I Became a Fake Priest the Saintess Is Obsessed With

14 – Underground (1)

After wandering through the alley a few times, we quickly arrived at the place where the children were.

The children were surprised when I arrived with the lady, but when they saw the toys and food in my hand, they didn’t pay any attention to us and started devouring the food.

“I told you not to come, so why did you?”

Though Miguel grumbled with discontent…

[Miguel’s affinity increased by 5. Current affinity: 47]

The system says that Miguel likes it, so I guess I did well to bring him.

“Well, I do like it, but…”

“No, no! By the way, who is that woman? Is she your assistant, judging by the nun’s outfit?”

Miguel pointed at Lady Amelia.

The saint quickly became friendly with the children, playing with them.

“No, we are from the sect, Saint.”

“What? Hilarious. Just a regular priest, not a saint?”

“Yes… surprisingly so…”

Miguel looked at me with complete disbelief.

Well, who would think a saint would come to volunteer in the alley?

The only saint from the Heavenly Faith sect who bothers to come is the one who checks security once every three years.

“Wow, what a load of nonsense. Clearly, you’re forcing that woman to go around with you, right? A beauty like her wouldn’t be hanging out with a weirdo like you willingly.”

“Ah… Is that so?”

I never threatened her, and she said no, but she followed me because she’s a saint…

I didn’t bother to argue.

It was a wise decision on my part to realize that engaging in a conversation with Miguel, who was trying to make me a criminal, would be troublesome.

Anyway, the enjoyable volunteer time was coming to an end.

“Goodbye, Priest and Sister!”

The children waved to us as we left.

As we exchanged smiles and shook hands, Miguel’s expression wasn’t pleasant.

“Why are you like this, Miguel? Is something bothering you inside?”

“No, I have something to say to you.”

He grabbed his trembling arm and spoke.

“Don’t come next time. Even if you somehow manage to come safely each time, the alley is dangerous.”

“hahahaha… Did you want to say something like that? It’s okay, at least I can always safely make it here.”

I can’t know what he is afraid of, but at least if there is a blue line for navigation, I won’t be in danger while finding my way through the alley.

“No, if you really are priests, you won’t be able to survive meeting with ‘him’.”

“Him? Who are you talking about?”

“Forget it, and never come looking for me again!”

I wonder what kind of existence ‘him’ is that makes him react so sensitively.

I don’t know what is dangerous since I’ve been going well so far, but advice is still advice.

“I should be a little cautious while coming.”

I should walk through the alley without making any noise with my footsteps.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”

“……”

I greeted him, but Miguel just stared at me silently.

***

On my way back to the cathedral, I walked relying on the blue line.

“Seems like Father is familiar with the alleyways…? I don’t even know where I’m going…”

“Ahahahaha… I’ve been good at finding my way since I was young.”

As I continued to move forward without any obstacles, I did receive some suspicion from the saint, but I smoothly maneuvered past it with my wit.

Continuing ahead, I noticed something that caught my eye.

“This is…”

Two dead rats.

Everything had rotted and the stench was so repulsive that my gaze naturally shifted in that direction.

“Father? Why did you suddenly stop?”

The saint behind me still didn’t know what was in front of her.

I didn’t want to show her a corpse that could create such unease just by looking at it, so I tried to clear it away.

“There’s filth ahead. Please wait a moment while I clean it up.”

The corpse I approached to observe was more dreadful than I had imagined.

The limbs and head were neatly severed, the flesh melting away, revealing bones and organs.

It was so horrifying that I marveled at how anyone could identify it as a rat’s corpse.

I suppressed the urge to vomit and kicked the corpse away.

I couldn’t bring myself to touch it with my hands.

“Phew… I’ve cleared it all…”

As I turned around to pull the saint along, I suddenly felt weightless.

It felt like walking in the sky for a moment.

I experienced that feeling for about a second, then my body plummeted.

“aaah!”

What’s happening?

There was definitely solid ground below me, but I was falling.

[The goddess says that too is a mystery.]

A mystery, like a wall without physical force or ground without physical force…

My falling body was caught by a rope.

“Scream!!!”

The saintess also fell.

Similarly bound by the rope, she had fallen victim to the so-called ‘earlobe tie,’ revealing her figure covered by a monk’s robe in a blatant manner.

“Saintess? You must have seen me fall, so why…?”

“W-Well, I was trying to save the priest…”

Ah, if she fell while trying to save him, then that makes sense.

Struggling to break free while suspended in the air, the intricately tied rope proved difficult to unravel.

“Ugh… Who set up such a trap?”

