Chapter 89
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Oracle and the Holy Relic
‘They got here in just two days.’
Rachel blinked at the grand temple before her eyes. It was a distance she had planned for at least four days.
Even after boosting the horses’ energy with divine power and urging on the knight order, this was an unbelievable situation.
“How did this happen?”
“We took the Path of Light.”
“Pardon?”
“Kudas has the Path of Light. When seven or more priests bearing divine power gather on this path and channel their divine power, the path activates.”
“Does activating the path make travel faster?”
“Something like that. A flow of divinity forms. It’s akin to how a ship moves faster by riding the current even with the same rowing—priests traveling the Path of Light increase their speed.”
Rachel nodded.
‘As expected of a world where gods exist. That must be why the Silver Knight Order handles tasks so swiftly, by shortening travel times.’
There was a limit of seven people, yet it was still remarkable.
Thanks to the Path of Light, the entry procedures into Sios territory were straightforward. The church had issued a summons order, so the inspections ended with simple questions and answers.
Once inside the grand temple grounds, Enoch disbanded the Silver Knight Order.
“We’ll meet at the temple. Brother.”
He was a superior in the royal castle, but here in the temple, Enoch’s title reverted to brother.
After entering the grand temple and waiting in the reception room, a regular priest approached Enoch and Rachel.
“Are you Rachel?”
“Yes.”
“Please follow me inside.”
Rachel and Enoch trailed behind the regular priest. Even after reaching the grand temple, they still had no idea why they had been summoned.
‘Is it because the diamond was too expensive? Did I just get promoted to temple VIP?’
“We’ve arrived.”
She had expected a prayer room, but they were led into a circular auditorium. At the center was a stage, with all the seats arranged in tiered rows curving round toward the middle.
“This is the grand conference hall of the grand temple.”
“Yes.”
All were equal under god, so priests’ meetings were held at round tables. However, she recalled reading in a book that ‘when the grand temple holds meetings with large numbers of attendees, they use this hall designed like a circular theater.’
Rachel looked around the conference hall. In the seats opposite were familiar faces—Priestess Peace and Clero priest. There were far more unknown priests, most of them elderly with pale hair.
‘They must all be high-ranking clergy. Am I the only lay believer here?’
Rachel’s stomach was already starting to ache.
‘Surely no one’s going to focus their attention on me, right?’
Even after Enoch and Rachel entered, priests continued to file in.
The number reached about fifty. Once the seats were more than half full, the open doors closed with a heavy thud.
A silver-haired elder wearing a mitre and clad in white silk vestments walked to the center.
Behind him came a priest carrying an object covered in black cloth.
“Is that His Holiness the Pope?”
At Rachel’s whisper, Enoch nodded.
All the faithful paid their respects to the pope as he took his position.
‘The atmosphere is too solemn.’
“We shall pray to Lux.”
‘So suddenly?’
At the pope’s words, everyone closed their eyes. Flustered, Rachel glanced around. With everyone’s eyes shut, no one called her out on it.
The prayer ended, and the pope opened his eyes. Rachel, who had kept hers open, flinched as their gazes seemed to meet.
“You must all have questions about this sudden gathering.”
Rachel had half-expected bible readings or hymns, but unlike her worries, the pope appeared ready to get straight to the point.
“An oracle has descended.”
“An oracle?”
“Another one since the last?”
The priests murmured in low voices.
“First, there is something I must convey. A few days ago, a sister donated a statue carved from a gemstone.”
‘Why bring up my story?’
The priests were puzzled as to why the pope would mention such a thing before sharing the oracle.
“Following procedure, it was offered to the god, and at that moment, three archpriests received oracles.”
“Three at the same time?” came a voice. Rachel tilted her head.
‘Is that unusual?’
Just then, as if reading her thoughts, Enoch leaned slightly toward her.
“Oracles typically descend on only one archpriest. The recipient shares it, and they interpret it here in the conference hall.”
Thanks to Enoch’s whisper, Rachel’s doubts cleared.
“I shall relay the words of the god.”
The pope closed his eyes. The moment he spoke again, Rachel was startled.
“A precious gift I have received, and thus I respond in kind. Let this become my symbol, infused with my power.”
The elderly man’s raspy voice shifted mid-sentence into that of a young woman.
His original tone had felt like an old man forcing his voice, while the oracle’s was clear and pure, like glass beads rolling.
“The god responded?”
At the pope’s gesture, the waiting priest removed the black cloth. Rachel’s eyes stung, and she squeezed them shut. She wasn’t alone—everyone in the conference hall closed their eyes or shielded them.
“What is that?”
“I sense powerful divinity!”
Rachel narrowed her eyes. The priest covered the statue again, and only then could she fully open hers.
“What in the world is it?”
“A new holy relic. The raw material appeared to be an ordinary mineral, but after the oracle descended, it transformed into a relic emitting light and divinity.”
“A miracle!”
“Indeed.”
Yet the miracle did not end there.
Rachel pulled out a small pouch. Inside were pink diamond fragments.
