"I apologize. High priests, it's important to discipline their mind and body to devote themself to prayer. The confessions of the faithful can be distracting."
"Yes?"
What the hell. Did you think I was going to summon a high-ranking priest?
'It's exactly the same idea as yours.'
But it's kind of funny. They say that there's nothing that money can't do.
If you give me one hundred gold coins, even your noble bodies will come running and say, 'I forgive your sins!'
'But what I want to meet isn't a high priest.'
He is now a low-level trainee priest.
“The person I’m trying to hear confession from is a priest named Heinrich. Will it be difficult to see him?”
“...Father Heinrich?”
Confession room.
As I waited for the priest to arrive, I thought again of my fourth brother, Gabriel Wassenberg.
There was a time when I liked him the most.
It was a time of confusion as I realized that my brothers were problematic people, one by one.
“Vania, are you here?”
Living in the Duke's residence, I often went down to Romaier to see Gabriel.
Gabriel always welcomed me warmly.
"Bunny, what's wrong? Who made our pretty little sister cry?"
“Brother...”
He was a very emotional person. He had a great capacity for empathy, and he would cry and get angry on someone's behalf even when the story wasn't particularly sad.
“What? Brother David put his hand on you?”
"Yes..."
“That’s ridiculous! Our Bunny, where is there anyone to hit!”
When I found out that my eldest brother was intentionally causing trouble by using Ratan, I got slapped in the face for talking back to him and telling him not to do it.
I was so upset at that time that I complained to Gabriel.
“Brother, I have a favor to ask.”
If you can't communicate with the first one, there's no one else who can help you but Gabriel.
Why Ratan became the first loyal dog...
That's because he was periodically tortured by Gabriel's powers.
"Oh, you mean 'Ratan'? But I can't help but help him keep from going wild."
"But brother David uses Ratan by subjugating him. You know that, brother Gabi, right? That's something a human shouldn't do..."
"Hmm. Is torturing that demon so pitiful that you're crying and whining like this? Do you feel sorry for the demon?"
"...yes?"
At that time, I felt something strange.
“Brother? That’s not why I’m crying...”
“Oh, right. Of course, right?”
I deliberately kept silent, and Gabriel thought for a while, as if searching for the answer to a difficult problem, and then asked.
"Then what's so sad about our younger sister? Hmm, is Ratan being used by your eldest brother?"
“...”
“Or is it the human whom Ratan took over that is pitiful?”
“...”
“Or... Ah! I see, I see. Do you feel sorry for the people Ratan kills?”
“...”
That day, I began to suspect that Gabriel was a twisted person.
"Right? Haha! Yeah, that's what a good bunny would do. Luckily, this brother got it right this time, huh?"
To him, Ratan, the humans inside the Ratan, and those killed by the Ratan were all the same, and he didn't even seem to have a concept of differentiating between them...
After that, I finally came to a conclusion after countless conversations I had deliberately tried to get to know him, which went awry.
Gabriel, who was thought to be very emotional, was actually a human who imitated emotions.
“Father, could you please listen to me for a moment?”
It was around that time that I met Father Heinrich.
He was a high priest at the time, and he thought that I could stop the evil deeds that Gabriel was secretly committing, so he told me many truths.
People who are periodically tortured by Gabriel in the temple basement...
To calm Gabriel's violent tendencies, my second-oldest brother Elliot periodically supplies him with 'toys'...
"Are you crazy, Elliot? Stop it now! That's crazy!"
"Oh, my Bunny. Who the hell told you that? Yes. If our pretty one tells me not to, your brother won't do it."
Elliot always comforted me by saying that. If you tell me not to do something, I won't do it.
But it was just words, and he never did what I wanted.
Persuading the brothers had already failed, and any attempt to sabotage the situation was met with a crushing defeat.
At that time, I was already branded as a reactionary in my family.
Surveillance of the brothers with superpowers.
My eighth sister, Marina, followed and observed my every move, and my seventh sister, Bridget, reported my movements to my other siblings at all times.
‘This is a corner of the house where I feel like I’m going crazy...’
It was hopeless.
But let's not give up.
Let's keep going, let's try something.
By the time I had made up my mind like that...
I heard the news from Father Heinrich.
He gathered evidence of Gabriel's evil deeds and gave a speech in the middle of the Roman territory.
Public power was meaningless, and even I, who thought I could help, was completely helpless...
So, the good priest Heinrich must have made that choice because he could no longer stand by and watch people being tortured.
Quite naturally, his struggle ended in a minor incident.
The revenge he suffered was not at all light.
