< 33 : Bipolar (2) >
Reception room in the church.
There, Shuron was tearing apart the bread that was placed in front of him with an anxious expression.
On the table where Shuron was sitting, there were fruits and bread prepared for him.
It seemed that the invitation to the church was not just an empty word.
The food on the table looked quite elaborate.
They were at least giving him a minimum of hospitality.
“Do you like the food?”
“Ah, um… I think so.”
“Aaah…!”
The reason why Shuron could not eat comfortably was one.
There was a scream echoing from the corner of the reception room.
The one who was screaming was his companion, Mabu.
Mabu, who was dragged to the church with Shuron, was immediately caught by the believers and hung on a pillar.
And now he was being whipped by the church’s believers.
It was not enough to kill him, but it was inevitable that he would get goosebumps when he heard the scream.
“You look very uncomfortable.”
Archbishop Roan, who was sitting opposite Shuron, asked him in a friendly voice.
It was obvious why Roan showed him Mabu’s whipping.
It was a kind of warning for Shuron to judge for himself.
If he offended Roan’s mind too much, it might be his turn next.
He didn’t want to be dragged to this place and whipped.
Shuron pretended to be okay and put bread in his mouth, then pointed at Mabu with his finger and said.
“It’s a bit noisy around here.”
“Haha, don’t mind it. It’s a church event. We’ll try to make it as less annoying as possible.”
“Do you really have to do that?”
Even if he made mistakes sometimes, Mabu was still Shuron’s subordinate.
He couldn’t feel comfortable seeing Mabu being harassed by them.
So he tried to bring up the topic without offending Roan.
Did he notice Shuron’s intention?
Roan answered him in a smooth tone.
“That’s just a process of verifying the fruits of faith.”
“The fruits of faith…?”
“Some people do not serve the great one and act foolishly. They are all for verifying his faith.”
In other words, Mabu was being whipped because he was not a believer of the church.
Shuron felt cold in his stomach as he saw Mabu being whipped.
Mabu and Shuron were both distant from the church’s believers.
And outside, there was one of the upper staff waiting with luggage.
Even so, the fact that only Mabu was being whipped meant that others might not know when their turn would come.
There was no need to ask why they didn’t whip him, Roan threatened Shuron first.
“Don’t worry about those lowly ones. Our upper lord is a faithful believer, isn’t he?”
“…”
“So we don’t think we need to verify your faith.”
“Haha…”
Shuron looked at Roan with a stiff face and gave an awkward laugh.
Of course, Roan’s words didn’t end there.
He clasped his hands neatly and looked at Shuron with a serious face.
It was a fierce look different from before.
“But what if the upper lord says he is a foolish unbeliever…”
“Wha-what happens to unbelievers…?”
Gulp.
Shuron swallowed his saliva and waited for Roan’s next words.
Would he be whipped like Mabu?
Or would he be dragged somewhere in the church and tortured?
He couldn’t breathe properly because of the tension and focused on Roan’s words.
“Even then, we can’t treat you like that, can we? Instead, you’ll have to listen to a boring sermon before you go.”
“…You’re good at joking, archbishop.”
“So which one are you?”
“Ah, of course I believe in the great one!”
It’s best to go along with them in front of crazy people.
That was the basic principle of survival that Shuron learned from doing business.
Of course, it would be better to avoid them if possible, but this situation was obviously unavoidable.
Shuron’s answer seemed satisfactory to Roan, who nodded and put bread in his mouth.
“I’m glad. You are a faithful person who serves the great one!”
“Serving the great one is natural. Those heretics and unbelievers should all be punished.”
“But do you know the name of the great one?”
“The name of the great one…?”
Shuron felt cold sweat running down his back as he heard Roan’s question.
The name of the god they worshiped.
He had no reason to know that.
And he didn’t remember hearing it in the conversation so far.
He moved his eyes frantically as he felt the tension rising again.
“Don’t you know?”
“That’s…”
“Haha, just kidding! How can a mere human utter the name of the great one casually.”
“That’s true.”
It was another prank by Roan.
Whew.
Shuron let out a sigh.
He felt like his life span was shortened by 10 years every time he was tricked by Roan.
Shuron wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
And to do that, he had to find out why they were holding him back.
