The Artist Who Paints Dungeon
Chapter 190

The mermaids were children of the sea.

The sea was a part of them, and they too were a part of the sea.

Among them, Aria and Iser possessed the authority to commune with and interact even with seas from other dimensions.

And through that sea, Iser caught a familiar scent.

A trace of a small, delicate child that resembled sunlight...

“......”

“Oh! Eunha!”

“...It’s Iser.”

When Cha I-Sol greeted him cheerfully, Iser asked, utterly baffled,

“What are you doing?”

“We were doing field training, yo!”

“Trainee priests of the Church of the Sun usually do their field training in large groups. Why are only the two of you left?”

“They all ran off!”

“Haa...”

With a heavy sigh, Iru Da, who stood beside Cha I-Sol, flinched.

Now forced into the absurd situation of having to accommodate a baby human’s mood, Iser spoke with a dismal tone.

“As far as I can see, your fellow trainee priests abandoned only the two of you and fled. Judging by the blood scent, it’s only the two of you who were injured. That suggests this was a deliberate act to cause you trouble.”

“Your words are too difficult.”

“If you could decide whether I should use formal or informal speech, I’d appreciate it. To summarize, it seems the two of you were bullied or harassed. I understand Korea uses the word ‘wangtta’ to describe this.”

“Right, it’s really petty.”

“So you’re not unaware.”

Iser waved a mermaid’s hand to dismiss the sea of the dungeon.

So this was what awaited from the familiar scent that came through the sea connected to Earth.

Had things gone poorly, they could have been seriously hurt.

‘Then the teacher would’ve been saddened.’

That, he did not wish for.

‘This might be the first apostle of Giovanni.’

If it was something that could help Gio in any way, there was no reason not to do it.

Iser glanced around the now-calm beach of the dungeon.

It was a dimension with a severely tangled space.

“Aren’t there supervising priests assigned to trainee priests?”

“This time, it was a solo practical session just for us.”

“Even so, given the Church of the Sun’s nature, there should’ve been someone observing.”

“Th-that’s... is that so?”

Instead of the stammering Cha I-Sol, Iru Da spoke up.

“...There should be priests stationed in case of accidents, even if they don’t supervise directly. But recently, we had to develop an A-class dungeon, so only a few priests stayed behind.”

“You mean to say that due to a lack of personnel, there were few priests assigned to this field session? In the Church of the Sun, which was crawling with humans? Well, I suppose the scent of humans in this sea is faint. There aren’t that many here.”

“It’s true the church has many priests, but there are few teachers responsible for trainee priests. At most, maybe two came along. They likely couldn’t keep track of us because they were busy managing trainees spread all over the place.”

Cha I-Sol grumbled.

“It’s because we’re too good.”

“...That might be part of it.”

The Cha I-Sol and Iru Da pair, known for having top-tier talent among the Church of the Sun’s entire batch, were often labeled as ‘kids who need no watching.’

So the supervising priests likely focused on those with higher injury risk.

Iser thought to himself.

‘Barbaric, really.’

No matter the dimension, religion had its blind or absurd tendencies.

As if they believed everything in the world could be solved through faith alone.

They were fools, truly.

‘...Or perhaps something more transcendent was subtly reshaping the threads of fate...’

He had his doubts, but such things were not Iser’s specialty.

He recalled once more the reason he had come here in person.

“How reckless. If you die, the Black Cloak will be sad, you know?”

“Oh, how’s hyung doing?”

“I’m not an informant. If necessary, you should contact him directly.”

Iser, making no effort to hide his displeasure, disappeared through the sea the same way he had arrived.

Iru Da, who had been holding her breath in fear at the sudden appearance of a humanoid monster, finally exhaled deeply.

“...Haaaah...”

“What’s wrong? Were you scared?”

“If I weren’t scared, I’d be insane.”

“Wh-what about me, then? Does that make me...?”

“Sometimes you really do seem out of your mind.”

“Wait, are you saying I’m crazy?!”

“Quiet down.”

Reflexively covering Cha I-Sol’s mouth, Iru Da corrected herself.

“No, never mind. Just explain what happened.”

“Uh... a monster friend I know showed up and saved us from danger.”

“Do you really think that’s a complete explanation?”

“If you have more questions, feel free to ask any time!”

“There’s one I’m really curious about.”

Iru Da asked,

“Are you close with that monster? Are you a tamer or something?”

“I awakened as a priest, remember?”

“Then where does that confidence come from, chatting so casually with monsters?”

“Eunha doesn’t like me that much, so I don’t think we’re that close.”

“I’m asking why you act so friendly when it could be dangerous.”

