The inside of the carriage was quite bright, thanks to the glowing stones scattered around.
There were also warmth stones here and there, making it incredibly cozy, but the two people, who barely felt the change in climate, were not really concerned about the cold at all.
The carriage was empty.
Alebian, the owner of the carriage, had long hidden herself, thinking it would be better not to stand out, so only Yona and Priest Vigrind stood facing each other across a table inside the carriage.
“Vig, was the Saint’s outfit always like that?”
That was Yona’s first line.
Vigrind’s outfit looked so different that Yona momentarily thought it wasn’t the Saint’s attire she had seen before.
“…Don’t mind it. More importantly, why did you ask me to come all the way here?”
“Uh… uh, right. Let’s sit down first. Let’s talk while sitting.”
With a somewhat displeased expression, Vigrind sat down on the seat.
As soon as Vigrind sat down, Yona poured tea from the pot and placed it in front of her.
Then Yona also sat opposite Vigrind with her teacup, took a small breath, and said, “Like I said earlier, we need to put a stop to this madness.”
“Do you have a method?”
“That’s why I called you here to talk about it. I can’t just go myself.”
Well, that makes sense.
Vigrind let out a long sigh inwardly.
No surprise there. The whole country had a bounty out for her as an apostate, and Yona, who came in claiming to be from Evian, was even more mysterious.
No matter how much Elder Ceres and Sister Aege helped her—
‘…Wait a minute.’
Something feels off.
Vigrind thought something was strange.
No matter how much Sister Aege was involved, she was a Priestess.
She held a high position in the diocese, but that’s all there was to it.
The Priestess had no real power outside Evian.
Moreover, while Elder Ceres held a relatively high rank and authority, it was still a different country altogether.
Besides, hadn’t she worked with Vigrind and Ludvik?
It was odd that the two of them helped Yona sneak into this Evian.
‘Something… is strange.’
Seeing Vigrind suddenly stop speaking and deep in thought, Yona tilted her head.
“Vig.”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry. Just thinking a bit.”
Vigrind wrapped up her thoughts, determining she’d need to figure things out gradually, and looked back at Yona.
As she stared at Vigrind quietly, Yona took a sip of tea and asked her, “Vig, did you already know?”
“Yeah. I knew. I thought I had to stop it too.”
There was no need for further explanation about what they were talking about.
The current situation, where girls with white hair and orange eyes were being captured.
That was the subject of their discussion.
“Why are they doing this? Why go so far?”
“…Are you seriously asking me that?”
Vigrind looked at Yona with disbelief.
She couldn’t believe Yona was genuinely asking that question, especially with the current situation happening around them. The very reason for it left her both astonished and bewildered.
I couldn’t believe they were actually asking such a question out of genuine ignorance. The very fact that they were asking the reason for this situation was even more bewildering.
“Are you saying it’s because I apostatized?”
Yona’s eyebrows twitched.
Well, technically, that statement wasn’t wrong. Yona knew it, and even Priest Vigrind didn’t need to spell it out for her. It was because Yona had apostatized and caused a riot right in the middle of the Church of the Celestial God—she knew that too. But if they were tracing the root cause, shouldn’t it also come back to the Church?
“So, if the Church had just listened to Alex, maybe things would have been different, huh? Don’t you think you have a share in the blame too?”
“Do you really think anything would have changed if they had listened? A demon erupted there, and hey, we’re not hiding it anymore. That tattoo on your left arm—it’s literally the Demon Vervaria herself! I mean, how would you handle it if the Church caught you flaunting that in the middle of their base? That’s what caused all this chaos!”
“That’s—”
Yona, who had been about to blow up, suddenly stopped and took a deep breath.
Hearing this made it clear that Priest Vigrind’s words weren’t entirely incorrect. Sure, there could be points to dispute upon closer inspection, but honestly, Yona had messed up way too much to keep nitpicking.
“…Right, we didn’t come here to fight. Anyway, I definitely think this whole situation has a problem. To be honest, the easiest way to fix this mess is one thing.”
“And what might that be?”
Yona stared at Vigrind intently.
If there was indeed an easy way to resolve this, and it was something Yona could accept—
“You should turn yourself in to the Church. That’s the quickest and simplest solution.”
—Or not.
Yona grimaced and glared at Vigrind.
Vigrind returned the glare without losing her momentum.
Magic started to swirl ominously around Yona.
And behind Vigrind, golden holy energy began to rise as well.
“Of course, you wouldn’t comply. His Holiness the Pope was wrong to push Alex so harshly, and I should have stopped it. Back then, I was too weak and too soft-hearted. Honestly speaking—”
Vigrind let out a small sigh.
As a Saint of the Church, she hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should even say such things.
That hesitation acted as her minimal conscience, making her falter.
“I understand why you apostatized… I can comprehend it. I think you had your reasons.”
“What?”
Yona’s eyes widened. After that, she was left speechless, unable to continue.
It was something she could never have imagined coming from that insufferable Priest Vigrind.
It was something beyond imagination.
