The Neglected Church
“So… this is……” Sister Celine fought to keep the tremor from her voice as she pointed a slender finger at the building before them—a structure far better suited to the name of ruin or haunted house than church. “A church!”
And as always, Harnok’s voice rang out, hearty and thunderous. Hearing those words so clearly only drove home the fact that she had not misheard. Sister Celine realized that what she had only suspected had finally proven true. This… wretched… How could they build even a church just for show……!
The existence of a church itself was not strange. After all, this was nominally Holy Kingdom territory, and where a priest could be assigned, a church was required by law. Moreover, because paladins—who primarily judged criminals—and nuns—who focused on healing—maintained close ties with the people, churches were usually built in the heart of accessible villages or cities. Naturally, as a major institution of the Holy Kingdom, churches required regular maintenance. Therefore, the fact that such a church had been established in a place this far from the village—and that it looked more like a building possessed by evil spirits than any house of worship—made it painfully clear that those in charge had never intended to maintain it at all. It had been erected solely for appearances.
“Uuu……” Sister Celine’s silver-blue hair drooped as even the strength to sob left her. Objectively, the church was eerie. It seemed to have absorbed all the sinister aura of the surrounding trees and made it its own. She thought hard. Hiding behind Harnok’s waist with only her head peeking out was not strange behavior at all!!
But Harnok merely smiled at her—broadly and gently, though objectively it was nothing short of ferocious—and said, “Sister Celine, what are you doing! We must enter this church at once!”
“……Pardon? No, I……!”
Sister Celine’s face looked as though she had just received a revelation that the world would end tomorrow. Then she realized something important. If the world were ending, it would be an overwhelming force of nature beyond her power to stop. Therefore, being lightly hoisted by the barbarian who was grinning from ear to ear and carried dangling into the church was also something she could not avoid.
—Creaaak—.
The church door sounded like rotting timber screaming. It also perfectly expressed her feelings.
The interior was appalling. The long wooden pews lay scattered about as though no one had ever maintained the place, and the corners were thick with cobwebs. In several places the walls showed wood that had rotted and fallen away. The only remotely positive fact was that there was no dust. It was not an environment in which any sane person would choose to sleep.
Sister Celine shot the barbarian who was holding her aloft with a single hand a look that conveyed exactly that sentiment.
“How wonderful! Once one steps inside a building that holds the Lord’s will, does it not feel as warm and safe as being in His very embrace!”
……If a single glance could convey every intention, the people of the world would have no need for speech. Sister Celine forced the corners of her mouth, which had gone stiff, upward. She wanted to smile. Yet strangely, her eyes kept filling with tears. She answered Harnok in a lifeless voice.
“……Yes. It does.”
“There is plenty of space, so there will be more than enough room to sleep! Choose wherever you like, Sister!”
He was not wrong. Aside from a few scattered long pews, a statue depicting the Lord’s divinity, and the dais that supported it, the place was essentially empty. At that painfully accurate observation, Celine pressed a hand to her throbbing temple and asked, “Where do you intend to sleep, Harnok?”
“I shall offer the Lord my nightly prayer before I rest!”
Nightly prayer? At Harnok’s words, Celine suddenly remembered that she had not offered a proper prayer since being exiled here. Of course, the most important thing for a clergyman was deep faith, and there were situations in which one might skip prayer, but there was a vast difference between “cannot” and “will not.” Celine looked at Harnok with curious eyes.
“A prayer…… May I join you?”
There was no need to say that Harnok wore the largest smile he had shown since meeting her.
“Of course!”
And in the loudest, most cheerful tone yet.
Celine slowly turned her head toward the statue of the Lord. Though it was deep night, moonlight filtered in sporadically through the gaps in the dilapidated windows.
—Whoosh!
Mother!
As Sister Celine stepped toward the statue, the sudden sensation of the floor giving way beneath her made her body jerk upright. Only after her large eyes had fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings did she think to probe the floor with her foot. The floor had sunk. It was not deep enough to be called a pit, but the ground had clearly subsided.
W-what in the world……?
Unlike the walls, which were old enough to have holes, the floor was made of stone. When a sudden depression appeared in what had been a flat surface, Celine’s feet moved in confusion. What she could guess was that the depression was wider than its depth suggested.
“I must ask you to step aside, Sister! If you remain there, I cannot offer my prayer!”
“Eek?!”
The one who pulled the floundering Celine out of her confusion was Harnok’s gravelly voice. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then pointed with her index finger at the spot where she had been standing.
“H-here……?”
“Indeed!”
“Um…… D-do you pray here, Harnok?”
Celine tilted her head. Prayer was a universal ritual; it was normally offered directly before a statue or cross. Yet the place Harnok indicated was some distance from the statue.
“Indeed! So please step aside!”
As she moved slightly to the side, Celine’s lips parted. “But prayers are usually offered right in front of the statue……”
“Hmm! I used to do so as well, but there was a risk of damaging the statue, so I had no choice!”
“Pardon?”
Just what was he doing that could damage the statue……? The nun was still pondering the question when—
—BOOM—!
A shockwave shook the floor. It was no trick of the eyes or imagination. The floor was truly vibrating. Even in her shock, the nun could only stand dazed. Because the source of the vibration was—
“O Lord! This unworthy servant—!”
—BOOM—!
“Gives thanks once more for living another day by Your grace—!”
—BOOM—!
“And offers his gratitude—!”
Harnok was praying by throwing his own body against the floor. All prayer must be offered with the heart that throws one’s body down. Only with that level of resolve could one offer a sincere prayer to the Lord. That was only natural. Sister Celine smiled faintly. Yes, that’s right. So it’s only natural to pray by throwing one’s body like that. The doctrine says so.
Because it was natural, Sister Celine decided, at least for tonight, to stop thinking any further. Thus Sister Celine fell into a deep sleep called unconsciousness.
⸻!
A sound rang out. The resplendent golden bell produced a tone as brilliant as its color. Feeling as though even her soul were resonating, Celine stepped forward with a light heart. With every step, sunlight filtering through the stained glass caressed her. In that warmth, she savored the smoothness of the clean marble floor. Filled with joy, Celine called out loudly to the figure standing in the central hall of the church.
Your Holiness the Pope—!
Celine.
Your Holiness, have you also come to pray beneath the golden bell? The sound is so beautiful!
No.
Pardon?
Beautiful, you say? Can you not hear it? How can you call this sound beautiful?
At the Pope’s words, Celine rapidly blinked and focused on her ears.
⸻!
The sound rang out once more. Every time the clapper inside the golden bell moved, the sound raced wildly within. It crashed and collided inside, hurling itself outward. Collision. Pain. Suffering.
⸻!
It was a scream.
“Rise, Sister!”
Celine bolted upright. Cold sweat drenched her entire body. Panting and gasping for breath, the nun suddenly realized she was lying on one of the long pews and that a blanket had been draped over her. But she had no time to question it.
“Sister! Come to your senses at once!”
A beast-like roar burst from Harnok’s mouth.
“We are under attack!”