Performing Duty

Kyle and Sylvia were led somewhere by the sudden guidance of the believers.

He was ready to use his power immediately if he noticed anything strange along the way, but their attitude was so polite that the plan was unnecessary.

,Though I am insufficient, I am Theodoric Oswend, who holds the position of Pope of the Moon Order, and I meet the messenger of the Goddess.”

After waiting for a few minutes, the two could not help but be surprised by the wrinkled old man who showed his face.

It is natural because it was none other than the head of the Moon Order.

Moreover, the title he used to refer to Kyle was quite unfamiliar, which further increased the question.

“I’m Kyle Lyaird.”

“I’m Sylvia Eleanor. I greet His Holiness the Pope.”

“You don’t have to be so polite. Just think of me as a grandfather who can be found anywhere in the neighborhood.”

Theodoric, who burst into a hearty laugh and finished introducing himself to the two, was very kind.

As he put it, like a friendly grandfather who could be found anywhere in the neighborhood.

“But the messenger of the Goddess…. What do you mean?”

“I need to explain. Excuse me, can you show me the stigmata on the back of your hand for a moment?”

“Yes, here it is.”

When Kyle showed the crescent moon pattern engraved on the back of his hand, which the believers called the stigmata, Theodoric’s expression brightened without end.

“It’s faint, but I can definitely feel the Goddess’s grace. It has been a long, long wait.”

Theodoric, who stroked Kyle’s hand with an expression filled with emotions, as if stroking his grandson’s hand, soon began to explain.

“Actually, there was a message from the Goddess a long time ago. It was a promise that someday she would send a messenger to rebuild the Order and set everything right.”

“That messenger…. Are you talking about me?”

“That’s right. When did the messenger-nim find out about the existence of this stigmata?”

“Today.”

Kyle explained the whole story to Theodoric, who was surprised by his answer.

He told him the circumstances that led him here and the story he had briefly encountered with the Goddess Lethe earlier.

However, he still kept silent about the matter of regression.

Because it’s a story that could unexpectedly cause difficulties.

“Heo, is that so? Is the Goddess well?”

“Yes. However, she said that it is difficult to reveal her existence because she has lost so much power. She said that she would not have been able to manifest without the help of Sylvia-yang next to me.”

“Then this person is….”

Theodoric, who checked Sylvia’s red shining right eye, exclaimed softly and stared at her blankly.

There were so many rumors about the existence of the Evil Eye in the world, and the Moon Order did not know much about its identity, so they only thought it was an ominous eye.

But that eye was a fragment left by the Goddess.

Theodoric felt ashamed that he had not recognized the grace of the Goddess with his short-sightedness and bowed his head to Sylvia.

“It is only thanks that the fragment of the Goddess has come to us in person.”

“Ah, no. I didn’t do anything that deserves that much thanks.”

“If what the messenger-nim said is true, we are grateful just for you being by our side. So you don’t have to feel overwhelmed.”

Sylvia waved her hand and said that she felt awkward being so respected because of her eyes, which had always been a nuisance, but that was because she did not know the hearts of the believers, including Theodoric.

Theodoric was truly grateful and impressed with the two people in front of him.

It’s not just because a lifeline has come down to save them.

He was just happy that there were beings who proved that the Goddess had not yet left their side and was safe.

“Come to think of it, the messenger-nim’s name is strangely familiar, but if this old man is not mistaken…. Aren’t you the person who was in the middle of the incident that happened at the Imperial Palace a while ago?”

“Yes, that’s right. Sylvia and I were there together.”

“I knew it. The name was on everyone’s lips in the Order as a warrior who fought against the Eyes of Dawn.”

From Kyle’s point of view, it wasn’t a very good memory, so he felt strange to be praised for it, but he didn’t show it.

However, there was something more important than that.

“…As expected, the Moon Order knows something about the Eyes of Dawn.”

“That’s right. To be exact, we have not completely uncovered their identity, but we have recently begun to speculate that they are related to the Sun Order.”

‘As expected.’

Kyle frowned with an expression that he knew it would be like that.

In the first place, if there were beings who were so blatantly obsessed with the Moon Order and tried to belittle them, it was highly likely that it was the Sun Order, which was the opposing faction.

Moreover, the Moon Order was enduring the persecution caused by this with their whole bodies, so they would have tried to continue the investigation into the Eyes of Dawn even more.

“Why didn’t you inform His Majesty the Emperor of that fact?”

“It’s not that we didn’t inform him. It’s that no one would listen. Now, in the world, the Moon Order is being regarded as a heresy that created the Empire’s rebels.”

“…….”

Kyle felt sorry for him as he tried to calmly put the harsh reality into words.

Perhaps the Eyes of Dawn, or rather Erze, had planned and systematically continued to slander them with this situation in mind.

In the end, the power of God comes from faith, and faith comes from people.

But if the world is busy belittling the God you believe in, and calls the Order you belong to a heresy, who can steadfastly continue to believe?

In the end, if the Moon Order collapses because of this, Lethe will disappear into the backwaters of mythology altogether.

It is truly a sinister and cunning plan.

“But now that the messenger-nim has appeared, we have a justification. Now we can fight against those bastards with dignity.”

“…Do you think this country will be persuaded by my existence alone?”

No matter how much the stigmata appeared on him, and it proved that he was a messenger of God and that the words he shared with Lethe were true.

Kyle never thought that everyone would believe his words like Theodoric.

So, when he looked at Theodoric with doubtful eyes and asked, the kind old man’s eyes were filled with the vigor and brilliance that could be felt from a young man.

“We are not trying to persuade everyone. We just need a justification to gather the scattered believers and eradicate the heretics who are trying to disturb the Empire.”

“It won’t be easy. They will be far superior in terms of power.”

The Eyes of Dawn have unknowingly planted seeds in various families of the Empire.

If their power is added, the defeat of the Moon Order is as good as predicted.

No, perhaps the Moon Order itself may collapse before it even leads to a war between the Orders.

The Sun Order will somehow deny it and try to attack the Moon Order instead.

They will pour out all kinds of slander and agitation, saying that the dying Pope is trying to seek mutual destruction in the name of God.

“Even if it’s not easy, it’s something we have to do. We exist to carry out God’s will.”

Despite knowing that future, Theodoric looked at Kyle with clear eyes and strengthened his will.

Kyle smiled bitterly at the sight of his eyes, which emitted a light that was too bright for an old man in his 70s.

As an atheist by birth, he had never really believed in God, nor had he ever thought deeply about the existence of religious people.

But at least he seemed to have glimpsed a glimpse of what faith, a thick belief, was.

Even if you walk a chaotic and dark path, if only the signpost in the distance shines brightly, can you live so upright?

‘He’s much better than a human like me.’

Recalling his wrongdoings before the regression, Kyle inwardly expressed a small respect for the Pope.

And as he listened to his sincere words, he felt his own mindset being firmly corrected.

Yes, it’s not that we’re trying to do it because it’s possible.

We are just doing what we have to do.

Didn’t we decide that from the beginning?

Didn’t we pledge that from the moment we were given another chance?

No matter what high adversity blocks us and rough storms push us, we will move forward this time.

“I understand. If that is the will of His Holiness the Pope, I will take on that role.”

“If you mean role…?”

So Kyle opened his mouth to Theodoric, who was expressing his doubts with a smile of conviction.

“I will persuade His Majesty and push for a full-scale war with those bastards.”

At that moment, something hot gushed out from the eyes of the old man who had firmly endured about 40 years of time.