Chapter: 413
Luca briefly questioned if his eyes were deceiving him.
What unfolded before him was surreal.
The night was cloaked in thick darkness.
The moonlight had been devoured by storm clouds, and the stars dared not show their faces on such a gloomy night.
In the center of the church, where all light had vanished, stood Lucy Alrn, illuminating the world even in the depths of darkness.
Her skin was whiter than a winter snowfield.
Her striking red hair naturally caught the eye even at night.
She looked like she was walking without a care, yet her movements were incredibly graceful.
The slightly oversized nun’s outfit fluttered, adding to her mysterious allure.
Even under the cloak of night, her red jewel-like eyes seemed to pierce through the veil of darkness.
In that dim church, it appeared as though light filled the space around Lucy Alrn.
Forgetting even the thought of being caught, Luca gazed at Lucy, who approached the statue.
The notion that she appeared holier and more righteous than the Saintess wasn’t unique to Luca alone.
The moment Lucy Alrn knelt and gathered her hands in prayer, a warm divinity began to radiate around her.
Having worked as a professor for a long time, Luca had encountered all sorts of priests.
Among them were those corrupted that left him wondering why the God would bestow divinity upon such individuals, and those so virtuous that they came off as foolish.
Through these encounters, Luca realized something: the divine presence wielded by both extremes was quite similar.
The priests of the church claimed it was a sign of the God’s equality, but Luca didn’t buy that.
Why is it only the God who seeks equality, when other lesser gods willingly grant power to those who believe in them?
With such a question in mind, Luca secretly concluded that the God’s image was not one of equality but rather incompetence.
However, in this moment, that conviction shattered.
The warm divinity that Lucy Alrn possessed was on a whole different level from the other priests.
It was clear.
The reason the priests he’d seen thus far had all shared a similar divine power was that their intentions diverged from the God’s.
The reason the God had remained silent until now was because he was dissatisfied with the very venue of the church!
Look! Just like the tales of old, here before him was Lucy Alrn, bathed in the God’s warm divinity!
She was the one who received the God’s love! The one destined to spread the God’s will across the world!
She was destined to be a sun brighter than anyone else in this world!
As Luca engraved the sight of Lucy Alrn praying amidst the warm divinity into his mind, he gained a new conviction.
If it’s Lady Alrn.
If it’s that remarkable being who is loved by the God.
If it’s that person who has awakened the overwhelming talent of the Alrn family.
If it’s that individual who possesses an incredible tenacity that belies her appearance!
Perhaps she could help him achieve his goals.
Maybe she could overshadow the star of talent he had seen. With a mad grin stretching across his face, Luca decided to prepare trials for Lucy Alrn.
Not the minor things he had been preparing to support her growth thus far. He would devise trials to etch the name of the sculptor Luca into the divinity of Lucy Alrn.
Ideally, he wanted to keep watching Lady Alrn from this spot, but it was getting too risky. Time to sneak away.
Luca cast one final glance at Lucy Alrn’s face before quietly exiting the chapel.
*
Determined to pray properly to the pathetic God, I focused on erasing the countless curses I had hurled at him in the past and replaced them with gratitude and promises for the future.
I expressed my thanks for all he had done to protect me and pledged to erase the shadow of the evil god from this world so that Lucy could hear her mother’s voice and find solace from her sorrow.
After finishing my thoughts, I opened my eyes and, intending to retract the divinity illuminating the chapel, caught sight of Phoebe and Erin, who were praying beside me, and decided to leave it be.
It was an everyday occurrence for Phoebe to pray next to me, but seeing Erin praying was a first.
Had she been a believer of this church?
If my memory served me correctly, I hadn’t seen Erin go out during weekends.
Usually, whenever I was at the mansion, Erin was always stuck to my side.
…Maybe she was avoiding mentioning it knowing the old Lucy despised churches?
What a tyrant I am, crushing the freedom of religion! Is the legend of Lucy Alrn still a thing?
– Tding.
Lost in thought, I was jolted by an alert that rang in my ear.
[The Apostle’s prayer has reached the God!]
[Rewards are being distributed!]
[Skill [Negative Construction] has been granted!]
My brow ticked up slightly at the mention of “Negative Construction.”
From what I knew, this skill was a passive ability one could learn while progressing through the Holy Knight or Priest skills.
Its effects were twofold: it increased attributes when fighting those associated with the evil god and prevented the aura of the evil god from approaching the area where divinity had been spread for a certain amount of time.
