The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 53

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

Fire

Calebrin quietly stared at the damp carpet before meeting my eyes.

The bright red eyes that had been glowing ominously quickly dimmed back to their usual red color.

“Tracking would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah… Actually, the medium was also, hah, inadequate… I was tra-tracking the malice directed at the ascetic… but that malice has been cu-cut off…”

“Oh my. This has become troublesome.”

Well, there were quite a few places where I could be poisoned thanks to stirring up trouble here and there.

Just thinking briefly, several places came to mind, so that said it all.

For now…

1. The Empire

2. Central Church

3. People from the banquet hall

4. Other people I’ve offended

And so on.

‘Even though I’ve been acting up quite a bit, I didn’t think it was to the extent of receiving assassination attempts.’

Really, why are there so many people who dislike me in this small world?

“As-ascetic… I’ll pro-protect you…!”

Meanwhile, Calebrin was truly admirable.

As expected of my reliable tier-1 main dealer.

Even befitting her character concept of using sorcery, she had good utility among dealers, so she truly had outstanding performance wherever she went.

“Thank you. With Sister here, I feel much more secure. I’ll continue to trust you, Sister Calebrin.”

“…!”

Calebrin’s red eyes sparkled brightly with life.

She nodded her head vigorously. Because of that, her fine black curly hair that now flowed smoothly swayed.

“Yeah!”

When I first found her in the forest, she looked like an abandoned dog, but after feeding her well, dressing her well, and washing her, she gained human dignity.

‘Is it just because I’m obsessed with performance…’

But what should I do now?

‘Facing an unknown assassination threat… This is more unique than going to prison.’

Just passively taking hits and waiting for the next preemptive strike isn’t my style.

Since I’ve taken plenty of hits so far… shouldn’t I land at least one blow to make the cost-benefit analysis work out?

Moreover, the suspects had been narrowed down considerably by that recent death.

First, the person trying to poison me and the person who commissioned it are different.

Poison is surprisingly expensive.

If they kept sprinkling this on my food like dressing, it means they have considerable wealth…

The fact that they commissioned a poisoning also means they have fairly high power, since using people isn’t an ordinary matter.

The only powerful people I’ve recently clashed with are those from the banquet hall.

Among them, the only one who harbored the most hostility toward me was that ‘Marquis’.

The Central Church, having welcomed a new saint, could also resort to dirty tricks to protect their power…

But they’re probably in double or triple chaos right now because the Pope died.

Besides, if the Central Church tried to touch me, the widow would have noticed.

Then among the figures who want to regain power in the banquet hall…

Only the Marquis.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if this prediction is wrong. The Marquis didn’t like me, and even if not through poisoning, he would try to mess with me somehow.

Starting from questioning my opinions thoroughly when the next banquet hall opens… he would even carry out direct assassination.

The problem is that he wears a veil so I don’t know his face, preventing me from activating my Retribution-Scale Tech skill…

“Sister, then I’d like to ask you a favor…”

Since I had a sorceress at my disposal, commissioning her to take a life was quite an easy matter.

Of course, there was the slightly, very slightly tricky point of having to specify the target…

But that much was a natural price to pay if I could enjoy the power of sorcery.

There aren’t many marquises who received high positions in the Empire enough to be at the banquet hall. Even if Antonio looked into it, it would come up quickly.

Moreover, he had a scar on his lower face.

Just the fact that a high-ranking marquis had a scar on his face would make identification quick…

After I reached my conclusion and whispered to her, Calebrin nodded repeatedly, then answered triumphantly.

“Th-that much is… ea-easy!”

As expected, my max-level utility dealer. Only her performance was truly reliable.

*

A few days later.

When I still had only 400-something believers and was struggling because I couldn’t solve the sacred relic penalty.

I wore white clothes that seemed like Central Church attire but had a different composition—that is, heavily influenced by the Empire—and welcomed a pitch-black woman.

