Forging (2)
I was taken aback by the completely unexpected variables, but I couldn’t remain perplexed.
I don’t know why he was aiming for that crown, but if he was aiming for such a splendid job, it was easy to predict that something bad would happen if he got it.
“Anna-sama, then, do you know where Orion-sama’s gift is kept?”
The kid looked around as if he was wary of my question.
It’s difficult.
If he really thought that the devil had come because he hadn’t kept his silence about the crown, there was a high probability that no matter how he persuaded him, it wouldn’t work.
Would persuading him that he could save Priest Rhys if he told him that would have any effect?
I didn’t want to emphasize that the priest was in danger to the kid who already believed the priest was in danger because of him, but unfortunately I didn’t have time.
The moment I harden my heart and open my mouth.
“I’ll tell only Shinto-nim.”
The little boy was held tightly in my arms and started whispering in my ear as if he were telling a secret.
What kind of believer are you suddenly?
I tried to ask a question about the name that suddenly changed, but I showed patience. I will tell you the location of the corolla on my own without shaking it with provocative words.
Besides, he is still a child. At that age, if he is happy, he becomes an older brother, and if he is not happy, he becomes an uncle.
Seeing that even though he was wary of others, he showed closeness only to me, so it seemed that introducing him as a friend of Priest Rhys worked well.
There’s no way I wouldn’t be able to hear the physically trained and sensitive knights just whispering in my ear, but I turned my head and pretended to put my ear to the kid’s tune, and the kid said in a low voice, perhaps trying to set the mood.
“It’s in the room at the far end of the southern tower.”
Maybe the devil worshipers are there too.
A small whisper came from behind me.
Hearing the kid’s story, he seemed to be searching for the best route to the south tower.
“Thank you, Anna.”
Just pointing out where the demon worshipers might be has helped the kid beyond imagination.
As I was about to leave, handing my sincere thanks, the child’s hand grabbed my robe.
“Shindo. Will you save Priest Rhys? From now on, I will keep my promise and pray to Orion 100 times every day. So please. Will you save me?”
hmm…
It was a difficult question to answer.
The kid said that Priest Rhys was taken by the demon worshiper.
If Priest Riss managed to escape and hide somewhere in the middle, there’s still a chance he’ll be alive, but what if he noticed that the devil worshiper was aiming for the crown and tried to stop it?
As a devil worshiper, there was no need to keep such a troublesome existence alive. Especially in a tense situation where he was conscious of me while working in the middle of enemy lines.
The only possibility is that the demon worshiper does not know the exact location of the corolla, and tries to dig up information without killing it to find out the exact location through the Rhys priest.
Due to the nature of the Riss priest, it is unlikely that he would have told the location even if he were to die, and even from a devil worshiper’s point of view, there is no reason to cling to a single priest who is determined not to answer. It is more efficient to kill cleanly and find another terrified priest. .
Considering that this little boy knows where it is, even if it is not widely known to the general public, there must be quite a few clerics living here who know where the crown is.
No matter how much I thought about it, the survival rate of Priest Rhys didn’t seem that high.
And I don’t like the kind of lies that inspire false hopes in these circumstances.
It’s not because I have a great belief, it’s because there is little benefit to me from lying like that when I look at it rationally.
If the other person dies after asserting that the other person will be alive, the person who had hopes will show greater disappointment and hostility to me for lying. I’ll be grateful for that, but it’s just breaking even.
On the contrary, if I say that there is a high possibility that he died, I may get a little resentment right away, but when I saved the other person, I can emphasize that I have done a lot of hard work, and the gratitude the other person has for me doubles. If he really died after leaving it? He would resent me to some extent, but when he told me that he was probably already dead, it would not be as intense as before because he pours out his emotions once and divides them into two and consumes them. At least he said he would be alive. It would be much better than dying later.
Even if the other person is a child who does not know the world, it is rather safe to lay the groundwork in this way because it is rather a child.
I don’t know if the hatred of a child who lost an existence like a parent after failing to boast confidently for no reason might turn against me.
Even though my head made that decision, for some reason, my lips didn’t come off easily.
“Shindo…”
When I didn’t answer, the child’s expression changed to a tearful look again.
Oh, I really hate the crying kid.
Didn’t you just go through a glimpse? It’s embarrassing when children start crying.
Her voice is so loud that it almost stings her ears, she doesn’t stop well at most, and above all, she cries so sadly that even the listeners next to her feel sad.
So it was.
“certainly.”
Words that were completely different from the conclusions I had reached in my head were coming out of my mouth before I knew it.
“I’ll be sure to bring Priest Rhys safely. I promise.”
After I finished speaking, I met the child’s gaze and held out one hand.
Seeing this, the little boy wiped his tear-dropped face once with his hand, then put his hand out so that it could touch my outstretched hand with a courageous expression.
It was a method commonly used in this world when exchanging strong wills that were more like an oath than a promise made with the little finger.
When praying to God, it’s like making a promise in front of God by holding both hands together.
Since there is no god to prove that such a promise was made anyway, such a ceremony would be completely useless.
