The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

“I really am a sinner after all.”

Inside the dim wooden hut, there was still only one tiny candle flame swaying.

The flame hovered between extinguishing and not. Compared to the vast fires in the distance beyond the window, those flames representing death and despair, it was so frail, dim, and powerless.

Just like the Limping Priest sitting against the wall inside the room, slovenly and wretched.

A tiny flame could not fight against a fiercer blaze. Even a moth flying into the fire would be meaningless. And so, aside from burning here alone until the final moment, it could do nothing.

Yes. Nothing at all. It could only watch helplessly as despair descended and swallowed this city completely.

“I’m not only a sinner... I’m also useless... I’ve again... Huh, strange. Why did I say again?”

The priest smiled bitterly, picked up his flask, and was just about to tilt his head back and drink heavily...

Bang!

But at that moment, the door of the wooden hut was suddenly kicked open.

Although this wooden hut was extremely crude, it had at least been the dwelling place of a former cathedral executioner for several decades. Naturally, that door was not an ordinary door either. At the very least, someone below the Crowned realm would have a hard time opening it easily.

But it was still kicked open with ease.

In fact, because the movement was too rough, the entire house jolted violently along with it, making the priest’s hand tremble as well.

The cheap liquor in the flask spilled out, flowing down through the priest’s opened collar and into those dense, ragged wounds, as well as onto the exposed fresh-red viscera...

“Hiss...”

In order to better harm himself, the priest had removed all battle energy and enhancements from that part of his body. So after this distilled, high-proof rotgut, which existed precisely so it could make him slightly drunk, flowed directly in...

It was like pouring hot oil over it, sprinkling salt on top, and then stir-frying it brutally.

The priest’s expression twisted slightly. Not going to lie, [N O V E L I G H T] this... actually felt pretty good.

It seemed he had discovered another new method of self-harm. He no longer had to worry about having too many wounds on his chest and nowhere left to cut...

No, this was not the time to talk about that.

The priest abruptly raised his head and looked at the certain someone who had kicked the door open, then leisurely patted his hands afterward, his face casual as if he were just dropping by for a visit. Irritation rose in the priest’s heart.

“You bastard, how can you just casually—”

“Are you done praying?”

“What?”

The priest froze.

“If you’re done praying, then it’s my turn to guide you.”

Muen’s movements after barging in were smooth and swift. He was already extremely familiar with the proper procedure, so he gave the priest no chance to react at all. With a raise of his hand, he directly slapped a memory infusion right into his face.

Scenes that, to the priest, had never happened before violently surged into his mind, like a thick, long rod stabbing directly into the center of his brain, making even the priest’s eyes roll back...

All right, they did not roll back, but it was still an extremely stimulating experience.

A few minutes later...

“Damn it!”

Having figured out the cause and effect, the priest clutched his head, feeling that sensation of being violently filled, and could not help cursing.

“Couldn’t you be a little gentler? You came up and just poured it straight in. I felt like my damn brain was about to explode!”

“Don’t worry. It won’t explode. I’m very experienced.”

“Then aren’t you afraid I’ll take you for an attacker and strike you directly?” the priest sneered. “Do you really think my Crowned rank is fake? I can’t beat Repentance, but you think I can’t beat you?”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen either.”

Muen swirled the wineglass and chuckled.

“Obviously, while you’re self-harming, you’re a completely defenseless pushover. After all, with the physical strength of a dignified Crowned one, hurting yourself isn’t exactly easy.”

“...”

The Limping Priest’s mouth twitched. He silently closed his collar, covering those hideous wounds.

This brat had already figured him out completely...

“You’re so practiced. Just how many times have you done this over?” the priest asked.

“Hey, hey, don’t make movements that easily cause misunderstandings, or say things that easily cause misunderstandings. You like little boys, but I have trauma in that area.”

Muen feigned fright and moved a little farther away.

At the same time, he also brushed past the topic without a trace.

The priest glanced at him and was tactful enough not to ask further.

He merely got up and snatched the good wine from Muen’s hand, then guzzled half the bottle viciously, as if taking revenge for Muen spilling his liquor earlier.

“So next, we still act according to the plan you just showed me? Start immediately?”

“No hurry. There’s still time.”

Muen shook his head.

“Before that, help me with a small favor first.”

“A small favor?”

The priest was puzzled. His perception spread outward, but he discovered that this time, the orphanage children were not making trouble, nor were they dancing and throwing a party on the graveyard.

Muen had only shown him one set of memories, and that memory had already clearly diverged from here and now.

“Nothing much.”

Muen leaned against the wall and looked toward the warehouse.

“I just need your professional skills to make a brief appearance.”

...

...

“He really is only exhausted. He’ll be fine after resting for a bit.”

The priest crouched down. Warm Holy Light bloomed in his hand and enveloped Pero.

Under the nourishment of the Holy Light, Pero’s complexion visibly became rosy.

“That’s wonderful...”

Seeing this, everyone from the orphanage let out a long breath of relief. The matron and Aviva even bent repeatedly to thank the priest.

The priest waved his hand, indicating there was no need for courtesy.

“I thought you, an executioner, would have forgotten how to use healing arts,” Muen teased from the side.