The moment I saw her, I tried to check the updated level…

System~ If you do this, there’s no point in updating~?

“There’s one day left before you stand before the people… How do you feel?”

“Hehe… Is there anything special about it? I simply feel pure joy at being able to meet more people.”

Hehehe. Hahaha.

When people who only invested in evasiveness stats gathered, the conversation became completely superficial and chaotic.

We both knew we were hiding things from each other.

However, neither of us intended to reveal our true feelings first. It was exactly like holding joker cards and arguing about who won and who lost.

“Well now… the ascetic must be a philanthropist. When I see people… no matter how hard I try to like them, it’s difficult to actually like them.”

“It’s not easy for ordinary people to love their neighbors unconditionally. If you expand the scope of ‘self,’ you can love neighbors you’ve never even spoken to… but since it’s difficult work, I wouldn’t recommend it to you, Widow.”

“Usually at times like this, isn’t it standard to tell someone to try it once? The Central Church priests used to say it until their mouths went dry.”

“I respect the freedom to have personal beliefs. These kinds of things aren’t matters that can be resolved by recommending them to you, Widow.”

The widow seemed convinced. Though she was much shorter than me, she put all her effort into stroking my hair.

“I’ve always thought your hair is really beautiful.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Don’t cut it. Not until your neck is severed.”

Since I was destined for the gallows, the joke didn’t sound like a joke.

Usually when it’s awkward to respond, you laugh. I laughed quietly, “Hahaha.”

“I’m not joking.”

“…”

I just smiled.

If it’s not a joke, then that’s problematic in its own way.

I swallowed the words that were about to come.

Since politicians showing their lack of social skills wasn’t a new thing, I could generously let it slide.

“Nothing unusual happening?”

“Of course not. The Central Church has been treating me so well that I’m living quite comfortably. To the point where I feel guilty.”

“Oh my. Don’t have such useless guilt. You have the ability to deserve it, and you’re receiving appropriate treatment.”

Rustle.

Her touch brushed past my nape and hair. I almost got goosebumps but endured it well.

This damn Sernuan Lumiere’s body was fine even when seeing corpses, but was uniquely afraid of only the widow.

“I’m glad you think that way, but I don’t consider this preferential treatment to be deserved…”

The widow didn’t refute or object to my words, just snorted and let it pass.

“Well then, see you tomorrow.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The widow gave a hand gesture in greeting and then vanished like smoke. Literally. She disappeared in a puff like weighted black smoke.

‘Is it an item or skill? Maybe some unknown artifact. She’s definitely a completely different character from the that appeared in the game… It seems like we’re gradually departing from the game’s story, so I wonder if this game knowledge will be useful anymore.’

It’s good to reference game knowledge, but I shouldn’t rely on it too much.

Moreover, even the final boss, the Demon King, had spoken to me in that manner, so it would be troublesome to think everything was still the same as in the game.

“Phew…”

I let out a short sigh.

‘Tomorrow is the Saint announcement day…’

Rather than an announcement day, it felt more like an appointment ceremony. Still, the best part was that I wouldn’t have to attend those tedious classes anymore.

In my hands was the final revised speech. There were difficult words, but it seemed Sernuan Lumiere had received a good education, as he could read even the difficult words smoothly.

‘He’s afraid of the widow and has etiquette ingrained in his body. Moreover, they say writing is the exclusive domain of the upper class…’

I couldn’t understand why such a person had been lying on an altar with corpses in such a place.

Let’s not think about it. Now isn’t the time to think about such things.

I glanced over the speech roughly. I had no intention of babbling according to the speech anyway.

Wait, I was just thinking about what exactly Sernuan Lumiere used to do.

…I’m tired.

*

“Neighbor Yelena. It’s been a while.”

I greeted her with a smile. She also welcomed me with a glossy face. It seemed she had been eating and sleeping well at the Central Church.

“That’s right~ How many days has it been? About… ten days? Since I’ve only been staying inside the temple, my sense of time has gotten dull so I’m not sure~ It feels like it’s been more than ten days though.”

