The Reincarnator's Essential Virtue
Having no status window is the essential virtue of a reincarnator. I'm exhausted. Not my body—my mind is utterly drained. The Saintess Front Knights? What a joke. They were all lunatics. The moment they saw me, roughly two or three hundred of them erupted into cheers all at once. I couldn't understand why they liked me so much. Using my victory in some bet as an excuse, I pried Boat away from where he was gleefully fleecing his subordinates of their money and made my escape. All the while, I did my best to ignore the shouts of "The Saintess Candidate is embarrassed!" and "Aaaagh! She's the cuteness of this world!"
It wasn't embarrassment. It was fear, you lunatics.
In the end, I chose to open the prayer books and study. I had no confidence I could endure an atmosphere where hundreds of people would go wild over every single word I said. It was a perfect opportunity to feel, once again, that whether in my past life or this one, I was never meant to be popular. No—more than that. Until just recently, I couldn't even speak a single word. What the hell had my past self done? I never expected that having no memories would be this frustrating. If even a fragment felt like it was about to surface, I might have tried to recover them, but there was nothing. Just a blank page.
I asked Boat, who called himself my education officer.
"Boat."
"Yes, Lady Levia."
"About the Saintess Front Knights."
"Yes."
"Why are they like that?"
"It's a bit long to explain, but you can think of it as them being grateful to you, Lady Levia, and expressing their faith as holy knights in a slightly misguided way."
"Their faith as holy knights?"
"Protect the weak. Never retreat before an enemy. Eradicate evil. And never lose faith. Those are the tenets."
"I'm not weak, though."
"Haha. I didn't mean to dismiss you. Still, you are a child."
My mind is an adult, though. Not that he'd believe me. It would just sound like a kid puffing up their chest and claiming, "I'm all grown up!"
"Haa..."
I might as well study. It's not like I had anything else to do. I picked up the nearest book and opened the first page. Then immediately closed it. Yeah. Not happening. Time to find somewhere else to hide.
Just as I thought that—
"That won't work this time."
Boat's firm voice cut in.
"Huh? What won't?"
"You already ran away once. It won't work again."
Damn it. This is why I hate sharp adults.
"I don't get it. Why do I have to do this? You said it wouldn't even be useful."
"Because you're the Saintess Candidate?"
"No, seriously... why?!"
I almost swore. It was the ultimate excuse. The reason my life had been threatened? Because I was the Saintess Candidate. The reason I had to read dozens of useless prayer books? Because I was the Saintess Candidate.
"To be honest, I don't know either."
You're supposed to be my education officer, you goat-bearded old man. What was I supposed to do if even he didn't know?
"Didn't you say you were my education officer?"
"I did."
"Then why don't you know?"
"This is the first I've heard of it as well, but these prayer books are normally nothing more than reference material for clergy. They're only studied briefly because they appear on the theoretical exam for ordination. That's how other clergy understand it."
"And?"
"The Cardinal said these prayer books were originally prepared for the Saintess or Saintess Candidates. That's why every Saintess and Candidate throughout history has read them all. It's a duty passed down from generation to generation."
What a ridiculous duty.
"This is clearly absurd. Has no one ever tried to change it?"
"How could anyone dare speak of such a thing? Not when it was ordered by that person."
"Who could be so important?"
"The First Hero, of course."
Just what kind of grudge did the First Hero have against the Saintess to create such a stupid obligation? I'd assumed that if a Saintess existed, a Hero would too, but the image of the Hero I'd just learned was apparently the embodiment of absurdity. My mental image of the Hero plummeted straight down. I sincerely hoped I'd lose my Saintess Candidate qualification soon and never meet the Hero of this era. They definitely wouldn't be normal.
Wait. Something felt off.
"Then why are you here? You haven't done anything. You just dumped the prayer books on me and sat around. What kind of education officer does that?"
"Ah, you caught me."
"..."
"I was hoping to slack off using this as an excuse, but I've been found out. Hahaha! As expected, you're very perceptive, Lady Levia!"
"...Where's the Archbishop?"
"Pardon? Why are you looking for that old— I mean, why do you need him?"
I was going to file a formal complaint. With Benedict gone, the only person I could take this to was Archbishop Carlo. No matter how much I'd said I wanted to quit being the Saintess Candidate, how could they assign this guy as my education officer?
"Where is he? I'm going to ask for a new education officer. Tell me. Now."
"W-wait a moment. Is that really necessary?"
Boat looked visibly flustered. Aha. So that was his weak point.
"You're not going to tell me? Fine. I'll find him myself."
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! Something else! I'll teach you something else instead!"
"It's fine. Go play with the other knights. Someone else can teach me."
