Fertilizer for Adults – 1

“Saint!”

Maria greeted the people on the other side with a deliberately bright voice.

The gazes of the two men and women turned to her voice.

Maria hurried across the hallway.

Seeing the unusual combination of the Saint and Lumen before her, Maria felt her head spin.

“Ah, Sister Maria.”

Lumen was the first to react.

Maria’s face, unable to hide her embarrassment, was reflected in Lumen’s calm eyes.

“Inquisitor Commander.”

As if needing an explanation, Maria looked back and forth between the Saint and Lumen.

“I had something to discuss with the Saint. It also concerns Sister Maria, so let’s go inside and talk.”

A bad feeling suddenly struck her.

Maria instinctively looked at the Saint’s face.

The Saint was looking at the tree outside the window, swaying with its bare branches.

The Saint and Lumen passed Maria and headed into the room.

Maria, who had been standing blankly, grasped the situation and followed them.

Thus, Maria returned to the room.

It was when Maria, who had followed last, closed the door.

“Sister Maria.”

Her name was called from Lumen’s mouth.

The bad feeling she had just felt ran down her spine, giving her a chilling sensation.

“From now on, Sister Maria’s position is once again Inquisitor.”

“…Yes?”

Maria’s eyes widened as if asking what this meant.

Lumen, facing her green eyes head-on, met her gaze without the slightest movement.

“It is the Saint’s decision.”

Lumen moved slightly to the side, and Maria finally saw the Saint.

The Saint was turned away, silently gazing at the scenery outside the window.

“What is…”

Maria felt her heart sink. She couldn’t understand the current situation at all.

She looked around the room.

The water she had prepared in case he was thirsty.

The towel she used to wipe his body every day in case he felt sticky from sweat.

The finely ground medicine for him.

The cot she had brought to always check on his condition.

Maria was confident that no one in the Order could serve the Saint better than she could.

She prided herself on understanding the Saint’s feelings well and assisting him so that he would not be uncomfortable.

That’s why she didn’t understand.

Then who will come in my place?

“Then, who will be the Saint’s attendant…”

“It has not been decided yet. However, until a suitable person is found, I will likely be holding both positions.”

Lumen stepped back between the Saint and Maria, obscuring the Saint’s figure looking out the window.

Maria slightly craned her neck, continuing to look at the Saint’s back.

“But the Inquisitor Commander is…”

She thought that asking ‘Aren’t you busy?’ would be pointless, as the answer seemed to have already been decided.

“Why… why did this happen to me…”

Maria’s gaze remained fixed on the Saint.

She was screaming inside.

She was desperately pleading to hear from his own mouth, not Lumen’s, why she had to leave his side.

Maria was heartbroken by his sudden change in attitude.

“S-Saint.”

Maria called him.

But all that returned to her was avoidance.

“Sister Maria. Let’s go out first.”

Lumen approached her, turned her body, and slowly pushed her.

Even as she was being pushed out by the Inquisitor Commander, Maria did not take her eyes off the Saint.

Lumen and Maria, who came out of the room, were silent in the awkward atmosphere.

The two walked down the hallway without a word. Maria followed Lumen without knowing where the final destination was.

The place where their footsteps stopped was Maria’s room.

“Sister Maria.”

Lumen called her in front of the door.

“I said something like this before, didn’t I? ‘The Saint will help with the stagnant faith.'”

“……..”

Maria did not answer. Lumen continued to speak steadily despite the impious reaction.

“Think carefully about those words.”

Lumen smiled gently.

Maria glared at her superior, who was only saying things she couldn’t understand, then opened the door and entered the room.

The two priests face each other across the door.

“You must be tired from nursing him, so please start your duties from tomorrow. It’s been a while since you’ve worked as an Inquisitor, but I think you’ll adapt quickly.”

-Bang

The door slammed in Lumen’s face.

Lumen’s eyes widened at the loud noise, and then she sighed.

“It’s really… difficult.”

It was a complaint covered in fatigue.

Inho, who had recovered his health, proposed to the Pope that they have dinner together that day.

The Pope was puzzled by the sudden dinner request, but he also had something to say, so he broke a previous engagement and arranged the meeting.

The Pope and Inho, a meal for two.

The war of nerves waged with knives and forks began.

“I got out of bed today, I don’t know if it’s okay to have such a heavy meal.”

The Pope said, cutting the meat with a relaxed face.

It was the first word the Pope had thrown since the meal began.

“We’re not in a relationship where we worry about each other. Isn’t it more comfortable for you when I’m not around?”

The Pope chuckled at the blunt answer.

“No, rather, it is more comfortable for me to have the existence of the ‘Saint’. Thanks to you, the Order’s income… I made a mistake. Donations have increased. It’s a kind of symbiotic relationship. I make money, and you live a life of being revered.”

The Pope still had a smiling face.

“By the way, I don’t think you’re very happy to see my face, so I’m curious as to why you suggested dinner.”

“There’s something I need to confirm.”

The old Pope’s eyes turned to Inho.

“I thought so, you already know.”

“All news about those who enter and leave the Order comes to me. Especially suspicious errand runners.”

The Pope, who swirled the glass he had picked up with his thumb and forefinger, took a sip of wine.

“I’m glad I have less to explain unnecessarily. I thought you wouldn’t know Antonio’s name.”

“Actually, I didn’t know. I found out thanks to the information I got from interrogating the errand runner.”

“So until then, you didn’t know about Antonio? That he was dismissed for blasphemy?”

Inho couldn’t hide his absurd expression.

“The dismissal of trainee priests and trainee nuns has only one reason. That’s what the educational institution takes care of. Every year.”

The Pope spoke as if explaining how a farmer sows seeds and harvests them.

“I happened to ask the Saint a question, so I dismissed him after hearing the reason, but it wasn’t because he had a relationship with the Saint.”

Inho’s face hardened even more at the Pope’s explanation.

“Then what was the reason for his dismissal?”

Inho couldn’t believe that Antonio’s situation had nothing to do with him.

“That child… trainee priests who are dismissed all have the same thing in common.”

The Pope said, putting down the glass of wine.

“They’re too curious.”

The Pope shrugged.

Inho felt the urge to punch that sneering face.

Whether he did or not, the Pope continued his explanation.

“Those who question the words and object to the doctrines are people who will soon bring chaos to the Order’s order. So we have to erase them before the sprouts grow. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

Inho repeated the Pope’s last words.

“Yes. So you shouldn’t have any unnecessary curiosity either.”

The Pope wiped the gravy dripping from his chin with his hand.

“Ah, the Harvest Festival is coming soon. It’s the biggest event in Solarium, so this time you have to lead the worship yourself.”

“…I see.”

“I’ll decide on the words to use for the worship. Bring paper and a pen to the next meal. You have to write it in your own handwriting as I call it out.”

Inho nodded slightly, and the Pope cut the remaining meat with a satisfied face.

“By the way, why are you changing your attendant?”

The Pope, who was putting the last piece in his mouth, said as if he had suddenly remembered.

“Sister Maria?”

“Don’t say that you’ve grown apart. There’s no more absurd excuse than that.”

“It’s nothing.”

Inho replied indifferently, cutting the meat with a knife.

He put the small piece he had cut into his mouth and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Inho threw the napkin with sauce and gravy on the table and answered.

“She’s not curious enough.”