Chapter 222: Childhood Friend – Connection
My long-time friend,
I traveled across the continent to find you. Despite having returned to our hometown as a priest, you were still not there after your sudden departure in our youth.
At the national cemetery of the Conrad Kingdom, a mature priestess laid down flowers.
Lev.
Her friend’s name and achievements were inscribed on the tombstone. It was recorded that he had sacrificed his life for King Leanne de Yeriel of the Conrad Kingdom. Leah sighed.
I never imagined we would meet like this.
I believed you were living well somewhere, trusting our bond and that God would guide me to you. But my friend, you were buried here. Your name is engraved in a corner of this war-torn kingdom.
This must also be God’s guidance.
Perhaps God laid you to rest here to tell me to stop wandering, to settle down, and take care of this devastated kingdom…
Leah raised a brass goblet.
As she bestowed a futile blessing on the grave of the friend she couldn’t meet, she woke from her dream.
She felt bewildered.
She sat up quickly, wiped her sweat, and realized it was all a dream. She was in her small hometown house, with her parents sleeping beside her.
Snore, snore.
The snores of her weary parents echoed in the tiny room. Leah, feeling a strange longing for her parents, stared at them quietly before getting up to change her clothes. She cautiously left the house to avoid waking them; it was still before dawn.
“Hoo!”
Leah inhaled the cool pre-dawn air. Scratching her head, she felt confused by the vivid dream and began walking.
She had woken up too early. If she went to the garden to pull out some weeds, her mother would have breakfast ready by the time she returned.
Leah stepped out into the dimly lit path beyond the village. Her family was poor, so even their small garden was outside.
For Leah, who wanted to become a priestess, it was a disappointing environment. The capital church was far away, and the harsh world confined the mid-teen girl to the village. Despite studying hard with the help of Brother Leslie, the possibility of her becoming a priestess was as slim as the size of her garden.
A girl in such a situation might have shed tears in this dark garden. But Leah,
“Eit!”
grabbed and pulled out the weeds vigorously. Sniffing under the brightening eastern sky, she thought,
“Don’t make excuses if you don’t even try hard. Don’t be childish.”
I started studying because I liked it.
Whether or not she could become a priestess, there was no regret in doing something she liked.
Leah pulled out all the weeds and turned back as the eastern sky began to shine brilliantly. She felt more eager to study than ever before.
So today…
* * *
When Lev woke up late, his father had already left for hunting. Lev lazily came out and said,
“Mother, breakfast, please.”
“Oh my, you’re up late today? Hold on. I’m heading out soon, so let’s eat together before I go.”
Lev had a meal with his mother.
As usual, he complained that the food tasted bitter. His mother responded, “It’s because of the herbs. They’re good for you!” This was his current life, where his mother was alive, and he remembered the past.
Their conversation was trivial.
His mother talked about the bugs infesting the garden and how she wished her son would help catch them instead of always wandering around with Leah. She also mentioned that they were out of bellflower flour (used as a substitute for regular flour) and needed to borrow some.
“What are your plans for today? If you don’t have anything special, could you help with the bugs…”
“I’m going to the mountains. I didn’t gather enough berries yesterday, so I’m going again with Leah.”
“Huh? Leah went to the bakery. She went out early to get some herbs.”
“What? Why? The weather… is clear.”
His mother shrugged.
Leah, who liked working outside, never went to the bakery unless it was cloudy. Thinking it was unusual, Lev finished his meal and followed his mother to the bakery. It was the only bakery in Demos village, run by Hans’ mother.
“You’re here, dear?”
“Yes, ma’am. The bread isn’t baked yet, right?”
“I’m here too.”
“Welcome. You came to see Leah?”
Hans’ mother greeted Lev and his mother warmly. Leah was in the kitchen kneading dough.
“Leah, I’m here. Why did you come here instead of going to pick berries?”
“Ugh, it’s tough. Today, I’m working here and then going to the church. It’ll be too late if I go to the mountains.”
“Why? It’s a weekday.”
“Just to study.”
Leah replied curtly and turned her attention back to the dough. She sprinkled finely chopped herbs onto the now elastic dough and kneaded it vigorously again. After making the dough green, she sprinkled flour on it and calmed it down before resting her sore arms.
“Take this to them.”
“…Nothing’s wrong, right?”
“There’s nothing wrong. Why? Is it so strange that I’m going to the church on a weekday? I know I’ve been a bit lazy lately~”
Lev looked at Leah, who seemed determined, with a complex expression. But since there was nothing he could do, he simply listened to her chatter quietly.
While Leah kneaded the dough, Lev handled miscellaneous tasks. His mother and Hans’ mother were busy trying to develop a new menu.
Soon it was lunchtime, and Leah received bread as her wages.
“You don’t have to give me this much…”
“It’s fine. Since it’s a new recipe, try it and let us know how it tastes. Good job today.”
“Thank you. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Lev followed Leah out.
Excited about receiving generous wages, Leah chattered, “Now, I’m off to the church.” Lev heard a quiet “tsk” sound and turned his head.
Hans was standing at the corner of the bakery. Before Lev could catch his eye, Hans turned away, and Lev watched his back with a heavy heart.
