The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 86

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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

Successfully dealt with!

‘I had no idea such an ability was hidden. If it weren’t for Ife, I would have been in real trouble~?’

-{Hmm hmm….}

Ife lifted her head proudly, looking satisfied.

I surveyed the surroundings.

The plains had become a complete mess, with Taraka’s fingers and the carriage scattered about. And there, two women were cautiously poking their heads out.

I smiled and waved my hand to reassure them.

Now I should gradually put my veil back on since there would be patients I’ve treated and patients I’m scheduled to treat….

My robe was probably rolling around in the mud along with Taraka’s flesh, since I had left it folded in the carriage.

I tried to put on the veil I had tucked into my waistband, but in all that chaos it must have fallen out – the veil was nowhere to be seen.

Rather than fumbling around my waist embarrassingly, I gave up and returned to them.

The ground was a muddy mess with blood, ash, mud and water all mixed together. However, my shoes and the hem of my lower garments were spotless.

Despite my outfit being a color combination of white and gold with a design like a long ceremonial skirt, I alone was the cleanest here.

Splash.

With each step I took, the mud that splattered on my hem and the blood and unidentifiable flesh stuck to my soles were purified.

Kalebrin and Yelena were dirty all over their clothes and faces as if they had rolled in the mud. Ugh, like country mutts.

Still, a hug didn’t seem appropriate, so I lightly touched their foreheads to clean their bodies completely.

“Thank you…?”

She touched her now-clean blonde hair as she greeted me. More than that, Yelena has been looking at me quite sourly since earlier – did something happen?

“Don’t mention it.”

I stepped lightly and helped up those who had fallen around us. Then I instructed them to collect the injured and dead from the surroundings.

Ta-da, this completes the infinite patient supply system! Now I don’t need to embarrassingly carry patients or retrieve corpses myself.

The base we established was something like a shelter that had been there originally. Of course, it was all destroyed with only ruins remaining…. But this was the only place where we could set up markers.

“The rescue team will come soon.”

The fortunate thing is that I can now treat all the injured.

The unfortunate thing is that the carriage I came on was a supply carriage, and it was destroyed so the supplies were lost.

‘We can survive for a few days with the existing supplies, but… there are unexpectedly many survivors, so many mouths to feed.’

D-5 days until the rescue team arrives, as I heard through voice transmission.

This isn’t about Taraka being the problem.

‘Food… will we be able to last…?’

Should I show them the miracle of loaves and fishes?

No, but that person was a real god…. right? I’m a fraud though? Is this even possible?

I racked my brains over this unexpected food problem.

*

The Captain, who had been sitting at his desk listening to the Vice Captain’s report, shot up from his seat.

“What! A new type of undead appeared in the squad with the Ascetic?”

“Yes…. Not only in the squad with the Ascetic, but the same type of undead appeared in other squads as well – a total of 6 bodies.”

“What about those undead?”

“…They’re landing centered around Centa.”

The Captain pressed his temples firmly. It was due to a headache.

Surely until he gave the order for soldiers to go north, until he sat in this position….

The time for soldiers to prepare for the undead attack was a bit tight, but he had been relieved that the higher-ups had prepared in advance as if they had heard about it somewhere.

But what is this exceptional disaster?

The Captain asked about the safety of the most important person.

“Is the Ascetic safe?”

Setting aside his annoyance at the hypocritical behavior of Centa and the Empire over bringing a ceasefire, he was a person of interest.

If something happened to him, not only the higher-ups but also the citizens of Centa who followed him would lash out at him.

‘Don’t be fooled by such hypocrisy.’

Whether the Captain was badmouthing the Ascetic internally or not, the Vice Captain continued his briefing.

“We barely managed to make contact with someone there…. That undead was already dealt with by the Ascetic, there are no injured, and the death toll totaled 66.”

“No injured but quite a few deaths.”

The Captain spoke as if he found the Ascetic disagreeable.

From his perspective, just treating patients in the rear lines, which should be the safest, seemed like taking what he could get without doing the hard work.

And soon he would have nothing to say.

“The other squads were completely wiped out.”

“….”

“They say the Ascetic single-handedly defeated that undead and is leading the injured.”

“….”

The Captain ruffled his hair. Then he let out a long, deep sigh.

“…Is that so?”

“The Empire forces stationed near the Northern Border are closer distance-wise, so they asked for permission to go rescue them.”

“Give permission…. We have to. Do we have any power?”

The Captain said this while sighing.

“That’s true, but….”

There was nothing they could refuse in terms of justification. The Empire had put forward their most cherished and capable Saint as their card.

The Empire, wearing the mask of a Saint, shook rattles and soothed Centa like calming a baby. Meanwhile, the Empire persuaded them that they would no longer hit them and would get along well, saying it could be mutually beneficial.

Any objections were suppressed by the Saint. It was because the Empire wore the mask of a Saint.

Strangely, just going to places with many complaints and shaking the Saint like a rattle would make people follow the Saint as if enchanted. They even wanted to go to the land where the Saint was, the Empire.

There were no longer any factors that could stop the Empire. The current matter of opening the border was probably not asking for ‘permission.’ It was a ‘notification.’

