To the Church Headquarters (1)
Elijah slowly opened his eyes. A white ceiling filled his vision. Turning his head, he saw sunlight slanting through the window. The room was thick with the damp scent of medicinal herbs.
"......Where is this."
A hoarse, parched voice escaped Elijah's lips. Only then did he realize he was lying in a bed. He slowly pushed himself up and scanned the room. A narrow, low window. The Church Headquarters' emblem embedded in the whitewashed wall.
'......The Church Headquarters.'
It was a place he'd never seen before, but the furnishings and the goddess's mark on the wall clearly marked it as the Church's infirmary.
As Elijah blankly took in his surroundings, a sharp pain stabbed his shoulder. Lowering his gaze, he saw bandages wrapped all over his body. He slowly opened and closed his palm. Memories sluggishly surfaced through the foggy haze in his mind.
The barrier had collapsed, demons had swarmed in, and while fleeing with Sera...
"Ugh."
He grimaced at the throbbing headache piercing his skull. The last thing he remembered was the sensation of sound vanishing. An utter silence as if everything had been erased, and then—
'Sera......!'
Elijah tried to bolt upright in alarm, but in the corner of his vision, something moved rhythmically beside the bed. It was Sera. Curled up under a blanket on a simple cot, snoring softly in her sleep.
Elijah let out a sigh of relief and examined her closely.
'No injuries...... seems like.'
Confirming Sera was unharmed brought a belated suspicion to mind. What had happened to Vargas? How had he survived, and what had transpired in the meantime? Squeezing his hazy memories, one thing stood out.
'......Light.'
The blinding white light that had flooded his vision had undoubtedly carried divine power. He couldn't know the details, but someone must have saved him and Sera.
His thoughts reached that point, and his stomach churned. As far as he knew, only one person could unleash that level of divine power.
'Lien.'
The empire's sole saintess, the strongest in history. Divine power was typically elevated through innate faith, combined with training and asceticism. But Lien had wielded overwhelming holiness from the moment the goddess chose her.
Elijah recalled the massive beam of light pouring from the heavens. The Lien he knew could have managed that and more.
Which only made his chest tighten further.
'Why the hell......'
After his excommunication, she hadn't sent a single word. Not even a brief letter explaining herself. Five years had passed like that. Enough time for waiting to turn to despair, and despair to resentment.
Elijah crouched carefully beside Sera and stroked her hair. It pained him to see her plump cheeks hollowed out again.
"......"
It had only been a few months. Over wounds he'd thought would never heal, new flesh was budding and scabs forming. The alley girl he'd picked up on a whim had become the sole lantern in his darkened heart.
Elijah quietly gazed at Sera's peacefully sleeping face.
At that moment, the door opened, and a healer in white robes entered. His middle-aged face was kindly, and he carried bandages and vials. Seeing Elijah awake, he raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You're up."
His tone was businesslike. The healer's gaze settled on Elijah's face. After a moment, he set down the vials and said,
"I'll check your wounds."
Elijah lifted his arm slightly. The healer unwound the bandages with a stoic expression, inspecting the injuries from various angles. His hands were deft as he applied ointment and wrapped fresh bandages.
Elijah watched silently. He had many questions, but the man was just a healer. Whatever answers he could give would likely fall within Elijah's guesses.
The treatment—from chest to abdomen to thigh—ended quickly. Only then did Elijah realize the familiar pain in his leg was gone.
"Um, by any chance......"
"......?"
The healer turned, but Elijah shook his head.
"......Never mind."
The healer glanced at him briefly, gathered the bloodied bandages and tools, and left. As the door closed quietly, Elijah reached down and touched his knee. The wound had already healed.
Thanks to being buried in Lien's divine power, perhaps.
"......"
Apart from slight muscle aches, his body felt fine overall. Better than it had in years, in fact—close to peak condition.
Elijah rubbed his dry face and sighed softly.
At the same time.
"......Oppa?"
A thin voice called out. Sera had woken and was looking at him. Her round emerald eyes quickly welled up.
"Oppa!"
Sera burst into tears and threw herself into Elijah's chest. The warm body burrowing into him brought a smile to his lips.
"It's okay. I'm right here."
"I thought... I thought you were gonna die right there......"
Elijah gave a wry smile. No wonder—she'd thought that because without that beam of light, he surely would have.
At a loss for words, he gently pushed her forehead with his finger.
"Why didn't you listen to me?"
"Huh?"
Sera sniffled, lifting her head with snot running.
"I told you to run."
"But......"
Sera shook her head vigorously and nestled back into his arms. Knowing what had driven her to shield him, Elijah said no more. He simply stroked her hair quietly.
The siblings clung like that for a while.
......
"So."
Elijah spoke as he watched Sera blow her nose loudly.
"What happened?"
