Though he’s an old man, he has an extraordinary presence.
Yona had never seen an old man like this before.
The moment she met his piercing blue eyes, like flames bursting forth from them, Yona felt herself shrink back.
The old man sat upright, as stiff as Scarlet, and quietly watched as Scarlet and Yona entered.
“Your Holiness the Pope, it’s been a while. How is your health?”
Ceres approached the gruff old man with a bright smile and bowed slightly.
Yona also stepped forward, clasped her hands in front of her, and deeply bowed in greeting.
Just as she learned in the Cathedral, this was the proper way to greet those of high status in the main hall.
Despite grumbling about how high they were, usually getting scolded by Aege; meeting them face-to-face was indeed different.
“I am honored to meet Your Holiness. I am Yona, a humble healer.”
As Yona deeply bowed, the old man’s eyes sparkled for a moment.
Then a gentle smile settled on the deep wrinkles of his lips.
“Humble, you say? Don’t speak like that, young priest.”
Pope Akzel IV stood up with a faint creaking sound from the chair, and strode over to Yona, lifting her back up again.
“The Celestial God stands before every priest, and is the mother of all living beings. How could a healer hide? Don’t say such things. A healer, who descends beside everyone, is the very definition of a priest, wouldn’t you agree?”
Oh.
Yona suddenly found herself speechless.
It was the second time she’d heard those words.
She had heard them from Aege and now from the Pope.
“So don’t call yourself humble, young priest. Now, come, sit comfortably.”
Only then did Yona notice the sofa in the corner of the room.
For someone who stands at the peak of the Church of the Celestial God, the Pope’s office had a surprisingly plain and modest sofa.
It bore scratches and signs of wear, with patched-up tears shining like battle scars.
“Bring some tea and snacks.”
As the Pope spoke, the priest bowed without a word and quietly retreated.
Watching the priest’s back as he left, the Pope then turned his gaze toward Ceres.
“Elder, how was your business trip?”
“Business trip… Ah, the trip. Yes.”
Ceres looked a bit flustered for a moment.
But it was fleeting; soon she nodded with her usual smiling face.
“Even though national affairs are busy, you seem to go on trips quite often, Elder. You went on a long trip about six months ago, and then again about a month ago. Don’t you think that might make things a bit rusty?”
“Well…”
Ceres awkwardly chuckled, “Ahaha.”
Yona stole a glance at Ceres’s profile.
She appeared to want to change the subject.
It’s a cave.
Well, I didn’t exactly stare at Ceres for long, but despite hanging out so closely up until now, I’d never once seen her looking flustered—like, really flustered.
“That must have been a tricky question. Now then, I’ve brought the Hero and the Saint. They stopped by Cemetery Village Semek on their way here.”
“Yes, Pope. I regret the matters concerning Semek.”
“Regret, indeed; it is most regrettable. To insult the corpses cradled in the arms of the Divine—such an act cannot be tolerated. The culprit must be found and promptly dealt with.”
This was Pope Akzel IV, a sturdy warrior hailing from the Duchy of Glakien.
And whatever spirit he had in him had certainly not vanished; his aura radiated with outstanding force.
Even Yona, who was raising a teacup in front of her, found herself tensing up without even realizing it.
“The Hero and the Saint—hmm, both have yet to receive their ordination. However, since they were directly named by the Divine, we can proceed with their ordination ceremony after a confirmation process. And above all, Yona.”
“Wha—?!”
Suddenly called out while chewing on a snack, Yona coughed and sputtered.
Once she managed to swallow her tea after quickly downing it, she breathed out in relief, her face flushed.
“Oh dear, this old man has been rude. I apologize, Yona. Are you alright?”
“It’s, um, it’s fine… Yes, yes…!”
Wiping the tea that dribbled down her chin, Yona turned beet red in embarrassment.
She hadn’t expected the Pope to call her out suddenly.
It was abrupt, and since the conversations happening were entirely unrelated to her, she hadn’t really thought much of it.
“Sorry to startle you. I wanted to hear about what happened at Kapatia Port.”
I had a feeling that would be the case.
Yona took her time explaining thoroughly, from the moment she met Rubina—all the way up to now.
*
“How fascinating.”
Alex mumbled as he looked out the window.
The church was vast, and the decor was quite splendid. Aside from the all-white walls, everything was more than satisfactory—a truly nice place. Even Rubina was marveling at it, calling it heavenly and exclaiming in excitement as she explored.
After showering, Alex stared at Rubina quietly before plopping down alone on the bed.
Rubina was ten years old; having him bathe her would obviously end in disaster. Not to mention, if any strange rumors got around, that would be even messier.
So even though he saw Rubina sleeping in Yona’s room, he intentionally didn’t wake her up.
As he sat in a chair around the table, a large window came into view directly in front of him.
