Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: As God Desires
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"Matthew, who was studying theology under Bishop Dori, has been admitted to the seminary as the top student."
"Already? That's faster than I expected."
While handling minor business ventures and the circus, among other things,
two or three seasons had quietly passed by.
I had planned to watch his preparations for admission for up to ten years,
but to think he'd be admitted before even completing three full years.
It seemed Bishop Dori had taught him theology with more zeal than I imagined.
"......Aren't you surprised about the top admission?"
"Oh. I expected that part."
Theology is fundamentally a discipline studied for a 'lifetime.'
Most people who begin studying it upon reaching adulthood
have been prepared for it from the moment of birth, studying theology lifelong, internalizing church customs, and growing in faith.
In other words, Matthew had mastered in less than three years what others take twenty years to learn—
perfectly, no, more than perfectly.
It was something close to a 'miracle'...
But not all that surprising.
Even back when he was staying at the mansion, hadn't he already read the scriptures alone and copied dozens of volumes by hand?
Copying the scriptures is something all the other incoming students have done...
But Matthew was a slave.
The time he had for copying was only his 'rest time' after finishing all his slave duties.
In terms of a 21st-century South Korean soldier,
it was like copying every scripture during the scant two hours of 'personal maintenance time,' with a body exhausted from training.
No sane person could do that.
So.
Matthew mastering theology 'perfectly' was already a foregone conclusion.
"I sent him to Bishop Dori asking to train him to the level of a bishop-priest."
"......Pardon?"
"He's a miser, sure, but at his core, he's someone who rose to bishop-priest on his own merits. Being a top graduate himself, he must have taught and recommended Matthew to that standard. So the early admission is surprising, but...... the top spot? I saw that coming."
"......Bishop Dori turns out to be more capable and proper priest than I thought."
"I wouldn't call him a proper priest...... but he's capable, yeah."
Bishop Dori was originally a villain who clashed with the Academy graduate protagonist in volume 2.
What appeal would a protagonist have if he only toyed with third-rate hack villains?
Without ability, you can't even be a proper villain.
Bishop Dori was a fairly 'capable' antagonist.
And the fact that I could buy that ability with money made him a useful one.
"I should write Matthew a letter later. Anything else to report?"
"The list of 'fallen nobles' you ordered has been completed. They're all struggling financially and in need of employment. Some are already working as valets or maids."
Torsso handed me a list with names and backgrounds of various nobles.
I checked each one on the list.
Half-jokingly wondering if any familiar names from the novel might appear.
And sure enough, one person from the novel was there.
"Huh? This one......"
"Someone Your Excellency knows?"
"......"
I nodded, feeling a strange mix of emotions.
"Interesting......"
"Pardon?"
"Villains seem to have a fate that draws other villains to them......"
At that moment, the seminary was in an uproar.
"......The top incoming student is a slave?"
"Yes."
"No. How could that...... Does that even make sense?"
The seminary had belatedly learned that their top admit—with the highest scores in history—was a branded slave.
The top student, no less.
With admission notices already sent out,
revoking it now would be difficult.
It was quite the headache for the faculty.
"This is absurd! How could a slave possibly study theology?! Top of the class, no less. There must have been cheating!"
"We've verified it multiple times, but there was no cheating."
"Who is this lunatic that recommended a slave to the seminary?!"
"Bishop Dori."
"Bishop Dori......? What madness has that scoundrel......"
One professor reacted violently upon hearing the name.
If his earlier reaction was shock,
this one bordered on disgust.
"You know Bishop Dori?"
"Back in my student days, he was the madman who took money to do others' assignments. His grades were the best in the seminary, so we couldn't expel him. And his faith—pure as could be. He already showed bishop-level radiant spirituality in the monthly purification rites."
"......A man with such radiant spirituality took money to do others' assignments?"
"That's why he was such a headache. He had this firm personal creed: 'Doing assignments for others doesn't go against God's will.' He even claimed it was practice in analyzing the same task from multiple perspectives, deepening one's devotion."
"......"
From a professor's view of teaching students, he was utterly mad,
but from a priest's view of cultivating souls, it was somewhat understandable madness.
Which made him an even bigger headache.
If Bishop Dori had such radiant spirituality,
then his recommended top admit—slave status aside—was likely a student perfectly educated in theology.
No cheating in the admission process.
"How much must they disdain the church's authority to let such a travesty happen......"
"Shouldn't we excommunicate Bishop Dori for teaching theology to a slave? How could he teach God's word to such a—"
"—Enough."
At that moment, a man cut off another professor and spoke.
All eyes turned to him.
The man groaned in frustration, frowning as if nursing a headache.
Then,
after looking around at the other priests, he asked.
"......Has there ever been precedent for a slave becoming a priest?"
"Dean?"
"No need to answer. I was just asking out of frustration."
The man called the dean
recited names of 'slave-born priests' from history.
"Saint Patrick endured harsh slavery yet maintained his faith, becoming a priest after liberation. Saint Ludovico was a slave too."
"......"
Figures from 150 years ago and 1,200 years ago, respectively.
Saint Patrick was a relatively recent canonization, and slavery in Saint Ludovico's era differed greatly from today's.
And.
Both had been freed from slavery before formally entering the faith.
Thus.
No precedent for a priest while still enslaved.
"......We know the souls of slaves and free men are not different."
"Dean!"
But,
even if not identical, similar cases could serve as reference.
"Haven't we preached countless times that the most noble souls are born in the lowest places, and the Heavenly Lord's love discriminates not between slave and king."
"Are you saying you'll permit the slave's enrollment?!"
"But when a slave actually seeks to enter His school, do you know what my first thought was?"
"......"
No need to voice it;
everyone could guess.
Likely every professor here thought the same.
"How dare a lowly slave presume to learn the Lord's wisdom."
Yet the dean voiced their thoughts explicitly.
"How could a mere slave bestow love."
He confessed his own.
"How could a slave borrow His authority to preach peace to the people."
For a professor,
wisdom lay in not voicing the unvoiced,
but for a priest,
cowardice before faith was unacceptable.
How could one who fears confessing sins hear others'?
"We mere humans, made in His image, presume to borrow His authority and preach love—yet I dared think such thoughts. Before Him, slave and free are no different than pebble and gravel, yet I harbored such arrogance."
"......"
"I believe we are being tested."
Some priests bowed in shame.
Others stared at the dean, still unconvinced.
No saying who was right or wrong.
God is not so kind as to provide clear answers to all dilemmas.
Thus, man must seek.
Through gospel, scripture, rite, law, spirituality, conscience,
finding the path step by step.
"I intend to permit this slave's enrollment."
"......"
"My opinion ends here. This isn't for me to decide alone, so per church tradition, let the Holy Spirit decide."
The Holy Spirit will decide.
Church rhetoric for secret ballot.
The vote proceeded.
Approval or disapproval.
Simple ballots allowing only one choice.
No abstentions.
A priest cannot flee a test.
"We will tally the votes."
If one's vote here proved contrary to God's will after the test,
confess the sin then.
No cause for fear.
"Tally results—"
Man grows through mistakes.
Hasn't God granted us ample chances to err?
The church exists to avoid repeating them.
To err first, more than anyone—that too is the church's role.
"Approve, 8 votes. Disapprove, 7 votes."
May it be according to God's will.
"By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we formally approve servant Matthew's enrollment."
Thus,
for the first time in the church's over millennium-long history,
a mere slave's admission to seminary was approved.