The Divine Blessing
Chaotic atmosphere and noisy screams.
Abigail thought she had ruined everything again.
Why did she always mess up when someone reached out to help her?
Rai, who helped her with strength, Jack who let her live among mercenaries, and Linda who always smiled...
She didn't blame fate or the gods.
It was all her fault, and her stupidity had ruined everything.
Feeling Rai's approaching presence, Abigail tightly closed her eyes.
"Aaaah!!"
Shouting and running, Rai passed by Abigail and jumped over the table.
Abigail, startled by the passing, saw Rai deliver a drop kick to the man she had hit.
"... ..."
The man, touching his mouth and trying to get up, was knocked unconscious by Rai's kick.
It was refreshing, but the drop kick was absurd. Rai fell to the floor, dirt getting on his clothes.
Although the dirt was noticeable on his black priest robes, Rai didn't care and hurriedly got up, hugging Maji.
"Maji! Are you okay?! Is it okay?!"
"Huh? Huh?"
Maji, who was hit, widened her eyes in confusion, wondering why he was worried about her when it was the man who got hit.
Rai quickly checked Maji's body all over.
"How could this happen! Trying to kidnap a priestess of Lutera... No! A child!"
Claiming he kidnapped Maji, Rai grabbed the shoulder of a woman standing nearby.
"You saw it too, right?! This man was trying to kidnap Maji!"
"Huh? W-well, I was..."
"You saw it?! He reached out to Maji!"
"Eh.. It.. It seemed like it..."
It was true that the man and Maji were close.
Since he had shown violent behavior by slamming the table, the woman nodded uncertainly.
Upon hearing the woman's words, Rai hugged Maji again and shouted.
"It's okay, Maji! You almost got into a scary situation!"
"Huh? What..."
"Don't worry! Before that man could even reach out to you, he's an Academy graduate! Shining in the 3rd round of the Martial Arts Tournament! Accidentally came to help the priestesses of Lutera! Because Abigail messed it up!"
Abigail, who had been acting weak until a moment ago, now had a face like she had swallowed shit.
She was putting on a show so exaggerated that the words "this is bullshit" naturally came out.
With one move, she made the woman confused and got her to give false testimony, and for Maji who knew nothing, she said it was dangerous.
His rambling explanations were also like that.
He was originally a bit off, but this kind of nonsense wasn't like him.
With loud words, he hammered into the surroundings that she was an Academy student.
Although the Academy's reputation was high everywhere in the Empire, especially in Legandia where the same name was shared, the Academy's position was extremely high.
Even in the 3rd round of the Martial Arts Tournament, it wasn't a high score.
But how much would ordinary citizens know about the Martial Arts Tournament? It wasn't even publicly disclosed, and these were poor people barely scraping by day to day.
He just rattled out words that seemed plausible, but the people changed their view of Abigail just because she was an Academy student.
Rai's lies and the Academy's reputation made people blind.
Some of the people in line ran out and even hugged the unconscious man.
Priests approached, worried about Maji, and received thanks for saving her.
Abigail watched Rai, who easily manipulated people in a terrifying way.
After casually brushing off the dirt on his clothes, when their eyes met, he gave a refreshing smile while silently giving a thumbs up.
Of course, it was right to be grateful for cleaning up the mess, but... something...
It felt like a white horse-riding prince fighting a dragon with a splendid sword, not an idiot riding an alpaca chasing away the dragon with poop water.
Whether one or the other, it wasn't to Abigail's taste.
The Luteria Church didn't hand the man over to the guard captain.
The man who had heard Abigail was an Academy student knelt and apologized to her, saying he had no intention of threatening Maji.
Whether it was due to the Academy's prestige or because the punch hurt, the man was more pleading to be saved than feeling unjustly accused.
The Luteria Church made him swear never to do such a thing again and even healed his broken tooth with divine power.
Although it was Rai's manipulation, the sight of the priests giving treatment made Abigail dumbfounded.
Abigail, unable to bear Maji's sparkling eyes believing she was saved, slipped away while the others prepared the ritual.
"Welcome."
"... ..."
Abigail, suspicious that some tracking magic was cast, looked around her body and approached Rai.
"Sit down. You need a massage."
The words to receive the terrifying massage from the priest made Abigail's eyes turn fierce.
Seeing the eyes full of the will to kill with just a touch, Rai chuckled and laughed.
"But there's no helping it. I need to know your biological information to obtain divine power."
When she said if she wanted strength, she had to sit quietly and get a massage, Abigail looked at her with discontented eyes and sat down with a sigh.
Rai, standing behind Abigail's defenseless back, massaged her shoulders.
"Huuu..."
Abigail, who let out a moan she didn't mean to, covered her mouth.
It was a strange sensation more than she thought.
Because of the mana waves, his hands massaged her shoulders, but it felt like he was sweeping through every part from head to toe.
Abigail, who thought she knew why the big-breasted priest was making strange noises, held back her voice with all her might.
When Rai finished the massage and put his hand in his pocket, Abigail, breathing roughly, looked at him weakly.
Her eyes with moisture didn't match her fierce personality at all.
"Get up, we're late."
"Huu, wait..."
Abigail, whose senses were still sensitive, made a strange sound as Rai grabbed her arm and lifted her.
But Rai, not caring at all, ran to where the priests were, and Abigail screamed inwardly at the sensations felt wherever she moved.
The ritual Rai and Abigail participated in was a hymn.
Actually, hymns aren't only rituals for priests.
Most religions sing hymns praising the god with their followers.
But according to Rai, it was no different from watching from the side.
