Do You See the Saintess as a Woman?
Evan clicked his tongue and stared at Diocasan.
“I don’t need anything else. I just want quiet, so shut your mouth.”
“Hehe, the very first thing you say after getting in the carriage is to be quiet. It seems you truly do love silence, Sir Evan.”
“It means I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Indeed, as a conversation partner, someone your own age or a woman you have feelings for would suit you far better than an old man like me. Unfortunately, there are only the two of us in this carriage. Shall I call the Saintess for you?”
Evan frowned. The words sounded considerate of him, but when he remembered that the only reason the two of them were alone in this carriage was because Iris was terrified of him, it came dangerously close to a threat. A veiled warning that kept pushing like this would stop being fun.
“What exactly do you want to talk about with me, Cardinal?”
“Have you finally decided to engage in conversation?”
“Just answer. Unless you want to spend the next half a day in silence again.”
Diocasan stroked his beard, offered a benevolent smile, and spoke.
“Idle chatter would be fine. Stories about each other’s pasts would be fine. A long discussion about our respective values would also be acceptable… but you have no interest in any of that, do you, Sir Evan?”
“You know me well.”
If that had been his intention, Evan would have cut him off with short, blunt answers or found some fault to use as an excuse to sink back into silence.
“In that case, how about we talk about something that benefits us both?”
“……Go on.”
When Evan showed a positive reaction, Diocasan smiled as if he had expected it and proposed a game.
“The Truth Game. It’s a children’s game where you answer each other’s questions with nothing but the truth. What do you think?”
“Where’s the guarantee you won’t answer with lies?”
“I swear on the name of God.”
“For something like this?”
“There is no obligation to answer every question, so you may remain silent if one puts you at a disadvantage.”
…Not a bad idea.
It seemed harmless enough, except for one sticking point.
“What if I lie? Are you going to force an oath on me too?”
“Of course not. I will simply choose to believe you.”
He answered with that smooth, amiable smile.
“If you wish to lie, then lie. If Sir Evan tells a falsehood, there must be a reason for it.”
That twisted trust grated on Evan’s nerves.
“I’ll ask first.”
“By all means. Ah, but I cannot speak of the contents of the revelation, so please do not waste a precious question on it.”
“What exactly is this ‘revelation’?”
From the atmosphere, it sounded like something akin to prophecy, yet he had never heard of prophecies occurring during holy prayer.
“I knew you would start with that.”
“Silence, then?”
“It would be rather dull if you stayed silent from the very first question. I will answer. However, it may sound a bit pedantic and boring, so please allow me a moment to choose my words.”
Diocasan let out a soft hum as he pondered, then opened his mouth.
“In truth, the ability to foresee is something everyone possesses.”
“……What nonsense is this?”
He pulled a silver coin from his pocket and asked,
“If I flick this upward, what will happen?”
“…It will go up and then come back down.”
Diocasan nodded, then actually flicked the coin. It spun as it rose, naturally reached its peak, and fell back into his grasp.
“You have just succeeded in prophecy, Sir Evan. You could even say you received a revelation from me.”
“Are you joking?”
“Hehe, but at their core, prophecy and revelation are not so very different. The only difference lies in the amount of information one possesses and the perspective from which one views it, which changes the accuracy and interpretation.”
He flicked the coin once more. This time it drew a parabola and flew toward Evan. Evan reached out to catch it, but the coin stopped in midair, halted by Diocasan’s holy prayer. The cardinal continued speaking.
“You predicted that the coin flying toward you might hit you, but in reality it did not. Even the movement of a single coin is something ordinary people cannot properly foresee. But the revelations we receive are different.”
“A prophecy with a one hundred percent accuracy rate?”
“Hehe, not quite… If I must put it into words, it would be more accurate to call it a prediction handed down by the Mother Goddess.”
Something that transcended human limits—words drawn from what the god had observed and judged to be the highest probability.
“That is why revelations are divided into two types.”
— Observation: Let it unfold as it will.
— Warning: It must be prevented at all costs.
“In the former case, we usually avoid leaking the revelation as much as possible.”
