The Wandering Priest in Dark Fantasy

[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]

Chapter 53: The Missing Children (3)

Crack!

The sound of something breaking echoed through the dark underground prison.

Hamel, who had been listening quietly with his eyes closed, slowly opened his mouth.

"Is it done?"

"Ah, no. That..."

The boy beyond the wall replied in a tearful voice to Hamel's question.

It wouldn't be easy.

If he had thought it would be easy in the first place, he wouldn't have hesitated to explain.

But if the boy gave up and ate the fruit, he would turn into a monster.

There was only one way for the boy to survive.

"You must continue."

"... I-I can't do it."

Hamel hesitated for a moment at the resolute words, and the boy abruptly replied.

His voice was trembling greatly.

In the boy's voice, he could feel fear and... some kind of guilt.

When Hamel didn't say anything, only a quiet silence filled the underground.

How much time had passed like that?

The boy suddenly asked hesitantly.

"...Will this really work?"

His voice was still trembling.

He was conflicted.

Hamel remained silent.

At times like this, he should give certainty, even if it was based on unfounded words.

Boosting the boy's confidence was the most important thing right now.

But Hamel didn't do that.

That wasn't Hamel's way.

"I don't know for sure. It might be a meaningless act."

"Then, why on earth..."

The boy murmured in a dejected voice, and then Hamel continued.

"But this is certain."

"...?"

"If we don't succeed, you and I will die."

The boy fell silent at Hamel's words.

But Hamel didn't stop speaking.

He continued in a calm tone, as if stating common sense.

"Then your sister will be in danger."

The boy's ragged breathing could be heard from beyond the wall.

Hamel spoke firmly.

"Now is not the time to judge whether you can do it or not."

"..."

"We have to do it. We must."

Hamel spoke calmly, as always.

The boy didn't answer for a long time at his seemingly harsh reply.

But after a while, perhaps he had resolved himself.

The boy replied through gritted teeth.

"I'll try."

His voice was as hard as cold iron.

Hamel nodded slightly at the answer.

"Good."

Crack!

The sound of breaking wood was heard again in the darkness.

Then the sound of twisting wood with a creak.

He could hear the sound of sawing with a saw, as if it wasn't going well, and then suddenly the sound of retching.

But the sound didn't stop.

After a long period of noise, a deathly silence fell.

"Is it done?"

"..."

The boy didn't answer Hamel's question.

But Hamel could tell.

That the boy had already finished his preparations.

"You've worked hard."

Hamel quietly comforted the boy.

Yes, it wouldn't have been easy.

No, it must have been agonizing.

Hamel closed his eyes tightly and prayed.

He had just told the boy to 'cut off his mother's arm.'

He had persuaded him over and over again so that the boy's resolve would not weaken.

'Ehurshica, please watch over them.'

He didn't pray for himself.

At this moment, he felt he didn't deserve it.

Hamel gritted his teeth and glared into the darkness.

The preparations were complete.

In the darkness, they waited for time to pass.

Silent and calm, like beasts stalking their prey.

***

Time passed, and the alarm clock rang.

Click, clank!

The sound of the basement door opening could be heard.

The time had come.

Hamel listened in silence.

A rustling sound of clothes dragging on the floor was heard, along with footsteps.

Slow footsteps rang out first, followed by hurried ones.

'Two people.'

Fortunately.

Or rather, as planned.

Hamel breathed a sigh of relief that there were no unexpected variables.

The approaching footsteps stopped at the bars next to them.

Two figures were visible outside the bars.

A hunched old woman and a little girl with pigtails.

Soon, the old woman's playful voice echoed through the basement.

"Child, you haven't forgotten our promise, have you?"

"...No."

The boy beyond the wall replied in a low voice.

"Is that so?"

The old woman stopped laughing and asked seriously,

"Then why are you still talking to me? Should I take that to mean I can devour your sister?"

At the old woman's words, the girl behind her flinched.

She was probably the boy's younger sister.

Her face was pale with fear.

Hamel watched the situation anxiously.

Then the boy hurriedly replied.

"No, I ate all the food you gave me. Please spare my sister as promised."

"You ate it all? When was that?"

The old woman asked suspiciously.