“I thought we were close enough to hold that kind of conversation!”

“Cha I-Sol’s social skills strike again...”

It was a painfully bright sort of sociability.

A monster showing up just to save a human — how absurd.

“...And there’s something else I’m curious about.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Are you really going to become the Black Cloak’s priest?”

“That’s sudden...?”

“That mermaid just now, didn’t he say it with that nuance?”

He had clearly said, ‘If you die, the Black Cloak will be sad.’

“Like he already marked you as his follower.”

“I don’t think that’s it...”

Cha I-Sol tilted her head.

“I just kind of want to, though!”

“Hey... if you ever summon the Black Cloak, promise you’ll call me. Got it?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I said I would before. Trust me.”

“I don’t trust you.”

Though Iru Da truly liked how bright and pure Cha I-Sol was, if anything happened to her, it would be a different matter.

‘She’s not the type to scheme behind people’s backs... but sometimes she acts first without thinking, and the people around her get heart attacks.’

Iru Da had no choice but to protect Cha I-Sol, who had such a talent for getting roped into things.

“Ah, my whole body...”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means my muscles and joints all ache.”

“Why call it that?”

“It’s a way of saying my whole body hurts.”

“Ooooh...”

“......”

Unlike Cha I-Sol, who remained cheerfully unfazed, Iru Da was on the verge of exploding with rage.

‘...Those bastards, how dare they.’

They ran off and left me and Cha I-Sol behind?

She never imagined she’d get betrayed by humans and saved by a monster.

‘I still don’t know why that mermaid helped us, but if this is the result of Cha I-Sol’s insane friendliness... then it’s truly a miracle we made it out unharmed.’

Even that monster, who was visibly annoyed by helping humans, had clearly scoffed at the absurd state of the Church of the Sun.

‘I’d laugh too, if it were me.’

The Church wasn’t some sketchy cult — it was a massive institution representing Seoul.

Even with A-class dungeon development causing chaos, this was no way to manage trainee priests.

“......”

No, perhaps even this was part of someone’s political scheme.

“...It’s disgusting...”

“What’s disgusting?”

“I was wrong, so you don’t say stuff like that.”

“You mean not to curse? Okay. But seriously, why?”

“The more I think about it, the more I realize I was too complacent.”

There was no guarantee the religious world was pure and clean.

In fact, the modern priests, fueled by blind arrogance, grew even more political within their closed environments.

‘Even though my mother warned me, to let things reach this point... how pathetic.’

There were two ways to secure power in the religious world.

Be overwhelmingly loved by the divine, or master the politics.

Otherwise, even gaining a voice was impossible.

‘I’m not the only one who knows how to play the game.’

A priest with only talent and nothing else would wither under intense scrutiny.

Even more so during these inexperienced trainee years.

She should’ve navigated it better.

“To think they’d try to crush our spirits like this...”

“Who’s crushed?”

“Seems like our peers were really out to break us.”

Iru Da let out a hollow laugh.

“No, to be precise, they were targeting me.”

Cha I-Sol, with her naturally likable personality and cooperative nature, was rarely hated.

She even had a bit of a pushover vibe, so no one felt the need to antagonize her.

But because she was paired with Iru Da, she got dragged into it too.

“What exactly did they pull... Did they bribe the priests? Or maybe just collaborated to draw the teachers’ attention elsewhere. Our pair is known for needing no supervision...”

“Can you summarize that?”

“I... can’t really summarize this well.”

Even with her maturity, Iru Da was still just a trainee priest.

She had read and heard much, but lacked real experience.

She knew she was disliked, but this exceeded her expectations.

This was outright crossing the line.

“......”

“...Should we get treated first?”

“Let’s do that.”

Iru Da didn’t ask, ‘Do you regret being paired with me?’

Because she knew Cha I-Sol wasn’t the type to regret things like that.

But still, she couldn’t help but feel sorry to her precious natural monument of a partner.

‘If we weren’t paired, she wouldn’t have gone through this. No, if I’d just been more aware and careful...’

The more she thought about it, the more calculated this all seemed.

Some smart classmates must’ve exploited the church’s disarray during dungeon development to hatch a plan.

Or maybe someone acted deliberately with backing.

‘Otherwise, this wouldn’t have escalated so far.’

The church would never neglect a precious trainee until they were critically injured by monsters and rendered unable to fight.

At least, the Church of the Sun she knew wouldn’t.

And yet, here they were.

Sure enough, when a priest finally arrived and found them, he turned pale.

“W-what on earth happened...! Are you alright?!”

“Our teammates suddenly left us behind. So...”

