It felt like there was a whirlwind in my head, but gradually, the hallucinations and dizzying visions began to fade away.
Scarlet sat blankly, staring at a shabby building that resembled a cathedral, crudely cobbled together with wooden planks.
It was a beautiful sunny day.
On such a beautiful sunny day, the Church of the Celestial God’s emblem was somehow cleaned up and slapped onto the roof of that shabby cathedral.
And underneath it, a woman wrapped in a tattered Sacred Barrier was gently ruffling the hair of a little boy.
“Alright, all done! Did I tell you to be careful when sliding down the hill, or did I not?”
The little boy, like all boys, had hurt himself while playing rough, with blood streaming down his elbow.
Seeing the boy, Serad immediately reached out her hand to heal him.
Even after being scolded with a playful smack on the head, the boy just giggled.
Touched by his bleeding elbow, the boy exclaimed in awe and gave a thumbs up.
“Serad is the best!”
“Of course! Naturally, I’m the best!”
Puffing out her chest proudly, Serad playfully patted the boy’s bottom and said brightly.
“Now, go have fun! If you get hurt again, come back. Got it, little ones?”
“Yeah! Bye, sister! Bye, little sister!”
The boy whirled around towards Scarlet—Sekti—and waved his hand.
In the breeze, Sekti awkwardly waved back without realizing it, and only then did the boy turn and dash away.
“Hey—slow down! You’ll fall again! You’ll get hurt—!”
Serad shouted, then swiftly turned to approach Sekti.
Silently, she plopped down next to the large rock where Sekti was sitting.
“Your hand, all healed, right?”
“…Yeah. I think so.”
Sekti looked down at her left hand.
The hand, which had been grotesquely scarred from repeatedly stabbing with her great sword, was now completely healed. Thanks to Serad’s insistence, she had spent three days recovering, and her feeble body was mostly back to normal.
“How did the knight end up collapsed over there?”
“That… I can’t say.”
She needed armor.
Only by wearing armor could Sekti finally be herself.
Without armor, she was overwhelmed by helplessness.
“Hmph…”
Serad rummaged through her nun’s robe pocket and pulled something out.
From the pocket, she retrieved a tobacco pipe and began to pack it with scoops of tobacco leaves.
“Uh, do you… smoke?”
“Yeah. Do you dislike cigarette smoke?”
“No, not really…”
Priests usually believed their bodies were like cathedrals.
Because of this, it was customary to avoid harmful substances like alcohol and tobacco, and Sekti had never touched cigarettes or alcohol.
However, seeing Serad smoke so casually, Sekti didn’t say anything.
There was technically no doctrine against drinking or smoking.
There’s no need for words.
“Whooo…”
As Serad struck the flint to light her tobacco leaves, each breath she exhaled puffed out wispy smoke clouds.
Every time she clicked her tongue, the smoke curled up into perfect circles toward the sky.
“Isn’t that fascinating?”
“…Yes, fascinating…”
Sekti answered without even glancing in her direction.
But no matter if Sekti was paying attention or not, Serad giggled and tried to make round shapes with her smoke.
“Look at this, look!”
With her head held under the round smoke she puffed out, Serad flapped her arms, mimicking wings.
“Don’t I look like an angel? Look, flappy flappy wings!”
“…Please don’t make a mockery of the Celestial God.”
“Mockery? Not at all! The Celestial God would probably love it too! It’s a much friendlier image for the followers, right?”
As she grinned and settled back down on the rock, her rough white hair fluttered between her veils.
Every time Sekti saw that white hair, it twisted her stomach into knots.
Should you even be here? Have you forgotten your mission?
She almost felt like she could hear someone’s voice whenever she caught sight of that hair; it always felt strange.
“Well, don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“W-What do you mean?”
That comment hit a little too close to home.
Sekti flinched, but quickly regained her composure.
Fortunately, it seemed Serad didn’t notice.
“Aha, I’ve been living off of other people’s awareness for years. You can tell just by looking! No one’s going to appreciate it if you rush around like you’re being chased. You’ve gotta take it easy. No matter how hard you work your bones to the marrow, the one doing all the suffering is just you. Nobody even notices.”
“…The Celestial God will notice.”
“Oh, really? So that’s why you were lying in the middle of the mountain path.”
Smoke kept pouring from Serad’s mouth without missing a beat.
Her drowsy eyes stared off into the unknown, and every time her lips pursed together, a click of her tongue sent smoke rings spiraling into the air.
“Well, it’s about time for you to leave, right? You can stay if you want.”
“…I’ll be leaving tonight.”
Hasn’t she already delayed long enough?
Though she had calmed down a bit, Sekti had a pressing reason to hurry and chase that heretic.
It was almost baffling how much she had to focus on her objectives while wasting time like this.
“Alright then.”
Sekti suddenly realized the ground was shaking.
The thundering sound of hooves was getting louder, and she quickly grasped that it was heading straight for the cathedral.
Someone was approaching.
And not just one or two, but at least five or six.