Sitting in the chair that was there, a large window came into view right in front of me.
Outside, orcs, kobolds, even goblins, dwarves, and beastfolk of all kinds were moving back and forth in white robes, tiptoeing as if trying not to make a sound.
It’s quite a sight to see an orc, known for its lack of control, and a dwarf, infamous for their heavy footfalls, wearing pristine white robes.
‘They said they allowed proselytism, but are real priest candidates here for training?’
Basically, a priest has to awaken divine power.
But it seemed hard to believe that all those various races had managed to awaken it.
It’s not an easy task, and the Celestial God is fundamentally a deity who cares for humans, not one who embraces every race like that.
Moreover, while there are local deities with their priests among these races, I hadn’t heard of any priests from the Church of the Celestial God.
‘If the Church of the Celestial God is accepted, what happens to the local deities?’
I suddenly became curious about that.
What happens when the monotheistic Church of the Celestial God conflicts with the polytheistic local faith?
But I couldn’t figure it out.
As an adventurer, I didn’t want to dig too deeply into such thoughts.
– Alex, are you there?
It was Kaiyak’s voice.
“Uh, come in.”
With the sound of wood creaking, the door opened and Kaiyak walked in.
Having cleaned up, his skin looked rather bright and fresh.
“Looks like you were resting.”
“Yeah, well. Just took a look outside and stuff. Sit down, Kaiyak. The ceiling’s not going to fall down.”
“Sure.”
Kaiyak stared at the chair for a moment before just plopping down on the floor.
I figured that if he sat in the chair, it might break under his weight, so in the end, it worked out for the best.
“It was quite the sight, wasn’t it?”
“Is it really that surprising to see various races wandering around the Church of the Celestial God?”
“Yeah, it is! Those guys used to butcher everyone they saw in the name of the Celestial God. But now they’re all welcoming them… it’s weird, right?”
As I looked outside again, I noticed a small platform on the well-kept white paving stones, where a human female priest in a white robe was scribbling something on it with a chalk.
It wasn’t very visible, but from what I could see, she was drawing the sun.
Seeing the sun and a winged woman next to it made me think she might be explaining the creation myth of the Celestial God.
“It is strange. I believe in the local deities, so I have no intention of converting to the Church of the Celestial God.”
“Well, I’m saying that’s the normal response. There’s bound to be a local deity that’s been believed in for generations, so it feels odd to accept the Church of the Celestial God now.”
“Probably the Church of the Celestial God is throwing money around. Why take it so seriously?”
“Is that so?”
That’s understandable.
There are even rumors that the Church’s wealth rivals that of the royal treasury, so it’s not strange to think that Alex accepted it hoping for support from the Church of the Celestial God.
“But more importantly, Alex.”
“Yeah?”
“When were you planning to keep lying?”
“…What?”
“Stop playing dumb, Alex. Yona may not see through it, but neither I nor James will be fooled. That tin can wearing a helmet, that guy.”
He was referring to Scarlet.
When Scarlet was threatening Yona, it was Alex who stepped in.
While blocking Scarlet’s mace, Alex also struck him in the ribs with his hammer.
“I had no idea either. If you hadn’t done this, James and I probably wouldn’t have noticed. But now you’ve been found out.”
Alex said nothing.
Tsk, clicking his tongue, Alex was just poking the unfortunate floor with the tip of his shoe.
“It’s better not to think you can hide it until the end, Alex. It might hurt Yona even more.”
“I was going to talk about it eventually. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“The fact that you lied is what matters, Alex. Even if it was to be with Yona, this isn’t Evian. There are no comrades here who would willingly cover up secrets for you. No, not until you return to Evian.”
“…I will talk about it.”
“Hmm.”
Kaiyak closed his mouth after those words.
While he couldn’t help but understand Alex’s feelings, he still thought that his approach was wrong.
There was no need to share everything and speak all the truths, but hasn’t Alex been chasing after just Yona for the last three years?
If it goes wrong, he might ruin that relationship too.
If that prideful Yona thinks she’s been deceived or tricked—
“It would be a disaster if Yona found out.”
“Yeah. You’d better talk about it now. No matter how foolish she is, she’s perceptive. If she figures it out naturally, that would be even more problematic.”
At those words, Alex glared at Kaiyak.
But soon, his eyes relaxed, and after a few twitches of his lips, he mumbled,
“Yona’s not a fool.”
Yet somehow, he didn’t sound very certain about that.
Kaiyak couldn’t help but notice and chuckled.
Even in this situation, he was defending Yona, proving that human psychology was difficult for him to understand.
“Well, I think the fool is you. You stupid guy. Chasing after the same girl for three years, that’s a rarity in this world.”
“…I can’t exactly deny that. Damn.”
Alex also snickered.
He is indeed a fool.
Three years is a long time.
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