A pain that made him feel like his whole body was going to break apart. Vera opened his eyes.
“Ah… .”
What came out of his mouth was a cracked, dry sound that seemed to dry out at any moment.
His head jingled. There was a ‘crackling’ noise in his ears. Drops of water were dripping down on his skin, adding to his discomfort, and every time he took a breath there was a chest pain that made his stomach turn inside out.
Unpleasant sensations and a body in the worst possible state.
What’s going on? After making such thoughts, Vera then turned his head slightly, and looked around.
“This is…”
A dark space.
Inside a house made from a pile of plank in patterns, the water seeped through because it couldn’t block the rain and wind properly.
When it comes to the equipment inside, a few layers of worn out pieces of cloth and a couple of brass bowls with signs rust on them.
On the walls there were crawling black bugs, and the mud was dripping from the roof.
The stuffy air and the crunching noise seemed to be caused by them.
While looking around, Vera immediately realized where this place was.
… He couldn’t help but know
“The slum.”
The place where he opened his eyes was the slum, called the imperial cancer , where he was born and raised.
As Vera looked around, a question came to mind.
Why am I here?
Vera thought as he reflected on the situation before he lost consciousness.
I’m sure…
‘I must have been dying under a curse.’
It was a curse that stemmed from the karma he had accumulated over the years.
Three years after the demon king was subjugated, the heroes who had erased the long and deep scars of war sought to clean up the interior of the continent
He tried hard to avoid it, but in the end, he was cursed to the verge of death.
However, strangely enough, I did not feel the energy of the curse that had been eating me all this time in my body.
All he could feel were the injuries and pain that originated from the past battle.
Vera tried to remember why he was lying here, why he had collapsed at the entrance of the slums, but he couldn’t think of any good reasons, so he immediately shook off his thoughts out of his brain and closed his eyes.
Whether he was saved by a good Samaritan , or by someone else who was after him. There was nothing he could do now, so there was no reason to think deeply.
It was a really shabby space, but still, traces of life were felt everywhere in this space.
It will not take too long to ask, as I will soon be able to meet the person who lives here.
So, Vera, who finished his judgment, closed his eyes and started waiting . The door of the shack opened with the sound of ‘Kik-ik-.’
Vera opened his eyes to the noise and looked at the door.
what came in.
‘… a woman?’
It was a woman with an ugly face, covered in a shabby robe, and whose entire exposed skin was scarred from burns.
The white hair that protruded through the hood of the robe was stained with dirt, and her feet were soaked in muddy water as if she had no shoes.
It looked like she couldn’t see. I could tell through her blue eyes that had lost the light and the way she walked crookedly while leaning against the wall.
what is the essence
After contemplating for a while, Vera listened to the jingling sound that he heard whenever she moved.
‘Clink.’
It was the sound of metal hitting.
What is this? Coins ? Accessories?’
Vera, who started listing the things that immediately came to his mind, was able to realize the identity of the sound only after she sat with her buttocks on the floor.
On the nape of the neck that had melted from the burn, a platinum-colored necklace shone.
‘Is it an accessory?’
Vera’s eyes narrowed.
It was a precious metal accessory that a person living in such a shabby house shouldn’t be having
At that, Vera suspected that the woman had sold herself in exchange for the necklace.
It was a very plausible reasoning. Of those who want my life, there are plenty of people who have the ability to pay for such a precious necklace .
While looking at her with tension inside him, Vera took a deep breath as he lowered his head at the more blatant necklace shape.
This is because the necklace, which was revealed in its entirety, was something that even Vera knew well.
What hung around the woman’s neck.
‘Rosario of the Holy Kingdom.’
A platinum-colored rosary that can be possessed only by those with the highest status in the Holy Kingdom. That was it.
A counterfeit… no.’
I was able to distinguish it at once with the insight I had accumulated over the years.
‘It’s the real deal.’
It was because the platinum rosary’s value cannot be assessed . Just by trading that Rosario, you would be pursued by the whole Holy kingdom.
The thought that came to mind was that that woman was a character from the Holy Kingdom.
As he continued to think, a figure flashed through Vera’s mind.
‘White hair. blind. A platinum-colored rosary.’
It is not that there were no people with similar characteristics to find them, but Vera, who could not ignore the reasoning that came to his head for some reason, looked at her with a tense expression for a moment, then softly licked her lips.
“… saint.”
A cracked voice rang out.
Startle.
The woman’s body trembled at Vera’s voice.
Vera’s whole body trembled, and he concluded that his reasoning was correct in the movements of her fingertips twitching.
Vera saw that the Saint looked more tense than before. The saint turned her head toward Vera and spoke out.
“Are you awake?”
A voice that is unmistakably clear. It was Vera’s first thought as he heard the saint’s voice.
The saint, who spilled those words, immediately looked at Vera and began to move her facial muscles.
The burn marks were bizarrely distorted following the movement of the muscles, but Vera could sense that the expression meant a smile.
It was because of her atmosphere.
The calm tone he could hear, and the blue eyes that looked straight in your direction even though they were cloudy because they were out of focus. And the facial muscles that seem to be trying to lift somehow.
All of that, for some reason, felt like a smile to Vera.
