Ch.352Episode 14 – One Religion, One Faith, Two Saints

[Saint Lucia will hold her official canonization ceremony tomorrow. The whole world is paying attention to this sainthood ceremony being held after more than a decade. The number of heads of state officially participating reaches nearly 100.]

[Laterano is immersed in a festive atmosphere. People are expressing their expectations for this canonization ceremony. How will Saint Lucia’s canonization differ from Saint Veronica’s? Our special correspondent at the scene…]

[While voices of citizens wishing welcome and congratulations echo throughout the holy site, concerns are also being raised ahead of the canonization ceremony.]

[Uh… The church currently faces numerous challenges. Corruption among clergy, religious tax controversies and illegal tax evasion by the church, political interference in other countries, disputes with the Magic Tower, friction with other religions… Of course, from a religious perspective, the birth of a new saint deserves celebration, but we need to consider whether holding such an extravagant festival with excessive expenditure is appropriate at this time…]

[With Pope Raphael’s coronation just four days away, controversy has erupted over Pope Raphael’s past statements designating Al-Yabud as an enemy of the church. A cleric of Al-Yabud, who is a politician from the Kingdom of Melam and a member of the Senate, has condemned Pope Raphael’s remarks, and multiple clerics are strongly protesting and demanding an apology.]

[Meanwhile, the Magic Tower’s Oracle maintains silence regarding Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrova’s attendance at the canonization ceremony…]

Episode 14 – One Religion, One Faith, Two Saints

The long-awaited canonization ceremony is just a day away.

The number of heads of state and government leaders officially participating reaches 100, and including representatives sent to honor the occasion, the number exceeds 200.

That’s how much interest there is in the canonization ceremony.

With the addition of tourists on pilgrimage, special correspondents dispatched from media outlets, and devotees who have been waiting for this day, Laterano is now bursting with visitors who have come to witness the canonization and coronation ceremonies.

When the atmosphere becomes overheated, accidents inevitably occur.

Diplomats stationed at the church are busy moving about today as well to ensure the safe conclusion of the event.

I am no exception.

*

“I’ve completed the inspection of the Prime Minister’s accommodations. I’ve also identified all potential risk factors along tomorrow’s route for the Prime Minister and his entourage.”

“I’ve conducted the final security check of the venue with the Inquisition officials, and I’ve just submitted the report, so please review it.”

“Yes, communications security. Fredrik Nostrum speaking.”

With Abas government officials attending the canonization ceremony, I naturally had to help with embassy work.

Of course, there were plenty of diplomats and intelligence officers covering the region, so I didn’t have much to do. Thanks to that, even until the day before the event, I was casually handling my duties while hanging out with Camilla.

And today around lunchtime.

I delivered important news to Camilla as we were dining together in the hotel restaurant.

“The Grand Duchess from the North wants to meet me?”

When I mentioned the meeting with the Grand Duchess, Camilla looked at me with wide eyes.

“Yes. You know who the Grand Duchess is, right?”

“Of course! I researched the North before being dispatched.”

Camilla mumbled what she knew about the Grand Duchess while eating ice cream with a spoon.

“The ruler in charge of the North, the great mage who established the Magic Tower, the first dean of the Elemental School. She’s lived for a full century, one of only two veterans who experienced the war with the church, and she’s the current Emperor’s aunt. And someone like that wants to meet me?”

I nodded.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“Good question. I wonder why I only heard about this important matter yesterday?”

“What? You didn’t know about it beforehand?”

“If I had known, I would have told you earlier.”

It’s not like this meeting is some impromptu gathering at a club. Suddenly showing up and requesting a conversation with someone you’ve never met is clearly rude behavior.

However, when the person in question is an incredibly powerful figure who has difficulty finding time, the story changes. And the Grand Duchess is one of the most powerful individuals even among the heads of state and government leaders gathered in Laterano.

Camilla, who was eating vanilla ice cream with a silver spoon, let out a soft sigh.

“This is so sudden.”

“If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to meet her. I can cover for you.”

“No, I still want to meet her. Aren’t you curious? Someone who’s lived for 100 years is almost as old as Dumbledore.”

“Ah, that gay—”

“Just shut it! Don’t even bring that up in front of me!”

Camilla, a Harry Potter fanatic and practicing mage, reacted as if a trigger button had been pressed.

While I hurriedly brought sweet food to calm her anger, Camilla, who had subdued her rage by munching on cookies, crossed her arms and said:

“But it is a bit disconcerting.”

“What’s disconcerting?”

“I’ve never met this person before.”