The Captain sighed. He hung his head low and began lamenting to the Vice Captain.

“The higher-ups are really… idiots.”

“In what way?”

“The Empire’s sorcery is obvious, yet they accepted the Saint…. Sigh, originally there were many decent people in the higher-ups, but right after the Saint appeared, they keep doing things that go against security.”

The Vice Captain standing in front quietly listened to the Captain’s lament. The Vice Captain was close enough to have casual conversations with the Captain until just ‘a few days ago.’

“I see~ What about the Saint then?”

The Captain kept rubbing his face with dry hands.

“Seems like bait.”

“Right~ I knew you’d think that way, Captain.”

“But why are you talking like that? A man speaking in such a cringey way….”

He looked up.

The Vice Captain he knew, Wizen, was no longer there.

Standing in that spot was a man with cold sky-blue hair and purple eyes, smirking slyly.

“You, who are you…?”

“Captain, did you already forget the Vice Captain’s face~? Well, it’s about time to stop this role-playing anyway~”

It wasn’t for nothing that he had risen to the Captain’s position – he had already drawn his sword and was ready to respond.

‘Viola’ pulled out a pouch and daggers from her waist.

“I don’t have a hobby of killing innocent people, but…. You’ve become unlucky~ We need your position for our plan.”

“State your affiliation!”

“Hey, who would reveal that just because you ask? How naive of you.”

Viola smiled, folding her purple eyes into crescents. Then she lightly covered her face and lowered her hand.

With that single gesture, ‘Viola’ disappeared completely and changed back to the Vice Captain’s face. It was truly magic itself.

“Now, you’ll die at the hands of your closest comrade. Reassuring, isn’t it?”

The Captain didn’t respond and drew his sword to charge.

Viola, no. The ‘Vice Captain’ dodged the sword with light steps and casually threw daggers.

The daggers, thrown seemingly lightly, bounced off the Captain’s sword and embedded themselves in various parts of the walls.

Viola’s faint voice came from the Vice Captain’s throat.

“Ah~! This will make cleaning up the crime scene later troublesome.”

He wasn’t one to miss the chance to speak. The Captain easily slipped into Viola’s embrace.

Viola burst the pouch at the Captain’s lips. The Captain coughed and staggered back several steps.

Blood drops fell to the floor. It was because the Captain’s vision was turning red.

“This is… poison…?!”

“Well then, farewell!”

And Viola wasn’t one to miss such a moment. He threw a throwing knife from his hand.

The Captain rolled across the floor with difficulty to dodge it.

“Oh, amazing! Amazing~”

All of the Captain’s current actions would become excellent teaching materials for Viola.

The fact that Viola deliberately didn’t ambush him and acted like a cat playing with a mouse instead of finishing it was part of that.

“Damn it… Why are you doing this! This position has no value at all!”

“Hmm, that sounds very similar to asking me to reveal my affiliation~ What villain would tell you why they’re doing this.”

“Since you’re going to die anyway, wouldn’t it be okay to tell you this much? Wizen.”

Wizen. That was the ‘Vice Captain’s’ name.

The Captain calling the Vice Captain’s name looked very sad. Unfortunately, if he felt sympathy for such eyes and voice, he wouldn’t be doing this kind of thing.

“That’s true too. Then I’ll kindly explain it to you~”

“…Haha, crazy bastard.”

Thunk.

A silently thrown throwing knife pierced through his hand.

Even though it pierced right through the center of his hand, the Captain didn’t groan or scream. The poison probably paralyzed his nervous system so it didn’t hurt.

“I said I’d kindly tell you, so why do you bother opening your mouth~? I don’t enjoy unnecessary killing. People feel compassion when they see suffering beings, don’t they? Of course, I’m not sure about that myself… but I can imitate it well enough.”

The Captain was already on the verge of death from the poison.

“Oh my, look at this. You’re about to die. The reason I’m doing this is… our organization needed your safety for smooth negotiations with the Saint. Setting up the ‘Captain’ as the villain… and I’ll appear as the hero! It’ll be a really interesting play, won’t it? It’ll probably be the most interesting persona I can think of….”

“…”

“I’m being so kind in explaining, but there’s no reaction at all. You’re such a boring person~ Captain.”

“…”

“Oh, are you dead?”

Viola finished checking for signs of life with his hand instead of his foot, specifically matching the current keyword ‘kindness’. Without proper treatment, he would probably die in 7 minutes. He must be hovering between life and death right now.

“Then I’ll ease your suffering!”

A throwing knife embedded itself right in the center of the Captain’s forehead.

“Phew~ One job done!”

Kindly resolved!

Viola smiled and wiped the blood stain on his cheek with the back of his hand. It seemed his cheek had been cut when they got close earlier.

“Oh my, how heavy.”

He grabbed the leg of the protein mass that hadn’t even begun rigor mortis yet and dragged it across the floor. Viola let out a deep sigh and patted his back.

“This is the most annoying part.”

Preparing the stage for the next role was really annoying. But what could he do.

If he didn’t live like this, he couldn’t survive!

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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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