“Because the more people who know the future, the greater the chance it will change?”
“Correct. Of course, the Mother Goddess does not distinguish whether a revelation is one of observation or warning, so that judgment falls to high-ranking priests above the rank of cardinal.”
Evan thought he now understood why Diocasan kept his mouth so firmly shut.
“I wonder what interesting revelation you saw about me that makes you clamp your lips so tightly.”
“Hehe.”
“Does this revelation come in the form of a voice? Something like, ‘On such-and-such a month and day, someone will do this’?”
“It varies greatly from person to person, Sir Evan. It is certain that one must possess a considerable amount of divinity to even hear a revelation, but the forms differ widely.”
He spoke as if recalling the past.
“Some receive it as a voice, some as a single scene from the future, and others simply as an intuition. …Does this answer your question sufficiently?”
“……Yes.”
It was far more detailed and candid than he had expected. He was genuinely surprised.
“Then it is my turn to ask a question.”
“I don’t know why you’re doing this ridiculous game, but go ahead and ask.”
What on earth is he going to ask?
Evan had assumed that since he had shared so much information freely, the other man would demand something of equal weight. He tensed slightly, but the question that came back was utterly absurd.
“Do you see the Saintess as a woman?”
For a moment, the only sounds inside the carriage were the rolling of wheels and the occasional rattle of the frame.
“…….”
Evan offered no reply. He simply stared blankly at the old man before him.
See who as what?
“Have you chosen silence? That is also part of the game’s rules, so I understand.”
“That’s not even funny.”
Evan answered with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Your question was so ridiculous I lost the ability to speak. I wondered what you were going to ask, and this is it? Is there something wrong with your head? That’s what you’re curious about?”
“Yes. Isn’t that what this kind of game is for?”
“…My first meeting with the Saintess began with her proudly showing off her boogers. Do you really think any romantic feelings could bloom from that?”
“For someone who says that, you were rather kind to her, weren’t you? Even though she could never be more than an annoyance to you.”
“So that’s why you asked.”
Evan shook his head slowly and answered.
“It’s nothing more than calculated goodwill. The closer I am to the Saintess, the harder it becomes for the Holy Kingdom to treat Abaddon as an enemy.”
“……So you are using the Saintess as nothing more than a useful tool.”
“What, are you going to get angry about it?”
“Of course not.”
Diocasan placed a hand over his chest and wore an expression of relief.
“I truly think it is fortunate.”
“…Fortunate that the Saintess hasn’t become close to the devil?”
“No. I meant it is fortunate that I may be able to take the Saintess’s place.”
Evan’s face instantly twisted with displeasure. He glared at the man with open disgust.
“I hate you.”
“Is the reason because I judge and evaluate others solely through my Mind’s Eye?”
“Yes. I don’t know what that eye of yours sees, and I have no desire to know or understand. You want to replace the Saintess? If you want to watch the relationship between me and the Holy Kingdom plunge into the worst possible state, then go right ahead.”
He openly displayed his revulsion and delivered the scathing criticism right to the man’s face, yet Diocasan simply smiled with that same smooth amiability, as if none of it mattered.
“Why do you think the Saintess cannot do it?”
“……What?”
“I told you beforehand. This prayer is extremely inefficient, so very few priests learn it.”
He lifted his eyelids, revealing his eyes clearly. When Evan looked closely, beyond the dense, pure-white divinity, he could see pale sky-blue irises. The same color as Iris’s.
“When I keep my eyes open like this, my divinity is depleted in an instant, so I usually keep them narrowed as much as possible… but the Saintess possesses an overwhelming amount of divinity. She has no need to gather divinity in her eyes the way I do, so the change occurred naturally. Eyes the color of the Mother Goddess’s embrace—the sky itself. It is proof of the Mind’s Eye.”
Innate Mind’s Eye.
Diocasan was saying that Iris possessed that power.
“You called me a slave to the Mind’s Eye.”
He chuckled softly and asked Evan,
“Between me and the Saintess…”
“……”
“Who do you think is the real slave?”