CH 53

The sound of the cash being deducted was also quite dazzling.

In this way, from basic skills to ultimate skills, all divine power skills were learned without distinction. Dealer, supporter, and healer skills!

[‘The World-building God’ applauds your wise judgment.]

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ says you got the basics in how to shop right and expresses her interest.]

[‘The Creative Business Manager’ is pleased with the sales performance of this month.]

Ah, a new god has appeared.

[‘The World-building God’ asks the business manager what’s going on.]

[‘The Creative Business Manager’ says they should have a meeting about the upcoming big update.]

The gods disappeared to be faithful to their main duties.

At this point, the message that I had been waiting for came up in front of me.

[ Your ranking changes. Current Rank: 573th (▲20,412)]

Finally, I got inside the Top 1000 ranked.

The tutorial quest to be within the top 100 of this setting has not been completed yet.

It was easy to guess why my ranking was lower than expected even with divine power at saint-level and ultimate skills to top it off.

‘It must be because all the skills are level 1.’

I don’t know about the other skills but where can I hand out a business card as a healer if my healing is level 1? I’ll have to focus on raising my skill level for the time being.

But there was a problem.

“I have to use it to level up, right? Where am I going to use this?”

Sheesh, I’m in a difficult situation.

✠

There was another commotion inside The Vatican in Elpenheim. It was because of the auspicious white light that poured into the center of the main chapel after a long time.

“Oh, oh! A person who has reached the level of a Saint has been born! This is the first time in 200 years!”

“In this day and age, an Awakener of the Divine Power who has reached the limits of human beings! I’m sure this is the protagonist of the Divine Descent!”

“I think it was because they were in the middle of a closed-door training that they were quiet without using Descent of Divinity for over two years!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to meet them whoever they are! Where the hell are they……!” 

At the moment of awakening, when Ellet’s vessel of holy power expanded to the level of a saint, the cardinals who felt her presence were thrilled.

Among the cardinals gathered in the chapel was Cattleya, Bianca’s grandmother. She was listening to the cardinals, never knowing that the hero of the auspicious white light was Ellet.

“We have to hurry up and find where the Saintess is and take them to this Vatican!”

“Sir Clovis, who is in charge of the search for the Saintess, is not doing very well.”

“Well, since the presence of the Saintess has become clearer, there will be good news soon. Let’s wait a little longer.”

“But is their gender determined to be female? Everyone has been calling them a Saintess since before.”

“Hmmm, I think the public reaction was good when I promoted it towards a Saintess rather than a Saint……”

The topic of conversation had shifted to politics.

The cardinals, who exchanged enough words, were in the midst of leaving their seats and going away.  When almost all the people in the chapel had left, Cattleya also stepped into the corridor.

At that moment.

“Cardinal Cattleya.”

It was a wonderful voice that the 1st Choir of The Vatican would covet. She turned to see a boy who had caught up with her height.

Silver hair that sparkles as if it was made by emitting the light of the day and the moon, and eyes that go back and forth between blue and green depending on the angle of light, like the water of the shallow sea.

Delicate and beautiful features like a crystal statue crafted by a craftsman reduced the viewer’s sense of reality.

Silver hair, a white face, and a paladin uniform.

Armed with pure and holy colors from head to toe, the sight of the boy receiving a beam of light from the surroundings made him look more like a holy being portrayed in divine paintings than a human being.

Cattleya called the boy’s name.

“Brother Thesilid.”

An overwhelmingly strong contender, that God favors, amidst the stigmata. Thesilid Argent.

Cattleya’s gaze, as usual, was directed over Thesilid’s head.

‘It’s still the same.’

Life expectancy was normal. However, the remaining life was not visible.

He too was a special being chosen by God.

The voice of a boy who had yet to go through his puberty quietly echoed through the air.

“I heard that you visited Count Gillette last Thanksgiving.”

“That’s right.”

“You must have had a peaceful time after a long time. Wasn’t there anything special in the Count?”

Was the boy usually this friendly towards me? Curious, Cattleya answered.

“Should there be something special about it? It’s been a long time since they stopped paying attention to the central politics and dungeon subjugation, so it was peaceful as always.”

“Even the servants?”

“Servants?”

“There was a girl who came to The Vatican before and got caught up in a dungeon sink. I remember she was a servant there.”

