I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 171
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‘Yeshion’ approached Eldis with a smile like a kind person.
But the curve of his lips, paired with the light hand resting on Eldis’s broad shoulder—was nothing more than the greedy grin of someone who’d seized an opportunity. Eldis failed to recognize it.
“H-How did you…”
“This place runs on money, doesn’t it? So ask me for help.”
“……”
“Then I’ll take care of the body for you. In return, you have to bring me with you to the temple. I’ll keep everything secret if you do that.”
His voice was sly.
Pretending to care for Eldis, when really, all he wanted was to take what he desired. A wicked whisper.
But Eldis couldn’t read his intentions.
He was too panicked, desperate to bury his disgrace.
With his jaw trembling, Eldis clutched Yeshion’s pant leg and asked.
“C-Can you… really… fix this?”
“Have I ever gone back on my word?”
Yeshion flashed a smile, baring his white teeth.
“I’ll do as you say…”
And in the end, Eldis bowed his head and accepted everything Yeshion said.
* * *
From then on, Yeshion’s life as a priest was completely different from how it had been in the slums.
It wasn’t as comfortable as life in the count’s estate, but the warmth and full meals alone were enough to make him happy.
And there was one more thing that changed.
His relationship with Eldis.
“I told you, Eldis. Half your wages are mine. What, you thought I helped you back in the slums out of the kindness of my heart?”
Now that he’d made it to the temple, it was time to prepare for revenge in earnest.
For revenge, he needed people and weapons. If the target wasn’t shared, he’d even have to hire mercenaries. That meant he needed a lot more money than he’d expected.
So he decided to take it from the one closest to him first.
“…Take it.”
Eldis quietly handed over half of his wages to Yeshion.
Whether it was out of gratitude for what Yeshion had done back in the slums, Eldis acted like a different person from that day on.
He used honorifics with everyone, even with Yeshion, as if he wanted to cast off and erase the past entirely.
“What’s with the creepy honorifics? Just talk like you used to.”
“…Then, may I ask you one thing?”
“What?”
“Are you also extorting money from the other priests?”
Yeshion’s face soured. He was. He realized that not all priests were as virtuous as they appeared, and Yeshion had been taking money in exchange for turning a blind eye.
“So what?”
“…Please stop it. How can someone who became a priest act like that?”
At Eldis’s scolding, Yeshion’s expression twisted. He shoved Eldis’s shoulder in annoyance.
“You’re a true priest, indeed. You killed your own father, and you think you’re fit to lecture me?”
The moment he spat that venom, Eldis’s face crumpled.
Yeshion instantly realized he’d gone too far.
But even as Eldis passed by with a look full of silent resentment, Yeshion said nothing.
“…It’s not like I said anything untrue, so why are you looking at me like that?”
Born a noble, always high above others, Yeshion never learned to apologize, even when he’d lived in the slums.
And now, even though they were both priests, Eldis was still just some lowborn from the gutter.
“There’s no reason I should bow my head.”
Turning coldly away, Yeshion walked off in the opposite direction.
From that day on, he deliberately did everything Eldis told him not to. He ignored the warnings not to bully other priests. He pretended not to hear the pleas not to exploit others’ weaknesses.
And his misdeeds didn’t stop there.
“For the promotion exam, submit my name on your paper. If you fail, I’ll tell the Archpriest everything about what you did.”
“T-Then what about me…?”
“I’ll write your name on mine. I’ve studied, you know. I’m not going to fail. I just want a high score. Gotta look good to the superiors, right?”
When he became a mid-level priest, he used every trick in the book to keep from getting kicked out. While pretending to be devout to the upper clergy, he collected every bit of gossip he could.
But not everything Yeshion did was evil. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he helped the weak. He even tossed Eldis some food now and then without a word.
And so, after one full year as a mid-level priest, he finally got his chance.
He caught a fellow priest slipping suspicious powder into food meant for the Archpriest.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“P-Priest Yeshion! I-I can explain—”
“Explain?”