"You won't have to study these prayer books anymore! I was wrong, so please, anything but that! I'll die!"
"Really?"
"Of course! What's the point of learning something useless anyway? We should study something practical! Yes!"
"Alright then."
Note to self: Archbishop Carlo is the Saintess Front Knights' weakness. Thanks. As expected, Archbishop Carlo is the best. I'll have to make good use of this in the future.
* * *
"Ahem."
Boat cleared his throat, perhaps embarrassed by his earlier display, and straightened his previously slouched posture as if nothing had happened. Not that I could blame him—I'd be mortified too. For the record, he told me Archbishop Carlo had gone out on patrol with several knights and wouldn't return until evening.
"So, what are you going to teach me?"
"Well... I can teach you most things."
"...?"
"I may not look it, but I was once called an elite. I come from a count's family, possess more divine power than most, and even placed second at the Imperial Academy."
"Oh..."
"If only I hadn't been tricked by that damned old Archbishop...!"
The way he kept calling Archbishop Carlo a "damned old man" suggested he had quite a few accumulated grievances. Poor guy. In short, he was saying he was multi-talented, so I should just tell him what I wanted to learn.
In that case, there was only one answer.
"About divine power?"
"Excellent. Since you've received the blessing, it's important to understand it properly."
Boat looked genuinely delighted, muttering something about how being the future Saintess's teacher of holy arts was an honor for his family. Sorry, but that's not what this is. Think of it more like the runaway ninja teacher from that famous ninja manga.
"Shall we start with the basics, then?"
Completely missing my inner thoughts, Boat began his explanation.
"Divine power is the easiest to use among the forces humans can wield, yet the hardest to obtain, and the one with the clearest limitations. The prerequisite for divine power is either being acknowledged by a god through faith, or being chosen by a god. The total amount one can obtain varies greatly from person to person." That much was review. What caught my attention was the new part about clear limitations.
"What do you mean by clear limitations? Does that mean you can't grow anymore?"
"For the most part, yes. It remains unchanged throughout one's life."
"So there is a way?"
"Well... the possibility is slim, but in the end, it's all according to the god's will."
In other words, if Lumentis took a liking to you, they'd just hand over more. What a calculating and willful god Lumentis was. I kind of wanted to meet them. There were quite a few things I wanted to ask. Whether I'd actually be able to meet them was another matter. Would praying get a response?
"In any case, that's why divine power is mostly used as support."
Apparently, very few people could fight using divine power as their main force. That was why Benedict and Archbishop Carlo were considered exceptional. Boat still only knew that I'd "become able to use" divine power—he didn't seem to realize I was one of those rare few who could wield it as a primary force.
"Take holy knights, for example. You can't become a holy knight by handling only divine power. You must also be able to wield mana through long years of training."
If you couldn't handle mana to a certain level, you either had to switch to priesthood or couldn't qualify for ordination until you could.
"Can divine power and mana coexist?"
"Yes. Divine power is the power of the gods. It can coexist with any force except its polar opposite, magi."
Maybe it was just because I'd only met lunatics so far, but apparently this was actually impressive. Using two different powers at once. It was like those magic swordsmen who wield both magic and a sword.
"A holy knight's combat style is powerful and unique. They imbue their mana with the holy attribute while using divine power to strengthen their own and their allies' bodies, and even heal injuries."
Mana and the body were the main focus; divine power was the support.
"Priests are similar, though they rarely participate directly in combat."
"All techniques that use divine power for healing, strengthening, purification, and protection are collectively called holy arts."
Having finished his explanation, Boat drew his sword with a grin.
"Now, it's time for practical training."
He said he'd demonstrate two holy arts, gripping his sword with both hands in a vertical slash stance.
"Grant me the light that shall annihilate evil."
His sword began to glow with a pale golden light. That was the holy attribute bestowal. Then Boat dispelled the attribute and sliced his own palm with the blade.
"O merciful god, bestow your gentle touch upon this place."
The wound on his palm closed instantly. A healing holy art.
"Would you like to try?"
After watching all of this, I couldn't understand.
"Do you have to pray?"
"Yes."
"Really? I didn't need to."
"Pardon? That's impossible."
"I'm telling you it works. Bring the sword over here."
Though doubtful, Boat brought the sword to me. I channeled divine power into it. The blade began to shine far more brilliantly than when Boat had done it.
"There. Holy attribute bestowal."
I deliberately cut my hand on the blade, then sent divine power through it to heal the wound.
"And healing."
"See? It works without praying."
"Wh... This can't be..."
Boat stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. Judging by that look, it seemed prayers really were necessary to use holy arts. Ah. Was it because I was a reincarnator? After all, having no status window was the essential virtue of a reincarnator. Though I had no evidence for that.