Sanctuary.
A cellar containing a collection of solitary rituals, along with a chamber containing 'His Will'. The care of this chamber was entirely the responsibility of the priests.
No one may enter the sanctuary without the permission of the priest. Many things have changed because of the mutated Shadin, but if there is one rule that has not changed, it is this.
'You cannot enter the sanctuary without the permission of the priest.'
So, did the person who came into the basement in the middle of the night have Shadin's permission, or did he sneak in?
Tia held her breath as she looked at the fluttering green robes.
'Aren't you the elder of the Green? I almost ran into you.'
Tia came down secretly to see if there was a secret passage in the basement that no one else knew about and was nervous when she discovered an unexpected person.
'There's no way out, so if I just go out now... Wait, I hear someone coming down again.'
The basement of the house she recently moved into was divided into sections by partition walls.
The largest of these spaces was used as a sanctuary, and the other one was used as a warehouse to store materials used by Shadin during his research.
With the Green Spirit entering the sanctuary, Tia's only option was the warehouse.
Tia quickly went into the warehouse and hid before anyone else came.
As soon as she hid, the basement door burst open. Soon, voices could be heard coming through the partition wall.
“...Because.”
"...This."
“...That’s it!”
She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but she could distinguish the voices. One was the priest Shadin, and the other was the green medium.
Of the eight mediums leading the Followers, only three survived the rebellion: the medium in red wine, the medium in purple feathers, and the medium in green.
They were the spiritual leaders of the surviving Followers and the new elders.
The red wine medium was watching over Erne in the capital, and now that the purple-feathered medium had fled, the green-robed medium was effectively the main force leading the followers.
And he's been clashing with Shadin on and off lately. Even at a recent meeting, the green-robed medium strongly criticized the priest for putting off the cause and doing business.
'What are those two people talking about at night?'
The atmosphere didn't look very good. It was at that time that the two people's voices on the other side of the wall kept getting louder.
“Ugh, ugh...”
What is that sound? Is it a scream? Is someone hurt?
Tia pressed her ear closer to the wall.
“...You did, tsk.”
Shadin's voice was fine. So was the groaning sound from the green-robed medium?
As Tia was confused as to what was happening, a strange thud sound came to her ear.
Puck-
There was a repetitive sound of something being slammed down. It sounded familiar. She used to hear this sound in the kitchen when the chef was preparing the meat.
"...!”
Tia shivered with a sense of foreboding. As if to tell her that her imagination was real, the ominous sound of striking continued to come from beyond the wall.
Tia covered her ears, feeling goosebumps from the sound of Shadin's humming in between.
How much time had passed? Tia, who had been crouching in the corner, woke up at the sound of the sanctuary door opening and footsteps heading out of the basement.
It seemed like Shadin was finally leaving. The basement door opened wide and then closed with a thud, causing Tia to let out a long breath she had been holding.
After a long while of not hearing any sound, Tia finally opened the warehouse door.
She doesn’t know what happened, but for now, she just wants to go back to her room...
That was when.
“Why are you out so late?”
“...Ah, ah.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
In front of the open door. Shadin stood askew amid the pungent scent of blood, looking at Tia.
He didn't even wipe the blood that had splattered on his face and clothes. It seemed like he had no intention of hiding it from Tia in the first place.
“The sanctuary is a little messy right now.”
He whispered very affectionately, his voice still the same, his expression refreshing, although his breathing was a little raspy.
“Can you help me clean up?”
“Tsk tsk, you have to clean up his own mess. You’re screwed.”
“No, Miss Harrington. I don’t think that’s the right reaction to give right now.”
When Tia recalled what had happened that day, her hands, which had been trembling with fear, suddenly stopped.
She was so scared that her voice was shaking, but after seeing Judith's reaction, for some reason, the fear subsided.
Shouldn't you have been so angry instead of being scared? Why are you making a mess and making me clean it up? Tia was puzzled for a moment.
“The priest killed a man. And he was one of the Followers.”
"Aha."
As Erne explained again, Judith snapped her fingers as if she had come to a realization.
“He kills someone and then makes someone else clean up after him. He doesn’t even clean his own room. It seems like his mom does it for him.”
“No, that’s not it either.”
“What, this isn’t it either? Then what is it? Oh, oh. Killing someone just because they expressed a dissenting opinion, and on the same side at that. Isn’t this a complete lunatic?”
Judith looked at Tia and Erne with expectant eyes.
Although she was still a bit unsure of what the correct reaction would be, Tia nodded for now.
Of the three reactions Judith showed, the last one seemed the most normal.
“So what was the condition of the body?”
Erne seemed to have given up on a normal reaction from Judith and returned to the original topic of conversation.
“There was no body.”
“There was nobody? Does that mean the priest didn’t kill the medium?”
Tia shook her head quietly.
“Do you know anything about the Loneliness Therapy Complex?”
“I heard that they put in a lot of poisonous insects and keep them locked up until one survives.”
