Corrupted Priest Chapter 16

Kelton.

A snow-white wall blanketed in snow overnight.

The Priest of the Azure Fla stood before the eastern gate of Guise. There wasn't any particular reason for choosing Guise among the many options. She had simply heard rumors of a demon slayer who had taken down a massive demon with just a single sword, and on a whim, decided to co here.

After a brief identity check, she entered Guise and saw workers moving busily around.

The city, once in ruins, was slowly but steadily regaining its forr appearance.

Upon seeing the remnants of the destruction caused by the demon, the Priest of the Azure Fla's regard for the demon slayer grew a little higher.

Crossing the rebuilding city, she headed straight for the lord's mansion.

Once she revealed herself as the Blue Fla of the Sacred Fire Order, the guards quickly ran to inform the lord of Guise, Tredon Philian, of her visit.

The mansion, partially collapsed, bore clear signs of hastily patched-up damage.

Guided through, the priest was led to the lord's office.

"Welco to Guise, truly."

With quiet eyes and a cold air about him—though his hair was clearly receding—he carried a presence so weighty that such trivial details beca completely irrelevant.

"I apologize for the discourtesy of receiving you in the office. The guest room was destroyed... and I'm not in the best condition myself."

The lord briefly raised his wooden prosthetic hand and settled into his chair.

"That's quite alright."

"In any case, it's rare for the Blue Fla of the Sacred Fire Order to travel in person. May I ask what brings you here?"

"If I may, please take a look at this. Have you seen this man before?"

What she held out was a drawing—sothing she had sketched herself on the way to Guise. It depicted the face of a thief who had stolen a sacred relic from the order.

Officially, the thief didn't exist.

The relic stolen had little value, the pursuit lasted only a few days, and the thief was already dead. Thus, there was no official wanted poster bearing his face. The priest had no choice but to draw it herself.

The issue, however, was that calling the drawing "crude" would be generous. It was chaotic, ssy, and hardly identifiable.

Yet, she had a misplaced confidence that she had captured the likeness quite well.

But the demon recognized it imdiately. At first glance, through sheer intuition, he knew it was a depiction of Marnak's face. With a perfectly natural expression, he examined the drawing and slowly opened his mouth, feigning ignorance.

"May I ask who this man is, that the Blue Fla of the Sacred Fire Order pursues him herself?"

The priest quietly sat, locking eyes with Tredon Philian. As if trying to uncover everything hidden behind those hollow eyes.

After a short silence, she finally spoke.

"It's a personal matter."

"I see."

The demon slowly studied her face.

Her long blue hair was neatly tied back, and her piercingly cold blue eyes revealed no emotion. Her firmly set lips hinted at her unyielding will.

She was beautiful enough to draw attention from anyone, and the demon mused:

"Doesn't seem like she's chasing him for a good reason... no need to tell her anything."

"If that's all, I must ask you to leave. Things are quite busy, and I can't spare more ti."

"Understood."

At the lord's clear dismissal, she tucked the drawing into her cloak and stood without hesitation. She hadn't co expecting much from the visit in the first place.

Once outside, she tried showing the drawing to passersby, but unsurprisingly, no one recognized it as Marnak.

"Maybe he went to another city."

She remained entirely unaware that the flaw lay in her own drawing and simply concluded she must've guessed the wrong city.

"I heard you're being transferred to the capital? That's really sad. How am I supposed to get by without seeing you?"

"I'll co visit if I get the chance!"

"What's there to see here? Don't just say that... Anyway, be careful on your way! Traveling is always dangerous."

"I won't be alone, so don't worry too much..."

As a woman with red hair chatted with the grocery store lady, the word "capital" tickled the priest's ear.

"The capital, huh..."

Going to another city now, without any concrete leads, would make the search nearly impossible. After all, this entire pursuit stemd from a faint suspicion. There wasn't even any real evidence that he was still alive.

And so, the Blue Fla of the Sacred Fire Order made her decision.

She would head to the capital and use her informants there to track down the fugitive.

Whaaaaang!

The Butcher crushed the head of the second snowspider. Sticky bodily fluids splattered up toward my face. More than anything, I just wanted to wash up with warm water.

- Screeeeee!

While I was briefly lost in thought, the last snowspider lunged at , slashing with its sharp forelegs. But I wasn't alone.

Thunk!

An arrow flew in and pierced the snowspider's leg, halting its attack. That opening was all I needed. The Butcher roared back to life with a vicious rev.

Whaaaaaaang!

I swung the Butcher down and crushed the spider's head. Finally, the last one collapsed to the ground. Staying alert, I scanned the area, but there were no other enemies approaching.

I waved toward Carn, who still had her bow drawn and looked tense.

"This should be the last one."

"Is that so?"

I wiped the gunk off the Butcher and then used a corner of my priest robe to clean my face. The sli in my hair was still uncomfortable, but at least my face felt a little better.

Carn had co closer at so point and was now expertly slicing open the spider's tough shell with the sword at her waist.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm extracting the venom sacs. These spiders have potent venom that works well as a sedative—it's useful in a lot of ways. You can coat arrowheads with it, or just sell it for a decent price."