…If they were gods with enough power to guarantee the promises of other people’s races, they wouldn’t have neglected the church until it reached this point.
“I will pray.”
Just as my thoughts were slowly drifting towards a dangerous way of thinking about the incompetence of the gods, the little boy who was still holding my hand said something like that.
“Priest Rhys and the followers will be praying for you until you return.”
Her eyes were filled with tears that she had just wiped away, as if they were about to flow again, but none of that mattered anyway as she looked at her resolute appearance without shedding any tears.
Isn’t it enough that a child who is about to cry is already doing his part just by holding back his cry and making a promise to something?
For me, who really hates crying kids, that was enough.
“It won’t take long.”
As time goes on, the survival rate of Priest Ris, including the priest, will gradually decrease.
I stood up from my seat and looked at the princess.
Even though the princess looked at me with complex emotions and eyes, she soon captured those emotions and looked at me with determined eyes.
“There are many things I want to ask you, but I’ll do that after I’m done. Going to the South Tower seems like an urgent priority right now.”
Where on earth did this princess misunderstand in the conversation just now, so why did she want to ask so many questions?
Just calming the child normally, getting information from the child. Wasn’t it a conversation without anything strange.
The princess has a bit of an odd side when you see her sometimes.
Of course, this is a rude thought, so I didn’t say it out of my mouth. I’m a normal person with culture and common sense.
“I’ll hurry a little longer.”
Instead, he said that and gave buffs to the people around him after a while.
“This…”
“Saint Ronan, another crowd…”
After a flash of light passed and a subtle scribe drifted over everyone’s body, most of the knights looked around in surprise or sized their strength by clenching their fists, and in the meantime, the princess, who had become accustomed to my buff, sighed again.
I say it every time, but it’s not too much to get a buff? It’s a problem to encounter a devil worshiper while consuming holy power.
Why doesn’t there exist such a thing as a divine power potion in the world?
The Demon Worshipers of the Expedition were also a nuisance, and considering that the Demon Worshipers did not feel the dark magic this time, there must be something hidden. It was shattered.
As for the divine power…it will work somehow. First of all, it’s important to get to the place where the devil worshipers are.
That’s how we started moving towards the place the kid told us about.
The last scene I looked back at was the figure of a little boy praying with his eyes closed without movement as he walked out of the church in the arms of a priest.
Are you really going to pray until me and the priest come back? I’ve thought about it before, but you’re much better than a cardinal who won’t pray for five minutes, boy.
…
“What the hell… why are you so obsessed with it?”
An unnamed room in the south tower of the Central Church.
There, a dwarf and a priest were confronting each other.
“Can’t you see with your eyes open? It’s worth it””
“That wreath is just an offering for a single believer. It’s beautiful, but that’s it!”
Reese, a clergyman who fell to the floor with his already white robe stained so red that it was hard to find the original white part, shouted at the criminal who attacked the church in front of him.
The dwarf did not even look at Reese, who was shouting like that, and only answered by staring into space with unfocused, blank eyes.
“Don’t try to fool me. Is that disciple Ronan?”
“That…”
Reese, who was about to reflexively say how he knew, hurriedly covered his mouth.
Not too many people knew the existence of that corolla, but it was only a story that Reese alone knew that it was Ronan who created the corolla, and he had a strong feeling to infer that even that would be the case.
Who the hell was this demon worshiper to say something that he had never told anyone and even Reese himself was not sure about?
In her fading consciousness, Reese suddenly remembered what the believer, presumed to be Ronan, had said to Anna.
After the demons failed to fight against the gods, it was said that the demons were aiming for the things and holy things of the gods in order to take revenge on them.
At the time, it was thought that he was saying this to crack down on Anna in order to hide his identity. At the same time, he reminded him that clergy often fall into devil worshipers, and that he was trying to teach himself, who was shaking his faith at the time.
Even a three-year-old child knows that demons are in opposition to God, but nowhere in the world was there a story that demons coveted the sacred objects that God bestowed on this earth.
If not? What if there really is a secret story of the gods that only Saint Ronan knows about?
“Who the hell are you? Are you really a demon manifested on this earth?”
When asked if it was a devil, the dwarf’s head bent for the first time and turned to Reese.
It was still out of focus, both eyes were facing different directions, and the process of turning the head was very bizarre as it seemed that someone was turning only the neck while the body was still fixed.
“”The devil…don’t get me wrong, I’m part of what you call the devil, and the devil’s being is a part of me””
Reese’s eyes closed tightly as he said something close to positive.
Since the birth of living beings on this land, has there ever been an existence called a real devil?
Even among devil worshipers, there are rules of their own.
Just as priests who serve God do not pretend to be God, so devil worshipers who serve the devil do not pretend to be the devil.
It may be because there is no benefit to be gained by pretending, but it is worth calling the devil’s name at least once for the sake of fear strategy, but it has never happened so far.
The clergy of the Great Allotment would laugh at it, but they also had a feeling of reverence similar to that of faith in the devil.
Those words implied that the being in front of me was at least not a mere devil worshiper, a child of the devil who had landed on this earth, or at least an agent of the devil, like a saint representing the gods.
