Chapter 156
Chapter: 156
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 156
>Chapter Title: Nativity Festival (5)
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>“I don’t want to die like that.”
Last night, when Sisle poured out her long-hidden, heartfelt emotions.
“Hmm, how about this?”
Morres made one suggestion to her.
It was a method she had never once considered before.
“Before the chronicle’s events unfold, you quit being the Saintess first. Hand the Saintess role over to Seyseo and retire in style. How about devoting yourself to the Holy Knights like Logan?”
“…What? Retire? Holy Knights?”
What’s that?
Sisle blinked.
She had agonized plenty over how to overcome the slanders targeted at her up to now, but stepping down from the Saintess position on her own had never crossed her mind.
To begin with, wasn’t the Saintess role not something you could retire from once elected?
“Brother. It’s because the Saintess seat is in peril that crisis befalls me. If I quit it first, won’t that just hasten my death?”
“Huh? Why think of it that way?”
Morres tilted his head.
“Let’s break it down, one by one. In the Delcross Chronicle, you head down the path of ruin because Seyseo shows up—having passed the Saintess trials and received Cardmos’s blessing. Your standing as Saintess gets shaky.”
“Yes. Right.”
“So you tried getting recognized as Saintess and seeking an audience with the Holy Emperor before Seyseo appeared. But then you learned that receiving the blessing means Cardmos takes your body and your soul vanishes.”
“Yeah. That’s what happened.”
Sisle answered glumly.
“Then what are you agonizing over? If becoming a Saintess who fully meets those conditions is absolutely impossible, then dropping it before your enemies can seize on it as pretext is the best move, right? If you hadn’t been Saintess from the start, would those tragedies have befallen you?”
“Hmm……?”
It sort of made sense when she heard it.
With Sisle sitting there dumbfounded, Morres stared straight into her eyes and asked.
“Just one thing to make clear. Why did you become the Saintess?”
Morres, who didn’t have even a speck of faith, simply couldn’t comprehend it.
Saintess? No pay, no real power. Just exalted as a sacred being, devoting your whole life to service without a single day off until death. An honorary post, wasn’t it?
“They use your youth as an excuse and have the church elders give you zero power while loading you with work. Why cling so desperately to that seat?”
“Well…….”
It probably started with the Saintess mark appearing on her body.
She liked how the Orthodox Church’s high priests made a huge fuss, calling her Gracia’s reincarnation. Having the faithful revere her as “Saintess” wasn’t bad either.
And when the Holy Emperor voiced opposition, a bit of stubborn pride welled up.
“So, was it fun living as the Saintess?”
“…….”
Honestly, she’d never really thought about it. She’d believed without a shred of doubt that it was the right path all along.
Service was grueling, sure. But seeing the joyful faces of the faithful made it rewarding. Then, after dreaming of the chronicle, she started clinging to the role like it was a guarantee of her survival.
But what if she truly wasn’t Gracia’s reincarnation.
What if she hadn’t been fated as Saintess from the beginning—what then?
“Even without being Saintess… it might not matter…….”
Morres nodded at Sisle’s feeble reply.
“Next, we pinpoint your enemies clearly. Who was it that first claimed you were unqualified?”
“Enemies?”
“Yeah. Don’t swallow the chronicle whole, Sisle. Everything has its backstory. You think the priests framed a dutiful, pliable worker like you for no reason?”
His face brimming with certainty as he posed the question.
After gazing at him with wavering eyes for a moment, Sisle furrowed her brow faintly and struggled to recall the chronicle’s details.
“…Hmm, it seems like Cardinal Benitus of the Heresy Tribunal and Cardinal Cesare of Foreign Affairs started it.”
Cardinal Benitus’s reason for opposing her was straightforward.
He staunchly believed the loss of her pattern proved the Lord God had forsaken her. The old man was so pigheaded that no reasoning got through.
Cardinal Cesare of Foreign Affairs, though—what about him?
Quite sociable and flexible, he’d always been kind to Sisle, so him being the first to make such a claim was surprising. He usually only bared his fangs over matters involving Archbishop Wesker……
‘No, hold on……!’
Maybe he’d wanted to keep Archbishop Wesker in check?
Wary that the Orthodox Church’s influence would swell with two Saintesses?
Perhaps he’d seen Sisle—whose Saintess credentials were shakier—as easier prey than Seyseo.