“Well, about the reason why we invited you this time…”
Did he read Shuron’s mind?
Roan finally started to hint at the purpose.
If they suddenly stopped the upper lord passing by, he had a rough idea of what it was.
He was definitely going to bring up the money issue.
“Actually, Mr. Sangdanju, you are a devout follower of the cult, aren’t you? Haven’t you been behind on your donations lately?”
“…Donations, you say.”
Shuron had admitted himself that he was a follower of the cult.
He had no good excuse for the money issue.
If he tried to make a long explanation here, he might slip up and get caught in a trap.
It was a cunning scheme that made him feel like he was being set up.
“I’m afraid we are short on money for building the temple, so we need you to make a generous donation.”
There was only one way to defend himself in this situation.
Shuron had to name the amount first.
As long as it wasn’t an insulting amount, they would probably let it go for the sake of saving face.
So Shuron tried to tell Roan the reasonable amount he had calculated in his head.
“If we’re building a temple, of course I have to donate! I’m doing this for the cult…”
“Thirty percent of the goods you brought should be enough.”
But Roan was faster than him.
He cut him off and declared the amount.
And he called the goods they were carrying “offerings”.
They were all his own goods, but he chose a word that made it sound like he was doing them a favor.
Shuron’s voice came out weakly from his mouth.
“But, that’s…”
“And there’s one more thing I’d like to ask you, Mr. Sangdanju.”
Of course, Shuron didn’t get a chance to make an excuse.
He was already overwhelmed by the cult’s atmosphere.
He couldn’t go back to the previous topic once it had changed.
Shuron bit his lip, realizing that the archbishop in front of him was no ordinary guy.
He felt like the bread he had eaten was coming back up.
He had to pay thirty percent of his goods for some stale bread and fruits from nearby.
It was no different from paying a toll to bandits.
“Phew… What is it?”
He sighed again and said.
He felt like giving up halfway.
He had already given up everything he could, so what difference would it make if he agreed to one more request?
He should be grateful that they didn’t take everything from him.
Shuron looked down at the table, and Roan brought up the next item.
“I’d like you to use your carriage to sneak four people into the city.”
“Wait, you want me to sneak them into the city?”
The archbishop’s next item was about the city.
He wanted him to use Shuron’s carriage to avoid the checkpoint and get them in.
It was a completely different topic from before, and Shuron looked puzzled.
Why did the archbishop ask him to give up thirty percent of his goods?
It seemed like he wanted to make room for people to get in his carriage.
“That’s right.”
“Hmm…”
Sneaking people into the city was a very tricky thing for Shuron too.
Not to mention the difficulty of getting people in, but being associated with heretics was risky in itself.
If he was caught with some troublemaking heretics, even Shuron would have a hard time escaping punishment.
How could he refuse Roan’s proposal?
As Shuron pondered over that, Roan added something ominous.
“Of course, you don’t have to worry about anything once they get in. There are some devout followers of our cult among the nobles of the count’s house.”
“The count’s house… has followers of your cult?”
“Yes. There’s some misunderstanding that makes it hard for them to get in, but it will be resolved once they do.”
The count’s house that ruled the city was backing up the heretics.
The atmosphere became more awkward as Shuron felt his chest tighten.
It was hard to believe what the heretics said, but if it was true, then the situation was reversed.
If he didn’t accept their request, his boss in the city might suffer a disadvantage.
Shuron weighed his options as he heard a scream from a groom who was hit by someone.
“Can I really trust you?”
“You lack faith. I was going to say that you, as a loyal follower of the cult, would receive the protection of both the cult and the count’s house.”
“No, how could I doubt what the archbishop says? I just wanted to be sure.”
“You are very thorough. Of course, if this problem is solved well, you will receive the favor of the nobility.”
His boss had already suffered a huge loss.
He had to grab any benefit he could, no matter how hard it was.
It was a risky offer, but it could be a big gain if he succeeded.
Thud. Thud.
Roan’s finger started tapping on the table slowly, facing Shuron.
It was a gesture that urged Shuron to answer quickly.
How many times did Roan’s finger hit the table?
After a long hesitation, Shuron made his decision about the cult’s offer.
“I’ll do it.”
Naturally, Shuron’s choice was to accept Roan’s offer.
He had no choice.