“Healing is the most basic Holy Light spell. Although high-level healing that can nourish the spirit is a little more complicated, it should still be an essential skill for a member of the clergy. How could I possibly forget?”

The priest snorted disdainfully.

“Even the small fry raised in the cathedral should know something like this!”

“...”

To the side, numerous orphanage nuns, including a certain matron who had received the Former Saintess’s true teachings, and a certain Nina who usually liked to slack off and loaf around, all lowered their heads in shame.

Very sorry. We’re not even as good as small fry...

“Spiritual power can also be restored? I’ve never heard of that.”

Muen did not pay attention to the self-reproach of the people around him. Instead, he raised his brows in considerable surprise. To him, the greatest shackle every time he used black flame was his spiritual power, which exhausted itself at every turn.

If he could recover while consuming it, that would absolutely be an enormous improvement to his combat strength.

“Don’t get carried away. It’s only gentle nourishment. Direct recovery can’t be done.”

The priest directly snuffed out Muen’s beautiful fantasy.

“Spiritual power is a mysterious thing. Unlike magic or battle energy, it can’t be quantified. If it’s gone, then it’s gone. There’s no replenishing it. To a very large extent, it’s related to a person’s will. Or rather, will itself is spirit. There have even been scholars who believed it came from the human soul... In short, even items that restore spiritual power are few and far between, and their recovery ability is extremely limited. They can’t keep up with consumption at all, let alone Holy Light spells.”

“That makes sense...”

Muen sighed.

Thinking carefully, if Holy Light spells were so broken that even spiritual power could be restored, then Liya would not merely be fighting him until dawn.

If they could restore the body and also restore stamina, and if even spiritual power could be replenished at any time... then as long as Holy Light was not used up, they could probably keep going until the end of time...

At that point, even the Goddess would be trembling, afraid that what Liya drained dry would not be limited to the yellow-haired villain...

“But this little guy is fine. His exhaustion isn’t too severe. After being nourished, he’ll be all right after a nap.”

The priest rubbed his chin.

“What I find strange is, what kind of move could make him drain his magic, battle energy, and spiritual power all at once? Judging from this little guy’s level, he shouldn’t be involved with such a complicated move yet.”

“...”

Muen temporarily said nothing. He only gave Aviva a look.

Aviva was very clever and immediately understood Muen’s meaning. She led the others away for the time being.

Only after the place quieted down did Muen ask the priest beside him,

“You’re a clergyman of the Church. In your view, what exactly is faith?”

“Faith?”

The priest was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Muen to ask such a question.

“Heh, you don’t look like someone who would believe in any god. You look more like the kind of guy who would slander gods behind their backs.”

“That’s slander. I’m extremely respectful toward gods. If you don’t believe me, go ask around. The reputation of Muen Campbell among the many gods, whether good gods or Evil Gods, is universally praised.”

Muen gave a thumbs-up.

“Is that so...”

The priest rolled his eyes. Even an idiot would know this guy was fooling people.

According to the connections he still had in the Church’s execution agency, the name Muen Campbell had already entered the blacklist of several Evil God cult organizations.

Those Evil God cultists loathed him almost second only to the Church.

For certain individual faiths, they even loathed him more than the Church.

That was no small achievement... When the priest had seen this intelligence, he had still been wondering how exactly this brat Muen had made those Evil God cultists hate him so much with his current realm.

Had he cuckolded those people’s wives?

Mm. Judging from this guy’s huge pile of romantic scandals, that was very possible.

“As for faith... I also find it very hard to explain what it is. After all, it’s something invisible, intangible, and illusory.”

The priest returned to the main topic.

“...Aren’t you a devout follower of the Goddess?” Muen, still unaware that his reputation had once again been victimized, asked in return.

“It’s precisely because I’m devout that I need to maintain distance. I know very well that there are many things one should not know, and therefore should not try to know. Otherwise... one will go mad.”

The priest clasped his hands together as if in prayer.

He was the most devout believer. And because of that, he understood even more deeply.

Gods stood high above because They had to stand high above.

Once humans lost reverence, they would no longer believe.

They would go mad.

The Salvation Society was exactly that.

What exactly had the Holy Lord of Salvation, Gaius, seen in the deepest depths of the Church to make him decide to betray the Church? That was a mystery many people wanted to know.

To this day, there was no answer.

“Looks like I asked for nothing.”

“Not necessarily.”

The priest said,

“Although I can’t answer that question, it did make me think of another question.”

“Oh? What question?” Muen raised a brow.

“I once judged a madman. And before that madman died, he asked me this.”

The priest looked at Muen, his gaze deep.

“For humans, in this world, did faith come first? Or did these so-called gods come first?”

“Faith first or gods first? Isn’t that just like the chicken and the egg? A simple causal dilemma...”

No.

Muen froze, then reacted.

This was not some brain teaser asked in elementary school, nor some lofty, empty philosophical question.

It seemed to faintly point toward a question that many people had overlooked.

Namely...

What exactly was a god?

Or rather, what was it that made something a god?

“What is it, then?”

Muen lowered his head and looked at his only believer, thoughtful.