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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 56: Abusive Power
For Pastor Kim, gathering information and adapting to local environments was a familiar task.
Not as an exorcist, but as a pastor of the Korean Protestant church.
'I'm the man who did missionary work in the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, and even Africa, grappling with warlords! As long as there's a common language, no barrier exists!'
Pastor Kim's communication skills, honed over many years of overseas missionary and volunteer work, had reached a level where he could communicate to some extent through body language alone, even without a shared language.
And for Ray, there wasn't even a language barrier.
Ray was confident he could go anywhere, befriend the locals, and even have dinner at their homes.
'Except for pagans, that is.'
The places where this approach didn't work were typically Muslim-majority regions.
Pastor Kim generally steered clear of the Middle East, but in Africa, which was chaotic and plagued by monsters, he often encountered Desert Sect Mk.2.
「Allah hu Akbar! Allah hu Akbar!」
「Why are those bastards making a fuss again!」
「They say we have to behead a female celebrity from our volunteer group because she had a magazine without a hijab.」
Sometimes Protestant missionaries would stir up trouble in the Middle East in the name of missionary work and get kidnapped, which attracted a lot of negative attention.
But Africa was no less of a den of iniquity.
There, on top of religious issues, tens of thousands of tribes were constantly fighting and killing each other.
This tendency intensified for outsiders.
Pastor Kim, who had traveled far and wide and experienced all sorts of discrimination, had reached the point where he could read intentions just by looking into someone's eyes.
'Why is this bastard looking at me like this?'
He had even bought drinks and snacks, overtly proclaiming, ‘I'm a pushover!’
Usually, after enjoying free drinks and snacks, people would be in a tipsy, amiable mood.
But one of the guys who got free drinks had an unusually fierce look in his eyes.
He wasn't opening his eyes gently.
It could just be his usual expression, but Pastor Kim had one more piece of evidence to base his judgment on.
'He's red.'
A blazing red soul.
A guy who had committed heinous evil deeds and had menacing eyes to boot.
At this point, it wasn't a prejudice; it was a character reading.
'Why is this bastard acting like this towards me?'
Of course, utterly wicked villains had no reason to dislike people.
Death row inmates he had visited for volunteer work would claim to have repented, but they would often try to kill him if anything slightly annoyed them.
Was it because he was an annoying rich noble young master?
Yes, that could be it.
They could think that even while gobbling down the drinks and snacks the young master bought them.
Was it simply outsider hatred?
Hatred of outsiders isn't exactly logical.
Ray decided to subtly test the waters.
"By the way, I heard there were some strange incidents recently in this town."
"What are you talking about?"
The bald man, who had been heavily drinking the ale Ray bought, spoke curtly but showed no hostility.
After all, in a pub, the person buying free drinks was the lord and young master.
"I came here for a vacation, but I heard some bad rumors. Like, cattle raised for livestock just withered and died overnight."
"Ah, that..."
Just as the man seemed to recognize something and was about to speak, the bearded man, who had been glaring at Ray, silenced the bald man.
"Jack, shut up."
Treating a drunken brute like this meant inviting a fight.
Brawls easily broke out over minor things in pubs, and in a normal relationship, punches would have flown immediately.
"Oh, oh... I spoke out of turn."
But Jack the bald man didn't budge against the bearded man.
Ray instantly realized from this reaction that the bearded man was the leader in their group.
"What's wrong? I just asked a question."
"It's just idle gossip in the village," the bearded man replied gruffly, then gulped down the ale Ray had bought.
He didn't prefer beer.
He seemed accustomed to more expensive, high-quality ale.
He didn't give the impression of being a wealthy middle-class man.
"By the way, what do you all do for a living around here? Fishing? I do a bit of fishing myself."
"Hahaha! The fishing you do, young master, is just child's play. While you catch one minnow, we fill our nets with a full catch!"
"So you're all sea dogs."
Then, was the bearded man's job a ship owner?
But the hierarchy among fishermen was strict.
None of the fishermen present called the bearded man a captain.
Ray pointedly addressed the bearded man.
"Can I rent a fishing boat? I'd like to spend some time fishing leisurely while I'm here."
