Chapter 126: Marie and Louis
“You’re… Follower Marie, aren’t you? You’re back again.”
The high priest recognized Sue. Perhaps because she was “Louis’” friend. Sue, whose soul level hadn’t been measured last time, had to stand in line with the other unmeasured followers again.
‘Just measure it quickly.’
She pretended to be nonchalant, but she was actually quite nervous. The high priest scanned her up and down, then chuckled mockingly.
“Well, never mind. Follower Marie.”
And then, he simply walked past her, without measuring her soul level.
‘What?’
Sue stared blankly at the back of his head, her eyes wide with bewilderment. He didn’t even look back at her. Her mind started to race.
Why wasn’t he measuring her soul level? Was he ignoring her?
She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or offended. Fortunately, Jean Emilia’s soul level measurement began before she could get too confused.
“Jean Emilia, is it… Hmm…”
“Measure it carefully.”
The evaluation was completely unreliable, but Jean’s nose was held high in the air, as if he was enjoying this. The high priest stared at Jean’s confident face with his pale white eyes, then clicked his tongue.
“You’re rotten.”
“What?”
Jean’s eyes narrowed at his casual remark.
It would have ended there, but Jean, unable to accept his “rottenness,” placed his hand on his chest and exclaimed,
“Hey, High Priest, take a good look at my face. Do I really look rotten?”
“Yes.”
The high priest answered immediately, without hesitation. There was even a hint of pity in his pale eyes.
“Ugh… Look, look closely…”
Jean was offended, even though he knew it was just nonsense. Sue had said that he would assign a high class to a “profitable face,” but…
Sue, watching Jean clinging to the high priest pathetically, pulled her hood down lower.
‘This is embarrassing.’
Even the high priest was looking at Jean with disgust.
“Yes, follower Jean Emilia, I took a good look at your face… So what? You know what? You reek of Fifth class. No, considering your lack of dignity, let’s just say you’re even lower than that. Did you commit mass murder in your past life? Your soul is rotten to the core. Cultivate yourself a little more.”
“Ah… Ugh…”
That damn bastard.
Sue clearly heard Jean’s quiet curse, unable to escape the swamp of humiliation.
***
“Miss, you’re here again today. And Jean too…”
Ten, as usual, was anxious and looking for Sue as soon as the service ended.
This wasn’t a place for socializing, and it was incredibly unsettling to see familiar faces in a cult chapel.
“You’re disgusted to see me here, aren’t you?”
Ten quickly shook her head at her pointless taunt.
“No! No! I thought you might have awakened to the truth of the Holy Demon Religion…!”
“…Let’s just say that’s the case.”
Of course she did.
Sue sighed inwardly, her hopes dashed.
“…M-Miss, you’re not planning to destroy the Holy Demon Religion, are you?”
Ten asked hesitantly, her voice trembling. Sue was so surprised that she couldn’t answer for a moment. This weak, indecisive Ten didn’t exist in any of ‘Sue’s’ memories.
Sue, regaining her composure, smiled brightly.
“Don’t you know me? If I was going to do that, I would have done it already.”
“R-right…?”
Ten sighed with relief, her hand on her chest. Sue looked at her with pity.
‘I sent you here to destroy this place in the first place.’
Was she always this stupid?
Sue swallowed her anger.
***
Sue, after sending Ten away, saying she had to clean the annex dormitory, stood in front of the orange door that led to the annex, waiting for Jean.
Jean was wandering around the chapel, saying he wanted to investigate further. She could picture him, fuming, disappearing into the crowd of followers, still humiliated by the soul level measurement.
She briefly wondered if he had been swayed by the high priest, but she trusted that he, a self-proclaimed genius mage, could take care of himself.
‘Jean didn’t go in here before…’
Sue glanced at the orange door next to the pulpit, the door that led to the “annex.” The annex was where the high priest’s office and the dormitory for homeless followers were located. It was a place you could only enter after having your soul level measured and drinking the Holy Demon Religion’s holy water. She was curious, but she couldn’t enter as she wasn’t a follower.
