"That is..."
"..."
"You will know when you become a devout believer."
Steam was leaking out. I already felt exhausted.
Doesn't that mean that in order to get information, I had to keep looking here?
I was suddenly dragged in and infiltrated, and it turned out to be a long-term battle. Rotten.
As I sat there speechless, the woman gently smiled and stood up.
"Too much time has passed. I'm busy with work, so I'll have to go now."
"Ah..."
"If you tell the guards at the exit, they will give you food right away, so don't worry. For now, feel free to go on a field trip today."
'First of all, what about today?'
"There are people guarding places where entry is prohibited, so you just don't have to go to those places."
After saying those words, the woman turned around without any hesitation.
Only when the woman's figure was no longer visible did I drink the cooled tea in one go and lean back comfortably in the chair. My body, relieved of its tension, became limp belatedly.
'That woman is quite unlucky.'
I was confident that I would come again—of course, I thought I was a poor person, so it was natural.
It was a place that gave out free bread and water, and if you've never been there before, you might not know it, but once you've been there, it's natural to come back again.
'...Let's take a look inside first.'
For a moment, I wondered where Sir Lien was and what she was doing and why she hadn't come in yet, but that was only for a moment.
She was a knight. A knight who controlled crazy dogs called murderers. It would be a luxury in itself to worry about her like that.
Even if you worry, you should worry about me.
With that, I threw away my thoughts about her and began to slowly walk around the inside of the building. There was nothing special. Even the guards looked exactly like ordinary temple guards and would fit the bill of Holy Knights.
That made it even more suspicious.
'I can't believe it's clean even though it smells so suspicious. It doesn't make sense.'
Should I go into the room where the guard is?
As I was quietly scanning the guarded rooms, someone came into my field of vision.
The happy smile that seemed to have no worries in the world was so foreign that I couldn't help but be drawn to it.
A short physique. Although the material was rough, the clothes were clean in their own way.
The person who crossed the interior without hesitation and headed somewhere, probably having been here once or twice...
'...A girl?'
She looked to be about 12 years old. Could she be a believer here? I guess she's poor.
Although her complexion was not bad and she was smiling happily, there was a distinctive look of hunger left on her face.
It must have been a short while since she escaped from starvation.
Additionally, looking at the loaf of bread in her arms, I was half-convinced that it was a poor believer, but the girl seemed to have sensed my gaze and turned to look at me.
Our eyes met and an awkward air settled down.
"...?"
The girl rolled her eyes as if trying to guess my identity.
After checking the face, the girl scanned the body from head to toe and then looked at the face again, straightening her back without realizing it. The girl, after seeing my face scrunched up due to the disguise for a moment, clapped her hands as if she knew something.
"Ah!"
"...?"
"You are a new believer!"
"Yes?"
"Nice to meet you! My name is Sheia!"
"Uh, nice to meet you...?"
Why are you so bright? Weren't you poor? Did I guess wrong?
Anyway, this kid clearly was friendly. I just needed a way to get some information, so I'm grateful that she approached me like this.
We held hands like ferns and shook them. Suddenly, a smile bloomed on the girl's face.
"Seeing as I don't know your face, I guess you've come here not long ago. Did you come today or yesterday?"
"Today..."
"Aha, then you must still feel awkward and suspicious about everything. But there's nothing to worry about. This is a place that really gives food without any conditions."
The girl continued her explanation, naturally leading me somewhere.
The child's voice contained only unwavering faith without any doubt.
...How strange. How can she be so sure?
"They don't force you to believe in religion. They just give you more food if you believe in salvation. Are you a poor person? I am also a poor person. You can believe it because a fellow poor person says it after experiencing it first."
"I see."
"And... this is the prayer room. People who are just starting to believe for the sake of food pray here."
"...Does that mean that there is a separate prayer room for devout believers?"
Wow, this was awkward. I had to have a conversation with a child to know this.
The conversation ended a little awkwardly, but fortunately, the child nodded calmly, as if she didn't feel anything was suspicious.
"Yes. There is a separate prayer room in the basement. There, we listen to the priest's speech about real salvation. Salvation is real."
The child's eyes were hazy as she said that. There I held my breath for a moment. Was it brainwashing? It was probably brainwashing. To speak with such confidence would be difficult without brainwashing.
...But.
'It's strange.'
They were not the cloudy eyes that are uniformly seen among those who have been brainwashed. Rather, the child's eyes were sparkling with hope.
Her eyes, which had been blurry for a moment, only relaxed for a moment as she imagined a hopeful future.
'Why?'
What did they do?
I looked down at the excitedly chattering child with a complicated expression. My eyes must be showing their confusion right now.
Even if you think about what to leave out, there was no way to know right now, so first I had to find out about the prayer room located in the basement.
I erased my complicated expression and smiled softly. Yes, it's just a clumsy and faint smile, but since I'm a 'poor' who doesn't usually smile anyway, this will be enough.
As expected, the child faced me without the slightest suspicion.
"How do you get into the prayer room?"
"Ah, a 'real prayer room'? I don't know."
"...Huh? You don't know?"
"Yes. I know the entrance, but only the priest knows how to open it."
Is that so? Well, it would be difficult for anyone to sneak in.
"Then, can you at least tell me the location of the entrance to the prayer room? I'd like to believe in the 'salvation' you mentioned, but I'm curious where I will pray if I become a devout believer."
