Episode 77

The most secluded part of the orphanage: the garbage yard.

Three large boys were gathered, relentlessly kicking someone lying on the ground.

Thud! Thud, thud—!

“Hey! Answer me! Why were you smirking at me back then?!”

The biggest boy among them, standing in the middle, shouted loudly.

The others snickered in response.

“How can a mute answer you?”

“Poor Ismail. It must be bad enough being mute, and now he’s on Tommy’s hit list~”

“Hey, don’t touch him with your hands! You don’t want to catch the mute germs!”

“Ugh, damn it! This little bastard pisses me off!”

Thud, thud, thud!

The violent kicks rained down like a storm.

Yet, Ismail remained motionless, his face buried in his knees.

“Ah, that felt good. I never liked this guy, even before he went to the temple.”

“Right? He acted all high and mighty because he had some power.”

“But now, he’s powerless. So why do the teachers still protect him?”

“Must be because they feel sorry for him. I mean, he went to the temple and came back mute after just a year.”

The boys stood around, chatting over Ismail’s head after they were done kicking him.

At the mention of his name, his small, frail body trembled slightly.

But none of them noticed.

 

“There was an accident, so Ismail can’t speak anymore. So let’s all be kind and help him out!”

As the boys had said, Ismail was sent back from the temple.

He had frequent seizures for a while after returning.

The claim that the teachers were protecting him was an exaggeration.

They had merely stayed close to him to administer medicine whenever he had an episode.

But that only lasted a few days.

Once the seizures began to subside, the teachers soon left him to fend for himself.

In their absence, Ismail was left wandering through horrible nightmares, writhing in his sleep each night.

In those dreams, he was trapped in a dark, blood-red room, unable to move.

Soon after, eerie whispers crept into his ears, and every time he screamed in fear, something was slowly drained from his body, starting from his toes.

It was as if he instinctively knew that his sacred power and life force were being sucked away.

After a week of being locked in the Chamber of Repentance, Ismail lost his voice.

Satisfied with the results, High Priest Dunkeski sent him back to the orphanage with a pleased smile.

And now, here he was.

Being beaten by the other children was preferable to being trapped in the temple.

At least here, he could tell that this was reality.

As the beating finally seemed to come to an end, Ismail cautiously lifted his head.

“…!”

At that moment, his eyes met directly with Tommy, the biggest of the three boys.

A few days ago, the headmistress had gathered all the orphanage children to explain the rules for a volunteer event.

Tommy had, embarrassingly, wet himself in front of the younger children.

Of course, he would never know.

‘That I was the one who made that happen.’

The memory of the towering boy, who usually swaggered around intimidating others with his size, bursting into tears like a child came to mind.

“Heh.”

A laugh escaped Ismail before he realized it.

“Are you… laughing?”

Seeing Ismail laugh after all the beating, Tommy’s face contorted with rage.

“You bastard…!”

“Hey, hey, let’s stop! It’s almost time for the volunteer work to finish.”

“But this jerk is laughing at me!”

Tommy kicked Ismail with all his strength again.

Thud—!

“Ugh!”

This time, the blow must have been harder, as Ismail’s body, which had been motionless until now, jerked as he coughed.

“You little bastard! Why do you keep looking at me with those disgusting eyes?!”

Still not satisfied, Tommy raised his fist, ready to strike Ismail.

“Headmistress! Teachers! Over here, over here! Someone’s getting beaten up—!”

A loud voice suddenly rang out from somewhere.

“Hey, sounds like they’re already done and coming back!”

“Crap! We’re screwed! Let’s get out of here!”

Pat, pat, pat!

The three boys, having previously been warned that another incident would get them expelled from the orphanage, didn’t bother to check the source of the voice and quickly fled.

A moment later.

Tap, tap.

Light footsteps approached the now silent garbage yard.

Ismail lay on the dirty ground like discarded trash, not bothering to lift his head.

He didn’t have the strength to, nor did he expect anything from whoever had come, even if it was an adult.

After all, neither the headmistress nor the other teachers cared much about the bullying.

They would only ask who did it, look at Ismail with pity since he couldn’t answer, and move on.

In this orphanage, famous for its excellent facilities in the capital, even proper treatment for injuries was hard to come by.

