Chapter 133
“Can I leave this here?”
“Yes. Thank you so much. I was able to finish quickly because of you.”
He offers me his hand, wiping the sweat from his brow with a pure white handkerchief.
I take his hand and offer him a smile in return.
“It’s natural, isn’t it, so don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“Haha, you have such a beautiful heart, too. I’m sure Corleone and God will guide you.”
The priest offering me his hand is named John.
He’s one of the priests at Halla Cathedral on Jeju Island, and he’s also in charge of the relief supplies.
“Now that all the busy work is done, why don’t you rest inside? It’s quite a long way to Jeju Island, so I hope you get some rest.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Father.”
The Franciscan was a wide boat, commonly called a barge, and was the perfect size for loading cargo.
The downside was that there wasn’t much room for people, so they had to sleep on blankets or mattresses in the common areas.
Of course, it’s possible to modify and create rooms, but…… is strictly for religious people.
It was ridiculous to ask for luxuries.
“Ah, you must be the brother I saw earlier, welcome.”
“””Welcome!!!”””
Other priests and sisters greeted me with beaming smiles as we walked into the resting area.
“Thank you so much for your hospitality.”
I smiled and returned their greeting, then sat down in an empty seat and looked around.
It was a peaceful scene, with everyone smiling, talking, or praying but I knew that these are no ordinary priests and nuns.
They’re Catholic knives, dipping themselves into the hell that is Jeju Island.
Of course, not all of them are.
“Uncle, are you a priest too?”
“You go to Jeju too? Do you have a house on Jeju?”
Before I knew it, children dressed in nuns’ and priests’ robes were bombarding me with questions.
I had heard that there were children on Jeju Island who had lost their parents and had come to live at Halla Cathedral, and these seemed to be them.
“Uncle. Me?”
“Yes! You!”
“You! Hehe!”
Apparently, they thought I was an uncle when they saw my face, which had been transformed into a middle-aged man by Skill [Clown Makeup].
I changed my face because of the threat that I, the heir to Corleone, would face if the news of my coming to Jeju Island alone spread around, but in the eyes of the children, I looked like a simple uncle.
But at least I took the trouble to customize it. …….
I scratched my head, trying to figure out what to say.
“Guys, can you stop bothering the guest?”
“””Yep~”””
Luckily, a sharp-eyed sister saved me from the embarrassment.
“I’m sorry the kids are so curious.”
“No, they are children, so I suppose that’s to be expected.”
The Sister smiles.
“Thank you for saying that. I think it’s because they’ve been living on Jeju Island since they were little, so they’re very curious about the outside world. Of course, now they’re in Busan on weekdays for school.”
“Ah…….”
“You know the story about the orphans on Jeju Island, right?”
“Yes, I’ve heard it a few times, so I do remember it.”
The story was already well known in Busan and the South Sea, and it was a kind of superstitious rumor that people who lived on Jeju Island brought bad luck.
It wasn’t just a rumor, though, as it contributed to Jeju’s high birth rate of villains…….
In this worldview, Jeju Islanders were already seen as a symbol of bad luck.
“Because of that, my children can barely sleep in the Busan parish. They have to come back on weekends, and I think it’s a harsh ordeal for them.”
After listening to her story, I look at the children in front of me, who are talking and laughing with each other.
“They’re growing up smiling……so brightly, so I guess that means the Jeju parishioners have tried.”
“Ah……I didn’t expect you to say that, thank you. I guess I’m interrupting you when I’m trying to help you rest.”
“No, it was a pleasant conversation.”
The Sister gets up from her seat, smiling at my words.
“It’ll probably take us about 13 hours to get to Jeju once we leave, so in the meantime, get some rest.”
With that, the Sister bows and walks away.
Accepting her consideration, I lay down to relieve the fatigue of flying from Incheon to Busan and slowly went to bed.
* * *
Tsk.
Tsk. Tsk.
Over and over again, but there was only one reason I kept my eyes closed.
“Bobby, are you asleep?”
The young nun who had come to visit during the day was pounding on my body.
I tried to pretend to be asleep and wait for her to go away, but a nun is a nun.
She kept hitting my legs to show me how patient she was.
“……why.”
I finally gave up and spoke first.
“Alas, you didn’t sleep!”
“I wonder how……can I sleep when you’re tapping like that.”
“Hehe. I’m sorry, but you slept a long time, didn’t you? Sister Maria said it’s not good for you to sleep long.”
“I slept a long time?”
I checked my watch, and before I knew it, it was 5:00 p.m…….exactly nine hours after I’d fallen asleep.
