The great mage who transcends by returning, episode 176,
‘Saint’s Hill’ is a sanctuary with a high reputation on the continent.
What is unusual is that most of the believers who come on the pilgrimage try to prove their faith by staying on the hill for a long time.
Therefore, most of the believers in the sanctuary were those who had been there for a long time.
Proving your faith by honing yourself close to the sanctuary.
that’s their purpose.
And in that situation.
– Your beliefs are wrong.
A mirage appeared.
It appeared in different times and tested the followers.
The test was very subtle.
It was malicious at the same time.
Of course, there is no way to physically prove the existence of God to ordinary people.
That’s exactly what it was digging into.
– If we are truly faithful, why does God only give priests the qualifications to handle divine power?
– Were the priests who knew how to use divine power always faithful?
– No, it can’t be.
It was a very confusing time.
It has not been long since the ills and corruption of the Catholic Church have been revealed, and the fact that the archbishops were included in the ‘corruption’ was revealed to the whole world.
I already had some doubts.
And it seems that the mirage had quite a knack for widening the gap in that ‘doubt’.
one by one.
Cultists in the hills were not convinced of my faith.
Things that happened in just a few days.
Moreover, it was not only the believers who were subjected to the test.
director of the sanctuary.
The archbishop was also tested.
They were different from the followers, but they were all the same in that they were very subtle and malicious.
No, it was worse.
The archbishop’s test was the very situation in which the believers in the sanctuary were losing their faith.
* * *
“…That’s how it happened.”
Archbishop Meres, who is in charge of Saint’s Hill, said with a sullen expression.
It’s no wonder that I’m not the archbishop, and in that short time, the face I had put out the muk bowl was neatly restored.
…Whatever.
“Let’s get it sorted out.”
So, it seems that the ‘Mirage’ that appeared suddenly skillfully tested the faith of the believers in the sanctuary, and not a single one of them passed the ‘test’.
And as a result, they began to question their faith.
“The Archbishop, who was watching the sanctuary’s situation going into ruin, intervened. A trick to use that damn elixir… …No way.”
“It was a very serendipitous opportunity. No, now that I think about it, the word coincidence is absurd.”
…stupidly.
The archbishop muttered with a bitter expression and bowed his head.
“I found a special spring and met a boy in the spring. The boy introduced himself as an ‘apostle’ of something.”
“Sadora….”
That was a pretty honest introduction.
“The boy said the fountain itself was a blessing from God. That, he said, would resolve the distrust surrounding the sanctuary. actually…It wasn’t entirely wrong.”
“…Hmm.”
“I don’t know what you’d think, but the believers on the hill now weren’t just distrustful of their faith.”
“Keep talking.”
“Divine power. It is a way for Hekau to prove his love to his followers. Many believers long for its divine power. but….”
“I know. It is limited.”
Holy power was the exclusive property of the priests.
It’s not that there aren’t any people who use divine power among the general believers, but they are very few.
Even that minority will eventually become a priest and become a priest.
To put it bluntly.
The believers staying long term on this hill are those who have not become priests.
Unqualified people who were not born with the aptitude to be priests.
‘It’s not like I can’t understand.’
It would be understandable if the archbishops and priests of the church were all honest and made up of only good people.
But it didn’t.
Gyoguk was not as clean or lofty as they expected.
Then, of course, the question arises.
– What am I missing?
What is the difference between himself and the archbishops?
Why the hell wasn’t he chosen?
That’s a valid question.
And in fact, it is also true that Hekau as a god is not completely flawless.
The reason is simple.
‘…Because it’s half in the first place.’
Asar no longer exists.
All that’s left is the Hekau.
Even the situation where she is focusing all her nerves to prevent the demons from interfering in the world.
It is inevitable that ‘noise’ will occur in the process.
But that only I should know.
The moment that fact is revealed, there is a possibility that the basis of religion will really collapse.
[…] …Sorry. He’s kind of real… …The quality is very bad. I’m really sorry.]
Set had been lying on his stomach with his head on my shoulder from earlier.
It seems that he felt a considerable sense of responsibility that an ‘apostle’ like himself was involved in this incident.
“As a result, Archbishop Meres fell for the trick of the mirage?”
“Your face…doesn’t exist.”
“Then let’s ask one more question.”
I looked at him and put the ‘elixir’ on the table.
“Did you know that if you accumulate doses of this stimulant, you will permanently lose your talent for the aptitude of divine power?”
“…yes?”
At my words, he opened his mouth.
“What do you mean by that? I knew it was addictive, but permanent loss of divine power… ….”
“You didn’t know.”
I unknowingly clicked my tongue.
It wouldn’t have been possible to confirm it, but no matter how damn it, it’s like spreading something that hasn’t been verified to the believers.
At my words, the Archbishop covered his face with an expression as if the sky had collapsed.
“W Permanent loss? what the hell did i do… ….”
“Don’t regret it for nothing.”
I glared at him.
