what happened earlier in the carriage resurfaced as Seo Woohyun looked past Erdian’s shadowed eyes to his sharply defined nose and lips.
‘I’m doomed. Every time I see Lord Erdian’s face from now on, I’ll only think about the kiss—or, no, the transmission of divine power… Ah, forget it. I’m done for.’
No matter how much he tried to rationalize it, what happened earlier was undeniably a kiss.
What did he mean by ‘I’ve waited for so long’?
Seo Woohyun absentmindedly touched his cheek.
‘Was my face really his type?’
That day, when Seo Woohyun had asked why he’d been brought here, it was out of sheer frustration.
Thinking about what had transpired today only added to the confusion.
‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time….’
Erdian had said he’d waited for a long time.
The memory of Erdian rushing at him so intensely that it seemed like he’d been desperate for this from the start was still fresh.
‘Why… Why did he… What’s going on?’
Seo Woohyun pulled his chair closer to the fire.
If anyone asked why his face was flushed, he’d just blame the flames.
* * *
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🥴 can’t get enough