Ch.28Saintess Eirene (8)

    # Saintess Eirene (8)

    Evidence of the reversal of heaven.

    The sunken field, as if struck by a meteorite, seemed to represent the Celestial God’s Order.

    Yes, like the Celestial God’s Order, hollowed out after losing what was most important.

    Such a bitter and desolate place.

    The Saintess, Eirene, hated that place.

    But knowing she shouldn’t turn away from it, she always offered prayers of atonement there.

    This time was no different.

    Her private confession. Repeating regret and repentance in a wide-open world where no one was listening.

    “A story?”

    She had lost too much blood.

    Her head was foggy.

    It felt like she was dreaming.

    A hollow laugh escaped her. The ending she had been drawing became distorted.

    She had planned to die alone, confessing her sins to God.

    But now she wasn’t alone.

    Yet, it didn’t feel bad.

    What she had thought was a trace of the Celestial God.

    A miracle born from impossibility. That’s what Lug was.

    Even though she now knew he was fake, Eirene was so miserably distorted that even that didn’t matter.

    “What kind of story?”

    Eirene smiled broadly.

    The situation was strange and her physical condition was terrible, but somehow she felt like smiling.

    Perhaps because the being before her was proof that miracles existed.

    Perhaps because he was someone she had wanted to cling to, even if just for a moment.

    Eirene felt as if she were looking at a naive younger sibling.

    And that feeling shattered when—

    “Well, how about a story about miracles and perspectives?”

    “…”

    It was the moment when the being before her touched on her long-standing concern.

    Ah, so it won’t be a simple ending after all.

    Even in her final moments, the contradiction she embraced still held her back.

    Eirene smiled bitterly as tears began to fall.

    “Then, Mr. Lug, let me ask you again. Do miracles exist in this world?”

    “Yes, they do.”

    “What if it’s just coincidence that appears that way?”

    At this place for the first time.

    They were having the same conversation they had the first time.

    “What if it’s not a miracle that overturns the impossible, but merely finding a way forward for something that was possible all along?”

    “Then I would call regaining that path a miracle.”

    But it was different from before.

    A conversation they had already had. There was no surprise, no disappointment.

    Yes, this is a conversation about perspective.

    A moment to think about the same conversation from different angles.

    “Even if it’s coincidence, if it makes me think for a moment that a miracle has occurred, it must have been an ingenious solution that my original self couldn’t have thought of.”

    Words that had once shaken her heart. But now they didn’t shake her.

    Because the words that followed overturned their foundation.

    But…

    “Because flowers bloomed even in the place where the Celestial God was said to have been brought down.”

    This time was different.

    Lug forcibly placed the flower he had offered to Eirene into her hand.

    “The place where the Celestial God was brought down, the shame of the Celestial God’s Order. But even in such a place, flowers bloom like this.”

    “It’s proof that the world and people are forgetting the Celestial God.”

    “No.”

    A field sunken as if struck by a meteorite in the past. But the wind blew, flower seeds flew in, and even such a place began to fill up and bloom again.

    Like new flesh growing over a wound.

    “Even in this profane and denied place, flowers have bloomed. If that’s not a miracle, what is?”

    “That’s coincidence. It could easily happen. Even if it’s called a shame, that’s just symbolic. This place is ultimately just land, and there’s nothing strange about vegetation growing here. No, perhaps it grew even better because traces of the Celestial God remained.”

    “Is that so?”

    “Yes.”

    “Then, Saintess. Let me ask you.”

    Whoosh!

    Blue flames sprout. They brighten the surroundings as if driving away the night.

    The flames don’t burn anything, they just grow larger.

    “The Celestial God who created miracles was brought down by mere humans. Is that a miracle? Or coincidence?”

    The Celestial God left.

    That’s an undeniable fact.

    “If what we thought impossible was trivial and simple for the Celestial God, is that a miracle to him? Or coincidence?”

    His influence disappeared.

    That too is an undeniable fact.

    “If a mere country girl becomes a hero, takes up a sword, and defeats the Demon King, is that a miracle? Or coincidence?”

    But miracles exist in the world. Even if they appear as coincidences that seem likely to happen.

    “Our meeting.”

    That’s up to the person who receives it.

    A perspective that can never be asserted in relationships between people.

    “Was it a miracle to you? Or coincidence?”

    “…”

    “Then, if the Celestial God were to forgive humans, would that be a miracle? Or coincidence?”

    The Celestial God forgiving humans.

    That’s neither a miracle nor a coincidence.

    “How would you judge that?”

    It’s just a choice.

    But for the person receiving it, it would feel like a miracle.

    Eirene realized this as soon as the thought occurred to her.

    “…So it was my choice all along.”

    There are no miracles in this world.

    With the disappearance of the Celestial God, it became a world where miracles couldn’t occur.

