I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 44
“The rumors.”
Yeshion answered absentmindedly.
Anything related to the former Yeshion he usually brushed off as rumors, and it had always worked. So, he assumed this time would be no different.
However, Eldis did not let the matter slide.
Without a word, he approached Yeshion, pulling a chair closer as he crouched down in front of him. It was a posture where Eldis slightly looked up at Yeshion.
“Do you remember who uttered such nonsense?”
His voice was soft. So soft, in fact, that it sent a chill down Yeshion’s spine, cold to the point of being unsettling. The sudden tension caused Yeshion to swallow dryly without realizing it.
When Yeshion tried to avoid his gaze, Eldis gently tapped the back of his hand.
“Saying that a priest has no divine power is no different from branding them as a criminal.”
“…..”
“It’s not something that should be taken lightly.”
Yeshion looked at Eldis with a puzzled expression.
It was odd, considering that in the original story, Eldis often referred to ‘Yeshion’ as ‘a half-wit with no divine power.’
Should he pretend not to know?
Or deflect it somehow?
As Yeshion mulled over what to say, he finally spoke up.
“The rumors are false. It’s just… something that stuck with me. A long time ago, I remember the Archpriest saying it.”
A crack appeared in Eldis’s calm expression.
As Yeshion shifted his weight subtly, the chair scraped the floor, widening the distance between them naturally.
“If the words came from the Archpriest, then it must be true, right?”
“…..”
“That’s why I thought I wasn’t fit to stay at the temple.”
Yeshion began tidying the writing tools on the desk, signaling that he had nothing more to say.
Eldis, seeming to sense that the conversation was ending, hurriedly reached out. When his wrist was grasped, Yeshion looked up in surprise, only to see Eldis release him just as quickly, startled himself.
“…I apologize. I know you don’t like being touched without permission.”
Yeshion stared at Eldis in shock.
Could it be that the reason Eldis had kept his distance the past few days was because of something Yeshion had said to Adelio?
Before he could dwell on it, Eldis continued.
“Divine power can sometimes manifest later in life.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m not sure why that particular memory stayed with you…”
Eldis reached out as if to touch Yeshion’s head, but his hand hovered just above, as if stroking the air instead.
“I’ll correct myself.”
“.…”
“I apologize for those disrespectful words.”
Yeshion swallowed hard.
All at once, everything he had been avoiding clicked into place like pieces of a puzzle.
Eldis wasn’t seeing him as ‘the original Yeshion.’
‘But how…?’
Now wasn’t the time to get flustered. He had to remain firm, act like he knew nothing. That was the only way to escape the closing distance Eldis was creating.
Yeshion hid his clenched fists under his long robes and steeled his expression, looking sharply at Eldis before speaking coldly.
“My memory may be incomplete, but I am still Yeshion.”
“…?”
“Sometimes it feels like you’re seeing someone else when you look at me, Archpriest.”
If Eldis saw him as the same person, he wouldn’t have apologized to ‘Yeshion.’ This meant that Eldis must have been seeing something, or someone, else within him.
“I am the same Yeshion you knew—Yeshion, who doesn’t even have a surname. Even if I’ve lost my memories due to illness, that doesn’t make me someone else.”
As soon as Yeshion finished speaking, he held his breath.
It was the first time he had spoken so sharply to Eldis. His nervousness made his heart race as if it might burst.
Eldis, after quietly observing Yeshion, slowly nodded.
Satisfied with his response, Yeshion gathered his books and writing tools in his arms.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
Walking faster than usual, Yeshion left the office, and Eldis, watching his retreating figure, covered his mouth with one large hand.
“So, that’s how you’re going to play it.”
Eldis suppressed a chuckle, a low cough escaping instead as he shook his head. Watching Yeshion disappear from view, he shrugged.
“You’re not very good at lying. It would’ve been better if you’d just been honest.”
With a long sigh, Eldis placed the book he had been holding, “Understanding Theology for Beginners,” back on the shelf.
“For someone with that much divine power, he really expects me to believe otherwise.”
As he firmly pushed the book into place, Eldis laughed.
“Divine power resides in the soul, not the body.”
Taking a deep breath, Eldis gently brushed the spot where Yeshion had been sitting with his hand.
“Now, how will you explain that?”
