I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 90
CHAPTER 90
“…That’s right, it’s similar to there.”
Lionel raised the corner of his mouth.
“The temple of the nameless god.”
Nameless god.
It was the one who kidnapped Lionel when he was young.
When I was living my first life, a temple was built.
A very grand and beautiful temple.
Everyone wondered what kind of god was born while looking at that temple.
When I was living my first life, entry and exit to the human world of the gods were free, and many demigods were born.
It was a time when the fall and birth of gods were not awkward.
So everyone had no particular thoughts even when looking at the newly built temple.
They were only curious about the name that would resonate throughout the statue of the god to be erected later.
But.
“Why would they build such a magnificent and grand temple for a new god?”
After the temple was completed.
“It seems that many gods have already gathered.”
“I can hear the sound of offerings and prayers. But I don’t hear the name of the god.”
People who looked like followers went in and out of the temple.
“Why don’t they reveal the name of the god?”
No one mentioned the name of the god.
So people called them ‘followers of the nameless god.’
Thus, when the temple was completed, the followers gathered.
“I hear that children have disappeared.”
Gloomy news reached the village where I lived.
“Monsters, isn’t it?”
“Even if it’s a monster, would they kidnap a child playing in the garden of the castle?”
“While the guard turned around at the sound calling them, the child disappeared.”
There were rumors that children were disappearing one by one.
There was no relationship between the missing children.
Whether they were girls or boys.
Whether the child was big or small.
Whether sick or healthy.
They just vanished like magic.
The common point was that all the abducted children were under 10 years old.
And they were children who showed outstanding talent in one field.
“Where did they go?”
“Where on earth could they have gone?”
The number of missing children was not large.
But unfortunately, it was the child of the Duke who disappeared, and the investigation proceeded quickly.
And then.
“We found them!”
The children were found in the temple of the ‘nameless god’ that people were curious about.
The place where they found the children.
I was there too.
It was still a strange sight that I couldn’t forget.
At the front of the huge hall stood a headless statue.
And over a thousand children were sitting there.
Reciting prayers.
Unfocused pupils.
Mouths that seemed to exist only to memorize prayers.
“Kids!”
“Mother’s here, sweetheart. Mother’s here!!”
Families reached out to their children, but the children rejected their families.
Until the moment they were dragged away, they continued to recite prayers while staring at the statue.
“Hey, herbalist. There’s also a child underground, but the condition is dire.”
The soldier who called me moved his Adam’s apple.
His innocent eyes filled with tears.
“Quickly, you should go see. It seems like he’ll die soon…”
After I brought the child out, what followed was explosions, fights, and death.
After everything was over, people rushed to the temple of the nameless god, smashing it with hammers.
That was the end of it.
Since then, the temple of the nameless god was never rebuilt, and the worshippers were nowhere to be found.
“…”
I stole a glance at the dry face.
Even to me, an adult who went to rescue the children, that bizarre sight still felt like a nightmare.
Phew, I took a deep breath, then chuckled.
“Yeah, it’s similar. So it’s right to eradicate it. The slave system has been abolished for a long time.”
“That’s right.”
Lionel nodded lightly.
Then he smiled faintly.
After watching him for a moment, I grabbed Lionel’s cheek tightly, lips pouting as if in pain.
“Lionel.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I haven’t asked about the situation yet.”
That he’s involved with demons, and mentioning ‘him’ when he came in.
It seems like he’s not ready to talk about it yet, so I decided to wait.
It would be easier to dig up what’s buried inside forcibly, but that would leave deep wounds.
I didn’t want to hurt him even more, given that he was already deeply wounded.
‘It’s fortunate.’
I indeed had more time than others.
So waiting is something I can do plenty of.
“I have faith that you’ll tell me.”
Looking into his blue eyes, I spoke.
“Can I trust you?”
To my question, Lionel nodded slowly.
“Yes, Master. I’ll tell you.”
“Okay.”
I pinched his cheek again.
Kwoong.
Meanwhile, the vibrations intensified and screams from beyond the wall grew louder.
Seems like I’ve delayed too much time here.
“Should we go now? We might bump into the Royal Knights if we keep delaying.”
