The Saintess's Protection
The shocking news came without warning.
“I’m sorry. This is all my fault……”
The sudden, completely unexpected apology caught me off guard.
“Why are you apologizing all of a sudden……?”
I couldn’t begin to guess the reason. But I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
“……Your appointment as Honorary Monk. That was because of me.”
Lana revealed the truth herself.
“Ah.”
In that moment, everything clicked into place. I finally understood why I had been granted the title of Honorary Monk.
Everyone knew I lacked the qualifications. I had accepted the appointment without complaint since there was nothing inherently wrong with it, but the question had lingered in my mind. How on earth had someone like me been chosen? With my current reputation and conduct, it should have been impossible even if the heavens themselves turned upside down.
Yet……
If the Saintess intervened, that changes everything.
Within the Goddess Church, the Saintess was treated as the Goddess’s proxy. While her words weren’t exactly the Goddess’s own, they carried nearly the same weight. As I had said many times before, the Church valued doctrine above all else. And where did that doctrine come from? From the Goddess, of course. The Church’s teachings were essentially a record of the words the Goddess had spoken to her followers.
In other words, what the Church held most sacred was the Goddess’s will itself. So what about the words of the Saintess, who was regarded as the Goddess’s representative? If it was a request from the Saintess…… they would move heaven and earth to grant it. If that was what she desired, they could easily overlook the strict criteria for Honorary Monk and appoint someone entirely unqualified.
So that’s what happened.
I nodded slowly.
“It was you who arranged the appointment, Saintess.”
“Yes……”
Lana answered with a somewhat downcast expression.
“But why would you do something like that……?”
My question still hadn’t been fully answered. I now knew she was the cause, but I didn’t yet understand her reason. Honestly, it didn’t make sense. Why had Lana gone out of her way to make me an Honorary Monk?
After hearing my question, Lana spoke.
“Well…… the Prince and the young lord of Ebenros came to see you recently, didn’t they?”
“They did.”
“Their gazes toward you that day seemed…… unsettling. It might have been my imagination, but if it wasn’t, I worried you might end up in trouble……”
Lana offered a gentle smile, tinged with an uncharacteristic awkwardness.
“So I asked Anne for advice, and she said that if we appointed you as an Honorary Monk, there wouldn’t be anything to worry about……”
“……I see.”
At last, I understood the full picture. In short, my appointment as Honorary Monk was the result of Lana looking out for me. She had considered the possibility that Ernen and Sebastian might hold a grudge against me and had taken steps to protect me from them.
When I realized the truth, the feeling that welled up inside me was…… joy. After all, it meant Lana had been concerned about me and had gone out of her way to help. How could I not be happy? Truthfully, that realization brought me far more joy than the title itself.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head toward her.
“K-Kyle……?”
She looked slightly flustered, as if she hadn’t expected this reaction.
“There’s no need to apologize. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, I was able to avoid a great deal of trouble.”
Lana had acted on the mere possibility of danger, but that possibility had become reality. Ernen and Sebastian had tried to turn their blades against me. Their first attempt had been thwarted by using Bellard, yet they hadn’t given up. They had immediately begun preparing another plan, determined to drive me out of the Academy. If I hadn’t been appointed Honorary Monk, things would have become extremely troublesome. I would have had to live on constant alert, always watching my back. And even then, I probably wouldn’t have been able to completely evade their fangs. I would have been forced to struggle with everything I had.
But that future had vanished the moment I became an Honorary Monk. So Lana had no reason to feel sorry. If anything, I owed her a hundred thanks.
However……
“But……”
Lana didn’t seem to see it that way.
“Because of me, you’ve ended up drawing unnecessary attention……”
Ah. So that’s what she’s worried about.
I nodded inwardly. She wasn’t wrong. The appointment had brought me quite a bit of attention. No—considerable attention. And most of it was negative, as was only natural. A notorious good-for-nothing with no qualifications and nothing but bad rumors suddenly being named Honorary Monk, with no official reason given? No one would believe the appointment was legitimate. Most people would assume I had pulled some kind of strings.
If this had been limited to the Academy, it might have been manageable. Unfortunately, the news had spread across the entire continent. People who had never even heard of me before were now taking a negative interest because of this incident. It wasn’t exactly a good thing, to put it mildly.
Even so……
“You really don’t need to worry. The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.”
Where there are gains, there are losses, and vice versa. I had drawn negative attention, yes, but in exchange, I was no longer at risk of being expelled from the Academy. That alone was enough for me. Considering what lay ahead, I absolutely could not afford to be driven out. Becoming an Honorary Monk had effectively eliminated that possibility. One of my worries had disappeared. If the price was nothing more than people’s negative interest, I was more than willing to stand in the spotlight with a smile.
So I felt nothing but gratitude toward Lana. No—rather……
“If anything, I’m the one worried about you, Saintess.”
“What?”
Lana’s eyes widened.
“I’m afraid you may have overextended yourself because of me.”
After all, this appointment had forced something that should never have happened. Whenever something unnatural was made to occur, there were always consequences. The Saintess might be the Goddess’s proxy, but she was not the Goddess herself. She couldn’t freely manipulate the Church’s affairs according to her own will. Minor matters might be fine, but appointing an Honorary Monk was no small thing. Moreover……
“The Church of Lure will likely face criticism as well.”
The bigger problem was that this wouldn’t blow over smoothly. Appointing someone as blatantly unqualified as me without providing any explanation would naturally lead people to suspect corruption within the Church of Lure. While the Church’s reputation was strong enough that it wouldn’t suffer a fatal blow, its image would undoubtedly take a hit. Though I hated to put it this way, Lana had essentially harmed the Church for the sake of a personal favor. Knowing her, she wouldn’t take this lightly. She was probably already thinking she owed the Church a great debt.
“That’s fine.”
But Lana dismissed my concern in an instant.
“It’s a little embarrassing to say this myself, but the Saintess’s position isn’t so fragile that it would be shaken by something like this.”
As she spoke, her expression returned to its usual calm.
“And I don’t think things will escalate to the level you’re worried about.”
“……What do you mean?”
I looked at her, puzzled. Lana smiled gently, just as she always did.
“Because this matter will soon die down on its own.”
As it turned out, Lana was right. The Church of Lure’s prestige remained untarnished. The incident itself had quieted down far sooner than expected.
Of course, at first, people had their doubts. Some openly criticized the Church of Lure, demanding an explanation for the incomprehensible appointment. In response, the Church gave a single answer.
“Impossible.”
Naturally, the public’s reaction was unfavorable. Whispers spread that the Church must have committed some wrongdoing. However, that sentiment was overturned in an instant by the Church’s next announcement.
“There is a reason we cannot disclose it. However, there is no corruption in this appointment. We swear it upon the Goddess.”
The reason was clear. The Church of Lure had sworn upon the Goddess’s name. Priests who worshipped the Goddess and wielded her power could never speak falsehoods in her name. It was an absolute, unchanging principle. To do so would incur the Goddess’s wrath. If a priest swore falsely upon the Goddess’s name, they would immediately lose their holy power. That was why no priest of the Goddess Church would ever make such a vow in vain. If even ordinary priests upheld this rule, there was no way the Church itself would lie when making an official announcement in the Goddess’s name.
Thus, even though the questions remained unanswered, the once-hostile public opinion subsided in an instant. Just as Lana had said.