How the Cult Saves the World

I took a sip of the liquor quietly. It had a bitter aftertaste. Maybe it was because I saw Zain's tears.

'...This guy.'

I sighed inwardly as Zain spoke.

"Master, you know, our house was..."

Zain's pronunciation was so muffled that I could barely understand him unless I paid close attention.

"We were very, very poor. So poor that we were torn apart."

I drank the liquor continuously as I listened to his words. Zain sniffled and continued his confession.

"Our parents left us with a huge debt and passed away, and I was the youngest, you know? I had a sister and a brother..."

The drunkard's words were interrupted here and there, but I could understand his situation since I knew it.

"Anyway, the debt was so big that no matter how much we worked, we couldn't pay it off. And then... Sob."

Zain suddenly burst into tears as his emotions surged. He looked pitiful as he cried like a child. I handed him a handkerchief, and he wiped his tears and blew his nose with it.

"You can have it."

I didn't intend to take it back.

"Thank you. You gave me this expensive handkerchief."

Zain laughed out loud as he received the handkerchief, but then he became gloomy again and shed tears.

"By the way, Master, do you know what happened to my sister and brother?"

"...I don't."

"The debt collectors came every day because the debt was so big. Those bastards beat my brother up every day, you know. They tried to beat my sister and me too, but my brother stepped in and took all the hits. Poor brother."

Tears streamed down Zain's eyes.

---What a sad story.

Kyros also empathized and sniffled.

"Then one night, my brother suddenly woke me up. He told me to hide and pushed me into the closet, so I stayed there..."

Zain couldn't finish his sentence. He stared blankly for a while, then opened his mouth with difficulty.

"The debt collectors came with knives. They stabbed my brother and sister and told them to come along quietly. My brother and sister couldn't refuse and were dragged away by them."

"What about you?"

"I hid in the closet and couldn't do anything. Because..."

"......"

"My brother and sister kept signaling me not to come out. They smiled until the end as they were taken away. I was scared, so I stayed there. And then I found out later."

I clenched my mouth. The story was more emotional when I heard it from the actual person than when I read it in the original work.

"...My sister and brother were sold to pay off the debt."

Zain covered his face with both hands. Transparent tears flowed down his wrists.

"But I was only twelve years old then. So I couldn't find out where my brother and sister went. Since then, I've been saving money like crazy. I realized that I needed money to keep anything from being taken away from me."

Zain removed his hands from his face. His face was dirty with tears and snot.

"The debt collectors didn't come anymore after they sold my brother and sister and cleared the debt. But it felt like they sacrificed themselves for me, and I couldn't bear it."

"......"

I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn't open my mouth. A clumsy consolation would only be a mockery.

Instead of opening my mouth, I looked at Zain's eyes quietly, and he took a breath and continued his explanation.

"So I saved and saved, and used all that money to find my brother and sister's whereabouts."

He grabbed the liquor bottle that I had followed, but I took his hand off. And I gave him water instead.

"Thank you, Master."

Zain smiled faintly, but then he became sad again.

"So what happened then?"

I brushed my hair back and asked him.

"I found my brother's clue quickly. He was sold as a slave to a faraway country... He died in an accident while working hard. If I had been a little faster, that wouldn't have happened."

Sniff, Zain wiped his nose. Then he shook his head vigorously and spoke again.

"But luckily, my sister is alive."

He smiled. The smile he made while shedding tears only hurt my heart.

"But our sister... She's also very pitiful. She worked as a maid in a noble family and came to believe in Diego Church. But then."

Zain's eyes turned cold.

"She changed when I met her after a few years. She became a fanatic of the Diego Church."

Zain's lips curled up.

"She didn't care about me when we met again, and she only praised the Diego God. She gave all the money she earned and the money I gave her to Diego Church."

Zain laughed sarcastically.

"She told me to believe in Diego Church when I told her not to. But how can I believe? Diego Church is dragging my sister, who is in hell, to a deeper hell. And then..."

Zain's sarcastic laughter turned into a madman's.

"My sister became a saint of Diego Church."

"...I see."

"Do you know? The saint of Diego Church can't leave Diego Church until she dies."

Of course, I know. I drank the liquor instead of answering.

"So what can I do? If I want to get my sister out of there, I have no choice but to destroy the Diego Church."

Zain's lips rose slightly.

"Now my family is only my sister. To protect my sister, I don't know any other way than to destroy the Diego Church."

Zain leaned on my arm and lowered his head. His voice got smaller.

"So I'm saving money hard. When I get my sister out of Diego Church, I don't want to lose her again. I'm saving like crazy... Because now I want to protect my sister."

