"But, sir."
Hume interrupted.
"What?"
"How great is the name of Cronia?"
"Oh, right. I guess you didn't see it coming. Let's see, can you stand up to a prince?"
Lucion was referring to the Fourth Prince, Owen.
"Well, I knew it then. I've been forced to go to banquets on my father's back a few times."
[He hid his face so tightly in his cloak and hood that one would have thought he was an assassin].
Russell shook his head slightly, remembering those times.
"It was... well, it still is, but I'm not confident in my face, because everyone called me a freak."
[...huh.]
Russell sucked in a breath.
He wanted to be angry, but he couldn't bring himself to be.
"Anyway, there were times when I thought the name Cronia was so insignificant that a dog or a cow could call me that."
"And did your Lordship let that happen?"
"Well, no. Some of them I cracked over the head with a bottle, and some of them... well. I don't know. I didn't see them after that."
"You...?"
Hume looked at Lucion in disbelief.
Where the hell have you been?
I don't even know how to draw a sword.
-Lucion swung with a 'shhhh', and with a 'snap', a man lay on the ground.
[For some reason, when he swung the sword, the muscles in his wrist felt so natural. There was a reason].
Bethel's face lit up as if she'd just solved a riddle.
Cringe.
Lucion wrinkled his brow and turned to the window.
"I felt something really big?
[Carson].
Bethel licked the corner of her mouth.
[Oh. They're putting the right kind of pressure on him. The fact that Carson held up against dozens of warlocks in that tower should tell you something.]
Russell said lazily, crossing his arms.
After a moment, Lucion's eyes widened.
"The light is gone?
[The light... is... gone?]
Russell's eyes widened.
He stuttered.
[Isn't this crazy, it's a substitution, and the light is gone? I thought you were applying pressure, but I didn't think you were going to turn the light off before the substitution?]
It was Carson's work.
[I see Carson over there].
Bethel pointed ahead.
Lucion frowned, and Carson was visible in the distance, then appeared in front of the wagon in a flash, making Lucion gasp.
"......!"
He gulped.
"I only got nicked in the stomach by your sword... you were very lucky, weren't you?"
Lucion swallowed dryly.
Perhaps he had been forgiven.
Carson smiled as Hume opened the carriage door.
"The light is gone, so you can come out now."
"The light is... gone?"
"I saw a compromise."
[Blackmail].
Russell said, glancing at Carson.
The flicker of unextinguished mana remained.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Lucion asked, Carson still grinning.
"I told you, Cronia's name is expensive."
"You are truly remarkable, First Master!"
Hume said, his voice rising in admiration.
The corners of Carson's mouth turned up slightly at that.
"Aye. You're not a kid and you're not going to get into trouble, so I'm good."
Lucion decided otherwise.
"Yeah. Let's go."
* * *
-It's uncle Troy!
Latta's tail twitched as she walked along happily.
-There's uncle Troy up ahead! Yippee! Latta is already excited!
"Lu, Lucion, he, I mean your brother, is crazy!"
Heint, who had been waiting for Lucion at the entrance, immediately jumped at the sight of Lucion.
"Watch your tongue, Heint."
Carson's eyebrows wiggled.
"You should be careful what you say. For God's sake, you're the only one who's ever unleashed mana with the intent to kill a High Priest. You madman!"
"I didn't draw my sword."
"That's a given...!"
"The one I sold was named Cronia."
Exactly.
Heint smacked me in the forehead with Carson's next words.
-High Priestess. Pray I don't draw this sword, for even if I slit your throat, I, and Cronia, will not disappear.
Throwing away respect and pressuring the High Priest with the threat of killing him if he didn't comply with his demands was called 'blackmail' in the world.
"See, Lucion?"
"That was very brotherly."
Lucion smiled, and Heint looked back and forth between Lucion and Carson with his mouth open.
[They do look alike].
Bethel giggled.
"I didn't go inside, so I don't know what happened. But you made it easy for me to come, and... I have to admit, I'm a little worried."
