Even After Reincarnation, I'm Going to the Academy

Chapter 7

『 Translator – Divinity 』

But getting angry wouldn't change anything.

At most, it would just scare Marin, who was already trembling on the ground, even more.

"Hoo..."

Should I try to soothe him?

But since I was already branded as an 'object of fear' to him, if I soothed him, he would probably be even more scared.

Therefore,

"If you answer nicely, nothing will happen. So stop being scared and talk."

I decided to take a strong approach.

I poked his cheek while acting as nonchalant as possible, like a gangster.

'...This should be fine, right?'

No matter how I looked at it, he seemed to see me as a demon, so I tried to act like a thug as much as possible. Surely, there wouldn't be any problems because of this...

"I-I'll answer anything!"

There weren't any.

I patted the shoulder of the man who was finally starting to communicate.

'Oh, how demonic...'

I heard him whisper very softly, but I ignored it.

It was unfair, but even if I explained everything, it didn't seem like he would listen. It seemed much better to take advantage of the notoriety and just extract the information I wanted.

'It's not like I'm going to see him after today anyway.'

"I'm going to examine each of the nobles here one by one. How much do you usually charge?"

Marin looked up with a 'Why are you asking that?' expression, but the moment our eyes met, he hurriedly lowered his head.

Trembling, he answered in a voice that shook along with his body.

"About 10 gold coins each time..."

"?!"

10 gold coins? How much did I receive from Niphella? You charge that much just for an examination?

"If they're contaminated by magical power, I charge 100 gold coins."

'Isn't that a scam?'

In Korean money, 1 gold coin is equivalent to 100,000 won.

In other words, he charges 1 million won per examination. Treatment would cost 10 million won.

'...Isn't that too much?'

It seemed expensive from a commoner's perspective, but it might be different for nobles.

Nobles earned money just by breathing, didn't they?

Would they be equivalent to landlords in Korea?

No one dislikes unearned income.

That's why everyone wants to be a noble.

'When examining someone, I'm exposed to divine power for a long time, so other injuries or diseases might be naturally discovered or healed...'

No matter how I looked at it, 100 gold coins didn't seem like a very expensive price.

"It's not that expensive, is it?"

"That's if you only consider the treatment cost. There's a separate charge for purification, and if there's another disease, that's calculated separately. Then there's the High Priest's fee and the cost of the warp gate for returning..."

What? Then it's not just 100 gold coins?

"...So it usually costs close to 300 gold coins. And it increases exponentially depending on the degree of contamination."

In the past, priests were perceived as having a poor profession.

Faith alone!

But as generations passed, that became a thing of the past.

The highest-paying profession in the world!

'Isn't this actually a great job?'

I could earn money really quickly. It might not take long to build a wonderful temple.

'Maybe I can go back sooner?'

Marin, seeing my expression, hurriedly added, as if he understood something,

"O-Of course, it's different for commoners."

"How much do you charge them?"

"10 silver..."

"What's the average monthly wage for commoners?"

"About 2 gold..."

Wasn't that a lot? But he said that was the average, so... If it went higher than that, it would be quite a burden.

"But we don't charge for things like travel expenses."

"That's a given."

In the first place, it's not like they receive individual treatment like nobles, but rather it's like getting a group vaccination, so charging travel expenses is nonsense.

"Well, then that's fine."

I didn't know how long it would take to build a temple, but it didn't seem like it would take that long to earn the money.

'If I do this about 10 times, I'll earn 1,000 gold coins.'

Should I provide treatment first?

But there were no nobles reeking of a foul stench right now, nor were there any nobles who seemed to be in critical condition.

"Ahem. Everyone, please wait here. Nobles, please be extra careful. Oh, but how much do you charge knights?"

"We charge about 1 gold... Usually, their lord pays for them."

So I could just conveniently bill the nobles?

"Please don't go anywhere. I'll be back after talking with my brother for a bit."

"But Priest, shouldn't we..."

"Wouldn't it be pointless to heal you if it just reoccurs? Getting rid of the root cause is the priority, so please wait."

"...I understand."

The noble called Reinhardt obediently nodded.

"First, shall we have a little chat?"

I dragged the priest and headed to the outskirts of the encampment.

I made Marin kneel, while I comfortably sat on a rock and crossed my legs.

In a crooked posture, like a thug about to extort money, I asked him,

"How much did you receive?"

"Huh?"

"How much did you receive to not even detect a single dark mage? The stench was overwhelming. You were bribed, weren't you? Tell me honestly."

I struck a nearby rock with my fist.

Crack!

The rock split in half.

'What? Why did it break?'

Honestly, I was surprised too.

I just wanted to slam it hard to make a loud noise.

But I didn't show it and pretended I did it on purpose, lightly tossing and catching a piece of the broken rock.

"If you don't answer properly, your head will be split like this rock."

"I-I didn't receive anything...!"

"Then why didn't you know?"

"I-I'm not a high-level priest, so I can't detect a dark mage who's completely concealing their energy by 'smell'...! And I didn't bring any divine artifacts either!"

"?"

His answer made even less sense.

Looking at the crown of his trembling head, I asked,

"Why can't you sense it?"

"It's difficult for a low-ranking priest like me to sense the magical power of a dark mage who's completely concealing it..."

"So why?"

"Because I'm a low-ranking priest...?"

So why??

His answer was incomprehensible. Did dark mages become stronger than priests without me knowing?

The flow of time is fair. It should have applied to both equally...

