The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 14

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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

“I’m sorry, Ascetic!”

Bang!

Antonio collapsed in front of me with a sound like his knees were being shattered. He buried his head on the floor and shouted loudly.

I put down my utensils and slowly turned around. I tried to hold back a sigh, but one escaped anyway from my frustrated feelings…

Normally I would have asked what exactly he was apologizing for, but I had a pretty good idea why that apology came out.

“You have nothing to apologize to me for, Antonio. I simply want you to be devoted to your family, and I know that I am the obstacle to that. Even if you’ve taken on the mission of being a proxy, I don’t want that to ruin your life.”

Antonio couldn’t say anything and just trembled. Seeing Antonio trembling while collapsed on the ground made me feel pity for him.

‘Should I establish discipline… or should I be lenient.’

It seemed like two options had appeared.

I slowly brought my hand to my chin, then swept back my bangs.

Two options…

Did I really have to choose between just these two?

I continued speaking.

“I quite like children. They hold infinite possibilities and… are full of life. The cheerfulness and innocence you can’t find in older people. How they sparkle… When I first heard from Antonio’s mouth that such a child was bedridden, my heart ached.”

Antonio was still trembling.

I continued speaking without helping him up or scolding him.

“If God exists, why would he give only Antonio such a harsh fate? Moreover, what sin could a child have committed that even such a child must suffer? If God truly exists, shouldn’t he punish the cruel and heinous criminals who suck human blood? Yet he only brings suffering to the innocent.”

I got down from my chair. And I patted Antonio’s shoulder. Antonio flinching at my sudden touch was quite amusing.

“Those who live virtuously are betrayed, while those who commit evil deeds oppress the good and continue their comfortable lives with their blood and tears. In such absurdity and contradiction, if God really existed, he wouldn’t have created such a world.”

Antonio’s cold sweat dripped onto the wooden floor, leaving dark stains.

“As an ascetic who appeared to liberate everyone from suffering, I couldn’t help but think such thoughts. If I cast off my identity as an ascetic and became a true god, I wouldn’t have created such a world… I thought.”

A brief silence before continuing with the next words.

I gently grabbed Antonio’s chin and made him lift his head. Antonio looked directly at me.

Smiling, I spoke to him with the usual smile I always showed.

“So, Antonio. Practice righteousness starting from small things. Isn’t caring for your daughter a more important duty as a father than fulfilling any mission? If you’re my proxy, I believe you can naturally fulfill such duties.”

Pat pat. I tapped Antonio’s plump and rough dark brown hair a couple of times.

Antonio, with emotions like tension and anxiety mixed like a salad, banged his head on the floor again with a thud.

“I will do as the Ascetic wishes. Please forgive this lowly and foolish proxy’s actions…”

“Oh my. Antonio… you’ll get a wound on your forehead.”

I quickly lifted Antonio’s head from the floor.

Having banged it hard on the floor twice, there were small wounds on his forehead. It looked like there would be a dark bruise by tomorrow.

If I had a healing relic, I could have healed his forehead to make his faith even stronger… but unfortunately, the healing relic had to be obtained from the future Cardil.

I hope Cardil listens as well as our Antonio, but being a priest, it won’t be easy.

“I will forgive you. Occasionally acting foolishly is an unavoidable nature that all living beings have, isn’t it? So… of course I understand.”

I stroked his head a couple of times. His dry hair brushed along with my touch.

“Thank you for the Ascetic’s boundless Divine Mercy.”

“Now, let’s finish our dinner. At this rate, all the deliciously prepared food will get cold.”

Tomorrow I should see if Lion’s Heart is moving… then go to Cardil.

The need for a healing relic was becoming more and more urgent.

‘If I put on a robe and cover my eyes with a veil, wouldn’t that work? A veil should be stylish enough, right?’

I asked Antonio to get me a veil to cover my face.

“Understood. But, will the Ascetic continue to stay at my house…”

“Yes, of course if Antonio finds it inconvenient, I’ll move my residence elsewhere.”

“No, no! I was just asking in case there might be inconveniences in serving you. I’m honored to have the Ascetic staying at my house…”

After that, all of Antonio’s words were just flattery. Listening to it made me feel like I might get indigestion.

*

The next morning. After opening my eyes, I wash my face simply.

I put on a light white shirt and pitch-black pants. Put a robe over this and the outdoor outfit is complete! It’s quite a simple outfit.

“…?”

While looking in the mirror and buttoning up, I discovered a pure white mark on my body.

The mark engraved around my neck and collarbone was one I hadn’t seen when putting on clothes yesterday.

It felt like a tattoo choker. What kind of graffiti is this on my already pale body.

…Wait a minute.

It wasn’t something I couldn’t guess at all…

[‘Necklace of Ranoop’ User: Sernuan Lumiere]

Perhaps this binding appeared in this form?

‘Well… normally it would be in an inventory window or something, but there’s no inventory system here.’

There might be subspace bags made by high-ranking mages though.

I buttoned up the shirt all the way to the neck.

The shirt collar barely covered the mark on my neck, but if someone grabbed my collar, the mark would be clearly visible.

‘Would there be anyone to grab my collar?’