She was wondering what to do next, how to capture the high priest, when…
“Follower Marie, you’re still here.”
Sue came face to face with the high priest, who had just finished seeing the followers after the service and was about to return to his office. Sue had been waiting for him, to some extent.
“How do you like the Holy Demon Religion?”
The high priest, who had been about to walk past her, stopped, as if he had changed his mind.
“I’m… satisfied.”
“Really? That’s good to hear. As you know, follower Louis has officially joined the Holy Demon Religion.”
She didn’t know that.
“He’s still a Second, but I’ll promote him to First soon. He’ll be a great asset to me.”
The high priest, as if to boast, started rambling about Louis, even though she hadn’t asked. He even mentioned Louis’s troubled family history, but it was all just an interesting story. Only Sue knew that.
‘What kind of reaction is he expecting from me?’
Sue chewed on her lip and glanced down at his ankles. But his robe was covering his legs.
‘The black snake means he’s cursed too.’
Why was he cursed?
Maybe he had scammed the wrong person, a curse mage.
Or maybe his hair had turned white because of the curse?
His dry white hair didn’t seem like it was natural. He claimed it had turned white after encountering God, but it wasn’t a very convincing story.
“…High Priest, why didn’t you measure my soul level?”
Sue, unable to let it go, suddenly changed the subject. But the high priest’s answer was unexpected.
“I try to keep my word.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing.”
She tried to press further, but the high priest waved his hand dismissively.
‘What?’
Sue was becoming more and more suspicious of the high priest.
“Hmm, are you concerned about the soul level measurement?”
The high priest’s white eyes gleamed, as if he had read her mind. He smirked ominously.
“Hmm…”
“No, I…”
“I’ll do it for you if you really want it, follower Marie. It wouldn’t be right for me to discriminate against a follower.”
Sue, who had been trying to interrupt him, was overwhelmed by his assertiveness.
He was suddenly offering to measure her soul level?
“You said you try to keep your word.”
“Forget it, I was lying.”
The high priest shrugged. Sue narrowed her eyes, feeling uneasy.
Soul level measurement.
But it wasn’t a tempting offer.
She had been curious about why he hadn’t measured hers, but she didn’t want it. She didn’t want to be measured.
But the high priest was already standing right in front of her. Their foreheads were almost touching. Sue stepped back, startled, but she was already against the wall.
“What’s wrong?”
Sue asked, pretending to be calm.
He has a handsome face. That was Sue’s first thought as she saw the high priest’s face up close.
The high priest stared at her for a long time, then touched her wavy, blood-red hair.
“You know, your hair looks quite nice like this. Your skin too.”
“I inherited it from my father.”
She blurted out an excuse reflexively.
Had he noticed?
She lowered her head, hiding her trembling eyes. She had to change the subject. Sue grabbed the high priest’s shoulder and exclaimed,
“High Priest, please measure my soul level! I want to know my soul level!”
“Huh? Really?”
Sue nodded slightly. The high priest smirked, his eyes like a snake’s.
‘I did promise, but he’s in my grasp anyway. This girl… I don’t really like her, but now that I look at her closely, she’s quite pretty. It’ll be fine.’
The high priest, thinking of how to use “Marie,” opened the door to the annex.
“Okay, then come to my office…”
“Marie, I’ve been looking for you.”
At that moment, “Louis” gently grabbed Sue’s wrist and pulled her towards him.
Sue, not knowing what was happening, was dragged away helplessly. She looked up and saw Acrea’s smiling face.
“Didn’t the lady tell us to come back early today?”
“Did she…?”
“Yes.”
His reassuring voice, like a boy’s, whispered in her ear, just loud enough for the high priest to hear.
“High Priest, we’ll see you at the next service. We’ll come together.”
He turned to the high priest, his hand still on Sue’s wrist. The high priest, feeling a pang of guilt, cleared his throat and backed down.
“Ahem, yes, you should listen to your mother, follower Marie.”
“Ah, yes, I’m sorry, High Priest.”
Sue, without protesting, disappeared from his sight. Because she felt like she had to.
oohh so *louis* joined so marie wont be touched