Hearing her explanation, Morres stated flatly.
“Good. Those two are your enemies from now on.”
“Enemies?”
“Yeah. Sure, digging might turn up more, but let’s focus on these two big fish first. Before they strike at you, seize power and drag them down—that’s your full effort.”
“Seize power? Why? Can’t I just quit being Saintess?”
Morres inwardly tsked at her question.
He always thought it, but Father had truly raised the kids too softly.
“Listen up, Sisle. Think another Saintess appears, or that you’re unqualified—does that really matter to them? The biggest reason you met that fate in the chronicle? You had no power in your grasp. No power meant you looked like easy pickings to them—that’s the crucial point!”
“……!”
“Even if you dodge this round, the enemies gunning for you are still kicking. Without power, the same crap can repeat anytime.”
It’s not your sins that make you a target.
It’s just that you don’t bite back, so they chomp away without fear.
Locking eyes with Sisle as she trembled in shock, Morres gave her shoulder a light pat.
“Listen, Sisle. Thing I’ve realized living these days: nothing beats holding public authority, hands down.”
In the Holy Empire, the ultimate public authority had to be the Holy Knights.
“Public authority…….”
“Yeah. Get yourself on the judging side, not the judged. Before they crush you, crush them with power first!”
“Uh…….”
“Proving your innocence changes zilch. It just hands your enemies time and ammo for their next attack. They slander you? Hit back with rabble-rousing and lies! They try dragging you down by force? Close in first and smash their faces in! That’s real power balance—the proper way to fight!”
The Demon King sighed.
[That’s why I said no, you demon!]
Sisle swallowed hard. Nightmare scenes from the chronicle raced through her mind.
-This is the Lord God’s punishment! The Saintess has fallen, lost her qualification! She must’ve colluded with demons!
Right. That’s how it was.
Chronicle-Sisle had done her utmost. Proved her innocence. Proved her qualification.
But in the end, it was all for naught. The approach was wrong from square one.
“Got it, Sisle? Someone calls you corrupt? Slam them as heretics! Claims you’re demon-colluding? Double down and call them demon worshippers!”
“But Brother, that’s deceiving people, isn’t it?”
“Who cares? They all do it—why can’t you?”
In that instant, a thunderbolt realization pierced Sisle’s mind.
Right. Why not me?
They dubbed me Gracia’s reincarnation, but it ain’t true. Accused me of demon collusion, but nope.
The elders twisted every single action of mine into slanders, but from one to ten, none of their claims held water.
High clergy, and yet not a trace of the Lord God’s will in their deeds.
So why should I prove my innocence to them?
Why counter those who defy the Lord God’s will by strictly following His doctrines?
“It won’t serve as a weapon at all. Only rabble-rousing and lies will pack power.”
“Rabble-rousing, lies!”
“To beat fanaticism, become the bigger fanatic.”
“Fanatic!”
Sisle clenched her fist tight, and Morres slyly tacked on.
“And if that’s not enough, borrow some power from the venue.”
“Venue?”
“Yeah. Perfect timing with the Nativity Festival—for instance, declare retirement right here with all these foreign dignitaries watching. Empire’s face alone would make it hard for your enemies to kick up a huge fuss, no?”
“That’s true.”
Sisle nodded.
“But a retirement declaration—what do I even say? No feel for it.”
“Hmm? Just go ‘What a beautiful night!’ or something, then hand it off smoothly to Seyseo?”
That’s how they did it at award ceremonies. Kick off with “What a beautiful night!” and the crowd laps it up.
“So let’s brainstorm methods after the Nativity Festival wraps. Ditch Saintess quick, head to Holy Knights, learn some swordplay.”
“Swordplay?”
“Yeah. Saint Bastian’s Orthodox Church-tied anyway, so awkward. How about the Saint Aurelion Knights instead?”
That’s what Morres said.
But back then, Morres hadn’t the slightest inkling Sisle would put his idea to use the very next day.
* * *
>Brother Morres spoke so casually of handing over the Saintess role, but that’s surely because he doesn’t grasp the Orthodox Church’s inner workings or scriptural doctrines.
Handing the Saintess role to Miss Seyseo meant handing over Gracia’s soul to her.
And that was an utterly perilous assertion. Casually shifting a soul into another body was the sort of thing branded demon worshippers’ foul play.