The boy replied, as if recalling the memory,

"An hour... or maybe two hours ago...It hasn’t been long."

"It took you a long time to prepare yourself. You were all talking about protecting your sister."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Clicking her tongue disapprovingly, the old woman reached out her hand towards the bars and said,

"Give me your arm."

"...Why?"

"Just give it to me, you talk too much. Do you not care if your sister turns into a tree?"

"H-here it is."

After the sound of something being dragged across the floor, something suddenly popped out from beyond the bars.

It was clearly an arm covered in bark.

But it wasn't the boy's.

For a moment, a look of shock and guilt flashed across the face of the girl behind the old woman.

She recognized what it was.

She would have wanted to stop it if she could.

She would have begged to be turned into a tree instead.

But it was too late.

The arrow of fate had already left the bowstring and was flying swiftly.

Thud!

The old woman grabbed the arm the boy offered.

And she gently stroked the surface.

"..."

A short silence followed.

The girl behind the old woman closed her eyes tightly, and the boy said nothing.

Hamel just gritted his teeth and watched the situation.

Then, at that moment.

"...You really did eat it. You'll transform before midnight today."

The old woman muttered to herself.

It worked.

Hamel clenched his fist unconsciously.

The old woman had been deceived.

As if she didn't suspect that he had cut off his mother's arm, the old woman turned around without a doubt.

As she headed outside, the old woman suddenly remembered something and asked the girl,

"Child, is there anyone awake in the cell next door?"

"...I'll check."

As if relieved, the girl's voice and footsteps trembled.

It wasn't bad, actually.

To deceive the old woman, it would be better for the girl to look shocked.

The approaching girl made eye contact with Hamel.

Hamel slowly shook his head, making sure to be silent.

The girl opened and closed her mouth wordlessly for a moment, then clenched her fists and replied,

"No one's awake yet."

"Is that so? Well, I did burn a lot of Sleeping Herb."

The old woman scratched her cheek for a moment and asked again,

"Then, are there any people who have turned into plants?"

Hamel nodded, and the girl told the truth.

"Three have sprouts on their heads, and one hasn't changed yet."

"Really? They didn't even touch the food on the table... Don't tell me they touched the ones in the garden? Tsk tsk."

The old woman burst into laughter, amused.

Then, tapping her cane, she said,

"Prepare some food. And wake up the one who hasn't changed and feed him. You can do that much on your own, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh, and take this key. Let's get your mother out and up to the ground."

At the old woman's words, Hamel flinched.

If things went wrong, the old woman could discover their lie.

But the worry didn't last long.

Thanks to the girl's quick thinking.

"...Alright, I'll carry her on my back with the A-frame."

"What a good daughter."

The old woman chuckled, amused by something.

A moment later, the door of the cell next to them opened, and the girl came out carrying something on an A-frame.

"Let's go."

The old woman led the way, and the girl silently followed behind.

Clank!

The basement door closed, and a quiet silence fell.

The girl would be back down soon.

Everything was going according to plan.

"Whew."

Hamel slowly exhaled and inhaled the breath he had been holding.

The humid air of the basement felt sweet.

"Priest!"

As if he had been waiting, the boy called out to Hamel in a complex voice from beside him.

"It really worked. Everything... just as you said."

The boy's voice was a chaotic mix of the thrill of survival, relief, and guilt.

Hamel didn't have much to say to the boy who had overcome the crisis of death.

He just calmed the boy down in a calm voice.

"You've worked hard."

"H-how did it happen? How did she not notice? Could it be..."

"Yes. As you may have noticed, the old woman's eyesight is not good."

'This symbol... It is indeed the Order's insignia. Come in.'

'Oh my, there's still one wriggling around. Is it the religious zealot? Or the pathetic knight?'

He could roughly guess from the time he first entered the mansion.

The old woman often squinted when looking at something, and when Hamel collapsed, she couldn't even recognize who had fallen.

Especially when checking the Order's insignia, she reached out and touched it to confirm.

It was a kind of habit.

The act of trying to feel an object that is difficult to see with her hands.

Hamel saw the possibility of this plan there.

