Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: New Miracle
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After approaching me, Roca regained her confidence.
Though it came with the condition of being with me, she now went to the market steadily. She even told me what she wanted to eat and picked out clothes she wanted to buy and wear.
She was still afraid of anyone other than me,
but if she grabbed the hem of my clothes, she wouldn't run away even if she couldn't meet my eyes.
"I'm yours, Master."
It was troublesome that she would come claim my lap whenever I sat down,
but it seemed like it was finally time to start educating Roca.
'It's a process anyone must go through if they want to live as a person.'
Education is useless for someone who thinks of herself as a beast.
I knew that, so I'd simply watched over her until now, but if she wanted to live as a person.
If she wanted to live as a member of this society, there were things she rightfully needed to learn.
Among them, reading and writing were the most basic.
"Hmm..."
There was a time when I thought the same.
"Roca, you're really smart..."
She shook her head vigorously from side to side. Less than an hour after pulling out a book, Roca had already grown fed up. Her face was pale. She would do it if I told her to, but forcing her to do something she hated made burning the slave contract pointless.
"It looks like you don't want to write in a place like this."
"You're... not disappointed, right?"
"Of course not, but you still need to learn to read and write. Letters are the key to knowledge. Without knowing letters, you can't know knowledge, and without knowledge, your thinking stays narrow."
I reached out to the fidgeting girl who was anxiously watching my expression.
Only after I stroked her did she finally relax. What a cute creature.
"Master, are you going to abandon me?"
"When you want to leave me."
"Then you'll keep me with you forever."
Her tail stood straight up. She seemed pleased for some reason.
"Then it doesn't matter. I'll always be by Master's side. If there's a letter I don't know, I can just ask Master."
"Hmm. I get that you don't want to learn to read and write."
I wanted her to learn letters, but she hated it. I could force her, but Roca had lived without freedom.
Beastkin grew faster than humans, and her childhood wouldn't last much longer.
It was my duty to let her spend whatever remained of her youth freely and enjoyably.
"Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else is wrong, but we can't both be right."
So what to do.
What to do? Pray.
"But even if I don't know the answer, the Lord does."
My Lord. Is this the third time?
For the third time in my life, I seek a miracle for my own selfish desire.
Not as a priest ordained by God,
not as a chosen follower of Yours,
but simply as one human, Kyle, I offer this prayer.
Even if You do not grant this small wish of mine, I am Your servant.
Your follower, and a faithful saint.
I know life is a chain of suffering, and misfortune visits everyone.
But this child has lived a pitiful and painful life. May I ask for a small recompense for that life?
This foolish servant humbly asks.
Feeling the warm body heat of Roca on my lap, I drifted off to sleep.
As I finished the prayer murmured in my heart, my eyes pleasantly closed.
Ah, yes. The One I serve is calling me.
When I opened my eyes again,
many large and small eyes were gazing at me.
*****
A place with no sky, no earth.
A void where even dream and reality blurred together.
The tree stretched larger than any I'd ever seen. Eyes on every branch turned toward me all at once. On the massive trunk of the tree, an eye far larger than my body blinked open.
"Long time no see, Angel."
But there was no need to fear its appearance.
This one served the same being as I did.
My god does not need human faith, and naturally, the angels in His service are the same.
With no reason to appear in a beautiful form pleasing to human tastes, it simply manifested in its primal shape.
—Apostle. The Lord has heard your prayer. And commanded me.
The angel spoke. I smiled upon hearing its words.
The Lord had granted my prayer once more. I could only give thanks, and more thanks.
—Lend power in the name of a miracle.
"May I ask what miracle it is?"
—Offer feats. Dedicate life.
Then, like a sprout on a sapling, new possibilities shall bloom.
What existed only as potential shall stretch into new branches.
The Lineage Sapling shall be with you.
Those who would use the sapling must have your permission.
Ah, my parent beyond the world.
I am simply awestruck by Your grace.
As I closed my eyes in prayer, the angel spoke.
