Chapter 114. Heresy (1)
“What are you doing?”
John answered the question of the paladin guarding the entrance to the sanctuary.
“The saintess has business.”
“I can deliver it.”
“… Because it’s such a difficult thing to say. I would like to tell you directly.”
Even if it was a paladin protecting the sanctuary, it was difficult to say anything about it because it was related to security.
He may be as faithful as he works in the sanctuary, but he must keep what he wants to protect.
At those words, the paladin understood the situation and nodded.
“If you do, I will put in the entry request in the name of the sword castle.”
Sanctuary is an inviolable space.
Therefore, even the emperor, who is said to have reached the heavens with the power of the people, cannot freely enter and leave this place.
Even if there is an urgent business, this great principle is superior to all the values that exist in the world.
As such, waiting was a natural procedure, so John meekly withdrew.
“thank you.”
“It usually takes about a week.”
“If you do, I will come then.”
it’s a week
It’s longer than I thought, but the envoy from the kingdom just arrived today, so if you work hard, it will pass quickly.
* * *
The envoy arrived quickly.
As they went straight to an audience with the emperor, John found a familiar figure.
Someone who got together years ago and who also knows the same secret.
“long time no see.”
“Ah, Sir John. hello.”
“I have heard the news. that he crossed the wall It’s late, but congratulations.”
It refers to being the youngest person in the history of the continent to reach the level of Master.
However, Ian shook his head with an ambiguous expression.
“well. I do not know.”
“hmm?”
“It is true that he is a master, but I am not sure if he is the youngest. I haven’t heard from Roan… .”
After returning from Elvenheim, Roan was given one of the family plots and locked himself in it for a long time.
Neither the maids nor the servants, nor the father had ever been inside, so the exact news was unknown.
Just what the senior knights of the family say.
There were times when it came out about once a month, and the momentum felt each time was distinctly different.
And the last time I saw it, I couldn’t feel anything.
“nothing?”
“yes.”
John asks in surprise.
The fact that a knight who reached a certain level could not feel anything from his opponent meant that the difference in level was overwhelming.
There was no way that the quality of the senior knights of the Karziel family was low, which means that Roan’s level was high.
“If you really… .”
“Based on the growth rate so far, there is plenty of potential.”
“under.”
John marveled.
He said there was a possibility, but because Ian had a pretty confident look on his face.
The chances of a knight of that level misunderstanding the opponent are extremely low.
‘A master’s stage in his early twenties.’
Considering the growth rate, this is a level where you can get a glimpse of the state beyond the master before the end of your lifespan.
Enough to understand why you chose the sick over so many geniuses of the day.
“By the way, Sword Saint, what are you doing in the capital? I thought you were on the front line by now.”
“An envoy from the kingdom is also coming. Things just happened.”
“If that is the case… ?”
“I have something to do at the sanctuary.”
It’s not a big deal, just asking if I’ve received any revelations.
However, Ian continued to say it as if it was just fine.
“I’m sorry, but could you please do me one favor?”
“hmm?”
“Please bring one more.”
John is taken aback by the sudden request.
Ian explained the situation.
Roan’s confidant who came to the family not too long ago brought a child with Roan’s message.
“I don’t know why, but they said I should make them priests.”
“is it? Well, there must be a reason for what the apostle said.”
In fact, it was closer to clearing up what had already happened rather than having a reason, but they misunderstood it on their own.
“Okay.”
“thank you. Then, a night guest will come to the mansion tonight.”
“Ah, that henchman?”
“yes. He was unusually difficult to move during the day. I think it’s probably Roan’s influence.”
“But there are knights in the mansion.”
“There will be no problem. He’s a very powerful man, so no one would notice the intrusion except Sir John.”
“Hoo… .”
If Ian is so confident, it must mean that the henchman has passed a certain level.
‘Who is it?’
So John waited for him with expectation.
But that night.
“… her?”
Surprisingly, the person who came to see John was a face he knew well.
* * *
few years ago.
There was an incident in which one of the leading families in the empire perished overnight.
When the day dawned, only the servants were asleep in the mansion, drunk with the scent of sleep, and the escorts and bloodlines of the family were all dead.
The only survivor of this terrible tragedy was the second son of the family.
However, soon after the investigation, it was discovered that the second son had already been eliminated in the process of succession competition, and the Portis family was officially declared extinct.
“But, how are you?”
asked John, perplexed.
Surprisingly, the person who visited him in the middle of the night was the second son of the Portis family, whom he had seen at the tournament a few years ago.
His graceful swordsmanship, which did not suit his poor body, was quite impressive, so it remained in my memory.
“Am I seeing ghosts?”
“no.”
“Or did I mistake someone? But they are very similar… .”
“It’s not like you, it’s you.”
Laurel smiled bitterly.
When I was young, I targeted the sword star, but I didn’t know we met like this.
He explained the situation in a brief way, hiding the complexities in his heart.
“This castle has already been abandoned, so please forget it. I am his person now.”
The Laurel that Johann saw was, as Ian said, a great talent.