I chuckled at how ticulous she was. From experience, I knew Carn was far more resourceful than your typical noble-born.

"How do you even know about this stuff?"

"I've participated in a lot of monster hunts. It's the best way to improve your archery in real combat."

To get the venom sacs, she had to slice open the spider's abdon, which inevitably ant more sli splatter.

"Since I'm already covered in this stuff, let handle it. Just tell where to cut."

Carn wiped the fluid off her face and laughed brightly.

"It's only half a day to the next city, Kelton, right? I'll teach you how to extract the sacs so we can finish up quickly and enjoy a nice bath in the city."

"Sounds like a plan."

We each took two spiders and harvested the venom sacs, then continued toward Kelton, completely covered in monster goo. Not long after, we found the owners of the bloodstains on the spiders' claws.

A shattered wagon, blood and bits of flesh strewn about.

Carn surveyed the scene with a grim expression.

"Looks like this was the work of those snowspiders we fought. But sothing's strange."

She rummaged through the broken crates, then tilted her head.

"For the size of the wagon, there's way too little cargo left. Maybe they were on their way back after making a delivery?"

"And there are no bodies."

There was plenty of blood and flesh, but no human corpses. Snowspiders drain the fluids from their prey—it's not like them to leave no bodies at all.

"Priest Marnach!"

"Yes?"

Carn had wandered quite a distance away, searching. I quickly followed and saw clear spider tracks in the snow, mixed with blood, leading deep into the forest. Carn pointed to the ground.

"Looks like the four we killed weren't all of them. This is troubling. We'll need to report this to Kelton's lord before anyone else gets hurt."

I nodded. There was no reason for us to pursue the spiders further on our own.

"I agree."

We quickly checked the wagon for anything usable, but most of it was destroyed beyond salvage. With nothing else to do, we set off again.

We picked up the pace, and finally, we reached Kelton. The city walls lood in the distance. I ran a hand through my sli-hardened hair and said:

"We should definitely inform the lord, but I think it's only right—and would make us feel a lot better—if we washed up first."

Carn nodded.

"It's definitely more unpleasant than I expected."

As we neared the west gate, the guards spotted us and sprang into action with startled faces. One rushed out to et us.

"H-How did you get here?"

What kind of question is that?

Carn and I exchanged confused glances before I replied.

"We walked here, of course."

"Did you encounter monsters on the way...?"

He trailed off, staring at our sli-covered bodies. Realizing how dumb his question had been, he clamped his mouth shut. Carn gave him a wry smile.

"Would you mind telling us what's going on in Kelton?"

The guard swallowed hard and replied with a shaky voice:

"Kelton has been completely cut off for the past three days... by monsters."

Cut off by monsters? Did we just punch our way through a siege to enter an isolated city?

Another guard, seemingly higher ranked, rushed out from the city and approached us.

"Lord Stren wishes to see you both. I'll escort you to his manor."

I pointed to my head and replied:

"With all due respect, wouldn't it be better if we cleaned ourselves up before eting the lord?"

The guard looked us over and nodded.

"I believe the lord would allow you to use the manor's bath."

The lord's bath? Now that was an enticing offer. I glanced over at Carn—she nodded slightly with a hopeful look.

I grinned.

"Let's go, then."

---

Warm steam rose from the water, softly brushing my cheeks. After a quick rinse, I lowered myself into the private bath. The perfectly hot water soaked into every inch of .

"Haaaahhh..."

'L...o...v...e...y...o...u...'

My mother, who I had helped into the bath first, was already half-lted from the heat.

"For a guest bathroom to be this nice, the lord of this manor is truly a man of taste. This alone skyrockets my opinion of him."

'L...o...v...e...'

From under the water, my mother flipped her hand in approval.

After the satisfying bath, I dried off and changed into fresh clothes provided by the manor's staff. All I wanted to do was collapse onto a bed and nap—but we had business to attend to.

Following the servant's guidance, I arrived at the guest hall, where Carn was already talking with the lord. I bowed as I entered.

"Apologies for being late."

"No problem. Please, take a seat."

The Lord of Kelton, Stren Plcor, had a soft face and a slightly chubby build. He looked very young—mid-twenties at most.

As I sat beside Carn, the lord greeted with a warm smile.

"You must be Marnach, the 'Demon Butcher' of Guis. We're truly honored to have you in our city."

I gave a small bow and replied:

"I'm really not anyone special. I only dealt the final blow to a demon that was already dying. The real work was done by the three priests of the Reformation Church, who gave their lives in the fight."

"Ending a dying demon is no small feat. You're very humble, Priest Marnach."

Just as the conversation was about to continue, Carn smoothly shifted the topic in a proper, noble tone.

"We heard the city is under siege by monsters."

Lord Stren's expression turned solemn.

"That's correct. And that's precisely why I summoned you both. As you may have noticed yourselves, this isn't just a random outbreak of monsters."

The lord hesitated briefly, then spoke with a heavy tone.

"This was all orchestrated by cultists of the Evil God."