Strictly speaking, the two have met before, but Camilla doesn’t have any memories of the Grand Duchess. In a way, this is a natural phenomenon.

Camilla has the characteristic of fainting when she uses her abilities beyond a certain level. The threshold is unknown, but once she faints, she rarely regains consciousness quickly, and to make matters worse, she also loses her memories from right before fainting.

So I told her the truth she couldn’t remember. About her meeting with the Grand Duchess on that day in the North when they faced the demon, when the Grand Duchess burned the demon that no one else could finish off.

“Wait, the Grand Duchess was there that day?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, damn it!”

Camilla jumped up when she learned the truth.

“That means she used magic! And I missed seeing it?!”

“Is seeing the Grand Duchess’s magic that important?”

“I’m curious! I’ve only seen magic in movie theaters!”

“But you’re a mage yourself…”

“Oh…? Come to think of it, that’s true…?”

“……”

This was typical Camilla behavior—usually sharp and competent, but occasionally making nonsensical comments in peculiar ways.

But what can I do? If that’s Camilla’s charm, then so be it.

Sighing and shaking my head, I told her about the Grand Duchess—information she didn’t know or had missed.

About the wartime mages who could transform into animals, now an extinct ability; about the Grand Duchess who had prowled around as a cat; and all the conversations I had with Francesca about the Grand Duchess’s intentions in requesting this meeting.

With each revelation, Camilla became more excited. Perhaps it was because she naturally loved fantasy movies and novels, but she couldn’t contain herself whenever magic was mentioned.

“A mage who transforms into a cat…? This is totally Harry Potter… Did you actually see the transformation with your own eyes?”

“No.”

“Then we should ask her to show us! Pack your things! We’re going to see it right now!”

“Come on! Do you think that person has no schedule? We’re meeting her soon anyway, so why go now!”

“If we’re meeting her soon anyway, what difference does it make to see her earlier?! Let me go! I want to see her now!”

“We’ll meet her tomorrow, tomorrow!”

I was sweating profusely trying to stop Camilla, who was ready to rush off to meet the Grand Duchess immediately. Even when knights came running after hearing the commotion, she couldn’t calm her excitement.

In the end, it took about 15 minutes for me to calm down the frantic Camilla by piling desserts onto a plate.

*

“…That’s what happened.”

-‘So you ate all the desserts prepared by the hotel?’

“Just Camilla. I couldn’t even touch them.”

-‘……’

Clebins, the head of the domestic division of Abas’s only military intelligence agency, fell silent.

-‘…Does that actually fit in a human stomach?’

“I wonder about that myself.”

-‘Remarkable.’

The commotion at the hotel was instantly reported worldwide through the news.

The impact was so significant that even Clebins, who routinely works overtime despite being a brigadier general, contacted me first. For reference, Leoni was in an intelligence agency meeting again today, due to the increasingly chaotic situation in the Moritani continent.

At first, I tried to prevent information leaks, but it didn’t take long to realize how futile that effort was.

Just consider how many security personnel and staff are stationed at the hotel, and how many broadcasting vehicles circle the hotel. Journalists are a breed that sometimes outpace intelligence agencies with unexpected scoops, making information control virtually impossible.

Still, I managed to conceal the fact that the Grand Duchess and Camilla were meeting. Successfully hiding that much was half the battle won.

-‘Only the hero has been embarrassed. The hero seems to want to meet the Grand Duchess, but what do you think?’

“There’s no need to prevent it.”

Even if we told them not to meet, they would encounter each other eventually. The words of the powerful carry weight, and mages are the type who aren’t satisfied until they get what they want.

The Grand Duchess could meet Camilla in some form, and Camilla also wanted to meet the Grand Duchess. So if you can’t stop the flow of water, you should at least direct the current your way.

“Since things have come to this, I’ll focus on controlling the situation.”

-‘Hmm….’

“What’s wrong?”

Through the communicator, I heard Clebins’s voice, sounding troubled. His tone suggested something was bothering him.

Feeling puzzled, I asked what was wrong, and he replied:

-‘I’m concerned this might be too dangerous.’

“Dangerous?”

-‘I know your tendencies well, but constantly putting yourself at the forefront isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

Clebins said.

-‘A long tail is bound to get caught.’

“……”

-‘You’ve worked abroad, so you should know this.’

“True.”

But.

“Backing down out of fear of failure seems a bit off, don’t you think?”

Failed recruitment, counterintelligence, civil war, conflict, terrorism, arrest, torture, disease, assassination. Even without being in counterintelligence, there are many ways to fall into danger.

Intelligence officers sent abroad are thrown into dangerous areas with minimal personnel and insufficient resources.

