C 83
I quickly jumped out of the chair. He said he was a cardinal. In other words, he is a person related to the temple side.
There is only one person who comes to mind when I think of a temple.
"Lucilion."
Chronos Etham was a devout believer who dedicated everything to God by taking refuge in the temple.
If a revelation from God told him to put a knife to his throat, he would do it.
However, as there is always a shadow behind the light, the temple was not always clean and orderly.
What the temple pursues in <Adopted> is "human supremacy."
They believe that only humans are superior and great, and as superior beings, they listen to the voice of God.
That's why the temple despises, hates, and considers everything non-human as inferior.
Chronos Etham was the man at the center of it all.
A person who found even the mixed dragon blood in him horrifying, suppressed his true nature to the limit, and repented of his own birth as a sin.
He was also the education officer for candidates for high priest.
In other words...
"That lunatic is abusing Lucilion...!"
And when Lucilion took over as high priest, he died. Looking at Lucilion, who had awakened with greater power than any high priest...
"Finally, God called me..."
... With these words, he greeted his death with satisfaction.
However, Lucilion selected and purged only those who did dirty things, like accepting bribes in the name of God or using their status to trample on the weak.
Chronos Etham was too shrewd and too religious when it came to corporal punishment, so he acted almost like a brainwasher priest towards the high priest candidates, but he had never done anything dirty like that.
So, I felt a little puzzled.
Because Lucilion killed him.
Because Lucilion, among the other educators, was overweight but did not kill the faithful.
"Ugh, what's the point of knowing that now?"
Now was the time to ask if Lucilion was okay.
I ran down the hallway. Fortunately, Chronos Etham wasn't too far away.
"Uncl-Uncle Th-Third!"
Hyuk, Hyuk, hyuk.
What can I do with my little resistance?
At my call, Chronos Etham's steps suddenly stopped. He turned slowly with a very contained movement.
A Bible was tucked under his arm. His gaze was still cold and dry.
He had a furrowed brow as if he had heard something dull.
"You called me?"
"Yes."
"What's going on?"
"That, Lucilion at the temple... is he there?"
Even after hearing the name, Chronos Etham looked at me with an even more expressionless face.
"I don't know."
"He's among the priest candidates."
His indifferent gaze looked at me as if uninterested.
"I want to know if he's okay."
"The norm and the rule are that priesthood candidates cannot leave the temple until they become proper priests."
"Ah..."
"It's to prevent them from coming into contact with the bad things of the outside world before they attain a state of integrity by dedicating body and mind to God."
Are you talking about Lucilion?
I really couldn't quite understand exactly what he was trying to say because it was unexpected.
"Those who went outside cannot be called candidates. They must go into closed practice until they are clean again."
Are you saying Lucilion has entered closed training right now? It was just when I was about to open my mouth in panic.
"It's all because you met him. The sin of daring to take and use sacred relics while tainted with evil is not light."
"Lucilion just...!"
"I heard you were 10 years old, but your body didn't grow properly even after eating so many sacred relics. Like you're a monster."
"......"
"According to the Bible, at the beginning of the world, God created animals, insects, and humans to rule over them in the end."
My lips pursed at Chronos Etham's words, but I kept my mouth shut.
"And a black serpent deceived God insidiously. It acted sometimes as a friend, sometimes as a family member, and when God fully believed in it, it devoured parts of His body."
"......"
"That's how the evil serpent tried to become something like a god. However, it eventually destroyed the world, killed humans, ruined nature, craved affection, was used by humans, and finally went extinct."
I didn't know it was written like that in the Bible.
It was too imaginative to be just Chronos Etham's idea.
"Even if everyone in the world is deceived, I am not deceived."
"I didn't deceive anyone."
"Where is the guarantee that you won't turn into an evil dragon? Any guarantee that you're not playing a trick? Can you guarantee that you're not a monster?"
I was rendered speechless by Chronos Etham's words.
I couldn't say anything. It's not that I thought he was right.
I just couldn't think of anything because he was looking at me with hostile eyes.
He is faithful.
A person who considers even their own birth a sin and has been punishing themselves and inflicting wounds penitently.
"I can't."
I replied calmly.
Chronos Etham stopped moving as if he didn't expect me to admit it so easily.
"As I thought, you..."
"But I'll try not to. Just like my uncle regrets 'that thing' until now and is working hard in penance."
Chronos Etham's face hardened.
"I don't think my uncle is bad. It was just a small and inevitable misfortune."
Just like me, he only had small misfortunes.
Chronos Etham, who had been silently looking into my eyes, twisted his face like a person caught cheating and turned his head away.
"How can you deny that you are the incarnation of the evil serpent? Can you even read other people's minds? I won't be fooled by your clever tricks."
Chronos Etham turned away with a fierce growl and walked away like a man who thought I was not worthy of dealing with him.
"Uncle! Third! Chro-noos!"
I clenched my stomach and raised my voice.
His footsteps twisted slightly at the sound of my voice echoing in the hallway.
He looked at me with an expressionless face, perhaps not hearing my voice.
"I'll see you soon, so show me Lucy!"
"Nonsense."
With a small sigh, he turned around and quickly disappeared.
"It's been a while."
Since I received such a blatant rejection.
Haha, it was a feeling I hadn't felt since I came to this world, so I wasn't even familiar with it.
Lucilion seems to be in trouble because of me.
[—It's all because you met him. The sin of daring to take and use sacred relics while tainted with evil is not light.]
[—Lucilion just...!]
[—I heard you were 10 years old, but your body didn't grow properly even after eating so many sacred relics. Like you're a monster.]
I don't know why the voice persisting in my ears hurts so much.
"Because it's bad."
They choose only the words that will hurt the most.
"I'm not soft enough to be hurt by such words."
Because I'm used to it.
However, Chronos Etham did not lead a peaceful life. He was, after all, a victim of the temple.
The temple that promotes "human supremacy" despises and hates everything non-human.
Suins, elves, monsters, and all non-humans.
Among them, Suins were the most hated. It was considered terrible that they walked and talked like humans despite being a beast.
The temple takes Suins under the pretext of repentance, purifies them, and uses them as laborers.
They were more like slaves. The temple's Suins were treated worse than animals while doing all kinds of dirty work.
When Lucilion becomes the High Priest, that won't happen anymore...
For that to happen, Lucilion had to reach adulthood. Lucilion would be around 14 years old now, so it would take at least two more years.
In fact, since it was after reaching adulthood, it could actually take several more years.
Perhaps it was delayed because of me.
"Eirin."
"Dad?"
"Yes, your voice echoed throughout the mansion."
It was clear he was talking about what I was yelling. While smiling embarrassedly, he took me in his arms.
"It's good to see you're healthy."
He patted my back.
"It's okay, what did you talk about with that gloomy man?"
"Gloomy man..."
It's not wrong, but isn't he your brother?
I can see why everyone is fed up even though Erno Etham is the youngest.
"He's my dad, but he's unstoppable."
I smiled and opened my mouth.
"I just asked to see Lucilion. Uncle is a high-ranking member of the temple, right?"
"Yes. Come to think of it, it seems your pet hasn't been seen for a while."
Did you just realize that now?
How on earth were you not interested?
He smiled sarcastically, as if he had the rudeness to show that he wasn't interested at all.
"So, which member would you like me to amputate, daughter?"
"What?"
"Because he must have spilled rude words about you."
His smile grew even wider.
I could see why my dad was laughing. He had been in a very bad mood since he came to me.
"Don't worry, I won't kill my brother."
Is it my illusion that he would do anything but kill?
When I didn't respond, my dad's smile grew even bigger.
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