‘No way…!’
An avalanche of words raced through my mind, but I clamped my mouth shut with all my might, afraid even the slightest sound would escape.
‘If you’re going to sneak up, at least make a noise or something.’
He had approached without a trace — my heart had nearly dropped out of my body.
Thanks to him, I managed to stay hidden instead of stepping out in front of the kids, but…
‘Why is he so annoying?’
He was just the Ruin Guild’s Master.
That was how I should think about him.
I turned away from him and focused back on the three boys’ conversation.
“Of course it’s true. You know Priest Isol, right? He told me — your father’s looking for you.”
Their conversation now came through much clearer than before.
The Guildmaster — no, Ruin’s Guildmaster — must have done something.
“R-Really…?”
“Like hell it’s real!”
Jack snapped at Derek, who looked swayed. I shared the same thought.
Honestly, there were too many holes in Tommy’s story.
The fact that a priest like Isol would know about Derek’s father was suspicious enough.
Derek was born eleven years ago, and Isol had only recently come to Crete Island.
‘Even if Isol had come to investigate or purge corruption inside the temple, there’s no way he’d know that much.’
He might be able to uncover which priests had dealings with brothels — but to know that one of their illegitimate children was Derek? It sounded like pure fiction.
‘And if by some miracle it was true…’
“If he really knew, he would’ve told you when he handed out food! Should’ve come straight to you, not sent Tommy like some dumb messenger, right?! You idiot!”
Jack’s shout echoed through the alley, perfectly reflecting my own thoughts.
If it were true information, and if he intended to take responsibility for it, he would’ve told Derek directly — not sent it indirectly through Tommy like bait.
At Jack’s words, Tommy’s expression darkened.
“That’s… Priest Isol must have had his own reasons…”
He must have known deep down that something felt off too.
His muttering sounded like the kind of excuse you make to convince yourself when you can’t explain something logically.
“Hey, Tommy. You’re seriously acting weird. What’s going on? Why are you suddenly using fancy words and stuff?”
Jack, unable to hold it in any longer, called him out.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you trying so hard to drag us to the temple? What, are they paying you or something?”
“J-Jack!!”
Derek exclaimed, trying to stop him. But Jack didn’t budge — and neither did Tommy.
[Are you going to step in?]
The Guildmaster’s voice came through the communicator in my ear.
I flinched and turned to look at him.
He simply stared down at me with an indifferent face.
‘Did he get taller again?’
Why was I thinking something so dumb right now?
I resisted the sudden urge to smack myself.
‘Step in?’
At first, I thought I should.
But after hearing the kids’ conversation, I wasn’t so sure.
Tommy had come back on his own, apparently unharmed — but he seemed thoroughly taken in by Priest Isol.
It might have been easier if he had been brainwashed.
But… Tommy was unmistakably acting of his own free will.
‘Though… he does seem a bit anxious, which is strange.’
One thing was clear: about 80% of Tommy’s actions were of his own volition.
“Seriously, what’s wrong with you guys? I was doing perfectly fine at the temple. There, Priest Isol is different. He’s not like the adults we’ve met before…!”
Yeah, that was the problem—the sincerity.
From Tommy’s perspective, the temple must have felt wonderful.
Of course, he would have thought it’d be even better if he could be there with his friends.
He probably even felt guilty enjoying it alone.
‘Sigh…’
Without realizing it, I let out a long sigh through my nose.
Was it really the work of those who served a god to exploit even the pure hearts of children?
“I… I really did it for you guys…”
Finally, tears began to spill from Tommy’s dark gray eyes.
Derek, looking flustered, hurried to pat Tommy on the shoulder.
Jack also tried to console him, though his face looked pained.
Even as he did so, Jack kept shooting Derek meaningful glances.
‘No matter how you look at it, this is suspicious. So don’t you dare say you’ll go.’
Roughly translated, that seemed to be the message.
Derek couldn’t meet Jack’s gaze and awkwardly looked away—in the direction where the Guild Master and I were hiding.
Fortunately, Tommy had his head lowered, so he couldn’t see me.
Jack, startled, hugged Tommy tightly and even shifted slightly so that his back completely faced my hiding spot.
Derek and Jack stood opposite each other, meaning that if I peeked out a little, I could see them.
Almost instinctively, I tilted my head to the side.
My eyes immediately met Derek’s.
His eyes widened—and then he started hiccuping. Jack, puzzled by Derek’s reaction, followed his gaze and spotted me.
‘He’s happy to see me, huh, little rascal.’
Seeing the one who’d reacted the most harshly now looking like that didn’t feel bad at all.
Jack quickly flashed a triumphant grin, as if he’d just gained a strong ally.
Sensing trouble, I hurriedly shook my head.
‘No. Don’t mention me.’
I pointed at myself and then crossed my arms in an X shape to emphasize my meaning.
Thankfully, Jack seemed to get it.
He hesitated, then nodded.
Before ducking back behind the wall, I locked eyes with Derek again.
His tear-filled eyes were filled with hesitation.
‘You know it too. Priest Isol is lying.’
Did my feelings reach him?
Derek soon gave a small nod.
I retreated fully behind the wall.
“I, I-I don’t really know. L-Like Jack said earlier, if, if he really knew… w-wouldn’t he have told us first?”
At Derek’s stammered words, Tommy, who had barely composed himself, slowly raised his head.
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”
“……”
“I’m sorry. Honestly, I thought it was strange too… but I wanted to bring you guys to the temple so badly that I used it as an excuse.”
The bond between the three boys seemed even stronger than I had imagined.
At Tommy’s honest confession, Jack beamed and shouted,
“Exactly! So you shouldn’t go back to the temple either!”
At that, Tommy’s face turned deathly pale.
“No.”
The voice that came out was starkly different from before—firm and resolute.
“What? You just said that priest was suspicious too!”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Tommy shouted, then quickly muttered under his breath,
“I have to go back to the temple. That’s the only way… I can be saved.”
‘Saved?’
Tommy had definitely said that.
“I-I get it. I understand how you guys feel. But the temple really is a good place, and I still want you guys to come too. I think… we might even find clues about Derek’s father there.”
“……”
“I’ll come back here in two days. Think about it until then.”
Leaving those words behind, Tommy hurried away.
Jack called out his name loudly, but Tommy didn’t look back even once.
[I’ll follow Tommy.]
The Guild Master said it almost immediately, then disappeared just as quickly.
Watching the direction where Tommy and the Guild Master vanished, I turned my gaze back to Jack and Derek.
The two boys had somehow ended up right by my side.
They seemed happy to see me, but also a little too shy to approach first.
“Have you been well?”
The moment I said that, both of them jumped into my arms.
∗ ∗ ∗
‘Actually, while looking for Tommy, I found out… it seems like there are more kids who went missing. We’ve confirmed three so far. One of them was a kid from Fitz’s gang before, and two new ones. If we count Tommy, that’s four. I mean, sure, four street rats disappearing isn’t a big deal to most people, but still…’
‘They were a-all taken to the t-temple. L-Like Tommy… they said they’d “educate” them…’
As I walked back after my brief conversation with the boys, their words kept replaying in my mind.
Three, according to Jack and Derek.
Tommy had shown up today, so including him, it made four.
And these were just the kids who lived in somewhat organized groups.
The ones who roamed alone or were isolated… honestly, there was no way to track all of them.
[Can we meet for a moment?]
Just then, a voice came through the portable communication device still in my ear.
It was the Guild Master.
