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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
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Lee Ha-yeon couldn’t hide her bewilderment at the other person’s question.
Why was the Heavenly Maiden here? Why now?
Such questions held no meaning. The important thing was how to overcome this unexpected situation.
However, Lee Ha-yeon wasn’t a seasoned Enforcer. Infiltrating the headquarters and seizing the holy water were things she had planned herself, so she carried them out skillfully, but her ability to handle unexpected situations like this was comparatively lacking.
Therefore…
-Swish-
Lee Ha-yeon unconsciously took a step back.
That was a clear sign of caution.
If she had cleverly pretended to be a believer and deceived the other party, she could have created plenty of escape routes. However, the flustered Lee Ha-yeon couldn’t make a proper judgment.
‘…Should I attack?’
As a result, her thoughts leaned towards the easiest option to consider. Fighting the Heavenly Maiden at the cult’s headquarters was out of the question. Thankfully, Lee Ha-yeon wasn’t so reckless as to commit such an absurd act.
But if that wasn’t an option, what could she do now?
At that moment, the other party moved first. Even though their eyes were covered with cloth, the gaze she clearly felt seemed to see right through Lee Ha-yeon’s inner thoughts.
Cold sweat trickled down Lee Ha-yeon’s cheek. A gentle smile spread across the other party’s lips. Just seeing that made it clear who held the initiative in this situation.
Now that it had come to this, there was no other choice but to run without looking back.
-Clench-
The moment Lee Ha-yeon put strength into her legs, thinking that…
“Yes?”
Lee Ha-yeon momentarily felt her tension completely drain away at the other party’s words.
However, she quickly regained her composure and nodded. Since the other party was misunderstanding on their own, there was no need to refuse.
“Yes! Th-that’s right. I came to the headquarters today for volunteer work, but I stopped by the restroom and accidentally dozed off…….”
Even Lee Ha-yeon thought her excuse sounded awkward, but the other party showed no sign of pointing it out.
“No! I can’t cause you trouble like that. I’ll find my way!”
“Yes, Heavenly Maiden! May the grace and blessing of Dion be with you!”
Lee Ha-yeon bowed towards the other party and walked towards the exit. Even until she turned the corner of the hallway, Lee Ha-yeon felt like she was about to run out of breath from her pounding heart.
However, nothing happened even after she turned the corner. Lee Ha-yeon let out a sigh of relief, tightly gripped the holy water bottle hidden in her bosom, and hurried towards the exit.
“……”
And the woman who had been watching Lee Ha-yeon’s retreating figure…
Said so in a voice that sounded somewhat wistful.
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“So, this is what caused Choi Jin-seo’s parents to become strange?”
The next day.
Lee Ha-yeon, having come to the office, showed Kwon Tae-ho and Yoo Seol the holy water samples she had secured.
“It looks like plain water? This one has some color, though.”
“There are colorless and odorless drugs, so you can’t judge by appearance alone. The effects are said to be pleasure, elation, and hallucinations, so it’s no different from a drug.”
“There was a time when new types of drugs created by alchemist returnees were popular when there were no related regulations. This holy water could be such a case.”
Kwon Tae-ho, who had been examining the holy water, slightly opened the lid. A sweet scent wafted out, instantly causing Kwon Tae-ho to frown.
“It smells rather unpleasant.”
“Is that so? I think it smells sweet and nice.”
At Yoo Seol’s words, Kwon Tae-ho shook his head.
“There are various kinds of sweet scents. This is… how should I put it, it feels like a sweetness artificially created to lure people. I’ve smelled similar scents a few times. Things like a succubus’s aphrodisiac or the breath exhaled by vampires.”
“You’re not proudly bragging about your experiences in the entertainment industry, are you?”
“I smelled them while working. Anyway, the scent I get from this holy water also feels very suspicious. Detailed information will be available after entrusting a precise analysis to the National Forensic Service through the Management Bureau. Though the quantity is a bit small…”
The holy water Kwon Tae-ho was examining was only about half-filled in both bottles. When he pointed that out, Lee Ha-yeon hurriedly said, as if making an excuse.
