So I'm a sheep.

“They chained me to the doghouse with a dog chain, and then, and then they really just left me alone.”

"My God, I am their son, and they want to murder me!"

“One day, two days, I was so hungry that I was dizzy and my voice was hoarse from shouting. But they were heartless and just wouldn’t bring me any food.”

"I'm thinking about the deliciousness of offal again, and I'm going crazy."

"I buried my precious kitchen knife in the ground. When I dug it up, I happened to unearth a large rock."

"Well, I really have to say, the quality of my iron chain isn't very good; it breaks after just a few hits."

"Time is almost up," Leonard coldly reminded him.

"..."

“I was starving and filled with hatred. It was already late, and the three people in the house were already asleep.”

"I climbed through the window into my bedroom, and lo and behold, that guy was sleeping soundly in my bed."

The earplugs were shoved into the little girl's ears again, and Leonard's expression turned grim.

"..."

After the Pope removed the little girl's earplugs, all that could be heard was a man's suppressed sobbing.

"I don't want to, I don't want to, but if I don't kill them, they will kill me."

"Father, Mother, Sister... Oh God, what have I done!"

Another bout of wailing erupted, and the man choked out, "The devil has bewitched me, goddess, please forgive me."

"Sinner, remember the remorse you feel now."

"Fight desperately to atone for your sins! And then..."

“God will forgive you,” Leonard said solemnly.

Sasha should have said "God will forgive you" at this point, but she was very, very unhappy.

Ignoring Leonard's signal, the girl remained silent.

.................................................. ..

"Teacher, that guy is a complete liar; he has no genuine remorse whatsoever!"

"Oh?" Leonard remained noncommittal.

"If we don't kill the master, he'll starve to death, but what about my sister?"

The little girl said angrily, "My sister is completely innocent. Why would you kill your own sister?"

"He makes himself sound so pitiful, but I think he's just a pervert!"

"..."

“It is true”

Leonard sighed: "That guy is a complete freak. He gave himself the nickname 'The Gourmet'."

"A gourmet?" The little girl immediately had a bad feeling about it.

"After the killing, he liked to eat the livers of the dead raw."

Leonard shook his head: "Among all the Punishers, the Gourmet is a figure hated by both gods and demons."

"Does the church still need someone like that?"

"If it weren't for the Black Hand Brotherhood, I would have burned this monster at the stake the moment I saw him."

"But now... I have to use it while holding my nose."

"Isn't this guy prone to defection?"

“No, he needs the church. To be precise, he needs a priest to patiently listen to his confession.”

Leonard said calmly, "I know he's not sincerely repenting, but that's enough for him to feel that way."

“False confessions, meaningless forgiveness. But these were crucial to him.”

"Besides, if he dares to defect, the Black Knight will hunt him down to the ends of the earth until he dies."

"The Black Knight, another Punisher?"

"Yes, he is the leader of the Punishers, with extraordinary strength and exceptional loyalty to the Church."

"Sounds good, but could he be a pervert too?"

"Just treat him as a tool that's easy to use."

"Oh"

"Sasha, can we continue?"

Leonard studied the little girl's expression: "There are thirteen Punishers in total, you see..."

"I can do it."

The little girl wasn't intimidated by the gourmet; she remained composed.

"I was very unhappy, but that's all."

"Teacher, call on the next one."

Volume 1: Chapter 017 The Black Knight

"They're all awful people..."

Although Leonard would put earplugs in the little girl's ears whenever he got to the key points, Sasha could still sketch out the general life trajectories of the Punishers just from what she heard.

"Thank you so much, Sasha, you've been a huge help to me."

Leonard was clearly much closer to the little girl, and he said with a smile, "It must be boring to stay by my side all the time, right? I'll have Zorn take you out for a walk tomorrow."

Bishop Zorn, the Pope's deputy, and Leonard's true confidant.

"OK"

The little girl was quite happy to finally be able to go out for some fresh air.

With light steps, Sasha spoke up, "Teacher, I want to ask about the Black Knight."

"Are you curious about him?"

"Well, after all, he didn't repent at all; he just chatted with me for a while."

Among all the punishers, the Black Knight's behavior was quite unusual.

He did not recount his bitterness (sin), nor did he ask for the goddess's forgiveness at the end.

Like a friendly older brother next door, he spoke to the little girl in a gentle tone, talking about things that were either interesting or boring.

"The Black Knight's family was very poor. When he was twelve or thirteen years old, his family sold him to a heartless farmer to work as a child laborer."

"Because the exploitation he suffered was so severe, he escaped before a year had passed, taking advantage of the farmer's absence."

"They escaped?"

The little girl was very surprised: "He...he didn't kill the farmer's whole family?"

“Sasa, not everyone is a serial killer,” Leonard said seriously.

"..."

“Okay, let’s continue. The boy’s life was just as difficult after he escaped.”

"The main problem was the lack of food. In times of food shortage, no one was willing to share their precious food with him."

"Left with no other choice, the boy went to the battlefield."

"He became a soldier?"

"No, he became a hyena, living off the corpses on the battlefield."

"Suddenly become a cannibal?!"

"...What I mean is, he eats food from the dead."

“This industry is highly competitive. He not only has to compete with his peers, but also often has to deal with greedy adults.”

"After several near-death experiences, the boy became ruthless. Well, at this point, he finally showed some of the characteristics of the Black Knight."

"After growing a little older, one day, a question suddenly arose in the boy's mind: He was healthy and strong, so why did he have to eat from the dead?"

"Wanting to eat fresh food and to eat to one's heart's content every day. With this 'ambition,' the young man gathered a group of equally discontented young people and became the outer guard of a certain mercenary group."

"Three years later, everyone else was dead, but he became a full-fledged mercenary."

"..."

"Teacher, and then what?"

"Then he honed his killing skills on the battlefield, and as he killed more and more people, he earned the title of 'Black Knight'."

"The Black Knight was finally able to eat his fill, but after killing so many people, he became numb and empty, and eventually had to seek spiritual sustenance."

"He voluntarily joined the church, and after I took a liking to him, he became a disciplinarian."

"It seems rather ordinary."

The young girl compared the bizarre and twisted lives of other punishers and found that the Black Knight's experience was only ordinary.

“‘Ordinary’ is a good thing, isn’t it? Precisely because he is ‘ordinary’, he is closer to normal people and can be used by me more.”

"Speaking of which, teacher, how do you know so much about the Black Knight's experiences?"

“I’ve heard his confession.”

"teacher......"

The little girl looked at him speechlessly: "The confession you heard is something you can't tell others, right?"

“You are a messenger of God, not ‘someone else’.”

After saying that, Leonard reminded her again, "Sasha, don't tell anyone what you heard about the confession today."

"..."