129. Departing for the Holy See
The Great Feast of All Saints. A day for all the saints who have stayed by humanity's side and returned to the divine realm.
It is one of the most important festivals that the church holds dear. From the Empire's perspective, it can be seen as comparable to the Victory Day.
The Pope, who usually does not get involved, is personally participating. On that day, all dioceses across the continents will hold prayer meetings simultaneously, and all cardinals will preside over the prayer meetings in front of the public.
The saints who spread the doctrine of Light on this land, bestowed grace to make people receive God's love. A place for gratitude to them, self-reflection, and promising to move forward.
As it's such a grand festival, the need to prepare is natural. It was the same for the previous Great Feast, but especially for this one, even more so.
“The Holy One of the Church is coming. The beloved person whom the gods love is coming!”
“Having recovered the lost sacred relic of the church with a great blessing in just one night. Truly, a noble young man worthy of being called a messenger of light!”
If the protagonist had heard these words, he might have shouted in shock and demanded what nonsense was being said.
But unfortunately, Karl has not yet arrived at the Holy See. At this time, he is probably just receiving his transcript after finishing the final exams.
Therefore, in the Holy See, the praises for the one who recovered the relic and received God's love continued.
And the ones leading this behavior are, as expected, the high-ranking officials of the church.
“Some are worried that Karl Adelheit's name is being called too much.”
“Foolish talk. Shouting the name of the holy one is ultimately no different from seeking the great one. Didn't that holy one himself say, 'Finding the relic is all by the will of the gods'? Since the holy one is following the doctrine of light, what is there to fear?”
Ordinary believers focus only on the doctrine of light. They follow it out of piety and faith. However, that alone cannot lead this huge church.
Those above are inevitably forced to have a bit of a secular side. After all, since they have established themselves in this world, isn't 'secular' not a natural thing?
“The conflict between the Empire and the Elves is roughly over, and now we're entering the sealing phase. Also, Lasquer recognized the Empire's superiority instead of calming their own chaos. The Mage Nation, Abillesti, is still there, but they won't make foolish choices without reading the current continental situation.”
“Brother's words are correct. The chaos that reached the extreme has met its end, and those who earnestly sought God and followed the light will obviously lose that earnestness.”
Religion ultimately blooms most beautifully when human life is difficult and painful. Who would seek the gods when hungry and tired, and seek them when full and comfortable?
When they suffer and lose their way, as a religious person, I feel sorry for them. I feel a sense of mission to lead them to a brighter place.
However, at the same time, I can't help but have the primitive question of whether, without this chaos, we could have had this much church power.
Therefore, from the church's perspective, chaos was an inevitable thing. Maybe it was because they allied with the Empire.
In fact, every time the Empire waged war, the prestige of the church didn't it rise?
However, that chaos cannot continue forever. It shouldn't continue in the first place.
If you're a believer who calls the name of the gods and seeks light, you shouldn't want it even if you want to. In the end, shouldn't the world become a paradise where everyone lives well and laughter never ceases?
“Fortunately, we recovered the relic at such a time, and that holy one is a legitimate war hero of the Empire. Just this alone will be enough to solidify the hearts of the brothers and sisters.”
“How is the expansion of various facilities currently being conducted on the Empire side?”
“It is being conducted diligently in the name of the church. With the goal of this year-end, it will increase by more than 30%, and next year, we are thinking of up to 70%.”
Several influential nobles of the Empire established a pension foundation in the name of the war hero. Then, the imperial family also supported the foundation and firmly held the public's mind of the Empire.
There, the church also stepped forward, but that alone was not enough. The result was the expansion of various facilities, and naturally, those facilities also served as the hub for the church's expansion of influence.
In other words, looking at it, the beginning of this positive change can be seen as ultimately starting from one young man.
The person involved is absolutely not. I'm ashamed. Just pretend not to know, but isn't the world originally a place that changes with just one person's influence?
Yes. The world that changes even with just one person's influence. That is truly the ideal that the gods, the lights, the Bright Light Church that loudly proclaims their names ultimately seeks.
In the current situation, their holy one was truly a beloved person and was scheduled to visit this Holy See soon.
“I must show a face that doesn't embarrass the holy one. I cannot give disappointment to the one who receives God's love.”
“Of course. A beloved person who has made the church's name shine even more, how could we treat them carelessly. We must instill a positive perception so that the perception of the church in the future will be even better.”
“Senior! Have a good vacation!”
“See you next semester!!”
Yeah. Hurry up and go. Go already. Stop greeting and get out! Otherwise, my lips will cramp.
