Chapter 138 – The Temple

000

The streets of the royal capital, where the sun rises early in the morning, begin to become lively with people preparing for business. The fact that I was able to spend last night safely must have been thanks to the blessings of the king and church. Even if they may have had a bit of a bad night’s sleep, and even if they can’t remember the dream they had last night, the citizens of the royal capital are busy living day by day.

A small servant dressed in a maid’s uniform walks with brisk steps to the place where the same daily life is about to begin. The girl, who looked about her ten years old, walked away humming her song with her black hair tied back in a ponytail.

Behind her, a woman in a white dress was slowly walking along. With the fedora on her head and her face covered with both hands, she managed to avoid the billboards and walked away even though it seemed difficult to see her.

“Ahhh…”

At the same time, she utters a voice full of despair and shame. Her appearance is comparable to that of an aristocratic lady, but, strictly speaking, she is also a girl who walks in front of her. She is the servant of the Tromeia family, along with her demonic sword her, Barisada. And that too, with the status of being a direct servant of the hostess, Aurelia Tromeia. Originally, it would have been more than enough time for her work to start, but thanks to a night out, it was late enough before she went back on her way and headed back to her own place of work.

“Really. You know I wanted to cheer up after meeting you for the first time in a while. Why are you so deadly?”

Lisa looked at her own partner following her behind her and shrugged her shoulders incredulously.

Unlike Ruba, she was in a good mood.

She has a connection between her and Ruba in her soul. When Rubera feels her joy, she feels joy too. When Ruba is sad, she is sad too.

In that respect, everything she felt last night flowed into Barisada, and Barisada, who had experienced something pleasant to the point of being a little uncomfortable, dressed up cleanly to meet her owner, as always, early in the morning, and her sisters ( After the same saying hello to the battle maids), they left the duchy.

In the room she went up under her guidance her, there was Lubera making noise with her head her slammed into the wall, and Cleon holding onto her arms and body her as if trying to stop her from harming herself.

Apparently, she remembered all the events of the night and lost her sanity with shame about it.

Barisada who calmed her down with the help of her Cleon her. It was to her that she never understood that Ruba was the reason for her shame her.

After meeting her crush her for the first time in a while, we were able to confirm our feelings for each other. Is it embarrassing to reveal your true intentions like that?

“It would be comfortable for Ruba to be honest. Then Cleon will surely like Ruba more, right?”

“It’s noisy… You’re doing this because that’s impossible…”

Ruba glares intently at Barisada through the gap between her spread fingers her.

Barisada felt her terrifying gaze her running up her spine her and trembled as she approached her covering her face her and grabbed her hand her.

“Really. It’s not impossible, it’s something I’m trying not to do. Ruba. Let’s go back to the mansion quickly. I have a lot of work to do in the mansion today too!”

“Now, wait. Don’t pull her hand her. People around you won’t see it.”

“Hey! Maid! Are you late today? My sister is having a hard time!”

Haha!”

“Kuk, keuuk…”

When this scene was repeated over and over again, the shopkeepers in the street would forget their unusual appearance.

Ruba blushes in her face, but without saying anything, she is taken by Barisada to the duke’s mansion.

When she changes her clothes and heads to the place where Lavita is, Nora, who was working on her first her, smiles brightly as she looks at her Lubera her.

“Lavita! Rubera is back! Can I tell you now?”

“Yes. Nora. Tell me.”

When Lavita instructs Nora with her smiling face, Ruba gets a bad feeling about her and tries to say something, but she is overshadowed by Nora’s voice of her.

“Eh- so. Welcome to the place where you were hugged so badly that you threw away your work. How many times did you go away last night?”

“Kuh. That’s a nonsensical sound.”

“Oh my gosh, what’s that white liquid running down her thighs?”

Ruba looked down at her thighs her, startled at her her body her, then she looked back at Lavita as she regained her senses saying, `Hot.` There was nothing there.

“La. B. Ta…!!!”

Haha! Look, Rubera has become a ghost!”

“Stand there! You monster grandma!!”

“Really. When are you going to do it?”

Barisada sighed as she watched the two start a chase with a broom.

001

At the same time, Cleon opens the door of an unfamiliar inn and announces his return with her with a small greeting. Squeak, when you hear the un-greased door slam shut behind you, ah. A sense of relief came over her as she thought that she was finally back home and that she could relax a little.

Last night’s intense act was a little physically burdensome even for Cleon.

Originally, I wanted to start the search right away, but since it would take some time before the Duchess contacted me, I thought that sleeping during the day would be a good idea and took a step forward.