“Oh, you mean Ellet. At that time, you were the one who rescued and carried her out. It’s already been over two years, have you been paying attention?”

“Yes, a little.”

“She’s doing just fine. She’s not as big as you, but she’s grown a lot. She’s starting to have some girly charm.”

“Is that so….”

As he lowered his gaze, Thesilid seemed to be holding on to a small smirk. He usually had a nice and gentle smile on his face, but now the feeling was quite different.

Having sensed the gaze of observation from Cattleya, Thesilid hastily ended the conversation.

“Thank you for your time, your Grace. Then, I’ll be going.”

In the manner of a knight, he placed a fist on his chest and bowed, then turned around. As he reached the end of the corridor, he ran into two boys waiting for him.

“Why did you go to the place where only old folks gather?”

Hestio, the tallest of the three, swung his long black hair and asked sternly.

“That’s right. Cardinal Cattleya is not very friendly with stigmata.”

Ephael, who was going through his period of transformation, helped with a hoarse voice.

Thesilid answered.

“I came here to inquire about Ellet’s well-being.”

“Hey!”

“Hey!”

The two friends burst exclamations at the same time.

“I told you to stop using honorifics because it’s annoying!” 

“After being appointed as a knight, did you finally awaken your ultimate fetish? I know you were impressed by the chivalry, but isn’t it too harsh?!”

“….”

Thesilid, who had unspeakable circumstances, was just embarrassed by his friends handling of his persona concept. 

‘I can’t say that I have to use respectful words to increase my divine power.’

His ‘The Commandments of the Seven Holy Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins.’ buff was a problem. Since he knew that honorifics had a synergetic effect on his divine power by satisfying both items of humility and kindness at once, he had no choice but to change his language habits.

Even if he wanted to do something about it, there was a sad unchanging fact for him.

He thought that if he awakened the Aura, he would have to worry less about his divine power. But somehow, like the main character of a fairy tale, he was a physically special human being, so he manifested what was called a ‘divine aura’.

Ironically, after awakening the Aura, he had to manage his divine power even more tightly.

“……I just want you to understand.”

He tried to hide his sorrow while talking back.

“I do not understand!”

“Stop it!”

Their reaction was intense. He couldn’t lose his few friends and Thesilid, who rarely backed down, choose to listen to them.

“Okay. I will not use it in front of you.”

“Yes, please. Let’s live normally.”

“Don’t let me be ashamed when we’re together.”

On the way back from the main building, Thesilid recounted the story of how he met Cattleya.

It was Hestio who brought up the topic.

“You said you came to ask after Ellet’s well-being? If it’s Ellet, is she the girl we met at the toy mansion back then?”

“Yes.”

“She did leave a bit of a strong impression. When she said she was going to marry the devil with that flower on the top of her head…I wondered if another Thesilid had appeared.”

“….”

“Anyway, I admit that she was quite the amazing kid, but……Do you still care about her well-being? She’s just an ordinary kid living in a different world from us. I don’t think we’ll ever see her again.”

“We’ll see her again.”

Thesilid spoke conclusively. 

Didn’t they learn shared skills? A reunion was inevitable.

While Hestio shut his mouth at Thesilid’s firmness, Ephael cleared his throat and advised.

“Well, don’t let the old folks find out. If they knew you were interested in a girl, they would be out of their minds.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Even if not, be careful. Because they get hung on even with little details.”

That was correct. The denomination was as conservative as it was faithful. It has been more than two centuries since the doctrine of the denomination was revised to allow marriage.

However, the denomination used to argue that it is natural for, only stigmata, to consecrate their life to God.

It was commonly thought that they should live like a puritan for the rest of their life while being treated as a servant.

Ephael, who had a dream of leaving the priesthood and going back to secular life, let out a deep sigh as he became depressed after talking about it.

Hestio wanted to change the subject, and just in time, there was good news to be shared.

“More than that, it seems that we are going to go outside The Vatican very soon.”

“We are going out? Really?”

“Yeah, Ephael. I overheard the State Council meeting this morning, and such talks came up. They said they were preparing to send stigmata to a place in need of a denomination on the continent. It’s being called missionary and volunteer work, but it’s probably dungeon subjugation.”

“Oh yeah!”

“You really seem to like it.”

It seems that the stigmata are finally going to expand the horizon of their world outside The Vatican.

Thesilid also felt a little bit of anticipation in his chest.