My Nerdy Neighbor Is the Master of the Magic Tower
Chapter 33
“Do you know what the greatest defining characteristic of the human being is? It is that they are creatures of constant longing. Humans, who once longed for sufficient food, clothing, and shelter, for a safe life, for a happy life—once those were satisfied, they began to crave even more.”
“…….”
“Coveting what belongs to others, stealing, even harming one another. Eventually, they went so far as to crave the very power and position of God.”
To a woman who had lived in a world with a history stained by war, this story was hardly surprising. She calmly waited for the expected conclusion.
“Disappointed by greedy and foolish humanity, God eventually departed from this land.”
As expected.
The Pope, having dryly recited the gloomy ending, toyed with the tip of his fingers against a rosary engraved with the Temple emblem.
“However, God’s love is so vast and deep that humans cannot dare to comprehend or emulate it, and thus, He could not abandon us entirely.”
“…….”
“The merciful God still grants miracles to those who believe in and follow Him, and He personally watches over them. This Divine Power is the proof.”
His golden eyes, a symbol of immense holy power, vanished beneath his eyelids for a moment before revealing themselves vividly again.
Cecilia reflexively touched the area around her eyes. Her own golden eyes were surely shining just like the Pope’s.
“Therefore, those who have received God’s affection have an obligation to bestow the grace they have received, to look after others, and to use that power for good in accordance with God’s will.”
“……I see.”
Perhaps it was because she had lived a life defined more by distrust than faith.
Even after hearing the Pope’s story, she didn’t feel a sudden surge of the duty and responsibility a ‘Saintess’ ought to have. Nor could she understand the Pope’s firm, upright convictions.
Whether he sensed a faint resistance in her lackluster response, the Pope added with a gentle smile.
“Of course, this is merely my own realization and belief. You may pursue your own faith, Saintess-nim.”
“…….”
“This is a secret, but I actually wandered quite a bit before I realized my role. I was once caught trying to run away to avoid participating in the Relief Festival ceremony.”
Bringing his index finger to his lips, he lowered his voice and made a slight confession.
“But please, do not run away during the ceremony. The Archbishop might use that as an excuse to try and go to God’s side.”
……So you knew the Archbishop wasn’t normal.
Adding the playful remark, the Pope turned his head toward the window where darkness had fallen.
“I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
* * *
The day of the Relief Festival.
The Grand Temple was always a place where many people came and went, but today, the crowds gathered until the end of the line was nowhere in sight.
Sena, who had her forehead pressed against the window watching the bustling scenery outside, let out constant exclamations of awe.
“Wow, it’s full of people! I think everyone came to see you, Saintess-nim!”
“Is that so?”
Despite the unwelcome news, Cecilia had no thoughts. Because she had no thoughts.
Ah, the thought that she really wanted to go home was surging within her, though. Unlike the gloomy protagonist, a highly excited Sena came running over like a hopping rabbit.
“Saintess-nim!”
“Yes?”
The child seemed to check the reactions of the busy priests passing by before standing on her tiptoes to whisper in her ear.
“You are as beautiful as God today! No, actually, a little bit more than God!”
The child’s cheeks were flushed a lovely color as she beamed.
After lightly stroking Sena’s hair, Cecilia turned her gaze to a nearby mirror.
The white ceremonial robe, which Kiar had badgered her into choosing and tailoring, was extremely elegant, with intricate gold embroidery from the neckline to the hem of the skirt. The soft cloak draped over her shoulders trailed long past her feet onto the floor, and a gold crown shaped like woven leaves glittered atop her head.
Objectively speaking, she was the very image of a ‘Saintess’ overflowing with holiness.
‘Unlike this shell, the inside isn’t devout at all, though.’
It was just as she was harboring a bitter smile, recalling her conversation with the Pope last night.
Tap.
Startled by a cool sensation touching the back of her hand, she jerked her head around. Liri, who had approached soundlessly, was tightly clutching a glass filled with water.
“Um, I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought some water…… D-Do you not need it?”
“No, I was actually thirsty. Thanks, Liri.”
As Cecilia took the glass, her hand slightly brushed against Liri’s fingers. In an instant, the child flinched back like a squirrel.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Hmm?”
Cecilia let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a question, looking down at the small, round head with a look of feigned seriousness.
Liri’s reaction was definitely strange. For the past few days, she would linger around her like a puppy even when not called, yet if a hand or a gaze so much as touched her, she would tremble like a small animal, at a total loss.
‘Is she still uncomfortable with me?’
While she moistened her throat and tried to gauge the child’s expression hidden by her mass veil, this time, she was the one who became uncomfortable.
“It is time to head out.”
It was because Archbishop Kiar had appeared. Even on a day like today, he stood motionless in the doorway, wearing his usual pitch-black priest’s robes and a pitch-black complexion.
“Gasp! Archbishop-nim! W-we can escort the Saintess-nim ourselves…….”
“It is more efficient for a human whose time is as abundant as trash to move.”
“……Pardon?”
Seeing the priests hurriedly bowing their heads, he was clearly a figure of immense status. Why was it that, unlike the Pope, she felt neither intimacy nor respect for him?
