When Did I Become An Artifact Dealer?!
Chapter 55: Masked Men

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Masked Men

So what really happened?

After seeing those strange men, Cail suddenly grabbed Veyr. He hugged Veyr tightly to his chest and took a step back.

Because his face was covered, he couldn’t show any facial expressions, so he made his voice quiver. "You—who are you?! What do you guys want?!"

His body language said that if they moved another step, he was going to bolt.

One of the masked men said, "You are not supposed to be here. You need to leave." His voice was raspy and deep.

Hearing that, Cail finally understood that they were probably keeping tabs on this church. This was also the reason they immediately came here after hearing the sound.

Cail didn’t say anything, and continued hugging Veyr. They didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking, so Cail walked toward the door, still facing them.

One of the masked men was looking at the altar while the others were lighting the candles.

Their robes were embroidered with intricate runes from a language that Cail didn’t understand.

"They’ll really just leave us alone? Just like that?"

Cail felt uneasy about the situation, but since they weren’t looking for trouble, that was fine. Just by observing their strength, it seemed like they were on the same level as that woman from before.

Of course, Cail’s premonition came true. Just as he neared the door, it suddenly slammed shut. One of the masked men who was lighting a candle looked at Cail sideways and asked maliciously, "Why are you leaving? Since you’re already here, why don’t you join us?"

Cail mentally thought, *This is the reasonable reaction*, but outwardly, he looked at the group of masked men warily. "No! I want to leave."

Then, to be more convincing, he even tried to plead. "My son and I didn’t see anything. Please let us go!"

Veyr gave him a side-eye, as if saying, *Didn’t you just disagree to be my father? Why are you claiming to be one now?*

Cail ignored the disrespectful child and continued observing the masked men.

One of the masked men looked at his companion and said, "Why don’t we just kill them?" He didn’t whisper or hide his intent to kill at all. They were in charge of the situation... or so they thought.

His companion looked at Cail and Veyr with a very calculating gaze. "We could use them as a sacrifice if necessary."

Hearing their conversation, Cail had a mischievous idea. Even he was a bit speechless at how out-of-the-box he could be during sensitive situations.

But... roleplaying seemed to be a bit fun.

He suddenly put Veyr down and backed away. "You—you guys, please spare me! You can take my child! I heard deities are particularly fond of innocent souls!"

Which Veyr wasn’t really an innocent little one...

Those men weren’t particularly surprised, but one of them looked at Cail with disgust.

"This type of person... They’re the kind of people one should avoid."

A person willing to sacrifice anything just to survive.

Veyr was a bit startled. He wasn’t sure if Cail was joking or not, but he hugged Cail’s feet and wailed, "Dad! Don’t leave me alone!"

Really a receptive child. He didn’t even forget to call Cail Dad.

One of the masked men chuckled.

"You, child, there is no need to panic. Neither you nor your father will escape from here. The two of you will be together forever."

Veyr trembled a bit. Cail looked at him with an unreadable expression and smiled. Sure enough...

The men tied the two of them. After binding the child, Veyr, they stuffed him into Cail’s embrace.

Cail was pushed to the ground. The men ignored them and continued with their ritual.

Hollow Accord, right? Cail thought as he adjusted Veyr’s odd posture on his lap.

The entire church looked eerie. With the glowing candles in the daytime, the atmosphere became even stranger. The candles they lit smelled good—well, at least to Cail. It smelled like rotten flowers. It was the scent of sweet death.

They drew a strange symbol on the ground using the blood from a vial they had brought.

Is that blood special?

If not, they could have chosen to slit Cail’s wrist and let him bleed for the ritual.

But of course, that’s assuming they were a normal cult.

It was definitely a strange scene. The group circled the symbol like little fairies running around a fairy circle. They chanted something... something familiar to Cail. He had heard Jael chant it during his strange episodes.

Then, a strange statue appeared. Cail assumed they had a hidden space, just like him to hold things, since the statue didn’t look like something that was summoned.

One of the men finally walked toward the statue. With a knife, he slit his throat.

Blood splattered, but he didn’t react. He walked toward the statue and hugged it, like a child seeking his mother’s comfort.

The "mother" in this situation was unusual. It was a statue of a woman wearing a laced veil. Her eyes were twisted with rage and her hand was placed on her chest, seemingly resembling compassion.

The woman had no visible deformities based on what Cail could see, but he sensed something was off about the statue.

Then, the chanting stopped.

The man who had hugged the statue was dead.

Cail couldn’t see the light that symbolized life in him.

After a few seconds of silence, that was when the statue started to shift.

Cail saw a hand come out of the statue’s mouth.

It wasn’t just one hand... but four hands coming out from the mouth.

Something was threatening to come out of the statue... or so he thought it was a statue.

Not until he heard the familiar sound of bone breaking and the tearing of flesh did he realize the "statue" was the petrified corpse of a woman.

It was like watching something emerge from a cocoon.

A faceless creature came out of the woman’s mouth. It had a cylindrical-shaped head, just a bit thicker than the neck. Its slender fingers grew to a meter in length the moment it came out of the mouth.

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