Saint, You’re So Vulgar!

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#026 Chapter. I Have a Scheme

I had no idea how I ended up here.

It was understandable, considering I arrived in this place by groping along the walls without a single light.

The only thing Asher and his companions knew was one thing.

After endlessly digging down, they found a faint light, only to realize they had arrived at a massive prison blocked by iron bars.

This was where missing persons had been held.

There were around sixty people.

However, not a single one of them looked even remotely intact.

They all appeared as if they were about to wither away and die.

It was dubious if they had even brought water to their lips.

Some of them, despite being alive, didn’t move at all.

If left as they were, starvation would surely claim them in a few days.

It was a horrific sight.

Amidst this, the one who spoke up was an old man who still had the strength to lift his head.

Upon hearing the old man’s name, Asher was taken aback.

“Bourbon… is it?”

“Yes. That’s my name.”

Bourbon. He was the first missing person that Deron had mentioned.

His sunken eyes held no vitality.

After briefly glancing at Asher and his party, he soon lowered his head back down.

“It’s nobody’s business. Just lie still. That way, your strength will fade slowly.”

His attitude suggested he had lost the will to live.

With not a shred of hope left, he was like a corpse merely wishing to die slowly, which certainly stirred up pity within Asher.

So he smiled and said,

“We came from the Order. We’re here to rescue you.”

But the reaction was beyond what Asher had anticipated.

“Is that so? Well, I understand, so please don’t talk to me. If I open my mouth, my insides burn painfully.”

Suddenly, Asher’s body stiffened.

He quickly glanced around to see that others listening to the conversation had no reaction to the word “rescue.”

It was as if they thought it was futile.

*

The party looked at each other.

However, ultimately, the decision-making power fell back to Asher.

Firstly, he was in the body of the Saintess Bershia, and secondly, the other Saintess, Rubena, was not in a normal state of mind. Lastly, the remaining two were the guards of the Saintess.

Anyway, returning to the main point of discussion about their future policy.

One option would be to leave the missing persons here for now.

The primary goal was not rescue but the eradication of the heretics. Once they dealt with them all, they could call for support and rescue the remaining individuals.

However, that was not the morally right decision.

Most importantly, it was not doctrinally correct.

The priests of the Order, being servants of the divine, were the hands and feet of the deity, moving for the peace of the created beings.

They must not lose sight of their essence just to make it easier for themselves.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy.

Above all, the missing persons were not in a state to converse.

Thus, Asher instructed to restore their strength first.

“Please use the healing prayers.”

Bershia and Saturn healed the missing persons.

As divine power touched their bodies, they flinched and gasped for breath.

Their complexion gradually improved, but this wasn’t a fundamental solution.

‘Starvation won’t disappear. It just adds a little more strength to move.’

Now it was time to ponder the next step.

Should they retrace their steps and try to escape the missing persons first?

Impossible.

First of all, the entrance to this prison was narrow.

And the road outside was far too long and treacherous.

Hoping the lost ones would manage to escape through that path was an overly optimistic expectation.

What if even one of them loses their strength and dies along the way?

That would be a calamity of monumental proportions.

A single corpse blocking the path would lead to the isolation of those following behind.

There was only one answer.

‘I need to find another passage. There must be a way the heretics travel.’

In other words, it meant they had to encounter them, whatever the cost.

Just as those thoughts crossed his mind.

“…What a foolish act.”

The first missing miner, Bourbon, clicked his tongue.

Asher managed a forced smile.

He approached and spoke to him.

“Could you possibly share some information with us?”

First, they needed to understand how things worked inside this place.

*

While Bourbon maintained an attitude of disdain, he divulged many facts.

These were things he had directly experienced since being captured here.

“There was some tentacle-like thing that reached out. I tried to resist to avoid being dragged away, but… it was useless. I fell deeper into this pit.”

“…Was there no escape?”

