Chapter 98 – In the Woods (4)

“What’s this?”

“…It’s a bit different from the Amaranth Fortress I remembered. It’s embarrassing.”

The fortress I knew was a terrifying space lined with high walls and armed soldiers.

The soldiers were on edge because they had to spend every day like a military operation while taking care of lodging and meals inside the fort, and it was a hotbed of murder and exploitation, with slaves dying once a week in an unreasonable incident.

“Is this okay to go in?”

However, the Amaranth fortress now revealed to us was more like a monastery or hospital than a fortress. The name [Amaranth Education Center] Was on top of the huge wall, and the soldiers were wearing white clothes, not heavy armor.

The walls were also painted white, but how cleanly they were maintained, not a single blade of grass grew, and even the cross-section of the bricks was not exposed. The coachman was making a strange expression as a coachman, and Rumia was also caressing her chin and squinting her eyes.

“Excuse me. May I ask where you are from?”

Then, a soldier guarding the gate approached the carriage and asked a question. White helmet, white clothes. Since we were wearing suspicious-looking outfits, we had to ask what we were doing here.

“Is this the Amaranth Fortress?”

As if Rumia felt the same way as me, she asked the soldier a question. The soldier looked up at her sign with a bright smile and said.

“Ah, you must have been here during the old days of Amaranth Fortress. This is no longer Amaranth Fortress. The director has renovated it, and now it has become the Amaranth Education Center.”

“Education center? Is it like a school?”

“No. Here, sinners are corrected and educated. So we make them new people and send them back to society.”

“You are doing a good job.”

Rumia said so. I suppressed a laugh and nodded her head. It was because I couldn’t believe that there were so many people in the world who believed in the reformation of criminals. A person who has tasted bad things can never become good.

It just changed into a life of pretending to be nice and finding an excuse that suddenly changed at any time.

“So what are you here for?”

“Ah yes. Is there a soldier named Eddie here by any chance?”

“Edira… Well. I’m from the outside guards, but I think it’s probably the inside management personnel. Are you here to visit?”

“No. I just came to tell you. It looks like I’ll have to meet you in person, so could you please call me this way?”

It wasn’t just about telling the story of her mother being sick and then getting better.

Since the soldier might not know how to cook porridge to feed the patient, I had to tell him about this, and I had to prescribe simple medicines, and I had to tell him what to do when similar symptoms or fever rose later.

“Yes. We will inquire inside first.”

The guard said so and walked away. I said to Rumia, leaning on her carriage.

“Isn’t it amazing? That edifies criminals. There are people who still believe in that.”

“It sounds strange to me too. This is because these days, even in temples, such edification work is not carried out.”

“Okay? So, are there no sinners in the temple anymore?”

In the past, correctional facilities for sinners were operated separately in each province. I couldn’t use it because I was sold as a slave. Rumia nodded at my words and continued her explanation.

“Yes. It changed when Alexander of Hero’s group became a saint. He explained the logic that reformation of criminals is something the country should do, not a religious group. He said that with that money, he could take care of a lot of poorer and sicker people.”

Looking at Alexander’s actions now, it was a remark that naturally led to ridicule. He didn’t say where he was going, but the flow of money was clearly visible.

“Help someone who is sick, while putting them all in his stomach.”

“At the time, many people thought that Alexander would do a really good job. This is because the reformation program for criminals was also used by nobles as a refuge when they committed crimes. There was a time when a young boy from a famous family committed a crime and fled to an kyohwaso without trial, which caused a stir in the world.”

“Fuck, I was taken as a slave without trial. Fuck the world.”

Rumia smiled bitterly at my words.

“So, the edification program has disappeared… It’s amazing that someone is doing it this big here. I first knew It doesn’t seem like it’s being done in the country, and it doesn’t seem to belong to our religious group. Who made it?”

“I wonder about that too. Wanna see your face? How on earth do you have so much money to waste money like this?”

A soldier came running and drew us an x. I said while touching Rumia’s chest.

“Did you see that you couldn’t come out?”

The soldier approached her carriage faster than Rumia could answer, and bowed her head.

