Chapter 9: Pastor

The sound of vehicles roared loudly, creating a bustling atmosphere in the midday. Coupled with the scorching sunlight, people were becoming agitated while driving.

Honking resounded everywhere amidst the vehicle exhaust and traffic jams, making everyone appear impatient and resembling beasts.

Each vehicle strove to be in the lead to reach their destination, often overtaking one another without regard for danger. If feeling overtaken, they would blare their horns.

Tet Tet Tet

The incessant honking made anyone who heard it feel uneasy, especially Rendy.

Rendy, walking along the sidewalk, felt irritated by the noisy vehicle sounds and the relentless sun beating down on him.

The sunlight even penetrated through his brown jacket. Rendy could feel the intense heat of the sun.

Rendy began to question why he was wearing this jacket in the daytime. His skin was wet with sweat, and the vehicle fumes polluted the air

He continued walking on the sidewalk. After a few minutes, he stopped, unable to tolerate the heat any longer.

"Damn, it's too hot," Rendy muttered.

He then removed his brown jacket. After taking it off, he rolled it up into a small bundle and carried it in his left hand. Rendy was now wearing a plain white shirt.

He resumed walking on the sidewalk. Rendy's destination was the church, as agreed upon with the pastor earlier, and perhaps Rendy could learn about the ancient texts sought by the Slave of Death.

Actually, Rendy was lazy to do this, especially walking in the heat of the day in a place like this. However, he had made a promise. Promises were something that must be kept.

Rendy continued walking on the sidewalk towards the church. Suddenly, he felt like something was watching him.

Rendy turned his face back to check, but all he saw were other pedestrians. Nevertheless, Rendy remembered this feeling.

He recalled when he fell into a puddle while smoke enveloped him. Rendy then remembered the Slave of Death's words that God Death already knew he was alive.

Rendy assumed that God Death had found him. He began to quicken his pace. The dreadful feeling intensified.

Rendy's feet lifted higher. He started running fast. The dreadful feeling grew stronger with each step Rendy took.

He continued running fast, not slowing his pace. He ran like a deer hunted by a lion, full of hope and fear.

Rendy kept running swiftly. While running, he prayed to The One, although he didn't believe in The One, because he had been taught prayers of protection by his mother since childhood.

"My Lord, I beg for your protection in your name,"

"I pray, protect me with your shield,"

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"Protect me beneath your cloak, O the One,"

He ran while reciting these prayers. After a few minutes of running, he started feeling tired as his pace slowed.

At that moment, the incredibly dreadful feeling began to fade as Rendy slowed down.

Unbeknownst to Rendy, the church was already nearby. He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as though he had escaped death. He then entered the church.

He entered The One's Church and saw only a few worshippers who seemed to be praying.

The young pastor standing at the altar seemed to be leading a prayer. Rendy entered and sat in the back pew.

Inside the church, there were only a few congregants, a total of seven people, because it was a busy day. No one wanted to pray during working hours except on weekends.

The congregants sat with their hands clenched. The pastor led his prayer.

Feeling bored, Rendy played with the brown jacket he had rolled up earlier.

"AMEN," the congregants said.

The pastor appeared to be reciting a prayer, with every concluding phrase followed by the congregants saying, "AMEN."

Rendy chuckled to himself, thinking these people were worshipping the wrong god. According to Rendy, the god to be worshipped was the ancient All-Father.

Nevertheless, this was not their fault. It was the fault of the followers of the All-Father's teachings who couldn't endure at the time.

Rendy suddenly remembered his mother, who obediently followed The One's teachings. Rendy wondered if the All-Father, the Death God, forgave him or cast him into hell.

But it seemed that God wouldn't cast a creation who didn't know who he was. God wasn't that cruel.

After a few minutes, the congregants bowed respectfully before the young pastor.

"The One will be with us,"

"AMEN."

After this statement, they dispersed from their seats and headed towards the exit.

