[Saintess, Anastasia Lacroix - 06]
[Saintess, Anastasia Lacroix - 06]
"Saintess-nim, thank you for this grace of the Goddess."
"My goodness, to think I'm healed instantly. This truly is the grace of the Goddess."
It's my grace, actually.
I gave the permission, and I did the healing, so why is the Goddess, who did absolutely nothing, the one receiving the thanks?
Besides, my current ability is just my original power, before I've even awakened as a Saintess, for crying out loud.
If they want to thank someone, they should be praising me with, "Thank you, Anastasia-nim!"
I couldn't understand why the Goddess, who did nothing, was receiving thanks on my behalf, but I couldn't let it show on my face, so I smiled and said,
"I'm glad you seem to be safe. I'm also happy that my power, however meager, was able to help."
"Saintess-nim, I heard you weren't feeling well."
"I, being immature, lacked confidence in myself and ended up doubting the Goddess's choice. I thought someone like me shouldn't dare to be a Saintess, but I have accepted that fate and am able to stand here once again."
"I, I see."
Honestly, I didn't know why this kind of talk was convincing.
It was basically telling a child who didn't want to be a Saintess that the Goddess cursed them.
Yet, the fact that everything the Goddess does is treated as correct... what should I call it? It felt like people had given up on thinking when it came to religion.
Ed says religion is also used to accept phenomena that can't be understood to some extent.
Even if you think about a phenomenon and research it, if there's no answer, you just say, 'This is the Goddess's doing,' and most people will accept it, even if there's no logic or understanding behind the phenomenon.
I'm probably on the side of the minority, though.
"Thank you, thank you."
"Please get home safely."
Honestly, healing wounds or illnesses was easy.
It wasn't that difficult, and I wondered, 'Why is it a problem that they can't heal these kinds of wounds?' But the number of people with an aptitude for healing magic wasn't that high, and high-level healing mages were even rarer.
Even if they could handle wounds, healing mages who could cure curses, poisons, and illnesses were truly rare.
In other words, it meant I was a very rare healing mage who could use that magic.
Plus, I can even self-heal.
Seeing that even Ed couldn't self-heal, I could tell how difficult a realm of magic self-healing was.
"Ah, Saintess-nim. Please forgive me. In the past, I turned my eyes to another woman despite having a wife, so..."
"I forgive you. The Goddess will be watching over you."
Honestly, this time is the most painful and boring.
No, I don't know why they come here to do this for things they did wrong themselves, but Ed says this is one of the necessary functions of religion.
"I confess my sins."
"I forgive you."
Murder.
Adultery.
Theft.
People who had committed various crimes, enough to call this a paradise of crime, came.
Or there were those who came to repent after committing sins in a moral sense that were subtle enough not to receive legal punishment.
For my part, I wondered if it was okay to just forgive these people and let them repent.
But Ed said:
"The cross of sin must be carried by the individuals themselves, but religion, of all places, should not abandon such people."
"Why?"
"Then where would those people go?"
"..."
If even religion abandons them, where on earth are they supposed to go?
At those words, I was slightly speechless.
Just being an ex-convict would make the world look at them with unfavorable eyes, and it was true that they had actually done bad things.
Even if there were unavoidable circumstances, a sin was a sin, and even if they had received proper legal punishment, the cross of sin called a 'criminal record' never disappears.
Ed had said that religion is a safety net that keeps them from falling to the end of the abyss.
Other places might not, but religion must believe that 'humans can change if they repent,' and must value 'current life and change.'
Besides, if even the community called religion abandons them, the only path left for them is to commit more crimes, and they won't be able to return to society.
Community.
Indeed, religion itself might be a small community that exists to maintain the community.
Thinking about it that way, it seemed somewhat understandable.
Because if they were abandoned by everything for a single sin, and even abandoned by the Goddess religion, which claims to embrace everything, there would be nowhere left for them to go but the end of an even darker abyss.
"Ed. Is today's work finished?"
"Yes, everyone's schedule is finished. You worked hard today as well."
"But there aren't as many as I thought."
"There are still people who don't know that the Saintess-nim has returned to work, and above all, there is the consultation fee for the Saintess-nim."
"What? It costs money to meet me?"
"Yes, it's not on the expensive side, but it is a burdensome amount for people with unstable or low incomes."
"..."
I frowned for a moment.
"I don't remember receiving any money?"
"That's because it becomes the Cathedral's money."
"...Is that under my authority?"
