Rise of the OtherGod Apostle: Not a Cult Leader, but a Serf?!

#084Reader Mode

#084

Ugh, what typical cult-like nonsense…

After giving me that intense glare, I wondered what kind of “enlightening” crap he was about to spew. I was tempted to just brush him off, saying I didn’t need any of that nonsense, and be on my way. But then a question popped into my head.

“…And whose enlightening words are you referring to, exactly?” I asked.

As far as I knew, Bishop Andrea didn’t follow some random subordinate god. He had no reason to stop someone like this and start evangelizing. Everyone in the Order obviously believed in Roklem.

“The Lord’s words, of course.”

…Does this guy seriously just want to preach to some reader bastard?

I really wanted to ignore him and keep walking, but the fact that Andrea was the first boss in ‘Heretic Slayer’ made me hesitate.

Maybe I could actually get something out of listening to his rambling…

At the very least, I figured I might be able to tell if he had any memories from Heretic Slayer. If he had dreamed about the world being destroyed, he’d probably be feeling anxious or uneasy. He’d likely be searching for clues related to that dream…

“Um, please don’t take this the wrong way. It’s not that I oppose hearing the Lord’s teachings or dislike them. I simply don’t understand why you’re so insistent on sharing them with me that you’d stop me like this. Is this something you do with everyone? Or is there a particular reason it has to be me?”

“There is a reason it has to be you.”

I couldn’t help but furrow my brow. When did this guy ever see me before?

“…Do you know something about me?”

“You are a reader.”

Well no shit. That’s obvious just from looking.

“You feel a deep emptiness in your heart.”

“…I don’t feel that way.”

“Even if you don’t feel it now, it’s inevitable that you will someday. A life without purpose corrodes the soul.”

Ah F*ck, I ran into the wrong person.

So he’s just some preachy old fogey who wants to lecture any reader he sees?

“At first, it might feel good to live a life of leisure without doing anything meaningful. But in reality, you’ll lose out on the greatest fulfillment you can experience. The joy of contributing to your community.”

I wanted to cover my ears, but my body automatically shifted into a polite posture. It was an unconscious habit from dealing with so many as*holes. These annoying pricks tend to just keep repeating the same thing over and over if they don’t like your listening posture.

“Surely you must have been tempted to stray down the wrong path many times.”

“…I don’t know. I can’t recall anything like that ever happening.”

He shook his head with a patronizing smile. “Ah, that just means you haven’t gained the wisdom yet to recognize your past mistakes. It’s only with maturity that people realize how foolish they once were. Your ignorance blinds you to your own missteps.”

This guy was like a fortune teller proclaiming, “You’ve got a persimmon tree in your backyard!” and when you deny it, they dramatically declare, “Well, good thing you don’t, or you’d be in deep trouble!” No matter how you argue, they twist your words to fit their narrative. It reeked of a lost cause.¹T/N: In Korean culture, there’s a superstition that having a persimmon tree in your backyard can bring bad luck or misfortune.

“I’m not trying to criticize you,” he continued, his tone filled with pity. “I can’t expect a mere reader to have the theological knowledge of a priest. But if you’re behind, shouldn’t you make an extra effort? The one advantage of being a reader is an abundance of free time. Why not devote yourself to studying theology?”

Great, he’s one of those ‘Youth is Suffering’ types.

Still, those who spew nonsense under the guise of polite advice are pretty low on the troublemaker totem pole. They’re content as long as you nod along and pretend to listen.

So, I did just that, letting him ramble on until he finally smiled, pleased with himself.

“I must commend you on one thing, though. Your attentiveness and willingness to listen are truly admirable qualities.”

“…Thank you,” I replied flatly.

This bastard probably doesn’t have any memories of the Heretic Slayer, does he?

I mean, if he’d received a revelation about the impending apocalypse, he wouldn’t be wasting his time preaching to random passersby, right?

“…What’s your opinion on Archbishop Ansberto?”

“Pardon?”

Who’s that?

“Even if you ask me what I think…”

I repeated the name in my mind, but it didn’t ring any bells. It seemed that even the dim-witted Fabio had never heard of this guy before, and neither had I.