Leaving the stiffened priests behind, Cecilia followed the Archbishop with a lukewarm attitude.
“Are we going straight to the ceremony site?”
“Yes. I wonder if you are fully prepared……. No, the ceremonial robe is perfect, so it should be fine.”
“I suppose so.”
Since you tore it apart and fixed it so many times.
She crossed the Temple, making an effort to ignore the face of the satisfied ceremonial-robe-maniac. Passing through the familiar path, a clear, wide lake and a grandly decorated altar appeared.
With the flickering orange flames of the magnificently carved candles, the flowers decorating the altar, and even His Holiness the Pope taking his place looking like the ‘God’s Proxy,’ the area felt quite different from when she had seen it before.
And even more overwhelming than that was the staggering number of people.
The moment Cecilia stepped toward the altar, a sweltering heat hit her and a loud roar of noise rushed in. Some of the people who spotted the Saintess began to shout, “Whoa!”
“The Saintess! The Saintess has come out!”
Only after being thrown into the middle of this vivid scene did Cecilia suddenly feel a sense of reality. Standing below the altar where she had arrived in a daze, she gripped her skirt tightly ahead of her formal appearance.
The Archbishop, who had been staring down at her white-knuckled fist, spoke first.
“Are you nervous?”
“I was fine until a moment ago, but now I’m starting to feel a bit of tension.”
“There is no need to worry. If you are the ‘Saintess,’ God will surely watch over you in the face of any ordeal.”
Kiar, offering words that were impossible to tell if they were mockery or encouragement, lightly placed his hand on her shoulder.
A faint light seemed to flow from beneath his palm, and soon a warm energy gently wrapped around her body.
“Now, go on up. You have prepared diligently…… well, not exactly, but you did prepare in your own way, so you will do well.”
In the brief moment she felt a tiny bit moved by his uncharacteristic consideration, Kiar, having withdrawn his hand, added one more thing.
“Well, if a problem occurs, I can finally go to God’s side, so that’s good in its own way too.”
‘Of course.’
At his usual gloomy attitude, her tension receded like the tide.
“I’ll have to do well just to interfere with your wish, Archbishop-nim.”
With a small smirk, Cecilia took her steps with a much lighter heart.
As she ascended the high altar, she could feel the focus of everyone’s attention on her skin. Cecilia kept her back as straight as possible and approached the Pope’s side with refined steps.
She bowed her head slightly as if responding to the Pope’s gentle eye greeting. Once Cecilia took her place behind the Pope, the ceremony continued.
“God asked the human who cried out in thirst from lack: what makes you so sorrowful that you weep and weep again? The human replied: even if I fill my stomach and moisten my throat, I am as hollow as a cracked vessel, and thus I cannot know the existence of joy. To which God responded: then I shall plant a seed within you. If you give it water and sunlight with all your heart and soul, you shall surely be gifted with ‘happiness’ in a place not far away. Therefore, we who have received God’s grace possess the seed of happiness and the possibility of making it sprout, no matter what hardships we face.”
While the gentle yet powerful prayer was being recited, she discreetly scanned the area below the altar.
In the closest vicinity, she could see high-ranking priests, her father—the head of the Weberdin family—and even the unwelcome face of Knox. In a corner, Sena and the assistant priests she had become acquainted with were holding their hands together with dreamy expressions.
However…….
The man with the purple eyes, whose face would shine even when mixed in a crowd, was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did he not come?’
He wasn’t the type of person to break a promise.
Just as disappointment was about to bloom, she finally spotted a suspicious person wearing a robe at the very edge of the crowd.
‘I had a feeling, but a robe again?’
Cecilia, who almost burst out laughing despite herself, quickly curled her lips inward.
Around that time, the Pope’s prayer for blessing and peace concluded successfully.
“Saintess, come here.”
“Yes.”
Following the Pope, Cecilia swallowed a sip of red fruit wine and a single red berry placed on the altar.
Then, the Pope ignited a white flame filled with Divine Power in a prepared torch and handed it to her.
“Under God’s care, I give thanks for the safety and well-being of all.”
Cecilia briefly recited a prayer glorifying and honoring God, then carefully moved toward the rowboat by the lakeside.
The dragging cloak was extremely inconvenient, but thanks to practicing until she was sick of it, she was able to board the rowboat quite gracefully.
The boat drifted slowly toward the center of the lake even though no one was rowing, as if it were a magnetic object.
‘I just have to throw this torch into that, and it’s over.’
When she successfully threw the torch into the large brazier, white flames surged up in an instant. Rather than being threatening, the overwhelming flames flickered warmly like Divine Power.
Cecilia, staring blankly at the flames that seemed more like they were ‘shining’ than ‘burning,’ let out a breath she had been holding.
Now, once she truly returned, this burdensome event and her tedious Temple life would all be over.
But as they say, it’s not over until it’s over.
Crack!
Along with an ominous noise that should not have been heard, her feet became wet. Surprisingly, lake water was bubbling up through a gap in the bottom of the rowboat.
