Chapter 10 - This, too, must be the will of the heavens (5)
This, too, must be the will of the heavens (5)
Translator : Elizabeth
Lumina Evangeline, of the Holy Knights directly under the St. Haven Papal State.
Although she was low-ranking, her skills were by no means inferior even when compared to any mid-ranking Holy Knight. Her total amount of Holy Power was ordinary, but her sense and judgment in handling it were exceptionally sharp. There was no showing off, no waste. Her method was certainly far from flashy. But the more experienced people were, the more they properly recognized Lumina's value.
"I... I beg your pardon...?"
But even such a Lumina was ultimately nothing more than a single member of the Holy Knights.
"I hear a plague is spreading in a rural village on the outskirts. Go and burn it."
A ruthless order from the Captain that made her doubt her ears. Words akin to a death sentence flowed so calmly from the Captain's mouth that Lumina was speechless for a moment.
"...Not purify, but burn it, you say?"
But that was only for a moment; soon, Lumina narrowed her eyes and asked carefully once more. However, the Captain's answer remained unchanged.
"The plague could spread to the neighboring village if things go wrong. Burn it completely to prepare for any eventuality."
The Captain's cold order embedded itself like a sharp thorn in Lumina's ears once again. Hidden behind the rationality of preventing spread to nearby villages was a ruthless cruelty that treated hundreds of lives like firewood.
As soon as she realized that fact, Lumina's complexion immediately lost color and turned white.
"Captain, there are innocent people there waiting for the Goddess's mercy. If we dispatch a High Priest, it would be enough to..."
"Are you suggesting we waste the Papal State's precious manpower over a mere plague?"
The Captain retorted calmly without taking his eyes off the pile of documents on his desk.
"W-waste, you say... Captain, they are not beasts!"
"Shut your mouth, Lumina Evangeline."
The Captain finally took his eyes off the documents and slowly raised his head toward Lumina.
"Those innocent people you speak of are already polluted."
"So, if we dispatch a High Priest..."
"There is no plague that Holy Power cannot reach. But I don't see why we must waste that precious power on such a frontier village."
The Captain spoke calmly and slowly put down the quill pen he was holding.
"This is a matter of efficiency and a matter of choice. Putting the majority in danger for the sake of a few is not the Goddess's will."
There was not a shred of agony in the Captain's voice. Only a dryness, as if erasing numbers on a document, hung coldly in the air.
"......."
St. Haven Papal State, a holy nation built under the name of the Goddess. Because she firmly believed that everything moved by the Goddess's will, Lumina could not easily accept this cold logic of efficiency. The mercy of the Goddess she knew should be directed toward the lowest places. But the mercy the Captain recited was nothing more than a thoroughly calculated privilege of a few.
Was that why? Loyalty as a Holy Knight and conscience as a human clashed violently within Lumina's heart.
"...Understood."
Lumina eventually bowed her head. But that did not mean obedience.
Immediately after receiving the order. She didn't even borrow a warhorse from the Papal State, but set out alone on a horse she bought with her own money.
. . .
"...?"
What Lumina faced upon arriving at the village was not a terrible ruin festering with plague.
A young girl sitting on the old stone steps of the sanctuary, hugging a honey jar like a treasure and licking her fingers. All sorts of food piled at her feet. And people wailing sincerely, overcome with emotion as if they had come back from the dead.
She had no choice but to doubt her eyes. After all, the mana felt from the girl was definitely not human.
"Now, then next..."
"Halt──!!"
Lumina, realizing the situation belatedly, immediately drew the sword at her waist confidently.
"Reveal the hideous true form hidden behind that veil!"
This child is a demon. A certain demon without a shadow of a doubt. Lumina muttered inwardly and gripped the sword hilt even tighter.
However──.
"The Goddess dislikes lies very much."
A meaningful remark from the girl followed. At that moment, the air lingering inside the sanctuary immediately froze cold.
'L-Lie...?'
A veil worn upside down, a honey jar held tightly in her arms, and ominous mana. Anyone could see she was clearly a demon. But for some reason, this child has been mentioning the Goddess continuously since earlier. Very confidently and calmly, as if she were an agent of the Goddess.
"Lie, what on earth does that..."
Just as Lumina, thoroughly flustered, was about to ask the girl for the meaning.
Rumble...
The statue of the Goddess supporting the center of the sanctuary began to vibrate bizarrely as if it were alive.
Rumble...!!
Along with the unpleasant noise of stones grinding against each other. A pitch-black crack rapidly spread from the foot of the statue to the entire sanctuary floor in an instant.
"......!!"
