Chapter 121: Iriel’s Recollection (2)
We had been on the ship for two days.
Where could we be headed on such a long voyage?
Iriel questioned the priest.
Where are we heading?
We are going to Gehel. Iriel will enjoy it there.
Hmm
Uncertain of the location, Iriel brimmed with excitement at the priests tales of fun times in Gehel.
A day of eager anticipation went by, and at last, the priest and Iriel disembarked.
Iriel gazed in wonder at the vibrant cacophony of the place.
Wow.
For her, who had only known life within a church, the teeming city was like a fantasy.
The priest took her hand.
They navigated through the throngs of the markets and the hustle of the streets.
Their destination was neither a cheerful village nor a grand city with impressive amenities but a dilapidated alley.
All they saw were a gaunt child and two women, cackling and stumbling about, far from a picture of joy.
Iriel regarded the priest with apprehensive eyes.
Yet, without a word, the priest simply guided her to a nook of the alley.
They stopped in front of a shop bearing the sign Days of Joy, and the priest walked in, unhesitatingly.
A man marked by a long scar on his face acknowledged their arrival.
Oh, how long has it been? Here to purchase something fine again?
The priest let out a chuckle.
Not this time.
Presenting Iriels hand, he conveyed his intention.
Upon inspecting the girl, the man declared.
Hmm. Quite a fine child.
Shes more than fine. You know her value.
Hahaha. Still keen on money, eh, priest? Is that suitable for you?
Enough chatter How much will you offer?
Let me think
The man drew closer to Iriel.
However, she had no time to react with shock.
Even at her tender age, she was not so naive as to misunderstand their exchange.
Indeed, she often grasped situations more quickly than others her age.
Iriels small frame started to shiver.
The man, wearing a crafty grin, gave a nonchalant response.
Two platinum coins.
The priests expression soured.
Two? Inspect her again. She merits at least four.
The man remained unswayed.
Two, because of her looks. How long do you think a girl like that will last in these back alleys? Six months at most? Do you think the men around here will leave her alone day and night?
The priest couldnt argue.
Indeed, Gehel, a small and free trading city, bustled with various people.
In this place, filled with the worst kinds, not a single soul would leave Iriel alone.
After all, earning two platinum coins for an orphan girl was enough.
Take it then.
The man threw a pouch of coins.
The priest accepted it and then smirked at Iriel.
Iriel, from now on, live happily here. Oh, right. I must keep my promise to let you meet friends. If you miss a friend, just write a letter. Ill send that friend over here too.
Pr-, Priest youre lying, right?
Iriel, with eyes that had lost their focus, clung to the priest.
The priest shook his head.
Dont do this, Iriel. If you do I might want to buy you back tonight with the money I got from selling you.
That was no way to talk to a child.
Even the man slightly grimaced at those words.
Crazy bastard.
The priest before him was a regular at the store.
He bought a lot, but he also sold.
If he found a nice child at the church he ran, he would bring them here to sell.
From the mans perspective, buying orphans was a good deal, as there was no risk of being caught.
But the problem lay in what happened afterward.
He would buy back the children he brought in with the money he got from selling them.
He didnt even want to imagine what happened to them next.
Children always ended up committing suicide or getting sick from the shock.
It seemed very likely that would happen now too.
The man clicked his tongue and gestured at the priest.
Two platinum coins for her. Be prepared for what that entails.
Hahaha. Its a joke. With this amount of money, I wont have to bother with meaningless things like the church anymore.
The priest, who always held the Bible and preached Gods words, now scoffed at the church as meaningless.
Iriel felt something erode inside her.
Instead of the usual kind gaze, she received a creepy and chilling stare.
Then, as if amused by her expression, he laughed and left the store.
Iriel stood there, dazed, unable to think about escaping.
She had been sold so foolishly and naively.
To a man in an unfamiliar city, whom she had never thought about or seen before.
As her emotions exceeded her capacity to cope, she found herself unable to cry.
All that remained was an overwhelming sense of despair.
Three days after arriving in Gehel, a few middle-aged men who had heard rumors stopped by.
They saw Iriels face and started an auction at the tavern, and by nightfall, the highest bidder won her company.
As time passed, Iriel began to regain her composure.
She realized she had been deceived by the despicable priest and sold into a brothel in an unknown area.
She constantly thought of ways to escape this situation.