“Sorry. The person in question is currently on duty, so I think you should go in and talk to him.”

Rumia looked at me. I nodded her head. It was because saying that I wanted to see your face was not a joke. Rumia and I got off the wagon and the soldier apologized to us and approached the gate.

As we neared the entrance, the gates opened without a word. Both Rumia and I silently saw the castle gate slowly open, and backed away at her. The soldier told us.

“You can just go in.”

“Doesn’t there be a separate check on people entering and exiting?”

The soldier nodded at my question.

“The priests were ordered to let them through as long as they wrote down their names.”

“It looks like the person running this place is a church member. I haven’t heard anything special, but is it run by a temple by any chance?”

“No. We are not affiliated with the temple, but are operated separately.”

“So you’re saying it’s really run by an individual?”

“Yes, it is.”

Rumia didn’t ask anymore. She wrote the names of the two of us with a pen on the roster. In the meantime, I faced people in white clothes looking through the door. There was no life on their faces. The appearance of emaciated figures wandering under the castle walls or lined up in a row with their mouths tightly closed made it seem as if a corpse was alive and moving.

“Are those people sinners?”

“Yes. It’s time for a walk now, so I came out like that.”

Looking at their faces, there were clearly criminal-looking humans everywhere. People who have vicious tattoos on their faces, scars on their arms and legs, and people who have not yet abandoned their habit of being criminals and keep looking around.

But they were all quiet. It was moving very slowly, obeying the leader’s command, like a duckling following its mother. The appearance of going round and round around the large square building in the center seemed like a religious event. We watched him take a walk before going in to meet Eddie.

“You have good control. How did you do it? Any torture?”

A soldier standing next to me heard my self-talk and said.

“There is no such thing as torture. We edify people only through education.”

“Through education? How amazing. Can education alone do that?”

“That is…”

It was then. A man who is Su-ryong who was passing us suddenly changed his eyes and reached out his hand towards me. When I didn’t respond, the man casually wrapped his hand around my neck and pulled out a piece of glass from his waistband.

Sharp shards of glass glistened in the sunlight. The man shouted, brandishing it everywhere like a knife.

“Hey, stay calm! All right now… !”

And the next moment, Rumia opened her eyes, squeezed the man’s collar, and lifted it high into the sky, as if pulling out her radish. Dirt spread everywhere, and I turned around, dusting off my clothes. A terrified man screamed.

“Aaaaagh!”

The man’s body was thrown to the floor like dough, and dust rose. Her whole body trembled and she closed her eyes, and Rumia came to me shaking her hands.

“Evan. Are you not hurt?”

“I can do it. I’m okay.”

I nodded with a bewildered face. The soldier who was talking to us was contemplative, and the soldiers who were wandering around the wall grabbed the man’s arms and legs in a cold sweat. The soldier asked us.

“Are you okay? Aren’t you surprised?”

“Yes. Are you okay.”

When I nodded, the soldier only then showed a slightly relieved face. But the man who fell to the floor held us in a grievous voice and begged us.

“Ah… ! Ah… ! No… ! Please save me… ! I want to get out of here… ! It’s so terrible… !”

What is so terrible about it? I asked the soldier who was binding his limbs.

“What crime did this man commit?”

“It’s murder robbery. He sneaked into the house where the three children were sleeping, murdered them, and stole their money.”

I was speechless and looked at the man. The man shamelessly teased me without making eye contact with me.

“Ah! Aww! Now, I was wrong! Don’t tie it too tight! Because you’re reflecting! Please send me here! You said you’d let it go if you reflected on it!”

The door to the facility inside opened. The heavy iron door had a complicated locking device to prevent escape. The wide hallway was also a closed structure without a single window, so there was a procession of torches inside. People’s silhouettes walked out with laughter beyond the gradual swaying dance of flames.

“Heh heh heh! Did you try to escape again?”

An old man with thick lips stroked his beard and walked outside. As soon as Rumia saw the man’s face, she murmured in surprise.

“Priest Andrew…”

Priests?

Because you don’t belong to the temple?