As the sophomore year began, the followers of the evil god were likely to be more active than before, so this skill would undoubtedly come in handy.
As good as it felt to receive such a useful reward for just one prayer, I couldn’t fully rejoice.
After driving the evil god’s followers from the Academy Street, all I got was an increase in renown.
It was an ambiguous reward that was hardly tangible!
But here I was getting a skill this useful just for praying once!
Isn’t that a little odd?
Shouldn’t rewards be the other way around?
I know I could complain about it, but still, this felt wrong!
Just how bizarre was this pathetic, perverted deity to grant rewards in such a ridiculous manner?
Even if I was somewhat forced to serve him, isn’t it still reasonable to ask for some dignity from the god I’m worshiping!?
While I vented my frustrations at the pathetic God’s existence, another alert chimed.
I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if it was an excuse, but then noticed that the existing quest had transformed into a new quest and tilted my head in confusion.
[Luca’s Trial]
[Academy Professor Luca wishes to leave his mark on the bright star. Overcome the trials he prepares.]
[Reward: ???]
[Failure: ???]
Luca? Why the sudden reappearance of Luca?
I haven’t even met with him since returning to the Academy!
Puzzled, I looked around for any clues but found nothing, my attention drawn back to the blue window.
What’s going on?
No matter how pathetic this god is, I didn’t think he’d twist things like this.
“Lady. Is something the matter?”
Erin’s concerned question pulled me from my thoughts, and I shook my head.
What does it matter? I’ll just figure it out tomorrow when I meet him directly.
For now, I needed to calm down the tear-streaked Phoebe, who looked as though she might faint.
*
As the morning of the next day broke, I entrusted myself to Erin’s skilled hands, who had been flawlessly prepared for the day.
“I intend to seek out those working at the Academy today to find something to do. It would be a bother to tag along to your classes.”
While Erin tied my hair up, I asked what her plans were for the day, and she mentioned looking for work.
Knowing my image among the commoners wasn’t great, I questioned whether she’d be okay, but Erin showed a confident smile.
“Don’t worry, My Lady. I’ve become quite accustomed to solving such matters.”
I had my doubts about Erin’s claim, but her confidence was so palpable that I decided to let her go.
After all, I couldn’t keep her by my side forever, as she had said.
Once I spoke with Karl later, he would keep a close eye on her, and everything should be fine.
Finishing my grooming, I exited the room and immediately made my way to Luca’s office.
Though it was still early morning, knowing Luca, he must have been busy working by now.
“It’s been a while, Lady Alrn.”
Just as I suspected, Luca was at his desk littered with stacks of papers.
As usual, he organized files and began spilling out all the trials he had prepared for me.
Despite our conversation lasting quite a while, I noticed nothing unusual from Luca.
“If you’re talking about the First Queen, I willingly accepted the deal. It seemed she had her eye on you, my Lady.”
Even mentioning his relationship with the First Queen did not alter his demeanor.
He seemed to have made this judgment as well; I decided to set aside any immediate suspicions.
I’d keep a steady watch and see how things progressed.
Now that a quest was issued, he would undoubtedly pull some sort of crazy stunt soon.
Just as I prepared to leave his office, Luca seemed to remember something and spoke up.
“Lady Alrn, did you happen to do anything over at the Art Guild during the break?”
“Why are you asking that? I wouldn’t want to share my personal life with a creepy, obsessive pervert like you.”
“Aah. That’s because the Art Guild has been distributing items related to you.”
…Already?!
How much time has passed since I exited the Guild that they started spreading things already!?
Astonished by the remarkable drive of those lunatics, I stood frozen as Luca pulled out a pendant from his drawer.
While it appeared ordinary on the outside, it contained a drawing of me praying with my eyes shut.
“It seems they’re currently in the prototype phase, gauging the popularity, but there’s widespread rumor that they are making songs, poems, and even a play involving you.”
I could understand songs and poems. After all, that deviant apostle had already spread a ton of stuff around, so throwing in a few extras wouldn’t make much of a difference.
But a play? What the heck?
What have I done to warrant a performance about me!?
“I’ve heard that apparently, the prototype has enjoyed decent popularity. It seems the items from the Art Guild are already in high demand…”
Luca’s words struck me like a lightning bolt, and before I could ask for permission, I bolted out of the professor’s office.
The back alley.
I need to get to the back alley!
I must confirm whether this rumor is true!
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