Chapter 72: Holy Sons
Chapter 72: Holy Sons
Roel had never bothered intentionally putting on a good face before Nora. In fact, he was more than eager to avoid her whenever possible. In the past, Nora had attributed this to her lacking charisma, but now that she was being protected by him in this labyrinth of despair, it dawned on her that something else could be at play.
She could sense that Roel didn’t dislike her. What he disliked was fawning on her. In a sense, he was quite an obstinate person, or perhaps, it might be more accurate to say that he was a prideful person. Even as the exalted princess of the Theocracy, she couldn’t hope to command subservience from him.
Yet, in times of danger, he was someone who was worth entrusting her back to.
Nora felt that she and Roel, at their core, were very similar.
Righteous, kind, and prideful, they wouldn’t allow themselves to yield in any circumstances. In fact, Roel could have made very different choices tonight, especially back at Peter Kater’s art studio. It wasn’t just Nora’s character being put to the test back then.
Faced with a deadly assassin who possessed terrifying strength far beyond either of them, even the powerful Nora could hardly keep her fear in check, let alone the weaker Roel. Yet, he stubbornly chose to hold onto his true nature, which made Nora delighted to know that she hadn’t chosen the wrong man.
It was no longer just about her desire to step on him and fulfill her sadistic tendencies anymore. Her feelings for Roel were already advancing in a direction which even she couldn’t make sense of.
It was a warm feeling, sometimes a little itchy even. Her mind would suddenly heat up from time to time, but it wasn’t an illness. She realized that she was gradually losing control of her desire to dominate him, but despite all her intelligence, she found herself unable to do a thing about it.
Somehow, there was a mysterious feeling inside telling her that as long as the two of them remained with one another, they might just be able to overcome the current crisis they were in. Having always been a logical person, she was a little baffled by how this inexplicable notion was able to easily overtake her thoughts.
Roel’s footsteps halted suddenly. Pulled back from her thoughts, Nora raised her head and noticed the blurred outlines of buildings appearing ahead of them.
It was a monastery.
It was rather humble-looking, being small in size and having an old architectural design. It was mainly built from stone, though most of its renovations consisted of wood that was of unknown origin but obviously didn’t look terribly expensive. Hanging at the main door was a wooden panel bearing the insignia of the Genesis Goddess Church. The oil lamp at the entrance was unlit, and the entire building seemed to creak at the slightest breeze.
Nora began scanning the building carefully, whereas a frown swiftly formed on Roel’s face.
“What’s with this building?”
Amidst dark shadows and the veiling fog, this sinister building looked as if it could have come right out of hell. The atmosphere around it was so chilling that it would have halted the footsteps of any human approaching it.
Roel shot a look at the surroundings and noticed a signpost demarcating their current location: Locke Street 42.
“This appears to be a minor monastery,” said Nora as she took a step forward to stand side-by-side with Roel.
In contrast to Roel’s frown, there was a pleased smile on her lips. She seemed to think that this monastery was not too bad.
The Genesis Goddess Church was incredibly massive, spanning the whole of humankind, with customs that varied greatly from country to country. Due to that, there were many different interpretations of the church doctrines too. Other than the founding principles of the religion, the church was still relatively lax on other issues.
All in all, one could segment the clergy of the Genesis Goddess Church into two types.
One was the devout ascetics who stayed in monasteries. They lived a life of abstinence, devoting all of their efforts into deciphering the teachings of the church and enlightening the masses.
The other was the priests. They were allowed to marry, and there were hardly any restraints on their actions. However, if an emergency situation occurred, they were expected to answer the church’s call and obey their dispatch.
Essentially, the clergy of the Genesis Goddess Church could choose to either live independently by themselves or become paid subordinates. The building before them was a monastery for the ascetics… and to put it bluntly, it was basically an elementary school.
It was small in size, and the knowledge they imparted would be relatively shallow. The monks and nuns that lived in such places made a living by teaching those who lived in the neighborhood. The school fees were cheap though, making it very friendly to the masses. It was a good education option for those in the lower stratum of society.
“This architectural design seems to be from Paul III’s era. It should be at least 300 years old judging from the current time we are in. It’s rare for a small monastery like this to be able to survive so long.”
Roel’s cheeks twitched a little after hearing Nora’s words of approval. It went without saying that the Little Miss Angel, who was a higher-up of the church, would have an inherently positive impression of the churches and monasteries of the same affiliation, but the same didn’t apply to him.