"Young master, if you want to rent a boat, talk to me, not this guy. This gentleman works at the lord's castle."
"Ah, so you're the captain?"
He worked at the lord's castle.
But what kind of evil deeds would he be involved in there?
According to the report submitted to the Solar Theocracy, the dead livestock belonged to the lord's ranch.
Was it a coincidence?
He would find that out now.
Ray kept drinking, pretending to be drunk.
During his time as Pastor Kim, he could have out-drank a dockworker, but this young boy's body didn't handle alcohol well.
'Tsk, is my liver not good?'
As he stumbled, the fishermen, worried about their benefactor, spoke up.
"Young master, you seem drunk. You should go in now."
"Mr. Escort, you should probably take the young master back."
It seemed so.
Yan had been watching Ray tip back several drinks with concern and approached to help him.
"I'm not drunk!"
"Young master, let's go now."
At that moment.
"Don't touch me! How dare you touch me!!"
Ray suddenly struck the bearded man.
No, suddenly? And a man who was just standing there?
But Ray, seemingly out of his mind, screamed angrily and was utterly disrespectful.
"You fucking bastard! How dare a lowly wretch touch me! Do you know who I am!!"
'It's... acting, right?'
Even Yan was horrified by this outrageous behavior, but the fishermen didn't dare to touch Ray.
After all, he was clearly a noble dressed in expensive clothes, and he had proven he had money, so they couldn't easily mess with him.
Even if the patrol came, if it turned into a situation like, ‘Hey! Your chief lives in Namcheon-dong, right?! We've been to the sauna, eaten meals, everything!’
The fishermen might actually end up in trouble.
"......"
While the fishermen fidgeted, the bearded man, who had been unexpectedly hit, silently glared at Ray.
"Why aren't you opening your eyes gently!?"
Ray grabbed the bearded man's cheek and continued to provoke him, almost to the point where it seemed like he was about to get punched.
"I apologize."
However, the bearded man silently endured Ray's outrageous behavior.
"You, I'll be watching you very closely."
Ray sensed that his opponent wouldn't easily fall for the provocation, so he stumbled and left the pub.
Yan paid the bill and quickly followed Ray.
"That was a dangerous provocation."
"Was it obvious?"
Yan, who had seen Ray's clear voice, which had just moments ago sounded drunk, nodded, convinced it was acting.
"No, it was so excellent that I would have believed it even if I knew."
"Did you see his eyes? He looked like he could kill a man with just his stare."
"There are sometimes such individuals."
"Still, facial readings don't lie."
They would keep an eye on him for now. If they were lucky, he would take the bait.
***
"Cough! Ptooey!"
When the bearded Jorick spat, the surrounding fishermen looked at him nervously.
They had enjoyed the free drinks, but the fishermen couldn't help but be wary of Jorick.
Although he was a low-ranking administrative official, Jorick had connections everywhere.
The noble young master was someone who would leave soon, but the fishermen would have to face Jorick in the future.
"Just think of it as bad luck. He seemed like a noble young master."
"Nobles are usually like that anyway."
"Tsk. It ruined the taste of the liquor."
Jorick emptied the remaining ale and left the pub.
"......"
The stumbling young master and his escort knight, who was supporting him, moved further away.
Just as Jorick was about to nod and follow the two, a voice stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
"Huh...! Master...!"
Jorick immediately bowed his head.
He flinched at every breath that emerged from the darkness.
"I told you to find the next offering."
"I was just about to tell you."
"You better choose carefully. If you draw unnecessary attention like last time, the blessing I bestowed upon you will have been wasted."
"Y-yes, of course."
The next moment, the voice dissipated into the darkness.
Soon, a group transformed into bats and scattered into the sky.
Jorick's gaze turned towards the direction where they had vanished from sight.
He mustn't draw attention.
If he created another unnecessary rumor, he might be disposed of this time.
He couldn't let that happen.
He’d worked too hard to get this stroke of luck.
Ptuh!
The spittle Jorick spat rotted on the ground.
Surely, there’d be no more chances of running into that charmed young master.
There was a time when Jorick thought that.