"For now, yes. The pretext is not healing fees or anything like that, but rather an offering given to the Saintess-nim."
"Then don't take it from now on."
"..."
I put sugar cubes into my black tea as if it were a bother and stirred it with a spoon.
I was craving sweetness especially today, so I kept putting sugar cubes into the black tea.
"Are you saying you want to do it for free entirely?"
"Yeah, you said it's pocket change in the grand scheme of things, right? Then there's no need to take it, is there? Don't tell me our Goddess religion is shaken by just this much money? Are we that broke?"
"No, that's not it, but... Understood. I will convey it to the Pope. However, if people hear the news, they might come looking for you unnecessarily. It would be better to set a minimum amount."
"Is that so?"
"Of course, I don't know if the Saintess-nim doesn't mind, but if they know it's free, they might come for really trivial matters. Even if that happens, it's not necessarily a bad thing, but there is a possibility that the Saintess-nim will become insanely busy."
"Hmm."
That's a bit of a problem.
Conditions.
It's a bit much to make a fuss over pocket change, so isn't there a good way?
"No, let's keep it free for the time being. Even if we change it later, I think it's better to do that for now."
"Are you sure?"
"I'll just think of it as volunteering for a while. Rather than them not coming when they're sick and dying, isn't it better for those dying wretches to feel the grace of life from me? For my reputation, I mean."
"That is true."
Of course, there's no guarantee that everyone I save will be grateful to me and contribute to my reputation.
Depending on the person, there will be those who don't know the grace even after I save their lives and heal them.
But naturally, most people will feel gratitude for being saved, and especially if I save them from a life-or-death crisis, they will view me favorably.
Regardless of what I was thinking inside, it was obvious that my reputation would improve if it was a life I had saved.
"Come to think of it, a huge number of letters have arrived."
"Why?"
"The fact that the Saintess-nim has started activities in earnest hasn't been fully known among the commoners yet, but naturally, the nobles already know. Most are formal letters of congratulations, and a few are letters regarding engagement."
"Engagement?"
"The Saintess-nim is currently 13 years old, but nobles are originally supposed to have fiancés at that age. There are even people who do it earlier."
Looking at it that way, can you say that both Elin and I are late in having fiancés?
Such talk often came up at Elin's birthday party, too.
Engagement, huh.
It's an important matter connecting family to family, so it's not that I don't understand the obsession.
I said while drinking black tea.
"Does the Saintess-nim have any interest? If you want to make allies, it might be good to gain the power of a family by getting engaged."
"Ha, you're joking, right? I am the family, I won't decide on a fiancé for such a trivial reason."
"Is that so? Well, do as you please. Among the past Saintesses, there were cases where they lived as single, and in the Saintess-nim's case, marriage is not mandatory. Considering that all sorts of noble marriages are often used as political tools, being able to choose the option of 'not doing it' might be called a privilege of the Saintess."
"..."
"...Why are you like that?"
"No, it's nothing."
Marriage.
Something people who love each other do.
Love.
Is it love?
I looked at Ed for a moment while drinking black tea.
"By the way, Ed, this is just a small question."
"Yes, please go ahead."
"Is there no one else in this Cathedral who knows how to use healing magic besides me? They could work too."
"There is such a custom. Except for emergencies, it's for the Saintess-nim to exist alone as a figurehead."
In other words, unless a large number of people come with fatal injuries, the usual healing work is left entirely to me as a custom.
Then, was the reason they didn't like me until now because I couldn't follow that custom, and they were annoyed because they had to do the healing themselves?
How narrow-minded.
"Ah, that's a bit annoying."
"I understand your feelings, but since the Saintess-nim hasn't achieved anything yet, please endure it until you can break the custom. Later, when all citizens call you the true Saintess, and your track record and experience have accumulated, then let's try charging at the higher-ups and talking to them."
"..."
A track record, huh.
Leaving aside right and wrong, does it mean I need reputation, status, and a track record to change the system of my situation and such?
I finished drinking the black tea, put it down, and said.
"I'm going to go take my lesson."
"Yes."
"Ah, right. Teach me that."
"What?"
"How to untie the Mana-Sealing Rope."
"Understood, I will prepare it right away."
I need power.
I know that ending things by talking peacefully is best.
But there will be cases where no matter how much I talk, it's useless, and in the worst case, I might have to let go of it with my own hands.
I looked at Ed.
'Absolutely not that.'
At least in the worst case.
So that I can tear everything apart with force.
I desperately needed power and knowledge.