The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 47

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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

It’s a luxurious building.

‘How dazzling.’

The impoverished self within me couldn’t lift its head. However, I was currently wearing the glamorous shell of Sernuan Lumiere, so I was fine.

Even the clothes I wore were gorgeous, elegant, and incomparably luxurious, so I could confidently enter the building.

I followed the attendant into the building. The ornately designed building was maintained cleanly without a single ivy vine on the outer walls.

A white marble fountain spouted water from the center of the building. It really seemed like something a bourgeois had invested tremendous money in to show off their wealth.

Though I suppose it’s good that there aren’t any tacky couple-creating sculptures like in Korea.

“Well then, I’ll be going now. From here on, accompaniment is prohibited.”

Yelena stopped in front of a certain door. The attendant who had been guiding me was also waiting for Yelena to leave, not opening the door.

“Do well.”

She waved her hand again and walked gracefully down the corridor. Only then did the attendant open the door.

‘She’s not coming out right away.’

A large room appeared. And right in front was another large door.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

The attendant pointed to a sofa. Then disappeared through another back door. I walked slowly and sat on the sofa.

The rough texture of the sofa cover touched my hand. And the white robe that spread out as I sat covered the red-patterned sofa.

‘To invite someone and then make them wait, really lacking in basic guest etiquette.’

Of course, I’d never been invited anywhere, but I learned proper etiquette from the internet.

‘How long will I have to wait?’

I folded up the white veil I had been wearing. My obstructed view became clear. Incidentally, this veil was also custom-made in the dressing room.

The one I used before was ruined thanks to Alderion.

While I sat on the sofa looking at the system window, the door the attendant had disappeared through opened again.

‘Is it the attendant? Hmm? Someone I haven’t seen before.’

The clothes are too luxurious to be an attendant. They were clothes that some young lady from a marquis house might wear.

‘A figure from the banquet hall?’

She wore a veil that barely showed her lower jaw.

Her veil had flower embroidery done with white thread. If I had been wearing my veil, it would have been a meeting of veiled people.

The veil moved. I looked up at her while sitting on the sofa.

When our eyes met, she flinched with her gloved hand.

After a moment of silence, she offered a greeting.

“Hello, Ascetic.”

I smiled and leisurely accepted the greeting.

“Good day, unknown Young Lady. Today is an unusually clear and quiet day.”

“You might be executed depending on how you’re treated, yet you seem quite relaxed.”

“Being afraid when you know you won’t die… wouldn’t that just be unnecessary commotion?”

“I see… you’re indeed the Ascetic I heard about in rumors.”

The Young Lady lifted the veil attached to her hood upward. The translucent veil went up.

Light purple eyes were revealed. It looked like amethysts were embedded in her eyes.

I was also surprised whenever I saw Sernuan Lumiere’s face in the mirror, seeing eye color so pale it was almost white. At this point, purple eyes like those aren’t surprising.

“May I sit in front for a moment?”

The Young Lady who had also removed her hood requested to sit together. I tried my best to gesture elegantly.

“Originally this wasn’t my seat, so please sit comfortably.”

“Then I’ll excuse myself briefly.”

The Young Lady pulled over a small sofa and sat down. Her hood was placed on the dark brown wooden table.

“I’m Lady Serbiana. I won’t tell you about my family house since it won’t matter once we enter the banquet hall anyway.”

Hmm, Lady Serbiana.

I don’t know the family house, so that’s fine. If I don’t recognize the name after hearing it, she probably wasn’t a character who appeared in the game.

Still, the fact that she came to meet me before the banquet hall officially begins… means she has some status.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Lady Serbiana. Seeing that you’ve gone to the trouble of visiting me, do you have some business with me? You don’t look ill… perhaps someone around you is suffering?”

The Young Lady laughed softly. Her purple eyes narrowed.

“Hehe… how like the Ascetic. But I’m not sick anywhere, and I don’t have any ailing or sick acquaintances either. I came to see the Ascetic for a different reason.”

Bold. She has guts.

She wants to use me.

“You’re an honest Young Lady. Yes, listening to neighbors’ words is also part of an ascetic’s mission. Speak comfortably. I’ll keep your secrets.”

Right, if you want to use me, making the first offer is basic, isn’t it? My value has become quite expensive, so I won’t bat an eye at just anything.

“The Ascetic must surely want something as well, to comply so obediently with the banquet hall’s invitation. In that case… we’re both looking in the same direction.”

“No, I have no goals. I merely follow an ascetic’s mission. Liberating people from suffering, that alone is the path I must walk.”

“If you want to walk that path, you need to remove the ‘Widow.'”

Widow? Is she talking about the I know?

“Widow?”

“She’s the real power behind the banquet hall. Today’s meal menu, of course, and even the decision to bring the Ascetic who was supposed to be executed to this place… it all came from her hands. She wears a black veil so her face isn’t visible, but she’s the master of the banquet hall.”