The sound of the twisting wooden floor, different from the sound heard from the door, stimulated my ears.

It was a sound I hadn’t heard when I was living in the Goldfield or Layla’s mansion, but I managed to remember that it was a sound I always heard when I was staying in an old building and a suitable accommodation.

And a sound different from the sound of his own footsteps his gradually approaches him. Light, slightly spaced steps. Layla would be a little more relaxed. One beat of hers, the sound of her footsteps her, which had a faster tempo than hers, made it possible to know that her joy and anticipation her were mixed. And as Cleon himself expected, it was Sasha in the morning with a smile on her face who crouched down in the corner of the living room to reveal herself.

“Mr. Cleon! You’re back!”

“Good morning. Sasha. You woke up early today.”

“Yes! Waking up during jogging in the morning at the academy became a habit… I couldn’t go out today because I was packing up some of the things I didn’t finish yesterday.”

Cleon looked at Sasha who said that, nodded her head, and slowly moved her heavy steps as if walking on muddy water to head towards his room her.

In the new accommodation, to get to Cleon’s room, you must pass the kitchen on the way, so you have no choice but to run into Quon, who is preparing breakfast.

“Sorry Cleon. I couldn’t go out to the front door.”

When Quon, who barely made eye contact with Cleon while busily moving his hand, said that, Cleon also shook his head and replied.

“No. Because I’m fine. Oh, and sleep a little bit. Please don’t prepare my share.”

“What?! I already made it…”

“Ah- I’m sorry… It’s okay. The rice cooked by Quon is delicious even after it cools down.”

“It’s not like that… Really.”

When Quon, who seemed visibly disappointed by Cleon’s words his, said that, Cleon scratched his head and said ‘sorry’and was about to return to his room his.

Bean bean. I turned around at the feeling of hitting myself from behind. There was a smiling Layla.

“You seem tired, sir.”

“Haha?”

Lila, who was saying something incomprehensible, inserted the potion bottle with the needle containing the blue medicine in her hand into Cleon’s thigh her.

With a tingling sensation, the medicine penetrated into Cleon.

“What, hey. You, what…”

“Now. Now. Calm down and take a deep breath.”

Cleon is taken aback by the sudden situation, but as if expecting even that, Layla pats Cleon’s head as she leans forward to her.

As the medicine travels through the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body, the fatigue that weighs heavily on Cleon’s body is gradually erased.

“…No, what is it really? This.”

“It’s my special anti-fatigue pill. I prepared it even before I heard that I would be back in the morning.”

Inje Ya Cleon sent her telepathic message to Layla when she noticed her snort her. Perhaps, she was exhausted and expected to return. Her disingenuousness of her is similar, if not as close to Lyla’s as Rubera’s. She had some understanding of her psychology.

Either way, Cleon puts her hand on her throbbing chest and looks at Lila with her uneasy eyes.

“Any side effects…?”

“It’s because it draws energy for the next day in advance, so when the effect of the medicine wears off, you’re like crazy sleepy?”

As if, it was a similar effect to the magic called `Gabul` that Layla used before and was banned by her.

Layla pulls Cleon with her face still in doubt, and she goes out of the way of Quon to talk quietly.

“Today, Quon has to attend the temple at the request of the church. I want to go with him, but I also have something else to do.”

“…You’re asking me to follow you. What do I have to do?”

“Yesterday, the man named Setos I saw at the Tromeia mansion. Did you feel anything when you saw it?”

Cleon’s face comes to mind when he hears Layla’s words from her. Certainly, it was a face that felt deja vu somewhere, and the reaction he showed to Quon was not normal.

Besides, he is acquainted with Quon’s uncle.

“Maybe that man. It might be Alvein’s real father.”

“…”

Hearing those words, Cleon’s chest rang heavily for some reason. I’m sure I’ve heard that Alban is the illegitimate son of a nobleman. And, her mother her returned to her hometown her because her spirit her was broken by her separation her from the nobility.

This is a story I heard from Kuon, not from anyone else.

“…I think Quon is vaguely aware of it. But, it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring up the name of Alvein in front of that man.”

“You’re right. So. What are you trying to do?”

“It’s a background check to see if our speculation is correct. There is a reliable source of information in the royal capital. You stick to Quon today and see if that man comes to see you. Just in case. And, it’s not just him that you need to be careful of. It’s a bit complicated even inside. You have to protect it.”

Layla said, pressing her fist to Cleon’s chest her and looking into her strong eyes her.