“To be honest, this is the first time I’ve heard that name. Given his title, I assume he must be a highly respected figure. But as you pointed out earlier, my education is lacking, so I have no idea who he is based on his honorable name alone. Could you please tell me a bit about him?”

Instead of enlightening me about Ansberto, Andrea just stared at me intently, his gaze piercing.

“…You really seem to have no idea, do you?”

Well, duh. Why would I pretend not to know if I did?

There was an edge to his question that made me uneasy. Apparently, Ansberto wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill respected priest. He seemed to be a somewhat controversial figure…

Wait, was that question just now some kind of ideological litmus test?²T/N: An ideological litmus test refers to a method used to determine someone’s ideological purity or alignment with a particular set of beliefs or principles. It’s often used in political or social contexts to assess whether individuals or groups adhere to a specific ideology.

“So, how exactly did you come to know the knight commander?” Andrea inquired further.

“…Since Sir Elamin looks out for me, I sometimes run into her. I guess it’s because the two of them are close. Even today, I came to see her to pass along Sir Elamin’s request.”

“So you’re not personally close?”

What’s with the interrogation?

Despite my reservations, I nodded.

Andrea’s expression relaxed slightly.

“I see. That’s a relief.”

Relief? What’s he on about?

Andrea cleared his throat and asked, “So, can you recall the sermon I just gave you? What did I say?”

“You said a life without purpose corrodes the soul, so we should take it upon ourselves to find fulfillment. Especially volunteer work that contributes to our community. And in our spare time, we should study theology. But if it’s not absolutely necessary, wasting fuel by lighting a fire after sunset is a sin, so we should review what we learned during the day. Whenever we see a priest, we should always bow our heads in greeting…”

I summarized the long-winded lecture Andrea had subjected me to.

These bastards always gotta make sure you were listening.

If the advice was actually helpful, you’d remember it without prompting.

Andrea flashed a wide grin, his gums fully exposed.

“Excellent! You’re a young man worth teaching.”

“Thank you for your kind words,” I replied, trying to sound grateful.

“If you ever want to hear more, just come find me anytime. Mention my name at the 5th chapel, and they’ll guide you. If you have any other concerns, I’ll be happy to help if you come to me.”

Note to self: avoid that place like the plague.

There was no point in getting friendly with Andrea when he had no memories of ‘Heretic Slayer’.

And based on today’s interaction, Andrea was the epitome of an unlikeable old fart. No wonder Casimir treated him the way she did.

If I confided in that guy, he’d probably say I lack courage or something.

Hoping to never cross paths with him again, I retreated to my room. The door was still missing, but I couldn’t be bothered to care anymore.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

“So, you decided to put my advice into practice right away? Excellent!” Andrea exclaimed.

“Haha…” I forced a grin, my cheeks straining from the effort.

I never expected to run into him the very next day.

Just my luck. I had no idea Andrea was the bishop in charge of this orphanage.

Swallowing my annoyance, I put on my best smile.

“Bishop Andrea, you mentioned putting in more effort. Well, unless I have that much extra time on my hands, the only way to cram in that much effort is to cut down on hesitation!”

“Well, well, looks like my sermon truly made an impact.”

Ugh…

Don’t go patting yourself on the back, old man.

I didn’t come here because of you.

“But first, you should change your clothes. I’ll get you an apprentice priest’s attire.”

“Wow, that’s so thoughtful of you! I really appreciate your consideration.”

I feel sorry for the poor kids who’ll have to put up with Andrea’s constant nagging as they grow up in this place.

“…I can tell just by looking around how much care and attention Bishop Andrea pours into this orphanage. Keeping a place this size so spotless is all thanks to the bishop’s dedication!”

I laid the praise on thick, hoping to butter him up enough to let me scope out the place. I was determined to get a feel for the orphanage’s layout.

Three hundred kids under the age of 15, huh?

Andrea explained that there was a separate building for the little ones under 6, while this building housed the 7 to 15-year-olds. Following his lead, I made my way through the classrooms, bedrooms, playrooms, and library, feigning amazement at even the most mundane details.