Wasn’t that the reason the Kornsim clan got mostly wiped out years back?
Plus, even if she denied being Gracia’s soul, she couldn’t deny the Orthodox Church’s canonization of her as a saint. The only alternative was claiming she bore another noble saint’s soul.
‘But Brother nailed one thing at least. Rabble-rousing and lies. Meaning it all boils down to shoehorning things to fit.’
Sisle resolved to craft a new narrative.
For it to work, every detail had to echo scriptural tales and stay explainable within the scriptures. So that night, Sisle pored over the scriptures till dawn, hunting useful passages.
Cardmos, unexpectedly delighted, pitched in from the side.
-Such an anecdote existed—check if it’s in there.
She unearthed a few.
The ancient saint receiving an oracle amid multicolored lights blanketing all directions.
Saint Bastian shielding a child’s soul—persecuted and slain by heathens—and delivering it back to its parents.
-Mom, Dad. Now I’ve met you both, I head to the Lord God’s embrace in peace.
A heartwarming close with the child’s soul ascending to paradise. But had another tampered with that soul, they’d have cried heresy for defying the natural order.
Having prepped through the night like that, Sisle now stood here with iron resolve.
She caught sight of Brother Morres staring at her with eyes gone perfectly round.
‘Hey! What’re you up to? Huh?’
Sisle couldn’t help a smirk at those eyes laden with ‘No way?’ suspicion.
‘Don’t worry, Brother. I can pull it off. I’ll fabricate it right, just like you said.’
And Sisle declared boldly to the assembly.
“I’m delighted to lay bare the truth before you all on a day like today. The fact is, I am not Saintess Gracia’s reincarnation.”
“Lady Sisle! What in the world!?”
Archbishop Wesker bolted from his seat, face ashen, but the radiant light bursting from the girl silenced him at once.
Vast holy power throbbed from the girl’s frame. And before long, multicolored lights began shimmering across the banquet hall here and there. Cardmos’s handiwork, chiming in with gleeful complicity.
“Until now, I held Saintess Gracia’s soul only temporarily—to shield it from corrupt influences.”
Sisle’s voice resonated with sacred timbre.
Her will unconsciously channeling aura into it, though most failed to notice, entranced as they listened vacantly.
“Fortunately, I’ve located the soul’s rightful owner and fulfilled my task. And so, I now return Gracia’s soul to the Saintess!”
Held the soul? Returning it now?
Ripe phrasing to ignite heresy debates, yet most overlooked it. The sublime, ecstatic multicolored glow enfolding the girl was far too transcendent.
And the instant Sisle clasped Seyseo’s hand.
The assembly could scarce credit their eyes. There on Saintess Seyseo’s handback shone Gracia’s unmistakable stigmata! Naturally, another of Cardmos’s pranks.
The bombshell didn’t stop there.
“I, Sisle, am in truth the reincarnation bearing Saint Marthias’s will!”
“……!?”
“The hour has come to proclaim it: the Lord God Himself bade me lead the Heresy Tribunal and battle heretics! To that end, I shall enlist in the Holy Knights!”
The emblem materializing next on Sisle’s hand left no room for doubt—Saint Marthias Knights’ crest!
High priests aside, the entire banquet hall reeled in shock. Cardinal Benitus’s eyes looked fit to bulge right out.
Calmly scanning their faces, Sisle proclaimed in even tones.
“One hand clasping the scriptures! The other wielding the mace! Thus shall I fight heretics henceforth for the Lord God’s kingdom!”
Then Sisle smiled. A smile flawless and crystalline, yet laced with eerie chill.
Here—grant this hand the power to command the inquisitors. And with it, I’ll battle you to the bitter end.
Cardinal Benitus. Cardinal Cesare.
* * *
>That night.
Late as it was, Nate had just emerged from the prayer room when he heard the stunning news.
“Sisle did what with Saint Marthi…….”
…What’d you say?
His sudden sway wasn’t solely weariness, surely.
Sisle had relinquished the Saintess seat. Good tidings in its own right.
Nate had drawn Seyseo in partly to rein in Cardmos, but above all to lighten the crushing burdens laid on the child.
He’d hoped his daughter might live more for herself—a freer life.
“…But why Holy Knights all of a sudden?”
Nate stared vacantly into the void a spell, then slowly brought a hand to his brow.