Finally, after the worst trial of final exams, another vacation season has come. And our 1st year distant juniors flocked in threes and fives, and they left after greeting unnecessarily.
Probably because they are the successors of a powerful noble family, younger brother of the current crown princess, and Medal of Honor recipient, so they would do that. Considering the power, it's understandable.
But that's that. It's still grueling. Honestly, I know that guy well. I don't match with politics or power at all. I'm definitely not someone who can do it well!
“Karl!”
Nevertheless, the reason I was standing at my place waiting. Finally coming. Oh my, look at the face.
“Selena. Hurry… the world. Your face is all ruined.”
“Eue? Really? Ah, I was really nervous and came out?!”
Selena, startled, touches her face here and there. Then, she dashes off to the place with a mirror, saying she'll come back for a bit.
It seemed like she might really do that, so I immediately grabbed Selena's hand and confessed the truth.
“It's a lie. You're pretty.”
“…Karl!!”
Selena was surprised and exaggeratedly swung her fist. Don't say nonsense like that.
But this is not nonsense. Rather, it's a natural reaction. Why else would Selena be called the first love of all academy boys? Why would she be the heroine?
Some say that when starting graduate school, one ages 10 years. In reality, our senior Marcus has been going bald since last winter and screaming.
Selena doesn't age, and that beauty is still shining. In my opinion, even if you roll in mud, it would be much more beautiful than an ordinary beauty.
“You’ve become too cocky! You weren't like that before?!”
“It's a feeling that one becomes more at ease if they are cocky. Or maybe I learned it from the Four Idiots?”
Yes. The Four Idiots. Schlippen and Wilhelm. Alexander and Joachim. Since getting entangled with these guys, the weirdness and cockiness unique to them has increased.
As the saying goes, 'blackening the inside of the eye.' My insides are gradually darkening! Kyaaak!!
“How is graduate school life? Is it worth it? Don't the professors make you do weird things? Do they take care of other graduate students well? Aren't they bullying nobles or something? And—
“Calm down, Karl. First of all, the professor is a good person, and all the other graduate students are good people too. They don't make you do weird things and don't treat you carelessly.”
Why would we bully each other since we're all graduate students? Selena said with a faint smile.
I couldn't say from there, 'There are cases where people in the same hell make more hell for each other.' Good example: the army from my previous life… hmm.
“More than that, thanks, Karl. I heard the news. They said they only referred to me as 'me' in the group.”
“Eh?”
“Honestly, I thought maybe they were bringing all the other girls too.”
“…Ah. That.”
I unconsciously scratch the back of my head.
In fact, a while ago, I received a letter in the name of the church. They said I could bring the group to the Holy See invitation for the Great Feast. They said the number doesn't matter.
At that time, Selena had a bit of free time. As soon as I heard that, I ran to Selena and said let's go to the Holy See together.
In addition, incidentally, I also asked to go with Selena's grandfather.
And… um. Actually, I thought about bringing Eloise, Lavrenti, and Repia junior too. But since all three had their own circumstances, I couldn't.
“Holy See? Uh, um. Thank you for the suggestion, Karl. I'm an elf. There might be people in the Holy See who are still uncomfortable with me. If I go there and Karl hears something weird, I don't want to go.”
First, I gave up because Eloise was the one who lost the church's relic, and she was an elf.
When the church officially sends an envoy from the elves side someday, then maybe go?
“Thank you so much, Master! But! I actually applied for a semester course! I'm really sorry! If my heart is hurt, please cancel the semester course right away—
Lavrenti, who ended up choosing semester course because final exams weren't good.
Ah, by the way, the final exam scores were higher than midterms. But still doing that is because Eloise got the overall 1st place.
Probably, Lavrenti was quite shocked by that part. The Empire's army that can't match the elves, he said or something.
“Thank you for the suggestion, Senior Karl. But… I feel a bit hesitant. Although I gave up the princess position, I am still from the Lasquer royal family. I'm worried that if I go, there might be misunderstandings in the Empire regarding the intersection of the church and Lasquer.”
Repia also gave up for similar political reasons as Eloise. Although she gave up the princess position, she hasn't completely abandoned her love for the home country, so she can't help but worry.
In the end, the only choice left for me was Selena. So, I rejected the other three for Selena's sake. Purely… um. Selena's misunderstanding.
“It's exciting! The Holy See! I've never been before!”
“Eh, yeah. Me too.”
But I don't have a reason to say that honestly. Honestly, if I say the truth here, it's stupid. Damn!