Considering how long I usually sleep, it was definitely a long time.
“Is that why you woke me up?”
“No, that’s not it! It’s…… so…… I was wondering how Seoul is.”
“What?”
“Actually, we……never been anywhere but Busan, and there’s no TV on Jeju Island, and the church we stay at on weekdays doesn’t have one, and the kids at school say there are heroes who protect us, but I don’t know much about them.”
As she said that, she raised her head and looked at me with wide eyes.
“Can’t you tell them about the outside world……?”
“Ha…….”
Who could say no to a story with such a reason?
I must have gotten a good night’s sleep, because I felt more alert than usual, and there was a stirring in my stomach to prepare dinner, so I stood up and said.
“Let’s go, where are the other kids?”
“Outside, they’re all waiting for you!”
“Outside?”
I followed those tiny hands to the outside deck, where there was a bunch of stuff stacked up.
“Over there, over there!”
The young Sister pointed to a stack of grocery boxes, where the children were squatting and talking.
“See? Joanne brought a real uncle!”
“Joanne is awesome!”
“Joanne is brave!”
The young Sister, or Joanne as she was called, who was being praised by the children just for bringing me, scratched her head as if embarrassed by the ensuing baptism of praise.
“Hehe, everyone’s embarrassed, now that the guest of honor is here, shall we all be quiet?”
As I say that, Sister Joanne, who is sitting in the middle of the children, looks at me distantly.
“Ah.”
She asked me to tell them about the outside world.
Apparently, all the other children were looking at me expectantly.
“Well, it’s nothing special…….”
Still, I can’t let them down.
Okay, I’ll tell you a story but not about the academy.
It’s a story no one will ever know.
I decided to weave together the stories I’ve been telling with this very face, Saber Cloud.
“This is what happened when I was playing games and traveling.”
But let’s stick to what’s believable first, shall we?
* * *
“Hey, how do you kill a dragon with chopsticks?”
“You cheat!”
“Liar!”
“I don’t believe you, if you look at the dragon’s chest, there’s a place called the reverse scale, and if you stab the heart through there…….”
Of course, you have to maximize all skills and stats related to stabbing, but it’s not a lie.
“Even dragons die. I’d show you in person, but there aren’t any dragons around…… I’m afraid.”
And I don’t have a chopstick to show you right now so I decided to show something else instead.
“Gather round, everyone!”
“””Yeah~!”””
The children responded to Sister’s voice at the same time, and one by one, they stood up from their seats.
“But it was fun, Uncle!”
“I want to see the dragon!”
“Tell me the story again in church!”
The kids run off toward the Sisters, saying they’ll see me next time.
“Oh, you were with the kids again?”
And on the other end of the line was a Sister, who gave me an apologetic, wry smile as she saw me walking up with the kids.
“No, they were playing with me, but we’ll be there soon?”
“Yes, it’s starting to get dusky, and you’d better get ready.”
“Get ready……you mean?”
After making sure the children were completely inside the ship, the Sister nodded and pulled something out from under her.
It was a small pistol with a cross on it.
“It’s always busiest when we’re in port.”
“Ah, I’ve heard the stories.”
The reason I was accompanying them this time was supposed to be because of a situation on Jeju Island.
They had to take care of demons, villains, and monsters that were after the ship’s goods and children.
“Surely they come in waves as soon as we dock in the harbor?”
“Yes. It’s probably the only chance we get once a week to get some decent supplies into Jeju Island, and it’s been getting strangely worse lately…… so it’s always a close call that it’s a miracle we haven’t had any injuries so far.”
The Sister frowned as if she didn’t know what to say.
I watched her and gave a small nod. It was a natural reaction, given the events of this time.
“I’ll do my best to help.”
“I’m relieved to have a Hitman from Corleone to help, then we’ll get ready to unload.”
The Sister bows and disappears.
Apparently, the other Sisters and priests were also preparing to unload their luggage, or at least keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.
“We must be getting closer to Jeju Island.”
Just then, the sea mist began to get thicker and thicker, and my vision around me gradually narrowed, and even the cell phone in my pocket lost its signal.
───────baaaaaaaaang
The sound of a ship’s drum cut through the fog, making the entire ship vibrate.
It was a sign that the ship was nearby.
“Are there other ships using this port besides us?”
I thought, “It can’t be a big deal, I should help them with their luggage. Just as I was thinking that.”
-BANG!!!
The boat shook violently and a loud boom erupted.
And up ahead.
“Aah. Aah…….”
I could see Sister Mary’s face, red with anger.
“Sister Mary?”
“Pirates!”
Pirates?