Vera thought of a question as he looked at the hideous melted face revealed through her shabby robes with holes in it.
“… I heard you are dead.”
The saint died in the final battle with the Demon King. Because it was such famous news , Vera knew about it.
By the way, why is she, who was known to be dead, here with such morass?
When Vera asked a question in a tone full of doubts, the saint smiled and replied playfully.
“If it’s the saint, it’s true that she is dead.”
“Then what about you?”
“I’m a wretch of the slums.”
It was a twisted word, but Vera was able to grasp what she meant in it.
“… The funeral that took place in the Holy Kingdom was fake.”
“You can’t say it’s fake. Whatever the case, it is true that the saint of the Holy Kingdom is dead.”
As the saint said that, she fumbled with her arm out stretched and stroked Vera’s chest.
Immediately after, a moan escaped Vera’s mouth. This is because the saint’s hand passed through the rib hit by a blunt weapon
“Aughhh … !”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
Vera bit his teeth and glared at the saint.
“… .”
Don’t show your weakness too hastily. As Vera, who had come up with such a thought, continued to be silent, the saint tilted her head to him, and again traced Vera’s body.
“The first aid has been completed, but… Still, you’ll have to stay here for a while. It might be uncomfortable, but please be patient.”
A voice of great concern. At that, Vera was filled with vigilance.
‘What’s her intention?
It didn’t seem like she was after for himself.
However, looking at the saint right now, there were so many questions to which I couldn’t give a proper answer that came to mind.
Why is the saint alive? Why are you here like this? And how did you find me , and do you know my true identity?
While countless questions were passing by, Vera looked at the saint, deciding that he had to solve them one by one.
“Was the curse alleviated by the saint?”
“Fortunately, I was able to do it.”
It was a vaguely positive answer.
“Holy Power?”
“The care of the Lord was sufficient.”
Wrinkles form over the melted face. A smiling face that Vera understood.
Vera looked at that smile and expanded his thinking when he heard the word ‘sufficient’.
It was because Vera knew something about the saint’s abilities.
Although the curse on him was on the extreme side, if it was a saint’s ability, she should have been able to cast the curse away and felt no fatigue.
That said, there is no reason to include the word ‘sufficient’.
Vera, who kept his mouth shut and looked at the saint, was able to infer the meaning of the words the saint had said after contemplating for a long time.
“… Have you been deprived of power?”
“To say it was stolen is wrong. It wasn’t mine in the first place.”
The saint continued to speak with a smile in a calm tone.
“I just gave back what was lent to me.”
“Did you give it up yourself?”
“Now that there is no reason to have it, it is natural.”
A laugh escaped Vera’s mouth at the answer she heard.
It was because I felt that some of the questions I had in those words were answered.
‘She must have faked her death by her own will.’
There was no question of ‘why?’.
This is because if you know the saint, you can easily tell by looking at that peaceful face..
“You must have been tired of war.”
At this point in time when the demon king disappeared, if the saint had been in her original position, the countries of the continent would have waged another war over the saint.
Why not? The saint’s abilities were well worth it.
The saint must have tried to avoid the situation, and the way she came up with it was to erase her existence.
As he continued his thoughts, the saint opened her mouth.
The tone was a little subdued.
“… You know a lot.”
“So, are you going to kill me?”
Vera said so and looked at the saint.
The body was in the worst possible condition. Even if the saint strangled him right now, he wouldn’t have been able to resist at all.
… To be honest, I have no regrets even if I were to die here . It was true that he lived a life deserving of death, and such a miserable end was within the expected range.
Vera closed his eyes as he recalled the thought that the saint would reach out to his neck.
At that moment.
“There is no reason to kill.”
The Saint’s mouth was opened.
Vera frowned at the words he heard and opened his eyes. The saint at the end of his gaze still had a calm face.
“Why?”
“Why do you think I will kill you?”
“Wouldn’t it be a problem to have someone who knows who you really are?”
“I just want you to keep your mouth shut.”
“What if I’m going to spread the word?”
“It would be unfortunate.”
An answer that flowed like water. Vera looked at her expression once again to try to understand the saint’s intentions, but couldn’t read any signs from her face that was completely scarred from the burns.
The silence continued, and when Vera did not receive an answer after a long time, the saint took a short breath and continued.
“Calm down for now. You are very sick .”
“Do you know who I am and still treat me?”
“Should I know?”
“Things like that happen, too. Have you ever thought that the person the saint healed might be a murderer who cuts people into pieces?”
“Then it would be very unfortunate, but I do not have the courage to turn away from the sick. All I can do is pray that you are not a murderer.”
Saying that, Vera felt the laughter erupting again as he saw the saint leaning her back against the wall of the shack.
The saint leaned on her back, took the rosary out of her arms, squeezed it tightly, and closed her eyes.
It looked like a prayer.
Vera suddenly felt a stab in his stomach for no reason at the sight, and spoke out in a sarcastic tone.
“Saint, you are very faithful .”
“… Renee.”
“What?”
“It’s not Saint , it’s Renee.”
To be so agreeable all the time and yet she started to object and retort when it comes to correcting her name.
Vera closed his eyes, thinking that the saint was indeed a strange person.