The raw stone had been so large that even the scraps from carving the statue were sizable. Naturally valuable, she had kept them without forgetting.
She had planned to mine more diamonds, hire a jeweler, and put them into circulation, but when Enoch visited the mansion, he had pointed to the gems, saying he sensed strong divine power.
‘I brought them along to ask the reason—surely not?’
“Sister, what is that? I sense strong divine power.”
The priest seated beside her asked.
“A gem infused with divine power.”
“That makes sense if Brother Enoch is involved.”
The priest glanced at Enoch beside Rachel and lost interest. He seemed to assume Enoch had infused the gem with divine power.
In any case, Rachel now understood why the gem emanated divine power.
‘The one Lux chose as a symbol wasn’t the statue—it was the pink diamond.’
Rachel looked at the gems in her pouch. Fortunately, these did not glow.
They sparkled brilliantly under light, but that was all. Being the largest piece, the statue must have been displaying such an intense presence.
‘Any pink diamonds mined from now on will be the same, I suppose?’
Diamonds had existed before. With their high refractive index and reflectivity producing unique brilliance, and their hardness besides, they were treated as top-tier gems.
Not every diamond would gain divine power. Rachel was certain it would only infuse the pink diamonds.
‘The name “pink diamond” will spread from now on.’
Unlike on Earth, in Kudas, colored fancy diamonds were regarded as the lowest quality among diamonds.
The one who changed that perception was Paris Emporus. He had presented a brooch and jewelry made from pink diamonds to the queen consort of the previous era, pursuing a high-end strategy.
Afterward, he promoted them as gems resembling spring flowers, with the slogan that they were rarer than colorless diamonds, leading the fancy diamond trend.
‘That was the story of the previous round, though.’
In this round, Rachel planned to lead the pink diamond fashion herself.
A well-cut high-quality colorless diamond produced rainbow hues—that was a diamond’s greatest appeal.
But fancy diamonds, with proper cutting and polishing, could display beauty no less stunning.
The diamonds from the Fern mine were of exceptional quality, and Rachel was confident she could make them popular.
Gifting cufflinks or sword ornaments made from pink diamonds to Carion and Enoch would yield tremendous promotional effects.
‘And now they’re even infused with divine power!’
They would sell without question.
The Black Sorcerer’s misdeeds had now surfaced. Nobles wary of curses would scramble for pink diamonds.
‘It resolved itself like this?’
The church was still gathering scarce manpower to dispatch to noble households on a regular basis. All to search for curse mediums.
Research into curse-weakening items, started even before capturing Paris Emporus, had seen no progress.
They had sold large quantities of holy water as a substitute, but holy water had the drawback of being consumable.
Nor could the church afford to buy up expensive gems, but with the pink diamond mine now belonging to Rachel, the situation had changed.
There was no need to have priests infuse gems with divine power—they could simply process and sell them as is.
‘All I need are skilled jewelers. Leave distribution to the temple.’
They would have to share profits with the temple, but the benefits outweighed that. Selling through the temple would boost product trust thanks to its reputation, with no risk of payment issues.
On the church side, they could redirect the priests dispatched to noble houses toward preparations and searches against the Black Sorcerer, proportional to gem sales.
But to make that happen, they first needed to confirm whether every pink diamond truly held divine power.
“Enoch.”
“Yes.”
“There’s something I’d like to verify. Would you accompany me to the Fern mine?”
“With pleasure.”
He didn’t ask what it was. His attitude showed complete trust in Rachel.
“I’ll explain the details after we leave here.”
“Yes. And please speak casually.”
“No, not with so many priests around.”
“This isn’t the royal castle, is it? Here, I’m just one priest among many.”
Rachel couldn’t agree with that. Everyone gathered in this conference hall—except her—was an archpriest, a high holy knight, or the pope himself.
Among them, Enoch was a figure as renowned as those called heroes’ reincarnations.
“Enoch, you underestimate yourself far too much.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
“That’s fine.”
Rachel blinked at Enoch’s gentle smile.
“Even if I don’t know myself well, Rachel knows me well enough.”
‘What does that mean?’
Rachel had no idea how to interpret it. A question appeared on her face, but Enoch merely showed a smile as beautiful as a flower.
“Seems they’re calling for Rachel.”
“Pardon?”
While she had been whispering with Enoch, surrounding gazes had turned her way. Rachel froze in panic.
‘Why? Why is everyone suddenly looking at me? Was my voice too loud?’
“Sister, over here.”
Tense and rigid, Rachel descended to the center. The pope took her hand with a kindly smile.
“On behalf of the church, I convey our gratitude, sister. With the worshippers of evil now revealing themselves, the addition of a holy relic must surely be fate.”
“Yes.”
“We shall not forget Sister Rachel’s efforts.”
“Yes.”
Rachel responded almost mechanically. Too nervous, she could barely comprehend the pope’s words.
“Is there any wish you desire?”
“Please grant me retirement!”
Silence fell in an instant. Only after blurting it out did Rachel realize what she had said.