Chapter 72: Enemy or Ally

“Mateo…”

I stared at Mateo, my mood boiling over. Of all the times to show up, why did it have to be now, of all times?

“What’s this, then? Ya know this fella, Miss Verdi?”

Hames asked me, but I didn’t answer. I almost wished I didn’t know him…

“Where… is everyone else?”

But after our last encounter, Mateo and I weren’t strangers anymore.

And the reason he was here was probably me.

Because in that brief moment, I knew he’d taken a deep interest in me.

“Ah, rest assured. I haven’t done anything that would make the Saintess sad.”

Mateo said with a sly, snake-like smile.

“Is this that Karelin bastard’s orders too?”

From what I heard last time, Mateo was in cahoots with Vasquez and Jihyeok, part of the same group.

If so, it was highly likely this was an order from Karelin, the group’s leader.

“No. This is my own will. It goes against Miss Karelin’s wishes.”

‘Miss Karelin… so that bastard’s a woman, huh.’

Even as I talked with Mateo, I was slowly picking up clues about Karelin.

It was a dizzying feeling, but aside from these bastards, there was no other way to learn about Karelin.

“What kind of thing would make me sad?”

“So you finally acknowledge you’re the Saintess.”

‘Fuck.’

This son of a bitch was playing word games.

“Cut the bullshit and answer my question.”

“The people standing guard were safely escorted by us. There was a suspicious backer targeting them. Or, to be precise, targeting the Saintess.”

“A suspicious backer? Targeting me?”

What the hell was he talking about? Vasquez and Jihyeok were inside the Gate. So there was another backer?

‘No, wait.’

I replayed Mateo’s words in my head. Then I reached a conclusion.

“Don’t tell me… Karelin went after the others?”

“Correct. She was uneasy about only sending two people.”

“…And going against her wishes means you betrayed her or something?”

“Correct. I betrayed Karelin.”

“Hard to believe. Why’d you betray her in the first place?”

How could I trust that? Just this morning, this bastard was pulling some pointless stunt on Deneb and Marcel.

“I followed her only to find you.”

“…”

I made an openly disgusted face. So this bastard Mateo saw me as the Saintess, and now that he’d found me, he had no reason to listen to Karelin, so he betrayed her.

‘No, fuck, why the hell am I a Saintess?’

I was a man, originally!

It didn’t make sense. No, I shouldn’t even try to make sense of it.

The moment I start understanding these cult bastards, I’ll definitely go crazy too. For now, I shelved the thought of why they saw me as a Saintess. It was driving me insane.

“So what’s your business?”

“First, I’d like you to praise me.”

“Why the hell would I praise you?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I protected your comrades from the suspicious backers.”

“…?”

“Hahaha, looks like you still don’t believe me. Then follow me. I’ll show you proof. The injured are at the church. And your precious friend too.”

Precious friend… no need to think about it. He must mean Deneb.

“Ah, you don’t need to worry. The egg you treasure so much, Saintess, is safe too.”

“This is just ridiculous.”

If this bastard was really on my side, things were going way too smoothly, weren’t they?

“Ms. Verdi.”

I still couldn’t trust Mateo. Marcel, who’d been quiet the whole time, whispered in my ear.

“My opinion is that you can trust him for now. If his words are a lie, that means they’ve crossed Hames’s guild, Crescent. No matter how big the religion this man leads as its cult leader, they wouldn’t dare mess with one of the Five Great Guilds.”

…That was true. Even if Mateo was on par with an S-Rank Hunter, he wouldn’t easily pick a fight with the Five Great Guilds. Who would be crazy enough to make enemies of all the top Hunters in the country?

‘He’s definitely out of his mind, though.’

The very idea of following a bastard like that was off-putting.

“…He ain’t lyin’.”

Just as I still couldn’t shake off my suspicion, Hames spoke in a low voice from beside me.

“I contacted the guild members through an Artifact. They said everyone’s safe. And it seems the attack really did happen.”

So it wasn’t a lie. In that case…

“Alright. Then… thank you. For protecting everyone.”

I said in a reluctant voice.

…At least he wasn’t an enemy.

“Hearing the Saintess say that makes me feel like I could ascend…!”

Then, suddenly wearing a perverted smile, Mateo spread his arms wide as if he really was about to ascend.

I wish he’d actually ascended for real.

“Follow me. It’ll be safer at my church than here.”

“…What do we do?”

After hearing Mateo’s words, I glanced at Hames and asked.

“Not much we can do. He says he’ll protect the guild members… but I still have things to take care of.”

“Things to take care of?”

“I gotta pay the Mercenaries. I heard that… Marcel took down the boss, ‘for now’ at least.”

