The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 104

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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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Fire

Yelena and Kalebrin reacted dramatically and rushed to me like lightning to check my complexion.

Tuba was just quietly admiring me.

“Are you really okay? You just returned not long ago, and if you overexert yourself like this….”

“I’m fine, Yelena. My condition is in the best possible state. Isn’t that right, Sister Kalebrin?”

“Yes…. That’s, that’s true, but, there was no need to go this far….”

Tuba dragged his chair and stood up, speaking in a low voice.

“There was…. If what the Ascetic says is true, then sacrificing one arm was the best possible move….”

I just smiled.

“You say you’re fine, but you look tired. How about resting a bit more…?”

“I can’t rest, Yelena. I have to go subjugate the undead in Senta.”

“But….”

“Let’s finish quickly and return to the Empire. Don’t we have a lot to prepare?”

Yelena had an uncomfortable expression throughout. We cleaned up all traces in the cabin and packed our things to leave.

Moving to the point where undead were spawning took a little time, but after that everything went smoothly.

The undead were a perfect match for me anyway.

‘Now that I think about it, the fact that undead appeared so early seems to be related to something.’

The undead in my sight turned to powder and disappeared. What remained was black ash and clusters of light floating in the air.

The crack that had been endlessly spewing undead now looked like nothing more than a split in the stone.

“It’s spectacular to see again.”

I released the staff of light from my hand. The staff dissolved into light and disappeared in the air. Tuba watched this curiously.

“We should report first, so let’s go to Senta’s central management unit.”

“The location is…?”

“Just follow me.”

By the way, since I didn’t have any means of transportation, I had to be carried by Erendor like a sack of rice, just like when I went to the World Tree.

Yelena followed while carrying Kalebrin under her arm.

When these physical types who could be called ability users ran at full speed, it was like a train that didn’t need rails.

It didn’t take long to reach the central unit where we needed to report.

“We’ll go somewhere for a bit.”

Tuba and Erendor disappeared like that.

Hmm, well…. How should I make my entrance for maximum dramatic effect?

There’s a place over there that clearly looks like a medical barracks.

I pushed aside the tent flap and entered the barracks. It was low, so I had to duck my head a bit. It was full of wounded soldiers groaning and moaning.

I exerted my power once again. Healing wounds of this degree wasn’t difficult for me anymore.

I approached a wounded soldier who had opened his eyes in bewilderment while still bandaged.

“Please report that Saint Sernuan Lumiere has returned.”

 

*

 

The Young Lady had obtained information about Yelena.

“At this level, she might as well have been raised by the Widow’s hand. Yelena is probably voluntarily cooperating with the Ascetic until now either to escape from the Widow’s grasp…. or with some other intention.”

And in the process of obtaining this information, she also discovered information about another person.

 

[Lumi Orphanage Student Registry]

Adeline – Age 7, silver hair, has talent in divine power and is scheduled to take the priest examination later.

Matthias – Age 8

Eliane – Age 6

Conrad Steiner – Age 9, strong and very curious. Will enter the Steiner lineage.

Clarisse – Age 5

Reinert – Age 7

Sernos – Age 7, shows talent in divine power. Weak-hearted, requires attention.

Ottilie – Age 6

Cedric – Age 8

Liselotte – Age 10, shows talent in magic. The tower mages are keeping an eye on her.

Theobald – Age 5

 

‘A registry from 3 years before Yelena was recruited by the Widow. It shouldn’t be directly related, but….’

Wait.

‘Sernos…? No way. The names are just similar.’

Clues that wouldn’t have been noticed by anyone other than the Young Lady, who had developed eyes for reading documents, were pieced together in her brain.

Flip flip.

The Young Lady quickly turned pages and scanned through the papers.

Missing information gaps were filled with imagination that was almost prophetic. When done this way, a fairly decent map would be completed.

The Young Lady broke out in cold sweat.

Information about the orphanage that had been collected to look at Yelena’s documents. And materials about Sernuan Lumiere that had been gathered before.

Looking at this information revealed an absolutely unbelievable fact.

“Sernuan Lumiere was… from a temple orphanage? His old name was even Sernos, and that orphanage was attacked by mysterious monsters, with everyone dying except Sernos….”

The Young Lady had almost reached the truth of the incident.

