Chapter. 21. Another Solo Play (9)
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‘Faith is blindness. Some people ask how one can believe and follow a battle that has no accurate evidence or written logic, but that is the question of those who least understand the essence of religion.’
‘It’s not that you can believe without logic, but because there is no logic, shouldn’t you build a more pure faith? Rather than judging based on reason that is young and incapable of being less than 100 years old, it is about having pure faith that is free from reason. We call it faith and religion.’
‘-Gun… -I guess I— —?’
‘To a certain extent, you are right. Pure faith is a strong idea that removes the standards of judgment, so it can easily lead in the wrong direction. That’s the case with many cultists and heretics out there. That is why those who are under God’s care, like you and me, must work harder to lead the saints properly.’
‘Do you, who survived until now by the grace of light, have to say that to use it? ‘I’m a professor.’
‘Oh yeah. It’s Hyde. That’s unusual for a mental illness. ‘You don’t like being named after the greatest saint.’
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“I’m back~”
“Latura. “Thanks to the goddess’s care, I returned safely.”
Thump- Boom
!
The Temple of Mercy returned around sunset.
The bishop’s eyes were wide open, as if he couldn’t believe what was in front of him.
“oh my god. “So you’re saying that it was you, Brother Frauch and Lord Hyde, who showed final mercy to that ‘accursed Instructor Bethel’?”
“Was it a famous article?”
“Over the past three years, countless people have died from his shield in Yongin City. He was a very prestigious knight. From what I heard, he could have been a knight of the royal guard, but he remained a knight, saying he liked disciplining soldiers.”
The bishop spoke with admiration as he looked at the purple-colored armor, sword, and great shield.
“It seems like it wasn’t easy to rescue the survivors.”
“yes. “My faith in the emperor was stronger than I thought.”
Even if I walked around from dawn to dusk, about 80% of the time was spent hiding. Even though we went through so much trouble to arrive, the people were not very enthusiastic about moving to the temple, as Frauch said.
I was frustrated. The bishop said that he would provide holy water and directions only if someone was brought in, but people were not afraid of the cursed army swarming around their houses. On the contrary, he went so far as to criticize the Emperor’s favor as a curse or something?
“Latura. That’s because it’s easier for them to believe that the emperor’s curse is a way to protect them.”
“It’s more comfortable? A soldier with plant roots stuck all over his body, his body swollen and swollen, is walking around saying “Emperor… Emperor…”. Is it easier to believe that this is true power? “It was mostly the imperial army that blocked the capital?”
“That’s right. ‘The Emperor’s Cursed Army is to protect the capital from the Great Army of Mute.’ The above proposition contains an answer about the future. It is a hopeful future that if Mute is defeated, the capital and their lives can return to normal. But our opinion that the Emperor’s curse is slowly eating them away is… not very hopeful. “We are also imprisoned in the capital and cannot leave.”
“Regardless of the truth, they just believe what they want to believe more…”
“These are people whose minds and bodies have been weakened by the curse. “I can’t really blame you for not being able to think rationally.”
The bishop said it was unfortunate but could not be helped and ordered the surrounding priests to collect the armor and shield. Once the stuck energy is sufficiently purified, it will be melted and used to make spear knives for other paladins.
“Still, since you saved at least one person, it seems that the hand of the goddess has clearly reached Lord Hyde. Isn’t that right, Saint Amelda?”
“Yes yes…. Bishop….”
“Hehehehehe. There is nothing to be so afraid of. This is the closest place to the goddess’s mercy. Please follow me. “There are still many places that need the help of those who can move.”
“Yes…”
There was only one survivor who followed Frauch and me, and that was the woman Amelda, who was now hiding behind me and looking around.
She was a kitchen maid for a noble family, and she thought it was very strange that she wasn’t hungry even if she didn’t eat. She said that when she saw us fighting a cursed knight, she thought it would be okay to entrust herself to the temple.
“Can I stay with these two drivers?”
“Hehehe. Come to think of it, Saint Amelda said she followed Brother Frauch and Lord Hyde after seeing their status, right?”
“Yeah… I think it would be okay if there were strong knights like that guarding the temple…”
“You thought about it well. However, since there are many brothers other than those two who are working hard to protect this place, wouldn’t the other brothers be offended if they are too helpful to just those two? Above all, you two brothers need to rest after your hard work.”
“Ummmm….”
“No need to worry. “You are all great brothers who serve the goddess as faithfully as I do.”
“Yes…”
In the end, the backs of the bishop and Amelda disappeared among the shimmering ceremonial incense in the temple.
Frauch and I watched quietly.
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“Thank you, Hyde. “I unexpectedly ended up doing more than what was given to me.”
“it’s okay. “I’m used to suffering more than I expected.”
After reporting to the bishop, I returned to my assigned seat and was facing Frauch.
“The compensation the bishop promised will be paid tomorrow morning. In addition to two bottles of Holy Water of Mercy and five bottles of advanced potions, you will be given a handful of consecrated arrowheads in return for the armor and shield you brought.”
