The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 70

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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 placed the serpent back on my shoulder. The serpent wrapped around half my neck as if it were its designated spot.

Now it was time to put on the mask of Cult Leader Sernuan Lumiere, not ‘me’.

While it took an incredibly long walk to go inside, coming out only took about a minute.

As I came outside, I saw Erendor looking restless for some reason.

“You’re alive!”

“Of course. Didn’t I say I wouldn’t die?”

“And somehow your body seems better.”

“…?”

Erendor kneaded my shoulders and forearms.

That’s probably because of the formal contract… Anyway, guys with good eyes are such a hassle.

I naturally slipped away from his touch.

“You brought this cute spirit too. Was this what you went to get?”

“That’s right.”

For now, I kept quiet about the other sacred objects. The Ifrit, showing great interest in the serpent wrapped around my neck, circled around my shoulder.

“I don’t know what happened inside, but let’s head back anyway.”

“Thank you for accompanying me.”

“What for. I didn’t do anything. Just… to hear an interesting story from a friend, this much is worth enduring.”

I walked along like that. Then Erendor suddenly turned his head.

“Are you okay going like that without one shoe? Looks like I’ll have to carry you back too.”

Ah, the shoe….

The serpent had eaten one foot so my foot regenerated, but I had no shoe.

‘Anyway, because of the defensive sacred object’s effect, most things won’t even pierce my foot.’

And with four upgrades, defense was now possible even over clothes, so it didn’t matter whether I wore shoes or not!

That’s what I hadn’t noticed either.

“It doesn’t hurt much so it’s fine. I can’t impose on Brother again.”

“We help each other and live together. Isn’t that what brothers do? And wasn’t that what the Saint always emphasized…”

Damn. I was helplessly carried by Austin Gerard again.

*

“Ascetic!”

“Ascetic….”

As I came down the stairs, two puppies who had been restless welcomed me.

‘Oh right, they’re not puppies but people.’

Calebrin circled around me checking if I was hurt anywhere. Austin Gerard, uncharacteristically anxious, questioned me.

“Did anything happen?”

“I was fine. Great Nature was beautiful. Were there no Centa People looking for me around here?”

“Huh? Yes. There weren’t any. Just in case, I looked around the area, but there wasn’t anything particularly threatening. Only non-intelligent creatures were around, and not even rabbits were visible.”

Non-intelligent creatures would refer to things like the bugs I saw inside the World Tree.

Is this also the influence of the Forgotten Gods’ something…?

Now that I know what could be called part of the world’s truth, all my thoughts flow in that direction.

‘Stop thinking about such grand things and focus on trivial matters…. Anyway, gods and dimensions and whatever, remember that right now you’re a fake cult leader busy deceiving one person! Come on, Sernuan Lumiere. You’re a piece of shit! You’re just a moth that can’t do anything with power or whatever!’

Okay, good.

I nodded and stated the plan again.

“Right now, the Centa People are probably desperate to contact their home country somehow.”

Since a (self) kidnapping occurred, the high-ranking Centa officials who accompanied us would be very nervous. It’s an issue that could go beyond diplomatic disputes.

“And they’ll try to start a search based on your appearance and description of the one who kidnapped me.”

Austin Gerard listened to my explanation with a serious face. Calebrin only stared at my neck area. Under that gaze, the small serpent hid behind my nape.

“If you get caught, a collision between Centa and the Empire would be inevitable. So your most important mission is to return to the home country without being detected.”

The way Austin Gerard can come and go like this between Centa and the Empire, which have entry restrictions, is probably the Banquet Master’s special secret sauce.

When I subtly mentioned in front of Erendor that he could come and go illegally, his expression brightened as if he smelled delicious food.

“…Yes. Um, Ascetic.”

“Yes.”

“Where is the sacred object?”

Hmm, I knew this question would come. The reason Austin Gerard was dispatched here was also to ‘find and bring back the sacred object’.