“My companion was captured, and that companion was clearly in a situation where they would die. And the Demon must have been whispering close by. How could I have rejected such whispers? There would have been no one to rely on in the Church of the Celestial God, and at that time… yeah, at that time I was just an inadequate Saint to trust and cling to. You had your reasons. Yeah, you had your reasons. I understand.”
“…Did you eat something wrong?”
“Shut up. Damn Healer. I’m holding back from wanting to make you kneel behind the Cathedral with your arms up, so just listen.”
Kneeling with arms up behind the Cathedral.
Yona halted at that phrase, frozen mid-sentence.
– …I should pull your hair and shake you around. Or tell you to sit there kneeling and hold your arms up.
That was something Yona had once told Alex.
And now, Priest Vigrind was saying the same thing.
Both of them shared that memory.
The punishment they faced when they were caught slacking off by Sister Aege was just that.
Yona wasn’t the only one who remembered it.
Vigrind remembered it too.
“…Sister Aege isn’t in any trouble, is she?”
“Yeah. She said she wouldn’t let anyone doubt her in my name. Sister Aege is precious to you, but she’s also precious to me. So you don’t have to worry about Sister Aege.”
“Thank goodness…”
Even though I tried to act like I wasn’t worried, doing everything I could to not think about it, I inevitably ended up worrying about that name, Sister Aege.
With Vigrind giving such a firm answer, Yona felt a weight lift from her heart.
“Anyway, to get back to the main point, I think we need to put a stop to that crazy business. I’ve heard that all girls with white hair or orange eyes have already been moved to the Church Region from Evian. I’ll be returning to the Church Region soon and will free them all. I can’t understand what kind of madness this is.”
Yona sighed in relief at Vigrind’s words.
She had believed without reason that he would definitely stop it, but still had her worries deep down.
While he might suggest something ridiculous like, “Let’s just grab you and that’ll solve everything,” it was hard to completely dismiss that possibility.
“Yona, for that to happen, there’s something you need to help with.”
“What is it?”
“Two days from now, there’s a religious event. You need to appear in the middle of Evian then. Even after all those girls with white hair or orange eyes were captured, you need to be there—like this.”
Even after all the captures, the apostate known as Yona is in Evian.
In other words, it would show that the Church of the Celestial God had done something utterly pointless.
“If that happens, it would be just as embarrassing for the Church of the Celestial God.”
It really wasn’t that difficult.
Yona had her followers in Vervaria, and with that protection, it was safe to say anyone who tried to touch her would be in for a world of hurt.
Moreover, since I originally planned to do this anyway, nothing really changes, but I still wanted to check what Priest Vigrind was thinking.
However, what does this provide as an advantage to the Church of the Celestial God? Nothing.
It’s literally just proof that the Church’s act of trapping young girls was a pointless endeavor, merely tormenting innocent people.
It’s not hard to predict how furious the parents who have their daughters suffering will be, and that anger will undoubtedly be directed right at the Church.
“Well… There’s nothing we can do about it. The Church exists to bring happiness to all through the blessings of the Celestial God.”
Vigrind paused for a moment.
The teacup sitting on the table had long since gone cold, but Vigrind fiddled with it, mulling over something.
“…Maybe the Celestial God isn’t bestowing blessings for that very reason. When I think back on it now, the Church of the Celestial God has long ceased to be a religion that helps people by serving the Celestial God and sharing His grace. To think they’re taking the lead in tormenting the creations of the Celestial God, all because of a single apostate. Isn’t that strange?”
“You keep saying ‘apostate’, and it feels a bit… off. Can you stop?”
“Just hear me out. It’s true she’s an apostate, you healer brat.”
Vigrind glared angrily, and Yona was at a loss for words.
“This damned little dwarf…”
Vigrind’s forehead twitched as a thick vein popped up.
Somehow managing to suppress her anger, Vigrind took a deep breath and continued.
“Anyway, if we’re to continue, this Church has been built over hundreds of years. I can’t just sit back and watch it crumble like this. Wrong is wrong, and it needs to be said. Because I haven’t been able to do that, I haven’t properly handled the sanctity of the Celestial God until now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The reason the attire of the Saint was like that was simply that they couldn’t properly handle the sanctity of the Celestial God. Now that I can handle the sanctity, my own attire has also changed. Realizing this now, isn’t it a bit late for such an epiphany?”
This was something that should have been realized much sooner.
The Church claimed that the first Saint, Sonia, wore such clothing, but there’s no record to prove that it was true.
Vigrind wore it too, but no matter how one looked at it, it was hard to consider it sane clothing.
Since Sonia, the first Saint, no one had properly managed the sanctity of the Celestial God, so this outfit must have been made to catch as much sunlight as possible. And while it was unclear why such clothing was made or how it was passed down, digging into those details didn’t appeal to her.
“Make your appearance known in Evian. After that, I’ll take care of the rest. Even if it’s the Church of the Celestial God or the Pope, they won’t be able to pressure me.”
“And then?”
“Do what you want.”
With that, Vigrind emptied her now cold tea, completely ignoring Yona’s look of surprise.
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