'No, wait. Since priests can easily earn money by freeloading, they might have neglected their training.'

If that was the case, it was even more unacceptable.

Wasn't this like a police officer failing to recognize a wanted criminal right in front of them?

"First... hmm. What should I do."

I wasn't his superior in the first place.

The dark mage, the continent's enemy, the one whom God had ordered to be killed, was right in front of him, yet he didn't know. I was furious, and that's how I ended up in this situation...

But did I have any right to say anything?

'I should scare him a bit.'

And judging from his behavior, he seemed like the perfect type to exploit after scaring him.

Just then, a scent wafted into my nose.

A foul stench.

'Magical power?'

I turned my head and spotted a shadow moving cautiously behind a tree.

The shadow turned its head.

Our eyes met.

Eyes appeared on the shadow, and it rolled around.

«...This wasn't part of the plan.»

I grabbed a piece of rock and stood up.

Just then, the shadow spoke to Marin.

«Did you fulfill the contract as promised?»

"?"

"W-What are you talking about...!"

«It seems not. You idiot. You were caught by a mere child priest? Our contract ends here.»

"What nonsense...!"

I glared at Marin. Marin hurriedly waved his hands.

"No! That's wrong!"

"Let's catch that bastard first. If you move, I'll break your limbs like this rock."

Leaving behind a chilling warning, I followed the shadow with my eyes.

Catching the troll was important, but catching the one who created the troll was also important.

'He hasn't gone far.'

I lowered my body and dashed out in an instant.

«!»

The distance closed rapidly.

As I clenched my fist, the startled shadow formed a hand and reached towards me.

Numerous black tendrils sprang out and wrapped around my body.

Ziiiing!

"!"

Just then, the bundle on my back opened, and a red light leaked out from the gap.

'A divine artifact?'

The red light shot out like a small laser beam, but it was enough to pierce through the black tendrils.

'I wasn't sure if I could break through with force.'

This shouldn't matter too much.

I infused the rock in my hand with divine power, just enough so it wouldn't break, and took a small breath.

Ready,

Fire!

Thud!

The thrown rock grazed the shadow.

The tree hit by the rock toppled over with a crack!

The shadow screamed.

«Y-You crazy bastard! Y-You're not a priest!»

"What are you talking about? I'm a virtuous priest, okay? Why do you keep mistaking me for a paladin?"

«Uwaaaah! Get away from me!»

The distance between the shadow and me gradually closed.

As we went deeper into the forest, the surroundings grew darker.

I narrowed my eyes, looking at the shadow.

'Can I catch it?'

Magical power has darkness as its essence. It was bright just a while ago, but now, perhaps because of the dense trees, the surroundings were getting darker.

In other words, the shadow's magical power would gradually become stronger from now on.

If I wanted to catch it, I had to do it now.

«Haha! This is my domain now! You were overconfident in your skills and came too deep!»

The shadow's attitude, which had been shouting at me to go away just a moment ago, changed.

«This is my clone! You fell for my perfect acting!»

'You're lying.'

Outwardly, it looked like a clone.

Magical power was seeping out, and I could see a distinct soul.

It looked more like a magical beast than a dark mage, but since it had a sense of self, I should be able to learn something if I caught it.

"Really?"

But I pretended to be fooled and grabbed a small tree beside me, pulling it out by the roots.

"Then take this."

«You crazy...!»

Wham!

Did I miss?

Unfortunately, the tree didn't hit the shadow directly. But it was enough to tear off part of its arm.

"Why? Are you scared?"

«Do you think I'm crazy enough to block your attack!»

He's not falling for it.

The shadow, terrified, stopped provoking me and started running again.

'Ah, damn it, he's gotten too far.'

If it came to it, I'd just throw the bundle on my back and hit him with it.

The bundle was also a precious item from the temple.

It meant that it could at least catch a shadow like that!

'I'll have to throw it.'

It was humiliating to be unable to catch a mere shadow.

Suddenly enraged, I grabbed the bundle on my back.

Just then, the shadow abruptly stopped.

«Haha, you've come too deep, priest!»

"?"

I looked around.

We had arrived at an open space. It wasn't an ordinary open space.

There were numerous cave entrances that seemed to stretch endlessly, and the sky was hidden from view by trees and vines.

«This is a place filled with shadows! Now you're nothing more than a rat caught in a trap!»

The shadow, standing in the middle of the open space, spread its arms wide.

«Now! Surrender to corruption!»

Ziiiing!

With his cry, a magic circle that had been engraved on the open space revealed itself.

The magic circle, drawn with jet-black lines, gradually turned red.

"What is this?"

I let out a hollow laugh.

"You think you can corrupt me with something like this?"

Corruption contaminates a priest with stronger magical power, turning their faith towards the 'calamity.'

But I didn't believe in or desire the calamity, and from the beginning, I saw Arcana differently than just a 'god.'

«I acknowledge that your power is strong! But your divine power...»

Blood-red divine power exploded from my body.

A crimson aura enveloped me.

Brrrr.

The bundle shook, and something sprang out, landing in my hand.

«Your divine power... it should be contaminated...»

A sword with a black blade and a single red jewel embedded in its center.

Although it was my first time holding this sword, it felt familiar, as if I had wielded it for a long time.

I gripped the hilt tightly and slowly assumed a stance.

«Your divine power... should be contaminated... but...»

Towards him, still spouting nonsense, I thrust the sword.

A crimson beam shot out.

«Why are you still intact...?»

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The red light, shot out like a laser, pierced through the shadow.