Chapter 21 – Whereabouts of Prayer (5)
That’s it.
Kalt was happy in his heart.
Judging by her mood, it was clear that Aria was trying to share her problems.
Kalt remained silent and let Arya continue to speak.
“I am… I am not a person who can be called a nun. However, I am a person who has too much.”
“What do you mean?”
“…”
Arya remained silent as she took off the white glove on her right hand and showed her palm to Kalt.
“That’s it!”
Kalt was surprised.
The red symbol of the god of light was engraved on Aria’s palm.
It is by no means an ordinary pattern.
That was the stigmata.
A stigmata that is given only to priests and nuns who are loved and chosen by one of the few gods in the world.
Priests with stigmata are called papal candidates for men and saint candidates for women.
Those who had stigmata all possessed much divine power.
But how could it be that Aria possesses stigmata?
For Kalt, it was an unexpected harvest.
“It’s a stigmata.”
“Yes, it’s stigmata. It doesn’t suit someone like me… I don’t know why God gave me stigmata. I… Furthermore, I…”
Clenching her fists, Aria spoke to Kalt in a trembling voice as if she were confessing.
“The more I pray… The more I use divine power… The more I doubt God.”
‘What?’
If you use divine power, you will doubt God.
What on earth does this mean?
The moment he opened the knife, he thought he had heard wrong.
“If doubts about God continue to grow, it becomes difficult to exercise divine power. This… This is my problem.”
Kalt immediately began analyzing Arya’s confession.
If you use divine power, you end up doubting God.
That doesn’t mean denying or doubting God itself from the beginning.
If he continued to doubt God, he would be a devil worshiper, not a priest.
Then the most important thing is.
‘Why would I end up doubting God if I use divine power?’
“Mr. Aria.”
“… Yes.”
As Kalt called, Arya flinched, and her body trembled.
Like a child who is trembling because he is afraid of making a mistake and getting scolded.
“First, thank you for sharing your concerns. It must have been difficult to talk about. I’m glad that you trusted me so much.”
“Mr. Kalt…”
Arya was worried that Kalt would be angry when he heard about her problem.
What kind of nonsense is that?
Have you been hiding this important thing all this time?
You don’t believe in God, so are you still a priest?
I can’t attend a hopeless party like this.
I was nervous that something like that would come out.
But Kalt spoke to Aria as kindly as when they first met.
Kalt’s kind voice penetrated Aria’s frightened heart.
“Aria, why do you end up doubting God when you use divine power? Is there some reason?”
“… Yes.”
“Do you know Nellis and Scarlett?”
“Yes. So Mr. Kalt, please listen too.”
Aria put her hands together again and began to tell her story.
◈
When she was young, Aria was just an ordinary child with a kind heart.
She is just a child living peacefully with her parents in her village.
The difference is that she was a child who went to the church in the village every day and prayed to the God of Light, even if only briefly.
Her reason was simple. She was just a story her parents read to her at bedtime.
After hearing the story of the hero who sealed the Demon King under the guidance of the God of Light, she prayed to the God of Light with a pure heart, thanking him for bringing peace to the world.
She vaguely thought of Aria as a child.
Because she has the God of Light, she will continue to live in peace.
But her young Arya’s thoughts were cruelly trampled.
-Krraaaaa!
“Aaaaah!”
“Hey, it’s a monster! Everyone, avoid it!”
“Ahh! My, my arm! No! Eat my arm… Ahhh!”
“Daddy! Daddy!”
“No! Honey!”
“It’s a lie, it’s all a lie. Why are you treating me like this!”
Monsters attacked the village where Aria lived.
Monsters that would not normally be near the village invaded and began to ravage the village.
The old man in the village who smiled kindly was torn apart by the monster’s teeth.
A famous lovebird couple in town was eaten by a monster.
The friends who were protesting to stop praying and go play were pierced by the monster’s sharp claws.
For Aria, the daily life that she hoped would continue for granted collapsed.
Holding Aria’s hand as she couldn’t move due to shock, Aria’s parents hurriedly took her into the house.
Aria’s house had a basement that served as a mini liquor storage that Aria’s dad built as a hobby for her.
“You and Arya are hiding here! You must never come out!”
“But honey!”
“Don’t even make a sound under your breath! Okay!”
Aria’s father hid Aria’s mother and young Aria in her basement and blocked the entrance to the basement with furniture.
“Mom… Mom. Why, why…”
“Aria, it’s okay. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
“B-but, Ke, Grandpa Kane, Aunt Ruin, Uncle Dabin, Mina, Paul, and Jake…”
“It’s okay… Everything will be okay, Arya. Let’s pray. If we pray to the God of Light, he will surely save us.”
She felt her mother’s arms trembling as she hugged her.