I didn’t want to meet the other Royal Knights here.
It’s bothersome to make excuses.
Before that, I had Lionel change his appearance, so as long as they don’t attack, it’s fortunate.
“Master, what about this guy?”
Lionel pulled the rope he was holding.
Roll.
The guy named Shaun rolled to my feet.
Tock, I kicked Shaun’s face to check.
‘He’ll probably come to his senses after foaming at the mouth and rolling his eyes for a while.’
“Shall we leave him at the entrance? So the knights can easily find him.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Huh?
I blinked.
The one who answered me just now wasn’t Lionel.
Two people were standing where we had passed by.
One looked like a teenage girl, and the other looked dubious.
What’s unusual is…
“I wonder what the dark elves have done here.”
It was a race I had never encountered before.
Dark Elves.
Originally ordinary Elves, they were a breed of Elves who had sided with demons and fallen into corruption according to legend.
Perhaps that’s why other races didn’t welcome Dark Elves, and Dark Elves themselves didn’t venture beyond certain territories.
So what were those creatures doing here in Pandelion, the capital where humans bustled and many other races gathered?
I couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Moreover.’
This place resembled the temple of the Nameless God.
Lionel mentioned the one associated with demons.
And now, Dark Elves siding with demons as well.
‘Is this what I’ve been suspicious of all along?’
I brushed my upper lip with my lips while staring at the two Dark Elves.
The first to speak was the girl who seemed troubled.
“Hello, Wanderer.”
Her silver hair swayed with a nod.
“We don’t want to fight. Can’t you just hand over what we came for?”
At the tip of the girl’s finger was Shaun.
“We have to do our cleanup as well.”
“That won’t do.”
I immediately countered.
“If we don’t have him, we’ll have less to uncover.”
“If you have documents, wouldn’t that be sufficient?”
She exaggeratedly sighed as she said that.
“Even if we just hand those over, we’ll still suffer a lot. This place has been under our watch for a long time. We failed like this?”
Hmm, muttering and groaning, she babbled nonsense.
“Besides, if I’d known you were here, I’d have stayed away in the first place.”
The girl grinned.
“Our god has a lot of interest in the Wanderer. A lot, indeed.”
“Ah, is that so?”
I grinned too.
“Has the Nameless God finally acquired a name?”
At my words, the faces of the two Elves stiffened.
Being nameless means not having a proper establishment of existence.
Being stripped of a name means committing a grave sin, big enough to shake one’s existence.
The male Elf burst out angrily.
“He was indeed stripped of his name before, but now he has a sacred name!”
“Hmm, really? So he has a name now?”
I looked at the two Elves.
“Call it out.”
“…”
“What are you doing? Call it out.”
But the man only chewed on his lips and couldn’t bring himself to say the name.
Well, you shouldn’t call it out easily.
Especially not the name of a demon.
“In front of me with the seal of the Lord.”
I raised the corners of my mouth.
“You might lose the power of the god and fall from the divine realm again, you know?”
“You foolish puppet of the Lord!”
“Enough.”
The one who stopped the man from stepping forward was the girl.
Indeed, she seemed to be the leader.
“Could you just let it go when we’ve shown respect?”
“That won’t do.”
I grinned.
“Um, could you pass a message to the Nameless One? Excessive interest, it’s creepy.”
“…”
The already dark face of the girl became even darker.
“And keep your hands off others’ disciples. Why bother a young one when you have one behind you? Trusting your disciple behind you to rampage? It might be better not to.”
The girl, who had her arms crossed, uncrossed them subtly and turned back.
“He won’t cause harm to us.”
“You even put a gold seal on the kid? And by the way…”
The girl’s gaze on me was fixed, like that of a predator spotting prey, with no blinking or wavering.
Facing that gaze, I smiled.
“What I trust is always myself.”
Before I finished speaking, the girl swiftly drew her dagger.
“…!!”
She sprinted down the straight corridor at frightening speed.
Sure, let’s fight.
I summoned the power of the Spirit King that I had kept within me.
“For a lunatic, a club is the cure!”
It might not work on the cultist, but as an herbalist, my prescription should suffice!
Crash!!
With a loud noise, the corridor was immediately filled with thick smoke.