Ch.234About Those Strange Companions (2)

There are three Orders on the continent.

The Sacred Host, Sacred Light, and Sacred Blood.

Each Order possesses one asymmetric power, which might cause some to question why. Why would religious organizations each have such powerful transcendents among their ranks?

The answer is simple.

Not all Orders had transcendents. Only those with transcendents survived. It was too harsh an era to survive on faith alone. During the thousand years since Arthur opened the age of humanity, countless Orders were born and disappeared.

Only three Orders survived.

That’s why these three Orders devoted themselves to creating powerful individuals who would ensure their continued existence. Of course, nowadays, regardless of an Order’s efforts, there are cases like Juel Lazian who was recruited from outside…

But not the Order of the Sacred Host.

For a very long time, they created transcendents to protect their Order in their own way. By descending stars from the heavens into human bodies. The Order of the Sacred Host called this “incarnation.”

The one with the most perfect body born through incarnation.

The ideal pursued by the followers of the Sacred Host, their idol and object of worship.

The Sacred Host.

Recalling information about the Sacred Host in his mind, Najin looked at the woman before him. That woman, trembling while pressed flat against the wall, was the Sacred Host…

“I told you not to come closer! Don’t come! Just stand there and talk!”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? We should at least shake hands.”

“Aaaaaaaaahhh!”

The Sacred Host screamed, abandoning her previously solemn tone. Her expression showed genuine disgust. Regardless, Juel extended his hand toward her. Finally, the Sacred Host squeezed her eyes shut and shook hands with Juel.

“Hmm.”

Only then did Juel nod with satisfaction and return to his seat. The Sacred Host placed her hand on her chest and took deep breaths.

‘Why is she like that?’

-Who knows? The person next to you might know.

Najin glanced at Juel sitting beside him.

“Do you have a bad relationship with the Sacred Host?”

“What are you saying, Najin? I maintain extremely friendly relationships with the great warriors of the Orders. If great warriors were to be at odds with each other, religious wars might break out, so it’s something to be very careful about.”

“…Don’t you like wars?”

“I do. But people cannot live doing only what they like. If what you want to do is legal, that would be ideal, but if it’s illegal, you’ll be punished.”

Hmm, Juel nodded.

“Would you rather gain one great pleasure and die, or live a long time experiencing small but consistent pleasures? I prefer the latter. I prefer to roll candy on my tongue and let it dissolve slowly rather than crunching it all at once.”

That’s true. It’s true, but…

‘Hearing it from this person feels somewhat…’

Najin made an ambiguous expression.

“The Sacred Host over there seems to think differently.”

Najin pointed at the Sacred Host. She was watching Juel warily, like a cat with its fur standing on end.

“Ah, it’s nothing significant.”

Juel shrugged.

“Seventeen years ago, I cut off both of the Sacred Host’s arms in a duel. It was a trivial matter.”

Hearing her words, the Sacred Host trembled. She rubbed her forearms with her palms, grinding her teeth as if recalling old memories. It didn’t look trivial at all.

‘From the context, it seems I’ll be traveling with these two.’

It didn’t look easy.

Really.

2.

After discussion, it was decided that the Sacred Host would accompany them.

“High Priest.”

“Yes, Sacred Host.”

“Do I really have to go?”

“Yes. You must go.”

“Can’t I not go?”

“No, you cannot.”

“Ah… isn’t there any way?”

“There is no way.”

“Aaaah, please? Please…”

The Sacred Host clung to the elderly High Priest’s sleeve, but the High Priest simply shook his head firmly. The Sacred Host tried throwing a tearful tantrum, but it had no effect.

“…”

Eventually, the Sacred Host, Juel Lazian, and Najin ended up taking a carriage together toward the Outer Continent. The Sacred Host boarded the carriage with an expression like someone being led to a slaughterhouse.

“You two sit together. I’ll sit here.”

Juel and Najin sat on one side, while the Sacred Host sat pressed against the window on the opposite seat. She seemed desperate to keep as much distance as possible from Juel.

And so this strange journey began.

Throughout the carriage ride, the Sacred Host remained motionless, staring out the window. Since her entire body was expressing “please don’t talk to me,” Najin conversed with Juel sitting beside him.

“What exactly did you do to her?”

“We had a duel, and I cut off her arms in that duel. That’s all.”

“Judging by her reaction, it seems like you tortured her or something.”

“I would like to try that, but…”

Hiccup. Though she was looking out the window as if uninterested, she must have been listening because the Sacred Host’s body trembled. Regardless, Juel continued.

“Ah, to avoid misunderstanding, I’m not saying I’m stronger or better than the Sacred Host.”

“Didn’t you say you cut off her arms in a duel?”

“I did. But that wasn’t because I’m better than the Sacred Host, it’s simply a matter of compatibility.”

Juel pointed at his palm.

“My mystery is ‘Disassembly.'”

The ability to break something apart, destroy it, or scatter it.

“The Sacred Host’s ability has very poor compatibility with my mystery. It’s not that the Sacred Host is weak or that I’m strong, it’s simply a matter of compatibility.”

-I think I understand.

Merlin, who had been quietly listening, spoke.

-I don’t know exactly what that kid the Sacred Host’s ability is, but it seems like an ability that works when something is gathered as one mass? So it would be extremely vulnerable to disassembly.

This was what they called human compatibility.

“The Sacred Host is strong. Having the Sacred Host accompany us will be a great help in completing the mission. I guarantee it.”

