WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 105: Conversion

──────

Saint Sava Cathedral in Serbia, Eastern Europe.

When Pastor Park arrived at the cathedral, packed with thousands of worshippers, he was swept up in the tide of people.

Clergy dressed in black cassocks.

Among those wearing traditional Eastern Orthodox vestments, monks in old-fashioned robes were scattered here and there.

"It hasn't changed."

Pastor Park looked up at the cathedral, where countless arches and galleries rose in layered tiers.

Golden mosaics gazed down from the distant ceiling.

Christ.

Pantocrator.

The Almighty Christ looked down upon humanity from among countless angels and saints.

Beneath it, the cathedral carried an authority that would have made anyone in the Middle Ages believe in God.

Gangnam Holy Temple Church had been no less impressive... No, in its prime, it had boasted a congregation that surpassed this one.

When Pastor Kim Gwang-o was the church's star pastor, they had barely managed to accommodate everyone by putting TVs in every spare room and broadcasting the services.

But Pastor Kim had died, and Pastor Park's own son, Park Jinsu, had been imprisoned for ordering his murder.

After that, Holy Temple Church began to decline.

Park Jinsu had feared losing his place as the church's successor, which was why he had arranged Pastor Kim's assassination. Pastor Park did everything he could to ensure his son was punished.

He testified in court and voluntarily stepped down as Senior Pastor.

More than ten years later, he returned as Senior Pastor after being asked to revive the declining Holy Temple Church, but the church remained in a dark age for quite some time.

The dwindling congregation was one problem, but the greater issue was that Holy Temple Church's ability to oversee Korean exorcists had greatly diminished.

With a body no longer as strong as it once was, Pastor Park worked to restore the church.

With his return, worshippers who had left began to come back, and he began earnestly training Holy Temple Church's exorcists.

「Pastor! Pastooor! That! What is that?!」

「Pastor Go! Don't panic! If you panic, you die! It's nothing, we're just catching one snake, so don't panic! Hey, hey! I said save the missiles! They're expensive!」

「What kind of snake is as big as a building?!」

「Don't exaggerate. It's only eight stories tall. Looking at its size, it can't be more than two hundred years old.」

「Pastor Park, you bastarddddd!!」

It hadn't been easy, but he had still achieved results in his own way.

Gangnam Holy Temple Church was still said to be a shadow of its prime, but it was far better than it had been during the dark age.

Besides.

「Pastor! Pastooor! I'm going to die! I'm going to die at this rate!」

「You won't die! Do you think I'd let a pastor die? If it looks like you're really going to die, I'll save you then! You drank vampire elixir, so don't worry even if you lose an arm or a leg!」

「Aaaaaah! Pastor Park, you bastarddddd!!」

Recently, they had even taken in a new rookie.

Baek Yohan, whom the Throne Angel, the Heavenly Librarian, had personally revealed to be the protagonist of After-Kings.

The Lord had sent Solomon's successor into this age, so there must be something He intended to accomplish through him.

Yohan had gone to another world as well. Everything must have been unfolding according to the Lord's plan.

Once he finished supporting Yohan, perhaps Pastor Park could consider retirement.

'My body isn't what it used to be.'

He had once been able to subdue even a great tiger with one hand, but these days he needed both arms.

"When you get old, you ought to die~"

These days, he could barely eat eighteen liters of rice and thirteen pounds of meat. His eyesight seemed to be getting worse, too...

"Pastor Park."

The Latin was fluent.

Being addressed in Latin, now a dead language, carried a particular meaning.

"Your Eminence, Cardinal Rosinald. I didn't see you during my last trip to the Vatican."

"People like us are always busy, aren't we?"

Cardinal Rosinald.

The head of the Vatican Special Affairs Bureau's great monster response experts.

He and Pastor Park were close friends.

"I heard you've recently subjugated several demons."

"Yes."

"I didn't expect you to use the Dragon Spear as well. I was rather surprised when you requested authorization to launch that forgotten weapon."

The Dragon Spear. Its Asian codename was Dragon.

The Great Monster Annihilation Warhead, a consecrated bunker-buster.

Pastor Park had previously requested permission to launch Dragon in order to subjugate the Kyoto White-Faced Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox after it merged with a demon, and Cardinal Rosinald had approved it.

"It reminded me of someone I miss. That thirteenth Dragon was released for him."

One of the three Dragons originally fired at the Kraken, the sea monster of the Bermuda Triangle.

The one who had held its firing code was none other than Pastor Kim.

The sole Paladin of the Vatican City Holy Order of Monster Response... better known as the Vatican Special Affairs Bureau.

The title, which symbolized a holy knight, was now an honorary name bestowed only upon the greatest monster hunter of the age.

The fact that it had been given to an East Asian exorcist symbolized many things.

It meant he was the one most trusted by the Vatican, Rome, and the Pope.

"So, have you found a successor?"

"Haha, I have no intention of finding someone to inherit the church."

"Oh?"

He had once thought that was important.

The one to succeed him would become a leading figure in Korea's exorcist world, someone who protected people from monsters and ghosts.

The person inheriting Gangnam Holy Temple Church had naturally needed to be an exorcist in the same line of work as him.

That was what had led to Pastor Kim's assassination.

Gangnam Holy Temple Church had become too big.

Like a dungeon overflowing with human desire and greed.

"I found someone who'll do well without any of that. One day... he might replace Holy Temple Church."

"Oh... Is he really that remarkable?"

"Yes. He's the master of a new apocrypha God planned and sent forth."

