Jeong So-hwa stepped back with a surprised expression.
[No, I...]
[It's because of you!]
[If you want treatnt, you should go to the hospital, not here!]
In the midst of all this, she did manage to say sothing that made sense.
Of course, it didn’t reach the ears of the already enraged opponent.
Eventually, the woman handed her child to , then started punching Jeong So-hwa’s shoulder.
It’s true that no matter how hard a civilian hits, it wouldn’t hurt Jeong So-hwa... but...
[You’ve made my child miss the chance to receive treatnt!]
The look on Jeong So-hwa’s face as she took that criticism was quite sothing.
[If it weren’t for you, they would be better by now! As a disciple of a saint, is this really acceptable?!]
[I understand your feelings, but please calm down. Don’t be deceived by the words of that person...!]
[Don’t make laugh. The other children are already better! What’s this about a scam? What will you do if my child dies?!]
Jeong So-hwa clamped her mouth shut.
It was clear that she was not just flustered, but that she felt betrayed even more.
And it made sense.
‘Until now, the administrators have contributed a lot to this city.’
From the information I gathered from So Mun-young last night, while it’s true that Hyunam-sensei holds influence over Suzhou and the entire Jiangsu province, his actual appearances have been rare.
Five years ago, when the Dungeon Break happened and people were dying left and right, Hyunam-sensei appeared like a light in the darkness, but since then, he only showed up when absolutely necessary.
So, the ones who actually control the people in Suzhou are the administrators.
Of course, those administrators were all selected by Hyunam-sensei, so his influence has not waned.
In fact, among the administrators, those who claim to be Hyunam-sensei’s direct disciples hold the real power, and even though they don’t show their faces, no one would dare challenge their authority.
Thus, no one had ever thought to defy them until now.
[If my child dies, it’ll be all your fault!]
For the administrators, people’s reactions like these would surely be a huge shock.
You could tell that from Jeong So-hwa’s face alone.
I clicked my tongue.
‘How foolish. Human emotions change as easily as flipping a hand.’
Trust is difficult to build, but it’s incredibly easy to destroy.
Even I, who was once praised as a national treasure, fell from grace in less than a week.
I looked at the shattered pieces of the athyst on the floor and spoke.
“Looks like my suspicion was right.”
It was ti to drive the final nail in.
“If they are truly the disciples of a saint, there’s no way they’d stop from healing people, right?”
[...You...]
Jeong So-hwa gritted her teeth and glared at , but it was useless.
Because...
[...Now that I think about it, it does seem strange.]
[Right. That saint is only trying to heal sick children, so why are they stopping him?]
[Could it be... that he’s really possessed by an evil spirit?]
[That actually makes sense...!]
So people began to accept what I said.
And I didn’t miss the mont.
Now was the ti to use it.
I quickly found the person I was looking for in the crowd.
As our eyes t, So Mun-young flinched and lowered his head.
[Co to think of it...]
So Mun-young’s quiet whisper echoed among the crowd.
[About a year ago, so of Hyunam-sensei’s disciples disappeared. Didn’t they say they were hunting monsters and got possessed by evil spirits and died...?]
Even if it sounded like nonsense before, once the example from the past was brought up, it beca harder to dismiss.
As soon as So Mun-young’s whisper spread, people began looking at each other in confusion.
[Oh...? That’s right! That happened!]
[Yeah, I rember now.]
[That’s right, they were possessed by evil spirits back then...]
Thanks to the sudden establishnt of credibility, the people who had been loudly arguing just monts ago now felt a chilling atmosphere.
‘Hmm, good timing.’
I nodded in satisfaction at the scene.
The story of the missing disciples was one of the tidbits So Mun-young had shared with .
Was it really an evil spirit possession? I don’t know.
But what mattered was that this information gave weight to my argunt and created a favorable public opinion.
[Why... why are we talking about the dead now? Evil spirits, you say...?]
Jeong So-hwa wasn’t oblivious to the crowd’s mood shift.
She looked at the people with a shocked expression.
[I am a direct disciple of Hyunam-sensei! And on top of that, look at all the work I’ve done for this city in the past few years!]
She made a mistake.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Humans, in general, don’t know how to appreciate what they’ve been given, and her attitude of accusing others of ingratitude in this situation was utterly useless.
“True deeds are ant to be done for the right reasons, without expecting anything in return.”
It’s so easy to make a fool of people like this.
I sighed, pretending to be sympathetic, and looked at Jeong So-hwa, who looked like she had just been hit.
“A saint should never expect anything in return for doing what’s right. Is that really what an evil spirit would say?”
At my words, the crowd went completely silent, and you could even hear a pin drop.
I tried not to laugh too much and asked.
“I’ll ask again. Does Hyunam-sensei know about the pain these children are suffering? Oh, wait.”
I continued with theatrical flair.
“Hyunam-sensei couldn’t possibly not know. As a saint, he would definitely sense this ominous energy, just like I did.”
[This...!]
Jeong So-hwa’s face turned a mix of red and purple as she tried to say sothing.
She was so emotional that, this ti, one of the other administrators standing next to her stepped in.
[Don’t bla Hyunam-sensei. As you all know, he’s been busy protecting this city. He only found out about this incident recently...]
“So are you saying that Hyunam-sensei knows about this situation but still doesn’t care about the children’s suffering and told you to arrest instead?”
[Well, we were careless...!]
“Really, just careless? Didn’t you secretly hide it from Hyunam-sensei with malicious intent?”
Of course, it didn’t matter who spoke up. It didn’t change my position.
‘Let’s see how you explain this.’
This was a very enjoyable ga.
For the administrators, Hyunam-sensei was supposed to be a saint and the protector of this city, a position they needed to maintain.
But because of that, I couldn’t break the logic of ‘there’s no way Hyunam-sensei would do that.’
If Hyunam-sensei knew about this situation and didn’t fix it, then I had already healed the children, and that would make Hyunam-sensei look incompetent.
Or they would have to claim Hyunam-sensei didn’t know, which I had already dismissed as nonsense...
And if the disciples didn’t report this to him, my claim that they had ill intentions would gain even more credibility.
The only other option left would be to try and paint as the evil spirit, but since I had already healed the children in front of everyone, that was impossible.
‘Ah, if I were in the opposing position, I’d just shoot a teor at the entire city right now.’
There was no answer, no way out.
The situation wasn’t over yet.
As we continued to face off, more people started gathering, probably due to the rumors spreading.
[What’s going on?]
[I heard from soone that it seems like Hyunam-sensei’s disciples have been possessed by evil spirits.]
[What?! Is that true?]
[Wait, again? Didn’t sothing like this happen before?]
[Oh, co on. What’s the evidence they’ve been possessed?]
[They say the disciples were trying to take the saint away secretly. They even neglected the sick children!]
As more people gathered, the story began to get distorted in my favor.
I nodded, satisfied.
‘This is enough.’
The seed of doubt had been sown. Now, it was ti for the next phase.
I handed the sick child, who was still in my arms, to the exhausted mother sitting on the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ ground.
“Don’t worry about the child.”
The woman stared at blankly.
“If there’s no ti, let’s take a quicker route. I’ll eliminate the root cause of these children’s suffering.”
[The root cause...?]
“Of course, it’s those people.”
I looked at the administrators.
“These demons are the cause of everything.”
[What?!]
One of the administrators, who had already drawn his sword, couldn’t hold back anymore and pointed it at .
[Hwa-mae, give the order! How long are we supposed to listen to this nonsense?]
I let out a high-pitched scream at the sight of it.
“Ah, no! Don’t hurt anyone! This is dangerous!”
Of course, it wasn’t dangerous since the sword hadn’t even co close.
In an instant, the administrator who had pointed the sword at looked confused.
Yes, I’m sure you don’t even know what I’m saying, right?
“Trying to stab people! These demons! No one will get hurt in front of !”
I said those words, but it really was a chilling line.
My god.
I’ll have to brush my teeth ten tis later. Or maybe I’ll just pull out my tongue and disinfect it.
[What the hell is this? I’m just...]
[What’s going on? I heard soone scread they were stabbed by a sword?]
[What? Soone was stabbed with a sword?]
Yes, yes.
As my scream spread throughout the crowd, they all began murmuring.
Jeong So-hwa, realizing too late, made a face of regret.
‘Yes, too many people have gathered now.’
The old alley where we were standing off in front of the vacant inn was narrow enough that not everyone could clearly see the situation.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
On top of that, with more than ten administrators surrounding with drawn swords, if I shout like this, it will naturally cause more people to panic.
[What? Are you telling us to run?]
[Don’t push ! The administrators are trying to cut people with their swords!]
[The administrators drew their swords! Run!]
[What? Could it be that they’re really possessed by evil spirits?]
Well, nothing like that was happening, of course.
[Everyone, calm down. Nothing happened...]
Jeong So-hwa, realizing the situation late, tried to calm the crowd, but I was faster.
So Mun-young, following my cue, closed his eyes and shouted loudly.
[Run! Run!]
[What? What’s going on?!]
[Run! Hurry, run!]