Lumina quickly threw herself backward to avoid the crack. However, the blinding white flash that burst out immediately after fiercely swallowed her vision. Instinctively, she raised her arm to cover her eyes hurriedly. But that light was incredibly intense, enough to pierce through the retina even with eyes closed.
"Wh-what on earth is this...!!"
Holy Power she had seen countless times as a Holy Knight. But the radiance bursting out in front of her eyes now was different from the very texture.
Shhh...
Only after the light completely disappeared did Lumina's heart barely begin to beat. When she caught her breath and barely opened her eyes, the sight she faced went beyond imagination.
"Ugh, it's sticky..."
It seems she knocked over the honey jar she was holding. The girl standing awkwardly, covered in honey all over her body. It was a very pitiful appearance. But despite that, Lumina had no choice but to flash her eyes wide.
Cling...!
The girl's body shining smoothly against the background of the cracked statue. The demon's mana that was clearly felt just moments ago disappeared in the blink of an eye. What filled that place was only the pure and noble lingering scent of Holy Power that could only be felt from a High Priest or a Saint.
No, it was an excessively transparent and overwhelming holiness that made even the word Holy Power pale.
"Th-the black spots all disappeared...!!"
"Me too... My body is so light..."
"The curse completely disappeared..."
That light wasn't simply intense. It gently caressed the bodies of the villagers suffering from the curse, returning the skin that was rotting terribly to be smooth like a newborn baby.
"Ah, ah..."
As soon as she saw that absurd sight, Lumina immediately dropped her sword to the floor and knelt weakly. Was that ominous and twisted mana felt just moments ago actually a thin shell to suppress this overwhelming holiness?
"What on earth have I done..."
Lumina looked down blankly at her hands with trembling eyes. The arrogance of daring to lift the mysterious veil of one who performs miracles. The guilt that came as a price tormented her heart more painfully than any torture.
"Are you okay?"
How much time had passed like that? The girl's voice suddenly rang calmly in Lumina's ears, who was repeatedly blaming herself.
"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
The girl slowly approaching, roughly shaking off her sticky honey-covered hands in the air. Lumina couldn't bear to lift her head.
"I-I apologize...! Please punish this disloyal knight who dared to suspect a noble person as a demon and tried to block the Goddess's miracle!"
The sanctuary boiled with the joy of those who witnessed the miracle, but Lumina's world was still cold. Just crushing her forehead on the cold stone floor. Reciting prayers of repentance endlessly like a crazy person. That was the only atonement a blind Holy Knight could do.
"...You suspected me as a demon?"
At Lumina's desperate confession, the girl's voice trembled subtly for a moment.
"Yes, yes... Because your mana resembled a demon's mana too much..."
The girl flinched this time.
"N-not only can you feel mana... can you even distinguish whether it's a human or a demon with that...?"
At the girl's urgent question that followed naturally, Lumina trembled even more finely.
"Yes... As I told you earlier, since I am a Holy Knight, I can easily distinguish that much..."
"Ah, I see..."
As soon as Lumina's answer ended, the girl immediately brought her sticky right hand to her chin and began to ponder something deeply.
But that was only for a moment.
"W-why?! Why am I the only one the same?!!"
From behind Lumina, who was lying flat on the floor, the chief's despair-filled scream burst out loudly out of nowhere.
"I didn't heal at all... The black spots are still remaining..."
Hurriedly rolling up his sleeves, the chief showed his rotting arm and wailed even more desperately.
"How on earth did this happen...?! M-me too... You have to heal me too...!!"
The chief screaming endlessly like a beast and rolling unsightly at the girl's feet. However, despite that desperate struggle, the girl showed no particular reaction until the end.
"Hmm, oh my."
The girl's response was terrifyingly dry. It was like looking down at a stone rolling on the roadside.
"I told you earlier. The Goddess dislikes lies very much."
"I-I am the chief of this village... To protect the village, I had no choice..."
"If you had at least pretended to believe, it wouldn't have come to this, what a shame."
The girl's calm remark mercilessly cut off the chief's excuse. The chief immediately wore a vacant expression.
"......."
Lumina's silence, watching that scene silently from the side, sank even heavier. That chilling holiness that does not tolerate a single lie. What punishment will she receive, who concluded she was a demon and drew her sword? Lumina slowly held her breath imagining the weight of the judgment soon to come to her.
"...Huh?"
Just then.
"What is this, my Holy Power..."
Lumina realized belatedly. That not a single grain of Holy Power could be felt inside her body. In the place where the light that had filled her entire life escaped, a terrible emptiness that was hard to bear remained.