‘If he received the name Sernuan Lumiere after this and was raised by the Widow’s hand.’

‘Then the one who went up on that altar was indeed Sernos, Sernuan Lumiere.’

‘Seeing how he appeared at the banquet hall, his relationship with the Widow seems quite distant. The Widow must have been quite worried.’

‘In the end, the Ascetic’s utility value will only increase.’

Buying at the bottom. It was a merchant’s basic principle.

The Young Lady smiled with satisfaction at the valuable information.

But as she rummaged through other documents, that expression quickly hardened.

‘Perhaps she is….’

‘No way.’

The Young Lady’s instincts rang alarm bells.

Should she dig deeper into this information, or should she cover it up as is?

If she dug deeper, a massive force that even she couldn’t fathom would threaten her.

‘In the end, if I want to become queen, I need to make Sernuan Lumiere my ally?’

To become the best among information merchants in the shadows, sometimes bold betting was necessary.

‘Yelena is already a kite with a broken string, so I don’t need to worry about her anymore…. What remains is Antonio, the Golden Merchant.’

 

*

 

The matter in Senta was safely concluded.

The King rushed out barefoot and shook my remaining arm with such force that he seemed ready to tear it off, which seemed to revive Senta’s morale somewhat.

‘I hope they can grow enough to at least face off against the Empire…. though that’s probably unrealistic.’

It was impressive enough that Senta could antagonize the Empire to this degree.

They’re naturally leisurely people with abundant resources, so there’s no way they could beat the Imperial citizens who have tenacious spirit and are almost a single ethnic group….

Oops, was that too much of an Imperial mindset? Let me reflect on that.

After Sernuan Lumiere and I merged, switching perspectives became so natural that I keep forgetting like this. Oh my, this won’t do.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

The carriages and soldiers that had been dispatched from the Empire to rescue me were used to urgently transport me back to the Empire.

Kalebrin and Yelena came along too.

I wasn’t worried about Tuba and Erendor. Erendor had received a method for illegal entry from the Widow. With that, he should be able to bring Tuba into the Empire as well.

‘Since it was a surveillance mission, the Widow will soon summon Erendor to ask what happened. She’ll probably call Yelena too for a cross-check….’

That’s what Teacher would have done. So I acted one step ahead.

-‘So about cutting off the arm, you can explain it like this.’

Since Yelena was also there when I coordinated with Erendor, if she has any sense, she’ll handle things well when the Widow calls for her.

Yelena is such a sharp-minded action-oriented person that I don’t worry much about her.

‘Will she call for me too?’

I was wondering inside the carriage whether Teacher would call for me or not.

“We’ve finally arrived…. Huh?”

As Yelena was stretching her stiff body, a whole crowd of people came out to greet us.

‘Personnel that were on standby? Wait a minute…. They’re all holding something?’

“You really don’t have an arm…!”

“Status check.”

As soon as I set foot on Empire ground, I found myself trapped among the medical team.

“Hmm…?”

Fumble fumble.

The medical team started examining me. Wait, what’s this?

“Pulse is normal.”

“Um…. I’m fine, kind neighbors. I’m really perfectly healthy, so please don’t worry….”

“Pupil response is normal.”

I said I’m fine, so why are you checking my pupils? If it were that serious, I would have died in the carriage!

“Check complete. Medical room is ready.”

“Transport.”

“Huh…? Wait a moment, I’m fine…. Neighbors? Neighbors…!? Yelena, Sister Calebrin. Please help me!”

“It doesn’t seem like they’re doing anything bad, so why don’t you go get examined while you’re at it.”

“Yeah…. Ascetic, you pushed yourself too, too hard….”

Yelena, Calebrin, even you two!

I was able to experience a different kind of bewilderment after possessing this body.

‘Could this be a trap the Widow prepared to naturally separate those two from me…!’

 

*

 

It wasn’t.

“This priest couldn’t rest because I was worried about the Ascetic’s body…!”

It was just my allies inside the Imperial Central Church making a fuss, going ‘Oh dear, oh dear, our Saint came back from a foreign country with his arm cut off.’

“Don’t worry, Brother…. This humble body was offered for the world’s sake, so how blessed is this?”

“You’re not humble at all! You have the most noble body in the world, so how could….”

The priest shouted angrily and kept glancing at where my arm was cut off.

