Chapter 121
Chapter 121
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Whispers of Holy War
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The hunting party had been a truly delightful time.
My favorite was bird meat, but we also hunted monsters that would attack even small humans depending on the situation, and I grew a bit more adept with my Divine Grace in the process.
'Of course, compared to faith education, just about anything would feel enjoyable.'
I stifled a small yawn, careful to avoid people's eyes.
Today was faith education day.
The theologian priest named Clemens, who had come from the west, had been standing on the podium and droning on for over an hour already.
The front row in the central worship hall of the grand Kalena Cathedral was occupied by me, Dietrich, Marc and Monica, and Armin from the west.
The direct descendants of both families took the very front row, while our house's collateral branches filled the seats right behind them.
I could feel Lavinia's head lolling this way and that from where she sat behind us.
'Faith education isn't limited to a select few like at home—anyone who wants to can attend, and it's supposed to be fair that way.'
That was why commoner children were packed in tightly behind the noble kids in the front.
I leaned back slightly and whispered toward Lavinia.
"Lavinia, you can't sleep."
"Ack! I'm not sleeping, sis."
"You looked about ready to keel over. If you do that in front of the commoners, Aunt won't let it slide."
Only after mentioning her terrifying mother did Lavinia finally straighten up properly.
Lucas, sitting beside her, shook his head in exasperation and looked away from his embarrassing little sister.
After waking Lavinia, I nudged the dozing Dietrich.
But he only cracked his eyes open for a moment before losing consciousness again.
The chronic bottom-feeders who'd been dead last since childhood were still the same as ever...
It made me reflect on myself a little...
Lifting my gaze with a newfound humility, I spotted the theologian priest raising his voice from the high podium.
"Our god is merciful, yet at the same time as fierce as a storm. He shows no forgiveness to those without faith or who are cruel."
I can't sleep, Mariella Kalenberg!
No matter how monotonously his voice droned on in the same tone!
No matter how much the sermon felt like a sleeping pill!
"Even now, in the Tree Sea, horrific monsters and the even more horrific heretics who command them live and breathe."
Bringing up the Tree Sea out of nowhere like this?
Clemens scanned the people seated before him with an expression brimming with heightened emotion.
The vast majority filling the central worship hall were those affiliated with our north.
And that meant almost no one here hadn't lost family in the wars against heretics and monsters.
If not family, then friends; if not friends, then neighbors they'd nodded to in passing.
Among such people, anger toward the monsters and heretics began to simmer slowly.
"Now that the Holy War has long ended and those wicked beings seek to rise again, we must all deeply consider what our god desires."
I frowned as I looked up at Clemens.
'That sounds exactly like... a call to start another war.'
After finishing his inflammatory words, Clemens clasped his hands in prayer with a feigned look of benevolence.
"The path to your afterlife lies in living a life that enacts the will of god."
As the priest stepped back, beautiful singing began to echo from the choir standing behind him.
The Kalena Cathedral had its own choir, but those singing today had all been brought directly from the Holy King's Court.
The choir from the church's headquarters sang with exceptional beauty.
Voices like tinkling jade filled the vast central worship hall.
I watched that holy spectacle with somewhat uneasy eyes.
'If war breaks out again, Dad will be in danger.'
Not just Dad—Erich, who'd only just come of age, would get tangled up in it somehow too.
Why bring up heretics from the west at this exact moment?
As I eyed the priest suspiciously, the choir's song gradually faded.
The first to stand was Josephine.
Her face seemed a bit tense.
"Armin."
"Yes, sister."
"I have words to exchange with the priests of Kalena Cathedral, so I'll leave guiding everyone to the scriptorium to you."
"Don't worry."
We had to move to the scriptorium together and copy scriptures right after hearing the priest's sermon?
'Lord...'
It really did instill faith, that much was certain.
Me calling on god inwardly was proof enough.
"Then."
Josephine gave us a quick nod before turning and heading toward the group of priests waiting for her.
I watched her retreating figure closely.
Josephine's posture, which had bothered me during the hunting party, caught my eye again.
'Her back really is curved.'
Her left shoulder rode higher, while the right sagged lower—likely due to spinal curvature.
Scoliosis, as it was called.
It didn't seem to hinder daily life much, but when she stood and walked, the misalignment was obvious.
'Not just Josephine.'
Most of the priests from the west had uneven shoulder lines like that too.
To varying degrees.
'And Armin too.'
I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Armin walking ahead toward the scriptorium.
It wasn't as pronounced as with Josephine or the other theologians, but Armin's upper body was subtly twisted out of alignment.
Others might not notice, but someone like me—who'd handled multiple clients seeking exercise therapy for scoliosis correction—could spot it easily.
Armin was still so young...
'What's that about?'
Armin, walking ahead, had subtly lifted onto his tiptoes next to Monica.
He'd even tilted his chin up a bit.
Narrowing my eyes, I gauged their height difference by eye.
Being a year younger, Armin was a bit shorter than Monica, and it seemed to bother him.
I swallowed a laugh threatening to burst out and pretended not to notice Armin's desperate efforts.
After entrusting the children to Armin, Josephine approached Cardinal Jessica, who sat nearby.
The woman, who had been beaming with delight while patting Clemens's shoulder, turned to Josephine.
Her wrinkled face curved into an elegant smile.
"Cardinal Josephine."
"It's been a while, Cardinal Jessica."
"Indeed. Hearing the western theologian priests' faith education after so long fills me anew with faith."
"Is that so?"
Josephine dropped the polite smile she'd worn on her face.
"I hadn't realized Cardinal Jessica's faction had infiltrated the theologian priests as well."
Clemens, standing beside them, flinched in surprise and averted his gaze from Josephine.
The western theologian priests were under the direct command of the Holy King, the western duke.
Only those with the firmest faith and vastest knowledge were selected to stand by the western duke's side.
Clemens was particularly brilliant and capable even among them.
'To think even he was taking orders from Jessica.'
Jessica, leader of the largest faction opposing the Holy King, had deep ties not only to the north but to the south as well.
More precisely, she was one of those who had forged connections to the southern duke family through the north's Dominic.
"Faction? We're all brothers and sisters—why speak such divisive words?"
"Have you forgotten His Holiness the Holy King's words?"
"The memory fades with age."
"Don't play coy. His Holiness clearly stated there would be no declaration of Holy War."
"Did he?"
"You know His Holiness's will, yet you send Priest Clemens to preach as if foreshadowing a Holy War. Are you raising a banner of rebellion against His Holiness's decision?"
This was different from the last Holy War.
Back then, the west had joined the south's call to war willingly, harboring their own ambitions to expand church influence.
No one had anticipated that a faction backed by the south would grow so strong within the Holy King's Court.
The church should remain a tool of the western duke family, nothing more.
Yet priests within it had grown their own power independently, engaging in politics and dealings with other duke families—and now they were the ones pushing for Holy War.
Josephine had no intention of ceding control of the church to people like Jessica.
And for that, a Holy War must never happen.
"That's what I want to ask you, Cardinal Josephine."
"What do you mean?"
"Is His Holiness truly planning to turn his back on the Petrzen Duke family like this?"
It was an overt threat.
Jessica rose slowly from her seat and approached Josephine step by deliberate step.