Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Each Other's Shadow
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"Hm."
The debate had ended, and I left the hall without the slightest hesitation.
It was the complete opposite of when I entered.
No one hurled jeers at me or threw trash.
They simply stared blankly, as if the shock hadn't worn off yet.
After I demonstrated Holy Power, there was really no need for further debate. They couldn't muster any counterarguments.
The god they believed in and followed had clearly chosen me, leaving them utterly speechless, like bees stung by honey.
Opposing me meant opposing their own god, after all.
It was wiser for them to keep their mouths shut.
If they blabbered nonsense now in an attempt to salvage the situation, they might say something irreversible later.
'Boring.'
In the end, it fizzled out so anticlimactically. I'd hoped for some fresh remarks or juicy opinions ripe for mockery.
The conclusion wouldn't come immediately, but the atmosphere made it obvious.
The Griffin Kingdom would have no choice but to accept me in the end.
"Kyah, you crushed them!"
"You were awesome."
Back in the waiting room, Pindenai and Deia greeted me with the same grins. They extended their hands for a high-five, but I brushed past them and sat in my chair.
"Hoo."
As I exhaled and gathered my mana, Pindenai and Deia awkwardly high-fived each other with their still-outstretched hands.
I had no time to mind them right now. The Holy Power rampaging inside me required me to reestablish my mana once.
[Groan.]
The Black Necromancer stayed at a distance, watching me worriedly without approaching, while Deia and Pindenai seemed to realize something was wrong.
"What's wrong? Why's he like this?"
"Did real divine judgment come down on the boss? For using a god's name in vain?"
"Don't overreact."
Black magic was often seen as the antithesis of Holy Power, but that wasn't entirely accurate.
It was simply one branch of magical study. The church rejected it because it dealt with souls and corpses.
Black mages weren't inherently incompatible with Holy Power.
So the reason Holy Power was raging inside me now had nothing to do with being a black mage.
'I drank in raw Holy Power.'
The real reason I'd sent Aria and Pindenai to retrieve the Holy Grail.
I'd used it to exorcise the Griffin Kingdom's evil ghosts, but its true purpose was to convince the masses.
No matter how much proof of my accomplishments I showed or how eloquently I spoke the truth, they wouldn't believe me due to the deep-rooted hatred from a long history.
So I had to make them believe.
'Just holding the Holy Grail allowed Deia to use Holy Power.'
Pouring wine into the grail turned it into holy water, which granted temporary Holy Power when drunk.
But using it by directly taking the grail's Holy Power into one's body caused severe side effects.
'Can't use it often.'
My breathing finally stabilized with effort.
Pindenai wiped the cold sweat from my brow with a handkerchief, acting every bit the maid.
"I'm good now."
"As if. Opportunities like this don't come often."
I told her it was fine, but she kept wiping my sweat and fetched a water bottle.
As I drank and cleared my insides, a knock came from outside.
Deia opened the door, then gasped and whipped her gaze toward me.
I twisted my waist to avert my eyes, and there stood the silver-haired Saintess entering calmly.
"What."
Pindenai blocked her path immediately.
Even with Pindenai's vibe—like she'd fetch an axe at the slightest provocation—the Saintess didn't flinch.
"I'd like a brief word with the Necromancer."
Her unexpectedly polite demeanor, coupled with directly acknowledging my title as Necromancer, made Pindenai glance at me for approval.
I nodded it was fine, and Deia and Pindenai stepped out on their own.
"Hey! Hey! Get lost!"
"Ah, scram! You old perfumed geezers."
Apparently, bishops had followed the Saintess and stood outside the door, but the two shooed them away like flies, and the door shut.
Thud.
The door closed with a surprisingly heavy sound.
Lucia slowly dragged a chair over and sat gracefully across from me.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"You're Mercy's extension."
"Eek! Then speak formally like you did back then."
Perhaps thinking the same, Lucia's expression twisted slightly. But she quickly cleared her throat and composed herself.
"Fine. Straight to the point. How did you use Holy Power?"
"I told you. God chose me."
"Really..."
Lucia glared at me venomously, then stood and placed her hand on my shoulder.
I wondered what she was doing, but the lingering Holy Power inside me flowed naturally into her, like meat stuck to bone being pulled free.
"Holy Power isn't always benevolent. The authority granted by god comes with equal responsibility."
"Hm."
Lucia instantly saw I hadn't been chosen by god.
She sat back down, sighed, and her eyes held a strange emotion.
"You succeeded. I was curious how you'd convince the masses, but I didn't expect you'd shove that role onto us."
"The church excels at that, so I left it to you. You always weave things into 'god's will,' don't you?"
"Urgh."
