episode_0007

“Holy God Amanes. Please take care of this child and become a priest… ”

In quiet silence. The coming of age ceremony took place with the audience watching. All the lights that illuminated the inside of the chapel were turned off and the church relied only on the light coming from outside through the stained glass, creating a sacred atmosphere as if God would come down at any moment.

As I continued to recite the prayer, I slowly came down from the podium and stood in front of Sister Rachel.

She is kneeling on a cushion and praying with her hands together. I placed my left hand neatly above her head.

‘I will give you eternal blessings.’

Hoping to capture divine power in every joint of her fingertips, I dripped holy water, or liquified divine power, onto her head.

From this point on, a high level of concentration was required. Because the invisible power called divine power had to be drawn from the whole body and turned into holy water that could be seen and touched, it was impossible with any amount of concentration.

“Sister Rachel. Now raise your head.”

“Yes.”

She raises her head with her eyes closed. Holy water fell like rain on her face.

“Hmm… .”

I didn’t realize it when I looked at the textures in the game, but when I tried it myself, I realized that extracting holy water was a very difficult chore.

Should I say that I feel dizzy as the blood continues to drain from my body? My vision was blurry for a moment and I had brief symptoms of anemia, so I thought I might collapse if I overexerted myself further.

“Please wash away all of this child’s past sins of ignorance.”

After the last rites were over, I took a step or two back.

Sister Rachel still raises her head toward the sky and prays deeply.

Soon her eyes gradually opened.

‘I pulled out a lot.’

I said she would do it in moderation, but emerald holy water was sprinkled here and there on her face, making her look like a dog that got hit by heavy rain.

It wasn’t an accident, but the holy water was so sticky that it didn’t come off easily, so I secretly made it a rule to spray less. Washing up must have become a bit difficult because of me, but if you think about it the other way around, good things are good things, and getting that much holy water meant that only better things would happen in the future.

“Ha… .”

Sister Rachel lets out a deep sigh and smiles brightly. I don’t know why, but she was so full of holy water that her face turned red and she was smiling like a pervert. Is it because you’re happy to be an adult? I don’t know what it was, but it didn’t feel very good.

Without thinking any further, I walked right in front of her to say one last word to her.

“You worked hard. Was it difficult?”

After talking to her, she seemed to come to her senses again and looked at me with her eyes blinking.

She shook her head, drawing a gentle line at the corner of her mouth.

“No. Priest Isaiah must have had a harder time preparing. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Anyway, Sister Rachel, congratulations on becoming an adult now.”

“Yes, thank you.”

@@@@@

Sister Rachel. I got to know her less than a year ago. This is a character that doesn’t even appear in the game. Since he was still a monk and not a priest, he was a person I virtually never met.

But how did I get to know her…

It was during last year’s annual event. While everyone else was making noise and playing, I happened to find a child sneaking out alone and praying hard. I didn’t really intend to take a peek, but I must say that I caught my eye unintentionally. As if I was possessed, I approached her without making a sound, and for some time, I sat in the back seat of her and watched.

I still remember that day vividly. I had a strong feeling that she was forcing it to lower the corruption level, but she had the same will and goal and was praying.

How much time has passed? It must have been difficult to sit for an hour, but she sat alone for more than three or four hours, muttering hard.

I really couldn’t help but notice it.

Whether at school, church, or anywhere else, teachers never dislike children who work hard. I went straight to her and started talking to her, and soon we were talking about various things and hearing her thoughts about the child.

He said he was a monk of a religious order. When he grows up, he wants to become a priest like me. What can I say at this time… Even though I was just hearing what an ordinary child said, I felt like I had luckily found a treasure in a pile of trash.

I had been looking at dirty bitches who were always waiting for an opportunity to get a hug from me somehow, and to see such an innocent child, I felt like my heart was melting.

-Can I become a priest like you?

-Then, of course. I’m sure you’ll become a great priest. So you don’t have to worry too much.

-Hehe, thank you.

From that day on, he met with me almost out of habit. The monastery is close to the church, and if I can’t do it, she comes to me, so I learn about the virtues a priest should have, how to use divine power, etc. He taught me various things I needed to study.

It’s been hard to see her face lately because she has to take an exam.

Anyway, that child has already become an adult.

@@@@@

About thirty minutes had passed since the coming-of-age ceremony was over. Sister Rachel washed all the holy water off her face in the stream and returned to the chapel.

Then he turned his head here and there as if looking for someone, found me hiding in the corner of the back seat, and came up to me with a bright smile.

“I’m sorry. I sprayed too much.”

“No. Priest. I just finished washing up.”

Since I have never used holy water before, I made a small mistake. It was an important day for her too, and even though she said it wasn’t a big deal, I felt sorry inside that I couldn’t finish it perfectly.

“Rather… It was good… .”

“Yes? What?”

“No. Priest.”

I couldn’t hear her properly because she spoke in a low voice as if she was crawling. He obviously said something, but it didn’t seem important, so I decided to ignore it.

“More than that, Sister Rachel. Did you do well on the test?”

“Oh, it’s a test… Ahaha… . yes… . I watched it a bit… .”

She, who had been looking straight at me just a moment ago, quickly looked away. Judging from the fact that he was sweating profusely, it seemed like he didn’t get particularly good grades.

‘It’s a shame.’

Do you have no brain for studying? I tried teaching hard, but my grades rarely improved. In terms of faithfulness, she would be number one, but it was just a pity.

“It’s okay. If you work hard, you will rise quickly.”

“Well, I guess so. sorry. He taught me diligently, even taking time out of his spare time… .”

“No. And I did it because I wanted to. You don’t have to say that.”

A shadow falls on her face like a person who has committed a sin.

I comforted him by telling him not to worry too much, as this wasn’t the only opportunity and he just needed to work harder.

Although it seems that the parties involved are not able to accept it so easily,

“Ah… . I said something unnecessary on a happy day like today.”

“Oh, no. I was planning to come and tell you sometime.”

She says, waving her hands. Still with a downcast look on her face, she continued speaking.

“I don’t deserve to be by Amaneth’s side, right? I fail every time. Even a fellow monk would look bad.”

What should I say about this… . I don’t know if it can be any consolation. The article below is not like a monthly paper exam. Since I had failed one of the important exams required to become a priest, it was understandable that I was so discouraged.

All I could do was make up for what was lacking here.

“Which part did you find most difficult?”

“That… In the part about dealing with divine power… I think I cut a lot.”

I couldn’t believe it, but it’s there again. If it were anything else, I would have done anything, but since this is an area of talent, teaching it wasn’t easy. Above all, it was important to know how to learn and use divine power on your own, so even if you explain it in words, if your body does not remember it, it is just a repetition of the same thing.

It was a time when I was deeply concerned about how to teach this.

“Priest Isaiah.”

A soft voice suddenly finds me.

When I slightly tilted my head and looked back, I saw a believer wearing a monastic habit looking down at me as if he had something to say.

“What’s going on?”

“The Bishop is looking for you.”

“Ha… yes… . I’ll be there soon.”

Now I get sick of just hearing that name. If he felt like he couldn’t see me even just a little bit, he told the kids below to drag me in, and he couldn’t hide anywhere, so he couldn’t help but let out a deep exclamation and stood up.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh… . Yes, please come back.”