What he could feel at the tip of his fist was her was his trust her in Cleon, and at the same time, his will her to leave things related to Alvein up to him.

Cleon nodded silently and got up from his exhausted body her.

“Quon. I’ll have breakfast too.”

002

“This place… Great War of Astera…”

Quon’s voice echoes from Cleon’s side. The expression on her face her, her eyes wide open, unable to hide her surprise her. Cleon, too, seemed to be a little overwhelmed by what was in front of her.

It was a huge building. Among the various structures Cleon had seen, the largest was the Monarch’s coffin, which he saw in the center of the academy. Unlike the one in front of me that gave off a feeling of fakeness, it was much grander and bigger, and it was more white and brilliantly reflecting the sunlight, and it was reverently guarding its place close to the royal castle, the center of the capital.

The huge building was built by restoring ancient drawings, and the number of supporting pillars is 72. The huge temple of marble, in which prayers are densely carved, raises the magic power connected to the spirit vein, and scatters a kind of blessing-like effect called God’s protection throughout the capital.

This place is currently spread all over the continent, and it is the headquarters of the Order of Protection of the Saints who have been nominated to have the mission of protecting mankind from demons and disasters.

It is said that it was rebuilt more solidly and powerfully by restoring what was destroyed in the war with the empire in the past.

I guess so. Because it was none other than the hero, the holy sword, and the saintess who saved this continent from the demons of the empire. It became a war to prove that the savior legend of the Saint’s Protection Church was not wrong.

“Awesome…”

“Okay…”

Galatea disguised as an ordinary sword was draped around her waist just in case. When Galatea got close to the temple, the holy magic that she felt was vibrating with a buzz as if it were unpleasant.

[Are you going inside now? I hate it, I hate it…]

While consoling Galatea, who spits out grumbles, Cleon looks at Quon.

“What are you doing today?”

“It seems to be a regular volunteer activity by priests of the church. Making holy relics. Treating injured people.”

The holy relic is a type of magic tool produced by the church, and it doesn’t look good to use the name magic tool in the church, so the only difference is that it is called by a different name. The difference is that the magic that is contained is not ordinary elemental magic, but divine magic.

Most of the holy relics produced by the church, starting with the rosary, play the role of amulets, and if priests make them with great care, they naturally exert the effect of protecting the wearer without using complicated techniques such as magic tools. Because things are made.

Recalling what Quon said earlier that the basis of divine magic is the heart for people, although it is certainly great. Is it too sensitive to feel that divine magic, which exerts its power with such an attitude and prayer, is more messy, although it basically requires a high level of knowledge, unlike magic that can only exert its power through cumbersome calculations? Of course, the fact that divine magic is generally said to be more difficult than normal magic meant that it was difficult to maintain with that mindset.

Divine magic that heals the human body, calms the mind, and purifies the unclean is the exact opposite of the magic used by Lyla, Beatrix, and Cleon for destruction.

Instinctively, Cleon felt something unpleasant about divine magic, which had too much power, just like destroying magic of the same class.

“Anyway. Let’s go inside. The priest I saw last time told me to guide you.”

When she nodded her head at Quon’s words and passed through the entrance of her temple, she found that the priest who came to the previous academy was waiting for her Quon her.

“You came on time. Thank you, Miss Quon. Many clerics are currently away on missions at the temple. I was in trouble because there were fewer people who could participate in the regular volunteer activities. Previously Are things going well with the colleagues you mentioned?”

“Yes. I haven’t made much progress since I’ve only been here for a day, but I don’t think it’s a bad start.”

At the kind words of the bride with a kind and benevolent smile, Quondo bows her head to say hello. This time, the bride looks at Cleon while talking.

“Cleon. I’m really sorry for wasting your colleague’s time. I hope you find some peace of mind while you’re here.”

I could n’t tell if it was polite or if it was his sincerity of her. Thinking he couldn’t be rude to a priest who had been kind to him in front of Quon, Cleon had no choice but to nod quietly and say yes.

They also knew that Cleon was a magic swordsman and a member of the dark horse clan.

However, perhaps thanks to the edification policy of Emeleus and Esca, there were no church members openly persecuting them in front of others. There were people who were plotting behind the scenes or whispering.

The priest walks ahead with slow steps and leads Cleon and Quon to a large chapel where church members are gathered. All chairs were set aside, wounded soldiers and old people with sprained backs. And, starting with adventurers who seemed to be faking illness for the purpose of beautiful nuns, a considerable number of people gathered there and were seen talking to the clergy attached to each one.