"...I'll have to hear the full story."

"I have much to tell you as well."

It was about time to start working seriously with the Vatican.

They were one of the few groups who knew the truth not only about the canon, but also the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha.

"By the way, I heard this meeting was called by the Eastern Orthodox Church. What's going on?"

"It's obvious."

Cardinal Rosinald spoke with a faint sigh.

"Demons. They're beginning to move in earnest."

Demons.

Could it be a coincidence?

Demons ran wild in every era, but...

"Are they the demons of the Solar Lemegeton?"

"How did you know?"

Of all things.

Right after the protagonist of After-Kings had appeared...

Pastor Park suspected this was no coincidence.

* * *

When the Mountain Lord brought up the conversion card, I got angry first.

"You bastard. Is conversion some kind of joke?"

【It is not a joke! I sincerely wish to convert!】

"You bastard, you're just trying to get out of this situation by pulling some trick-"

【Of course I'm trying to get out of this situation!】

"???"

"No..."

"What? You're admitting it outright?"

The Mountain Lord's honest answer left us dumbfounded.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to hide that? Isn't that too shameless?"

【What use would there be in lying? But I sincerely mean it when I say I wish to convert.】

"So... You're converting because you want to live, but you're sincere about it?"

【Yes. Is that not allowed?】

"It isn't, you idiot!"

【Why not?】

"Well...!"

Come to think of it, why wasn't it allowed?

【I admit that I have walked the wrong path. I harmed humans and committed evil deeds. Only after being thoroughly punished by you, sir, did I come to my senses.】

"..."

【Of course, I also say this because I do not wish to be sealed away. But isn't faith something that begins for reasons like that? When Catholics first emerged on their own in this land, why did they choose to believe in a foreign god?】

"What were the reasons?"

【There were all kinds! Some liked Christ's teachings! Some wanted to escape being lowborn through the natural rights granted to all people! Some did not want to go to hell after they died!】

The Mountain Lord had lived for hundreds of years.

He would have seen early Enlightenment-era Joseon society with his own eyes.

Since the Mountain Lord, who had lived through those days, said so, it didn't seem like a lie.

【Everyone comes to faith for different reasons. Is it not a pastor's duty to guide them? My lord! As a Christian, lead this beast through Christ's teachings!】

"You sure talk smoothly..."

Even Lord Choi seemed sick of the Mountain Lord's silver tongue.

I felt the same way.

"What will you do?"

"...Let me think for a moment."

When the Mountain Lord brought up the conversion card, I thought it was bullshit.

I thought he was trying to pull a trick to get through a crisis.

But was that wrong?

People come to believe in religion for many reasons.

In my case, I was born and raised in the church because of my parents, and my parents' faith was meant to protect me because I was born with spiritual scent.

Everyone comes to faith for different reasons, so perhaps I could accept that he was doing it simply to survive.

I couldn't judge him carelessly.

If I hadn't heard him out, that would be one thing. But now that I had, I couldn't ignore him.

Some might say his motive was impure.

It really was, but who said the beginning of faith had to be pure?

Don't people seek God when they're desperate?

"Shit..."

I'd done the same thing.

After my parents died, I stopped going to church. Then I encountered an evil spirit, got desperate, and sought God.

Who was I to criticize the Mountain Lord?

「You have to live a different life, Yohan.」

Pastor Kim once said that while I sat on his lap.

「One day, you'll face trials, and hardship will come. When that happens, you mustn't think like worldly people.」

People who said they believed in Jesus.

Religious people who believed in God.

They were supposed to live a "different life."

Just as Christ spoke of love and Buddha spoke of compassion.

「Christianity means living a different life.」

Even if it was a life that made you look like a sucker, even if it seemed foolish at first glance.

"What will you do if you convert?"

【...What must I do?】

"If you're going to be a Christian, you should at least go to church."

【I will.】

"And read the Bible."

【I will.】

"And pray."

【I will.】

"And listen to what the pastor says."

【I will listen well.】

"What about drinking and smoking?"

【I do neither, but were they forbidden?】

"I think enjoying them a little, in moderation, is okay. I don't know about Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy."

【I will restrain myself.】

"...Fine."

Let's take him to a church first.

* * *

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel... What should we do?"

At his subordinate's words, Ri Gicheol ground his teeth.

Seeing how foul his mood was, the subordinates each began offering excuses.

"Still, didn't we solve the problem of the Mountain Lord, who had been disturbing the Republic's border?"

"That's right. If we report it properly, the Party may consider the use of the talisman an unavoidable sacrifice!"

"What if we report that the South Korean bastards were intimidated by the Republic warriors' heroic performance?"

"You sons of bitches, shut your mouths."

At Ri Gicheol's curse, the North Korean sorcerers all fell silent.

But what options did Ri Gicheol have?

They had come all this way only to have the fire snake stolen and fail to subdue the Mountain Lord?

If he submitted a report like that, everyone here would be sent to Aoji prison camp.

That left them with no choice but to write a false report, but Ri Gicheol thought differently.

'There's no way such a lie will work!'

Other failures might have been excusable, but losing the talisman was too great a loss.

The flesh and blood of more than a thousand people had been consumed to create it.

It would have been one thing if they had not used the talisman, but having used it, they had needed to achieve something extraordinary.

At the very least, some other result...

"Fine. There is still a way."

"C-comrade Lieutenant Colonel?"

"Comrades. You're prepared to die as heroes of the Republic, aren't you?"

The North Korean sorcerers turned pale after hearing Ri Gicheol's plan.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried