Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I followed Yulita up the stairs. After climbing to the third floor, she guided me along a long corridor.

Why on earth was the ceiling so high here? My head was fully bent just trying to see the top. Like a cathedral, stone statues could be seen everywhere.

After walking for a while, Yulita stopped in front of a door. Then, she knocked carefully.

“Your Holiness, I’ve brought Lady Yurenia.”

And after a moment, the person who appeared was a grandfather who had amazingly on point features for a fantasy world.

Complete with wrinkled eyes and a long white beard that you’d be tempted to pull.

The grandfather, who was addressed by ‘His Holiness’, crouched down to meet my eye level. Maybe he saw through my mischievous thoughts.

“Welcome, Lady Yurenia.”

“Hello.”

“I should have let you rest first, but I apologize for summoning you here.”

I was receiving a lot more respect from a grandfather who’s much much older than me.

I was dying of awkwardness. I forced myself to smile, then I shook my head.

“It’s not a bother at all.”

“Hoho. Thank you for saying that. My name is Billium. You can just call me Grandfather comfortably.”

Since you offered, I won’t refuse.

“Yes, Grandfather.”

I said only this much, but why were they looking at me so lovingly?

When I averted my gaze because I felt incredibly awkward, Grandfather answered kindly even though I didn’t ask. He must have noticed my curiosity.

“We look at Lady Yurenia lovingly because you are the God L’Aquila’s heart.”

“…Pardon?”

“Did you know?”

Grandfather took my hand carefully and smiled kindly.

“The reason we have grown to love Lady Yurenia at first sight is because God also has.”

What Grandfather was saying was that just because God loved me, that’s why they had a strong affection for me, too.

However for me, who had no memory of doing something so worthy of love from God, I was just left puzzled, so this fact didn’t move me as much.

Nothing special happened on my first day at the temple.

To summarize what Grandfather told me, I will officially become a saint after the scripture ceremony.

Then, he’ll announce that the saint has come at an eve festival. In the meantime, I’ll need to prepare for the appointment ceremony.

After the preparations are over, I’ll go on a parade amongst the people of the Empire to complete the necessary ceremonies.

Once all these are done, Grandfather said he’ll pursue the plan that mother had proposed to him.

And he said that the buildings have already been renovated.

Also, he told me that I could enter the ministry academy and live a life no different than other kids. I’ll learn how to use devotion, learn about doctrines, history and divine magic.

After four years of education, I’d be old enough for my coming of age, which was customary at the age of 18 or 19.

By the time I’d have the ability to build up and protect myself, I’ll have already graduated from the ministry academy. Grandfather said that my education would be focused on gaining stability for myself.

I mentioned that I was worried about the people’s possible resistance if I don’t appear in public, but Grandfather said that I didn’t need to worry. Since I was still a child, he said that I could take my time on doing what I only needed to do.

Thus, the current attitude towards me was extreme protection and coddling.

Wearing clothes embroidered with gold thread, I followed Yulita as we headed to the scripture ceremony.

It was a little uncomfortable because the clothes were dragging on the floor.

“Don’t be too nervous, Lady Yurenia. It’s only a formal procedure.”

“Yes, High Priestess.”

In fact, I wasn’t nervous at all, but I was feeling a little antsy because they were being so overprotective.

I thought that it was only because of their principles as followers of this religion, but at the end of the day, they really cared about me.

Contrary to such reverence, I was actually hoping that I would be found out to be a fake saint at the scripture ceremony. Fat chance of that happening though.

I once thought of getting kicked out after making a huge racket.

But at that time, I shook my head as I recalled Lisandro’s face. I’m sure he’ll tease me big time if I get kicked out.

Just the thought of Lisandro teasing me made me grit my teeth.

It wasn’t long until I arrived at the place where the scripture ceremony would take place. The large doors opened smoothly.

Just as it was natural for the temple to be painted in white, this place was also a white room.

In the middle of the large room, there was a single table and a luxurious chair that was red and gold.

Inside the temple where luxury was nonexistent, that pair of table and chair looked too fancy.

“There will be a lot of people in the prayer room, so this chair is especially prepared for your back’s comfort. If you sit down, you’ll feel that it’s very soft.”

Yulita solved my curiosity by saying it in a joking manner, easing my tension a bit as well.

I smiled gently in return and looked around carefully.

Again, there was a huge statue here that was in the likeness of L’Aquila, and on both sides of that, there were the same two ferocious-looking animals that I saw on my first day here, guarding the God with dignity.

And on top of the stone statue of L’Aquila, there was a shining gold archer’s bow floating in the air.

It was said to be a bow made from God’s breath that the first saint had used.

On the high ceiling, a profound mural painting depicted the history of the religion.

Grandfather and the rest of the high priests, who had arrived at the prayer room in advance, started rambling nonsense to relieve my tension.

After responding with a slight smile, five high priests and Grandfather went into formation around me, as though signaling the start of the ceremony.

The reason why there were so many high priests in the temple was because the temple was quite large-scale, and the size of the central temple in the capital alone was enormous.

Grandfather smiled gently at me, holding my hands in prayer, then his lips slowly opened to speak.

“From this moment on, we shall be starting the sacred scripture ceremony. Lady Yurenia, you just have to follow what I say.”

I nodded seriously.

“When the scripture ceremony begins, everyone else will go outside. At that time, Lady Yurenia’s job will be to sit on the saint’s seat.”

Grandfather continued explaining as he pointed towards the luxurious chair.

