Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 137

The news that Rubel would undergo a purity rite spread like wildfire. Along with it, the detailed story of how he had been bewitched by a criminal and protected them also spread to those who needed to know.

People were shocked by the fact that Rubel, one of the most devout individuals in the empire, had fallen so quickly.

However, since Rubel had immediately gone to the proxy seeking a purity rite, reactions were divided into two camps.

On one hand, some said that at least he hadn’t abandoned his duty as God’s messenger. On the other hand, some claimed that he clearly did this to safely protect the criminal, and even went so far as to hide the criminal in his own house rather than bringing them to the central temple, as if they were some treasure that might be stolen.

And at the center of spreading these rumors was none other than Petro.

That is, Petro the priest who had been left behind with the witches at the place where Rubel and Eir disappeared.

“Does that even make any sense? How could someone like Brother Rubel do such a thing? How many times do I have to say that he must have been thoroughly bewitched by the witch?”

Petro slammed his fist down hard on the table as he ranted passionately.

It wasn’t at all that the incident of being essentially abandoned with the witches still lingered in his heart. After all, when the witches lost their target, Rubel, they disappeared shortly after.

No, he wouldn’t have felt any resentment even if he had died then. Petro was one of those who had made the greatest effort to find Rubel afterward, claiming he would search for him.

Later, when he heard that the knights of House Shinote had rescued Rubel and that Rubel was unharmed, he even offered prayers of gratitude to God, saying how fortunate it was.

But Rubel had betrayed not only God, but also those who had believed in him.

“It’s unbelievable.”

Petro beat his chest in anger at this denial.

“It’s true, I tell you. They say that on the way from the island to the capital, he protected that witch thoroughly. They say he wouldn’t let anyone approach her and even assigned a doctor to her. This is what I heard from him directly. The woman is now at Duke Shinote’s mansion.”

At that, the man sitting across from Petro opened his eyes and turned around, interrupting his prayer. The small prayer room, originally meant for one person to enter and pray, felt cramped with two large adult men, making even small movements feel confined.

“Really? You met my brother?”

Abel, a priest and the third son of House Shinote, asked abruptly.

Petro sighed at Abel, who seemed to finally be paying attention. Abel’s only concern was whether Petro had met Rubel, despite the fact that the witch was in his own home.

He thought this was typical of Abel, but he was also truly angered by his frustratingly soft nature.

Abel hurriedly took Petro’s hand and asked, “How is my brother? Does he look all right?”

The purity rite was to be held in a fortnight. During this time, Rubel was confined in an underground prison. After Rubel’s imprisonment, Petro wasn’t the only one who came to Abel with various pieces of news.

Some who took pleasure in spreading rumors visited Abel deliberately to upset him, seemingly delighting in Rubel Shinote’s downfall, making pointed remarks about it.

Abel could sense their shallow tactics, trying to tarnish him by using his brother’s fall as leverage, even though he himself had always walked the righteous path as a priest. While Abel found such behavior despicable, he simultaneously found himself burdened with daily worry for his brother.

The reason he shut himself in the prayer room every day was precisely because of this. It was amidst this that Petro had come to see him.

He had barged into the prayer room, ignoring the words of the apprentice priest who said that Abel had decided not to meet anyone.

Abel had consistently ignored Petro’s words, which made it sound as if a great crisis had befallen House Shinote and Rubel, but he crumbled when he heard the news that Petro had met his brother.

Petro sighed and answered, “Of course he’s fine. You think Rubel Shinote would be broken just because he’s in prison for a bit?”

“I’m worried that other people might harass him.”

“Who would dare do that? Your brother is still God’s messenger. If the proxy hasn’t denied that, others can’t deny it either.”

At Petro’s words, Abel exhaled in relief and turned his body forward. The small prayer room had only a small window in the upper part of the front wall.

The faint light coming through it settled on Abel’s curly blonde hair. Petro only then noticed Abel’s gaunt face and frowned.

“What’s wrong with your face? Just because your brother is in prison, you’ve imprisoned yourself here too?”

“I had no choice since other people were bothering me.”

“Why would they?”

“They’re all giving me news, saying it’s because I’m foolish and uninterested in worldly affairs.”

Petro already knew that there were some in this temple who tormented Abel, so he didn’t consider that he might be included in this and burst out in indignation.

“I don’t know how everyone can be so mean. Just because you were born with God’s power doesn’t mean you’re any different in worldly matters.”

Abel wasn’t nasty enough to say, “You too are making things difficult for me just the same.” And since he knew that his friend was acting this way out of concern, not to enjoy their suffering like others, Abel decided to drop his prickly attitude at this point.

Besides, he also suspected that his bad mood might not be because of Petro, but because he was truly shaken by the news Petro had brought, and perhaps even felt a kind of shame.

“Anyway, thank you for bringing the news. I was worried about my brother.”

“But are you really going to just sit here? Your brother has that witch in your house.”

“House Shinote is not my home anymore. My home is the temple now.”

Abel replied with a stubborn attitude. It had been a constant stress that people still treated him as Abel Shinote, the third son of House Shinote, rather than Priest Abel, despite how long it had been since he became a priest.

But of course, such complaints would only sound like the grumbles of someone with a full stomach to someone like Petro.

“But you still go back to House Shinote occasionally for vacations.”

“But……!”

“I think you should go home this time too.”

Petro interrupted Abel’s tedious excuses. Abel, who was as stubbornly righteous as his brother, naturally resisted.

“What would I do there? Should I drive that woman out? The woman my brother brought at such great effort?”

“Of course you should drive her out. Are you afraid? Yes, she seemed unusual. After all, she managed to bewitch none other than Rubel Shinote. In fact, at first, even I thought she might not be a witch before she used her magic.”

Petro lamented his past foolishness. If he had been more clearheaded then, perhaps things wouldn’t have become such a mess.

Instead of frowning, Abel bit his lower lip hard.

No matter what, he couldn’t help but feel bad when someone spoke that way about his brother, especially a brother he respected.

Abel still believed there must be some circumstance he didn’t understand; he didn’t believe at all that his brother had been bewitched by a witch, leading to this situation. Abel’s stubborn back clearly showed that he didn’t consider this matter to be serious.

He believed in his respectable brother so much that he wasn’t properly recognizing the seriousness of the situation itself.

He was truly an exasperating brother.

Petro realized that this was the moment when he needed to lower his voice to stir Abel’s heart.

He spoke in a low, serious voice.

“I’m not saying you should go immediately and drive that woman out. Of course, it’s galling that while Brother Rubel is here in prison, that woman is living comfortably alone, but I also understand that all of this is a family matter for your household. I’m just saying that you might have a duty to go and meet her. After all, you are both a son of that house and a priest. Staying here and just praying isn’t choosing one of those two roles—it’s almost the same as abandoning all your duties.”