Chapter 1568. A New Normal (23)
“W-What’s going to happen to me now?” he whispered into my ears. “Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep...”
Goosebumps instantly appeared all over me. I almost slapped the bastard across the face. Seriously, my hand almost flew before I could stop myself. If Kim Hyun-Sung and Ahn Ki-Mo hadn’t been standing over there, I would have smacked that ridiculously punchable face of his.
‘I seriously can’t control my expression right now.’
Not that it really made up for it, but I let my disgust show openly with a slight frown.
Before I could even think, my expression already soured.
“Don’t stand so close. Damn... you stink,” I told him.
“S-Sorry. And... thank you,” Priest Benet muttered. His attitude toward me had changed, but the shift was so dramatic that it honestly caught me off guard. At one point, I even wondered if he’d been controlled by that big-nosed villain.
Of course, considering the circumstances, he really seemed like he was following that bastard’s orders, so in a sense, perhaps he was actually under control.
‘That doesn’t erase his crimes, though.’
Obviously, he had satisfied his own greed in the process. He probably understood that himself, too, and this was why he was so anxious about what would happen to him. His face was basically asking me why he was still alive.
He had to have thought that he’d end up like the big-nosed villain, crushed like mashed potatoes. He clearly hadn't expected me to defend him all of a sudden, and Ahn Ki-Mo felt the same.
It wasn’t strange for him to be looking at me so favorably after that. The problem was that it didn’t seem like simple goodwill. There was an overwhelming level of devotion in the way he looked at me.
It was the face of someone staring at the savior who had saved his life. Honestly, it felt like the jerk could suddenly become the Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep at any moment.
I waved my hand sharply, telling him to back off, and he hurriedly retreated. He looked anxious because I hadn’t answered his question, but he didn’t dare ask again and just nervously watched me instead.
When I bent my finger, signaling him to come closer, he carefully approached with an extremely respectful attitude, practically bowing as he moved.
“Are you wondering why you’re still alive when you thought you were going to die?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s correct, Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep...” he answered.
“You’re probably gonna die,” I told him.
“W-What?!” he shouted.
“Did you actually think you’d survive?” I questioned.
“...”
“...”
“I’m being completely honest with you, Mr. Hypnosis Guy. You dared to use a hypnosis artifact on the Honorary Cardinal of the Democratic Country and even grabbed his cheek.
"Honestly, it’s strange that you’re still alive at all. Ah, are you wondering how I’ll explain it to Hyun-Sung? Why would I need to? Hyun-Sung probably won't even know when or where you'll die. The moment I make up my mind, you’ll disappear without a trace.
"One day, a red-masked assassin is going to shove a dagger into your throat,” I explained.
“...”
“Of course, I’m a fair and impartial person, so there’s still a lot to consider. Judging by your face alone, things don’t look great for you, and the circumstances are pretty clear, too... but I’m trying not to be too harsh.
"I need to find out why you followed orders from him, if you cooperated willingly, or if you had no choice. I also need to investigate what happened while you were raising those extremists. If someone commits a crime, they should be punished,” I added.
“Ah...”
“The real issue is how you're going to die. Will it be peaceful? Or will you be dragged into the Inquisitors’ interrogation chambers, suffer through every kind of torment imaginable, and then get dunked into holy water afterward?
"Ah, if you’re really lucky, you might even survive. That is, if you’re not as awful as I think you are. Of course, you’d still rot in prison, but depending on how well you cooperate, your sentence could be reduced. You understand what I’m saying, right?” I asked.
“W-What should I do?” Priest Benet asked.
“What do you think you should do?” I questioned.
“I’m sorry, Monarch of Lust and Eternal Sleep... I’m too stupid to understand that much...” he muttered.
“Let’s start with the artifact you’ve been carrying,” I said.
“O-Okay. I actually prepared it in advance, just in case you asked. The artifact I possess is... this.”
He rummaged through his pocket before pulling out a small ring from inside his robe. It was exactly what it looked like, a ring with no special features whatsoever. It wasn’t flashy, but it didn’t look old-fashioned either.
“I normally keep it inside my private prayer room... but I thought you might ask about it, so I brought it with me.”
[Lucifer’s Ring of Cognitive Alteration, Mob Ring No. 3 – Rank Unmeasurable]
[A hypnosis ring created by a forgotten goddess abandoned by the continent as a way to entertain herself. The user gains access to a simple but powerful form of hypnosis through implanted suggestions.
The user may also activate the hypnotic effect through contact with those already under hypnosis. Followers of Lucifer[1] are immune to the hypnosis effect. The user’s Luck decreases by 50.
“I hope something interesting happens... Something interesting will happen, right? Yeah. It’ll be interesting. If a ring like this appears, then things getting interesting is only common sense, isn’t it?”]
After reading the description, I finally understood how he had hypnotized both Ahn Ki-Mo and me. The effect had to have activated the moment we came into contact with the other priests under his hypnosis. Of course, at this point, Mr. Hypnosis Guy’s little hypnosis trick wasn’t important at all.
The real issue was the unpleasant details written in the item’s name and description.
‘Mob Ring? It even has a number attached to it.’
On top of that...
‘Rank unmeasurable?’
Most importantly...
‘Lucifer...’
“...”
“...”
“Where did you...” I mumbled.
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Where did you get this?” I asked.
“...”
“...”
“I... I don’t really know either,” he answered.
