Chapter 101
"Damn it... What the hell is going on...!"
A man was running desperately down the corridor of the Grand Shrine, gasping for breath.
It was the middle of the night. The corridor was dark, and there was no one else in sight.
He tried to take refuge in one of the rooms... but all of them were locked.
He shouted loudly for help, but for some reason, no one came. Even though many humans were supposed to be staying overnight in the Grand Shrine.
"Beaaar..."
"Hiiieee...!"
Footsteps approached from behind.
He didn't know who they belonged to... but he knew for sure that if he got caught, it would be the end.
"What did I do... Why is this happening to me...!"
The man's name was Bellamy Walls.
He was the youngest bishop working at the Grand Shrine, an elite priest basking in the reflected glory of having the archbishop as his father.
Normally, Walls wore a composed expression and a sweet face that made him popular among the sisters... but now that face was twisted with fear and panic.
"Why... Really, why is this happening...!"
That night, Walls had been trying to set a trap for a man.
The unfortunate victim's name was Clael Byrne.
He was the foster father of Saint Reina and a young priest scheduled to be recognized as a Saint in the near future.
To Walls, he was a thorn in his side.
A hindrance to claiming the Saint for himself, and an enemy trying to surpass him as the youngest bishop.
For that reason, Walls had sent two sisters who obeyed him into the guest room where Clael was staying, planning to frame him for rape.
If it went well, Clael would lose Saint Reina's trust. His Saint recognition might even be revoked.
That was the malicious plan he had harbored... so why had it come to this?
Walls was being pursued by someone and was running through the corridors of the Grand Shrine.
"Beaaar..."
"Hiiieee!?"
He heard a groaning voice from the unseen pursuer behind him.
It felt closer than before, and Walls quickened his pace.
It had been like this the whole time.
According to plan, the two sisters had entered the room where Clael was. Walls had hidden in the hallway, intending to burst in when the screams started and create a scene.
But... a massive shadow suddenly appeared in front of the waiting Walls.
It was a hulking figure, with a body so large it nearly touched the ceiling, and bulging muscles.
"Hiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"
The moment it appeared before him, Walls ran away immediately.
It wasn't like it had done anything to him.
But... just think about it.
In the middle of the night, in a dark corridor, a giant over two meters tall suddenly appears before you.
On top of that, the figure was muscular, and though the face was obscured by darkness, the upper body was bare.
Anyone would flee in confusion if they encountered such a situation.
He ran and ran and ran desperately... trying to find a safe place, but he couldn't reach anywhere, and no one came to help.
Was this corridor always this long?
Was this building always this deserted and quiet?
It felt like the same corridor stretched on forever. As if he had wandered into another world.
"Hah... Hah... Hah... Why is this happening to me? Who on earth... no, what is chasing me?"
"Beaaar"
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
This time, he thought he heard the voice right by his ear.
He pushed his exhausted legs harder and picked up speed.
Walls didn't have the courage to look back. Of course, he didn't have the courage to confront it either.
All he could do was run.
Until the moment he collapsed from exhaustion.
"Ah...!"
However, just before Walls' stamina gave out... hope flickered across his face.
He happened to glance up at a nameplate on a door. It read 'Archbishop Walls' Office'.
It was his father's room. And... even though it was the middle of the night, a faint light was leaking from under the door.
"F-Father! Please help me!"
The door to the room wasn't locked.
Walls stumbled in as if collapsing.
The moment he entered, a white light enveloped him. The flickering magical illumination turned his vision pure white.
As his eyes gradually adjusted to the light, he could vaguely make out the figure of his father working on documents in the office.
"What's wrong, Bellamy? At this hour?"
"F-Father...!"
The familiar voice brought tears to his eyes.
Walls crawled across the floor and clung to his father's feet.
"S-Some weird guy is chasing me. A giant over two meters tall is after me...!"
Walls, trembling violently, clung to the waist of his father, who was seated in a chair.
Like a lost child who had found their parent... he pressed his face into his father's belly, clad in a senior priest's robes, and broke down in tears.
"I-It must be that guy's doing... That Clael or whatever, that Saint's clingy parasite must've sent someone to attack me..."
"............"
"It was a mistake to recognize someone like him as a Saint... Please, get rid of him right now! With your power, you can do it, right, Papa!?"
"I see, I see... You must've been terribly frightened... Poor thing."
His father gently stroked Walls' head.
It wasn't something you'd normally do to a son over twenty... but Walls, whose anxiety had reached its peak, felt genuine relief.
"By the way... what kind of person was it that chased you all the way here?"
"I... I don't know. He was really big, but I couldn't see his face..."
"Was it a face like this?"
"Huh...?"
At those words, Walls, who had been clinging to his father's feet, looked up.
And then... the face of his father, which had been unclear due to the sudden light, was revealed.
"Hii...!"
What he saw was the face of a bear, like a plushie.
The senior priest's robes were bulging with muscle, looking like they might burst at any moment.
"Beaaar"
"H-Hiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"
The moment he heard that low voice... Walls let out a scream.
Twisting his body with a jerk and toppling over, Walls lost consciousness.
Walls did not wake until morning, and from the floor rose a smell like ammonia.