In the village school's garden, several older children had a thin boy cornered, cursing and beating him.
The reason was that the boy had desecrated the Saint and even caused the temple to catch fire... It was the Saint's punishment for the village. Since that day, no matter how hard many of the adults prayed, their prayers were never as effective as before.
The adults said it was all Dashu's fault, and that this child had been born to torment everyone.
"It's all your fault! You've made me double my prayer time every night!"
"That's right! You still have the nerve to come to the village school!"
The little boy was far too weak. Faced with peers whose physiques far surpassed his own, he could only curl up on the ground and barely protect his vital areas. Similar incidents had happened many times recently, and the boy seemed to have grown used to them.
But it really hurt.
"You! Picking on Dashu here again!"
An angry voice rang out.
"Damn it! It's Remia! Run!"
The older children scattered at once... Then a girl hurried over and quickly helped the little boy up. But the boy shook his head.
"I'm fine. Go back."
"Dashu..."
"The High Priest said I'd better not see you for a while. Otherwise... otherwise, it might affect your studies." The boy lowered his voice. "If the villagers find out that you're together with me, a sinner who desecrated the Saint, they'll blame you. Hey, Remia! Stop crying. I'm fine. These guys don't hit very hard. I don't care. Look, it really doesn't hurt!"
"You're lying!" the girl sobbed. "You're all lying! The one who really desecrated..."
"Remia!" The little boy's voice suddenly grew heavy, interrupting her. "Remember, I was the one who climbed onto the statue, not