“No, I definitely took precautions... Why didn’t I receive any contact...?”

Before the training, the supervising priest had said, ‘You’re going in without our help,’ but that couldn’t have been entirely true.

There must have been some magical measure to notify the priests in case of problems.

‘If even that failed, then someone must’ve tampered with it or spent a lot of money.’

Some trainee priests, like Carnation Child, came from poor backgrounds.

But others, like Iru Da, held first-class citizenship in the city.

They likely had connections with hunters or the church, widening the range of tricks they could pull.

‘Even so, this went way too far.’

Whoever planned this must’ve wanted Iru Da seriously harmed and paid a steep price to do it.

But it wasn’t something she could just let slide.

The supervising priest’s face stiffened as he grasped the situation.

“This was the fault of both myself and the church. I’ll contact your guardians and offer both an apology and compensation, but... ha... may I speak to you more after your treatment?”

“Yes, we’ll do that.”

“I’m truly sorry. I apologize again. Since this was a solo trainee session, I should have been more vigilant. While I was busy with the others, I neglected our most promising talents... No, I’m sorry. Let’s head to the treatment room right away.”

Perhaps not wanting to spout more meaningless nonsense in front of the kids, the supervising priest quickly ushered them to the treatment room.

And Iru Da saw it.

“......”

“......”

One of their peers glaring at them with a face full of resentment.

‘...That bastard?’

Iru Da vowed revenge.

***

The hallway meeting after returning from Jeju Island.

“...Do things really go that far?”

At Joo-Hyun’s question, Yoo Seong-Woon gave a sheepish smile.

“Religious politics can get pretty cutthroat.”

“But still, we’re talking about trainee priests.”

“The younger they are, the more people look to exploit the gaps in their defenses.”

There had always been mind games among priests, but even accounting for that, this incident had gone too far.

Kang Seodam, overwhelmed by the demands of the A-class dungeon development, had only learned of the situation later and contacted Yoo Seong-Woon in a panic.

He spoke while looking at Gio.

“Priest Kang Seodam said he’s really sorry. To the ones involved, and especially to you, since it’s his class and he neglected it using busyness as an excuse... that’s why this happened.”

More than anything, it was the fact that Cha I-Sol wanted to become the Black Cloak’s priest, and the Black Cloak himself had a fondness for her.

Avoiding divine wrath meant groveling in advance—a wise move.

“He says he’ll accept any punishment.”

“Why would I punish him?”

“I’ll pass that along then.”

At that point, Joo-Hyun ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) asked again.

“I asked this before, but... does it really go that far?”

“Hm?”

“Someone deliberately disabled the safeguards protecting trainee priests. Even if this was a solo training session, there must have been plenty of people observing from the rear. At that level, it sounds like something beyond a mere student’s doing. It feels like an adult must’ve helped...”

“Ah, that part.”

“If it were just jealousy from a fellow trainee, the incident wouldn’t be this big.”

“That’s true, but...”

Yoo Seong-Woon scratched his neck.

“The world’s just like that, isn’t it?”

For a speck of power, people—regardless of age or gender—will trample others.

You have to live desperate and dirty to protect what’s yours.

That’s what the world considers smart.

“You sound surprised.”

“...I guess I’m not really in a position to say that, having already lost in that political game.”

“But it’s true that this was a pretty extreme move for their age group.”

“I get the feeling there’s more going on that we’re not seeing...”

“There’s no way to know every conspiracy in the world.”

“So you’re calling it a conspiracy now.”

“You could say it was a scheme.”

Gio nodded.

“It’s clear that the other trainees dislike her.”

“Who? Oh, you mean the trainee priest Iru Da?”

“Yes. I experienced similar things when I was young.”

Gio—Giovanni—knew well the blind fervor of priests.

He’d experienced not just minor injuries, but had drunk poison that burned his organs, been pushed off cliffs, and slandered as an evil spirit.

The reasons varied.

Some couldn’t stand his confidence.

Some wanted to break his spirit so they could manipulate him.

Some feared his inevitable rise and wanted to eliminate him early.

“This case likely follows the same pattern.”

“And these are people who serve gods...”

“Sometimes it was internal conflict, other times they cooperated with outside forces. I wonder which it was this time.”

“You think there might’ve been some larger plot?”

“Well... not so much a large conspiracy...”

Gio tilted his head.

“...More like a tantrum, perhaps.”

“What kind of tantrum is that dangerous?”

“Indeed.”

***

The red gemstone in the research lab had grown sullen once again.

“Sankallut-nim...!”

“■...”

It wanted to go home.

But that was proving to be anything but easy.