***
"Get the administrator out here!"
In broad daylight.
Jorick, who worked at the lord's castle, heard that someone was looking for him and had to go to the castle entrance.
"No, can't we just kick him out...?"
"How can you just kick out a noble's young master?"
Told to quickly go and listen to what he had to say, Jorick grumbled as he headed to the castle gate.
Why had he specifically called him out? Who on earth...
"Wait?"
A noble young master?
Jorick's uneasy premonition was perfectly confirmed at the entrance.
"Y-you?!"
"Oh~ Beardy. We meet again?"
It was that noble young master who had been causing trouble at the pub last night.
The utterly young man was looking at him with a triumphant expression.
"Wh-what can I do for you?"
"Aren't you going to greet me?"
"Excuse me?"
"Don't public officials here greet nobles when they see them?"
"Ah, I'm s-sorry."
Jorick immediately bowed his head.
It was disgusting, but it was a given in a class-based society.
"Why are you only bowing at 70 degrees? Shouldn't you be bowing sharply at 90 degrees? Can a public official be so stiff?"
"Ah, no. I will correct myself."
"Clean in front of our accommodation."
"Excuse me?"
"The front of the accommodation is dirty. Clean it."
"No, why would I..."
"Isn't urban beautification the responsibility of public officials? If not you, then who?"
He protested that he was merely an office clerk and that such duties were not his job, but Ray was adamant.
"An ordinary office clerk. Someone who does odd jobs. Don't you know?"
He was going crazy, but he couldn't pass the buck to anyone else.
It was true that an office clerk's duties included odd jobs.
Although being a public official working at the lord's castle was a powerful position in the village, it was useless in front of a noble young master.
"Sigh... Understood."
"Are you sighing?"
"Ah, no."
Ray poked Jorick repeatedly in the chest with his finger, having found fault with him.
"Hey, public official."
"Y-yes..."
"You are public officials who get paid taxes for your work. If someone like me spends money here, you get your salary from that money."
Press! The poked chest was painful, but he couldn't show it.
"You're a tool, that's what I'm saying. A tool is used as the person swinging it dictates. Can a tool try to stand above a person?"
Grind!
Jorick gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Finally, after cleaning the front yard of their accommodation, he returned home late, and end up cursing them whole night.
He had been exploited all day.
What he didn't realize was that he'd gotten himself into a very real mess.
"Hey, Beardy~ Give me a little tour of the tourist spots."
"Beardy, go buy some drinks outside."
"Beardy."
"Beardy!"
"Beardyyyyyyy!!"
---
"You son of a bitch!!"
Finally, after three days of being exploited, Jorick was on the verge of developing a neurosis just hearing the word "Beardy."
What on earth was that bastard?
What kind of grudge did he hold against him to torment him like this?
"Fuck. That son of a bitch... should I just offer this bastard as a sacrifice?"
No, he couldn't do that.
The opponent was a noble.
If he touched a noble, there would undoubtedly be a large-scale investigation.
'He seemed busy preparing something...'
Should I just do it?
Why should he, who possessed such strength, be so desperate in front of that noble brat?
"No, no. Touching a noble is dangerous."
Jorick, who held onto his sanity, left his house for Sunday Mass.
Ha, it's funny that he's still going to weekend mass when he's already forsaken his god, but he has no choice.
The monotheistic Solar Theocracy encouraged all believers to attend Mass regularly.
Attending church, whether noble or commoner, was as much a part of life as anything else.
The only difference might be that in Baron Enfield's territory, the Mass times for nobles and commoners were different.
That obnoxious noble young master wouldn't possibly attend the commoners' Mass, even while on vacation.
Today was the weekend, so he was finally rid of that damn bastard.
Moreover, weekends were also public holidays for officials, so surely he wouldn't come to his house to torment him, right?
'After Mass, I need to find an offering. That bastard made me unable to do anything.'
However, Jorick's plan went awry the moment he entered the cathedral.
"Hey, Beardy! You actually came to Mass, after all?"
The exasperating face he had seen too many times. The worst of the worst troublemakers was grinning.
He really was a son of a bitch…
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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