“You know very well. When there is only one left, you have to feed it. The person who feeds it is the owner of the poisonous insect.”
The food was meat injected with poison. Although each insect had its own preference, any type of meat would do.
“There is a type of meat that all insects like. However, it is taboo to feed that meat to insects.”
“What kind of meat is it?”
“...Human flesh.”
Tia's voice trembled slightly as she answered.
“So what you’re saying now is.”
It meant that the priest killed the green-robed medium and then used his body as food for bugs.
“There are all sorts of things.”
Judith clicked her tongue and shook her head. It wouldn’t be big enough to fit just one person, and since there were multiple jars, the priest would probably...
Judith imagined it that far and frowned.
Who on earth is Shadin? Who is it that he does such cruel things without hesitation?
“Shadin declared that the Green-robed shaman had run away like the Purple-feathered shaman and that he had betrayed us. And in this way, he dealt with the elders who opposed him one by one.”
“The empty seat of the elder must have been filled by someone who listens well. It’s obvious even without listening.”
Tia nodded at Ern's mocking words.
“But for some reason, he didn’t kill me.”
Tia's voice was filled with complicated emotions. She didn't want to die, so she did whatever Shadin told her to do and didn't even move her mouth uselessly.
But she continued to wonder.
Why did Shadin spare her, even though she knew the truth?
'I was wondering if you were a traitor and lost your mind?'
Killing people without a second thought and feeding their bodies to insects. Not even your enemies, but your own side. That would be something that would require someone who is quite insane.
Of course, if you were born to the Shartin tribe and were told that you were a traitor and suffered discrimination after dying and waking up and that you had no money, you would go crazy and jump around.
But to kill someone like that? He must be seriously crazy.
I tried to find such a person in my memories of my past life, perhaps someone I knew.
But for some reason, at the moment of his death, only the truck's headlights were clear, and the events of the few days before my death were blurry as if covered in fog.
'Anyway, that guy is after me. No, not me, it's Erne.'
The priest now knew that Erne was possessed. I got ready and lay down on the bed, watching Erne walk around the room after returning from his bath.
Ever since he learned that the priest was after me, he checked his room every night before going to bed to see if there were any strange objects or bugs.
Then he brought out two sharpened daggers and hid one on the nightstand and the other under the pillow. After he was well prepared, Erne went into bed.
But today, for some reason, instead of coming in right away, he stood a couple of steps away from the bed and didn't move.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
“I should go to sleep. But I think we need to change beds. The bed is too big for the two of us.”
“Isn’t it small?”
“No, it’s big.”
A cellar containing a collection of solitary rituals, along with a chamber containing 'His Will'. The care of this chamber was entirely the responsibility of the priests.
No one may enter the sanctuary without the permission of the priest. Many things have changed because of the mutated Shadin, but if there is one rule that has not changed, it is this.
'You cannot enter the sanctuary without the permission of the priest.'
So, did the person who came into the basement in the middle of the night have Shadin's permission, or did he sneak in?
Tia held her breath as she looked at the fluttering green robes.
'Aren't you the elder of the Green? I almost ran into you.'
Tia came down secretly to see if there was a secret passage in the basement that no one else knew about and was nervous when she discovered an unexpected person.
'There's no way out, so if I just go out now... Wait, I hear someone coming down again.'
The basement of the house she recently moved into was divided into sections by partition walls.
The largest of these spaces was used as a sanctuary, and the other one was used as a warehouse to store materials used by Shadin during his research.
With the Green Spirit entering the sanctuary, Tia's only option was the warehouse.
Tia quickly went into the warehouse and hid before anyone else came.
As soon as she hid, the basement door burst open. Soon, voices could be heard coming through the partition wall.
“...Because.”
"...This."
“...That’s it!”
She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but she could distinguish the voices. One was the priest Shadin, and the other was the green medium.
Of the eight mediums leading the Followers, only three survived the rebellion: the medium in red wine, the medium in purple feathers, and the medium in green.
They were the spiritual leaders of the surviving Followers and the new elders.
The red wine medium was watching over Erne in the capital, and now that the purple-feathered medium had fled, the green-robed medium was effectively the main force leading the followers.
And he's been clashing with Shadin on and off lately. Even at a recent meeting, the green-robed medium strongly criticized the priest for putting off the cause and doing business.
'What are those two people talking about at night?'
The atmosphere didn't look very good. It was at that time that the two people's voices on the other side of the wall kept getting louder.
“Ugh, ugh...”
What is that sound? Is it a scream? Is someone hurt?
Tia pressed her ear closer to the wall.
“...You did, tsk.”
Shadin's voice was fine. So was the groaning sound from the green-robed medium?
As Tia was confused as to what was happening, a strange thud sound came to her ear.
Puck-
There was a repetitive sound of something being slammed down. It sounded familiar. She used to hear this sound in the kitchen when the chef was preparing the meat.
"...!”
Tia shivered with a sense of foreboding. As if to tell her that her imagination was real, the ominous sound of striking continued to come from beyond the wall.
