The Mad Priest of the Slums

Surprisingly, it took more than an hour to remove all the posters and photos that were stuck to the walls. There were simply too many of them, and since we tried to take them down without damaging them as much as possible, it took longer than expected.

“We’ll have to replace the furniture later.”

“I agree.”

The obscene posters and photos of women who were clearly intoxicated against their will were understandable, but a leopard-print sofa?

It was an aesthetic choice that genuinely made me want to crack open the owner’s head and take a look inside.

“See if there’s a suitable place to store these things.”

“Understood.”

At my instruction, Jamie opened a door and stepped inside, while I did the same with another door to check inside.

“You really picked the right person.”

The room I entered was a bedroom.

A bedroom covered in overwhelmingly pink wallpaper and lighting.

At a glance, the furniture all looked expensive, but that wasn’t the important part.

Various SM tools that made their intended purpose obvious, and leather restraints fixed to the corners of the bed.

“Priest, over here…”

Jamie, whom I had sent to find a storage space, approached and soon witnessed the same scene as me. She was left speechless for a moment.

“Shall we clean this up?”

“No. Let’s just sleep on the second floor tonight.”

“A wise decision.”

As I turned around, Jamie quickly closed the door and followed me.

“Did you find a storage place?”

“Ah, yes. Over here.”

Returning to the living room, I followed her into another room.

“It seems to have been used to store funds.”

Unlike the previous room, which had been filled with all sorts of perverted tools, this room was lined with various safes.

“Can you open them?”

“Some of them might be difficult, but the others are doable.”

She pointed to three safes.

All three had an exterior that immediately looked expensive.

“Go ahead and open them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jamie approached the nearest safe, pressed her ear against it, and began turning the lock dial.

It seemed that her confidence in opening them came from past experience.

Click.

It felt like it took less than a minute for Jamie to unlock the first safe.

“Just in case, could you step outside for a moment?”

Booby-trapped safes that explode or shoot arrows were far too common, so I quietly left the room.

I waited for a moment.

“You can come back in now.”

Upon hearing that it was safe, I re-entered the room and immediately looked inside the now-open safe.

“Magazines?”

“Well… yes, magazines, technically…”

Rather than waiting for an answer, I figured it would be faster to check for myself. I picked up a magazine titled Holy H Issue 21 and flipped it open.

The first page was filled with a large photograph of a woman wearing a robe, walking down a street—something I had seen before in the temple district.

Flipping the page revealed another photo of the same female priest heading into a restroom. The adjacent page showed an image of her lifting her skirt, placing her hands on both sides of her hips.

“Interesting.”

Turning the page confirmed what I had suspected.

As my curiosity grew, I skimmed through the magazine more quickly.

Eating, sleeping, using the restroom, taking a bath—every aspect of this unknown female priest’s daily life had been captured.

Even the most private moments that should never be shared with others.

“Judging by your reaction, you seem to know what this is.”

“…This is my second time seeing one in person.”

“Did you find the first one while cracking open a safe as well?”

“Yes…”

Her response gave me a rough idea of what this item was.

In a certain sense, this is quite impressive.

I decided not to question Jamie further about the magazine.

There was no point. It was obvious that any additional information wouldn’t be particularly useful.

“Open the other safes as well.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Jamie moved to unlock another safe, I picked up another issue of Holy H and flipped through it.

The more magazines I checked, the more my initial suspicion turned into certainty.

There’s no way this isn’t being sold directly by the temple itself.

Street or restaurant photos could plausibly be taken secretly, but this magazine included footage from inside the temple itself.

According to Verdia, the gods did not place much significance on temples. However, that didn’t mean they would overlook unauthorized intruders wandering inside. The gods were not so merciful.

“Jamie.”

“Yes?”

“This… must be expensive, right?”

“I’ve heard people have committed murder just to obtain one.”

“I see.”

I put the magazines—filled with the secret lives of female priests—back into the safe.

While these wouldn’t hold value for the general public, for collectors or those with certain… tastes, they would be worth more than a fortune.

Such items usually prove their worth sooner or later.

—

“So in the end, there wasn’t anything of real value.”

“Haha…”

Jamie awkwardly laughed as we looked at the now-open safes.

Understandably so.

The safes contained magazines documenting the secret lives of female priests, pills that enhanced male virility, and aphrodisiacs designed to force women into arousal.

All things that only appealed to a very specific type of person.

“These and these—dispose of them tomorrow before you leave.”

“Understood.”

The items I ordered to be discarded were the virility pills and the aphrodisiacs.

The aphrodisiacs were a no-brainer, and while the virility pills might have had some value elsewhere, in a slum like this, the people who needed them were likely just scumbags who couldn’t keep their dicks in their pants.

“Let’s move the posters and photos from the living room here as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

With her sharp features and quick movements, Jamie almost reminded me of a Doberman wagging its tail for its owner’s approval.

“Jamie.”

“Yes?”

She looked up slightly while holding a pile of posters.

“The women in those photos we took down… do you think they’re still alive?”

“If you’re asking for my personal opinion, I’d say no.”

“I think the same.”

She hesitated as if unsure how to respond, but I simply waved my hand, signaling her to continue working.

At least he had some standards.