“What kind of nonsense—”
“I really don’t know. About... about six months ago... it appeared on my finger out of nowhere. Then all these notifications about implanted suggestions appeared, along with a notification about how my Luck had decreased... I’m really not lying. One morning, it was just suddenly there on my hand,” he explained.
‘This is really insane.’
“A-After that, nothing but bad things keep on happening... a-and honestly, I wasn’t this fat in the beginning. Ever since I started wearing the ring, my appetite became uncontrollable... Now, it won’t even fit on my finger anymore. Sometimes, weird laughter and strange ways of speaking slip out of me, too...” he said.
“...”
“You probably won’t believe me, but I-I used to be a fairly diligent priest. I did follow that bastard’s orders, but—no, let me correct myself. I wasn’t exactly a model priest or anything, and I did get demoted here because of a few incidents, but at the very least, I never did the kind of things actual criminals would do,” he added.
“...”
“I really never did anything evil. Since you said you’d investigate, you’ll find out eventually,” he added.
“You never did anything evil? Seriously? What kind of bullshit are you—”
“I know it might sound strange, but when I acted disrespectfully toward you, it was because I suddenly felt this overwhelming urge that I had to do it,” he confessed.
“...”
“...”
“Let’s ignore the urge you’re feeling and move on. Have you ever seen Mob Ring No. 1 or No. 2? Or met anyone else carrying one of the numbered rings?” I asked.
“No. As far as I know, I’m the only one. But those people hide a lot of things...” he answered.
“When did you meet Mashed Potato?” I asked.
“About three months ago. Like I said earlier, if M-Mashed Potato hadn’t suddenly come looking for me, I never would’ve gotten involved in any of this. I tried resisting in my own way, but my hypnosis abilities don’t work on Lucifer’s followers...” he added.
‘Haa... that mashed potato jerk. Geez... I told him not to move. Seriously.’
It was hard not to feel disappointed when the guy became mashed potatoes in the face of Kim Hyun-Sung's attack. At this point, it was possible that he wasn't even the real leader. The way he acted made him seem like nothing more than an incompetent thug, but apparently, that wasn’t the case after all.
‘Now I get why they kept this hypnotist alive.’
I finally understood why they spared Mr. Hypnosis Guy.
‘So it’s because of the implanted ownership.’
It wasn’t written in the item description, but if the ring were to suddenly disappear one day, then there was a good chance it would disappear the moment its owner died. It would probably get sucked away into some unknown place I couldn’t even imagine before wandering around again in search of another suitable owner.
Lucifer’s followers probably did not want that ring to disappear, so they probably had no choice but to keep Mr. Hypnosis Guy alive no matter what. While they were at it, they could use him to stir up trouble across the continent, too.
“How much do you know about Lucifer’s followers?” I asked.
“Honestly, not much. I always received orders through Mashed Potato... though there were a few others besides him... I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,” he answered.
“It’s fine. That’s already more than enough. At least, we finally know for certain that there’s someone behind all this,” I said.
‘This is seriously making me mad.’
It seemed like it wasn’t over yet. Back when the Hexagram incident was at its peak, I thought we had rounded up and thrown most of the jerks known as Lucifer’s followers, otherwise known as heretics, into prison.
However, it became clear that the people who fulfilled the narrative of the first life through the Hexagram Gate and the followers of Lucifer who worshiped the hexagram were two completely separate groups.
Of course, it wasn’t as if we had completely lowered our guard against them. Even now, the Vatican’s inquisitors were still running around day and night hunting heretics, and they had achieved at least some minor results.
I assumed their organization was spread thin and wide, and I believed that it was something that could be exterminated if we rooted them out like rats before they could grow their influence.
Unfortunately, we ended up discovering an unexpectedly deep pit.
It wasn't just any pit as well, but one whose depth we couldn’t even measure. Of course, I believed they were not capable of doing anything major. They probably knew that they still lacked the power to significantly influence the continent at this stage. That was why they were operating in secret, carefully creating cracks where nobody could see.
If they had enough power to shake the continent to its core, they wouldn’t be keeping Mr. Hypnosis Guy around. There would be wars breaking out somewhere by now. In a way, running into this guy now was actually lucky.
Though honestly, it was ridiculous that I only came here to eat with Commander Jin, but I somehow ended up getting dragged into another bizarre mess again.
“You really don’t have any other information? What about their size?” I asked.
“T-Their organization didn’t seem that large. They move so secretly that I can’t say for sure, but you know how there are certain feelings you can pick up? The support they gave me was minimal, and whenever I asked for funding, that Mashed Potato jerk would just dodge the topic or fake cough, while acting all high and mighty.
"On top of that, the others—”
“Ah, you mentioned seeing a few more people, right?” I asked, interrupting him.
“Y-yes.”
“Then this is the most important question. Besides Mashed Potato... were the others handsome?” I asked.
“Pardon? Why are you suddenly asking—”
“I’m asking if they were handsome,” I repeated.
“I think... they were. Especially the one standing in the middle. I remember him being extremely handsome. Yes, definitely handsome,” he answered.
“Around Hyun-Sung’s level?” I asked.
“A little... different kind of handsome. If I had to compare...” he trailed off.
“Yeah?”
“I think he was more handsome. He was taller, too,” he continued.
“...”
“...”
‘Haa... damn it... T-This is bad.’
I didn’t know when it would happen, but one thing was certain—a massive crisis was heading toward the continent.
“Wait...” I said and asked, “He wasn’t blond, was he?”
1. You might see Lukifer and Lucifer. We will always go according to the raws; just keep in mind that Lukifer is Lucifer of a different timelime ☜
