My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 238

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Bishop Jabaniya, Bishop Marik is…!”

“Bishop Marik caught fire and then… the holy water…!”

“…There’s a demon in the basement!”

“No, that’s not it! Bishop Marik is the demon, and he had a child imprisoned in the basement!”

People chattered away to Jabaniya about what had happened. Even though the voices were tangled together into incomprehensible noise, Jabaniya remained silent as if listening carefully to everything.

After listening motionlessly for a while, Jabaniya slowly opened his mouth.

“Lord Marik…”

Jabaniya sighed as if lamenting.

“I too saw everything, just like all of you.”

If you were watching, why didn’t you help sooner?

“The sun was disappointed and briefly hid itself, shedding tears at the tragic slaughter that unfolded. However, God sent down a noble being to enlighten us, and finally holy fire blazed forth, removing the veil that had been covering our eyes.”

What excellent skill at packaging my con game.

As Jabaniya spoke, he approached closer toward me and Bishop Marik. Rafaela, who had been following behind, seemed to notice Gabriel for the first time, her mouth falling open before she belatedly coughed and managed her expression. I already saw you being surprised, you know? Even for an aide, seeing Gabriel covered in blood must be quite a rare sight.

“Lady Evangeline.”

And Jabaniya stopped in front of me.

“I thank you, Lady Evangeline. Without you, we would still be dancing in Lord Marik’s palm, having forgotten our duties. Thanks to you risking danger to convey God’s words, we were able to awaken.”

Anyone watching would think he’s a true clergyman. Are acting skills and eloquence essential qualities for bishops? And Jabaniya’s eloquence worked very well on the believers. With Bishop Marik now having disqualifying factors, it was natural that Jabaniya’s voice would carry more weight.

After saying that, Jabaniya hesitated briefly before bowing deeply to me.

“Your Grace…”

It was the bow of a bishop who only bows his head to God. Even the Emperor wouldn’t receive such a greeting from a bishop. Several people flinched at the sight.

“I greet the Saint.”

…He’s calling me a saint. Come to think of it, it was a concept I pushed forward myself, but hearing it directly was terribly cringeworthy. Managing my expression was torture. Gabriel was also struggling to hold back laughter beside me, making it look even harder.

Gabriel, who had been tightly closing his mouth to suppress laughter, met my eyes and instantly changed his complexion as if nothing had happened, putting on a cold expression. I already caught you laughing, you know? He didn’t even twitch when Jabaniya was playing the benevolent bishop…!

But the corners of my mouth were twitching just the same. Damn, I almost started laughing along after looking at Gabriel. Calm down. I have to endure this. The moment I show that I’m cringing, it’s over.

Excluding Gabriel and me, the temple was truly quiet. It was a solemn atmosphere as if truly greeting a saint. Jabaniya’s words had instantly settled the positions of Bishop Marik and myself. A bit unfair. Power really is the answer, isn’t it?

Jabaniya straightened his back and patted it.

“Oh my, I suppose I really am getting old.”

I wanted to say something about what he’d done to warrant such dramatics, but it was true that Jabaniya’s appearance had allowed us to quickly resolve the situation, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Though I’ve had a long friendship with Lord Marik, I never imagined he would be such a young person.”

“Bishop Jabaniya…”

In front of Jabaniya, Saraka momentarily acted as if she were fine. It was like instinct. How much grueling effort must she have put in to imitate Bishop Marik to be able to do that?

“…Bishop Jabaniya, for what purpose did you join hands with a demon? The gold you so proudly speak of? Or did you want to monopolize honor?”

Jabaniya shrugged his shoulders.

“Wealth and power are nice, but at my age, one’s heart tends to soften. When a puppy you occasionally feed whimpers and cries, how could you turn away? Lord Marik, still in your prime, probably can’t understand this old man’s feelings. Hehe.”

Jabaniya replied with a benevolent smile. What did he just say? A puppy? Come to think of it, we’re on the same side, but I don’t know why he has to be so annoying.

So Gabriel is the puppy? I glanced at Gabriel sideways. Gabriel whimpering and crying? The image came too easily to mind, which was the problem.

After a brief conversation with Saraka, Jabaniya called to the knights.