Twisting everything into god's will was their specialty, no matter how stubbornly. Lucia didn't deny it, just glanced at me sidelong.
Her gaze held pity more than hostility, so I asked frankly.
"Don't you hate me?"
I'd denied the foundation of their faith and threatened her position as Saintess.
I figured she might nitpick and threaten me with Holy Power, and it wouldn't be strange.
Lucia's shoulders slumped as she exhaled.
"Honestly, your methods aren't praiseworthy... but I agree the Griffin Kingdom needs you."
No one fought on the front lines against anomalies like the Saintess.
She knew better than anyone how vulnerable the Griffin Kingdom was to evil spirits and how their influence was growing.
"Incidents from awakened wraiths are worsening. The ignorant Griffin Kingdom needs to prepare against evil spirits as soon as possible."
"Unexpected."
I voiced my honest impression, and Lucia tilted her head in turn.
"Pardon?"
"I didn't expect you'd affirm me so readily. Didn't you say in the debate that the citizens couldn't accept me?"
"If I don't stand with the masses, they have nowhere to turn."
"..."
"Don't hate their ignorance too much."
Her unexpected response left me momentarily speechless.
I'd never imagined the Saintess saying something like that. But with a faint smile, she continued.
"Don't misunderstand—I don't hate the masses. Above all, I love them."
Right.
That's why she hopes they stay ignorant.
Knowing too much prevents happiness. Knowledge opens the mind, sometimes forcing unwanted responsibilities.
Like the current Saintess.
"Because I love them, I hope they never see the continent's many abysses."
Lucia's gaze dropped bitterly to the floor. But only briefly—she lifted her head and pressed on.
"Let me make this clear. The church will likely acknowledge you."
"Yeah, probably."
They'd have no choice but to accept my use of Holy Power. Even if it was a one-time fluke via the holy relic Holy Grail.
I was confident they'd never find out.
"As I said, your methods aren't welcome. Still, since we need you, I'll take a supportive stance."
Her endorsement as a fellow Holy Power user would carry huge persuasive weight.
"But even believers serving the same god have differing ideologies, convictions, and faiths."
"..."
"What I'm saying is, the radicals will act... no, they definitely will."
"Yeah, probably."
They'd label me a heretic, mocker of god, fraud—whatever suited them—and come at me aggressively.
The Griffin Kingdom would face unprecedented chaos for a while.
Conflict between believers and non-believers.
Even among believers, further divisions.
And at the center of it all: me.
"Growing pains."
I dismissed the chaos in one phrase, and though the Saintess looked displeased, she didn't refute it.
"Speaking of which, wasn't that too extreme?"
"..."
"Necessary or not, the citizens are shocked and confused. With no clear answers, they'll claw at each other seeking them."
Lucia swept back her hair, already fretting.
"We barely have time dealing with evil spirit anomalies. Mediating citizen unrest on top..."
She shook her head dizzily, but I replied calmly.
"You're misunderstanding something."
"...Pardon?"
"That's your job."
The Saintess role wasn't for show. She was the face for continental chaos and citizen peace, wasn't she?
"I know that."
Did my words sound like scolding her for whining? I softened a bit.
"Evil spirit incidents were never your responsibility to begin with. Your role was using Holy Power to annihilate them."
"Uh... y-yeah."
Weak evil spirits vanished on contact with Holy Power. True natural enemy.
But was that truly the right solution?
"Evil spirits were once people, too."
"..."
I laid bare the truth she'd averted her eyes from, and the Saintess clamped her mouth shut.
She opened her mouth to say she knew, but no words came. Even knowing, all she could do was forced annihilation.
"Why is it? Holy Power heals and comforts the living. Yet so hostile to the dead."
"Th-that's..."
I took over from Lucia's stammering.
"Because it's being misused."
This was a setting absent even from the game. Purely my insight from living in this world.
"Holy Power is for the living, not the dead."
"..."
"Necessary or not, it's been horribly misused until now."
"Then what about evil spirits? The dead?"
"Isn't that why I'm here?"
I met Lucia's blue eyes squarely.
Her sacred silver hair and clear sapphire eyes suited the name Saintess perfectly.
"Necromancer. I comfort the dead."
"..."
"I think I'm walking a path similar to yours, Saintess."
The Saintess comforts the living, gives them hope, bolsters their courage to move forward.
"Saintess Lucia, clasp your hands for the living. Pray to your god."
I listen to the dead's tales. I give them that final push to lay everything down and close their eyes.
"I'll weep for the wraiths."
I hear their stories, resolve their grudges and injustices. If an evil spirit crosses life and death to harm the living, I ensure it pays the price.
Lucia chuckled at my words.
"You're right. In the end, we're doing the same work."
Just for different targets.