I Became a Fake Priest the Saintess Is Obsessed With

23 – The Meaning of Faith and Positivity

Mabel Akid, once the beloved daughter of a noble family, had been living in distress and worry for the past few days.

She had been rummaging through trash cans to find food in the back alleys, constantly changing hiding places to avoid adults who wanted to exploit her and the children, and dodging the thugs lurking in the back alleys.

Having been born into a noble family, living like any other orphan in the back alleys was truly difficult.

Unable to find anything to eat no matter how hard she searched, Mabel shed tears when she proudly cut her long hair and sold it to the temple, just to get by.

But the most agonizing thing for her was the worry about her younger sister trapped at home.

Her father, or rather the now deranged being, was in a situation where she didn’t know what he might do to her sister, causing her to live in constant anxiety day by day.

Please stay safe, don’t let anything happen to you.

No matter how much she prayed, she couldn’t wash away her anxiety.

She thought about secretly taking Phee away from home because she was so worried, but she gave up when she remembered the enormous wall blocking the house.

As the time of hunger prolonged and the worry for her sister grew, her stress reached its limit.

Her gentle and positive nature disappeared without a trace, replaced by increasing cruelty and hysterics.

She knows how pitiful she looked in the broken mirror fragments one day.

The child who ran away from her family, abandoned her nobility, and barely survived was nothing more than a pitiful mouse, having shaved off her own hair.

“I’d rather… I’d rather…”

She couldn’t accept her beggar-like appearance.

She felt so much revulsion from within that it was as if she would go blind.

Mabel grabbed the sharp piece of mirror with her bare hands.

She couldn’t distinguish whether what was dripping from her hand was red blood or the hair she had cut off.

“Miguel, what are you doing…?”

As Mabel was about to thrust the fragment of mirror into her throat, a delicate voice stopped her.

When Mabel turned her gaze, she met innocent eyes.

How can you look at me with those eyes?

Do you know what your family was planning to do to you?

I don’t need sympathy, rather, blame me…

She begged like that, but

“This is sharp and dangerous!”

The child was only concerned about Mabel.

Suddenly, Mabel realized.

She had escaped to protect that pure worth.

In order to take care of the children, she needed herself.

But to run away so irresponsibly?

It’s too soon to run away.

Since that day, Mabel had been surviving relentlessly.

Digging through food scraps became familiar, she became skilled at catching wild animals, and she managed to find a safe haven where no one could find her.

Although it was still difficult, it was considerably better compared to when she first arrived here.

The remaining worry was about Fiel.

Still, worries about Piel lingered, but now there was a glimmer of hope.

Because ‘that guy,’ who coincidentally crossed paths with the children, made a promise.

Mabel, at first, couldn’t believe the guy who claimed to be a priest.

Black magicians, long-term traffickers, cultists of the demon church, slave traders, and so on…

Every swindler approaching her told her to believe in herself.

He, too, seemed like just another con artist trying to deceive and exploit her and the children.

However, he was different.

He gave food to the children.

Sometimes, he showed them fascinating magic.

He visited the alley without getting tired even when time was abundant.

When he tried to approach her, the door of her heart gradually began to open.

Despite his clumsy disposition and many suspicious aspects, Mabel had already acknowledged him as an ‘adult.’

When he said he was going to save Piel, she honestly worried.

Because she didn’t know what her father, captivated by madness, might do to him.

“Please believe that nothing unfortunate will happen to me.”

But he said to believe him again this time.

From the first meeting until now, he kept saying to believe in him.

Has he ever broken his trust even once?

No.

Not at all.

He always fulfilled Mabel’s trust.

That’s why Mabel had no choice but to trust him.

But she wasn’t worried.

She believed that he would uphold his trust this time as well.

With a bright smile, she simply believed in him.

It had been about a week since he declared that he would rescue his sibling.

Mabel couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing now, if things were going well. But she had decided to believe, so she had no choice but to trust.

Still, thinking positively as he had suggested brought about good things.

She received rare food items that would normally be difficult to obtain, from a certain store.

The store employee explained, “These were leftovers from two customers who couldn’t finish eating…”

Anyway, with this amount of food, she could feed the children until they were full.

‘Should I be a bit stingy…? Because of him, I’ve been indulging in oily foods a lot lately…’

As she thought of the children who would receive the food, a smile naturally formed on her face.

