Episode 80

“Hee, hee!”

“You. What's wrong?”

Seeing Marco waking up from a nightmare, Arien stood up as well. The telegram didn't just make Merha tremble. Through Merha's hand, it was also delivered to Marco.

Marco, who had committed murder with his father, also shuddered.

“No, nothing.”

Arien made a strange expression. The past few days, the Merha rich man has been strange. They stayed up all night with their eyes open, and were speechless even during mealtime. After some time, the two of them would gather together and chat about something nervously.

'Did I embezzle money from the new temple without my knowledge? Or, do you have a debt?'

Oddly enough, they looked exactly like debt collectors. He looked very, very nervous, as if he had a debt to pay.

'Or is this little boy still blaming me? Is it my fault that the land was stolen? What are you saying when you see that a crazy bitch is your partner?'

Arien didn't know.

“You, go to sleep now. Tomorrow is the day of an important event.”

“Right. There is an event in the Great War tomorrow. It is a very important day because my father will be attending the service.”

Marco rubbed his chest and said.

“That's right, even if there were ghosts, they wouldn't appear before God.”

Arienne heard Marco's murmur. Arien's doubts deepened.

*​ *​ *​

“Today, too…….”

It was the worship day of the new year. It was the role of Merha, the high priest, to preside over this magnificent worship service. It's the day he shows off that he is the next great pope in name and reality.

For some reason, Merha's face was earthy and his skin and bones were overlapping as if he hadn't eaten in days.

“So. The man in blue delivered another telegram? I told you to let me know when he comes!”

“I was going to. It comes at a different time every day and disappears like a ghost……. Besides, I tried to catch him by force the other day, but the man ran away and before I knew it, I only had a telegram in my hand.”

These days, the priest in charge was trembling because of the merha, which was worn on his hands as well as his mouth. Merha tried to raise his hand, but found the priest's already red cheeks and reluctantly lowered his hand.

He opened the telegram with his trembling hand. Besides, today's telegram was also attached to the envelope.

'Ristralpo's fountain pen.'

Merha remembered that thing. A fountain pen with a sapphire at the tip. It was something Merha had given to Listralfo as a gift a long time ago. It was clearly an item that was not found among Listralpo's keepsakes.

Merha read the contents of the telegram.

[Today. We will be waiting for you at the best viewing spot.

-R-]

“Aaaaagh!”

Merha was angry and couldn't stand it, so she threw down her fountain pen.

The events of that day came to mind.

Listralfo wanted to build a house in Yurif. He threatened that he would not obey unless he bought the land, so Merha bought land for Yurif using the slush funds of the temple.

List Ralpo said that whenever he went to Yuryev he would stop by the land and lay out his long-winded plans.

'Merha, look at this. Build a fancy mansion on this land and throw a party all year round. It's going to be a great party. I'm going to have fun until the end of my life. And I'm going to make all my relatives live here.'

Listralfo was not a very healthy person to begin with. He thought he wouldn't live long. In the first place, prophets were usually short-lived because they were born with strong divine powers.

'If you sign the corpse donation oath, I'll build you a villa or a mansion, whatever you want.'

So Merha asked Listralpo to donate the corpse early. But Listralpo made an absurdly bold demand.

'When I die, please make our family a noble family. And divide the money from the sale of my corpse in half and use it as money for our family.'

Merha, who had put up with all of Listralpo's defenses, couldn't stand it. The fight escalated and Merha accidentally stabbed Listralfo.

Hearing the commotion, Marco ran in.

'Aren't you afraid of God? Don't you have the affection to take care of me until now, please save me. High priest.'

Listralfo begged. He was bleeding from his chest.

'Father, let's just kill him. It is better for a prophet to die young and smooth. Then it will be a lot of money.'

Marco said with twinkling eyes. Seeing that expression, Ristralpo hesitated. Backed away

'If I die today, I will visit you even if I become a ghost. Never forgive I will follow you and curse you for the rest of your life! I am a prophet chosen by God!'

Those were the last words of Listralfo. Marco plunged the knife into Ristralpo's stomach once more. And Listralpo did not move any further.

At that time. There was a rustling sound somewhere. A brother who looks exactly like Listralfo, and his secretary, had caught a glimpse of the murder scene.

'Catch him!'

Merha and Marco ran to catch the witness. When I was away for a very short time, the corpse of Listralpo, which I had hidden in a clearing in the woods, had long since disappeared.

Merha suddenly came to her senses.

'No way, there's no way the real Listralfo ever returned…' ….'

Even so, his whole body trembled. However, Merha has never forgotten her curse. Listralpo was a real prophet with divine powers. Wouldn't the curse of such a person actually exist?

'Let's calm down. Today's event should go well. I am the high priest of this country!'

And when he returned to the room after leaving the room for a while, the fountain pen and telegrams were all gone.

