STM 40

“He got hurt in the head, which matters more than his leg. He lost your memory, so he fear meeting strangers.”

“I don’t seem like an unfamiliar presence that would make him uncomfortable. If I did, all those devotees who have never seen me wouldn’t come to see me.”

Then meet the people who want to see you. Solongo bowed with an apologetic look that didn’t match her thoughts.

“Lord Lu faced a monster not long ago and survived by a miracle. I ask for your generous understanding, High Priest.”

“Generosity isn’t hard. Yet when I look at Adeye Lu’s conduct at the auction today, I can’t make sense of it.”

Now she plans to hold on and tug at the tail too.

If this were anyone else in the temple, she’d clock it as a roundabout ask for more money and settle it, but this opponent isn’t someone money sways. Then why is she so desperate to see Lu?

Click.

The door swung open, and a priest walked in, face drained of color. He whispered to the High Priest, and one phrase caught Solongo’s ear.

“…Adeye Lu suddenly intruded in and…”

Intruded? Where?

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So they plan to use numbers against me. I clicked my tongue at the group of priests in front of me, then looked at the elder at their head.

The white-haired elder looked strict, perhaps because of the lean frame, yet the eyes burned as keen as any youth’s.

“What is going on here?”

She asked in a loud voice and took her place beside the thief. I could immediately tell what her role was.

So they brought the parent.

Looked like Gollum1 had ran off to fetch someone. The overzealous parent shouted an order at me in a stern tone.

“Take your hands off my disciple. Now.”

No matter how loud she raised her voice, I didn’t release the thief’s wrist. Fortunately, I had backup.

“High Priest Cheki, please calm yourself and hear the circumstances first.”

Solongo stepped to my side to mediate, then looked to me. The look asked what happened. I laid it out the instant I had the chance.

“He stole the Demon King’s Tears.”

Every gaze turned to the thief, then at to the table. The black diamond lay inside the gem box. This time all eyes turned to me. Rage burned in the High Priest’s eyes in particular.

“I heard Adeye Lu’s memory suffered. Did his sight fail as well?”

She rebuked Solongo. I moved to answer, but Solongo raised a hand to stop me and replied calmly,

“No. There was an accident, but Lird Lu’s eyesight is perfectly sound. Surely this is all by the divine beast’s grace.”

“Then why are you trying to slander my disciple when there is a perfectly good gem over there?”

Solongo glanced at the gem, then looked to me.

“I’m sure he has a sound reason.”

“Then let us hear this sound reason. Before that, take your hands off.”

She looked at me with disgust, as if my filth could foul clean water. Even if she treated me like scum, I couldn’t let go of this grip.

“You, why don’t you say it with your own mouth?”

As soon as I spoke to the thief, I received another scolding from the High Priest.

“Mind your speech and conduct, devotee. My disciple serves as acting High Priest within the temple. You don’t have the standing to address him so.”

So that gives him leave to steal? I smirked and pointed at the thief with my eyes.

“I can’t let go while the proof sits in this hand.”

Solongo asked, she sounded confused.

“Proof?”

“This man’s holding the real diamond. That one is a fake.”

The faces around me changed in a way that would be funny if it weren’t infuriating. The other priests, Gollum 1 included, looked flustered and turned their eyes aside.

The thief whose hand I had caught turned pale, but he maintained his impudent expression. But there was one person who caught my eye the most.

The High Priest’s expression remained completely unchanged. Looking into her unw avering eyes, I realized: she’s an accomplice. Or perhaps the mastermind.

“High Priest, if you wish me to release my hand, command your disciple to open his hand.”

Displeasure blossomed in the High Priest’s eyes. Beneath it lay the same contempt for s eeing something so filthy.

The contempt was likely directed at Adeye, for bribing other priests. Even so, it was unacceptable to express such displeasure.

She looked a breath away from shouting, How dare you touch my disciple.

I felt like she was about to shout, “How dare you, my disciple!” I turned my gaze to the thief, who had his mouth shut, using his teacher as a shield.

‘Mo, is the High Priest’s disciple ranked higher than me?’

[Within temple structure, not necessarily. Details of the individual’s background remain unclear, so certainty is difficult.]

Difficult means convenient. I don’t know anything, so I can act.

As soon as I made up my mind, I used my other hand to grab the thief’s hand and forced him to open his fingers.

“What are you doing? Take your hands off him. Get that person away from Ariona!”

At the high priest’s shout, the other priests approached me and attempted to restrain me. Then, unable to bear it, Lu side , too, attempted to block them, causing great chaos.

It almost became chaos in an instant, but it all stopped on its own. That’s because I uncrossed the thief’s fingers.

There was a black diamond inside his hand.

Ah.

Someone gasped in surprise. Beyond that, there was no sound. Everyone simply stood still, like figures in a famous painting.

But an invisible mixture of confusion and embarrassment seemed to fill the air, suffocating everyone. I was the only one completely unaftected by the atmosphere.

I immediately snatched the diamond from the thief’s hand. But this time, the High Priest stopped me.

“Put it down.”

“You say that after seeing this?”

“That’s the gem I gave to Ariona.”

What?

“I recently received something exactly like the Demon King’s Tear as a gift and gave it to my disciple.”

The High Priest did not stop there and became even more shameless.

“This child must have looked at it for a moment to compare them. Now give it to me.”

When I looked at her, she had already extended her hand. The eyes that had once seemed strong now showed nothing but obstinacy. I held the gem and stared directly into her eyes.

“So you’re saying this isn’t the Demon King’s Tear?”

“That’s right.”

“Look carefully before you speak.”

My words made the High Priest show a displeased expression again. Instead of shouting, she lowered her eyes and glanced briefly at the gem I was holding.

“Yes, that isn’t the Demon King’s Tear.”

I clenched my jaw to stop my mouth from twisting. So much for a righteous High Priest. She used her disciple to steal.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I personally gave it to my disciple. How can you be so sure that it isn’t?”

This time, I had to fight to not laugh. Listen, I can actually hear the voice of the gem.

[Hey, eunuch, what’s going on? Why are there so many filthy humans here?]

The diamond in my hand asked nervously, but I couldn’t reveal that, so I simply smiled.

“I’m more obsessed with gems than anyone. If I’ve held a gem once, I can recognize it even after a hundred years. Whether it’s real or not.”

Contempt appeared immediately in the High Priest’s eyes, but I ignored it and turned my head. I looked for someone else who could verify which gem was genuine.

It was Gollum 1.

“Priest, you examined gems carefully enough to join the auction, so you can tell which is real, right? Which one is the real Demon King’s Tear?”

At my question, he flinched, and answered without looking at me.

“The one placed in its original position is real.”

“Are you certain?”

“…Ahem, yes.”

At Gollum 1’s answer, the High Priest extended her hand to me again.

“That’s enough. Hand it over.”

But I tightened my grip on the diamond and drew my hand back.

“However, I didn’t know an upright High Priest liked gems. I thought you hated them, since you always refused gifts from Adeye.”

A trace of irritation flickered across the High Priest’s face.

“I accept gifts gladly when they hold no impure intent.”

The indirect jab about Adeye’s gifts being impure made me laugh inwardly, and there was someone beside me who couldn’t take it as lightly as I did.

“This diamond may not be a sacred relic, but by its size, it’s an extremely valuable gem. How can you be sure there’s no impure intent?”

Solongo took one step closer, and the High Priest frowned.