“Dear Orion…”
A shotgun expression flowed naturally from Reese’s mouth.
The Dwarf, who was looking at Reese, opened his mouth as if he was surprised.
“Why do you not give up even though you are desperately searching for God?”
“Because you know you will lose in the end.”
Answering the dwarf’s question, Reese thought of a young man who hadn’t completely cast off his boyhood yet to be called a young man.
At the first meeting, I didn’t notice it because I was hiding my identity, but from then on, I could already feel the unusual attitude of looking at a different place from others and a mentality that is difficult to see as a human being in the world.
From nob le mt l. com
Looking at all of his moves since then, Reese has never felt regretful or disappointed that he did not meet expectations even once.
How could a human being do that? Taking the initiative and running to the limbs to take on the most difficult task, never once disappointing expectations.
Even the expectations placed on those shoulders would not be those of only one person or one or two humans.
Just as a being known as the devil’s representative had never descended on earth in history, Rhys could assert that no saint like him had ever descended.
So even though I was afraid and hopeless, I was able to not give up.
In the end, Orion, who foresaw all of this, and Ronan, whom Orion arranged, would solve everything.
“”The faith of an intelligent body is truly miraculous, don’t you doubt it? Because of the wreath, I am here. Because of the wreath, this church is burning. Don’t you know who made the wreath?”
Maybe it was Ronan. And I’m not asking that.
Even if he didn’t want to understand what the Dwarf wanted to say, he could know it painfully.
Is Ronan really the ideal person he thinks he is? Then why did he allow the church to be attacked?
If it was true that this dwarf attacked the church because of the corolla and that Ronan hinted at Anna as if telling a fairy tale, why didn’t everyone know about it?
And above all, no one would know who made the corolla except for himself, who is guessing about the person who made the corolla, and Ronan, the person who created the corolla. Isn’t that what you have to do?
It was an environment in which anyone had no choice but to doubt Ronan’s true intentions and true appearance.
The dwarf ignored all of that and asked Reese with a voice full of genuine questions about how that could be, rather than ridiculing someone who didn’t give up his faith.
“I… will show you the way, but I will not rebuke you for going the wrong way. I, cool, will give you the abilities you deserve, but I will not rebuke you for your failures. …So do not be afraid of mistakes or failures. Just beware of doubting yourself because of it.”
It is a phrase that is often used in the church to emphasize the greatness of Orion by actively using only the word that it will show the way and bestow power, emphasizing benevolence, and packaging the church as truth and light.
Reese, who was once blind to the church, also believed and followed such teachings, but now he could confidently say that this was not the true meaning of the phrase.
Even if everything in the world believes in Orion and even if that faith is true, things do not go as planned. For whatever reason, humans can fail and make mistakes. You can turn your back.
However, Orion told them not to give up their faith instead of giving up their faith in themselves even if they were to face such a situation.
If you don’t give up on yourself, you will be able to recover your faith in others and in God someday.
Numerous thoughts began to flow in Reese’s increasingly blurry head.
Was it the best way to convey it because there were some restrictions on the Ronan saint? Did this happen because he did not understand the meaning?
Or was all of this a necessary sacrifice to catch this devil’s apostle? Was it because the sacrifice was inevitable, so Saint Ronan didn’t stop it?
Or, as the devil worshiper said, is Ronan hiding his true face? Was he foolishly fooled by him and ended up being used as a chess piece?
A lot of doubts and regrets tormented Rhys, but in the end, as always, only one thought remained in all those thoughts.
I believe in Ronan the Saint. Maybe it was because I was lacking in myself that I didn’t fully understand Ronan’s will. If Ronan hid the truth, there would have been a reason for it. It wasn’t worth thinking about Ronan being a traitor in the first place.
He will probably die here without knowing the truth.
However, he did not have any regrets. Because his faith did not fade until this moment right before his death.
Humans can become so strong just by not giving up their beliefs.
Reese was surprised and delighted that, at this age, he had broadened his awareness of faith even when he was on the verge of death.
If there is only one thing left behind…Rosetta and Anna. In addition, those who need help and followers.
they got caught in the snow
The moment Reese’s eyes are about to close as everyone he misses so much passes by like a kaleidoscope.
bang!
With a huge noise, the wall on one side collapsed and a figure covered in dust entered the room.
“Did you really have to go this far?”
For a moment, Reese couldn’t recognize the owner of the voice, even though it was a familiar voice. Because the voice contained emotions that had never been contained before.
“Really like this…”
Reese barely turned her head to look at the figure approaching this way.
“Are you asking if I really had to go this far because of that pile of flowers, you bastard!”
…If that anger, that gesture, is an act to deceive the dying self, then it must truly be worthy of a devil.
And Reese was sure that couldn’t be the case.
Mr. Orion. Saint Ronan is really angry and saddened by this situation. It is fortunate that at least this many sacrifices were not intended by Saint Ronan. If so, it would have been a little sad.
I am very fortunate that I did not give up my faith until the end.
Just as you gave me the courage to never give up on my faith, give Saint Ronan the strength to not be so hurt and distressed.
After that prayer, Reese’s eyes closed.