    But miracles did exist.

    If someone calls it a miracle, then it surely is a miracle.

    What seemed possible from someone’s perspective might have been impossible for that person.

    There were no perfect miracles in this world. Just a being who could do more than others disappeared.

    Yes, the Celestial God wasn’t omnipotent. He was brought down by mere human hands, and what was thought impossible was merely possible for him.

    “Then, Saintess.”

    Lug smiled. He showed a gentle smile never seen before.

    He looked like an ascetic who had realized the principles of this world, and also like a teacher instructing a child.

    And sometimes like a fool who couldn’t see what was right in front of him.

    “For you who waited for a miracle, I have something I want to show you.”

    Blue flames dance.

    The flames that engulf the two people grow even larger.

    Eventually, the flames rise high enough to burn even the sky.

    “If a blue sky appears at night, is that a miracle? Or coincidence?”

    The blue flames drive away the darkness.

    The blue flames that swallow the sky shine as blue as daylight.

    Eirene, engulfed in flames, felt warmth rather than heat.

    “How would you like to think of it?”

    For Lug, it’s a choice.

    But for the many people who will look up at that sky…

    “Yes, it’s like a miracle.”

    Eirene smiled broadly.

    The blue sky that she and the Celestial God’s Order had lost was there.

    If she thought about seeing it in her final moments, there couldn’t be a more beautiful sight.

    Eirene began to stagger.

    After pouring all her healing power into Esmeralda instead of treating herself. She had originally chosen this place to die.

    For someone like her to see such a miracle at the end.

    “It’s a miracle too beautiful for someone like me.”

    Eirene shed tears again. She doubted whether she deserved such happiness.

    Because she was that happy.

    Thinking that perhaps it was okay to be happy in her final moments.

    Eirene sat down like that.

    But Lug, seeing Eirene like this, declared firmly.

    “Then, next time, don’t wait for miracles, find them.”

    The place where the Celestial God fell in the past.

    “When your mindset changes, your perspective changes too.”

    Now, beautiful wildflowers were in full bloom there.

    ***

    Esmeralda despised herself for failing to save Eirene.

    She had talked big but failed. Actually, she felt more embarrassed than self-loathing.

    And after being beaten unconscious like that, to be able to open her eyes again now.

    This could only mean that Eirene had shown her mercy.

    ‘Where am I anyway?’

    After dwelling on her regrets with a blank face for a while, Esmeralda finally looked around.

    A hospital room with predominantly white coloring.

    It didn’t seem much different from where she was first held captive, but there was a crucial difference.

    There were no bars on the windows.

    This meant that Eirene had withdrawn her plan to make her a sacred object.

    ‘Then this is…’

    Just as Esmeralda was finishing her assessment of the current situation—

    “Mr. Lug, try this. Come on, say ‘ah’.”

    “No, I don’t have an appetite… Somehow my memory of last night is vague, maybe this place has bad energy…”

    “Is that so? Then should I examine your body internally with holy magic to check?”

    “Now that I look at it, this must be delicious. I’ll enjoy it.”

    “Yes, ahhh.”

    She could see Lug and Eirene acting ridiculous in the hospital bed next to hers.

    “Is this hell…”

    Felt like seeing something she shouldn’t have.

    Esmeralda sighed as she watched the antics of the two people. No, one person and one demon.

    They were both bastards, so there was a high probability this was hell.

    “Ah, Hero. You’re finally awake. We were worried since you’ve been sleeping ever since arriving at the Papal Office.”

    “Ever since…?”

    “Yes, ever since.”

    [Note: I believe you should act according to the situation.]

    Ever since, my ass.

    Esmeralda gritted her teeth.

    The woman who had captured her and even struck her face with a morning star was now pretending nothing had happened.

    ‘Does this crazy woman have no conscience?’

    After doing such things, she wants to go back to being comrades?

    It was already strange that Lug said his memory of last night was hazy. This crazy woman might have messed with his head.

    “Ah, Hero. And these are support items from the Celestial God’s Order for you. Please accept them.”

    [Note: I think this is asking for your forgiveness.]

    “Hahaha! I must have been dreaming last night, but I can’t remember what I dreamed about.”

    “Oh my, you might be weak. I’ll prepare additional potions.”

    “Yes, thank you! Eirene.”

    But when various elixirs and pouches of gold appeared before her, she couldn’t remember anything.

    Considering the scale of the Celestial God’s Order, it wasn’t a huge sum, but for a country girl like Esmeralda, it was a fortune.

    She had been sleeping ever since arriving at the Papal Office.

    That’s what they agreed on.

    ‘Well, material apologies are more certain than verbal ones.’

    Seems she wasn’t completely without conscience.

    And so, the two conducted their secret transaction.


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