Tia covered her ears, feeling goosebumps from the sound of Shadin's humming in between.
How much time had passed? Tia, who had been crouching in the corner, woke up at the sound of the sanctuary door opening and footsteps heading out of the basement.
It seemed like Shadin was finally leaving. The basement door opened wide and then closed with a thud, causing Tia to let out a long breath she had been holding.
After a long while of not hearing any sound, Tia finally opened the warehouse door.
She doesn’t know what happened, but for now, she just wants to go back to her room...
That was when.
“Why are you out so late?”
“...Ah, ah.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
In front of the open door. Shadin stood askew amid the pungent scent of blood, looking at Tia.
He didn't even wipe the blood that had splattered on his face and clothes. It seemed like he had no intention of hiding it from Tia in the first place.
“The sanctuary is a little messy right now.”
He whispered very affectionately, his voice still the same, his expression refreshing, although his breathing was a little raspy.
“Can you help me clean up?”
***
“Tsk tsk, you have to clean up his own mess. You’re screwed.”
“No, Miss Harrington. I don’t think that’s the right reaction to give right now.”
When Tia recalled what had happened that day, her hands, which had been trembling with fear, suddenly stopped.
She was so scared that her voice was shaking, but after seeing Judith's reaction, for some reason, the fear subsided.
Shouldn't you have been so angry instead of being scared? Why are you making a mess and making me clean it up? Tia was puzzled for a moment.
“The priest killed a man. And he was one of the Followers.”
"Aha."
As Erne explained again, Judith snapped her fingers as if she had come to a realization.
“He kills someone and then makes someone else clean up after him. He doesn’t even clean his own room. It seems like his mom does it for him.”
“No, that’s not it either.”
“What, this isn’t it either? Then what is it? Oh, oh. Killing someone just because they expressed a dissenting opinion, and on the same side at that. Isn’t this a complete lunatic?”
Judith looked at Tia and Erne with expectant eyes.
Although she was still a bit unsure of what the correct reaction would be, Tia nodded for now.
Of the three reactions Judith showed, the last one seemed the most normal.
“So what was the condition of the body?”
Erne seemed to have given up on a normal reaction from Judith and returned to the original topic of conversation.
“There was no body.”
“There was nobody? Does that mean the priest didn’t kill the medium?”
Tia shook her head quietly.
“Do you know anything about the Loneliness Therapy Complex?”
“I heard that they put in a lot of poisonous insects and keep them locked up until one survives.”
“You know very well. When there is only one left, you have to feed it. The person who feeds it is the owner of the poisonous insect.”
The food was meat injected with poison. Although each insect had its own preference, any type of meat would do.
“There is a type of meat that all insects like. However, it is taboo to feed that meat to insects.”
“What kind of meat is it?”
“...Human flesh.”
Tia's voice trembled slightly as she answered.
“So what you’re saying now is.”
It meant that the priest killed the green-robed medium and then used his body as food for bugs.
“There are all sorts of things.”
Judith clicked her tongue and shook her head. It wouldn’t be big enough to fit just one person, and since there were multiple jars, the priest would probably...
Judith imagined it that far and frowned.
Who on earth is Shadin? Who is it that he does such cruel things without hesitation?
“Shadin declared that the Green-robed shaman had run away like the Purple-feathered shaman and that he had betrayed us. And in this way, he dealt with the elders who opposed him one by one.”
“The empty seat of the elder must have been filled by someone who listens well. It’s obvious even without listening.”
Tia nodded at Ern's mocking words.
“But for some reason, he didn’t kill me.”
Tia's voice was filled with complicated emotions. She didn't want to die, so she did whatever Shadin told her to do and didn't even move her mouth uselessly.
But she continued to wonder.
Why did Shadin spare her, even though she knew the truth?
***
'I was wondering if you were a traitor and lost your mind?'
Killing people without a second thought and feeding their bodies to insects. Not even your enemies, but your own side. That would be something that would require someone who is quite insane.
Of course, if you were born to the Shartin tribe and were told that you were a traitor and suffered discrimination after dying and waking up and that you had no money, you would go crazy and jump around.
But to kill someone like that? He must be seriously crazy.
I tried to find such a person in my memories of my past life, perhaps someone I knew.
But for some reason, at the moment of his death, only the truck's headlights were clear, and the events of the few days before my death were blurry as if covered in fog.
'Anyway, that guy is after me. No, not me, it's Erne.'
The priest now knew that Erne was possessed. I got ready and lay down on the bed, watching Erne walk around the room after returning from his bath.
Ever since he learned that the priest was after me, he checked his room every night before going to bed to see if there were any strange objects or bugs.
Then he brought out two sharpened daggers and hid one on the nightstand and the other under the pillow. After he was well prepared, Erne went into bed.
But today, for some reason, instead of coming in right away, he stood a couple of steps away from the bed and didn't move.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
“I should go to sleep. But I think we need to change beds. The bed is too big for the two of us.”
“Isn’t it small?”
“No, it’s big.”
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