How the Cult Saves the World

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Hanlim, somewhere.

Pitter-patter—!

A woman with rabbit ears and a tail was running for all she was worth. Running from the men who were desperate to capture her.

"Huff, huff!"

Her breath was reaching its very limit, but the rabbit beastkin May didn't stop. She couldn't stop. Because if she were caught by them now, she would never see her beloved family and friends again.

And her body would no longer be her own.

Because she knew that well, May endured somehow on sheer willpower even though she felt she might die from exhaustion.

"Ngh!"

May bit her lip hard and ran even faster. Ordinary humans couldn't have chased a rabbit beastkin like her, but these were different.

They had been lying in wait at the paths beastkin frequently traveled. And they had shot paralysis needles to stop beastkin from escaping easily.

May had known this, and had taken extra care. And yet, even knowing the trafficking ring was nearby and trying to avoid them, she hadn't been able to dodge the paralysis needles that flew at her so rapidly.

Because tens, hundreds of needles had come flying at once—even a fast rabbit beastkin couldn't dodge all of them.

Her whole body, struck by the needles, was growing numb, and she couldn't move at the same speed as before. As time passed the gap between her and her pursuers was closing.

'Please, please, just a little faster......!'

May squeezed her fist tight, desperately trying to correct her vision which was blurring with tears from fear. She wanted to transform into a rabbit and run, but the effect of the paralysis needles spreading through her body made even that impossible.

'Just a little more and I'll be there......!'

But even so, May refused to let go of the thread of hope and kept running and running. Because just a few hundred meters more and she would reach "Jungnim," the safe zone where the beastkin lived together.

And once she entered Jungnim, the trafficking ring would certainly no longer be able to chase her. Because right now, patrols were being conducted across all of Jungnim, primarily by carnivorous beastkin.

'So please, just a little more......'

May felt her heart beating so fast she thought she might die at any moment. She wanted to give up.

"There she is!"

But before she knew it, her pursuers had closed to right behind her.

'No, no!'

She couldn't be caught here. She had simply gone out to get medicine for her sick younger sibling. If she didn't arrive in time, her sibling might die.

That was what she feared even more than being captured and dragged away by the trafficking ring. She would rather be taken away as long as she could at least deliver the medicine. She didn't want to lose her precious family.

"There she is!"

The pursuers' voices grew even closer. At this rate, she would be caught before long. May closed her eyes tight and focused only on running.

Thwack!

But at that very moment. May's body was grabbed by someone, and her mouth was covered in an instant.

"Mmph, mmph!"

May struggled. To break free from whoever had grabbed her. But the strong grip didn't let go.

"Shh. Calm down."

But why? She had been expecting to hear a human voice dripping with greed at any moment.

Yet the voice that followed was gentle.

"I will not harm you."

At those words reaching her again, May's struggling stopped. Then May cautiously opened her eyes. And before her was a man with round glasses smiling gently.

In any other circumstances, she might have simply thought him handsome. And that man, while covering May's mouth, hid her behind a large tree.

"Shh."

The man then pressed his index finger to his lips, gesturing for May to be quiet. May found herself nodding as if mesmerized.

Before long, the man's hand came away, and only then could May breathe freely. At that, the man lightly nodded his head toward May's rear.

Thud, thwack!

With that dull sound, the running footsteps of the pursuers were no longer heard. May stared up at the man with wide round eyes.

The handsome man was simply smiling. And then, two men came up behind her.

"Filth."

One spat out an expletive that was hard to even put into words, and the other was quiet. May carefully turned her head and looked at them.

And she was a little surprised. Because the two men who appeared to be with the man before her were also remarkably handsome.

The tall man was a strongly-featured handsome man, and the smaller one was, in a word, a beautiful young man.

"Oh, goodness. Are you all right?"

The beautiful young man who had just been spitting harsh expletives spoke to May with genuine-seeming concern. The tall man, meanwhile, kept his mouth shut.

"Ah, yes. Th, thank you."

Only then realizing these men had saved her, May bowed her head to the three of them in gratitude.

"Brother Terdius, Brother Rawin. Good work."

Revelof, the man who had rescued May, said to the two of them. Only then did the tall man who had been keeping his mouth firmly shut—Terdius—speak.

"It was nothing."

Then the beautiful young man, Rawin, hurriedly added:

"C'mon, no need to go that far between us."

Leaving a flustered Rawin behind, Revelof turned his gaze to May. And he spoke to her kindly, still with that beautiful smile.

"Are you injured anywhere?"

"Ah, er...... I was hit by paralysis needles but I'm all right."

