Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Earthquake
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Academy.
The empire's most 'old-fashioned' educational institution, dedicated to producing great heroes and philosophers.
This venerable academy, boasting a long tradition,
symbolized the history and heritage of the empire as a nation completed through the conquest of barbarians.
There, they taught visions,
how to fight using visions,
and how to surpass human limits.
Not losing in war is the soldier's duty,
but winning in war is the hero's task.
As long as the academy exists, the empire's history will march endlessly forward.
"Matthew. What are you thinking so deeply about?"
"Ah. Nothing. I was just... thinking about the existence of 'heroes'."
"Ah, right. You're at the academy now."
And currently, the academy housed a rather special 'hero' among heroes.
A being chosen by history.
Among the many blessings in this land, the 'History's Blessing' bestowed upon the hero was quite unique.
It was, quite literally, the symbol of a hero who would go down in 'history'.
Those who possessed it would not die to a stray arrow on the battlefield.
Even in the most horrific and brutal wars, they somehow survived.
They fought until the brink of collapse,
and somehow found a way to victory.
Too rough to call mere luck,
too glorious to call misfortune,
it suited the term 'strong fate' perfectly.
Their destiny was powerful.
Thus, tales that endured in history were born,
and 'heroes' who survived countless battlefields through reversals were forged.
In other words,
it also meant rolling around in the dirt like crazy.
"I didn't know you were interested in those stories, Matthew. Well, everyone grows up hearing hero tales in their boyhood. I am a bit curious what a 'real hero' looks like."
"Haha..."
His seminary classmate reminisced about famous hero stories,
but in truth, what Matthew pondered was not those 'legends etched in history'.
Matthew was thinking about 'blessings'.
A kind of fate or heavenly punishment that people were born with from the start.
'...Your Excellency possesses a blessing that peers into the history of objects and people.'
History's Blessing was called the most glorious blessing.
But that blessing, which entangled one in tribulations and made all fates revolve around them, he wasn't sure was truly so glorious.
Rather, wasn't the blessing Your Excellency was born with the truly 'glorious' one?
Truly understanding one person is difficult.
No. Impossible.
Thus, people hurt each other, forget they are 'the same humans', grow indifferent, and ruin each other's lives.
But the blessing Your Excellency was born with blurred those boundaries.
Though its purpose in use was to manage his slaves as property,
the result was no different from tender care.
Simply understanding one person's life and value
could turn the most ruthless merchant into the most compassionate saint.
'That is the true holy vocation.'
The more he studied theology, immersed himself in priesthood, and devoted himself to faith,
the more he realized.
How glorious Your Excellency's innate 'Winter's Blessing' was,
how dignified Your Excellency was,
how all this fate was woven in a direction 'befitting His will'.
This was work prepared by the Lord.
That was the conclusion of a slave and priest.
"...Huh. Didn't the ground just shake?"
"Pardon?"
Lost in such thoughts as they headed toward the academy,
suddenly,
a ground-shaking vibration hit.
Earthquakes weren't that rare...
But something felt off. Something was wrong.
His vision tilted. The ground shook. The whole world vibrated visibly.
"...Earthquake."
Not just a slight tremor,
but a 'real' natural disaster that crumbled mountains, twisted earth, and toppled buildings.
!@#$%^──.
Ear-splitting roars began echoing from everywhere.
Objectively speaking, it might not have been 'that horrific an earthquake'.
Walls crumbled, but palaces stood firm; earth twisted, but nothing atop it was hopelessly buried.
But.
It was people who imbued nature's tepid violence with meaning and amplified its cruelty.
Thieves looting through collapsed building walls, wastewater and oil spilling from damaged factories, those exploiting the chaos and those swept up in it.
All led to pandemonium.
As nature rampaged, so did people.
Horrific.
"...Ah, no! Thieves!"
"You damn bastard!"
"Kaaaaah! S-save me!"
"!@#$%^!!!"
"Someone's trapped!"
"Urgh... I... My leg's too heavy..."
It wasn't the earthquake that was horrific,
but the humans running wild in its wake.
And.
Fleeing from the muck wouldn't make him a priest.
Matthew instinctively jumped down from the carriage.
"Matthew?!"
"I'll help the people."
"Ah! Y-yeah! I'll come too!"
His finally snapping-to classmate belatedly disembarked and followed Matthew.
And they began aiding those groaning under collapsed debris.
Combining strength to clear heavy rubble,
rescuing those buried between building remnants,
wielding staffs to drive off thugs.
"P-prie- no, priests!"
"Thank you for saving us! Priests!"
As the two, unmistakably priests in their seminary robes, took the lead in helping,
some others joined in aiding people.
Religion's value shone especially in such chaos.
As the two helped,
a priest approached them.
Matthew spotted the face and ran over beaming, greeting the man.
"Bishop!"
"Damn it. I came to observe your first ordination rite, and what the hell is this?"
"An earthquake."
"I can see that."
Dori Bishop had also been en route to the academy to observe the ordination rite.
Typically, for a servant's first ordination,
the priest who taught them attended together.
Though Matthew was a slave...,
Dori Bishop truly saw Matthew as his disciple.
Matthew knew that heart,
hence his joy even in this chaos.
"I didn't expect you to come in person."
"...Tch. More than that, you're out here saving people even now? Even when studying theology under me, you fretted over not helping troubled believers enough."
"Haha."
"Don't laugh. It's endearing."
"Then I'll keep helping people. Please take that side, Bishop."
"Now you're putting me to work..."
Grumbling as if displeased,
Dori Bishop joined Matthew in rescues.
And.
How much time passed like that?
Matthew spotted a man in the debris.
He had lost too much blood; treatment would be tough.
Without divine power, he'd die immediately.
Confirming the man's state, Matthew gazed desperately at Dori Bishop.
"...No. At this point, even divine power treatment would burden too much. We must send him peacefully to the Lord's side."
Dori Bishop had already expended considerable divine power treating others.
Simple care to halt worsening wounds was one thing, but healing a fatal injury was impossible.
So, just watch a dying man?
"...Bishop."
"Yes."
"Please perform the ordination rite."
"..."
Dori Bishop stared at Matthew in disbelief.
"Do you know what that means?"
"Yes."
"Fine. With the rite, you'll wield divine power temporarily. But healing a wound like this would burn most of what you've learned. Not something for provisional authority. And your ambiguous status is tolerated only because you entered as top student. The seminary will boot you the moment your grades slip."
"...It's fine. I'm sorry to Your Excellency who trusted and invested in me, and to you who taught me... but I want to save this person."
"No. Damn it. Fine. No time to convince you otherwise if you're saving him."
A fatal injury.
Arguing would let him die mid-debate. Dori Bishop knew Matthew's resolve best anyway.
Grunting in headache,
Dori Bishop finally nodded.
And as he prepared the ordination rite,
"Then the rite right awa─... Hm?"
"What is it?"
"Healing priests..."
"Pardon?"
From beyond the alley, a group approached.
Among them were healing priests specialized in treatment scriptures.
As Dori Bishop and Matthew stared blankly,
one healing priest approached Matthew.
Tilting his head, he promptly knelt on one knee and began treating the fatally wounded man.
Without hesitation.
"What in the..."
As the two panicked,
a voice very familiar to Matthew rang out, one he hadn't heard in ages.
"Don't overdo it! Move in groups of at least three! Don't forget you're His Excellency's property! I won't forgive anyone acting recklessly and getting hurt!"
"Understood! Overseer!"
"Save the people! It's His Excellency's command! Execute perfectly!"
"Yes!"
With that, slaves from the Riddle estate.
Familiar faces and new ones alike
began rescuing people.