We had been misunderstanding. Hans was actually…
“Lev!”
“Huh? What?”
Leah broke Lev’s reverie. She handed over the armful of bread she was carrying.
“If you don’t have anything else to do, take these to my house. I’m going to read.”
In other words, she was going to study, and he was now free to do as he pleased.
Lev pouted, his lips protruding dramatically, and quickly delivered the bread to Lea’s house. Then, he headed to the church.
Leah was sitting near the sacred relics in the church, reading a book. Brother Leslie was teaching her, while Lev stood there awkwardly, watching her study. After a short while, Brother Leslie expressed his admiration.
“Excellent. You’ve finished ‘The Theological Inquiry of Willard Boffman,’ the sixth saint. I thought it would take you a couple more months to get through it… Well done. Wait here for a moment.”
Brother Leslie went to his room and returned with a thick book.
Tigrov’s ‘Epistemology.’ He realized that Leah’s level had surpassed the general stage, so he brought a book he had studied at the monastery.
“What you’ve studied so far is just an introduction. They are foundational but not deep. This is where it gets serious. You’ll learn how creatures should perceive the divine, not just believe in it. There are various approaches, and once you surpass this, you’ll be able to grasp the essence of theology, such as ‘The Burden of Creatures’ and ‘The Responsibility of Creatures.’ Let’s start with the preface.”
“The human intellect has a special mission in the realm of cognition. Because it stems from the divine, it cannot be denied, and being beyond self-awareness, it is tormented by unanswerable questions…”1)
Leah read the preface in a clear voice. Brother Leslie paused after each sentence or paragraph to explain, but Lev couldn’t grasp what they were discussing.
Feeling awkward, Lev eventually left. He wanted to stay with Leah, but he didn’t want to disturb her studies.
It seemed that Leah had a dream. Her new demeanor suggested as much…
With a sigh, Lev returned home and grabbed a leather bag.
He picked berries from the mountain and delivered them to Lea’s house. From then on, Lev visited the bakery daily. Leah worked until lunch, then went to the church. He decided to be content with spending time with her at the bakery this round.
I need to send Leah to the monastery. There are things I need to do.
– “Would you like me to become a priest? Or would you prefer I didn’t?”
He was rather glad they weren’t asking each other such bittersweet questions. He would just watch Leah leave for the monastery and then he, too, would depart.
‘Oh, right. I need to use the mirror… Hmm. It’s better not to do it now.’
Lev counted the days, making his calculations. It wasn’t something that needed to be rushed; if he hurried, unexpected things could happen…
A few days later, at night, while Lev was sound asleep at home,
“Hey!”
He was startled awake by a voice calling him. The window had been opened without permission, and Leah, silhouetted against the moon, was staring down at him with a pale face.
* * *
“Tell me again what you said the other day.”
Leah had abruptly woken her sleeping friend to question him.
She had a terrifying dream.
In a grand church, a gaunt Lev stood. Her friend had come all the way to the monastery, and she raised her hand in greeting. At that moment, something dreadful entered her mind and whispered.
– Do not be afraid.
It was something like a snake. The sticky scales seemed to coil around her brain, rendering her immobile.
The tongue that licked her, as if savoring her, sent shivers down her spine. More horrifyingly, she and that entity were becoming one. She felt cursed by the god, consumed by an unbearable madness.
She woke up then.
She had screamed and woken up just as a filthy prostitute of the evil god had plunged a sun-like royal scepter into her chest.
“What, what’s wrong?”
Her parents asked in alarm, and she replied, “I had a nightmare.” She used the excuse of getting a drink of water to go outside. Then she recalled the strange story Lev had told her a few days ago. He said he had once been an apostle of the evil god Barbatos. That entity had passed onto her.
It was an unbelievable story.
He had spoken with a serious tone, but it was so outlandish that she had thought it was just a joke.
But…
“What, what is it?”
“Hurry and come out.”
Leah urged Lev, who was still groggy from sleep. She patted him impatiently through the window and waited anxiously. Eventually, Lev came out, his clothes on backward.
“The story you told last time. Was it true?”
“…I told you it was true.”
“It wasn’t just some dream or something?”
[Achievement: Twenty Photos – Rena often vaguely remembers the past through dreams.]
Lev was silent.
With a bitter expression, his face seemed aged beyond his years. He took out a blue necklace and answered.
“No, if it were just a dream… this wouldn’t exist. I couldn’t show it to you last time, but wait a moment.”
Lev returned with a mirror.
It was a plain mirror without any decorations. The two of them crouched against the wall.
Leah was soon astonished. The mirror reflecting them began to glow like the moon, and a stranger’s face appeared in it. A boy with golden hair and golden eyes.
[Achievement: Bound Items, 2/3]
[Sword – Indestructible.]
[Mirror – The Beggar Siblings.]
[Necklace – A pretty necklace.]
“Leanne, it’s me.”
Was he about their age? He had a very likable appearance, but his hair was tousled as if he had just woken up. He looked at the mirror with a puzzled expression before speaking.
“Leriana, what happened… Oh, you found out our names. But what happened? What is this, and how did you manage to use it?”
A voice was heard. Leah thought she was still dreaming.
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