“What a stupid question. If there was, we wouldn’t be here. Of course, at first, we planned to escape. We even tried digging tunnels to create various routes. But it was in vain. As soon as we tried to leave, those tentacles showed up and tossed us back in here. I found out later that ‘they’ patrol periodically, counting numbers, and they call for those who try to escape.”

Only then did Asher realize why they were lying here, despite the existence of a passage leading outside.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t tried. Their attempts had been devastatingly crushed, leading to their current state.

“There were rescue teams a few times too. They didn’t come to save us; they were captured instead. The mining equipment they’d hidden was all destroyed. It was that tentacle, that thing’s fault.”

“If our Order….”

“There was a holy knight who came here.”

“…!”

“It was a shocking scene. They inserted a thin tentacle into that friend’s ear, and he was perfectly fine until just before, then he started trembling, eyes rolling back, and eventually collapsed and died. Saying it like this may make it sound trivial, but everyone here remembers that friend’s scream. No one wants to end up like him.”

It was obvious who they were talking about.

It was the holy knight who had reportedly died.

A horrific sensation washed over him.

They had used that holy knight to crush the will of these people.

Rage welled up inside Asher.

He kept it down and listened for the next part.

“…And that’s why it’s come to this. Just waiting for the day I die while barely breathing. Sometimes they come to take a few people. Food is distributed during those times… but that’s not enough, and that’s how we’re starving to death.”

“Do you know where this place is positioned within?”

“I don’t know. For sure, it’s some corner of the most secluded area.”

Bourbon gestured beyond the iron bars.

“There’s only that one entrance.”

That was all the words he could extract from Bourbon.

No further information could be obtained.

The group reconvened to discuss their next steps.

Of course, there was only one option available.

“Let’s break through.”

Asher said.

“Commander Heisenberg, I’m counting on you to take the lead. No, I’m asking you to create a diversion. Once the enemy realizes there’s an incursion, they will gather their main forces to target you. That way, our defenses will be weakened. Then….”

“Does it mean you will escape with these people? Understood.”

“Uh, wait a minute!”

Rubena interrupted.

“Th-then who will protect us!”

“We have Count Trevion.”

“No, what can that frail person do…!”

“The Count is strong. You don’t need to worry. Saintess.”

Saturn added a word to dispel her worries.

“There’s no one in the Knights’ Order who can defeat Count Trevion in a duel. If we were to argue, only the Commander would barely match him. He is that skilled.”

Upon hearing that, Bershia looked at Asher.

Asher blushed and whispered,

“I-I’m flattered. Duels and real combat are different…!”

In reality, there were knights whose life and death would be at stake if they used their skills.

Even if we consider only Saturn, Asher could not be certain of victory since his physical resilience was solid enough to astonish Commander Weill.

Anyway, it wasn’t a particularly significant matter at the moment.

Rubena looked at Bershia with suspicion at those words.

However, she did not exhibit signs of an outburst like before.

Still, amidst it all, she added a nonsensical remark.

“Hey, he can handle himself well alone, right? Your top priority should be me…?”

Why on earth is she saying that?

Even while sneering, Rubena glared at her, and Bershia responded.

“My Saintess is this one.”

The bright smile she gave only amplified Rubena’s anxiety.

Asher secretly pinched Bershia’s side and shot her a stern look.

Then, after clearing his throat, he changed the subject.

“Anyway, let’s wrap this up. Commander Heisenberg will draw their attention, and we will secure an escape route. If only our primary forces are missing, we should be able to handle the enemies on our side.”

The only issue was the uncertainty about how many aberrations might be inside.

But it was all right. Based on direct verification, Bershia’s team could handle a certain number of enemies.

If it came down to it, Asher could step in personally.

He fiddled with the dagger hidden in his pocket.

‘I don’t use it often, but…’

It’s definitely a weapon I’ve learned, so it should be alright.

Taking a breath,

The matter of setting the plan was complete.

Now the key was how to initiate the action.

At that moment, Bershia suddenly spoke up.

“I have a scheme.”

With a bright smile, she held an air of somewhere, very sinister.