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Chapter 19
My central nervous system isn’t listening to me, Father.
So, the one who brought this up has to take responsibility.
Dad looked totally lost on what to do.
“I was scaaared…”
Saying at least this much should be okay.
He’s my guardian, after all.
I leaned on him and cried hard. Even as my clothes soaked with tears, Dad didn’t push me away.
Meanwhile…
Derrick made a quiet decision.
He’d remember how small and light the child in his arms was.
She cried endlessly, but the area wet with tears was so tiny—it broke his heart.
“Hicc… I’ll protect everyone…”
Why had the world—or God—placed such a heavy burden on such a small life?
She wouldn’t be able to rest until her mission to save the world was complete.
Just like when he had fought endlessly as a hero.
“I’m weak.”
“So just protect me.”
She had said she’d take away the burden of a useless guardian who couldn’t protect her. It made him want to cry.
And so, he decided.
“Yes, I will.”
When does a hero die?
When they close their eyes for eternal rest? When they turn away from cowardice? There are many answers…
But for Derrick, it was now.
Because he now had one person who meant more than the weight of everyone else.
“My child…”
He placed his hands behind her back and silently prayed.
Oh Father above, forgive the betrayal I may someday commit for this child.
Later…
“So hey…”
A bit later—
With my eyes swollen like balloons, I spoke.
I really didn’t expect my eyes to get this puffy after crying just a little.
“What happened to your cheek?”
Right now, a special cult investigation team under a cardinal had arrived and told Dad to wait.
They said they’d come once I woke up, but the people who went underground hadn’t returned yet.
Everyone was busy dealing with the aftermath in the garden.
‘They must’ve found signs of cultists down there.’
That was normal for me, but a big shock for them.
The Church wasn’t some incompetent organization like the clueless cops in a mystery manga.
The problem was that cultists kept using outrageous, scam-like tactics that defied logic—like phone scammers.
I pinched Dad’s cheek.
“I said, what happened to your cheek?”
One of his cheeks was swollen. Obviously, I pinched the normal one.
“Well… I…”
Dad looked awkward.
“Someone hit you!”
“It was… me…”
“I bet it was some jerk—really mean and culty!!”
“…”
…Wait, what?
“…You’re right.”
Dad looked away.
Then with a troubled face, he… agreed?
‘Wait… did he hit himself?’
Before I could say anything else, Dad turned away and spoke.
“Anyway… that guy was probably just talking nonsense.”
He was looking at Bennett, who was still unconscious from exhaustion.
“Hehe…”
I gave a nervous laugh and thought carefully.
“About that. Remember how someone was supposed to come ask me questions later? I’ll have to answer all of them.”
“If you don’t want to, you can refuse. Even the Cardinal’s team doesn’t have the right to force the Pope candidate to do anything.”
“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind that. But I’ve got something to do first…”
I spotted some knights scattered not far away.
Even if they were watching us, they probably didn’t hear anything. Dad must’ve blocked the sound with holy power.
But it wasn’t just the Church that needed to clean up the mess from underground.
‘I need to prepare for what’s next too.’
Unless the bugs had eaten all the cultists—
‘Bennett said two of them escaped.’
One of them was a high-ranking cultist.
‘That means rumors about me will spread among the cultists.’
I expected this ever since I started pretending to be one.
It complicates things, but I can handle it.
“Was that guy’s comment about you being a cultist related to all this?”
Even as a former hero, Dad was sharp.
“Yep. Follow me.”
After all that chaos, I wasn’t going alone.
“No problem, right? We’re going together.”
“I’ll stay with you.”
He tried to walk beside me, but I shook my head firmly.
“Nope.”
He instantly looked sad.
‘…I feel like I was too harsh.’
Before it got awkward, Dad offered an idea.
“Then… how about this?”
A gray glow lightly shined from his body, and then he became partly transparent.
‘That’s… holy invisibility magic!’
I nodded.
No one but me would be able to see or sense him.
“Perfect. That works.”
I looked at unconscious Bennett and nodded.
‘Let’s go before he wakes up.’
“Starting now, I might do something that looks super weird. I’ll explain it later, so can you just wait and not say anything for now?”
“I will.”
Even though I thought he’d ask questions after what happened underground…
Once again, Dad answered right away.
“…If it’s what you want.”
I smiled.
“Then let’s go.”
Elsewhere…
“S-Sir Derrick…!”
Derrick kept close guard next to Nemesia and recalled Bennett’s words.
“This is serious… The Candidate may be tainted by the Evil God…!”
“…”
“I’m not sure if it’s true, but… but…”
He knocked Bennett out the moment he said it.
It was nonsense.
‘Doubt, confusion, fear?’
Bennett hadn’t been certain—he was confused.
‘Did a cultist get to him?’
It wasn’t uncommon for junior knights or trainees to get swayed by cultists during missions.
He didn’t need to hear more. He could just ask Nemesia later.
‘But she didn’t panic.’
Even after hearing that, Nemesia only looked slightly troubled—not confused or lost.
He’d soon learn why.
“Dad, stay right behind me and cover me, okay?”
Derrick couldn’t speak, but he gently touched her shoulder to show he understood.
They didn’t walk far from the tree where they’d been sitting.
Most of the knights were underground now, so the ones still aboveground were standing guard just in case.
There weren’t many.
Nemesia stopped in front of one knight standing alone.
Derrick recognized his uniform.
‘He’s from the enemy’s knight order.’
The startled knight seemed to recognize Nemesia too. He quickly bowed.
“I greet the Pope Candidate.”
Derrick watched Nemesia carefully.
Now that he had vowed to protect her, he planned to remember everything—even her smallest habits.
So he would never repeat his mistakes.
‘…Hmm. She’s looking up? At the sky? No, above his head?’
She glanced just slightly above the knight’s head. Derrick didn’t miss it.
“Weren’t you with Sir Derrick just now…?”
“Yeah, I asked him to do something for me real quick.”
The knight flinched slightly at the word “Dad,” then smiled kindly—like she was adorable.
“Then what brings you here?”
Nemesia smiled sweetly.
“Well, I’ve got something to say, but you’re too tall. Can you bend down?”
“Oh, sure!”
An innocent childlike smile.
But Derrick remembered clearly—
The first time they met, right after she smiled like this, he felt the legendary power of “Purify.”
Something was coming.
Just as he sensed it—
“Is this okay?” the middle-aged knight asked, kneeling on both knees and leaning forward so their eyes matched.
Her eyes curved into a smile.
“Yup, perfect! Now make sure no one can hear us. It’s kinda embarrassing.”
“…Embarrassing, you say?”
“Yeah, okay?”
“Hehe, not a problem at all.”
He smiled like a grandpa looking at his granddaughter.
Nemesia’s expression briefly changed—just for a second.
“That’s right.”
Derrick’s eyes widened.
“It’s about ‘that person,’ so no one else can hear, okay?”
Her pronunciation became crisp and clear.
I thought carefully.
Right now, the biggest problem was that two cultists, including a high-ranking officer from the underground branch, had escaped.
‘Because of what I did, rumors will definitely spread among the cultists… It’s going to be a pain in the butt—but…’
If you think about it, it can be used to my advantage.
‘I acted the part—now I’ll make them believe it completely.’
You know what the best scenario is while playing this game?
I smirked to myself.
It’s when a chaotic, unpredictable faction like the cultists…
…actually ends up doing exactly what the player expected.