And in this situation, you can never underestimate the power of crowd ntality.
Even if they didn’t know what was going on, just hearing soone shout “Fire!” would make them run instinctively.
As soon as soone starts shouting, things can spiral out of control.
[Don’t push !]
[Go ahead!]
[What’s going on?!]
[I don’t know, but if you want to live, run! Hurry!]
Thanks to that, the people who had filled the narrow alley suddenly began to scatter, pushing and shoving each other.
In no ti, it beca complete chaos.
At this point, they didn’t even know why they were running; they just wanted to get away from there.
“Alright, you should go too.”
I helped the woman, who was still sitting on the ground, holding her child, and gently stood her up.
At the sa ti, I quietly took another athyst from my inventory and placed it in the child’s hand.
With all the noise, no one noticed.
The woman’s eyes, looking at the item in her child’s hand, trembled uncontrollably.
[This...!]
“Shh.”
I placed my finger on my lips.
“Go now. I’ll deal with these demons.”
I had given her everything she needed, and I had used her for my purpose.
Now that I was done, I told her to run.
[Okay, I understand!]
It was just a simple transaction, but I’m not sure what she was thinking, as she gave a determined look.
[Please be careful, saint!]
“...”
With tears streaming down her face, the woman, holding her child, followed the others out of the alley.
Well... I don’t know what she was thinking, but it’s fine to let her go.
And, as I expected, the other parents who had been waiting for the right mont quietly started to leave, their backs turned.
There was no reason for to feel bad. We had all gotten what we wanted.
So Mun-young also cautiously fled into the vacant inn.
After so ti passed...
[...What is this...]
The people who had gathered in a cloud-like fashion had disappeared, and only I and the administrators were left in the old alley.
Looking at the empty scene, it was quite amusing.
Most of all, the sight of the administrators still standing there, clueless about what had just happened, looked so dumbfounded.
“Oh, you all look like you’ve had your souls completely shaken out of you.”
Now that no one was watching, I didn’t have to act anymore and laughed openly at them.
“I didn’t expect you to co out so easily.”
It was so easy that I started to think maybe Hyunam-sensei wasn’t part of the Orbis Fragnts after all.
Sending disciples who didn’t even know how to handle a public opinion battle against ...
‘Well, I’m not sure if there’s an issue with the Orbis Fragnts, or if this was their independent judgnt.’
Anyway, thanks to this, my positioning worked out perfectly.
In just a few hours, the events of today would spread throughout the city.
The appearance of the new saint, the item that could heal diseases, and the conflict with the administrators.
It was getting more and more interesting.
I guess I do have a knack for stirring up other people’s ho turf.
[...The Master’s words were not wrong.]
After so ti passed, Jeong So-hwa, now a little calr, spoke in a cold voice.
[He told to be careful of your deceitful mouth... but it’s useless. You’re still an outsider. Once people calm down, they’ll realize your nonsense.]
“Aha, that’s sothing we’ll have to see. After all, the Evil Spirit will eventually end up eating the minds of the people.”
I openly mocked her, but finally, realizing that she didn’t need to hear any more, Jeong So-hwa firmly stated:
[Take this evil person to prison! They can’t use magic, so it should be easy to subdue them.]
[Jeong So-hwa, you’re too late with your orders!]
[Damn, we should’ve just arrested them without listening to this nonsense... Let’s just throw them in now.]
At Jeong So-hwa’s command, the other administrators began to close in, drawing their swords.
With more than ten of them, and nowhere to escape in this narrow alley, it seed like the situation was in their favor.
‘It seems Hyunam-sensei did pass so information after all.’
Of course, it looked like they were in the winning position, but...
I squinted my eyes.
“Well, fine.”
Even the Orbis Fragnts might not know one crucial piece of information.
I stretched my hand out into the air.
As I took an item from my inventory, I felt the familiar sensation, and soon the weight of a heavy object in my hand.
Swish!
With a chilling tallic sound, a sword appeared in my hand, gleaming with a sharp edge.
Jeong So-hwa’s face froze as she saw draw the sword.
[You’re using a sword...?!]
“Why, was this information you didn’t know?”
[Shut up! Now you show your true colors, you evil spirit!]
“Evil spirit?”
Well, that’s not wrong.
No matter how much I focus on the present life, my past life doesn’t change.
I smiled, holding the sword.
“Alright, then let’s see how well that woman’s disciples handle evil spirits.”
With that, I motioned for Jeong So-hwa and the other disciples of Hyunam-sensei.
“Co at .”
Of course, which side will be exorcised between good and evil... we’ll have to see.
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