The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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# Chapter 53
Four days later, Liam arrived at the Temple with a grave expression.
“Saint, I’ve looked into it, and… I don’t think this is something we can simply overlook.”
“What is it?”
“Over the past two years, the number of children admitted to Lumen Orphanage doesn’t match the number who’ve left. According to the records, they were placed through adoption, but when I checked with the families who supposedly took them, they say no such thing happened.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“Then… where did those children go?”
“The documents have been forged. No one actually knows where they went.”
I felt the blood drain from my fingertips.
“The director changed around that time, didn’t he?”
“Yes. A man named Basil. The previous director suddenly retired, and he came in as his successor—though the former director’s whereabouts are unclear as well. According to the villagers, he just packed his things one day and left.”
“That’s strange too.”
“Then we should go check immediately.”
“However, we lack enough evidence to conduct an official investigation. If we rush in without solid grounds, we could cause real problems. Since we’re acting under the Temple’s name, we can’t move recklessly without certainty.”
Liam was right. I couldn’t use the Temple’s authority to barge in on mere suspicion.
“Then should we just sneak there at night and take a look? Only to confirm, and then come straight back.”
“That should be acceptable. But we absolutely won’t venture deeper inside.”
“I promise.”
That night, Liam and I slipped quietly out of the Temple.
“This time we’re only confirming. Don’t go pushing deeper inside.”
“Understood.”
Lumen Orphanage looked ordinary at first glance. The building was old but cleanly maintained, and beyond the fence lay a quiet courtyard. In the moonlight, it appeared to be nothing more than a typical rural orphanage.
We crouched low outside the fence and peered inside.
Faint light was seeping through a few windows.
“It’s too quiet.”
At this hour, you’d expect to hear children being put to bed, soft chatter—but the place was silent as if time itself had stopped.
The eerie stillness, with not even the whisper of wind, only sharpened my unease.
As I examined the building’s wall through a gap in the fence, a familiar symbol caught my eye at the base of the rear warehouse wall.
A chalice shape without pupils.
Even at a glance, the pattern seemed to emanate something sinister.
“Liam, look there.”
“That symbol…”
Liam’s voice had dropped to barely above a whisper.
Then, from inside the warehouse, I heard the faintest sound of a child crying—short and abruptly cut off.
As if someone had forcibly smothered it.
My spine went rigid with cold.
I suppressed the urge to move closer.
If we were discovered now, we would only give them time to destroy the evidence.
“This is enough. I think we have enough to report this to the Pope.”
“I agree. Let’s withdraw.”
We retraced our steps in silence.
Even as we passed beyond the fence, I kept looking back over my shoulder.
The thought of the children left inside made my feet reluctant to move forward.
The next morning, I went straight to the Pope.
“Let me tell you what we confirmed during the night.”
I laid bare everything—the symbol we’d seen outside the fence and the faint sound of the child’s weeping.
The Pope’s expression hardened with each word.
“You’re certain about that symbol?”
“Yes. It was a chalice shape without pupils.”
“That’s the mark of a forbidden heresy from long ago.”
The Pope murmured this quietly.
His voice carried a weight I’d never heard before.
“I never thought something like that still existed.”
“What should we do?”
“I’ll issue an official Investigation Authority. Michael.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
At the Pope’s call, the cardinal standing beside him, Michael, bowed his head.
“This time, go in broad daylight under the Temple’s name and investigate openly. Rather than skulking about at night, it might be better to visit officially and see what they’re hiding.”
“Your Holiness, what about me?”
“They won’t dare refuse an official Temple visit. And besides—when we move openly like this, they’ll scramble to cover their tracks and make mistakes.”
Wait, excuse me. Can’t you hear me?
I puffed out my cheeks in exasperation, and the Pope let out a low groan.
“It won’t work.”
“But I found her!”
“It’s far too dangerous.”
Michael nodded in agreement as well.
“Taking a child along does present practical difficulties.”