"It seems you're a rabbit beastkin, which is why you couldn't shake off the trafficking ring."

Revelof looked at May with sympathy and reached his hand out toward her. For a moment, surprised, May closed her eyes tight.

But what followed was merely pure white light and warmth entering her body. And simultaneously, the numbness throughout her body vanished completely.

"You'll be fine now."

"Th, thank you."

May looked up at Revelof with surprised eyes. In the meantime, Revelof started walking alongside Terdius and Rawin.

"We'll take you as far as 'Jungnim.'"

Revelof said to May. At that, May started to move then gave a start and stopped. Revelof decided to put her at ease.

"You can trust us. We are Kyros Church members, who serve Lord Kyros."

At those words, May's eyes went wide. Because it called to mind something she had heard before. May cautiously asked them:

"Could you perhaps be...... Lord Leviathan, the Kyros Church leader?"

At May's question, Revelof was a little surprised. Then he smiled faintly.

"It seems you know Troy."

"Yes! That's right! Troy is a benefactor to our 'Jungnim'! And Troy sometimes talked about Kyros Church! Some of the beastkin even became Kyros Church believers! There are many beastkin in Jungnim who Troy rescued!"

The tension having finally broken, May chattered away. Revelof gave a small laugh and said:

"Ha ha, I see. Then, could you show us the way to where Troy is, Sister?"

"Yes! I will!"

And so Revelof set off toward Jungnim together with May.

I cheered inwardly. "Jungnim," where the beastkin lived together, was not a place an ordinary human could easily find. There was a special barrier formation there, making it difficult for ordinary humans to enter.

And so going in together with a beastkin was the most convenient way. Ordinary people could enter, but breaking the formation was quite a bother.

On top of that, in recent times the carnivorous beastkin would be guarding the area near where the formation was.

'That's why the trafficking ring people can only be active near Jungnim—they can't enter inside.'

Jungnim had also made various efforts to deal with the trafficking ring, but there were difficulties in resolving it on their own.

Because Diego Church had gotten involved. No matter how strong the carnivorous beastkin were, they inevitably suffered considerable damage due to Diego Church's power.

And so reducing outings as much as possible and strengthening Jungnim's defenses was their limit.

"Here we are. This is 'Jungnim'!"

Following May, I arrived at Jungnim in no time. Jungnim was literally a village in the middle of a forest. And so even the entrance was the forest itself.

"May, what are these humans?"

A tiger beastkin guarding Jungnim's entrance—a massive wooden gate—eyed us warily as he looked at the people behind May.

"Ah, these people are my saviors!"

"What?"

"I was being chased by the trafficking ring, and these people saved me. They are Lord Leviathan, the Kyros Church leader, and his companions!"

"Is that really true?"

"Yes! It really is!"

As the tiger beastkin looked at us with surprised eyes—

Thwack!

Something landed in front of us. And seeing it, I felt a surge of gladness. I immediately went to him.

"Church Leader, you're here."

Troy said to me in a slightly more heated tone than usual. I gripped his shoulder in greeting.

"Troy, you've worked hard."

"No, Church Leader."

Even without a long exchange, I could tell Troy had been through a rough time. The fact alone that the number of beastkin Troy had rescued inside Jungnim was considerable meant he had fought through many battles.

Still, perhaps thanks to the healing potions I had given him, not a single wound was visible on Troy's body.

"Oh, it really is the people Troy spoke about!"

With Troy himself coming out to meet us, the tiger beastkin seemed to trust us at last.

"Please, everyone come inside!"

The tiger beastkin opened Jungnim's gate. And I stepped inside together with the others.

"Wow."

I marveled softly. "Hanlim" was a country with an Eastern setting that was almost nonexistent in the original story. Among it, Jungnim was a space you might only see in old Eastern novels.

It was filled with countless bamboo and unfamiliar plants, and the houses around it were also Eastern in style. On top of that, the beastkin walking the streets wore clothing with an Eastern feel.

"This place is truly mysterious."

"Hmm."

Terdius and Rawin looked around in surprise. As they did, Troy pointed to a small house and said:

"Church Leader, let's go there. That's the lodgings I've been staying in."

"It seems you're living inside Jungnim now, Troy."

At my words, Troy shook his head.

"No, that's not quite it. I mainly patrol the area around Jungnim at night."

"I wasn't criticizing you."

I said to Troy, who added hastily, with a smile.

"Just that the threat of human trafficking exists during the day too."

"Right. That's a part I overlooked. My failing."

Troy looked at May and let his shoulders droop. I gave his shoulder a light bump.

"It's all right. We're here now."

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