Adelaide… I need to find a nameplate with Adelaide on it.

But even after scouring every single kid’s room, I came up empty-handed. No Adelaide in sight.

“You’ve been staring at those nameplates for quite a while now,” Andrea suddenly remarked.

Guess it must’ve looked a bit odd, huh?

Luckily, I had a go-to excuse for situations like this. I flashed a sheepish grin and said,

“When first meeting children, I make a point of memorizing all their names beforehand so I can address them personally.”

“…And you think you can match the names to the right child just by looking at the nameplates?”

“Well, you mentioned earlier that the rooms are split up by age and gender, right? So all the names I saw in this room must belong to boys between 13 and 15. I figured I could just go out there and call one of these names when I see a boy in that age range.”

“Wouldn’t the odds of getting it wrong be much higher then?”

“Well, it’s okay if I get it wrong. Children love it when adults make mistakes. They get all excited to correct you. They’ll have way more fun than if I guessed their names right on the first try. Imagine me going, ‘You’re not Anton? Then who’s Anton?’ and watching them go wild…”

Andrea looked at me, a hint of surprise on his face.

“You seem to genuinely enjoy being around children. Did you do a lot of volunteer work like this in the past?”

“More like I just looked after a bunch of good children in the village.”

Yeah, right. Enjoy my a*s.

Kids who haven’t been properly socialized are no better than wild animals. No, they can be way more violent than any beast. That boundless energy of theirs…

“Fabio, I simply must witness your first encounter with the children. I’m eagerly anticipating what kind of sight it will be.”

Well, shit.

I was totally bluffing.

You’re telling me I actually have to memorize all these names now? I’m so annoyed I’d could die trying to remember a bunch of three-letter names…

“…Um, which room will I be meeting the children in today? I want to go over those names one more time. Knowing that Bishop Andrea will be watching me, I’m feeling so nervous that my mind’s gone completely blank.”

“Don’t worry, no one will scold you even if you make a few mistakes.”

“Still, I really want to show you my best side, Bishop.”

“There won’t be much in it for you, even if you do manage to impress me.”

“…But you’ll still praise me for being excellent, right?”

Time to raise some favorability points with this old geezer.

Now that I’d confirmed Adelaide’s name was nowhere to be found, I needed to dig deeper and find out why.

To figure out if she’d left the orphanage early to become a priest, or if she’d never even set foot in this place, I had no choice but to look at the children’s registry.

If I can raise his favorability to the point where he won’t think twice about me asking to see the registry, I should be golden.

“Bishop Andrea, you may have said those words lightly, just out of habit, but that praise deeply resonated with me. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how long it had been since someone had expectations for me or acknowledged the efforts I had made.”

As I spoke, I took a moment to silently mourn the future victims of his relentless nagging.

Thanks to this little success story, Andrea’s going to be more convinced than ever that his lectures are helping people.

Thinking about all the poor souls who’d suffer because of this, I felt a tear threatening to escape.

I’m so sorry guys!

“You were right, Bishop Andrea,” I continued. “I had lost the fulfillment of being helpful to others and felt this profound emptiness without even realizing why. If you hadn’t taken the time to preach to me, I would have simply carried on living like that.”

I continued, wiping the corner of my eye for dramatic effect.

“In a sea of people telling me to do nothing, you were the only one who pushed me to take action, Bishop Andrea. You have truly changed my life.”

“……”

Laying it on so thick that they can’t help but think, ’Wow, was it really that big a deal?’ is a very effective way to get results.

And the proof is in this system notification…

[SYSTEM: ‘Bishop Andrea (Servant of the Distorted One)’ was deeply moved by your words!]

[SYSTEM: A chapter is added to the achievement of ‘Miracle of the Silver Tongue’.]

[SYSTEM: Rank has increased very slightly.]

Wait, what?

I could’ve sworn I saw something weird just now…

T/N: More accurate translation correction updates. Level—–> Rank and Bloodlust —–> Murderous Intent. Changes will be reflected in previous chapters.