Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Stirring Viper
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The delegation from the Saint Kingdom arrived in the Kraidel territory two days before the joint funeral.
Lemesis and her Honor Guard, tasked with escorting the delegation, guided them to the high-class inn that had been prepared in advance.
"Here's the program for the funeral the day after tomorrow. It's marked in inches and miles, so you shouldn't get lost this time."
Lemesis sneered at the delegation one last time before departing.
The Holy Knights, including the Captain of the Holy Knights, could only grit their teeth and watch her leave.
"That... heretic bastard..."
That was all they could say.
After arriving in the territory, the delegates unpacked only a portion of their luggage and rested to recover from the journey.
They unpacked minimally because they planned to hold the joint funeral and then head to the kingdom's capital.
Originally, the funeral was just a courtesy stop on their way; the delegation had been dispatched as permanent ambassadors to the Saint Kingdom.
Permanent ambassadors.
This concept, created by the King of Providence, was quite novel and bold in this world.
In a sense, an ambassador was a hostage; in another, an overt spy; in yet another, a monitor.
Thus, the Providence King's approach left other nations with this impression:
I'll allow a spy in my capital.
In return, trust me.
Diplomacy premised on trust rather than distrust.
In a world where opportunities and schemes were kept tightly hidden, this was a radically unconventional move.
At the same time, it was a bold declaration.
'He must be that confident in his intelligence warfare.'
The Saintess thought to herself as she turned the pages of a book in her room.
A strategy like a beast's heart, willing to tolerate one or two worms in its belly.
In fact, the Saintess had accurately grasped Rex's intentions.
'Now that I've met him, I see. With powers like that, intelligence warfare is impossible.'
The Providence King's consciousness synchronization ability.
Duke's telekinesis that ignored distance.
And the shadow knights whose locations were unknown.
Combining these meant that, anytime, anywhere, information could be gathered without one's knowledge, and one's neck could be snapped at the slightest whim.
It felt like being watched by a massive tower endlessly rolling its eyes from the capital, with a guillotine ready to drop at any moment.
As her thoughts reached this point, the Saintess felt a chill on her neck and unconsciously touched it.
Sensing her lips curling up unwittingly.
"Oh dear. Bad habit."
She refocused on her book, pondering this nation.
What she was reading now were the works of Clambel, who had established the founding ideology of the Providence Kingdom.
Honor your parents, cherish your siblings, respect your teachers, be loyal to your liege...
And the like: uphold benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom; cherish your family; never forget humility.
Good words. To some, they might be so commonplace as to not need a book.
But in a world where common sense didn't apply—especially on this continent steeped in imperial ideology—kingdoms where such common sense prevailed were few and far between.
And at the end of these books was this line:
- "If you fail to understand that duty, then look up to Duke and follow in his footsteps."
This passage, essentially "If you don't get it, just follow Duke," appeared at the end of most books.
Even if not worded exactly so, the meaning was similar.
These perilous sentences, premised as if Duke were immortal,
had initially given her the impression of a cult leader's brainwashing scripture.
Yet, sensing the author's genuine concern for the people dripping from the words, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of being this knight was, worthy of such worship.
"Well, a friendly relationship is already out of reach."
Thanks to that arrogant, useless captain of the escort.
If he were at least strong, it might be forgivable, but she couldn't comprehend what gave this weaker-than-her fool the confidence to act so brazenly.
Thud.
She closed the book and checked the time.
The moon hung high in the midnight sky.
By now, those meddlesome ones should be asleep.
She rose silently from her seat and slipped out of her room.
Concealing even the rustle of her silk robes, she left the inn and headed to the tavern where the servants for the delegation were staying.
The kingdom had prepared a large inn accommodating even the servants, so why send them to a separate one to maintain status? She wondered.
Passing through the dark streets lit by dim streetlamps, the girl leaped up to the tavern window.
Knock knock.
She tapped the window in a steady rhythm, and a timid nun with black hair covering her eyes welcomed the Saintess.
"Rosalyn. Big sis is here~"
"S-Saintess... What if we're caught..."
"That's why I hate it?"
At the Saintess's question, the girl bowed her head and murmured in a tiny voice.
"I like it..."
"Hehe. Don't worry. I left an illusion in my room."
It was an illusion that had fooled every priest in the Saint Kingdom except the king for decades.
Considering the king had no interest in what the Saintess did anyway, no one had pierced it in all that time.
"The book for tonight... ta-da!"
The Saintess pulled a book from the valley of her ample bosom.
Isabella and Arabella
A recently published novel from the Providence Kingdom.
The author was Night Fairy.
She didn't know why "Night Fairy," but it was a writer with peculiar naming sense.
Rumor had it that it was based on a true story.
That wasn't important to the Saintess.
What mattered now was time with the only person in the world she could truly trust: her little sister.
"Let's read it together."
"Yes, big sis."