He only felt cold shudders running down his spine looking at this old, rundown building.
“Do you suggest we enter this monastery?”
“Mm, I think that it’s a good idea to take cover here. The building might be old, but it’s steady. There don’t seem to be marks of battles around, so there shouldn’t have been any major skirmishes in the area. I think it’ll be safer here. Besides, an old monastery like this one tends to have no lack of rations. We should be able to acquire what we’re looking for here.”
Nora’s detailed analysis of why they should enter the monastery left Roel at a loss of words to refute her. He took in a deep breath before finally bucking up his courage to step forward.
“Follow me.”
“Alright.”
Roel cautiously approached the monastery. He walked past the oil lamps, which were swaying ominously in the wind, and scanned the surroundings warily. Then, he raised his hand and attempted to push open the doors of the monastery.
“It’s locked. Seems like there are people inside.”
“I don’t think that they’re likely to be soldiers, or else there would have been someone on sentry duty outside.”
After a quick discussion, Roel and Nora deduced that the people inside could be the monks and nuns that were originally residing in the monastery, and that the risk wasn’t too high. Nora stepped forward and placed her hand on the crack between the doors. Light poured forth from her hands to form an incredibly slim blade, and she used it to sever the wooden latch locking the doors.
Bam!
The doors opened inward.
“Ah! Y-you…”
Before the two of them could enter the monastery, a shrill shriek sounded from behind the door. Roel turned to look at the origin of the sound, and he saw an orange-haired middle-aged man dressed in the robes of a monk. He looked a little thin.
“D-don’t kill me… Ah? The two of you… aren’t soldiers?”
The monk, Klaude, kneeled on the floor as he pleaded for mercy, but halfway through his words, he noticed that the two figures walking through the doorway were shorter and thinner than he had expected. They weren’t soldiers but children!
The gentle light within the room brought focus to the elegant clothes that the two children were wearing. The black-haired, golden-eyed boy looked suave with the silver sword he had in hand, and the golden-haired, sapphire-eyed girl carried an air of grace as faint light shimmered around her.
Their appearances left Klaude dumbfounded for a moment. His body shuddered as a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Wait a moment. This scene looks oddly familiar… Isn’t this the same as the Holy Sons myth?!
Klaude couldn’t help but recall a certain mural depicting the Holy Sons in the church.
The mural spoke of a legend where, during an era when the world was filled with war and suffering, Sia dispatched two envoys down to the mortal world to listen to the hardships of humankind. The envoys were known to be a boy and a girl, and they were beautiful, wise, and kind. They set out on a journey to hear the woes of mortals and offer them salvation.
Klaude stared at the pair of bizarre children standing before him. All of a sudden, an excited look appeared on his face, and his head began glowing green… or at least that was what Roel saw.
(Affection Points +100!)
(Affection Points +100!)
…
To make it even more terrifying, Klaude even began to praise Sia, speaking of how benevolent the great Sia was to send the Holy Sons down to the world and all sorts of incomprehensible nonsense.
His hysterical actions left Roel and Nora utterly dumbstruck.
“No, please hold on for a second…”
It took a great deal of effort before the two children finally managed to explain their plight and put a stop to Klaude’s hysteria. Klaude nodded after hearing their explanation, seemingly accepting their story, but in truth, the reverence he carried for the two of them still remained unabated
The reason behind this was because he noticed the evidence to prove that these two children were not ordinary mortals—the short sword the boy was carrying!
While the boy had concealed it well, Klaude was still able to discern the true identity of the sword through his keen eyes. It was one of the holy weapons that he was honored to lay his eyes upon ten years ago, when the church held a grand sermon for all clergy in the Holy Capital.
And the girl was even more so formidable. While Klaude was a powerless mortal, he still noticed the divine light that shrouded the girl when she severed the door latch. Such adept control of mana could only be achieved by a transcendent who possessed an Origin Attribute, which meant that she had to be at least Origin Level 5. On top of that, the purity of her light was even greater than that of most high priests he knew of.
Such great power on a mere child who appeared to be at most a ten-year-old?
Heh, a holy weapon and superior transcendent powers, and you claim that you’re just ordinary noble children? Yes yes, anything you say.
(Affection Points +100!)
Klaude nodded his head quietly at everything the boy and girl before him were saying, but on the inside, he was feeling gleeful at having seen through the disguise of the Holy Sons.
O’ great Sia, your grace shines on me!