"Don't worry, Lucion. The barrier of light surrounding the Great temple is up and running again now, and we've compromised to only turn it off when you enter, this place you're in now, and when you leave."
Carson's eyes were slightly harsh as he looked at Heint.
"I'm not that cruel. I just opened a gate to the Great temple, just like I opened a gate to the walls of the Cronia, but I didn't touch the walls of the Great temple."
Knowing how important the walls were to Cronia, Carson didn't even touch the walls of the Great temple.
"If something happens in there, the Great Hall will stand. If it doesn't, then we should drop the 'Great' from the name."
If Cronia had stood by its border so far, so would the Great temple.
Carson looked at the situation coolly, then pointed to the door.
"Go in, Lucion."
"Aren't we going in together?"
Lucion asked, and Heint smirked.
"Nevast, his terms were you and divine beast, so don't worry."
"If we can't take Hume, can we take Latta?"
Lucion asked, picking up Latta, who sat beside him and wagged her tail.
-Latta is forked. Latta misses uncle Troy so much!
"Latta... Latta is fine!"
Heint replied, looking into Latta's glazed eyes.
"Okay. You can have Latta."
Carson petted Latta.
What threat could the little fox be?
"Thank you."
Lucion stifled a laugh.
A high priest of Nevast who had met both Light and Dark besides himself.
He found it amusing.
"I'll be on my way, then, and you get some rest, Hume."
Lucion looked from Carson and Heint to Hume.
"It is my pleasure to wait for you, Master, but I will try."
Hume narrowed his eyes.
Lucion knew that even if he said that, Hume would still be waiting at the door.
[Don't you think we should make room for him, too?]
Bethel hesitated.
[No. If we don't try too hard, we won't be seen. I'll be there if you need me.]
Russell pointed to himself smugly.
[And you're wondering if that high priest of Nevast's is going to say anything, aren't you?]
Russell nudged Bethel as he spoke, and she feigned contemplation before nodding.
[...I do wonder about that.]
[I knew it].
She averted her gaze in embarrassment as Russell smirked at Bethel.
* * *
It took a total of three doors before they reached the place where Nevast's high priestess and Troy were.
"......."
Lucion stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the High Priest.
[Holy.......]
Bethel frowned.
"I apologize, High Priestess. This lowly servant has sinned beyond redemption. How can I repay you for this sin?"
Even though he seemed sincere, he didn't know why his tearful penance seemed so awkward.
[...It's pretty convincing for an actor].
Russell crossed his arms, a little nervously.
[If this is an act, I'm willing to give it a thumbs up].
Bethel's eyes, now sharpened, turned to the high priest of Nevast.
-uncle Troy!
Latta slid down from Lucion's arms and approached Troy, rubbing her head.
She was so happy to see him she could have flown with her tail.
-Yes, Latta, you've grown up again.
Troy looked away from the high priest and crouched down to make eye contact with Latta.
-Yep! Latta's going to grow up to be just like you, uncle Troy!
-Welcome.
Troy continued to greet them.
Only then did the high priest turn and look at Lucion.
The high priest crawled to his feet and approached Lucion.
"What, what are you doing?"
Lucion was flustered, but he resisted the urge to kick him.
The high priest kissed Lucion's foot.
It was a word that meant submission, and Lucion was even more confused.
[What's wrong with him?]
Russell stuttered.
"This lowly servant dares to greet the saint."
"Why are you doing this?"
Lucion's voice rose slightly at the introduction of the high priest.
Like Russell, he had no good memories with priests, and to top it all off, this was a priest of Nevast, which made him feel disgusted, as if he had dirt on his feet.
-Lucion.
Troy called Lucion affectionately.
-I know how bad you must feel.
'This isn't just bad.'
Lucion swallowed the words that rose to his throat.
-But I need you to trust me and talk to the priest, will that be... difficult?
Troy's clear eyes filled with remorse.
Troy had done nothing wrong.
He had only been betrayed by the priests.
"Why are you so stupid?"
Lucion breathed out, his shoulders drooping at Troy's request.
"Saint. I hope you will listen to this lowly servant, albeit a dirty one."