If it wasn’t for the unfortunate incident, he could have become a knight responsible for the future of the empire.
However, knowing that his heart had already left, John replied bitterly.
“… Got it. But who is next to you?”
“This is the child to take to the sanctuary.”
“hello… .”
Eric bowed and said hello.
I didn’t know who the opponent was, but I could tell enough that he was a high-status person through the conversation between the two and the elegance that I could feel implicitly.
‘This child?’
John tilted his head.
Didn’t you say you were going to make a priest?
In any country, priests are called intellectuals in their own right.
However, the atmosphere of Eric, who was distractedly looking around, was quite different compared to the many priests he had seen so far.
He was just an ordinary child that can be found everywhere.
‘… It’s amazing.’
He is a child who seems not to be able to pray well, but how did his divinity manifest?
“Ah, there is no divinity yet.”
“hmm? Why?”
“Because I have no faith.”
Embarrassed, John blinked.
Because it was unbelievable.
“… did i hear wrong? The child who should be made a priest has no faith?”
To make a person without faith, that is, a person who is not even sure of his faith, into a priest.
No matter how much the apostle did, it was difficult to understand easily.
Laurel answered briefly.
“… There were circumstances.”
“Um… .”
John didn’t ask too deeply because he had an expression that knew the difficulty.
Instead, I understood that it would be an unavoidable case and moved on.
he turned the subject
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“Now I’m thinking of finding it.”
“I’ll just stay at the mansion. I have a child, but I can’t keep it outside, can I?”
You can make up an appropriate story about the child and explain it, and Laurel can give you an empty room and hide appropriately.
It won’t be comfortable, but at least it’s much better than outside, where inns are hard to find.
With no reason to refuse, Laurel gratefully accepted.
“If you do, excuse me for a week.”
* * *
After Laurel and Eric came to stay at John’s house, Eric began studying theology in his spare time.
However, it soon ran into trouble.
“How do you read this?”
“Ah, that… .”
It was possible to read unknown letters by asking the attendants around them, but the problem was a different part.
Reading and comprehending are two very different things.
Theology was too difficult for a child to understand, and there were many parts that were difficult to interpret.
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“… grunt.”
Less than an hour later, Eric folded the book with his feverish head.
I can’t really study alone.
I had to find someone to ask.
The person who found it was John.
“Do you have anything to ask me?”
“yes. I don’t quite understand.”
Eric asked.
The question I am most curious about, but it is only vaguely described in other books and does not give a clear answer.
“What is divinity?”
“divinity?”
“yes. Knowing that would give you divine power. I don’t know.”
“… hmm.”
In fact, John doesn’t even know.
Of course, I knew the meaning of the word, but it wasn’t enough to give a clear answer to the child who should now become a priest.
I only believe in faith and divinity because they exist, but I have never thought about it deeply.
In other words, I believe in the existence, but I do not understand the principle accurately.
‘How can I tell you this?’
I was worried that I might be misinterpreting what I said in a part I didn’t know.
So he answered in the line he knew.
I heard from a priest I know, that faith is faith without doubt.
It would be enough if you could tell me the principle.
“Believe is important.”
“trust? What?”
“Wouldn’t that be up to you to decide? There is no clear answer to the form of faith. What matters is degree.”
It doesn’t matter whether you believe in His existence or in the will He sent a representative to preach.
Divinity is expressed as a pure faith beyond a certain level.
… maybe.
“aha! I think I know something.”
“… ?”
John was perplexed.
Even the person who said it doesn’t know what he said, but the child said he understood it.
However, looking at the expression on the child’s face, it seemed that the child was somehow confident.
Yohan tried to say more, but soon closed his mouth and replied with a calm expression.
“okay. Good luck.”
“yes.”
Eric disappears with gunfire.
Yohan, who was watching the scene from behind, muttered with a strange expression.
“… Are you also the child chosen by the apostle?”
Thinking that maybe he just didn’t have a chance to learn, and he was a child who should have been a priest.
Some doubts remained, but John understood and moved on.
He had no idea what Eric was thinking.
* * *
‘Divinity is faith.’
‘It’s up to you to determine the form… .’
John’s words gave Eric his own realization in a different way.
In other words, doesn’t it mean that you just have to strongly believe in God’s something, no matter what?
‘I see.’
Then, what is God?
Eric thought like a child.
God is a mysterious being.
It is also a being that punishes evil.
In times of crisis, he brings salvation.
point the way ahead
When I put the above four together, there was one thing that came to mind.
It’s strange that I forgot because it was only a few weeks ago.
‘… Are you sure.’
The knight who appeared in the village.
It is mysterious because it is unknown.
He punished the evil dragon that had thrown the village into chaos.
He sent an agent to save himself from a crisis.
He showed me the way as a priest.
‘I met God!’
The child was ignorant.
It was as blind as it was ignorant.
In addition, recent events were all difficult to happen in reality, so this also had an impact.
Imaginations generated by the combination of illusions and coincidences grew in size on their own, and soon settled as a fact in the child’s head.
“mister!”
“Yes?”
Eric asked after finding Laurel.
“Tell me his story.”
