Chapter 197 – Wolf, Alexander, and Morbius (3)

“If I return here alive, I will kill all those bastards who castrated me. And I will rise to the position of a saint and live with great pride.”

Alexander’s words resonated like an echo. Petunia Titi stood in a daze in front of the church. After the inauguration of Saint Alexander, the church had long since lost its former appearance. I heard that the church has lost its original appearance even though the same building and the same idol are erected and the same person is collecting donations.

There was a very obvious story that the water below was clear only when the water above was clear, and the floor of the church was full of stains. The janitor who sweeps and polishes the floor every day was wiping with a wet mop with an unfair expression, and another man spat on the floor as if unlucky and passed by.

“Oh look! What if I’m cleaning here and I spit on it and leave?”

The cleaner made a sad face and screamed. The passer-by frowned at him, took one look around, and approached the cleaner. The scavenger wielding a broom was small, and the man was strong enough to cut down a tree with his fist.

“Damn it, fuck it now, the janitor cleaning the back of the church is having a fight.”

Inside the church, people were talking loudly with the sound of music. Petunia Titi’s sensitive ears could hear the clinking of glasses and the cute voices of fawning women through the tightly closed windows.

“Hey, you bastard!”

And I could clearly hear the man’s harsh profanity. He shouted, holding the cleaner by the collar with his back straight.

“I spit on the church because it sucks! Why! Uh?”

“Ah, that, that… ! Teacher. Not like that. Because I’m cleaning right now… !”

“Why are you fighting the bastard who wipes the floor of the church!”

The guards walked out. They wore heavy armor and had a sturdy build, but they didn’t behave harshly towards passers-by. As soon as they walked out, I could feel the people’s atmosphere getting chaotic.

“Teacher. You shouldn’t do this here. We’ll train the cleaners well, so let go of your anger…”

The soldier spoke politely and reached out to the man. The man grimaced, so he gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Don’t touch me! These bastards are trying to drag someone out!”

The soldiers were looking around with puzzled faces. Petunia Titi saw the crowd gathering in a murmur. They had hostility and anxiety toward soldiers, not passers-by. The soldier hesitated and stretched out his hand once more.

“Teacher. Don’t do this here…”

“Oh my! Oh my! This guy hits people! Yes, kill me! Very bad kill! You fucking bastards! Kill me!”

The man rolled on the floor and screamed. It didn’t seem to reach Petunia Titti properly, but he was acting as if he had been beaten with a club. Even to the gathered passers-by, the fact that he hadn’t actually been hit didn’t seem to matter too much.

Said the soldier.

“Teacher. Please don’t do this…”

“Kill! Kill! Beat him to death like you beat him to death last time! You bastards!”

The soldiers did nothing. They were very polite and gentlemanly. But people didn’t believe in their kindness. Just reaching out to a passer-by lying on the floor and behaving badly made them scream or murmur, and the soldiers hesitantly retreated back.

There was an incomprehensible amount of hatred.

People whispered as if they were looking at the enemies of parents and children, and more and more people gathered around them. Rumors of people being knocked down had been distorted, and there was talk of soldiers knocking people down.

“What a fuss!”

And from across the street, armed soldiers were approaching. The commander with a solemn expression hurried his steps and shouted, and the people scattered like the ebb tide. The man lying on the floor also took advantage of the confusion of the crowd and disappeared somewhere.

The commander clicked his tongue and turned back to the patrol route, and the cleaner sat down in the corner with a sob. The soldiers were stroking the cleaner’s hair and comforting him. Petunia Titi looked at the tightly closed door and the soldiers sitting in the corner of the church, then approached the soldiers.

“Let me ask you some questions.”

Petunia Titi’s clear voice and tall impression gave off an aura that overwhelms the viewer. The cleaner, who had been distracted by the commotion a moment ago, gulped down his saliva and blushed, and the soldiers straightened their posture without realizing it.

“Ah yes. Are you a guest at church? Sorry for the uproar.”