It was also the only time this child called her "big sis," free from the world's gaze.
The Saintess and the nun sat cross-legged on the bed and began turning the pages.
The Saintess reminisced about her childhood, furtively reading in storage rooms to avoid the priests' glares.
Her left eye burned with crimson flame.
*
Long, long ago.
Dozens of years before now.
Twenty years after the Celestial Divine Church and Celestial Kingdom were created on the continent due to fabricated demand.
The priests who served the heavenly order suddenly thought:
If we could prove invisible karma (evil deeds) and dharma (good deeds), religion wouldn't be empty cries anymore.
From this idea, the priests launched a massive project.
They sought to create a being that could see—and even show—karma and dharma.
And perhaps heaven was moved by the countless sacrifices, offerings, and devotions.
A miraculous pair of twins was born.
Beings who could see good and evil deeds.
The sister, with eyes radiant as the sun, pierced through the flows of dharma.
The younger sister, with eyes sad as the moon, pierced through the flows of karma.
The priests serving heaven rejoiced sincerely.
"Now we can stand with heaven."
Boldly, they challenged the Twelve Kings,
- "Kwaaaagh!!"
and were swiftly dealt with by one.
It wasn't a real show of force; more like nagging them to recognize the religion and donate some money by showing good and evil deeds.
But to the Twelve Kings, it was still arrogant.
Yet the heavenly priests' lineage didn't end.
A few of the Twelve Kings found it amusing and clapped, some praised the novel idea, granting them mercy.
Perhaps the elders simply had the leisure not to rage at harmless pranks.
Thus, the priests who had been harshly scolded by the lofty elders changed their names and carried on.
From Celestial Kingdom and Celestial Divine Church to Saint Kingdom and Saint Divine Church.
That was unimportant.
What mattered was the twins' fate afterward.
The Saint Kingdom pondered what to do with the pretty trash that the twins had become.
Then, a low priest who later became a high priest had a brilliant idea.
- "If they can see karma and dharma, couldn't they control them too?"
If useless, make them useful.
The Saint Kingdom poured countless offerings and devotions again to strengthen the twins' powers.
They confined the two girls in jar-like rooms, compressing the energies of good and evil deeds into them.
And once more, sacred fate was moved, granting the twins new powers.
To the girl white as the sun, the miracle of rewarding dharma.
To the girl black as night, the miracle of punishing karma.
This was a great success.
Undeniably a great success; they should have been satisfied.
But something was off.
The girl who saw dharma only bestowed luck on small families, refusing to bless any priests.
The girl who saw karma caused priests to suffer mysterious accidents just by curiously stirring the air.
The priests reacted oppositely to the twins.
"O Saintess, grant us mercy."
"You witch, begone."
But mere reactions; they couldn't act on them.
Fear that the compressed energies of good and evil within the girls would erupt and truly destroy the Saint Kingdom.
The priests pondered the twins' disposal—no, disposition.
Then another priest had a brilliant idea.
- "What if we swap what they see?"
Give the dharma-controller karma-seeing eyes,
and the karma-controller dharma-seeing eyes.
Then they could check each other.
Since they couldn't see, they'd have to report to judge, and the Saint Kingdom could intercept and control it easily.
The priests implemented it immediately.
And to cut to the conclusion: it failed.
Because the younger sister, trying to protect her sister's eyes, lost control and rampaged, unleashing disasters.
Priests fell into madness one by one, magical beasts rampaged across the Saint Kingdom, and endless snow poured from the dark clouds overhead.
Thus hell began.
The priests tried to subdue the witch but couldn't handle one blessed by cherubim.
It was the Saintess who subdued the witch.
Blessed by Ophanim, the Saintess finally reached the witch and sealed her rampage.
She then bestowed blessings to heal the Saint Kingdom's wounds.
The Saint Kingdom officially recognized the Saintess for this miracle and designated the day as a holiday.
How auspicious, how auspicious.
But the Saintess's tale didn't end there.
- "Your Saint Majesty. I have a deal to propose."
Having subdued the witch, the Saintess met privately with the Saint King.
From the next day, the Saintess began a sacrificial life to suppress the witch.
The witch became the lowest nun, not even on the priests' registry, surviving under the Saintess's mercy.
How noble and merciful a woman.
Now, even if the witch occasionally flared up, the Saint Kingdom had no worries.
They had their beautiful Saintess.
"How auspicious, how auspicious."
In the shadows of a dark alley.
A knight murmured, watching the window of the witch's room where the Saintess had entered.
'Not much different.'
He had come to check if anything had changed from the original story, but the Saintess was much as Duke knew her.
'No need to worry too much then.'
He had been concerned that the Saint Kingdom picked a fight earlier than in the original and the Saintess arrived sooner,
but seeing her state, the flow afterward likely wouldn't deviate much from the original.
Reaffirming why the Saint Kingdom sought the kingdom, Duke departed from the inn.
