episode_0202
by fnovelpia“Saint, this is my son. Please bless him so he can survive in this difficult world.”
A ceremony held periodically at the cathedral.
The saint gives blessings to those who make donations.
It used to be done by high priests, but it became more popular after the saint appeared.
As word of mouth spread, people from all walks of life, from the rich to the nobles, came to seek the saint’s blessings and paid large sums of money.
But Elise stood there with a blank expression.
“Saint?”
“Yes?”
“Waiting for the blessing of the Virgin.”
“Ah… Yes.”
Elise came to her senses. In front of her was a young boy who seemed to be just beginning to speak, and his father.
Elise placed her hand on the boy’s head.
“Someday, you will walk alone in the wilderness of the world. The wind will blow, the rain will pour, and sometimes you will get lost and wander.”
Elise continued praying.
“But don’t forget. God will always be with you, just as there is earth beneath your feet and sky above your head. So don’t be afraid.”
Elise closed her eyes and made a small sign of the cross with her fingertips.
“May this child walk his own path with confidence. May the protection of order be with him.”
A light flashed from Elise’s fingertips for a moment, and the candles filling the cathedral began to flicker slightly.
“Thank you. Now, you should greet the saint too.”
“Thank you.”
The boy and his father bowed in gratitude. Elise smiled gently at the child.
As they left the cathedral, Elise let out a shallow sigh and caught her breath.
“Saint, are you tired?”
“I’m so tired today.”
“Let’s stop here for the ritual. I’ll tell the people.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The saint’s safety is the top priority.”
Elise exhaled again.
My chest felt tight.
“I want to get some fresh air.”
“We will prepare quickly.”
Soon Elise left the cathedral with only a minimal number of attendants.
Since it was obvious that there would be an uproar if it was discovered that she was a saint, she wore plain clothes instead of a saint’s outfit. She covered her face with a hood.
Elise walking down the street.
Her expression clearly showed her fatigue.
It was nothing else. It was because what Karami had said yesterday was stuck in my head. I couldn’t sleep at night and kept thinking about it over and over again.
Karami said he would do anything for his slaves. So Elise asked with anticipation, if he would fall into the abyss with her.
-Why did you drop it together? I’m not stupid.
What came back was a murderous remark.
The moment Elise heard that answer.
– Of course. It would be foolish to fall into the abyss together. You asked such an obvious question.
He said something self-deprecating and ran away from the inn.
“Haa… .”
I didn’t want to be sincere from the beginning.
It was just words.
If you had said even just empty words, I would have smiled and moved on with satisfaction.
‘Yes, even though I am this kind of person, I have someone else too.’ It would have been a win-win situation for both parties since the other person would have gained their trust.
But Karami refused.
Both of them chose the path that would result in loss.
He was a man who usually laughed heartily and said heart-fluttering words without a care, but when it was really needed, he ran away like a coward.
If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t have been talking nonsense from the beginning. You made people expect something and then betrayed them at the end.
‘no.’
It’s not a betrayal, it’s something that’s expected.
Where in the world would there be a human being who would walk the path of destruction with a mere slave?
I feel sorry for myself for being manipulated by that man until now.
I’m so upset that tears are flowing out.
“Huh?”
But then a commotion broke my thoughts, as if the only thing a vampire could shed was blood.
At first I thought it was the hustle and bustle of the market, but as I got closer I realized it wasn’t just the noise of everyday life.
Elise stopped walking.
In the middle of the square, a woman was tied up with rough ropes. Her clothes were torn and dirty, and her hair was disheveled.
“It’s a witch! The witch spread a curse!”
“Burn! Let’s judge in the name of God!”
“No! I’m not a witch! I’ve never spread a curse!”
The woman cried.
But her cries went unanswered.
It scattered into the air amid the anger of the square.
The crowd chanted and held torches.
Some people threw stones, others cursed.
Elise narrowed her eyes.
“What is that?”
“She’s a witch. She recently took advantage of the chaos in the Holy Land to sneak in and was caught.”
It was a typical witch hunt.
There are still evil witches lurking in the world.
“Did that witch do something?”
“That’s not it, but why did you hide in the Holy Land? The purpose is obvious.”