Following along didn't mean participating in the ritual; you had to be the subject of the ritual.
To do that, you had to squeeze into the gaps between the priests.
Fortunately, the Luteria Church allowed the two to participate.
Even though it was a simple experiential learning, they were doing this much, so they were either extremely kind or thoughtless.
Abigail, watching the head priest smiling brightly and holding hands with Rai while talking, naturally lined up far from them.
The Luteria Church had no separate choir.
Priests stood in a line regardless of status, holding the hand of the person next to them and singing hymns, with the followers in front following along.
When the followers looked, Maji, who was holding Abigail's hand, squeezed her strength, feeling tense.
"Abigail-nim, cheer up."
Abigail swallowed the words that it was you who should provide the strength and nodded her head.
Watching Maji forcing strength with a tense face, Abigail recalled her childhood.
A hymn filled with lines praising the god. But Abigail didn't love the god.
While waiting earlier, Maji had said something.
'You can sing as if talking to the god. You can convey your greetings, say you like him, and... things that happened today or the taste of the food... Anyway, it becomes a beautiful song. When you sing a beautiful song, the god likes it too."
The child who had spoken confidently was now trembling with a tense face.
Abigail, stroking the fingers of the clasped hands, watched Maji relax her expression and take a deep breath.
'Talking to the god...'
No matter how she thought, only words of hatred came to mind.
Without time to calm her complicated heart, the accompaniment of the song started, and they sang a hymn towards the god she didn't feel.
Abigail saw Rai, next to the head priest, glancing at the priests from the corner of his eye.
That guy was really someone who would receive the god's punishment.
And probably herself too. Or maybe she had already received it.
"I believe and rely on- the Lutera-nim who knows all my circumstances- I will definitely be protected."
'But why didn't you help?'
Abigail, who uttered a heart different from the lyrics, sang praising the god with her mouth.
Her awkward singing naturally echoed in the church, intertwined with the beautiful harmony of the priests.
As the followers sang the hymns and the hearts and voices of many praised Lutera, light particles filled with divine power filled the church.
And Abigail felt the divine power.
At first, Abigail thought it was the divine power of the priests holding hands, but she realized the priests on both sides were all apprentices.
Not only Maji, but other apprentices couldn't use divine power.
Startled, Abigail's voice was off, but the priests didn't look at her with disdain and naturally harmonized with her mistakes.
Each time she sang, Abigail felt divine power gushing from her body, and she could no longer sing.
After the ritual, Maji, who stuck to Abigail as she descended from the altar, laughed "Hehe-".
"Abigail-nim, you forgot the lyrics, right? Hihi- I did that too at first."
Maji, with a bright face, rattled off excuses for her mistake, but Abigail, dazed, didn't properly hear her words.
Her eyes full of "why?" met Rai's eyes.
Rai seemed to have noticed.
Rai gestured with his chin to come back, went first, and Abigail, after getting permission from Maji, followed.
"You received divine power? Then what am I?"
"Why?"
Abigail, with a dazed face, asked "why" to Rai who was grumbling for no reason.
Rai, staring at her dazed face, scratched his chin.
"Maybe your life so far didn't fit well with Lutera's teachings? That became the trigger for the ritual..."
"Why now?"
Rai, who was explaining, stopped talking at Abigail's question.
It wasn't a question.
Tears flowed from Abigail's eyes full of confusion.
"Why? When I wished for it, you didn't care at all? Why suddenly acting like you're looking out for me? Why? Now there's nothing?"
Abigail, not knowing who she was looking at or who she was talking to, burst into tears.
Although she didn't know why, Rai hugged her as she sat down.
With her face buried in his chest, she kept muttering to herself and cried bitterly, and Rai stroked her back without a word.
After crying for a long time, she sniffled, pushed away from Rai's chest, and distanced herself.
Her head bowed, her hair covering her face, but it was easy to imagine what her expression was.
Abigail, clearing her throat with difficulty, asked Rai.
"Why did I get divine power?"
Her voice was trembling, but this time she was properly asking Rai.
Rai, staring at her roughly wiping her nose with the back of her hand, thought for a moment and opened his mouth.
"There's something people are misunderstanding: the god is a guide."
"... ..."
"After the Creator gave free will to the sentient beings, giving something to them is against the Creator's will. So, the god in charge of wealth doesn't give money, the god in charge of peace doesn't give peace. They just help you walk that path."
Abigail listened silently to Rai's words.
"Lutera is in charge of rest. That means, if you believe in Lutera, you don't give rest, but guide you to the path of rest. And walking that path also means keeping Lutera's teachings well."
Rai paused for a moment, brushed Abigail's falling hair behind her ear, and continued.
"You are walking towards rest. No matter what happened in the past, it means you have been doing well. You've suffered so far, but you're doing well."
Tears flowed again from Abigail's red eyes, revealed by her hair.
But it wasn't the same sorrow as before.
Complex emotions mixed in the tears: emotion, sadness, relief, remorse, joy. They flowed down her cheeks.
She didn't know why the words "you're doing well" pierced her heart so much.
Rai, wiping her tears with his hand, soon said with a displeased expression.
"But I thought I was walking towards rest too, why isn't it given to me? Is it discrimination?"
Rai, grumbling towards the god, said to the dazed Abigail.
"It seems my words are right after all."
"... ...?"
"The god likes virgins after all."
Abigail, crying, said to Rai, who was spouting nonsense with a serious face.
"Idiot."
But she was laughing.
Even though her face was messy with tears, Abigail's bright laughter looked happy.