*​ *​ *​

'Certainly……. The telegrams I saved are gone. Is what I saw real?'

So, when Merha came forward to preside over the service, his eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was twitching. The sharp-witted people noticed that the high priest's condition was a little strange and whispered.

“What happened? The high priest's complexion doesn't look good.”

At that time, she noticed a man sitting in the front seat on the second floor. He had his hair tied with a blue hair tie and was wearing a blue coat. His hat was pulled down so that his face could not be seen.

“I-I…….”

Merha's eyes shook. Then the man lifted his hat. Merha met the man's eyes.

“Ristralpo!”

Merha shouted loudly. People started to mumble. Listralpo grinned.

He slowly opened his mouth wide and said just two words.

It's me.

“Hee, hee!”

Merha, who was standing on the podium, sat down on the floor. The murmur among the people grew.

*​ *​ *​

“What could this be?”

“Oh my gosh. The election of the pope is just around the corner, is it a fatal disease?”

The aristocrats constantly licked their lips and left the temple like the ebb tide. It was after the service was hastily canceled due to Merha's condition.

“Eh, how important is the New Year's service? No matter how much the next pope is, isn't he just a priest? The entire service is canceled because of him?”

“That's right. Me really Being a member of the Cartier family is the official position.”

There were also people who criticized Merha like this.

Elisha and Lucerne sat in the best seats on the third floor, and slowly left the temple when the people left and it became quiet.

After getting into the carriage, Lucerne said.

“It's too bad. Mind wandering at that age. I'm still young enough to get dementia. Right?”

Merha's ugliness today was amazing. He sat down on the floor, urinating in front of people.

“…… Iknow, right. Maybe he was punished.”

Elisha thought that Lucerne's delighted face was truly cruel and bewitching, and she answered.

“Maybe it's because I've been mean to you. What a sin To harass her niece-in-law.”

“Isn't murder a greater sin than that?”

“Your husband did a lot of similar things.”

“It is different from killing people in war. Didn't you kill the Prophet who was supposed to enjoy his natural life for self-interest?”

Lucerne nodded, as if he liked the words.

“If you become an idiot, you will be abandoned by the family head, what a pity. Isn't the head of the household really blessed as a child?”

“I see. Grandson clothes are also not good.”

Lucerne raised an eyebrow. He readily agreed.

“You're not loved by the cleverest grandson.”

“There is nothing like that in our family. Love and love If there is such a sweet feeling, the family must be like this. Since they both have a use value, they are just clinging to each other in a messy way.”

“I see. I must try to be useful too.”

Lucerne looked at Elisha, and she suddenly smiled. Her smile was different from before. Elisha was shocked that he could laugh that much.

“Elisha. I won't abandon you even if you become ugly or useless. There will be no shortcuts, so don't worry about useless things. If I abandon you, you will be free, what a futile hope.”

That's what she said to Elisha's lips. With the spring where flowers swayed on her floor, and her curled up under it. It was because he remembered how he had no choice but to look up to him under the sunlight.

'Lie. What man would like a woman with a ruined face?'

To think that Lucerne would keep her after she had become useless. She couldn't even trust a dog.

Elisha wordlessly pushed her Lucerne's hand away. Lucerne took her smile off her face as she took in how she behaved.

Then she heard a thud from the wagon.

Wow! The coachman slowly stopped the carriage. Soon, a wagon was built in a deserted place.

Suddenly, the carriage door opened, and a robed man climbed into the carriage.

“Welcome, Listralpo.”

Lucerne whispered. The man called Listralpo took off his robe. A man with the unmistakable face of Ristralpo appeared.

“Ah, I'm retired, but I'm sure you'll keep me active…….”

“There is no talent like you. If you are dissatisfied, better educate your junior spies.”

This time her Ian licked her lips. He put his hand on his face and slowly peeled off his skin. An elaborate, humanoid mask slowly faded from his face.

“As expected, Lazuli is the best in this field.”

What Ian wore on his face was a kind of magic tool. It elaborates the shape of a person's face. Then, he disguised himself after dressing well, and cast omnidirectional vision magic on top of it.

The mask, with illusion magic added to it, was able to imitate and imitate others to the extent of being staggering.

In addition, she kept sending Ralpo's belongings she found in the safe to Merha. With Ian appearing and disappearing everywhere, it was natural for Merha to go crazy.

Ian grinned and looked at Elisha.

“How was my performance?”

“Tell me what are you doing? It's the best.”

“Wow, I'm so glad.”

Seeing Ian's smile, Lucerne said.

“No luck. Stop laughing.”

“…… Yes.”

Ian stopped laughing and straightened up. This time, Elisha gave a small smile. It was because Ian's expression was quite funny.

The carriage was moving slowly towards the ducal family.