How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Chapter 184: District 29 Parish (1)

Osian arrived at District 29.

‘Is this District 29?’

It was a place quite different from District 41, where pitch-black oil and workers full of helplessness reside.

District 29 of Tirna is a zone where the genuine middle class lives.

Even when boarding and getting off the train connecting each district, security was maintained to the point where staff directly checked tickets and identification.

Osian naturally walked out of the station with an umbrella.

Through the moderately falling raindrops, the overall appearance of District 29 was roughly captured.

‘Because this seems to be a district where people live like humans, the streets are generally well-maintained.’

Not only residential and commercial areas, but a citizen’s park and green spaces rarely seen in other districts were also created.

The transportation system was excellent. Thanks to the monorails and trams circulating everywhere, there was no need to walk long distances within the district.

Even the small tram stations were made with elaborate metal decorations.

Moreover, some people were riding bicycles. Though it didn’t rain much, they were quite skillful.

‘This is different from other districts where one could be shot at any moment. It means it’s that much safer.’

Next to District 30 was even a magic academy, so District 29’s location was not bad.

However, behind this seemingly peaceful place, a quite serious incident was occurring.

‘First, I need to find where the church is located.’

That wasn’t a difficult task.

The location of District 29’s church wasn’t hidden, and it was easily accessible if one wanted to go.

Not quite in a bustling area, but on a relatively well-organized street, a large spire stood prominently.

Its size and scale were magnificently different from other churches, suggesting significant investment in its construction.

‘While District 41 lives in poverty, unable to even make proper repairs, here it’s so splendid.’

At the wide-open entrance of the church, priests were present, warmly welcoming visitors and healing them with their warm divine power.

Those who received treatment inserted money envelopes into the donation box.

The structure clearly showed how the church made money.

‘As someone with divine power, there’s no more certain advantage than healing people.’

Generally, healing wounds or broken bones using divine power is much faster and more effective than receiving treatment from a doctor.

Of course, making money this way would be against the church’s doctrine.

Thus, they claim to provide healing ‘without compensation’. The money in the donation box is just the ‘voluntary’ goodwill of those receiving treatment.

The actions were ultimately the same, but the justification was cleverly operating.

‘There’s nothing strange about healing with divine power. Most people living here are middle-class, so they can afford to pay some money.’

But it didn’t seem possible to build and maintain such a magnificent building with just that.

Likely, this was just one of the means of earning money.

‘Moreover, the priests’ level is suspiciously high.’

Normally, using divine power requires significant rest to recover.

Therefore, priests usually take turns treating patients.

However, the priests treating patients now were continuing to heal every patient without showing any signs of exhaustion, even as Osian had been observing them from just moments ago.

Even when carefully observing, thinking they might be deliberately hiding their fatigue, no signs of exhaustion were felt.

‘Considering they should be tired by now, the amount of divine power must be substantial. At this level, they would be on par with an average high-ranking priest.’

A high-ranking priest is a clergy member who receives special treatment within the church.

Osian is not well-versed in internal church affairs. But he knows that at least such high-level people wouldn’t be tending to patients at the entrance.

If it were one or two, he might think they voluntarily stepped forward, but if all 10 priests standing at the entrance possess similar levels of divine power.

He couldn’t help but feel something was off.

‘But there’s no immediate way to find out.’

Normally, he would have summoned his sacred armor and charged in, but this time the opponent was not ideal.

While the city might ignore him dealing with the mafia, Petra Church was clearly a public organization.

Attacking them without any evidence would make Osian a terrorist.

Even if he claimed they kidnapped children to do something, without concrete evidence, it would be nothing more than unfounded slander.

‘Finding evidence is the priority.’

Originally, Osian’s request was not to expose the church’s misdeeds, but to find the missing Colleo.

‘Moreover, I’m not confident about breaking through these 10 priests single-handedly.’

He didn’t think he would struggle against the priests. But if they deliberately blocked the entrance, it might be difficult to break through.

Most importantly, the church isn’t just composed of priests.

Paladins. paladins using [Divine Chant] also exist, and they are robust enough to be called the close-combat trio along with wandering knights and barbarian warriors.

Just as the priests’ average level is high, the paladins of District 29’s church would likely be equally skilled.

‘Charging in without clear information isn’t courage, it’s just stupidity. So I’ll change my approach.’

First, he needed to find where Colleo was.

Simple speculation suggested a high likelihood of being inside District 29’s church, somewhere within that large church.

Then, how to get inside.

‘Human traffickers kidnapped children and brought them to District 29. But there are no rumors that District 29 is holding the children.’

In other words, they brought the children secretly, avoiding people’s attention.

Naturally, they wouldn’t use the main entrance, so there was likely a back door or another passage away from public view.

‘Human traffickers and gangs kidnap people in trucks and forcibly transport them. So, it must be a location where trucks can come and go.’

He just needed to find a back door or a side road where vehicles could pass.

Being a place where large trucks could come and go, it couldn’t be easily hidden.

Osian headed behind the church.

Moving away from the main street and reaching a slightly shady location, he felt a sense of familiarity.

‘Even in District 29, where people live well, there are back alleys since it’s a city.’