“…Ugh.”

Breathing was difficult, likely because he had been kicked in the ribs.

He briefly wondered if it would be better to just die like this.

Ismail closed his eyes quietly.

It was at that moment.

“Phew… These trash heaps are nothing.”

A voice echoed through the garbage yard, quite different from what Ismail had expected.

Assuming it was the headmistress or one of the priests, Ismail instinctively opened his eyes wide.

And then…

He saw a small girl with a mischievous expression walking briskly toward him.

“These guys wouldn’t stand a chance if I had Gomgomdori with me…”

The girl mumbled something incomprehensible as she leaned over his head.

“You okay?”

Her platinum blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her eyes, red as rubies, sparkled.

When their eyes met, the girl’s eyes widened.

“You… candidate?!”

She uttered something strange again, but Ismail couldn’t register her words properly. He was too stunned by her face.

He had seen her before.

Both at the orphanage and at the temple.

Whenever he caught a glimpse of her, she was always screaming or fighting with someone.

The misfit of the temple that everyone avoided.

Whenever Ismail saw her, he would often feel a twisted sense of superiority and relief.

He had thought that, unlike her, he had complete abilities.

‘But why…?’

Why had she changed so much in just a few months?

The bright face looking down at him had none of the despair or fear it once did, as if they had vanished like a lie.

It didn’t make sense.

They had both been in the temple, and now they were free.

How could someone who was more persecuted than him be so fine?

At that moment.

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, the girl let out a small groan and took a step back from him.

In that instant.

Thud!

Ismail used all his strength to grab hold of the girl’s foot.

“Save me…”

Please, tell me.

How do I escape from this nightmare?

“…Please.”

The girl, startled by his sudden action, breathed heavily for a moment. Then, after a pause, she let out a small sigh.

“Alright.”

Soon, her small hand reached out to him.

Shine—!

A brilliant and warm light poured from her hand, enveloping Ismail.

* * *

I was right.

As soon as I reached the garbage yard, just as I suspected.

A group of big, strong kids were ganging up on someone.

“Poor Ismail. It must suck to be mute and now have Tommy picking on him too~”

The words coming from around the corner caught my ear.

‘Ismail? That’s the kid.’

“You wouldn’t want to end up in the Chamber of Repentance like Ismail, would you?”

“Ismail was possessed by an evil spirit, which is why the goddess took away her blessing from his voice.”

The boy who went to the temple before me, the one who was thrown into the Chamber of Repentance and had his abilities taken away.

I remembered what Dunkeski said to me.

“Ugh, damn it! This little bastard!”

Thud, thud, thud!

With horrifying sounds, they all started kicking the boy together.

My heart sank.

I had forgotten all about just checking and leaving, and I immediately shouted.

“Headmistress! Teachers! Over here, over here! Someone’s getting beaten up—!”

“Hey, sounds like they’re already done and coming back!”

“Crap! We’re screwed! Run!”

It was half a gamble.

But thankfully, it worked!

The kids in the orphanage feared the headmistress the most.

‘Those bastards. If only I had Gomgomdori, I’d have given them a proper beating…!’

As I watched them flee, I imagined my guardian, whom I had left back in the room.

Usually, I took him everywhere with me like an extension of myself, but today I had to leave him behind since I was coming to the temple.

Even though the Duke said it was fine, Gomgomdori was an item of heretics.

It would have been bad if it caught the eyes of the priests or clergy.

“Are you okay…?”

After driving away the bullies, I quickly ran over to the boy who had been beaten.

The small, frail boy lying limply on the ground didn’t look okay at all.

His shabby clothes were covered in gray footprints, and I frowned at the sight.

‘Should I heal him?’

Like with the Crown Prince before, there didn’t seem to be any external wounds bleeding enough to be alarming.

But underestimating a beating from other kids could be dangerous.

Even if they were only eight or nine years old, their size rivaled that of middle schoolers.

After a brief deliberation, I decided to heal him before leaving.

Then.

Suddenly.

The boy, whom I thought had lost consciousness, lifted his head and stared straight at me.

Ash brown hair that looked like half-burnt firewood, and clear, hazel eyes.

The moment I recognized his face, I gasped.

“You… male lead candidate?!”