“…There were similar activities in Elesia, but it’s the first time I’ve seen people gather like this.”

“…Well, if the church’s activities are this active, it’s understandable that clinics and hospitals are closing their business.”

Seeing the two people sending surprises in slightly different directions, the bride smiles bitterly.

After that, first of all, Quon started making castle relics. And Cleon sits next to her, crossing her arms and looking around her to make sure that her strange figure her doesn’t approach her.

When she turned her gaze to the sound of her snoring beside her, she could see Quon passing a ball through her thread her with her dexterous dexterity.

The talisman she makes is sure to be completed with strong power to protect others.

Perhaps feeling her gaze her looking at her, Quon gives Cleon her thread and beads her.

“Would you like to try Cleon?”

Cleon’s eyes widened at the sudden proposal. But then he smiled bitterly and shook her head.

“…Me? No. I’m fine. I’m not a priest, so if I make it, won’t something like a curse stick on me?”

“That’s not true. Even if you don’t have divine magic, if you have a heart that truly cares for others, you’ll definitely be able to make a wonderful castle relic.”

Just like Lila when she asked Cleon for Quon, Quon looks at Cleon with eyes that believe in him.

Reluctantly accepting the thread with that strong will, Cleon carefully passes the thread through the hole.

“Wow! Well done Cleon! The first time I did it, it took me dozens of seconds to put it on!”

“… Really? Maybe it’s because I don’t put my heart into it.”

“Really. Saying that. Whooping. It’s okay. Work hard.”

Quon gives a kind smile and encourages Cleon, who gives a blunt answer.

Cleon felt that Quon was a little dazzling, so he turned to the rosary he was making again.

At that time.

When Cleon, feeling the presence of a stare that seems to be glaring at him, hurriedly turns his head in the opposite direction—

There stood a woman looking at them with a kind smile.

Long hair that seemed to be a mixture of silver and sky blue, a holy veil on her head and a crown that was the testimony of the pope.

A clergyman’s attire that covers the entire body. And, the eyes that can be seen in a smile.

Even if he did n’t use magic poetry or something like that, he could see that the divine magic that was filled with brilliant light flowed from his body his even if it did n’t work.

Just a little while ago, there wasn’t a person with such a presence in this place.

If you think that the surroundings suddenly became quiet for a while-

“Eh, Mr. Esca…? It’s Mr. Esca!”

“Stand up, Lady Esca! Why is Lady Esca here!”

In an instant, people’s voices spread around the venue, and it was known that they were coming closer to see Esca, the Holy Mother and Pope.

“Verastor.”

“Yes. Esca-sama.”

When Esca calls someone’s voice her, a woman who covers her whole body with plate armor, up to her head her, raises a shield and blocks the way to prevent people from passing in front of her.

Then, no one could pass through that invisible wall, and on the spot she would kneel down and bow her head or pray.

“I’m sorry, everyone. Today… I’m not here to preach or pray. I’m here for a personal meeting.”

As if asking for understanding from the church members quietly, Esca was clear and clear. She speaks audibly, letter by letter.

There was an unknown power in that voice. It was as if she was conveying her feelings to the church members as they were. Feeling sorry.

“Today, I am here as a church member, not as a pope or a virgin. Please, don’t worry about me. Please continue today’s event.”

As Esca spoke, the church members who had flocked to see him returned to their original positions one by one.

As Verastol looked at that figure, he returned the shield imbued with divine magic to his back. Without saying a word, she went behind Esca and stood up. It was an immovable posture, as if the knight’s armor was decorated separately.

“I’m glad that the church members seem so considerate, right? Cleon. And- Miss Quon.”

“Ah, yes… Yes! That, that’s right…”

Quon looked nervous, and when Esca called her own name her, he stuttered as he answered.

And Cleon answers with a slightly uncomfortable look.

“…It’s been a while. Mr. Esca.”

“Eh, Esca…? The Cleon that Mr. Talcheck and Mr. Sophia used to call…”

Quon looked at Cleon’s quiet demeanor her with a surprised face and muttered involuntarily.

“Yes. It’s been a while, Cleon. I wanted to meet you.”

As if Cleon’s reaction her was natural, Esca stretched out her hand from her clerical robe with large sleeves and placed it on Cleon’s head her.

Although, the growth stopped in the teens. It was like the expression of a mother meeting her long-lost child.

Truly, a face befitting the Holy Mother of the Church. Quon looked at her, her eyes twinkling with her little admiration and her respect her.