Najin suddenly looked at the Sacred Host. By coincidence, she was also glancing this way, so their eyes met. She had an expression that seemed strangely pleased.

‘Could she be happy about being acknowledged?’

That seemed to be the case. Looking somewhat more relaxed, the Sacred Host turned to face Najin and Juel.

“…Well, since it’s come to this.”

She extended her hand to Najin.

“I’m counting on you, kid.”

“Likewise, Sacred Host.”

As they shook hands, Najin asked a question.

“By the way, what is your name, Sacred Host?”

It was a question asked without much thought.

He knew her position as the Sacred Host, but he had never seen her name. There was no description related to it in any relevant books either. It was a question born of pure curiosity.

“My name?”

The Sacred Host blinked at the question.

“I don’t have such a thing.”

As if he’d asked something strange.

“Everyone calls me the Sacred Host. Isn’t that my name?”

This transcendent, who had been designated as the Sacred Host from birth and had lived as the Sacred Host for nearly a hundred years, tilted her head in confusion. As if the word “name” was unfamiliar to her.

Najin sensed something odd but didn’t question further. He instinctively felt this was an area he shouldn’t probe lightly.

“Ah, come to think of it.”

The Sacred Host tilted her head slightly.

“A month or two ago, Eurypylus asked about you. He wanted to know who you were and if I knew anything about you. Did something happen between you and Eurypylus?”

The Lighthouse Keeper Eurypylus.

At that name, Najin’s expression grew complicated. “Did something happen” was a question he couldn’t easily answer.

“Nothing yet.”

“That sounds like something will happen in the future.”

“Depending on the situation, it might.”

“Well, it’s not my place to tell you what to do.”

The Sacred Host crossed her arms and said.

“But you’d be better off not getting on that man’s bad side. He usually doesn’t move much, but when he does move, he really crushes you thoroughly.”

“Crushes thoroughly?”

“Was it 300 years ago? Or 350? It was before I was born so I’m not sure… but when Eurypylus decided to move, I think an entire country was erased from the map?”

The Sacred Host shook her head as if horrified.

“He has loose standards and rarely takes action, but whenever he does, he does something unbelievable. I’m quite something, and so is that lunatic over there, but…”

She drew a line.

“The Lighthouse Keeper is different. Just, different. In some ways, he’s the most terrifying transcendent.”

“Ah. I agree with that.”

Juel, who had been listening, nodded.

“As you can see from the fact that the Lighthouse Keeper was excluded from this operation, the Lighthouse Keeper is a unique existence. Why would the Order of Sacred Light receive less interference from the Empire? It’s because of the Lighthouse Keeper’s existence.”

Najin suddenly recalled what Merlin had said. The Lighthouse Keeper was a transcendent who, if he decided to burn through his entire lifespan, could single-handedly match the entire Empire.

“He’s a person who prioritizes his own safety and cares about nothing except maintaining his current position…”

Juel stroked his chin and said.

“But conversely, it means he’s someone who will do ‘anything’ to protect it.”

That’s the accumulation of hundreds of years. Najin nodded with a grim expression. Even Najin couldn’t be certain yet. Whether they would end up confronting the Lighthouse Keeper or if he would become an ally would depend on the situation.

The Lighthouse Keeper himself had shown such a reaction.

In any case, the carriage moved forward.

Beyond the continent, toward the Outer Continent.

3.

La Mancha.

A place somewhere in the Outer Continent.

Najin recalled what he had heard from Anton Kehano about the origin of “La Mancha.” La Mancha was a fictional place that appeared in a fairy tale called “The Knights of La Mancha,” and it was a concept similar to heaven.

A land where everything exists.

A place where satisfying endings exist for everyone.

Truly a utopia.

The fairy tale “The Knights of La Mancha” was influenced by the life of King Arthur, and Najin could immediately recognize where the place called La Mancha drew its inspiration from.

-It’s Avalon.

As Merlin said, La Mancha was a place similar to Avalon. The utopia of Avalon, which one could reach by going beyond the end of the world, beyond the Outer Continent, and even beyond Camlann.

La Mancha in “The Knights of La Mancha” was a place like Avalon in the legend of King Arthur.

But there was a slight difference.

While Avalon had the concept of “the final land humanity must reach” and the concept of a “trial,” La Mancha had no such secondary elements. It was a land of rest where everyone could smile happily and rest at the end of their journey. A beautiful stage fitting for a happy ending.

That was La Mancha.

It was the name of the heaven that Alonso Kehano, before becoming Quixote, Star of Contempt, had desperately searched for.

“So.”

The Sacred Host frowned after hearing the story.

“That thing visible over there.”

She stretched out her hand and pointed ahead.

“Is the path to heaven?”

La Mancha, the path to heaven.

There’s a saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Then, is the road to heaven paved with evil intentions? Najin, Juel, and the Sacred Host looked at the path to heaven.

A hell filled with evil was there.

As if asking how could the path to heaven be beautiful, as if retorting how could a place reached by an easy path be heaven, hell stared back at them.

“It’s looking this way.”

Juel murmured, looking up at the sky.

Clang, he drew his sword.

“It’s coming.”

What was coming? There was no need to ask such a question.

Najin looked up at the sky.

Whales swimming through the sky. Star-devouring whales were falling toward them in a group. Leading the procession was the largest and oldest whale.

The whale where the palace of the Heavenly Meteor was located.

It’s coming.

The dictator of the sky, the master of the sky whales, is coming.