Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Connections and Bonds
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* * *
I had to meet Grimudo once again.
It was something that required mental preparation on my part as well.
Offering a prayer to the Lord, I steeled my resolve once more. This time, I had to set aside my resentment and hatred toward him and make a request.
“I shall do so soon.”
I drew the holy sign and knelt.
The one I knelt before was only one: my Lord.
“Until this body shatters, I shall obey.”
If the Lord commanded me to save the world, I would simply follow.
I didn’t know how a single human like me had come to bear such a heavy burden,
And honestly, I still didn’t know exactly what I needed to do, but the Lord’s will was actually not hard to understand.
“As I do what I can, the answer will naturally appear.”
What needed doing wasn’t important. Only what I could do mattered.
If I kept doing what I could do now, eventually I would face the future that He foresaw. That was the privilege of being His priest.
“Roca, stay here. I’m going on a long journey.”
“M-Master... Are you abandoning me?”
“No. I’m saying that because it’ll be a dangerous trip.”
Behind me, the Lord protected me.
The reason I survived to the end in Yurinelle’s party and stayed by their side wasn’t my own ability, but because the Lord had compensated for my shortcomings.
As long as the Lord was behind me, I feared not even the ancient demon king.
But Roca was different. No one protected this child.
I had a next life even if I died, but for Roca, life was only once.
Even if my life ended, I would ascend,
But even if the Lord took me, this child would simply die. I couldn’t take her to a dangerous place like Polaris Castle.
No, even the road to get there would be too much for the child.
“I’m going to the North Pole. I have to confirm with my own eyes what’s coming from there.”
“Saint, there’s no need for you to set out alone and lonely.”
The Ardein Princess smiled brightly.
That confident smile belonged to a completely different person from just a few days ago.
“After finishing things in the capital, I’ll go with you, Saint.”
“You, Princess?”
“You gave this Ardein, who should have rotted away, a new life. In this new life, as you said, I want to live helping others.”
“Actually, I’m setting out to meet the ancient demon king Grimudo.”
I was troubled. I could just trust in my Lord, pray, and walk ahead,
But that was only when I traveled alone.
“The ancient demon king? Truly... are you really going to seek out that legendary being in person? That’s reckless and dangerous.”
The princess was startled and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward her.
Roca’s gaze turned fierce. Her expression somehow soured too...
“Saint, for now, come to my family home. The house has declined greatly, but it still holds many things. It will surely be of help to you.”
The princess’s family home was the imperial palace...
I wanted to say I couldn’t impose like that, but suddenly a thought occurred to me.
Unknowingly, I looked toward the ceiling. Perhaps the princess meeting me was because the Lord desired this current situation? Perhaps He had led this woman here to make today’s meeting happen?
No one but Him could know His will, and I was no exception.
But the possibility was there.
“Master, you absolutely can’t go alone with that woman.”
Roca grabbed the hem of my pants tightly and whispered.
Was it my imagination? Her nails seemed a bit extended.
“If you’re really going, take this Roca with you too.”
This Roca too. The small matter of the Lord granting an apple had led to meeting Roca.
Then, the two women before me were ones the Lord had brought to me.
Perhaps from the moment the apple formed, or even before that day, He had been watching this very day.
I couldn’t take these two all the way to Grimudo, but maybe I needed them for the journey up to a certain point?
Or maybe they needed me. In any case, there was always purpose in the Lord’s acts.
“Alright, Roca. Let’s go together.”
If that was His will,
I would simply obey.
“Princess, is that alright?”
“Taking along just that one child is no problem.”
She smiled back. It seemed a bit awkward somewhere, but that was probably my imagination.
“Then let’s go, Saint. Right now I’m penniless with nothing to my name, but before long, I’ll repay the grace of everyone who helped me. The Lord who gave me this second life surely did so for that reason.”
“Ah, before we go!”
Suddenly, something came to mind, and I spoke up.
“Let’s stay one more day before departing. Before leaving, I have words for Mr. Rubelt and Ralph at the orphanage. Princess, will you come too?”
“I desperately want to give thanks, but right now I have nothing to repay their grace with. I want to visit them later when I have enough to properly repay.”
“I suppose.”
Come to think of it, the princess was still without proper clothes, wearing only an oversized coat much larger than her size. Our house had no suitable clothes for an adult woman, so she wore my T-shirt and pants, but it looked awkward. They didn’t fit to begin with, so they were baggy.
“Here, this was prepared as travel money on the way. It’s not much, but it’s enough to get equipment fitted and pack. Buy some warm clothes too, prepare properly, and come back. Spend one last night in this house and we’ll depart tomorrow.”
While we were gone, this place would be empty,
So I planned to tell Mr. Ralph to use it if needed.
Looking at the untended garden where I couldn’t even plant seeds and the reviving spring, I offered a short prayer and smiled faintly. The clinic was closing now, but there was a way to replace it.
“As long as this sanctuary’s candle burns, this place will remain a sanctuary, and that spring holy water. If patients come, tell them to come here, bask in the candlelight, and drink from the spring?”
“To say you’re leaving so suddenly... That’s truly regrettable. You don’t plan to return?”
“I don’t know. I simply live according to the Lord’s will.”
I also bid farewell to Mr. Rubelt and his young son.
I hoped it wasn’t a final goodbye, but right now, I couldn’t promise anything.
I still didn’t know what that threat from the North Pole was.
“Mr. Ralph, this house won’t be lived in anymore, and there are several unnecessary pieces of furniture and beds. If the orphanage needs them, take them.”
“Sell them and give the money to you, Priest! We know you’re not wealthy—how could we take those?”
“I simply eat and drink what the Lord provides.”
I just smiled. With Him behind me, that was enough.
“Roca, last question. Will you really follow me? I know you’ve lived a hard life until now, but this journey might be even harsher and more difficult than your past.”
“If I don’t follow you, Master...”
Roca lowered her head and murmured gloomily.
“Then you’ll abandon me here?”
“I’ll take you to my hometown village.”
My and Yurinelle’s hometown was Pumpkin Vine Village.
Yurinelle was embarrassed and hated mentioning it anywhere, but I always liked the name of my hometown. Pumpkins were one of my favorite crops—they killed weeds on their own and grew vigorously without care.
Though I left the village to bestow divinity on more people,
To help Yurinelle with her revenge,
And to live according to the Lord’s will, the beacon of the sanctuary I left behind and the reviving spring were surely still fulfilling their roles.
“They’re people who treated their neighbors warmly even after suffering great wounds. You could live there as a member of the village too.”
Bestowing divinity wasn’t for repayment. The divinity granted to me wasn’t mine to begin with—it was the Lord’s.
It simply had to be used according to His will through me.
That said, it wasn’t wrong that the villagers had greatly benefited from my grace.
If I asked them to accept this one child as a villager, they wouldn’t refuse.
“But that place has no Master.”
Roca, that young thing, lifted her head and stared straight at me.
“Master, wolves don’t run from their decisions. No matter what you say, I’ll follow you. Even if it means going to meet the ancient demon king.”
I realized that I was trusted so greatly by the Lord,
And by that small child too.
It was Roca’s resolve. A decision made by her own will, and by her faith in me.
“Alright, then let’s go. Together. With your strength, and my strength, we might face things that can’t be solved alone...”
Help was light. Connections between people.
From those connections and bonds, what the Lord desired to see was born.
“If not alone, then we can do even more.”
Of course, no matter what, I couldn’t let Roca face Grimudo.
At some point, I’d have to part with her—that would be for me to decide then.
* * *