Now, unlike in the past, they are not so openly violent, but they could change at any time. They are potential criminals who will destroy the order of the continent.
That’s the kind of people that witches are.
Even a trial is a luxury for them.
“Would you like to take a look? It will help you change your mood.”
“Looking around… .”
Elise stared at the witch silently. On the outside, she looked no different from an ordinary person. To Elise, she seemed more human than herself.
It happens sometimes.
A witch who doesn’t even know that she is a witch.
But the truth was unimportant in the face of anger. No one listened to her voice. Even though what flowed from the woman’s eyes were tears, not blood.
Brutal violence, madness that drives a person to evil.
And the fact that all of this is done ‘in the name of God’.
Elise walked slowly.
No one paid attention to the saint’s appearance.
In the midst of the angry crowd, faces were seen praying for God’s blessing.
A boy and his father who had just come to receive Elise’s blessing. Those who had knelt in the cathedral and earnestly asked for her blessing.
They were watching a witch hunt here right now.
“Dad, why is that sister doing that?”
To the boy’s question, the boy’s father spoke firmly.
“Witches are sinners. Sinners must be condemned. They say that we, as God’s servants, do what God wants us to do.”
For a moment, Elise felt her heart sink. The blessings she had been repeating like a habit came to mind.
He realized how empty the words he had said were now in the face of this flame.
If God really exists, what would he say when he sees this scene?
Those who were longing for salvation are now trying to throw a person into the fire.
Just because they were born as witches without committing any sin. Did God want this absurd order?
My fingertips get cold.
The cheers in the square grow louder.
A lit torch was thrown from somewhere.
The flames leapt onto the dry branches.
Hot air rose and smoke spread into the sky.
The woman called the witch cowered in fear.
The rope dug into his flesh, and his lips trembled.
No matter how hard you struggle, you can’t get out.
But nobody cares.
Hands making the sign of the cross.
Lips calling the name of God.
They did not doubt their actions.
As if performing a sacred ritual.
Those who had just received the saint’s blessing were spitting out curses with the same lips.
“… That’s funny.”
A smile spread across Elise’s lips.
This is the true face of those who seek order.
okay.
That’s how it is for people who believe in God.
I realized that it was a big mistake to think that something would change if I became a saint.
It felt like the complicated tangled threads in my head were unraveling.
“Saint?”
Elise took a step forward.
At that moment, a sharp wind blew.
The hems of his robes fluttered and his hat fell off.
Ignoring the escort’s call, I stepped into the commotion.
It was only when she approached the burning hay bales that the crowd noticed her.
“Who are you?”
“Are you a saint?”
“Why is the saint here…?”
“Why, why? The saint herself is trying to punish the sinner!”
No one seemed puzzled.
I thought there was no reason to panic.
This is because it was believed that the saint, who was also a servant of God, would naturally approve of this judgment.
Elise slowly approached the woman tied to the cross.
“Saint, it is dangerous to come near. You will be infected with evil.”
“That’s right. We’ll take care of it, so step back.”
Elise found it truly amusing that they cared about her.
Elise raised her hand.
The crowd expected a dazzling light to rise.
But what they witnessed was not light, but darkness.
Kwaaak!
A creepy scream.
An invisible force spread out like an explosion.
The stone floor, which had been laid out in an orderly manner, was broken.
The flames swung violently.
People were thrown out and fell to their knees.
Those who didn’t understand what was going on raised their heads late.
“… Vampire?”
“Vampire? A saint? What kind of joke is that… .”
It wasn’t a joke.
The person standing in front of them is Elise.
However, she was not a saint who was revered by the believers and loved by everyone.
A pair of black wings fluttered in Elise’s tail dance. Her ears were longer than a human’s, and she had fangs.
It was a vampire that the believers feared.
The saint is a vampire.
The shock brought about by something that should not have happened created the illusion that time and space had stopped. Those who had been enthusiastic about the witch hunt became frozen like stone.
In it, only Elise moved. With a single gesture, she put out the fire in an instant.
Elise raised the corners of her lips as usual at the believers who were blankly staring at her.
But no one felt relieved by that, and no one smiled. Only a vague, infinite anxiety rose up.
“In the name of the saint, from now on, I will rewrite the order of the church.”
In the midst of all this, Elise declared.
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