“W-well, I thought I might arouse suspicion if I stole too much…!”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
Seeing Kwon Tae-ho accept her explanation, Lee Ha-yeon let out a sigh of relief.
‘I’m sorry, Enforcer. I lied…!’
The truth was, the amount of holy water was small. To be precise, it had decreased. Because Lee Ha-yeon, unable to resist the temptation last night, had sipped some.
Lee Ha-yeon herself knew that it was wrong. However, desire was called desire because it couldn’t be easily brushed aside.
‘The speed of addiction is faster than I thought. If I’m not careful, I’ll become absorbed in the Truth Church like the other believers.’
Fortunately, Lee Ha-yeon only showed signs of addiction to the holy water itself, but she wasn’t influenced by the Truth Church’s doctrines. The other believers were captivated by the hallucinations the holy water showed them, worshipping Dion and the Heavenly Maiden like gods.
Even so, Lee Ha-yeon’s condition was objectively precarious. If she were to be completely thorough, she should stop the infiltration mission at this point and break her addiction in an environment where she couldn’t come into contact with the holy water.
However, Lee Ha-yeon couldn’t do that.
She worried about what would happen if she said she wanted to quit the mission because she was concerned about her addiction to the holy water. Such worries swirled in Lee Ha-yeon’s mind.
‘It’s okay. I just won’t drink it from now on. Even during services, I can sit in a corner and throw it on the floor when no one’s watching, and I won’t arouse suspicion.’
It seemed like a rational judgment at first glance, but in the end, that judgment had a certain degree of self-rationalization added to it.
Whether it was self-confidence that she was still fine, or whether it was the manifestation of an unconscious desire for the holy water, of course, Lee Ha-yeon herself couldn’t know.
“Other than the holy water, are there any other illegal acts committed by the Truth Church?”
“Ah, I don’t think there’s anything else so far. The services are ordinary, and the volunteer activities are just solid volunteer work.”
“Then, until the National Forensic Service results come out, keep pretending to be a believer and watch their movements, just like you’ve been doing. Report immediately if anything happens.”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind. Has anything else happened at the office in the meantime?”
What had Kwon Tae-ho and Yoo Seol been doing while she was infiltrating the Truth Church? It was a question she asked purely out of curiosity. Since she was in Enforcer trainee training.
“There wasn’t anything particularly special……. Ah, we did arrest one drunken troublemaker. It’s not a big deal, but the story is a bit unusual.”
“What kind of story is it?”
“A husband going through a divorce lawsuit heard that the internal energy he had accumulated was included in the property division list, and he lost it and assaulted his wife.”
“Pardon?”
Property division for internal energy that an individual had accumulated? What kind of talk was that?
Lee Ha-yeon, due to the sheer absurdity of the story, completely forgot the worries and concerns she had held until just a moment ago. Yoo Seol, seeing Lee Ha-yeon’s shocked expression, gave her a supplementary explanation.
“Property jointly accumulated by a married couple after marriage is subject to division in case of divorce. In this case, the problem was that the husband, who worked for a private security company, had accumulated internal energy using a Daewan pill purchased with the couple’s property. Originally, abilities are not treated as property, but the wife’s lawyer saw the ability as ‘a means of generating income’ and filed a property division lawsuit.”
Of course, the already accumulated internal energy or the ability the husband possessed itself couldn’t be divided in half like property.
However, South Korea was a country that thoroughly regulated the use of abilities by ordinary citizens. It was precisely because of that regulation that the wife’s side had room to intervene.
“The lawyer applied for a division of the right to generate income using the husband’s ability. Either the wife’s permission would be required each time income was earned using the ability, or 40% of the income earned from the ability would be paid, considering the proportion of the husband’s internal energy accumulated with the couple’s joint property. Either way, it was an unprecedented case, so the related industries were in an uproar.”
“The problem is that the husband happened to be heavily drunk when he heard that news. The husband, with his blood boiling due to the alcohol, went straight to his in-laws’ house and argued with his wife, which resulted in a violent incident. Afterwards, he even laid hands on the police who arrived because of the alcohol, which is why I was dispatched.”
“S-so, what happened?”
“I beat him up and locked him up in the detention center. I don’t know about the lawsuit. It’s not a part I need to know about in the first place.”