Zain's voice didn't continue. He was either asleep or breathing evenly.

---I didn't know he had such a situation.

Kyros sniffled. I drank the liquor quietly.

The saint of Diego Church was the representative of Diego Church, and she lived in the main branch of Diego Church. And the security of the main branch of Diego Church was considerable.

In the original work, Zain had already tried to get his sister out several times.

He fought with the priests of Diego Church when he tried to take his sister out after she finished her activities as a saint and returned to the main branch. Zain didn't hesitate to stain his hands with their blood.

But the number of people who wanted to protect the saint was so large that his attempt failed every time.

'Then he finally came to a conclusion.'

To get his sister back, he had to destroy Diego Church itself.

"...Poor guy."

I fixed Zain's disheveled hair with my hand. And I whispered.

"Don't worry."

I'll destroy Diego Church.

"I'm sorry, Master."

"I apologize, Leader."

I looked at the two guys who bowed their heads in shame.

We were in a carriage heading back to the capital Bahano. Zain and Troy, who sat across from me, looked at me with apologetic eyes.

Last night, I carried these two guys to their bedroom myself. I could have left them in the dining room and let the servants take care of them, but it was too late to call them.

And when noon came, I shoved them into the carriage. Thanks to the servants who packed our luggage, we were able to leave quickly.

Zain and Troy only remembered what happened last night after the carriage started moving, and they apologized to me.

"Couldn't you wait for a moment and had to drink and get drunk by yourselves?"

It was ridiculous to think about it.

"I'm sorry, Master. We really meant to drink just a little, but somehow..."

"We're truly sorry, Leader."

"Forget it."

What can I do about what's already happened?

"By the way, Zain, do you remember what you did yesterday?"

I asked him just in case, and his eyes widened as he was startled.

"What? Why? Did I make a mistake yesterday?"

"Uh, well... Not really."

"It sounds like I did. I must have made a mistake. I'm sorry."

His shoulders sagged.

"No, it wasn't that bad. I just thought you had some secrets."

I didn't feel the need to tell him that he talked about his past, so I kept my mouth shut. But Zain seemed anxious and kept looking at me.

"Don't worry about it. It was just you being drunk and silly."

"Oh, I see."

Fortunately, he seemed to have no memory of last night and returned to his usual self. He even knitted diligently on the way back to the capital.

I took a nap and woke up to find that the carriage had arrived at the Palace. I thanked Arhen, who came to greet us, and said that we had a good vacation, then headed to the villa.

I thought I would rest for today, but then I took a portal to Rovel.

'Well, I have some work to do anyway.'

As soon as I arrived at the leader's office, I skimmed through the documents that were piled up.

The kids had done a lot of work while I was gone, so there wasn't much to do.

---You should rest for today.

'It's okay. I had enough fun.'

I was signing the documents when I heard a communication from Alphius.

[Leader!]

"Alpheus, what's up?"

[The Holden family has visited the temple.]

"Who?"

[The knights, sir. They came to escort you, leader. I mean, Revelof.]

"...What?"

What was this all about? I put down the documents and got up.

"I'll be right there."

I quickly left the leader's office. I changed into a priest's robe and took off my glasses, and when I came out of the building, I saw the knights of the Holden family, including Phanatic.

"Sir!"

Phanatic ran up to me with a bright smile as soon as he saw me.

"Phanatic? What are you doing here? Did my mother send you?"

"What? Sir, didn't you receive the letter?"

What was he talking about? I got a letter?

"I'm sure the butler sent you a letter a few days ago."

"I don't remember receiving it."

"It must have been lost then."

I turned my head to look at the kids. They followed me as soon as I came out of the building, and they looked clueless.

"We didn't receive any letter."

Alphius spoke for us.

"Then it must have been our mistake. I'm sorry, Sir."

"Ah, well. It can happen. It's okay."

It was only natural that people made mistakes.

"But what's going on?"

"Tomorrow is Lady Gaju's birthday party. We came to escort you, sir."

Phanatic smiled and said, and I was surprised.

"Wha, my mother's?"

"Yes!"

I had no idea since I hadn't celebrated a birthday since I came to this world. I searched my old memories and remembered my mother's birthday.

The days when I was too sick to attend the party.

"Come to think of it, your birthday is next month, Sir!"

"Oh, right."

I had forgotten about that too. Well, it wasn't that important.

"Then there will be a party for your birthday too, Sir."

"...I guess."

I didn't care about that either.

"So my mother and brother told you to take me?"

"Yes, sir! Everything is already prepared, so you just need to come."

Why were there so many unexpected things happening lately?

But I couldn't ignore my mother's birthday as a Confucian, so I had to accept.

"Okay."

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