Far off in the distance, she could clearly see a cloud of dust rising.
An odd feeling crept up her spine.
“Are guests coming?”
“Are guests coming?”
Serad, holding her pipe upside down and tapping the tobacco leaves against a rock, stood up and stretched her back.
And with that, she gave a nice stretch and looked toward the cloud of dust that was rising.
Slowly, figures began to reveal themselves.
They were men wearing poor-quality leather armor and carrying blunt-end iron hammers.
There were quite a few of them, and they all looked rough, tired, and worn out.
The brand burned into one side of the leather armor was undoubtedly from the Church of the Celestial God, and Sekti knew well what the black moon symbol next to it meant.
‘Those are… Inquisition officials?’
And among them, there were those of exceedingly low rank, affiliated with the inquisition but doing clerical work at best.
They were called the “Spiderlings.”
“Uh, are you the Healer?”
The man at the front, who had come riding on horseback, dismounted and asked Serad.
Serad stood still, eyeing the man from head to toe.
“Seems like you’re not hurt anywhere, so what brings you here?”
“That’s none of your business. Let’s confirm something. This is, uh, the Cathedral, right?”
“…Well, yes, it is.”
“Looks like that’s the Cathedral.”
The man peered around the makeshift building standing behind Serad.
…”This place is marked as having no cathedral. Unauthorized construction of a cathedral, and you’re here all alone, huh?”
Serad chose not to respond to that.
Something felt off, and her face stiffened as her lips pressed tightly together.
“Seeing as you’re wrapped in a Sacred Barrier, it must be a cathedral. But no Priest, just you, the Healer. That violates the rules for unauthorized cathedrals. You, uh, mind taking off that veil?”
“…What’s this all about?”
Serad’s face had turned quite serious.
A breeze came through, causing her veil to flutter and revealing her white hair underneath.
Whi—
The man’s whistle cut through the wind.
A sickening grin blossomed not just on his face, but also on the faces of those standing behind him.
“This is just perfect.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Serad’s voice trembled slightly.
And right in front of her, Sekti appeared.
“Y-you need to state your affiliation and name.”
“What’s that little brat blabbering about?”
The man didn’t care at all about what Sekti was saying. Without armor, she looked no different than a little girl; it was hard to even think of her as a knight of the cathedral.
Plus, without armor, her voice and tone sounded like a girl, plain and simple.
“Uh, just come along with us for a moment.”
The man approached Serad with an unsettling swagger.
Every time he approached, a horrid smell mixed with sweat wafted in the air, causing Serad to wrinkle her face instinctively.
“Unlicensed cathedral construction, violation of priest dispatch rules, and you have the same hair color as the apostate of your age… You’ve really piled up quite the charges, haven’t you?”
The man rubbed his hands together and stood close to Serad.
Serad bit her lip tightly and glared at him, but soon enough, she averted her gaze, utterly deflated.
She had never heard the term “apostate” before.
But the talk of unlicensed cathedral construction and violating priest dispatch rules felt all too real, making Serad even more anxious.
“I’m Scarlet, Commander of the Holy Order… Now, state your affiliation and name again.”
Sekti, holding her ground as best as she could, jumped between the man and Serad.
Given she owed Serad a debt of gratitude, she couldn’t fathom why these people from their order were acting so recklessly.
Sekti knew well that Serad had no relation whatsoever to the apostate Yona—the mere mention of that name felt too blasphemous to bear.
“Scarlet? What’s that? Kid, stop babbling and get out of here. Before you get hurt. Seriously.”
As the man raised his hand dramatically, Sekti flinched and took a step back.
It was a miracle that the man didn’t escalate things further given he was in a good mood.
He was feeling great.
How much had his superiors hounded him for results?
“Catch the apostate, or at the very least, show that you’re actively searching for them.”
The emergence of an apostate was a big deal for the order, but for those entrenched in the fierce power dynamics, it was also a golden opportunity.
If he managed to capture an apostate, becoming the next Pope would seem like a piece of cake.
In fact, using that accomplishment to demand favors from the current Pope wouldn’t be unreasonable at all.
So, they relentlessly pressured their subordinates.
Capture and capture again.
If anyone even remotely resembled the apostate, it was fair game for detention.
If they turned out to be a disguised apostate, great. If not, they could just let them go.
Anyway, in the midst of all this, the man had landed quite a significant catch, so there was no way he wouldn’t be in high spirits.
“I’m telling you nicely, let’s go together. You’ve committed a crime.”
At his words, Serad took a deep breath.
Whatever was happening, it was clear he’d made up his mind.
“…F-Fine, let’s go. I will follow you.”
Sekti whispered softly to Serad.
Given her petite frame, proving her identity without armor was nearly impossible.
She hadn’t brought any casual clothes, and right now, wearing a patient’s outfit, armor was essentially her ID.
“…Understood. I will follow you.”
With a look of resignation on her face, Serad moved closer to the man.
As she left with him, she glanced back at Sekti.
In that glance, Sekti nodded in response.
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