“Have you been well, Neighbor Yelena?”

“Oh my, you’re using formal titles like ‘neighbor’ after not seeing me. Just call me Yelena~ comfortably.”

“Haha… Everyone calls you ‘neighbor’ so it must have stuck in my mouth. I understand, Yelena. Have you been at peace recently?”

“Ah~ I’ve been doing really well. The bed is comfortable~ and there’s no work to do. Three meals a day come out well. They give me meat every evening here. Isn’t that amazing?”

They only gave me weeds with poison mixed in.

Well… at least Yelena is eating well, so that’s fortunate…

However, as soon as the poisoning stopped, today’s meal came out as grandly as some last supper, which was surprising. I was even more angry at the Marquis for not giving me such things until now.

“Nothing unusual happened, right?”

“Hmm? What could happen~ Since I do nothing every day, I just felt stiff, so the only thing was sparring with other Heresy Inquisitors at the training ground.”

It was called sparring, but Yelena probably beat them all up.

More importantly, while the widow’s level didn’t appear, Yelena’s level was displayed.

My current level is barely around 4… so Yelena could be considered to have truly insurmountable stats.

‘Well, since she can use 3rd Awakening Limit Breaker skills, she’d have to be over level 20.’

For reference, Kalebrin’s level was 18.

Since there was about a 3-level difference with Yelena, she could be considered the strongest person to appear in the early stages.

‘Austin Gerard is probably around level 18 too.’

I was curious about Cardil too, but since I was stuck inside the Central Church, I hadn’t had a chance to see his face. I should go see him once the announcement is over.

And when I’m alone at the mansion, I should use the Prophecy Skill once more.

‘The information gap is too large. Getting by with just smooth talk or quick thinking only works for a day or two.’

Though it’s called Prophecy Skill, it was closer to Foresight. I wonder why they named the skill that way, but translation errors aren’t uncommon, so I decided to let it pass.

“You haven’t had any trouble, have you, Ascetic? You seemed busy whenever I occasionally ran into you~”

“Yes, nothing unusual. However… I was under threat of poisoning….”

“Ascetic? Poisoning, you said?”

Yelena interrupted me with wide eyes.

“Yes. Of course, it was poison that didn’t work on me, but it was annoying. Since it was in every meal, it was awkward to pick and choose, so I just ate it all…”

“Why would you eat that!”

“It’s fine, Yelena. Poison doesn’t work on me.”

“Even so, eating that… eating…”

I had to endure Yelena’s subtle gaze until I could explain.

It was fortunate that I had my usual atmosphere, because if it had been someone like Cardil, she would have been ready to grab me by the collar.

“So, what I’m saying is, since I was mostly in my room and couldn’t see anything. I was wondering if Yelena, who moves around freely, might have seen something.”

“Hmm. Not really. I don’t know this place particularly well either. I grew up in a provincial temple before becoming a Heresy Inquisitor, and even after becoming one, I’ve never stayed at the main temple for long like this. I don’t really know any special points… Ah.”

“Is there something that comes to mind?”

“Um… no. I was just confused for a moment.”

Yelena waved her hands dismissively, saying it was nothing, and changed the subject.

“I’ll definitely guard you well tomorrow.”

“Hehe, how reliable. Having you and Sister Kalebrin handle the escort together is truly reassuring.”

“Right. I think it’ll be less boring for me to guard too. She’s skilled as well. But… I’d like to become friends with Kalebrin, so do you know if there’s anything she likes?”

“Something she likes… you mean?”

Goat skull heads? Wall moss? Dried frogs? Unknown bird feathers and ivory?

I remained silent for a moment, then answered with a smile.

“She seemed to like delicious food. Though I suppose who wouldn’t like that.”

“Aha.”

And so I parted ways with Yelena.

*

At the crack of dawn. I opened my eyes to the sound of movement.

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