“Oh oh. He said he didn’t have anything. “Do you give me a lot?”
“That’s why you’ll be paid tomorrow. “For the compensation, many brothers will have to stay up all night praying.”
“Uhm….”
“Thank you for your hard work. Please take a look.”
Tobuk, tobuk, tobuk, tobuk –
The sound of cloth-padded boots quickly became distant. Frauch seems to have become slightly chilly.
Of course, there’s nothing to worry about since we’ll be breaking up tomorrow, but
‘…what is it? What is this ambiguous feeling?’
There was just something about it that was… annoying.
In my experience, if I just ignore something like this, I end up in trouble. Ignoring the traces of stowaways left at the magic train station and getting into a big fight with a train robber, or receiving a request to explore ruins from a noble with a bad look, I almost got dealt with without a word after the job was over.
I was confident that my observation skills were at least better than that professor’s. Because like me, he’s never been looking for something he doesn’t know in his entire life.
When something bothers me, it means there is something that sticks out like a rock in my head. Something that sticks out in an unnatural way.
What is it?
“Temple?”
Nothing much had changed in the temple. The smoke and scent of ancestral rites, still familiar as if they were home, filled the temple, patients moaned and priests looked after them with kind smiles. Even at this very moment, a faint divine power is flowing within the temple, so I don’t think it’s a problem with the location.
“person?”
Paladin Frauk… clearly felt like he had suddenly become sharper. Would you say it has become a bit sharper or stricter? Where did the Holy Knight, who had admitted his mistake by saying that he judged based only on appearances, go? There was a knight standing in front of him who went about doing his job, leaving behind only words like ‘You did your job, get paid and go away’.
Amelda. Since when has she been hiding behind me? Although she was embarrassed that two high-ranking knights who were like people from a different world were escorting her as she was a former maid, she was also excited about finding a new home in a place with other people. From the moment I entered the temple, I started feeling anxious and looking around.
“Latura. Are you comfortable?”
“Oh yeah. Thank you for your concern…!”
and. The moment the priest who was wandering around casting healing magic approached me, I realized what was so bothersome.
‘The condition of the priests is very good.’
The Temple of Mercy had a large space that could accommodate many people, as was the doctrine of extending a hand to anyone, and the temple was protecting so many survivors that people had to be careful not to step on people while walking around the temple.
The survivors were all debilitating patients, and the priests had to frequently pour out divine power to keep them from turning into breathing blood clots.
Even though the Hyla priest cared for fewer people, his hair became gray and withered like a twig.
The priests here maintained firm skin and strength in their eyes while caring for people several times that number.
Because it’s a temple? Because the temple is rich in divine power?
well. So many ancestral rites may have been made because there was a lack of divine power to drive away the cursed energy.
So what is the source of the priests and paladins’ inexhaustible divine power here?
I was convinced there was something different. I quietly got up from my seat. I got up from my seat.
As I rummaged through the cloak’s subspace, I looked beyond the thick smoke where the Bishop and Amelda had disappeared.
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The temples of the five major denominations each had their own unique characteristics.
The light is so bright that it hurts the eyes.
Abundance always smells like food,
containers are dirty,
wisdom has books piled up like trash, and
mercy uses cheap building materials for temples.
This is a will to enlighten those who are further away. A desire to give people the right to be well-fed in the realm of abundance. A heart that values the blood stains and scars of war. A plea to not have difficulty accessing knowledge. A large temple must be built with a limited budget to accommodate everyone. It is said that it is a characteristic that comes from unreasonable charity. These are the characteristics of the five major denomination temples known to the public.
However, Hyde, who experienced life as the most important factor in the Gwangmyeong Church along with the professor, was well aware that there was one more characteristic.
‘Each denomination was not as good as it was made out to be.’
What the temples of each of the five major denominations have in common.
It’s a dungeon. A facility to imprison the enemies of the religious order and hold them accountable for their sins of dishonoring God, their absolute being.
If the temple had not had enough space to accommodate so many patients, they would have had to have been accommodated in the basement of the temple, but I have never once seen a priest or paladin going to a place similar to the basement. This means that there are not enough seats for patients on the ground level, so they have to line them up and lie down, but there are no patients in the basement.
So what was put in the basement?
I traced the trail through the thick fog. The bishop’s traces were not easily visible to his eyes, but Amelda’s dirty shoes, which had just come in from outside, left a clear trace.
Footprints cut off beneath the statue of the goddess in the innermost part of the temple.
Even now, there were priests walking around, but thanks to the thick ceremonial scent emitted from the large bronze incense burner hanging above the statue of the goddess, it was impossible to even see the people right next to it. It must have been intentional.
….clunk!
When the crack in the flagstone was lifted, a staircase leading down was revealed.
Amelda’s footprints also led there. What on earth is there to do with taking someone who just arrived to the basement of a temple?
‘Hehehe. Please follow me. There’s still a lot of work that needs people who can move around.’
The bishop’s kind voice came to mind. The steps going down became faster.
Filling the narrow passageway was the same purple fog that covered the capital city outside.
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