“In the first place, distributing something addictive to believers is absurd. Archbishop, you have already done something you shouldn’t have done.”
“I….”
“I am not saying to make up for it. You are responsible for what you did.”
I stressed to the Archbishop.
“There will be punishment. But first, it must be to clear up the confusion that occurred in the sanctuary.”
“…That’s right.”
Archbishop Meres nodded with a dark expression.
I immediately instructed the archbishop on what to do first.
“First of all, this elixir. Recover and destroy everything. It’s something that shouldn’t exist. Especially in this sanctuary. and….”
Even if he did the job, he didn’t seem to be rotten to the bone, he followed my instructions right away.
“that…Then, what should I do with the ‘Mirage’?”
“I will take care of that.”
I frowned.
None of the people in charge of the tombs I’ve encountered so far have felt so fucked up.
I muttered in an annoyed voice.
“For the first time, I’m starting to feel like I’m going to beat up an apostle.”
[Yes…I won’t stop you this time, Mikhail.]
Set looked somewhere with a liberated expression from the side and said.
[He is… …I think I need to get proper treatment this time.]
Yes, I need treatment.
Great fucking physical therapy… ….
* * *
“…Hmm.”
Ariandel stood quietly with his arms crossed.
It was because there was one thing to check before leaving the church.
And the paladin standing in front of her in a cold sweat.
“…Why do you look at me like that?”
Siegfried Sigurd.
Once a strong candidate for the hero, and now a member of the Holy Knights of the Holy Kingdom.
He was once self-righteous and talkative, but now has a reputation for doing his duty fairly quietly.
‘what? What else did I do wrong?’
Reflexively, the whole body went cold.
He tried to somehow remember what the hell he had done wrong this time.
Aren’t you the one who made mistakes in the past?
And in that ‘past’, there were certainly quite a few things related to the saintess in front of him.
At that time, Ariandel, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth.
“Have you grown up?”
“Oh yes yes. For now, step by step towards the master’s level… ….”
“No, I am not interested in the growth of your swordsmanship at all. I mean the spirit, the spirit.”
“uh…Ah yes.”
Siegfried nodded with a subtle expression.
The saintess was still the same as the image in her memory.
What should I say?
‘You’re still cranky.’
That ‘geekbak’ has something in common with Mikhail, who turned the country upside down about two years ago.
He imagined the saintess quietly with Mikhail.
“Ah ah….”
I’m afraid to even imagine.
Siegfried involuntarily widened his distance from her.
“Why are you so shrunken? While I haven’t seen it, people have become quite timid. Sir Siegfried.”
“A lot of things happened.”
“I did hear something. Apparently, a lot of things happened.”
She could have talked about Archbishop Killian, but she didn’t bother to mention it.
It was because he knew there was no reason to drag the finished job aside from his personal grudge.
“The reason I came to you is, as you might guess, because of the warrior. I think I will have to meet him as a saint sooner or later, but this is what I don’t know.”
“You seem to have heard a lot.”
“Yes, that’s right. But the people I’ve seen so far are all people who have received grace… ….”
She looked at Siegfried.
“Because I’ve never asked anyone who was beaten to dust.”
“Ah….”
Siegfried struggled to hold back tears.
How the hell did he, who was a candidate for the hero, end up like this?
‘…It’s my fault.’
Well, it’s your fault, who else can you blame?
He shook his head and opened his mouth.
“If you ask me, I think the answer will be the same as others.”
“For the sake of saving face, you pretend to be sympathetic….”
“No, it’s not like that. If that were the case, I would have left the church altogether.”
Siegfried said firmly.
“Now I realize that I have done wrong things. As for the Prophet… ….”
“…Hmm.”
It’s funny.
Ariandel began her training as a saint before the problem erupted, so she cannot clearly feel the situation at that time.
However, I know that Cassandra had a pretty difficult time, just as she was worried about, and that Siegfried was at the center of it.
There’s a lot of information I’ve heard on the way here.
So, of course, I thought.
What if Siegfried still looks like he’s out of his mind?
It would be good to beat until you come to your senses.
Since she wasn’t even a hero in the first place, wouldn’t it be a problem for herself as a saint to do that?
But what do you think when you see it like this?
‘It’s gotten more interesting.’
It’s fun that the human named Siegfried has changed, but rather than that, I’m more interested in the hero who changed Lee.
“Hmm fine. If you’re willing to do your duty, I don’t think I’ll say anything to you.”
“Thank you.”
“Already, even now, it seems that he is still apologizing to that child, Cassandra…Anything will be fine.”
Just before that… ….
Ariandel tilted his head and asked Siegfried.
“I’m asking just in case, but did you ever become an extraordinary hero…Haven’t you ever done that?”
“That’s right… ….”
“…Hmm.”
The expression of not knowing English.
Ariandel nodded.
“As expected.”
After finishing her conversation with Siegfried, she left the Holy Knights.
It was a rather pointless sound.