The Enforcer’s duty was only up to subduing and arresting the criminal.
The subsequent criminal or civil lawsuits were the responsibility of others. Kwon Tae-ho didn’t want to know, nor did he think he needed to know.
“Even so, you never know? Such knowledge might be helpful to you someday, Enforcer.”
At Yoo Seol’s playful question, Kwon Tae-ho chuckled and shook his head.
“I haven’t even gotten married, let alone divorced.”
“Do you have any thoughts of getting married?”
“If there’s someone to marry.”
“Really?”
When an unexpected answer came to a casually asked question, Yoo Seol asked with interest. However, Kwon Tae-ho no longer wanted to continue this pointless conversation.
“Let’s not talk anymore about cases that are already closed. The Truth Church issue is what’s important to us now. When is the next service?”
“Huh? Ah, Jin-seo said she’s busy on weekdays, so it’ll probably be on Sunday…?”
“If possible, try to contact someone in management at the cult that day and find out something more. Ask about the principles of the holy water, for example. Of course, don’t do anything that might arouse suspicion.”
It was a statement that came from the thought that they wouldn’t find out anything more by simply participating in the service as ordinary believers. Lee Ha-yeon was also starting to think the same way.
“Yes! I’ll do my best…!”
“As I’ve said many times, don’t overdo it. If you think you can’t handle it alone, call me anytime. It might be better for me to turn everything upside down and clean up afterwards than for you to struggle alone.”
“You say that because you’re not the one doing the cleaning up. I’m already shuddering at the thought.”
“That’s what the assistant director position is for, assistant director.”
“You trash.”
“What did you say just now?”
“Yes, I said you’re trash.”
“Ahahaha.”
Seeing the two bickering as always, Lee Ha-yeon unconsciously burst into laughter.
The problem of addiction to the holy water, or the pressure of the infiltration mission.
Lee Ha-yeon had been filled with such worries, but seeing the two acting as usual made her feel a little relieved.
This was definitely a difficult mission, but she thought that if it came down to it, these two would definitely help her.
Thinking that, Lee Ha-yeon gently smiled at the two.
A few days later. Sunday.
Before the results of the National Forensic Service’s precise examination came out, Lee Ha-yeon attended the Truth Church service again.
As usual, the time for drinking the holy water after the service arrived. Lee Ha-yeon, who had deliberately sat in a corner today, carefully threw the holy water on the floor, watching her surroundings.
It would be a lie to say that she didn’t struggle in the process.
Ordinary holy water didn’t have a big effect on Lee Ha-yeon, let alone the holy water for returnees. So, the temptation to drink it just one more time crept up on her.
However, Lee Ha-yeon resisted. Lee Ha-yeon was inwardly proud and pleased with herself for overcoming the addiction.
“Ha-yeon unni.”
Just as she was about to get up, Choi Jin-seo, who had been attending the service in another seat, came to find her.
“Yes, Jin-seo. What’s wrong?”
“The Indian priest said he’d like to see unni for a moment. Are you free now?”
The Indian priest referred to the priest who presided over a church service. He played a role similar to a pastor in Protestant churches.
“Huh? I’m free, but…”
Why would such a person be looking for her? Had they found out that she threw away the holy water?
Various questions arose in an instant, but in the end, she wouldn’t be able to find out anything unless she met him. Since Kwon Tae-ho had also told her to ask the manager about the holy water, she decided to think of it as a good opportunity.
“Let’s go then.”
Choi Jin-seo took Lee Ha-yeon’s hand and headed inside the chapel. Passing through the hallway and entering the priest’s office, an unexpected person was waiting for her there.
“Huh?”
The person waiting wasn’t the Indian priest she usually saw. Well, the priest was there too, but there was another person there.
Sky blue hair and wings sprouting from her head. A brilliant halo and jet-black cloth covering her eyes.
“C-Heavenly Maiden? Why is the Heavenly Maiden…”
It was Roselia, the Heavenly Maiden of the Truth Church, who was waiting for her. The Heavenly Maiden, smiling at Lee Ha-yeon’s reaction, spoke to her.
“Yes? Our first time m-meeting, you say…?”
