The Saint and Maria-3

The morning service proceeded as usual.

The gazes of those attending the service frequently turned to a certain spot.

Their attention was focused not on the pulpit, but on a seat about halfway down the aisle.

Even the Holy Knights sitting in the front row occasionally looked back.

In such a disorderly atmosphere, it would have been right for the Bishop, who was leading the service, to shout.

However, even the elderly Bishop on the pulpit, while haltingly reading the sermon he had prepared, kept casting glances in a certain direction.

The object of their attention was the seat where Saint was sitting.

“So, the faith that Rob showed at this time…”

The Bishop’s words were faint.

The Bishop read a paragraph of the sermon, looked at Saint, and then read another paragraph and looked at Saint again.

-Swoosh

Saint, who had been gazing at the Bishop’s face with an upright posture, slightly moved his head.

It was his first movement during the two-hour-long service, during which he had remained as still as a statue.

Everyone flinched and turned their gaze to the pulpit.

They feared that Saint would severely rebuke them if he knew that their attention had been focused on something other than the service.

The Bishop, who had been reading the prepared manuscript haltingly, also cleared his throat again after seeing the disorderly atmosphere subside.

‘As expected of Saint…’

Sister Maria, who was sitting next to Kang In-ho, watching him concentrate on the service without the slightest distraction, admired him inwardly.

At the same time, she felt ashamed.

‘I need to focus on the service too…’

She was deeply ashamed of herself for not being able to concentrate on the service simply because Saint was present.

Sister Maria averted her eyes from Inho and turned her gaze to the Bishop.

‘Ah… I’m hungry. When will the service end?’

Of course, the object of Sister Maria’s reverence was far from the image she had in mind.

After the morning service, Inho and Sister Maria headed to the dining hall.

There was still some time before the food was served, but Inho had subtly urged her.

“There are still five minutes until the serving, but I think we can bring it in advance,” Sister Maria said, after confirming that the serving preparations were already complete.

She sat Inho at a table and headed to the serving area.

Soon, Sister Maria returned with two trays of food and placed them on the table.

The food was much the same as yesterday.

Bread, meat, and soup.

“It smells good,” Inho said kindly, sniffing the air.

Inho put his hands together in front of the food.

Sister Maria, sitting across from Inho, also closed her eyes.

After a moment of silence, Sister Maria opened her eyes at the sound of silverware clinking.

Inho, who had already picked up a fork and knife, was cutting the meat on his plate.

Sister Maria, who had been expecting to hear the ‘Saint’s Prayer’ that she had only heard about, looked a little disappointed.

“Ah, Sister Maria. How was today’s sermon?” Inho asked, looking up at Sister Maria as he cut the meat.

“Pardon?” Sister Maria asked, with a dazed expression.

The sermon? She remembered that it was about Rob.

However, she couldn’t remember exactly what it was about, as she had been distracted by Inho throughout the service.

“Ah… well…”

“I received great grace. Did you, Sister Maria?”

Inho put a piece of meat, cut to a suitable size, into his mouth and chewed.

Sister Maria felt as if Inho’s blue eyes were piercing through her.

And she was sure. He already knew that she hadn’t been concentrating on the service.

“I’m sorry,” Sister Maria apologized quickly.

“Yes? For what?” Inho said with an inaccurate pronunciation, taking a bite of bread at Sister Maria’s words.

“Yes, I didn’t concentrate on the service.”

Her face turned red with the humiliation of confessing her sin with her own mouth.

“It’s okay,” Saint replied casually to her, who was struggling to suppress her fluttering heart.

“It’s difficult to concentrate every moment. So don’t worry too much. You’ll definitely be able to concentrate next time.”

Saint said, putting another piece of meat into his mouth.

Only then could Sister Maria eat the food in front of her with peace of mind.

After lunch, Saint’s next schedule was to observe a scripture interpretation class for novice Priests.

The class was being conducted by a Priest who had devoted his life to establishing the Bible and Cult’s People.

In the middle of the class, Sister Maria carefully opened the door.

Through the open door, she and Saint entered.

In the classroom, all the novice Priests were engrossed in the class with correct posture.

It was a class created by gathering Priests with already good grades, to show to Saint.

Saint stood at the back of the classroom with Sister Maria and listened to the class.

The class ended 30 minutes later, and the elderly Priest pointed politely to the back and said to the novice Priests.

“Saint has observed the class.”

Then the novice Priests made the Sign of the Cross with their hands.

It was as if they were watching actors who were faithful to the given script.

‘Well… I’m a high-ranking person, so it’s right to prepare thoroughly.’

Inho smiled bitterly, recalling the Holy Knight who was sweating profusely while wearing shiny armor the day before.

“I am Kang In-ho. It was truly gracious to see your passion for the Bible.”

Inho replaced his greeting with a bow, praising their efforts in preparing diligently for the class.

Inho, who was about to finish the class observation schedule with businesslike words, turned his head at the sound of someone calling him.

“S, Saint.”

A young boy said, looking at him.

Inho looked at the boy.

The boy, feeling his gaze, cowered like a rabbit in front of a predator.

“In, in Emelios, there is a passage that says, ‘Those who follow the path of light must be wary of themselves.’ I don’t understand this part well.”

The Priest looked flustered, and the other novice Priests had anxious expressions.

It was clearly an unscheduled question.