Therefore, the most important quality for an intelligence officer is guts. The confidence to achieve objectives and return alive, even while facing risks.

That confidence doesn’t put food on the table, but it at least prevents the misfortune of missing opportunities due to hesitation.

“So what if I have a long tail? What’s the worst that could happen? Death?”

-‘Listen to how you talk… But I do like your guts. Yes, you need that kind of courage.’

“Then I’ll proceed with this matter as planned.”

-‘Do as you see fit.’

*

Since the gods worshipped by various religions created the universe, the fact that the moon rises when the sun sets has remained an unchanging truth.

Night came unfailingly today as well.

Vampires that suck human blood, ghouls that wake in graveyards to devour grave robbers, mummies that drag desert travelers into the sand.

Religiously and realistically, night has always been the time ruled by things that are not human.

However, now that the conveniences of civilization have reached even remote mountain villages, and mysteries represented by magic and divinity have unveiled themselves, darkness no longer drives people to fear, and night has fallen under human dominion.

Late at night, I visited a small cathedral located in Laterano.

Though small in scale, since Laterano is the holy site of the church, even a small cathedral breathes history. Every brick, every worn chair, even the stains on the altar embody the history of faith that has continued for hundreds of years.

I made my way to the confessional located inside the small cathedral, dressed in casual clothes that tourists might wear.

The reason I visited the cathedral at this late hour in casual attire rather than formal wear was because I had received a summons.

Sitting on the chair in the cramped confessional, I leaned against the hard wood and quietly called out to the person who had arranged this meeting.

“Lucia.”

At that soft call, I sensed movement beyond the thin wooden panel.

Through the wooden lattice, I could see a veiled cleric sitting in the confessor’s seat.

Although I couldn’t see her face, I instinctively realized the cleric was female.

The cleric beyond the wooden screen carefully began to speak.

“…You came.”

“You called for me, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Lucia’s voice came through the thin screen.

Having secretly summoned me to this empty cathedral, she whispered in a small voice.

“Were you followed…?”

“No. What about you, Lucia?”

“…The same for me.”

Veiled Lucia was speaking in a very small voice. It was so quiet that it could be described as a whisper.

Her voice was so small, as if she might crawl into a mouse hole at any moment, that I wondered if it was really Lucia or not.

But the two eyes gleaming in the darkness were clearly shining blue.

She speaks.

“Today… do you have any idea why I asked you to come here…?”

The veiled cleric whispered in a subtle tone. As if checking whether her thoughts were correct.

“Isn’t it the same as last time? Do you have more to say about the canonization ceremony?”

“…No.”

Beyond the wooden screen, Lucia tilted her blue eyes. She seemed to be contemplating something.

After maintaining silence as if lost in thought, she addressed me again in a calm voice.

“…The night is deep.”

“It was the same last time. So why did you want to see me today?”

“…Well.”

Lucia’s voice became faint. After trailing off, she firmly closed her mouth and began to rummage through her belongings.

Toward her, I belatedly asked a question that had just occurred to me.

“Ah, right. What did you tell Veronica?”

“…Pardon?”

“Your sister. Last time it was fine because she was busy and in the North, but now the canonization ceremony is right around the corner. No matter how oblivious Veronica is or how much she avoids the clergy, if we keep meeting like this, she might get suspicious.”

“……”

“If Veronica finds out, she’ll probably kill me first.”

I asked the Lucia sitting across from me in a concerned voice whether it was okay to come like this when Veronica might become suspicious.

That’s when it happened.

“Hey.”

The atmosphere in the confessional changed.

“What did you just say?”

“Huh?”

At the same time, I thought Lucia’s voice seemed slightly different.

It wasn’t my imagination.

When she raised her voice after whispering softly, her voice changed 180 degrees. Although speaking calmly is characteristic of Lucia, even considering that, her voice had become quite loud. The tone was clearly different too.

How should I put it?

This voice was like—

-Crack!

Just as an ominous thought crossed my mind.

The thin lattice screen of the confessional broke, and a hand shot through. The outstretched hand lunged forward without hesitation and firmly grabbed my collar.

Then it began to pull me with considerable strength.

“Ow!”

Sitting comfortably and defenseless, I was helplessly dragged forward and my face slammed into the wooden screen. Through the half-shattered wooden lattice, I met the gaze of flashing blue eyes.

The cleric who had grabbed my collar and pulled me in growled in an angry voice.

Then came a low, sinking voice.

“Major.”

A voice that shouldn’t be heard here, that shouldn’t be coming through, pounded my eardrums.

“What did you do to my sister?”