“You will sit there and read the scripture.”

“…Is that it?”

Grandfather smiled kindly and added simply.

“That’s all I can explain. Only saints know what comes after that. Are you ready?”

Puzzled at how simple it sounded, I said I was ready.

They bowed to me deeply and spoke in reverence.

“May the radiance of the God L’Aquila be with you.”

After saying this, everyone quietly exited the room, then the door closed.

I was left alone in that large room, silence enveloping my surroundings.

The sunlight through the stained glass shone on the table and the chair in mysterious colors, and they looked sacred enough to make it seem that someone was descending from the heavens.

I approached cautiously and sat on the chair.

As Yulita said, the chair was really soft. Settled on the chair, I opened the scripture on the table.

I was wondering what kind of great things were written down, but it didn’t exceed my expectations.

Along with the history of the Angelus Empire, the story of the first saint and the abilities of the next saints were written.

The Angelus Empire was so rich in history that it could be said to be the continent’s oldest one.

At the same time, it was also the empire that was widely known to be loved by God.

It was the only country where a saint appeared consistently. Though no one knows why the saints of the Angelus Empire have only been nobles so far.

The nobles feel even greater pride in their children who have been chosen as saints.

The commoners and the aristocrats were in full support of this, but that was only at the start.

As the number of saints manifesting within the nobles increased over time, their reputation had also dwindled.

They were just a saint’s family. Nothing more, nothing less.

Anyone who’s a citizen of this country would know this part of history, so I only skimmed the first few parts.

Instead, I closely read what’s written about the first saint’s abilities.

Being clever and intelligent, the first saint had the ability to turn Angelus from a kingdom to an empire.

The first saint hoped that the temple wouldn’t be bound by the Imperial Family, wanting the saints of the future to be free. Because of her determination, there was also a need to raise the strength of the temple itself.

So, in recognition of the first saint’s contribution to making Angelus an empire, the Imperial Family separated the temple from their control just as she wished.

Even though it was quite an unconventional proposal, the first emperor was willing to accept it.

All of this was thanks to the first saint who had descended from heaven.

The Imperial Family supported the temple as their backer, and the temple blessed the Imperial Family.

That alone was enough to maintain the relationship between the two.

I flipped through the pages.

Anyway, the first saint Martina created a new school and made its education last for four years, allowing other saints to do their roles as well and develop their own strength to survive alone.

At the same time, a system was created to protect the trust so that the saint would not renounce their life as one.

There would be a choice for the saint later after four years, whether to leave the temple or to remain in it.

However, this rule had long been forgotten as the saints continued to choose to remain in the temple over the course of history.

Martina possessed the ability to be strong enough to be revered by her successors over time.

Her divine magic was also very powerful. Among its uses, she excelled at offense and recovery magic.

Each saint was able to have one ability, and Martina was talented enough to have been able to wield two.

Adults had more divine power than others, so it was common to have healing magic.

Martina went beyond that limitation, but…

The second saint, on the other hand, had a powerful ability of clairvoyance, being able to predict the future and reduce sacrifices by preventing great disasters.

I thought, ‘Oh wow, that’s amazing,’ because this latter half was all the more interesting.

It’s written that the second saint could see things beyond foresight. Rather than just seeing or feeling through foresight, vivid scenes were shown to the saint.

“…It’s really amazing.”

I flipped over a page in admiration.

Well, I did say it was great, but it has nothing to do with me because I can’t make predictions like that, so I didn’t feel the need to read more in detail.

I only roughly read the next parts and flipped through the pages.

The third saint had the ability to make it rain, so it was said that the empire never had to suffer from drought while the saint was alive.

And the fourth saint…

……

I read through it some more and exclaimed.

“Wow.”

The saints over the course of history were truly great that they could even be called God’s vassals.

They were certainly great people who would remain in history for a long time.

Now though, I don’t know why, but I felt like they’ve become a little bit weaker.

Just before I appeared, my predecessor only had the ability to interact with animals.

Unfortunately, because there’s a wide array of species, the saint couldn’t really communicate with wild animals such as ferocious bears.

No matter who looked at it, the power of the saints was gradually weakening.

“…Yurenia had a very powerful divine power.”

Yurenia was quite adept in terms of healing power.

In addition, the arrows she made using divine magic were so powerful that no one could match her.

She might not have been as good as Martina, but they had similar abilities.

Why? Why was only Yurenia the one blessed with outstanding abilities when there was a growing decline of abilities over time?

The more I read the scripture, the more questions swirled through my mind.

While I was concentrating on the text, without realizing it, I felt something tap on my thigh—so I flinched sideways.

“AAACK!”

Rather than being surprised, the deer that had been next to me looked at me and galloped gracefully into the meadow.

“M-Meadow… meadow?”

After seeing the deer in that setting, I looked around.

Obviously, I had just been in a white-walled prayer room, but now, I was in the middle of a green meadow.

“A-An illusion?”

Was I dreaming? Or was I seeing Yurenia’s memories?

I rubbed my eyes, then I looked around. I shouted, called for people to answer back, but no one did.

I was so flustered that I didn’t even think to get down from the chair.

My left palm with the stigmata was throbbing right now, and I could even feel a stinging pain.

As I touched my sore palm, a strong earthquake began to happen right then that the reverberations from my feet reached the top of my head instantly.

“N-Now what…!”

Was this some kind of wrath being exacted on me because I was dissatisfied with the sacred scriptures?!

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