“Then rather… isn’t the Widow someone who showed me kindness?”

“Haha, the Ascetic doesn’t yet know why she’s called the ‘Widow.’ It’s true that she actually lost her husband… but she’s someone who established the banquet hall and sacrificed even her own husband and children as offerings for her advancement, to make the Emperor her puppet.”

She met my gaze. Unlike her smiling lips, cold eyes pierced through me.

“Remember this. When a spider extends its hand, it may look like kindness… but the moment you take that hand, you’re already caught in her web.”

From the explanation, it doesn’t seem like the I know. The widow wasn’t such a named character to begin with.

Indeed, a gap was starting to appear in terms of information.

“The Widow… discards without regret anything that escapes her control and usefulness.”

It’s a warning chilling enough to make the back of my neck cold.

“Did you come to warn me about the Widow in advance?”

“You may understand it that way. And I also came to request a bit of cooperation. It’s a very simple condition, so it shouldn’t be burdensome.”

“First… I’ll judge after hearing the details.”

Using Weakness Detection on this Young Lady right now would be wasteful.

I’ll be entering the banquet hall soon, and it would be better to use it on the ‘Widow’ or other real powers then.

‘It would be more beneficial to save it for now.’

The Young Lady continued speaking.

“Good. I’ll give the Ascetic information about the banquet hall. In return, when I need it, the Ascetic just needs to come to me and use that ability. Simple, right?”

Hmm… not bad conditions. Considering I’ll be called here and there afterward anyway, it was quite minor cooperation.

‘I didn’t even know who the widow was until just now.’

It was an opportunity to resolve the information imbalance about the banquet hall with a simple price.

However…

‘That Young Lady might only pass along information favorable to herself when giving banquet hall information.’

Hearing information from only one person might actually be a bad move.

‘If I just stay properly cautious… it’s fine. She’ll know that demanding something big from each other with this level of cooperation would be unreasonable. So this is just simple errands for the next request…’

I smiled brightly.

“Of course. Even without such a request, if there’s someone sick, treating them is my role. Because that’s the mission I’ve taken on.”

“You’re such a kind person. But what if that sick person is a criminal who committed serious crimes? Would you still extend your hand then?”

“I have the insight to distinguish whether someone suffering deserves that suffering or shouldn’t receive it. So… you don’t need to worry about that.”

The Young Lady hesitated for a moment, then answered in a small voice.

“I see.”

Then she put on the hood she had placed on the table again. The veil covered her eyes.

“Dinner time is approaching. I’ll visit the Ascetic separately to discuss the details.”

“Shall we? Rather than talking before eating, it’s more leisurely and nice to talk over a simple cup of tea after the meal.”

“Then I’ll see you later, Ascetic.”

Click.

The white door closed and I fingered the veil in my hand. The embroidery on my veil was like light effects. The bumpy texture of the embroidery touched my fingertips.

“The Widow…”

It’s not too late to decide after seeing what happens at this banquet hall. The important thing is walking the tightrope, isn’t it?

Choosing only one side and making enemies with figures from other options is something only amateurs do.

“Huh…”

I let out a slow sigh. Soon after, an attendant opened the door and entered.

“The banquet is ready. I will guide you to the Banquet Hall.”

*

Thud.

I arrived at the Banquet Hall.

All the figures were already seated at the long table, one seat each. And at both ends of the long table, only those seats remained empty.

Obviously the seats for me and the Widow.

“Please sit over here.”

The attendant guided me to my seat and disappeared like the wind.

All the figures’ eyes were covered in various ways. Some wore masks, others had veils attached to their hoods like the Young Lady from earlier.

Though their eyes were covered, they all stared at me intently and began their assessment. I was glad I came wearing a veil.

I spotted a familiar hood. It was at the second seat on the right side of the head table in the distance. It definitely gave off the impression of holding a significant position. Does the Young Lady have considerable status here?

The person at the lowest position was only three steps away from me. He whispered.

“I don’t really feel any sense of pressure or anything. The rumors were false after all.”

“What could you expect from mere rumors? Of course they’d be false.”

“I heard he handles Holy Power well, but that might also be false…”

“I heard that part is true. The Lord of Astrapolis-“

Everyone began chatting. While the lower-ranking figures chattered chaotically among themselves in a commotion, the figures closer to the empty head seat conserved their words and remained quietly still.

Clank.

The door opened.

A woman dressed entirely in black entered the Banquet Hall.

As soon as the clicking sound of her shoes echoed, the figures who had been chatting instantly shut their mouths.

Click, click.

With the chatter gone, only the sound of her shoe heels echoed through the quiet Banquet Hall. The woman wearing the black veil likewise showed only her lower face.

Bright red lipstick and a black mole beside her lips.

“Well, since everyone seems to have gathered, shall we begin the meal?”

The Widow had arrived.

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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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