Killing the Possessor - Chapter 130

“Excuse me, but… are there any other volunteers here today besides me?”

“Oh yes, there is! Right over there.”

As we headed toward the main building where the children were, Sister Torea beamed and gestured. And there he was—the person I’d been dying to see.

“Oh my god, finally!”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, uh… it’s nothing.”

Father Vice! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?!

I was honestly moved to finally meet him. Surviving in this wretched world meant extending my residence permit was important, but ultimately, my real goal was to get permanent residency through marriage.

And yet my future husband had vanished into thin air after leaving for Ballu, and I’d been going crazy waiting!

I did my best to tamp down my excitement—no way was I going to let Sister Torea catch on. I couldn’t just run over and propose on the spot.

“That’s Priest Vice. He’s the kind man who helped my sister and me before.”

“Oh, I see! We’re all so grateful for him. Even though he’s busy, he always drops by to check on the children’s health.”

Of course, what else would you expect from the future husband—he’s kind, too.

Casually, I slipped my hand into my reticule and fiddled with the rolled-up document inside: my marriage application.

Ridiculous as it sounded, ever since assist mode was disabled, carrying it around had brought me a weird sense of peace. If things ever got desperate, I planned to use any means necessary—begging or threatening—to get one of the male leads to stamp it.

The real requirements for permanent residency weren’t exactly clear. I knew marriage was a must, but whether it required just a proposal, an actual wedding, or filing official paperwork at the temple or city hall? No clue.

The best scenario would be to charm Vice into proposing of his own accord. But if that failed, I was prepared to dig up some dirt through Hongik Ingan and go for a contract marriage. Not that he’d stick around for a second if he ever found out.

“Priest Vice, it’s been a while.”

I walked over with Sister Torea and greeted him shyly. Vice, who’d been feeling the children’s foreheads as he examined them, slowly lifted his gaze to me.

He had a face that was almost prettier than most women’s—delicate, pure, the kind you’d rarely see. Even though it took so much work to find him, you understood the effort the moment you saw him: he was genuinely beautiful.

Maybe enough time had passed, or maybe it was just my desperation to get permanent residency, but he didn’t seem as intimidating as he used to. I smiled and tried to steer the conversation.

“I’m not sure if you remember me, but—”

“No, sorry, I don’t.”

“…”

Typical. I almost lost my smile, but clenched my teeth and powered through.

“I’m Camilli Mute. You helped my sister before.”

“…….”

He looked at me like he was wondering why I was bothering with such pointless details. My enthusiasm faltered before we even really began.

Still, I pictured the marriage certificate in my bag and mustered every ounce of resolve I had left.

“I thought you specialized in exorcisms, but you treat children, too? That’s really impressive!”

“I can only handle minor cases. It’s not much, really.”

His replies were so curt that keeping the conversation going felt almost impossible—thank goodness Sister Torea helped.

“Haha, our priest is far too humble! Didn’t you once perform emergency surgery on a patient during a pilgrimage? The other healing priests are always saying your skills haven’t faded, even after all this time away from the field.”

“You flatter me. That was ages ago.”

Well, I suppose it’s only right for a male lead to have these kinds of legendary feats. I was admiring his stories and doing my best to make an impression when—

“Miss Camilli?”

“…Sir Ren.”

There he was again. Damn it, Ren Abyss—the guy who always pops up out of nowhere and makes you want to shout, ‘What are you doing here?!’

Honestly, I wasn’t even surprised anymore. Meeting Father Vice here was the real surprise; I’d half-expected Ren to show up, as usual.

But before Ren could even reach us, Vice suddenly got up from his seat.