Father Heinrich was accused of heresy, stoned, and brought to trial. Driven by our family's demands for severe punishment, he was ultimately burned at the stake.
“Hello, believer!”
At that time.
The voice of the still young priest Heinrich could be heard through the wall of the confessional.
"Ugh, I'm shaking. This is my first time being directly nominated by a believer! Oh, wait... I got a little carried away. This shouldn't have happened..."
“...”
Heinrich, a young apprentice priest who still knows nothing.
I couldn't help but laugh bitterly at his passionate voice.
‘I’m about to cry...’
But there is no time to be sentimental.
“Then, believer, I will listen to your confession of sins, however limited it may be!”
"Yes."
Is it so.
Let's live this time, Father.
Before the regression, I had to put all the burden on you...
This time, I will definitely do it.
That moment.
Ryan, who was wandering around the temple like someone who came to pray...
He sneakily cross the restricted access line, keeping an eye on things.
He also passed a chapel building that had been closed down for a long time.
Somehow, he managed to reach the restricted area behind the main hall of the main temple, where the cult leader resides.
It's been decades since Wassenberg planted generations of superhumans with the supernatural ability 'Fountain of Purification' as cult leaders and made money through the heretical cartel called the Salvation Church...
So Ryan had been to the Great Temple in Romaier several times when he was young.
It means that it was easy to guess where the stink bug was going to happen.
“What are you?”
And surprisingly enough, Ryan's instincts were spot on.
A huge wagon, large enough to easily fit ten people, was waiting.
The carriage is guarded by two men with handkerchiefs around their necks.
“If you came here to pray, pray quietly and then go. Don’t be a slob here.”
"You like to pray. Well, who do you pray to? A crazy, flashy conman?"
Ryan, who was walking with his ears twitching, quickly took off the handkerchief that was wrapped around one of the men's necks.
“What...!”
A tattoo was etched on his neck, burned with fire.
ⓧ
...I knew it.
"Yes?"
What the hell. Did you think I was going to summon a high-ranking priest?
'It's exactly the same idea as yours.'
But it's kind of funny. They say that there's nothing that money can't do.
If you give me one hundred gold coins, even your noble bodies will come running and say, 'I forgive your sins!'
'But what I want to meet isn't a high priest.'
He is now a low-level trainee priest.
“The person I’m trying to hear confession from is a priest named Heinrich. Will it be difficult to see him?”
“...Father Heinrich?”
***
Confession room.
As I waited for the priest to arrive, I thought again of my fourth brother, Gabriel Wassenberg.
There was a time when I liked him the most.
It was a time of confusion as I realized that my brothers were problematic people, one by one.
“Vania, are you here?”
Living in the Duke's residence, I often went down to Romaier to see Gabriel.
Gabriel always welcomed me warmly.
"Bunny, what's wrong? Who made our pretty little sister cry?"
“Brother...”
He was a very emotional person. He had a great capacity for empathy, and he would cry and get angry on someone's behalf even when the story wasn't particularly sad.
“What? Brother David put his hand on you?”
"Yes..."
“That’s ridiculous! Our Bunny, where is there anyone to hit!”
When I found out that my eldest brother was intentionally causing trouble by using Ratan, I got slapped in the face for talking back to him and telling him not to do it.
I was so upset at that time that I complained to Gabriel.
“Brother, I have a favor to ask.”
If you can't communicate with the first one, there's no one else who can help you but Gabriel.
Why Ratan became the first loyal dog...
That's because he was periodically tortured by Gabriel's powers.
“Can you please stop helping David?”
"But brother David uses Ratan by subjugating him. You know that, brother Gabi, right? That's something a human shouldn't do..."
"Hmm. Is torturing that demon so pitiful that you're crying and whining like this? Do you feel sorry for the demon?"
"...yes?"
At that time, I felt something strange.
“Brother? That’s not why I’m crying...”
“Oh, right. Of course, right?”
I deliberately kept silent, and Gabriel thought for a while, as if searching for the answer to a difficult problem, and then asked.
"Then what's so sad about our younger sister? Hmm, is Ratan being used by your eldest brother?"
“...”
“Or is it the human whom Ratan took over that is pitiful?”
“...”
“Or... Ah! I see, I see. Do you feel sorry for the people Ratan kills?”
“...”
That day, I began to suspect that Gabriel was a twisted person.
"Right? Haha! Yeah, that's what a good bunny would do. Luckily, this brother got it right this time, huh?"
To him, Ratan, the humans inside the Ratan, and those killed by the Ratan were all the same, and he didn't even seem to have a concept of differentiating between them...