Hames turned his gaze to me. A suspicious look. I kept silent under that gaze. I figured if I tried to clumsily explain myself, I might end up confessing with my own mouth.

“…Don’t we have priorities over suspicion right now? I’ll hand over the boss’s Magic Stone. I owe you from last time too.”

It was Marcel who broke the unpleasant silence. He then looked at me, as if asking if it was okay to transfer the Magic Stone. I quietly nodded.

The Magic Stone from an A-Rank Gate’s boss. Sure, it was worth a decent amount, but now wasn’t the time for greed. If I wasn’t careful, my identity might get exposed to them. And it wasn’t just Marcel here. There were other Hunters and mercenaries too. Some eyes were already on me.

They might not know yet, but they’d likely start suspecting soon. It was important to sort things out before that.

“Alright. Then, since I’m taking the Magic Stone, how about I make one proposal?”

“A proposal?”

Just as I asked that.

“Hey, Hames, how long do we have to wait?”

“Isn’t this overtime?”

The mercenaries’ complaints reached my ears. The Crescent guild members who’d participated in the High-Rank Gate raid all knew each other, so they seemed to be waiting patiently, but the mercenaries weren’t.

“I need to head back to the guild first. I’ll leave the negotiations with that religion to you two. As Crescent’s representative.”

“…Representative?”

“That’s right. Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying I’m putting you in the guild.”

Hames said, looking at me. He seemed to still remember what Mr. Luca had said before. Even without Mr. Luca’s threats, I had no intention of joining any guild except one I made myself.

“Just tell them that our position is the same as Mr. Marcel’s and Miss Verdi’s.”

“That much… yes, I can do that.”

Marcel glanced at me again, so I nodded. I could at least do that much.

‘He made a big decision too.’

If Hames hadn’t trusted us, he wouldn’t have said that. If Mateo demanded something from us—and from Crescent—using the fact that we protected the people who were attacked, and if we, as representatives, accepted it, Crescent would be forced to go along.

That’s why giving an outsider representative authority wasn’t just uncommon—it was unprecedented.

‘…But does Hames even have that kind of power?’

If I had to nitpick, giving representative authority was a right that only the guild master or an acting master could grant.

I didn’t know what Hames’s position was, but I wasn’t sure if he could just hand that out freely. Well, it wasn’t my guild, so it wasn’t my business.

“Alright, lead the way.”

“Haha, this way.”

Mateo, who’d made us wait quite a while, surprisingly followed along obediently.

I wasn’t sure… but it seemed like that bastard was on my side after all.

* * *

The place we arrived at after following Mateo was a small church where nothing but white was visible.

As we stepped inside, believers in the same white sacred robes as Mateo greeted us.

“Oh, Ms. Verdi and Mr. Marcel! Over here!”

“Deneb! Glad you’re safe.”

Deneb, who was with them, waved at us. Seeing her unharmed was a relief.

“You okay?”

“Yes. It was a little scary, but these people helped me.”

Deneb pointed at the believers, and they looked at me before bowing their heads. I answered with an awkward smile. I still wasn’t used to the followers of this cult…

“Kanna’s safe too.”

“…Kanna?”

“Ah, the egg.”

Oh, right. That was its name… I keep forgetting.

Anyway.

‘Everyone’s surprisingly fine…’

Looking around, I spotted a few faces I’d seen before entering the Gate. Some of them had bandages wrapped around their bodies.

‘…They said there was a shady group behind it all.’

That much seemed to be true. Deneb must have been scared because she got caught up in their attack.

‘…’

I clenched my fist. Those bastards touched my comrades while I was gone?

Either way, they were unforgivable. That shady group was probably the same gang as Vasquez and Jihyeok.

‘…Fuck, Jihyeok…’

I wanted nothing more than to go pull Jihyeok out of there right this instant, but I didn’t have a good way to do it right now.

For the time being, I’d have to lie low and wait for the right moment.

‘Tch.’

For some reason, I felt pathetic, and a heavy sigh escaped me. I’d never been like this before. No matter who stood in my way, I used to just barrel through them, but now… I had to hide like a coward, scared.

It didn’t suit my temper, but I had no choice if I wanted to hide my identity. If my true identity were exposed here, I’d be treated even worse than before.

Imagine a guy known as a murderer by the public, hiding his identity and living as a little girl. If it weren’t my own story, I’d have felt disgusted too.

Of course, I’ve said it a hundred times — I’ve never committed murder. It’s just people I don’t even know running their mouths.

I was lost in those thoughts when —

“Saintess.”

Mateo smiled and spoke to me.

“Would you care to step this way for a moment, for a private talk with me?”