“She’s not just any child—she’s a Saint! And if she really might be a remnant of the Heretical Cult, I can strike them down with Holy Power!”
Honestly, if I could keep myself from spiraling out of control, I felt confident I could restrain her without much trouble.
My argument had weight, and since having her was plainly better than not, the Pope deliberated deeply for a long time.
“Very well. But.”
The Pope added gravely.
“Don’t let on outwardly under any circumstances. If the other party catches wind of it, they’ll know to hide more carefully from that point forward.”
“…Understood!”
The Pope summoned a scribe and had formal documents prepared at once—an official visitor’s permit stamped with the Temple Seal.
Two days later, Liam and I made a formal visit to the Lumen Orphanage.
We traveled by Temple Carriage, carrying documents bearing the Temple Seal.
Inside the carriage, I steadied myself over and over again.
No matter what expression the other party wore, I resolved not to give myself away first.
It was the director himself, Basil, who greeted us at the front gate.
“A Saint gracing our humble establishment with her presence—what an honor!”
Basil wore a benevolent smile and bowed deeply from the waist.
His full-cheeked face and gentle eyes made him look exactly like a kind-hearted director who loved children.
The chill I’d felt beyond the fence wall at night was nowhere to be found.
“I hear the Temple has taken considerable interest in the welfare of children these days. If you’d be willing to visit our orphanage, we’d be most grateful. I’ve always hoped for the Temple’s attention.”
“…Yes, then. I’ll have a look around.”
Several children were playing in the courtyard.
All wore clean clothes and sat quietly, either reading books or playing house.
“They’re all well-behaved, aren’t they? I cherish these children as if they were my own.”
Basil gazed at the children with a pleased expression.
I watched the scene unfold, struggling to maintain my composure.
It was all far too perfect.
Perfect to the point of being unnerving.
Looking again at the children playing in the courtyard, something felt distinctly unnatural. They were playing, certainly, but there was no sound of laughter.
It was as though they moved according to a predetermined script.
Cheese, beside me, was growling softly and glowering at Basil.
Gone was any trace of affection—she was entirely on guard.
“Cheese, quiet.”
I whispered softly, but Cheese didn’t stop growling.
“This way, if you please. I’ll show you the interior as well.”
Basil led the way, smiling. That smile, for some reason, kept troubling me.
Liam remained quietly at my side, surveying the surroundings.
Though his sword hung at his black belt, his hand rested naturally nearby, ready to draw at any moment.
“The orphanage is larger than I expected.”
“Ah, yes. It’s the oldest in this region, you see. The numbers have declined recently, but at its height we had over a hundred children.”
“How many are here now?”
“Well, to be precise… around thirty, I’d say.”
Basil’s eyes flickered away as he answered.
I didn’t miss that brief hesitation.
“Shall we look at the interior first?”
“Yes, this way.”
Basil led us into the building, continuing to elaborate on this and that.
About the children’s diet, their education. His explanations were flawlessly perfect.
Yet that very perfection felt unnatural—smooth and awkward, like lines read from a script prepared in advance.
As we entered the corridor, a child from the far end glanced toward us, then hurried away into a room.
In that brief moment, I saw fear in the child’s eyes.
‘…That’s not just shyness.’
It was the look of someone afraid of Basil.
“This is the children’s study room.”
Basil opened the door with a smile. Inside, several children sat quietly, reading books.
They all kept their eyes averted from us, moving with stiff, mechanical precision as though simply following orders.
I pretended to survey the room, while surreptitiously glancing out the window toward the warehouse structure visible behind the building.
It was the same building I’d seen last night—the one bearing that peculiar marking.
“What is that building in the back?”
At my question, Basil’s composure faltered.
“Ah, that’s just an old warehouse. There’s nothing particularly worth seeing there.”
“Still, I’d like to have a look.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I showed you next time? We’re already running quite late today, and—”
In that moment, I knew for certain.
There was something in that building.

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