Such an obedient dog…. An easy blade for the Banquet Master to use.

Since it wasn’t mine, I didn’t grasp the hilt.

I smoothly deceived him.

“You can’t see the sacred object? This is troublesome.”

“Is it here right now?”

Gerard turned his head around and, noticing Calebrin’s strange gaze, looked around my neck area.

But even if someone with 0 spirit affinity stared hard, they wouldn’t be able to see spirits, let alone the magic power emanating from spirits.

“You don’t seem to see it. Then I’ll go and deliver it directly. Of course, I’ll also tell them well how much Sir Gerard contributed to this matter.”

“Then…. Yes. I understand.”

I patted Austin Gerard’s shoulder a couple of times and handed Calebrin the book I had tucked under my arm.

“This is….”

“Proof that Calebrin’s family wasn’t wrong.”

I suspect that book contains the story of the Forgotten Nine Gods, doesn’t it?

I should have asked the serpent about this too.

‘No, then I wouldn’t have been able to ask more important information. The big serpent being awake was conditional and time-limited….’

Still, there might be something in the book’s contents, so I gave it to Calebrin, who was most skilled in ancient languages and such here.

“…!”

“How about reading it once? I haven’t fully deciphered the book either, so I’d like Sister Calebrin to tell me the book’s contents.”

It was a lie. I couldn’t read a single letter.

But Calebrin received the book and was overjoyed.

“…Yes! Good, I, I’ll do it…!”

I didn’t feel great about deceiving an innocent lamb. But it can’t be helped. It’s all for my sake, no. It’s all~ for your sake!

“Where should I go now?”

Austin Gerard asked.

“Originally I was going to return to where we were, but rather than that, it would be better to get out of the Elven Forest and have me discovered somewhere else.”

I took off my remaining shoe and put it in Erendor’s hand.

“Take this and return to where the Centa People are.”

“What about my friend? Without me, the Elven Forest is impassable.”

There’s~ a way for everything!

{“Piruling.”}

With just this spirit, coming and going through the barriers set up in the Elven Forest is very easy!

“I was on my way out after finding that method.”

The baby serpent lightly brushed my neck and raised its upper body. Erendor seemed to have noticed something.

“Ah, so that was the method…. Well then, is that sorceress lady going with you?”

“Yes. I plan to have Calebrin track and find me.”

“Contact?”

“Like I did before, I’ll contact you directly through your mind.”

Erendor nodded after hearing the clean conclusion. And he disappeared in an instant.

‘Even though he’s right in front of me, I don’t know where he went.’

As expected, a gap of several dozen levels is hard to overcome~

‘Even after picking up sacred objects and causing a fuss, my level doesn’t rise much. Is it because it’s item power rather than skills?’

If my level rose quickly, I could read others’ thoughts and utilize skills more.

At my current level, I can only read NPC royal guards going somewhere at best.

“Where should I take you? I still don’t know Centa’s geography well, so you’ll have to tell me, Ascetic.”

Austin Gerard seemed to be saying that naturally assuming I would carry him.

“The city right in front of the Elven Forest. Let’s go to Torenbel.”

“Ah, you mean the small city next to Basgar?”

“Yes. I’d like you to drop us off in the forest there. We’ll return to Torenbel together with Kalebrin.”

Since Basgar has a portal installed, it would be convenient to travel back and forth later. However, if we arrived directly in Basgar, a major city, there would be many circumstances that could raise suspicion, so Torenbel is one of the best options.

“In that case, you’ll unavoidably have to be carried under my arms, would that be alright…?”

Since Erendor wasn’t here, it was a natural choice, but hearing it out loud made it feel a bit awkward.

And since Kalebrin was here too, wouldn’t it be better to just walk…? Right, Kalebrin?

Being carried under Gerard’s arms like rice sacks would be a bit much. No matter how fast it was, wouldn’t it be better to just walk at that point?

I looked back at Kalebrin. She lifted her head after burying it in her book.