If I had to pick someone, Cardil? But Cardil has been quiet lately, so I’m not particularly worried.

When I went downstairs, there was a delicious meal Antonio had prepared, a veil neatly folded at the edge of the table, and his daughter, who still couldn’t shake off her gauntness, chatting with Antonio as he prepared the meal.

“Oh! It’s the Ascetic! Did you sleep well?”

The child with a missing tooth greets me clumsily.

Don’t children usually have stranger anxiety around this age? Hmm, I wouldn’t know since I lived in an environment where being shy wouldn’t help me live comfortably.

“Thanks to you, I was able to sleep comfortably. Did Tradettor sleep well last night?”

“Yes! Oh, Ascetic! My name is… Tradettor is also a name, but please call me Marietta!”

“Yes, Marietta. Good morning.”

“Yes!”

The moderate liveliness and bustle is pleasant.

I smiled and picked up the veil on the table. The white and gold thread embroidery on the white veil was moderately elaborate without being excessive, making it look luxurious.

When I put my hand behind the unfolded veil to check how much it showed through, it wasn’t completely opaque but was opaque enough to hide my unusual eye color.

Gray eyes are common, but gray eyes close to white are quite rare, so I was worried about that.

This solves it for now. In modern times, I would have gotten sunglasses, but the medieval period is really inconvenient.

As expected of a merchant, he can obtain such items overnight~

Well, there’s no rocket delivery here, so Antonio must have worked quite hard.

“Thank you, my proxy. Now I can go around saving those who suffer again.”

“Those who suffer…?”

The child asked back while looking at the veil with curiosity. I stroked the child’s light brown hair and explained.

“I’m doing work to save sick people like Marietta. It’s my glorious mission.”

The child, with a face of understanding, bowed her head once more.

“Thank you for saving me!”

“It’s my mission, so there’s nothing to thank me for. Oh, Marietta. If you’re really grateful, wouldn’t you spread this miracle to those around you?”

Classic promotion lies in children’s word of mouth.

I looked at Marietta with a bright smile.

I felt quite bad about deceiving a child, but thinking that if I hadn’t possessed Sernuan Lumiere’s body and done these things, she would have spent her whole life bedridden and died, it felt quite alright.

Marietta tilted her head and asked.

“Um… how do I do that?”

I folded the veil neatly and put it back on the table as I spoke.

“It’s not difficult, rather… it will be very fun.”

Let’s go for gathering 50 people!!

*

“To gather people with a nursery rhyme, truly the Ascetic is remarkable.”

Being a merchant, he seemed to understand the promotional effect of the nursery rhyme.

I responded with a smile instead of words. Ah- this is the power of oral folklore…

Oh, by the way, as soon as Marietta finished breakfast, she shot out like an arrow saying she was going to play with friends.

It had only been 5 days at most since she got up from her sickbed, yet I had no idea where such energy came from.

Go play lots and make friends to do some promotion. Hahahaha.

“The things I brought to save Marietta seem to finally be responding in her body.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“I devoted myself to merchant work to feed Marietta precious medicine and healing potions. Of course, meeting doctors and priests for treatment was also part of the goal…”

His words trailed off. I listened to Antonio’s words while drinking coffee. I was grateful that coffee existed in this world too.

The bottom of the cup containing brown liquid was revealed. I spread out the veil I had placed beside the table.

“I shall go out now.”

“Yes, I will do my best today to widely fulfill the Ascetic’s will.”

He was already doing well, so I didn’t feel like saying anything particular. What annoyed me yesterday was my personal… thing.

I restrained my clumsy movements as much as possible and slowly pretended to be skilled as I put on the veil, making my vision hazy. I pulled my robe hood down low and went out.

In South Korea, I would have to dress appropriately for each season, but with this climate and weather year-round, it was really nice.

Monsters came out and devoured people worse than tigers in the Joseon Dynasty, but well… as long as you had the power to protect yourself, it was a very comfortable continent to live on.

On my way to Cardil’s cabin, I took a look at the system.

‘Oh, come to think of it, they said I could check the status of baptized believers.’

[Eveline Ariand]

[Antonio Tradetore]

I selected Eveline Ariand.

[Eveline Ariand]

-Details-

[Status: Peaceful]

[Location: North of Astrapolis, Indoor]

She’s not visible outside. This will probably be more useful later than now.

‘It’s a shame I couldn’t level up Weakness Detection…’

I felt a moment of regret, thinking I had chosen too hastily.

‘Well, whatever. I can earn points again.’

[Number of Believers: 29]

[Sub Quest(2): You gather believers. 50 people.]

[Temporary Believers: 7]

[Faith: 37]

I thought gathering 100 faith would be quite difficult, but 37 had accumulated overnight. There were 7 temporary believers excluding Cardil.

‘Still, it’s manageable. The sub-quest reward probably won’t be that bad…!’

Probably if I treated patients who came to Cardil’s cabin again today, plus those who came after being promoted by the nursery rhyme, somehow reaching 50 believers seemed possible.

Just then, I could see Cardil in front of the cabin. The tired-looking Cardil raised his voice at the man before him.

“Can’t you get lost right now?”

But what’s this situation now.

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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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