After that, I finally came to a conclusion after countless conversations I had deliberately tried to get to know him, which went awry.
Gabriel, who was thought to be very emotional, was actually a human who imitated emotions.
“Father, could you please listen to me for a moment?”
It was around that time that I met Father Heinrich.
He was a high priest at the time, and he thought that I could stop the evil deeds that Gabriel was secretly committing, so he told me many truths.
People who are periodically tortured by Gabriel in the temple basement...
To calm Gabriel's violent tendencies, my second-oldest brother Elliot periodically supplies him with 'toys'...
"Are you crazy, Elliot? Stop it now! That's crazy!"
"Oh, my Bunny. Who the hell told you that? Yes. If our pretty one tells me not to, your brother won't do it."
Elliot always comforted me by saying that. If you tell me not to do something, I won't do it.
But it was just words, and he never did what I wanted.
Persuading the brothers had already failed, and any attempt to sabotage the situation was met with a crushing defeat.
At that time, I was already branded as a reactionary in my family.
Surveillance of the brothers with superpowers.
My eighth sister, Marina, followed and observed my every move, and my seventh sister, Bridget, reported my movements to my other siblings at all times.
‘This is a corner of the house where I feel like I’m going crazy...’
It was hopeless.
But let's not give up.
Let's keep going, let's try something.
By the time I had made up my mind like that...
I heard the news from Father Heinrich.
He gathered evidence of Gabriel's evil deeds and gave a speech in the middle of the Roman territory.
Public power was meaningless, and even I, who thought I could help, was completely helpless...
So, the good priest Heinrich must have made that choice because he could no longer stand by and watch people being tortured.
Quite naturally, his struggle ended in a minor incident.
The revenge he suffered was not at all light.
Father Heinrich was accused of heresy, stoned, and brought to trial. Driven by our family's demands for severe punishment, he was ultimately burned at the stake.
“Hello, believer!”
At that time.
The voice of the still young priest Heinrich could be heard through the wall of the confessional.
"Ugh, I'm shaking. This is my first time being directly nominated by a believer! Oh, wait... I got a little carried away. This shouldn't have happened..."
“...”
Heinrich, a young apprentice priest who still knows nothing.
I couldn't help but laugh bitterly at his passionate voice.
‘I’m about to cry...’
But there is no time to be sentimental.
“Then, believer, I will listen to your confession of sins, however limited it may be!”
"Yes."
Is it so.
Let's live this time, Father.
Before the regression, I had to put all the burden on you...
This time, I will definitely do it.
***
That moment.
Ryan, who was wandering around the temple like someone who came to pray...
He sneakily cross the restricted access line, keeping an eye on things.
He also passed a chapel building that had been closed down for a long time.
Somehow, he managed to reach the restricted area behind the main hall of the main temple, where the cult leader resides.
It's been decades since Wassenberg planted generations of superhumans with the supernatural ability 'Fountain of Purification' as cult leaders and made money through the heretical cartel called the Salvation Church...
So Ryan had been to the Great Temple in Romaier several times when he was young.
It means that it was easy to guess where the stink bug was going to happen.
“What are you?”
And surprisingly enough, Ryan's instincts were spot on.
A huge wagon, large enough to easily fit ten people, was waiting.
The carriage is guarded by two men with handkerchiefs around their necks.
“If you came here to pray, pray quietly and then go. Don’t be a slob here.”
"You like to pray. Well, who do you pray to? A crazy, flashy conman?"
Ryan, who was walking with his ears twitching, quickly took off the handkerchief that was wrapped around one of the men's necks.
“What...!”
A tattoo was etched on his neck, burned with fire.
ⓧ
...I knew it.
The second son of the family, Elliot Wassenberg, is a subordinate who helps with human trafficking.
“How can it not be unexpected...?”
Ryan sighed and washed his face dry.
“What is this kid?”
“Quiet! If you make a fuss, Elliot will get angry!”
The men didn't reach out first, wanting to deal with Ryan as quietly as possible.
But.
“Ugh!”
Ryan's hand reached out first.
He grabbed one of the men by the hair, made him bend down in front of him, and then mercilessly struck the back of his neck.
A colleague fell down with his legs weak, as if he had been hit in a vital spot...
“Yikes!”
...without even being able to look at it in surprise, the other one, who had been hit in the face, fell to the ground.
“Whoa, seriously... What sins did I commit in my past life... To be left behind by these damn bastards who do such terrible things...”
Ryan gritted his teeth and grumbled as he pushed the two men aside and shook his hands thoroughly.
And he lifted the cloth that was covering the huge wagon.
"...Shit."
He started cursing without realizing it.
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