"Really? Now you too can be saved. That's great!"
"Okay, so..."
"Um, but the location of the entrance to the prayer room is not allowed to be shared. I wanted to tell you, but the priest told me not to do so."
...Doesn't this child somehow know a lot? She acts as if she will answer anything I ask, but was secretly ironclad.
Are you playing with me now?
Instinct or intuition was speaking. No matter how much I asked, she wouldn't answer.
I had to find out myself or find someone else and ask.
Without hesitation, I decided to find out for myself.
I didn't have time, but at what point will I find someone as good as this kid? It's a good thing if you don't raise suspicion by asking questions for no reason.
First, let's get rid of this kid who is still making noise next to us.
...As soon as I could think about it, a boy from far away raised his voice in this direction."Sheia! What are you doing? We have to go!"
"Oh, Paul! I'm sorry, but I think I have to go."
"Really? Then there's nothing we can do. Go ahead."
I didn't plan on catching it anyway... but the look in the eyes from a boy named Paul was quite harsh.
Unlike the girl's, his eyes were full of caution.
It looked like he was about 16 or 17 years old. Was that why? He had more word experience than the girl, right?
I felt like he would immediately tell the security guard if I showed even the slightest sign of suspicion, so I tried to make my face look as harmless as possible, but I heard a clear voice again, as if she hadn't left yet.
"Oh, and you look tired. If you came from far away, it would be easier to stay nearby. It's hard to go back and forth, right?"
"Okay, thanks for the advice."
"See you then!"
The child disappeared after the boy. He vaguely said, "I told you not to talk to people you've never met before." A pounding sound was heard.
I stared at his back, but the moment the boy glanced back, I quickly turned around.
As I slowly headed towards the entrance, I touched my face just enough to check if the dirt was peeling off. It was an action that came about after thinking about the girl's comment that she looked tired.
'Did I look that tired...?'
Well, it was only natural that I was, since I was brought here in the middle of paperwork without even taking a break. Damn.
After confidently going through the entrance, I turned around and silently headed to a deserted area around the building.
Of course, I didn't forget to take some food with me when I left.
If they were brainwashing people, they would usually do it by mixing food with medicine, so I received this to confirm.
'...There's nothing wrong with it.'
It was really just plain bread and water. The unexpected result stopped the accident for a moment.
Then... why were they able to gather believers s aggressively? Was there something I didn't know about? Or were they really dragging believers in with that lame argument? Using ordinary bread and water as bait?
'...'
My head was blank. I feel like I got hit by something. It felt like my throat was burning, so I lifted the water bottle I ha checked and tilted it to my mouth.
But before I could get it down my throat, someone said, "Who are you?"
"Bwaak! Cough, cough cough...!"
Damn it, I swallowed the water wrong. As I coughed with my head down, I saw a very wet dirt floor in my field of vision. I couldn't tell the color because it was on dirt, but I was sure it wasn't blood.
Well, I didn't feel any fishy or salty taste in my mouth.
Fortunately, it looks like I only spit out water...
'...It's not fortunate!'
Did I get caught?
If I got caught here, I would be in trouble in many ways.
No, it was more than difficult, it was dangerous. I roughly wiped my mouth and focused on the sound of footsteps coming from behind.
'Three... two... one... Now!'
As it was a tense situation, the decision was made quickly and the execution was also quick.
Without any warning, I leapt forward without looking back.
"Ah...!"
Fortunately, the voice that sounded frustrated was getting further and further away, as if he was not chasing me.
I kept running without slowing down, touching the windows of rooms that seemed deserted one by one, in case they caught up with me and it was too late, and pushed myself into the only open one.
***
An unknown person disappeared. Lien looked at the back with a helpless face. She could chase it if she wanted to, but she didn't have to.
If she made a fuss for no reason, she could endanger not only herself but also the Count who was inside.
'But why does the back look so familiar...'
Even the coughing sound was familiar.
Where had she seen this person before? It was her first time coming here. She had no connection with the poor... Huh?
The poor?
Now that she thought about it, the Count disguised himself as a poor man and infiltrated.
...Oh my god.
Lien's face turned white.
'Why were you there!!'
What on earth was the person who was supposed to be inside doing here?
First of all, she was glad he looked safe! No, no! That was not important now!!
'...Should I chase after him?'
As if gauging the distance, her narrowed eyes scanned the street and stopped at a place where she seemed to have found something.
Wet soil in the middle of the road.
Due to the nature of the soil, it only appeared black no matter what liquid was spilled on it, so it was impossible to determine by color, but it was possible to come up with a few hypotheses considering the surrounding situation and environment.
'It looks like the liquid was spilled not long ago, so that would mean it has something to do with the Count. Plus, the Count had a bad cough a little while ago...'
Normally, I would have thought about sniffing it to tell, but this was a slum.
Not only was there a smell of all sorts of sewage coming from everywhere, but even from the floor, so Lien put that method out of her mind.
There was nothing she couldn't do if she wanted to smell it, but... as a knight from a noble family, there was no way she would touch unknown wet dirt or stick her nose in something that wasn't even her lord's order.
That's why Lien, who came up with the most plausible hypothesis based on all the possibilities based on the circumstances, fluttered her eyebrows.
No way....
"Blood?"