Sera pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
"I don't really know. I remember wrapping around you...... then light came from the sky, and after that, it's all fuzzy."
"......Hm."
Elijah furrowed his brow slightly. Circumstances pointed to someone bringing them here. Fine for Sera, but treating an excommunicated man like him? The Church Headquarters wasn't that forgiving, as he knew well.
"......"
Elijah pondered. But no matter how he turned it over, all roads led to one conclusion.
'Lien's here.'
His brow creased deeper.
......If Lien had come here.
What face should he show her? What would she say, and what could he reply? No—before that, what did he even feel about Lien anymore?
'......'
He wasn't sure. Unconsciously, he clenched his fist, then released it.
He turned quietly to Sera. She tilted her head at him, red nose still sniffling. Seeing her face pushed his worries far away.
'......Right.'
It wasn't a question needing an answer now. He'd figure it out when they met. For now, the small smile beaming at him from before his eyes. Protecting that was all that mattered.
Visitors from the Church Headquarters arrived exactly two days later.
A perfunctory knock, and before permission could be given, the door opened. People entered. Stark Church emblems on white robes. Two priests and three holy knights.
......Fortunately, no Lien.
Elijah, leaning by the window, slowly took them in.
'No familiar faces......'
Not surprising. It had been nearly five years since his dismissal. The holy knights' roster already turned over quickly due to the demon wars; the past few months' intensified battles would have accelerated it further. Most faces he knew had been high-ranking anyway.
'Promoted or dead.'
Either way, irrelevant to him now.
Elijah watched them silently.
The lead priest scanned the room, then bowed toward Sera perched on the bed.
"We meet the Saintess. We come by order of His Holiness the Pope to escort you."
With that, all priests and holy knights knelt to the floor.
"What......?"
Elijah's thoughts froze for a moment.
......He'd misheard. Or the priest had misspoke.
Elijah slowly looked at Sera. She too stared blankly at the priest, doubting her ears.
"Saintess?"
Sera asked, bewildered.
"Yes."
The priest replied. His bowed head hid his expression.
As Sera froze in confusion, Elijah interjected.
"Saintess? What the hell does that mean?"
The priest finally raised his head. He glanced at Elijah, lingering briefly on the stigma, then faced Sera again, ignoring him pointedly.
"A revelation has come."
"Revelation......?"
Sera tilted her head.
"The entire empire witnessed the light descending from the heavens a few days ago."
The priest continued calmly.
"The goddess has sent a new saintess. Confirmed by His Holiness through divine oracle."
Elijah opened his mouth, then closed it. He'd seen Lien chosen as saintess. But that light had been small, barely enveloping one person.
'......'
Finally grasping it, Elijah bit his lip hard.
The goddess's authority. The one miracle a god who couldn't interfere directly with mortals could perform. Divine power was the sole force against demons. Thus, the chosen proxy bore a lifelong duty to serve the Church and empire, forsaking personal life.
But......
'Why.'
Was one not enough? Was the goddess that greedy? Lien, and now Sera too. Everything precious dragged that way.
An indescribable disgust roiled in his gut.
"Anyway......"
The priest rose slowly.
"We will escort the Saintess. Please prepare."
He declared it as if her compliance was a given.
Grind.
Elijah ground his teeth and stepped in front of Sera.
"Step aside."
The priest said flatly.
"......I've never heard of two saintesses at once."
A chill killing intent laced Elijah's low voice.
It was true. Church history lessons from his holy knight days mentioned no era with multiple saintesses.
He knew he was being stubborn too. Plenty had witnessed that massive beam piercing the night sky. Rumors would blanket the empire by now. With the Pope's oracle to boot, an ex-holy knight like him had no grounds to defy the Church.
But he wouldn't hand Sera over meekly either. A stubbornness even he couldn't explain.
"Mind your tongue. Dare you defy the goddess's will?"
The priest stepped forward. He mouthed silently, just for Elijah:
'Excommunicated trash.'
Elijah didn't respond.
The priest clicked his tongue shortly.
"That you're even alive is thanks to the Saintess beside you now. Don't forget it."
Elijah remained silent. Tense quiet filled the room.
The holy knights, refusing to yield, slowly reached for their sword hilts. The creak of leather gloves on metal sounded ominous.
As the priest opened his mouth toward them—
"......Everyone, stop."
Sera climbed down from the bed. All eyes turned to her.
Sera wedged between the priest and Elijah. A head shorter, he had to look down; the priest hastily stepped back and bowed.
"I'll go."
Short and clear.
"Sera!"
Elijah grabbed her shoulder roughly, but she turned with a gentle smile.
"Oppa. It's okay."
"But......!"
"Believe me this time."
Her beaming smile sapped the strength from his hand.
Sera faced the priest firmly.
"But I have a condition."