With such a reaction, I felt embarrassed.

‘I was just deliberately not regenerating it….’

I had only cut off a lot for the sake of future performances, but everyone around me was making a huge fuss.

I thought only Teacher would come angrily because I had escaped her control….

‘It’s been 2 days without any particular contact.’

That point was suspicious, so I contacted the Young Lady, but she said there was nothing particularly unusual about the Widow.

She says she hasn’t left the mansion…. As if I could believe that.

‘Teacher can move the Empire with her fingertips even while staying at home. I shouldn’t feel relieved.’

She might be plotting something even now.

‘There’s no point in me trying to predict it. Let me just think about the Dawn Festival….’

During the 2 days I was receiving detailed examinations and handling Central Church affairs, Yelena and Erendor seemed to have been called to the mansion for reports.

Whether they handled things well during that time or not, there were no special measures taken against me.

Of course, when I had a voice transmission conversation with Yelena, she said ‘Contact is difficult right now’ and cut off communication, which was a bit worrying….

But it’s Yelena. She’ll handle things well on her own.

‘There’s no way Teacher would do something to the eyes watching me. She wouldn’t have spare cards to attach other surveillance personnel.’

Until Yelena returns, I should finish the urgent Central Church business and focus on diplomacy.

When she returns, I’ll start preparing in earnest to ruin the Dawn Festival.

D-6 days until the Dawn Festival.

‘The Young Lady said the banquet hall was newly reorganized, I wonder if they’ll call me.’

The preparations went smoothly.

 

*

 

Crack-

The sound of someone’s bone breaking rang out.

“…!”

A woman with long disheveled yellow hair trembled in pain while lying face down on the floor.

Her whole body showed traces of beatings. Even the one doing the beating was impressed by her mental strength for not making a single groan despite her broken bones.

“Hooh…. Why can’t our daughter, who endures so well, accomplish one simple task? Don’t tell me you’ve become a fairy tale princess who lost her heart to a decent-looking Ascetic?”

“No, it’s not. Mother…. Cough.”

“But why would our daughter do that? This mother never raised you like this….”

Yelena slammed the floor and raised her head. Similar green eyes flashed between her disheveled yellow hair.

“Stop it now. Mother…!”

“Your head has grown a bit, so now you’re talking back to your sky-like mother.”

A low, cold, and chilling voice.

Flinch.

Yelena lowered her head with a tremor. It was the reflexive reaction of someone raised under prolonged violence and oppression.

“I finished the job safely….”

Yelena muttered in a voice quiet as a mouse.

“The job? Your job was to monitor the Ascetic and report his every move to me. And when he was about to go greatly astray, to tell me in advance so I could stop him.”

She was unusually ‘angry.’

Someone who lived thoroughly excluding emotions was taking out her anger on Yelena.

“But what’s this situation? As soon as I leave, the Ascetic cuts off his arm. Then he advertises it to Centa. Ha, this is absolutely ridiculous.”

Yelena couldn’t even think of looking up at the Widow while lying face down, just waiting for this situation to end.

It was because she had grown up under a brainwashing, oppressive, and obsessive mother since childhood.

Tap, tap.

The Widow, who had been poking Yelena with the tip of her pointed shoes, let out a deep sigh.

“It must be my fault for raising you like this. How could I blame you…. Yes, my expectations were too high. Right?”

Emotion and fear took precedence over reason. Determination, disappointment, and her well-functioning mind were all paralyzed in an instant.

All she had to do was not disappoint the person in front of her.

Yelena cried out frantically, not even knowing what she was saying.

“…No, it’s not. Mother…! I, I can do better…! Pl, please give me one more chance. I’m, I’m your daughter, aren’t I?”

“That’s right. You’re my proud daughter. The most outstanding among the Inquisitors…. Smart and with great martial prowess.”

Yelena smiled with relief on her tear-stained face.

“Shall I give you one more chance? Since my daughter is begging like this….”

The Widow hugged Yelena. And she began to smooth down her disheveled hair with her hand.

“But Yelena…. This is the only chance. You understand, right? You won’t disappoint this mother again, will you?”

“Yes…. Yes, Mother.”

Yelena squeezed her eyes shut. The tears that hadn’t been able to flow and had been pooling up streamed down.

“I definitely…. won’t disappoint you.”

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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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