“Slurp… Slurp…”
It was a pitiful sight that could hardly be recognized as a living human.
But from the faint sounds of breathing, I could tell she was still alive.
… I trusted them and sent her away.
I thought the Church would be able to save my daughter, but to return her in such a state!
I thought I held some significant position in the Church, but was that just a fantasy?
I never imagined Jaime would be treated like this.
Is this the cost of a lifetime spent for the Church?
Despite her gruesome condition, I could see.
This hunk of meat is my lovely and proud daughter, Jaime.
I’m so sorry, Jaime… I’m truly sorry.
My poor daughter…
It is because of this useless father that you have to suffer like this.
Everyone could tell that her life was hanging by a thread; her condition was precarious.
Who could think this was a living state?
Why… why does Jaime have to endure this pain?
If only Johanna hadn’t gone berserk!
… No, it’s not Johanna’s fault.
It’s just…
Huh?
Come to think of it, someone from the main church said that Johanna had disappeared…
Did she really leave?
Could it be that the Church didn’t lie to us?
I can no longer trust the Church.
Since Jaime got into this state, I’ve had a hard time seeing Johanna’s face, and I don’t even know how she’s been doing.
Johanna…
I was trying to send Johanna to the Church.
What was I trying to do?
These are the people who turned Jaime into this.
Johanna…
*
A few days later.
I heard stories about the saint from Capernaum.
The miraculous saint who ‘healed’ all the sick in the city.
He healed any incurable disease. Any injured person was completely healed in an instant…
It was hard to believe, but if such a thing were possible…
Could our Jaime be saved?
Could my Jaime, in such a miserable state that it seems better to let her avoid a painful life, really be saved?
I even thought about going directly to Capernaum.
But considering Jaime’s poor condition, taking her away might cut her thin thread of life.
And above all…
The doctrine of the Baal Church.
‘Anyone who appears in Capernaum is a fraud and an evil trying to deceive the good.’
Since the Church branded him as ‘evil,’ I couldn’t go directly to meet him.
That would make me a traitor to the Church.
Given the recent strange changes within the Church… it would be akin to a suicidal act.
The saint from Capernaum.
Is he really a saint, or just the evil fraud the Church claims?
The Baal Church, which I had watched over since my father’s time, was once a righteous sect of God.
Of course, not all members can be called righteous, but I didn’t think they were following a twisted doctrine.
But ever since the current Pope took the throne… and the current Emperor usurped the imperial throne, the Church has changed.
Joining sides with the Emperor to take part in the civil war, it has become the most influential Church among the many divine sects within the Empire, gradually changing from what it used to be.
It wasn’t completely unprecedented to see someone trading ‘healing’ for a price, but now it has become even more blatant.
Even I, who have served as a priest within the Church for many years, am being treated this way.
Given that the Church is hostile even to me…
With the Church having changed so much, the branding of the saint from Capernaum as ‘evil’ feels untrustworthy.
And above all… to me, he is nothing less than my last hope.
I couldn’t even approach him; I ended up just sucking my thumb and watching the saint’s movements.
The Church is also treating him as a subject of caution and collecting information, so the higher-ups could access his details.
As a priest of some note, I diligently watched the information as I waited.
– After performing an incredible miracle in Capernaum, the saint traveled with a huge crowd.
– He fed countless starving people with just two fish until they were full.
– Upon arriving in Debea, when someone doubted his abilities and questioned him, the saint bestowed a blessing of ‘healing’ upon the entire city of Debea.
The miraculous acts of the saint weren’t just limited to Capernaum.
His second large-scale healing took place in Debea.
Within the Church, evaluations of his skills have now unified into one.
He indeed has the ability to perform such healings, be he the Son of God or a disguised demon.
Yet, the Church decided that he is a chaotic element that undermines the church’s order.
Of course, only the higher-ups knew of this decree.
Officially, the Church showed no interest in the saint.
As someone performing unbelievable miracles, if they openly opposed him, backlash could arise.
In Debea, the Church attempted to provoke him to shatter the steadfast public sentiment.
If he truly has the ability to replicate what he did in Capernaum, we could verify it, and if not, we could denounce him as a fraud.
But he performed another unfathomable miracle in Debea, and the Church determined that it was impossible to brush him off as a fraud.
Thus, Cardinal Javer led some kind of operation.
Information about what this operation entails was even inaccessible to priests of high standing within the Church.
Even those of my standing could only ascertain that something was in progress.
And additionally, I heard rumors that the saint annihilated a horde of monsters attacking him with divine fire.
Upon hearing this news, a thought crossed my mind: the Church might have been scheming to provoke those monsters to attack the saint, and the saint thwarted them.
Could the saint be so capable in battle?
What’s more, did the Church intend to kill innocent people alongside the saint?
Surely they know the horrors that monsters can inflict!
If my speculation is true and this truth becomes known, it would be only natural for the Baal Church to be labeled the Church of Evil throughout the Empire, or even the entire continent.
Therefore, even knowing this fact, I couldn’t disclose it to anyone.
And… it seems I have been cheering for the saint instead of the Church for quite some time now.
Every time he continued his journey.
Every time he struck down the Church’s filthy schemes.
Every time he drew closer to this place, Kinor.
I felt my heart swell a bit more.
And with each passing moment, my indecision grew.
When the saint arrives here.
Will I go meet him?
Will I ask him to heal my poor daughter, Jaime?
Since the Church regards him as a harmful entity with whom co-existence is impossible, seeking him out equates to discarding everything I and my ancestors have built and becoming adversarial to the Church.
I lost my second daughter, Johanna, due to my own ineptitude and stupidity.
I cannot lose my last daughter, Jaime.
Just then, as I was solidifying my resolve, a directive arrived from the Church.
– Faithful priest of Baal from Kinor. The Apostle of the dirty God of Evil is ravaging our affluent Empire of Nova, blessed by Baal. He who defiled Capernaum and Debea now seeks to corrupt the very heart of Genesaret, Kinor. To prevent further damage, the Church has made a decision. If the saint enters the city, distract him and lead him to a designated location. We will draw him into a building and purify him. If we can purify him in a place unseen by others, the ignorant masses will not go wild for him. We will finish our tasks and reveal the truth to them. The secret operatives dispatched for this purpose will provide details of the operation. Good luck.
– Cardinal Saloniir
A directive stamped with the seal of the Church’s Cardinal.
A command to help lure… and eliminate the saint.
The mention of secret operatives in the directive refers to suspicious figures wrapped from head to toe in hoods who came looking for me.
With these people? You want me to do that?
Has the Church really fallen this far?
Secret operatives? Purification?
To lure the saint to a hidden place and eliminate him?
“The Cardinal has granted permission. If you fail to provide sufficient assistance, it is permitted to exclude your entire family.”
This bizarre language is coming from the murderous maniacs that are the Church’s operatives?
The saint needs ‘healing’, and here’s the Church trying to exclude him.
Filthy assassins trying to blackmail me into assisting their heinous acts.
The saint draws nearer to Kinor.
The moment of decision is upon me.
Hearing the news that the saint had finally arrived in the city, I immediately rushed out.
The saint who arrived with an astonishing crowd.
Hair as sky blue as if crafted by God’s own hand.
A face radiating brilliance, a striking beauty to behold.
There was no choice but to see him as the saint sent by God.
Seeing that face, I shouted.
“Saint of Capernaum! I, Zebedee, have a plea for you!”
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