“Listen here.”

“Yes, yes sir!”

“Take good care of Lord Marik until his treatment is decided.”

The knights who had been restraining Saraka answered with military precision. They bound her hands behind her back and gagged her mouth so she couldn’t bite her tongue. Since Saraka had tried to harm herself once, they paid extra attention to the restraints.

Before her mouth was restrained, I spoke to Saraka who was shouting not to go down to the basement.

“Listen, I won’t reveal to anyone that you’re Saraka.”

I don’t know what meaning my words held for Saraka, but after hearing them, she stopped her meaningless resistance. Saraka’s gaze was focused entirely on me.

“At least I’ll let you die as Bishop Marik.”

Saraka didn’t even blink. She had no expression, so I belatedly noticed she was crying. Saraka just quietly let tears drip down.

Fortunately, I was the only one looking at her with pity. The people who had been oppressed by the temple mocked Saraka’s tears, and the priests and knights turned away from her. As Bishop Marik had always said, the temple’s people didn’t see heretics as human. How ironic. At this moment, I’m the only one who sees Saraka as human.

I turned my eyes away from Saraka being quietly escorted away.

This was enough. It was sufficient for me alone to pity Saraka. Villains didn’t need backstories. Saraka wasn’t a pitiful child who grew up abused and brainwashed, but had to be a terrible villain who was obsessed with power and immortality, bewitched by demons, and brutally murdered people.

***

“Well then, let’s head to the basement.”

“Yes, Bishop Jabaniya.”

Jabaniya headed toward Bishop Marik’s chamber accompanied by knights.

Though he didn’t know the exact location, Harut, who was the only one who knew the basement’s true nature, volunteered to accompany them. Jabaniya didn’t want to give greater hardship to the priest who was already agonizing over denouncing his mentor, but since Harut strongly expressed his will, there was no choice. If it was Harut’s choice, he could only respect it.

“I’ll open the door.”

Under Jabaniya’s command, the priests and knights moved efficiently. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Just when he had freed Gabriel, Jabaniya had thought he might meet his end. It wasn’t when he had coveted wealth, but rather when he had let everything go that power was ironically placed in his hands.

Bishop Marik’s chamber was more modest than expected. Even compared to the room where Jabaniya stayed, the difference was stark.

Looking closely, all the furniture was old but expensive. Even so, for a bishop, it didn’t even qualify as luxury. How many people had praised Bishop Marik’s frugality? This too was now completely useless.

The knights searched through the room. The neatly organized room became a mess in an instant.

“There must be an entrance somewhere…”

Harut tried hard to recall his memories, but it wasn’t easy to find the passage to the basement that had remained hidden from everyone. Just when they thought they might have to tear up all the walls and floors, they heard the sound of rats gnawing.

“Ugh, rats!”

“Why are there so many rats today…?”

As the knights panicked and grabbed their sword hilts, Jabaniya hurriedly stopped them.

“Wait! Don’t kill them. Put away your swords.”

Those rats probably weren’t ordinary rats. It must be ‘that thing’ that had pretended to be Gabriel. Then the reason for suddenly appearing was obvious. It was probably to show them the passage.

“There must be a hole the rats came through.”

As if confirming Jabaniya’s guess, the rat conspicuously slipped into a small hole in the wall. A knight who had been watching put his ear to the wall and tapped it lightly, producing a different sound than when tapping other walls.

“Here, it seems to be here.”

Not knowing how to open the door, they crudely broke through the wall with force. It was quite a thick wall, and the stairs leading down were considerably long. No matter how much screaming came from below, it wouldn’t have reached the top.

“To think there really was a basement…”

Jabaniya roughly guessed the original purpose of this room. No matter how he thought about it, it wasn’t suitable for a bishop’s use. Perhaps it was a room used by guards to monitor prisoners confined in the basement.

“Well then, I’ll go down first.”

A knight nervously swallowed and took the lead. The deeper they went, the more a fishy smell mixed with rotting stench began to vibrate through the air. The stench was so bad it made their heads throb, causing several to cover their noses.

And so, after descending the stairs to the very bottom, what they encountered was a horrific mass of flesh.

“…Good heavens.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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