Even if the lack of physical force on the ground could be considered mysterious, anyone could see that restraining a person with a rope was undoubtedly a trap.

Though ‘mystery’ refers to an elusive force and literally a mysterious power, the faint magic sensed from the rope indicated an artificially crafted trap.

“hehehehe… Caught in my web, you see…”

As I tried to free myself from the restraints and wriggled in the air, an unpleasant voice echoed from below.

The fragmented voice sounded discomforting, reminiscent of the clanging of iron.

I looked down at where the voice came from.

“Who’s there? If you’re there, could you please untie this for us?”

The back alley was too dark to discern, but the outline of a shadow suggested that someone was watching us from above.

“What’s going on? It’s a person, right? Just wait; I’ll get you out soon!”

I wondered what would happen if we had fallen into a trap set by monsters or carnivorous creatures, but fortunately, the subterranean presence did not seem to belong to such categories.

A knife emerged, swiftly slicing through the rope.

Seemingly skilled in wielding the blade, the person managed to cut the rope without causing any harm to our bodies.

“Kwak!”

However, the person who fell to the underground was not sensibly lying on the ground as is.

The holy maiden used me as a cushion, so she didn’t receive the impact.

“Oh my! Are you okay, young ones?”

When it was too dark to see anything, a faint flame from the lighter illuminated the underground.

“As one ages, the sense tends to diminish. Please understand!”

A presence living underground, an elderly man in tattered clothes with one eye covered by a bandage, was smiling slyly.

“Uh… Who are you, sir, and why are you here?”

“I am Pappy Daima Lazore Jafi Lazolgorgo Ilse.”

“Pappy… what?”

“No, no! Pappy Daima Lazore Jafi Lazolgorgo! A great monster hunter who hunted dragons and devoured the treasures of rare monsters!”

Rubbed my forehead at his dizzying self-introduction.

Being an old man living in an alley, he might be a bit eccentric.

“All right, Mr. Pappy. Could you please explain what you were doing here?”

“I was in the middle of hunting a monster.”

“A monster hunt?”

“Yes! I came to hunt the monster that has been rumored in the alley for a few years!”

If it’s a monster, could it be related to the ‘guy’ Miguel mentioned?

It was an absurd topic, but recalling Miguel’s warning, I decided to dig for information.

“Fascinating. What does the monster look like?”

“Hmm… I haven’t heard anything firsthand, so I don’t know for sure, but they say there’s a large horn on their forehead.”

“Isn’t that too abstract?”

“That’s why I set a trap, thinking it might catch a monster if it’s big enough… But I never expected a person to fall into the trap after months of setting it up.”

“Wait… Did you say months?”

“Yeah, that’s right. A few months.”

Polly nodded nonchalantly.

“It took you months just to set up this trap… So, you came here to hunt then…?”

“It’s been about a year, I think.”

“Wow…”

“hahahaha! Why are you so shocked, miss? Hunting usually takes time and patience.”

The saint looked at Polly as if she were crazy.

I may not be able to see it without a mirror, but I must be making a similar expression to her.

To spend a whole year just hunting in this dangerous alleyway…

He was definitely a madman.

“By the way, it seems the young man is quite interested in hunting. You’re the first person who listens to what I do seriously.”

“No, not at all. I have absolutely no interest.”

The best strategy is to not engage with a crazy person.

Unlike earlier, I changed my attitude and smiled.

“No! Your eyes are yearning for something! They’re the eyes that want to go hunting!”

“No, really, it’s not true.”

“Young one, follow me! I will show you the essence of hunting!”

Despite politely declining, Poppy tried to pull me along by any means necessary.

This is why I don’t engage in conversations with crazy people.

What’s the point of talking when there’s no communication!

“I have zero interest! Besides, I am a priest and I have to abide by curfew!”

“hahahaha! You’re quite witty with your jokes. No priest would come to the back alleys. And if they did, they would have committed a crime and should be reported!”

Damn imperial laws, they’re nothing but garbage!

No matter how you try to use them, they only imprison the status of being a priest.

“If the priest is going, then I will go too…!”

“Huh? You don’t seem very interested in hunting, Miss.”

“No, I am really interested in hunting!”

“Well, in that case, I understand! Miss, please come along!”

Luckily, I wasn’t the only one being dragged along, the saint also ended up following us.

Or rather, is it fortunate…?

From the start, the saint was already breaking the punishment and going out. If she ends up in danger, what excuse do I have for being with her?

Ah… I don’t know.

At least, it’s a relief to be with someone rather than going alone…