The young pastor smiled as he watched his congregation leave. Suddenly, his eyes stared sharply towards the back pew where Rendy sat.

Rendy felt his gaze, causing the hair on his neck to stand on end. He sensed something strange from the pastor's gaze.

A few minutes after the church was completely empty, the pastor spoke up.

"You've kept your promise, Rendy,"

The pastor then descended from his altar and approached Rendy. His wide white robe required him to lift it to avoid the dirty floor.

He approached Rendy and smiled at him, the same smile as before. Rendy returned the smile with a fake one.

"So, what do you want?" Rendy asked.

The pastor smiled and replied, "It's about what you saw earlier."

Rendy nodded.

"Was it a goblin?" he asked.

Rendy nodded in agreement.

"Have you heard the story of someone cursed to become a goblin?" the pastor continued.

Rendy nodded. It was about a thief cursed by The One to become an ugly green creature, a goblin. In his goblin form, he continued to steal, albeit according to The One's beliefs.

The true identity of that goblin was the child of the Mother of Monsters. Rendy felt the pastor would link that incident to his beliefs in The One.

The pastor smiled and then asked, "Do you believe it?"

Rendy nodded, though he didn't truly believe in The One's teachings. But he had to act as if he did.

"I only believe some parts of The One's scripture," the pastor said.

The statement startled Rendy a bit. Words spoken by a pastor, someone who studied and believed in The One's scripture, saying he only believed in some of it would lead to persecution if he were an ordinary person.

Persecution by The One's followers for those who strayed from their teachings was not uncommon. Their religion was spread by the sword.

Confused and surprised by the pastor's statement, Rendy asked, "Why? Shouldn't we believe 100% in The One's scripture?"

The pastor patted Rendy's shoulder.

"I have studied a lot of literature. Before becoming a pastor, I was an archaeologist. There's an ancient text that I think can challenge The One's teachings, and do you know what it is?" the pastor asked, smiling.

Rendy shook his head.

"I don't know,"

"It's an ancient text dating back hundreds or even millions of years before The One's religion emerged," the pastor replied.

Rendy felt that what the pastor was

trying to convey had something to do with the ancient literature sought by the Slave of Death. To confirm this, he asked,

"What ancient text is that? Could you give me a little explanation?"

"I can't tell you directly because it could affect The One's Church," the pastor said, frustrating Rendy for not being informed. Rendy furrowed his brow, looking cynically at the pastor. The pastor just smiled faintly.

"So, why did you call me here?" Rendy asked.

The pastor stared sharply at Rendy.

"It's because it's related to that resurrection of yours,"

The pastor's mention of Rendy's resurrection being related to the ancient literature intrigued Rendy. Was that literature about someone rising from the dead?

The pastor turned around and walked.

"Follow me," he said, lifting his robe.

Rendy followed the pastor, who walked towards the altar. Near the altar was a hidden underground door, only visible when approached, requiring careful observation to see.

The door was circular and needed to be rotated to open.

The pastor opened the underground room's door by turning it. After it opened, stairs descended below.

Before entering, the pastor took a candle from the altar. He then walked to the church entrance and locked it.

After that, he opened his robe and prepared to descend the stairs while holding the candle.

The pastor entered and started descending. Rendy followed from above. It was quite dark down there, with only the candlelight held by the pastor.

They reached the bottom. The pastor began walking straight ahead. Rendy continued following him from behind.

They stopped in front of an iron door. The pastor took a golden key from inside his black t-shirt and used it on the iron door.

After a while, the door opened. The pastor and Rendy entered the room.

The room was as dark as before, illuminated only by the pastor's candle. After a few minutes, the pastor took a lantern and lit the candle inside the lantern.

The room became slightly brighter. They were surrounded by many books. This underground room housed a library.

Rendy was amazed to see so many ancient historical books around him. As a bookworm, he felt like he was in heaven.

"This is 20% of the Church's secret archives,"

"20%? Where's the rest?"

"In the main church,"