And such back alleys typically exude a dark atmosphere.

Indeed, several burly men were crouching and, upon discovering Osian, slowly approached.

Their appearance felt strangely welcoming.

‘Seems like I’ve gone a bit crazy myself.’

Osian spoke in a slightly excited voice.

“Who wants to start by getting hit first?”

The thugs who were about to pick a fight with Osian frowned and then rushed at him like mad.

*

In an instant, Osian subdued the thugs with his fists and made them all kneel.

“So, is that all you know?”

“Yes, yes. Correct. The back of the church is connected to a warehouse, and trucks periodically come and go there.”

“I see.”

Since they lived in this area, they knew small details well.

Thanks to them, Osian could understand where the human traffickers were taking the kidnapped children.

“From now on, live more honestly.”

Since they hadn’t drawn knives or guns, and compared to the people he’d fought before, they were almost laughably weak, Osian let the thugs go without drawing his sword or being excessive.

The thugs scattered quickly, likely not daring to show up in this area for a while.

‘Well, I’ll head out now.’

The warehouse mentioned by the thugs was easy to find.

It was close to the church, and especially because of the people guarding the entrance.

‘A warehouse with an unknown purpose being guarded by paladins.’

They weren’t wearing the typical paladin attire and were pretending to be ordinary people, but the robust body and muscular arms subtly revealed were not something an ordinary person would have.

‘Looks like this is definitely the place.’

At that moment, a truck arrived.

The paladins opened the warehouse door when they saw the truck coming.

Before entering the warehouse, sacks were stacked at the back of the truck.

‘It seems they’ve committed similar acts in districts other than District 41 as well.’

Osian hid himself and watched what they were doing.

The paladin who closed the warehouse entrance spoke as if grumbling.

“Is this it for today?”

“No. Two more still need to come.”

“Two more means we’re almost done. It won’t take long, so we’ll just guard appropriately and then rotate.”

They didn’t discuss what was inside the truck.

‘They can’t be guarding here without knowing anything, so they must know everything.’

Osian, who was about to directly charge this warehouse, momentarily reconsidered.

The two trucks that hadn’t yet arrived – one of them was surely the one he had destroyed in District 41.

That meant one truck was still left.

Osian quickly climbed onto the roof of a nearby building. Moving as nimbly as a beast, he gazed at the street as if piercing through the night’s darkness.

Beyond the dim gas-lit street, a truck could be seen approaching.

*

The person driving the truck, precisely a human trafficker from a gang, moved naturally along the usual route.

As the night was now completely deep and people were starting to return home, the truck naturally entered a secluded and narrow path.

It would reach its destination, the church’s warehouse, after turning a few more times…If the headlights hadn’t caught the figure standing in the middle of the road.

“Oh, damn.”

Screech.

Fortunately, they were driving slowly; if they had increased speed even slightly, an accident would have occurred on the wet road.

The colleague in the passenger seat frowned.

“What kind of crazy bastard is this! Want to die?! Get lost!”

Regardless, the man with his back to the headlights stood still.

The gang member in the passenger seat opened the door and got out of the truck.

“Is this guy deaf? You’re in trouble. Anyway, there’s no one in this place, so even if I kill you, who would know?”

The moment the gang member approached the man, the man naturally turned to look at him.

“Right. No matter what happens, no one would know.”

Osian stretched his fist towards the gang member’s face.

“Uh, uh?”

As teeth scattered and broke instantly and his colleague was sent flying, the driver was shocked.

He tried to drive the truck again, but his body wouldn’t move easily.

It was because Osian was staring directly at him from beyond the passenger-side window.

“Get out.”

“Yes, yes.”

The driver was quick-witted. If he didn’t get out here, he would surely face a rough situation.

“Hat.”

“H-here.”

“Clothes.”

“Oh, clothes? H-here.”

The driver handed over his hat and took off his coat.

Osian nodded his chin and said.

“Pants.”

“Yes, yes?”

“No arguments.”

“T-that is…”

As the driver hesitated, Osian picked up a nearby iron pipe.

He was worried Osian would hit him with it, but fortunately, Osian didn’t do such a violent act.

Instead, he showed something even more impressive.

Creak.

Osian easily bent the iron pipe with both hands, intertwining it as if making a ribbon knot.

The driver stared blankly at the scene.

Osian then casually threw the metal knot on the ground.

“Pants.”

The driver quickly took off his pants.

*

As the truck approached, two paladins guarding the warehouse entrance blocked its path.

The truck stopped, and the window of the driver’s seat opened. A ‘janitor’ with a hat pulled deep was visible.

“You’re alone today.”

“Yes. My colleagues had other matters first…”

“Tsk. Well, you’ll be doing the hard work alone anyway, so we don’t need to particularly care.”

The paladin didn’t find Osian particularly suspicious.

Rather, he seemed to want to avoid getting involved with Osian, having only done a perfunctory check.

Osian’s eyes gleamed sharply from under his hat.

‘Do they not want to get close because they’re gangs or human traffickers kidnapping children? How ridiculous. They’re already accomplices.’

For Osian, this was actually convenient.

As he lowered the window of the driver’s seat, the warehouse door opened. Osian slowly drove the truck into the warehouse.