The high priest spoke while still lying flat on the ground.
"...Ha."
Lucion sighed and flicked a strand of hair over his forehead.
"Would you mind getting up so we can talk?"
"I am not worthy to see eye to eye with a saint. Right now, I can't trust anyone, so I had no choice but to disrespect a saint like this, and for that, I apologize deeply."
"What do you mean you can't trust anyone?"
Lucion asked, first sitting down next to Troy.
If he's comfortable prostrate like that, why stop him?
He'll keep doing it.
"I am a priest of Nevast, but I have run away."
"Run away from whom?"
Lucion gestured to the tea and dessert that had been set out in advance.
"The Holy State of Nevast, on the run from itself."
Lucion took the tea in his hand and blew on it.
"I could no longer... no longer... do what I should not have done as a human being, as a priest, as one blessed by the Light...!"
At the sudden intensity of the High Priest's confession, Lucion took a sip of his tea, set it down, and looked at the High Priest.
-If you ask me if he can be trusted, well, he did some bad things in the beginning, but he's really reformed now.
Lucion thought as he recalled the Darkness' confession.
"That's not unlike what the Darkness told me."
-Lucion. 'He confessed his sins to me, too, and said he was ashamed. He's done wrong, and he asks for my forgiveness.
Troy stroked Latta and spoke quietly.
-But I couldn't... tell him that I was okay.
Lucion's eyes widened for a moment.
"Why."
He was angry.
"Why do you say it's okay, Troy?"
Part of me wanted to confess my fault.
Part of me wanted to reassure him that it was okay.
"...Ha."
Lucion took another deep breath at this strange combination.
-Lu, Lucion. Eat a cookie and blow off steam!
Latta looked at Lucion's narrowed brow and quickly jumped up on the table, pushing the bowl to his head.
[Yeah. Eat something sweet to calm your temper].
Bethel also pointed to the cookies.
"If you knew you weren't supposed to do that, you shouldn't have done it."
Lucion looked at the bowl Latta had filled and opened his mouth to speak.
His voice did not rise.
"If you knew it was such a shameful thing to do, why did you do it?"
"...One day, a god came to me."
'Not God, but Veronia.'
Lucion swallowed hard, his mouth itching.
He had to hear this story.
It was Nevast's purpose, and it was what Veronia wanted to do.
-...God?
Troy paused.
This was something he hadn't heard.
Lucion petted the confused Troy.
The touch of his soft fur calmed his nerves.
"The god spoke to us, telling us to save the world. ...but funnily enough, none of us believed him, for he was a god, and the unpleasantness of his nature prevailed."
-Troy. If a god had descended upon this earth, I should not have known it.
[Troy. There's nothing in his words that says God has descended, and if he has, what is it that he says about it, when he hasn't even seen him?]
Russell spoke up.
"But as a demonstration of his great power, he erased one of the temples built in Nevast. It just... disappeared before our eyes."
[Who the hell is this god he's talking about, then?]
Russell furrowed his brow as the high priest spoke.
-...You mean him? He's the one.......
Troy stopped all movement.
He just looked at the High Priest with shaky eyes.
"Everyone was in a panic, for the supposedly merciful God of Light had erased the temple, the people, and all who lived there. I... I sensed something was wrong, but......."
The high priest clasped his hands together, biting his lip as if he were praying to the gods.
"But if it really is the God of Light... what does that make me, who swore to follow him, and so I followed blindly. I closed my eyes until he erased the Kingdom of Keortia, corrupted the holy relics, and... killed the divine beasts..."
"No. Your gods are divine beasts."
Lucion could listen no longer.
So he spoke up for Troy.
"You killed your god with your own hands."
"......."
The high priest slowly raised his head.
"How do I know that, you ask?"
Lucion sneered at the high priest.
"I am a saint. A saint handpicked by the Gods themselves."
He rose from his seat and looked down at the High Priest.
"I'm sure you've been wondering all these years why I became a saint."
Lucion's mouth curled into a sneer.
"Because I hear the voice of the Gods, the voice you can't hear."