“Hey kids, I’m back…”

When Mabel entered her hiding place carrying bags of packed food, she was at a loss for words.

The children were nowhere to be found.

Nason, Candle, Siren, Lily, not a single one of them was there.

She wondered if they were hiding to tease her.

But no matter how much she searched the hiding place, there was no trace of the children.

The only clue she managed to find was a strand of hair with an ominous red color.

The crimson color, akin to the blood symbolizing her own family, yet hair slightly longer than her short locks.

And Maeve knew well what it meant.

***

“Hmm, I guess the investigation ends here.”

She gently lowered the lifted manhole cover.

There wasn’t a harvest as significant as expected, but it turned out to be a decent investigation, knowing what lay in the underground passage and beneath the surface.

‘Still, it feels a bit uneasy.’

However, not knowing the intentions of the vacant house or Earl Akied’s scheme bothered her.

What could the Earl be plotting to hold a party in such an empty place?

Now, with about a week left until the party starts… Could the casino be more than just a rumor?

Unable to shake off the uneasy feeling, she decided to proceed with further investigation.

‘Well… even if I investigate more, it might only lead to finding a hidden room.’

Already feeling drained, she took a deep breath and stepped out into the living room.

‘Footsteps.’

She lowered her body upon hearing footsteps from the inside of the living room, coming from the kitchen.

Thinking that the kitchen would only contain food, she had inadvertently overlooked it as a potential search area.

A mistake made while assuming valuables would be in the bedroom during a house raid.

[The goddess asks if you’ve ever raided an empty house.]

‘Shush, concentrate on the footsteps quietly.’

Ignoring the sharp taunt from the goddess, she focused her ears on the sounds coming from the kitchen.

– Squelch, squelch.

A sticky sound, as if firmly clinging to the floor.

Is there water on the soles of the feet?

Or is there water pooled in the kitchen?

Whatever it is, the unpleasant sound of footsteps echoed meaninglessly, roaming around the kitchen.

“I should go in.”

Feeling uneasy about what might be wandering around, but thorough in preparing for any unforeseen situation, I slightly opened the kitchen door, just enough to see inside.

“Kerk, kerrrk…”

What roamed the kitchen was a fusion.

Its appearance was similar to the creatures I had seen before.

However, it seemed special as magical energy could be felt inside it, maintaining its form without oozing out like the others.

“Did they create something like that by connecting humans together…”

Thinking of the dreadful deeds of the viscount, I clenched my fist.

Anyway, facing that thing would pose a higher risk than the return, so I pretended not to see and moved on.

[Sub Quest: Subdue and heal the fusion in the kitchen]

Remaining time: 5 minutes

Reward: 10,000 PP

※Failure will result in the death of Nasun, Candle, Sirin, and Lily.

The moment I grasped the doorknob, a quest appeared.

No, what’s with the idea of suppressing and treating the fusion entity for a moment?

What do you mean by saying that the kids will die if we fail?

We have a time limit of 5 minutes, right? We need to go in right away!

I had doubts about the vague quest, but seeing the urgent time limit, I casually stepped into the kitchen.

“Kek?”

The guy who suddenly appeared stared at me with a mixed look of doubt and cried out.

From his perspective, wouldn’t I look like a snack that walked in by myself?

Maybe he doesn’t even have the intellect to consider such a thing.

“Kieeek!!!”

As I blankly stared at him, he rushed at me with something odd in his eyes.

I swiftly dodged his attack by twisting my body.

“Uwaaah! How about trying to talk to us in our language!”

“Kieek!”

I attempted to converse with him, considering he was once a human, but he ignored my words and kept charging at me.

Darn it. It’s a quest to suppress, not to kill, and it’s tough to subdue a guy who’s vigorously jumping around.

Then let’s just cut off his limbs to subdue him.

It’s fine, isn’t it? I mean, we’re going to treat him anyway.

But oh, I’ll have to endure that pain completely.

After much agonizing, I prepared myself to feel the pain of losing a limb as I took out a formidable weapon from my bag.

It was a golden-bladed sword, radiating a brilliant light.

So, this is how Tina looked when her sword was in its best condition.

“Please, Tina!”

I swung Tina at the guy running towards her.