There were over a hundred photos, but none of them depicted young girls or children.

Whether it was because he simply wasn’t into that or because he had some sort of personal rule, there was no way to know anymore.

“Now it really feels like we’re in the slums.”

“Haha…”

Jamie awkwardly laughed and continued working. Once all the posters and photos were moved…

I bought a black Zippo lighter from the store. Then, I walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and opened it wide.

“Priest.”

“I know it’s dangerous. That’s why we should finish quickly. Bring those photos over here.”

Jamie hesitated for a moment but eventually approached with the photos.

“Hand them to me one by one.”

“You’re… offering them a farewell, aren’t you?”

“……?”

I blinked in confusion at her words.

I was burning the photos simply because I found it unsettling to keep them—not for any other reason.

“I’ll help.”

“Well… sure, go ahead.”

And so, Jamie and I stood side by side at the window, burning the photos one by one.

**

“Mm-hmm.”

As I opened my eyes, the ceiling I would have to get used to from now on came into view.

“Did you cough?”

As I sat up in bed, Jamie, who had been standing guard at the bedroom door, greeted me.

“Next time, bring something to read to pass the time. Maybe even sit down for a while.”

“Haha…”

Jamie only gave an awkward laugh, not responding with agreement.

A light guess told me that if she did that and the secretary found out, there was a high chance of something unpleasant happening to her.

“What are the exact shift hours?”

“9 a.m. and 9 p.m.”

Looking at the wall clock, the short hand had just passed the number 7.

“Let’s go out for a quick breakfast.”

“Y-yeah…”

Her reaction was filled with reluctance. The reason was likely the same as why she had suggested getting food from District 14 last night.

Since I had taken a quick shower before bed, all I needed to do was put on the clothes and coat I had taken off, then drape a black robe over the coat. That completed my preparations for heading out.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

Perhaps deciding to simply accept reality, Jamie walked ahead, leading the way outside the building.

The first thing that caught my eye upon stepping outside was the thick tomato-like stain I had seen yesterday. Along with that, a few people lay sprawled across the streets and sidewalks.

Considering their thin clothing and the temperature I had felt on my skin last night, I doubted they were still alive.

“How are corpses dealt with here?”

“There are people who use them for research.”

That answer was enough.

In other words, even corpses had monetary value in the slums. And if something had value, someone would make sure to collect it.

‘Well, if that weren’t the case, this place would have turned into a field of bodies by now.’

Jamie and I continued walking forward. Before long, despite the empty streets, we found a store open for business.

“Owner.”

“Who… huh?!”

A gaunt man with sunken cheeks turned around. The moment he saw my face and Jamie’s beside me, he flinched and bent his waist at a sharp angle.

“Wh-what b-br-brings you h-here…?”

“What do you think people come to a restaurant for?”

“Y-you don’t mean… a m-meal…?”

I sat at a table that the owner had been half-heartedly wiping down.

“I’ll have whatever you’re most confident in.”

“P-p-please w-wait just a m-moment!!”

The man sprinted into the kitchen, and soon, a clattering commotion echoed from inside.

“Should I have ordered something for you too, Jamie?”

“N-no, thank you. I appreciate the thought, though.”

Just how bad was the food for her to react this way?

Half out of curiosity, half out of anticipation, I waited about ten minutes before the man finally emerged from the kitchen, carrying a plate, and set it on the table.

“This is the dish you’re most confident in?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

I looked down at the plate in front of me.

The bacon was shriveled and yellowed, likely from being cooked in ancient oil. The bread, whether it had been grilled or fried, was in such poor condition that I couldn’t tell. Resting on top of it was a fried egg, so overcooked that the bottom side was burnt black.

This was a problem that went beyond the quality of ingredients.

“Priest.”

“It’s fine.”

Using a fork and knife, I cut into each piece of the dish—if it could even be called that—and placed them in my mouth, chewing and swallowing.

After finishing the entire plate, I put on a businesslike smile and asked the owner:

“How much?”

“Hehe, the usual price is 2,000 Mora, but for you, Priest, I’ll take half.”

2,000 Mora.

Converted to Korean won, that was roughly 200,000 won.

“Do you sell drinks?”

“I have beer.”

“Bring me a bottle.”

“J-just a moment.”

Perhaps because I had completely finished my meal, the owner visibly relaxed compared to earlier.

“Here it is.”

The man brought out an ordinary-looking beer bottle, the kind you could find in any era.

Most people didn’t know this, but beer and soju bottles were much sturdier than they appeared.

Sturdy enough to easily crack open someone’s skull.

Thunk!

With a dull sound, the beer bottle, which I had grabbed by the neck and swung, shattered on impact.

I tossed the broken bottle onto the floor beside the man, who was now lying there. Then, I stood up from my seat.

“Do you have a handkerchief?”

“…Huh? Ah, y-yes, here.”

“Thanks.”

I wiped the traces of beer off my hand with the handkerchief, then glanced down at the man, who twitched as he lay sprawled on the floor.

‘That felt refreshing.’

Back on Earth, I had lost count of how many times I had wanted to do this but held back.

I stuffed the handkerchief into Jamie’s front pocket, lightly tapping her on the shoulder.

“Let’s move on to the next place.”