Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 606

‘Why won’t they tell me the results?’

Su-ho never learned the outcome of the test.

Instead, he merely watched another child receive cookies.

Had the shimmering golden effect just been his imagination after all?

But he became certain that assumption was wrong the day before Sunday.

Early that morning, the head caretaker sister summoned him.

Even though it was not Sunday, he was bathed and dressed in white clothing.

At first, he assumed he was finally going to meet the bishops.

After all, they only wore these clothes when meeting the bishops, so it seemed obvious they intended to have him meet them separately.

But after the bath and change of clothes, the ones waiting for Su-ho were not bishops.

Instead, it was an unfamiliar middle-aged couple.

“She’s so adorable.”

The couple were devout followers of the Church of the Chief God who, after years of being unable to have children, had decided to adopt an orphan from the temple.

And then Su-ho saw it.

The murky red aura flickering across their faces.

An energy completely opposite to the golden light.

And through this incident, he finally became certain.

The lights he was seeing were visible only to him, and they were not hallucinations at all, but unmistakable hints meant to assist him.

Otherwise, with those lights flickering so blatantly, there was no way he alone would notice them.

Still, this was the first time he had seen a color other than gold.

And the murky aura did not look good at all.

As expected.

The nightmare began on the second day after he entered their home as their adopted child.

“Liquor! Bring me liquor!”

Crash!

Someone hurled a plate while screaming for alcohol.

It was none other than his adoptive mother.

The second his adoptive father left on a long business trip just two days after the adoption, her tyranny began.

When they had first met at the temple—and even during the first day while her husband was present—she had worn the warmest smile in the world.

But the moment her husband left, she became a completely different person.

Yet Su-ho was not surprised.

Because he knew this was also part of the test.

Why did he think that?

Because astonishingly enough, the adoptive father had never actually left for a business trip.

He was hidden somewhere inside the house, secretly observing Su-ho through cleverly concealed peepholes.

Su-ho had realized it early on because of the distinct sensation of being watched through the holes.

And he became certain the observer was the adoptive father after sensing the familiar aura and briefly seeing one of the eyes beyond the peephole.

It had definitely belonged to him.

Which made the entire thing rather strange.

‘Are my abilities truly sealed... or are they only pretending to be sealed?’

It was bizarre.

Back at the temple, it had genuinely felt as though all of his abilities were completely sealed away.

Yet moments like this made it feel otherwise.

Still, he continued the act.

Because he had not yet become a saint.

So he pretended not to notice anything and carefully considered what kind of saint they wanted him to become, doing his best to imitate the behavior he had displayed back at the temple.

Five prayers a day...

No, seven prayers a day.

He kept his sleeping area perfectly tidy and cared for his drunken, violent adoptive mother whenever she flew into a drunken rage.

He handled the household chores in place of the mother who never lifted a finger herself, and he never wasted even the smallest object.

The adoptive father’s supposed business trip was meant to last roughly a month.

Which meant Su-ho intended to endure this insanity for at least that long.

“How was she today?”

“She began the day with morning prayers again.”

Everything unfolded exactly as Su-ho had predicted.

The middle-aged couple were examiners planted by Conrad, and the adoptive father observed Su-ho daily under Conrad’s orders before reporting back personally.

Without slipping once, Su-ho continued living according to the pious image they desired.

It was grotesque.

Viewed from near or far, the house Su-ho had been adopted into was a place of misery.

Yet from Su-ho’s perspective alone, the entire situation felt like a dark comedy.

Still, there was one thing he had not expected.

This damned test continued for over two months.

The adoptive father kept delaying his return home under the excuse that his business trip had grown longer.

Even so, Su-ho endured stubbornly and continued living through the madness for more than two months.

Then, shortly after the two-month mark, his adoptive mother finally sent him outside on an errand for the first time.

“Go into town and buy liquor and food.”

Any warmth or kindness had long since vanished from her eyes and voice.

She treated him more like a servant than a son, but Su-ho paid it no mind whatsoever.

“Yes, Mother.”

Instead, he remained polite to the very end, accepted the money from her, and left the house to shop.

Su-ho looked up at the sky.

‘Been a while since I’ve gone outside.’

At this point, even Su-ho had adapted to this lifestyle.

This was by far the longest test he had ever endured in his life, but that fact itself did not bother him much.

Because regardless of the task, what mattered was doing his best.

Once he arrived in the village, Su-ho bought the items one by one exactly as instructed.

“Did you come shopping all by yourself?”

“What a good child. May the Chief God’s blessing be with you.”

“How admirable. Never forget the Chief God’s teachings.”

The villagers’ warm blessings.

What a joke.

How could every single person in the village possibly be a believer in the Church of the Chief God?

Still, Su-ho revealed nothing outwardly and continued acting like the perfect obedient child while shopping.

‘Got the liquor. Bread, cheese, milk too.’

After finishing the shopping, Su-ho immediately headed home.

Then, on the way back, a passing woman spoke to him.

“Little one, are you out here alone?”

“Yes, I’m heading home now.”

“You must’ve gone shopping. Be extra careful. I heard there have been a lot of beggars around the village lately.”

“You mean they might attack me?”

“Yes. Many beggars are unbelievers, you see. They don’t know gratitude toward the Chief God and live only according to their desires.”

He had thought he’d grown used to hearing nonsense after beginning this test.

But hearing fresh nonsense instead of drunken screaming after so long snapped him back to reality immediately.

Which was why Su-ho unconsciously asked in return,

“Aren’t people naturally like that?”

“Well, yes, but unbelievers always cross the line. They never appreciate anything and only care about their own interests.”

“I see. But the Chief God said we shouldn’t ignore hungry people.”

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