“Yeah. Then I’ll take the right side….”

Was I really receiving my karmic retribution? To think I’d have to pay for my karma like this.

We were tucked under Austin Gerard’s arms like sacks in that ridiculous pose. Gerard’s sword at his waist pressed against me.

‘When I went earlier, I had no sense of pain so I just felt like throwing up. Now with the protective sacred relic, it’s quite comfortable.’

Of course, it was a pose with 0% coolness factor, so I felt depressed, but since no one was watching, I decided to just go with it.

We rushed out of the Elven Forest at full speed and headed toward Torenbel.

*

A remote forest in Torenbel.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Ugh….”

While I was fine, Kalebrin’s face was nearly pale as death. She had gripped her staff and book so tightly that her knuckles were completely white.

After habitually pouring out Heal Heal Beam, Kalebrin made an expression like she might live.

“From now on, I’ll make my own way back.”

“Yes, take care.”

Austin Gerard nodded and disappeared like Erendor.

I couldn’t see how either Erendor or Gerard disappeared.

‘I really need to have power. Since I don’t have power, I’m just living by pulling scams and using my head. Damn it.’

I walked to Torenbel with Kalebrin. Then I bought a pair of shoes from a street vendor and contacted Centa’s guards.

And I contacted Yelena and Erendor through voice transmission. Since they were quick-witted, they would naturally herd those people like sheep and get them out of the forest.

We waited while eating Centa’s street food.

To think I’d actually eat the street food that I’d only seen in games and watched NPCs eat – it was truly moving. The heart of a devoted fan felt so fulfilled.

‘This is what I live for. Now… let me plan again what to do with the information I’ve obtained….’

While I was scheming like some mastermind behind the scenes.

Kalebrin came over with quick steps, something in her mouth, and held out something candy-like to me.

“Mmm mmm mmm.”

“Is this for me?”

“Mm-hmm mm-hmm.”

So I schemed sinister plots with candy in my mouth….

‘Sweet.’

*

Under the tremendous overprotection of the guards, we moved to Basgar, took the portal, and headed to the capital of Centa.

As soon as we arrived at the capital, we were put in a carriage. Sitting across from me in the carriage was this country’s second-in-command, whose face I had deliberately memorized.

“This was our oversight…. To think a kidnapper would emerge by exploiting the personnel restrictions in the Elven Forest. It’s truly fortunate you weren’t hurt. Did the kidnapper make any demands?”

“It was a request to cure his incurable disease. He was a suffering soul. When I treated him and spoke a few words, he shed tears and disappeared. He was a pitiful soul…. If you find that person, please consider leniency in punishment. He didn’t harm anyone and simply made an extreme choice while writhing in pain…. I ask for your mercy.”

The second-in-command looked at me with eyes that said ‘Ah… this was your concept.’ After hearing the story, he seemed to have grasped how the situation had unfolded.

“Of course. If that’s what you wish, Saint, we’ll do so.”

“Thank you.”

“More importantly… to the Empire….”

The second-in-command began to bring up the main point.

“Ah, I haven’t contacted the Empire separately yet. If Centa is fine with it, I’d like to let this matter slide….”

“We’d be grateful if you did that. But why are you making such a proposal?”

“I hold a rather important position in the Empire. However, if I report that I, who came as a peace envoy to discuss a ceasefire, was kidnapped by Centa during wartime, the ceasefire would be ruined. The Imperial Citizens would want to retaliate against Centa, and if that happens, more suffering souls would emerge. I don’t want to see that.”

The second-in-command seemed quite moved by my words. Okay, it would be fine to proceed like this.

“Such deep meaning…. As expected, you’re different, Saint.”

“You flatter me. More importantly, there’s one more thing I’d like to propose…. Could you perhaps hear me out?”

“What is it…?”

It would be terrible if Centa gets consumed by the Empire now. So I have no choice but to strengthen Centa’s power….

I smiled and opened my mouth.

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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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