“What caused the commotion just now?”

The soldier looked at his surroundings and hesitated in his answer. Petunia Titti blinked and asked again.

“Answer me.”

“Oh, that’s not something I’d say openly, actually…”

As one soldier opened his mouth, another stabbed him in the side. The soldier hit on his side whispered to another soldier.

“Why are you sick? Anyway, I know it just by looking at the newspaper in front of here.”

“Then tell me to go read the newspaper. Sick.”

The soldier ignored his comrade’s reprimand. He began to speak confidently.

“…This time, a priest who raised donations for the slums at the church was put on trial for embezzling the offerings, and Saint Alexander was acquitted. And before this, there was an incident in which a drunken priest assaulted and killed a coachman, but it went unnoticed. Since these incidents happen so often, public opinion about the church is not a word these days. Strange rumors are circulating, and people who hold grudges like just now are messing around or causing a commotion in front of the church.”

Petunia Titti hardened his face. In fact, she was hoping she was being framed for something, until a man made a fuss in front of the church. However, the reality that came out of the soldier’s mouth was messy, like describing a garbage dump.

“Does this often happen?”

Petunia Titi asked.

The soldier shook his head and replied.

“Today, Saint Alexander is having a banquet to praise the performance of the high-ranking priests. That’s why I’m insensitive to the outside situation. Those people make a fuss or throw garbage and run away only at times like this.”

“A banquet? You mean all priests are like that?”

Petunia Titi asked with a look of despair. The soldier shook his head and said.

“No. There are some who refuse to attend such banquets and do not even participate. It was said that all the new high-ranking priests this time were absent. However, according to rumors, priests who do not participate in banquets… Town! Town!”

The soldier who was listening to the story couldn’t hear him, so he covered his mouth.

“Oh, please pretend you didn’t hear it. Sorry. He’s a bit tight-lipped.”

“Oh, no. That was helpful enough.”

Petunia Titti nodded and thanked the soldier. The soldier added to Titi with an anxious expression.

“Well, what are you going to church for? As I just said, today we are having a banquet, so we cannot go higher than the second floor.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Petunia Titi nodded her head, and then she opened the church door. She felt as if the faintly audible music was one step closer.

The interior of the church was glistening with colorful colored glass and a red carpet was laid on the floor. But there was no sign of human beings. Busy footsteps and chatter were coming not from the church chapel, but from the kitchen in the corner.

“Add roasted Duke and fried pork to the table!”

“Added 3 bottles of wine too!”

People in a hurry. They were so busy working that they didn’t even notice Petunia standing in the kitchen hallway. In front of my eyes, delicious food that made me drool just by looking at it was passing by, and cooks in white clothes were drenched in sweat and moved around like crazy.

Petunia Titi followed her servant with her tray full. It was because it seemed that if I followed that man, I would surely be able to go to the banquet hall. The man was busy moving and did not notice Petunia’s trail. She pursued him, hiding herself in objects around her or adjusting her distance according to the bends in the hallway.

Instead of going up the stairs to the second floor, he moved to a room a little further from the kitchen.

The door is old, and the room looks cramped.

Petunia Titty stuck her head inside her door, puzzled, and the man pushed her tray into a fireplace-like device and pulled hard on a lever on the floor.

And shouted into the receiver hanging on the wall.

“Wine-soaked chicken and venison omelet, and steak with mushrooms! Next order please!”

And he turned his head, wiping his sweat. Petunia Titi was fascinated by the spectacle and met the man’s eyes.

“Fuck Mom!”

The man screamed in shock and fell to the floor. He asked, covering his bumped head.

“No, that… Who are you? You can’t just come in here…”

Petunia Titi was troubled.

After thinking for a while, she decided to be honest.

“…Because I got lost. Where should I go to go to the banquet hall?”

The man looked at Titi with a subtle expression, then shook his head and said.

“…You can go up the stairs over there.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Petunia Titti was embarrassed.