‘Pray…’
All Aria could do was pray like her mother said.
More earnestly, more, and longer than usual.
Arya put her hands together and prayed to the God of Light.
A prayer that is not gratitude to God for bringing peace to the world.
Please save me, save me, the villagers, my dad, my mom, and myself.
Aria prayed and prayed again to be saved from the monsters.
During her prayer, Aria’s ears heard several sounds.
The sound of monsters barking and laughing.
The screams and wailing of the villagers.
The sound of a village crashing and burning.
Dad’s shouts and screams.
The sound of something heavy falling from above.
The sound of a mother’s sobs.
As Aria heard the sound, she prayed even more earnestly.
God, God of light.
Please save us, please save everyone.
Please defeat the bad monsters.
Aria prayed and prayed until she couldn’t even feel the heat rising from her right palm.
Right!
I heard the sound of the furniture blocking the basement door breaking.
Kwasik!
The sound of the wooden basement door breaking was heard.
-Kkeak! Kekekeke!
It was a goblin.
Three goblins with one hand covered in blood broke into the basement.
“Uh, Mom…”
Arya stopped praying and looked at her mother.
With no power, Aria eventually had no choice but to rely on her parents.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, Aria…”
Even though Aria’s mother was shedding tears, she smiled and trembled in front of her daughter.
“We… Can never lay a hand on our daughter!”
Arya’s mother rushed towards the goblin, holding a bottle of alcohol from her cellar.
“Yaaaaa!”
“Mom!”
The liquor bottle in her hand hit the goblin’s head and shattered.
But for an ordinary villager, that was the limit.
Two goblins nearby plunged their swords into Aria’s mother’s body.
“Big!”
One room, two rooms, three rooms.
The holes made by the knife on Aria’s mother’s body increased.
And Aria saw that scene before her eyes.
“No! Mom!”
The moment Arya stretched out her hand to her bleeding mother, her stigmata shone.
A sword made of white light appeared in the air and flew towards the goblins.
-Knock!
The goblins pierced by the sword of light fell to the floor, bleeding.
Aria unconsciously used the Holy Sword.
But to Aria, it didn’t matter that she used her divine power.
“Mom!”
Arya ran to her mother’s side as she lay bleeding.
“Uh, Mom! Mom!”
“Ari… Ah.”
Arya’s mother, bleeding from her goblin wounds, was slowly losing her life.
“Oh, no! Mom! Mom! Lord, you can’t die!”
“Aria… I’m glad you’re safe… Hey… Our most precious…”
The spark of life went out in Aria’s mother’s eyes.
“Uh, Mom! Mom! No! Wake up! Mom! Mom!”
Aria, in a panic, shook her mother, who had already lost her life.
Young Arya could not yet accept the death of her parents.
Wooooow!
A warm white light arose from Aria’s hand as she shook her mother.
It was the blessing of Great Hill, which could heal even those with serious injuries.
The wounds on Aria’s mother’s body healed immediately.
But.
It was impossible to revive the flame of life that had already gone out.
‘Oh God! Oh, God!! God of light!’
Aria prayed to God several times.
Let her mother wake up.
Please help mom open her eyes.
Although Great Heal was used several times, Arya’s dead mother was never revived.
“Haa, haa, haa! Ugh! Haa, haa, haa!”
Divine power that was just awakened at a young age.
Even if it’s Aria with the stigmata on it.
Using Great Heal continuously was very difficult.
I feel out of breath due to the excessive use of divine power.
My mind continued to deteriorate, and I felt like I was going to lose my mind at any moment.
But Aria didn’t stop.
“Mom… Ma. Um… Ma!”
I vaguely know her as a young Aria.
The moment the goblin came in, she realized what happened to her father.
She said that the only family she has left is her mother.
That’s why Aria didn’t want to admit it.
She didn’t want to admit that the only family she had left was gone.
‘Oh God. God of light… !’
It was a time when Aria’s spirit was about to be cut to the limit due to her excessive use of divine power.
“Hey! There’s a survivor here!”
Adventurers entered the basement.
“What, this kid is using divine power.”
“The one who has collapsed… Is this child’s mother.”
“Wait. Kid, stop! Stop! You’re in danger if you write like that!”
The first time Aria noticed her adventurers was after she forced them away from her mother to stop them.
“Oh, no… Mom! Mom… Mom! Mom!”
“Did you use divine power on my fallen mother? No, wait a minute… This person is already dead.”
The truth she never wanted to admit came out of the adventurer’s mouth.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah…!”
I didn’t want to admit it.
I couldn’t admit it.
However, Arya’s spirit, worn down by her excessive use of divine power, had no power left to deny her cruel reality.
“Aaaaa!”
The last thing Arya remembers is her own wailing.