"Did you hear what happened? What a shame it was to hear. Rui's house burned down in the middle of the night, and no one can get to her. This is a shame, but what can we do about it?"
"It is always the nice ones who get in trouble about this. *Sigh* And to think that Rui was so excited to start her new job as well. I guess God has his own plans for her. But the poor girl! She got the short end of the stick everywhere she went."
Fenrir leisurely drank his tea as he heard the maids gossiped. He knew about what happened already, and he also knew that Rui had set her own house on fire in order to escape the crimes she had committed.
One of the maids who was gossiping around finally noticed Fenrir sipping his tea, and she blushed a bright pink once she realized that she had been gossiping about her job.
"Eh, I'm sorry! I did not mean to speak too much. Would you like to have more tea and pretend that it is my bribe to you?"
The female maid's face went even redder as she was presented with Fenrir's bright, innocent-looking smile. It made her look away, and her heart thundered loudly in her chest.
'W-What am I doing? I should not make a bigger fool of myself than I already have. Why is it so difficult to keep myself in check? I feel like telling Fenrir whatever I am thinking about.'
The maid found it difficult to look away, but Fenrir broke the eye contact first, causing the maid to breathe out a sigh of relief. Fenrir's subtle action showed that her request had been accepted.
She walked away with the teacup in her hand and a flaming face that yelled that she had done something scandalous just now.
Fenrir watched the maid leave, and he let out a chuckle. His power had influenced that maid enough to make her uncomfortable, just as he wanted to.
Day by day, he was growing stronger while absorbing the power of those around him. Any day, he would have enough power to transform and mold his body to his liking.
He was busy checking out how much power he had when Fenrir felt the door to the guest room open.
A maid stood at the other side of the door and she looked unsure whether she was allowed to come inside or not. But once Fenrir gave her a gentle smile, she became more confident and walked toward him.
She stopped seconds before she reached Fenrir, and her eyes shone brightly and clearly. Then, she opened her mouth to tell Fenrir what happened.
"Sir, the temple master is here to meet you. He said that it's urgent that you meet him right now. What response should I give him?"
The young maid was a year older than Fenrir, and her inexperience showed in the way she handled herself. She was quite cute but a little dumb to be climbing the work ladder, and that was why she had been offered as a sacrifice to get Fenrir.
"Is that so? If the temple master is here, then I guess I have no choice but to come out and meet him. Can you let him know that I will be there soon?"
Fenrir asked, and the young maid quickly left with a bright face.
As soon as she was gone, the easy-going smile on Fenrir's face melted away to show his indifference. He already knew that the temple master would come to seek him out.
Fenrir had done a lot to the second-in-command, and no matter how much of a dunce the temple master was, there would be some people around who would notice the difference in the energy the second-in-command now possessed.
A maid opened the door for Fenrir to enter the guest area, and the temple master quickly jumped on his feet to greet Fenrir.
"Y-Young man, I finally got to see you again. I have a few questions for you. Do you know what happened to my second-in-command? People have complained that he does not feel the same way now. Do you know anything about it?"
The temple master asked in an almost scared voice. He was even shaking in is boots, trying to get some sense of stability under his grasp.
Fenrir's beautiful smile put the man's nerves at ease, but Fenrir could tell that the temple master had not fully given in to Fenrir's charms.
"I don't know what happened, or what made you say that the mister from yesterday is acting weird? Can you tell me about it?"
People brought back to life as dolls could pass off as humans, but they were not perfect. Rather, Fenrir did not have enough strength to summon a demon to reside in these bodies and grab control of them yet.
As a result, he had to make do with what he had and navigate life in a way that would not cause him trouble.
Because of his lack of strength and checking, there was a chance that these dolls could have some major defects that he did not know about.
"W-Well, I don't personally know what is wrong with my second-in-command, but others said that they saw him roaming around in the middle of the night and not sleeping. They also said that my second-in-command avoided places with strong divine energy, and he did not come for our daily prayers. Wait…now that I am saying this aloud, it all does sound rather serious."
The temple master went pale as he listed out what happened one by one.
But at the end of the list, he looked ready to rub his forehead and forget about whatever he said to Fenrir.
"Ah, I see. If this is what happened, then I am afraid that I do not know anything about it. As far as I know, your second-in-command left this place intact. Maybe he is just coming down with something?"
Fenrir asked in a worried voice, and the temple master nodded his head.
"Hopefully, you are right. You see, the annual inspection from the central temple is to be held in a few days, so I was worried about things going wrong because of it. But I am sure that nothing would happen…hahaha…no one cares for us since we are a small village anyway."
The temple master's words felt like a bomb being dropped on Fenrir.
He had expected the temple to interfere in his matters and even try to catch him once he was ready.
This was far too soon for the temple and god's minions to interfere in my plans. Although, it is nice to have a warning beforehand. This way, I know that my timing to run away is the right one.
He sneered on the inside, but he kept a happy and calm expression on the outside. When he looked at the temple master, he made sure he sowed his seeds to ease his mind.
"I am sure the main temple won't find any flaw with you. After all, god is benevolent and forgiving. He won't punish you for anything when you are trying to do your best to serve him."
Fenrir placed a hand on the temple master's shoulder, and the man visibly relaxed under his touch.
"You are right! Our lord is a merciful one. Thank you for showing me the right way, young man. Now, I see that my path was just one. I shall take my leave now."
Fenrir watched the temple master leave with a light mind.
He might have helped a virtuous man feel better, but that did not mean that Fenrir did not have his plans. He just thought that it was a devious thing to reassure someone before sending him out.
"It's a good thing that I arranged for the temple master to be taken care of before I set my plan in motion. That man might be a fool, but he has the power and force of the temple behind him. I would rather him not feel suspicious like this."
Fenrir had a puppet in the temple who was ready to do his bidding.
As soon as the temple master stepped into the temple, he was met with a knife in his stomach. His wide eyes looked in front of him, only to notice his trusty second-in-command stabbing him.
It happened in front of everyone, and the temple let up into a loud roar over what happened. People rushed to check what happened and who did the evil deed.
"You all are sinners in 'his' eyes. You are all corrupt. Thus, it is my mission to clean you of your sins. I shall be your end."
The second-in-command yelled at the top of his lungs. He stood confident and firm in the middle of the temple's officials, and finally, someone else was able to speak up.
"Oh god! That man has gone insane. What do we do about him now? At this rate, we will all die."