At first, she felt overwhelmed by the urge to escape as soon as possible, but as she began to think calmly, better ideas started to form.
Fortunately, the surveillance on her was quite lax.
After sitting dazed like a mad person for three days, it was understandable.
It was best to continue acting this way for now.
With unfocused eyes, sitting dazedly in the chair, Iriel continued to ponder her escape.
As she wracked her brain for a way out, night fell.
She was taken somewhere else.
The room she entered was large.
There was a desk with a single candle and a small bed.
Inside, a fat middle-aged man with sinister eyes sat, scanning her body.
Hehehe. Even in the daytime, youre really impressive, the man said.
He gulped down his saliva and approached Iriel.
Despite having a clear escape plan, her body trembled.
She couldnt make a sound, and the imposing middle-aged man was too daunting to look at directly.
The man played with Iriels hair.
She felt chills run down her spine.
Yet she acted as though she was unfazed, staring blankly at the man and pretending to be mute, devoid of emotion.
The man, seemingly amused, picked up Iriel and whispered in her ear as he carried her to the bed.
Youre a lucky girl. Youve been bought because you pleased me.
As he spoke, he began to unbuckle his trousers.
Iriels eyes gleamed with determination.
Now!
In that instant, with both his hands occupied, Iriel stabbed the mans neck with the rosary she had clutched in her hand, an heirloom from her mother.
It was a vulnerable spot that could be easily pierced, even with a childs strength.
A single stab there was not only painful but also capable of blocking the airway with blood.
Iriel hadnt aimed there with any special knowledge; it was pure luck.
She had meant to aim for the chest, but the thought of inflicting harm made her uneasy.
Caught between the need to stab and the hesitation to kill, she inadvertently struck above the chest.
This resulted in a more effective kill.
Had she stabbed the rosary into his chest, it would not have penetrated deeply.
The neck, however, was different.
Unlike the chest, the neck lacked sturdy protective bones and thick muscles.
Moreover, major blood vessels are concentrated there, ensuring significant bleeding even if the strike was slightly off target.
The middle-aged man, clutching his profusely bleeding neck, coughed up blood and soon collapsed.
Even if he had tried to scream, the blood filling his vocal cords would have prevented it.
But Iriel couldnt flee immediately.
With her eyes wavering, she stared at her blood-stained hands.
She had killed a person.
This fact instilled an indescribable terror in the young girl.
However, what she felt was not solely fear.
Iriel raised her bloodied hand to touch her face.
She found herself smiling stiffly, her facial muscles taut.
This thrilling experience was something she had never seen, heard of, or experienced while confined in the small church.
It was an overwhelming thrill mixed with extreme excitement.
Murder, the most heinous act among the sins taught in the church.
The heavy guilt of having committed it, and the insane gratification that surpassed it!
Her eyes seemed to be tinged with blood.
The thought that followed was not something a child would normally have.
If I leave now, maybe I can kill the priest too?
Iriel, who had been sitting slumped, glanced at the bloodied rosary, smirked, and started running.
She was heading towards the port where the priest had brought her.
If there was a difference between Iriel and the three young men, it was that they couldnt resist, while Iriel did.
Recalling the past, Iriel took a glance at the rosary in her arms.
In the past, it was a weapon that liberated her.
But now, it was a precious item that made her feel the weight.
Only after becoming a saint did she realize how precious life is and how monstrous it was to take pleasure in killing.
The rosary, which had played a role as a catalyst in her becoming a saint, was irreplaceable to her.
Of course, before that, she had only used it as a tool for murder.
Iriel looked towards an alley in Gehel.
The place where she first committed murder as a child.
It was right before her eyes.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
In the past I was a murderer.
Iriel said with a half-smile, and the young men nodded involuntarily.
She was a saint who showed no retreat, even when facing two Swordmasters.
Even if she had been practicing divine power since in the womb, it would be difficult considering her age.
After running for two hours, they entered the city gates of Gehel.
The soldiers, recognizing Iriels face, quickly opened the gates and announced her arrival.
Then, a slender middle-aged man with several paladins came out to meet her.
He showed respect to Iriel.
Its an honor to meet you, Saintess.
There was a sense of tragedy in his voice.
Her arrival seemed unwelcome.
Anyone could think so just by looking at his expression.
Iriel gazed at the man, who knelt on one knee, and smiled coldly.
Its been a while, Lord of the Gehel Healers.
Should I call you Priest as before, since youre not answering?
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