—Apostle. The Lineage Sapling is a miracle that ignores causality. Do not abuse this miracle that brings results without cause.
"I didn't ask for such a dangerous miracle..."
—The Lord has His will in granting you this miracle, so how much and how you use it is up to you, the apostle.
Its warning was clear, something I could not ignore.
Even when receiving miracles I considered among the strongest, like the Star Dream Observatory or the Milky Way Blooming Night, the angel had never warned against abuse.
—However, if used too often, the results will not always work properly in your world. It is too powerful a miracle for the earthly realm.
"I shall keep the Lord's will in mind."
As I offered a prayer of thanks to the Lord,
the angel vanished, and I awoke from the dream.
Looking at Roca asleep using my lap as a pillow, I chuckled.
The Lord's will was something even I couldn't fully understand. What a person can do is simply live the present to the best of their ability.
Lineage Sapling. The Lord's answer to my request.
The angel said not to abuse this new miracle, but I saw it differently. The Lord doesn't grant miracles that won't be used.
He granted it because He wished for me to use it, didn't He?
Of course, I must avoid abusing it beyond proper bounds.
'I don't know why He gave me this miracle after parting with Yurinel.'
While analyzing the new miracle dwelling within me, Yurinel suddenly came to mind.
Along with Pannel and Lucia. This miracle seemed more suited to those three than Roca.
It was a miracle that gave more to those who had already accomplished much.
I could understand the angel's concern; it was mysteriously powerful.
'I hope they're all doing well.'
Yurinel and her companions were probably enjoying adventures diligently even now.
They were all exceptional and remarkable talents.
'Above all, the Saintess is with them.'
Having recruited someone even greater than me, chosen proxy of the goddess, into the party,
those already amazing people were probably soaring by now.
'I don't need to give them more blessings.'
Even without blessings from someone like me,
they were people who would manage fine on their own.
Of course. They were the heroes leading this world.
So I should focus on the people right in front of me.
"May hope be with you."
I tapped Roca's forehead with my finger.
Until the day I withdraw my blessing, the Lord's protection will follow this child.
Until she grows to the point where such protection is unnecessary, the Lord will watch over you.
*****
"Huh, the candle flame's gotten weaker."
Deep in the mountains, back at their hideout, Pannel looked puzzled.
The momentum of the sanctuary's candle flame, which always emitted a soft glow, had suddenly died down.
"This might go out at this rate?"
"Kyle left, so it's only natural."
"Hmm... Well, nothing to be done. We were prepared for it."
Pannel yawned in response.
"He had skills and was decent-looking, but he didn't match our level anyway."
The Citadel Republic, an independent state in the southeast of the empire.
It hadn't been long since it became a republic instead of a kingdom.
Yurinel, who knew well why Pannel disliked commoners, said nothing. She knew she herself had been ignored by him before receiving her title.
"The Saintess will arrive in a few days anyway, so we can endure this much of a gap."
Lucia replied, touching the candle flame.
Even as the fire directly touched her skin, it didn't burn; instead, a wound burned away and vanished. Unrealistic, but now familiar.
"What wound?"
"I have multiple weapons. I nicked myself sharpening a dagger."
It was coated with deadly poison, but she didn't need an antidote.
The sanctuary's flame subdued even the poison trying to spread through her body. Minor, but a miracle nonetheless.
The crystallization of mysteries granted by god and proxied by the priest. Just a single candle flame, yet it held meaning beyond appearances.
Whoosh.
That the candle flame didn't quietly burn down but merely flickered slightly
meant the time of the miracle was ending. The blessing was fading, leaving only its afterglow to light the wick. Once the last remnant vanished, the miracle would become mere illusion and disappear.
"Yeah, with that Saintess coming."
Yurinel, who had little interest in the candle, replied.
When she was chosen by the Triad Faith, the Saintess of the Nemi Church had still been young and under strict secrecy.
They had never even met face-to-face, but just hearing "Saintess" inspired trust.
Whether by ability or authority,
having the Saintess join the party was a good thing. Something like the candle flame dying out was trivial by comparison.
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