This was the day before the joint funeral.
This world had almost no entertainment.
More precisely, it had almost vanished from the Providence Kingdom.
Slave gladiator arenas spilling blood and groans: banned.
Public executions in the square surging adrenaline: abolished.
All traditional village games staking lives: prohibited.
The kind king was great, but his overprotection was the sole flaw.
Of course, he provided alternatives like dessert cafes and the national library, but they offered only mild serotonin.
People sometimes need dopamine and adrenaline, right?
In that sense, the joint funeral was, in a way, a festival for the citizens.
They could witness knights' marches and salutes unseen in daily life, basking in the nation's attention and stirred patriotism.
Of course, no madman would laugh and cheer at a funeral.
"Hey, we're gonna be late. Why so slow?"
"Got it. Coming."
"Ugh, look at the crowds. Hope they can see."
The streets were packed with citizens come to watch this joint funeral.
Even lords, nobles, and citizens from other territories flocked to see it.
The lineup of participants was extraordinary.
The kingdom's absolute sword, Duke.
Intelligence Agency Director, Sneria.
Penrir Honor Guard Captain, Peter.
Excluding the king, the nation's top powers were attending, plus the Saintess.
Whether to forge connections or not miss a rare experience.
The atmosphere felt more like a festival than a funeral.
Soon, 10 a.m. arrived as announced, and the lord entered the VIP seats in the plaza.
The joint funeral's first part was the major figures gathering in silence to exchange greetings.
No grand songs or verbose introductions.
The major figures entered with the lord's brief, restrained announcements.
As announced, Intelligence Director Sneria and Peter entered and took their seats; the Saintess also entered.
Through her veil, the Saintess's dim golden eyes scanned the attendees.
'Candle, candle, candle... The lord is torch-level. Perseverance Honor Guard Captain is a bonfire? Climbed even while granting graces? Interesting person.'
Then her gaze paused briefly on Director Sneria's head.
'Faint, but forming a halo. Impressive. To have that in a position that dirties the hands.'
Then, through the veil, the Saintess met Sneria's eyes.
Obsidian eyes and sun-like golden eyes locked.
The obsidian side lost interest first.
'Dead.'
Golden was pretty, but dimmed, no appeal.
Sneria found no value in those despairing eyes devoid of ambition, dreams, or desires.
Reading Sneria's thoughts from her demeanor, the Saintess twitched an eyebrow.
But she couldn't refute.
What her eyes held wasn't a brilliant sun, but a conflagration to burn all.
The Saintess plastered a false smile and sat.
With the Saintess seated,
it was time for the nation's second-in-command, attending as the king's proxy, to enter.
"The Guardian Duke enters."
No music during the gathering; amid silent nods, the black knight entered.
The black knight entered embodying intimidation.
All eyes stuck to him.
The Saintess was no exception.
'Hm. As expected, torch... Eh?'
Her gaze went to Duke's head.
Initially thought a torch.
But the flame's center had something odd for a torch.
For a moment, she mistook it for a black void sucking light, but realized it was a shadow.
Only then did she realize what draped behind Duke's head wasn't a torch.
'Solar eclipse...'
A solar eclipse.
A halo evoking that.
A halo of dharma she'd never seen.
She who'd never imagined a light stronger than her sister Rosalyn's faint halo.
Gazing at the halo behind Duke's head, the Saintess felt eye strain for the first time and furrowed her brow.
Even a sun eclipsed, even a metaphorical sun, was still a sun.
Staring long would hurt the eyes.
But she couldn't look away.
Enthralled, staring at the sun.
As if she'd never see it again otherwise.
And inside the helmet, Duke grimaced for another reason.
'Tch.'
Confirming the Saintess frowning at him through her veil.
'I've been slicing too many people.'
The way Saintess and nun viewed karma differed slightly from Rex's.
Rex saw only the net sum of karma and dharma, missing duality, but Saintess and nun saw only dharma or karma, catching duality.
For example, someone with 10 dharma and 10 karma.
Rex sees 0; Saintess/nun see +10/-10 respectively.
Ironically, unable to see karma, the Saintess deems low dharma as evil and shows boundless misanthropy;
unable to see dharma, the nun deems low karma as good and shows boundless trust.
Such a Saintess grimaced at him.
She who maintained poker face even against trashy Holy Knights!
He'd expected her not to view him favorably, but experiencing it felt unpleasant.
'Just how low is my dharma to make that face?'
Like she saw ashes?
'I've managed my karma reasonably.'
In her mind, he was probably a burning trash heap.
Duke felt a bit downcast.
His halo dimmed accordingly.
Now easier to view, the Saintess reset her expression and stared at Duke's halo.
'The books were true.'
Clambel wasn't senile; he saw correctly.
'A national ideology one can see and learn from.'
Perhaps that's what a state religion should be.
With such idle thoughts, the Saintess focused on the funeral.