That couldn’t be. They had just run into each other at the cult’s headquarters a few days ago.
However, the Heavenly Maiden’s reaction was truly as if she was meeting Lee Ha-yeon for the first time. Lee Ha-yeon still had doubts, but she bowed to her, playing along for now.
“Ah, y-yes…. I must have been mistaken. My name is Lee Ha-yeon. M-may the grace of Dion be with you…?”
As Lee Ha-yeon and Choi Jin-seo sat at the table, the Indian priest brewed coffee and served it to them. Lee Ha-yeon was confused about how the situation was unfolding, while Choi Jin-seo sat calmly.
“Yes? Ah, yes. To be honest, very much so……”
“A proposal?”
When Lee Ha-yeon shook her head, the priest who was attending to the Heavenly Maiden explained.
The Holy Knight Order.
It referred to the Truth Church’s armed group that protected the cult and its believers from various external forces. It could be said to be a kind of vigilante group.
“Yes. H-how did you know?”
“
Saying that, the Heavenly Maiden pointed to her eyes covered with cloth.
“That means, in other words, you’re asking me to join the Knight Order?”
External forces trying to harm the cult.
At those words, Lee Ha-yeon momentarily thought that their presence had been discovered, but there was no sign of that for now.
However, she shouldn’t let her guard down. Lee Ha-yeon cautiously considered the Heavenly Maiden’s proposal.
‘The Knight Order is ultimately like the Truth Church’s core internal organization. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to find out about the crimes the Truth Church is committing.’
Infiltrating deep into the cult would increase the risk, but the returns would be just as certain. Perhaps she could obtain decisive evidence that could bring down the Truth Church.
However…
“It’s a great honor to receive such a proposal, but, well, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it well. I’m not as great a returnee as you think…….”
“Could I think about it for a bit and give you my decision?”
She couldn’t make such a decision hastily. She would have to discuss it with Kwon Tae-ho and Yoo Seol at least.
After saying that, the Heavenly Maiden rose from her seat and approached Lee Ha-yeon. Then, she bowed to her and tightly grasped both of her hands.
Although she used the word “believe,” her tone already felt full of certainty. Lee Ha-yeon felt burdened by the Heavenly Maiden’s attitude and unconsciously turned her head away.
Even though her eyes were covered, standing before the Heavenly Maiden felt like everything was being seen through. It felt like she was completely naked.
“Yes, I’ll see you next time, Heavenly Maiden.”
After finishing her greetings, Lee Ha-yeon left the priest’s office with Choi Jin-seo. After closing the door, she let out a sigh as her tension drained away.
“I never thought the Heavenly Maiden would call for me directly…….”
“…….”
Lee Ha-yeon joked that she had aged ten years.
However, Choi Jin-seo didn’t show much of a reaction. Seeing her with her head lowered and a troubled expression, Lee Ha-yeon asked with concern.
“Are you okay? Is there something bothering you?”
“Yes? Ah, no. I’m fine. I don’t have any worries…… It’s just that, my tension is relieved…….”
Her attitude felt a little strange, but Lee Ha-yeon didn’t think much of it. After all, even she was nervous in front of the Heavenly Maiden, so how much more would Choi Jin-seo, who was only a middle school student, be?
“Unni, what are you going to do about the proposal from earlier?”
“I’m going to consult with the Enforcer and decide. But I’ll probably accept it? It’ll be easier to access internal cult information if I join the Knight Order.”
“Right? I thought so too. This is a definite opportunity…”
“Yes. If things go well, we might be able to completely destroy the Truth Church. Then Jin-seo, your parents, of course, and the other believers will be freed from the Truth Church.”
“I suppose…”
A strange look of conflict appeared on Choi Jin-seo’s face as she answered. Seeing that expression, Lee Ha-yeon guessed that she was indeed worried about something.
However, she didn’t bother to ask. She could clearly sense from her attitude earlier that she didn’t want to talk about it.
Well, since it was something involving her family, she probably had many worries of her own.
Although she felt a little uneasy, Lee Ha-yeon thought so and didn’t think much of it.
And soon, Lee Ha-yeon would regret this moment.
She should never have ignored the unease she felt at that time.
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