"Perhaps because of her poor eyesight, she was very suspicious and wary. I didn't think she would open the bars to check directly."

But would the suspicious old woman blindly trust the girl's words?

No way.

Then there aren't many ways to check.

After telling the boy to hold out a body part outside the bars, the only option is to touch it.

But even the boy could only extend his arm out of the bars.

That's why Hamel made the boy cut off his mother's arm.

The boy didn't answer after hearing Hamel's words.

Only quiet sobs could be heard from the next room.

He must have finally relaxed.

At the same time, a huge wave of guilt must have washed over him.

Hamel silently listened to the boy's sobs and prayed.

That the boy would be free from his guilt, even a little.

A moment later, the basement door opened and someone walked down.

"Brother!"

The boy's younger sister rushed over and clung to the bars.

"What happened? No, first of all, I'm glad you're safe... If you had turned too, I..."

The girl said, sniffling.

The boy, as if he had never cried, spoke to his sister in a mature way, or at least pretended to.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. Let's survive this and go back home."

"Yes. It's a promise."

The siblings, holding hands through the bars, spoke to Hamel after a long while.

"Who... who is that person?"

"He's a priest of the Order. Just now... thanks to him, we were saved."

"...I see. Mom... wasn't she in pain? No, I'm sorry, brother."

"It's okay. She would have understood. ...Probably."

The girl got up and approached Hamel.

"Hello."

"Yes, hello."

Hamel greeted her back with the brightest expression he could muster.

The girl looked to be about ten years old.

Seeing her frightened expression, he felt the need to reassure her.

Hamel gave the girl a gentle smile.

The problem was that his eyes weren't smiling at all.

"...D-did I do something wrong...?"

"...No."

Hamel slowly shook his head.

Rather than reacting to the girl's nervousness, Hamel just acted as he normally would.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"...Me?"

The girl asked in a bewildered voice.

Hamel nodded.

"It won't be easy. But... I need your help."

The girl hesitated for a moment, glanced at her brother, then clenched her fists.

"...I-I'll try!"

"Good."

Hamel stretched out his finger through the bars, still bound by the handcuffs.

Then he looked at the girl and said,

"Please get me a cup for my blood."

"...Eh?"

The girl made a dumbfounded sound, but Hamel continued speaking.

"And after that, sprinkle it on the fireplace and lure the witch here."

"...Oh."

The girl stood blankly for a long time.

It must have been difficult to understand his intentions.

But there was no time to explain it to the girl step by step.

Crunch!

Hamel bit his own wrist and calmly spat out the flesh.

"...Wh-wh-what are you doing...!"

"Bring the cup. Quickly."

"Y-yes!"

The girl hurriedly threw away the food she was holding and collected the blood.

The wound was quite large, so the blood filled the cup quickly.

"J-just a moment. I need something to tie it..."

As the girl was looking for something to stop the bleeding,

"Ehurshica. Grant me the Flame of Order."

A small flame flickered on Hamel's wrist, and the wound gradually healed.

The recovery speed was slower than usual.

'As expected...'

Due to the poisoning, both his body and mana were in disarray, so the Azure Flame was also weak.

However, Hamel's unique ability, the Azure Flame, could increase in power through blood.

In other words,

'If I spread the blood beforehand, it will generate enough firepower to burn that demon.'

Hamel stared at the basement door with cold eyes.

It wouldn't be long now.

With just one more step forward, his dagger could pierce the old woman.

The girl's role was crucial for that to happen.

It had been a long time since he felt so utterly powerless.

Was he so caught up in being called a Saint or a Lord that he became complacent?

Exorcism was originally such a desperate and difficult task.

He had reminded himself of this countless times since childhood, but he had forgotten it somewhere along the way.

Hamel pulled himself together and looked at the girl.

"Can you do it?"

If the girl said it was too much, he would have to come up with another plan.

As Hamel gazed intently at the girl, she hesitated for a moment.

And after a while,

She gripped the cup filled with blood and poured it all over the fireplace.

"I'll try. No, I will do it!"

Hamel stared blankly at it and then smiled.

So brave in such a terrible situation.

Both siblings seemed to be naturals.

'I can't lose either.'

Hamel prepared for the upcoming battle.

[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]