The Paladin Owns the Relic

198 – The Beginning of the Journey (1)

Eve smiled broadly after hearing my story. She even trembled.

“De, finally…! It’s coming…! I thought this day would come someday, but it came so soon…!”

“Because it’s my first purchase, it might be a little difficult…”

“It’s hard to believe that the priest has become a divine being… But he’s completely in favor of establishing a religion! When doctrines harden, order collapses, and greedy people stand at the head of the church.”

“I’m not that kind of a guy…”

“But better than them. Ruler. Teacher Let me ask you one thing. The religion that the religious leader will establish in the future… What kind of religion do you want it to be?”

“Do you really need it?”

“Any group should have a goal. You have to keep trying to get closer to the utopia, so the group can’t harden.”

What kind of religion…

I was troubled. The answer came right away.

“It is a religion where all believers are given equal opportunities.”

“Specifically?”

“There are people who kick me even though I gave them a chance, and there are people who cherish me. I want to give everyone a chance. A chance to change your life. But even when given a chance, they act like trash?”

I still admire Han Seo-ah.

That heroism, overflowing mercy. I also love the kindness shown to people regardless of good or evil.

But…

I am myself. After all, I can’t follow her completely.

So I decided.

I will save the people I consider good, and I will kill those I consider evil!

-Isn’t that too…A dangerous idea?

“If you commit an evil act even though we gave you the same opportunity, there is nothing to say even if you search for it. Well, I will be flexible.”

-…Mmm.

I want to teach you something, but Beatrice was silent as if she couldn’t think of the right thing to say.

Eve twinkled her eyes.

“Very good. Equal opportunity… Then there must be an enforcement agency to deal with those who use the opportunity given within religion for evil?”

“…Right?”

“It would take a head organization to manage the subordinate institutions… But if you build only one, there is a possibility of dictatorship… Oh, of course, the leader is the top! The people below it are talking!”

Eve, who was so excited that he had never seen it before, quickly poured out words.

“The basic fund is the donations of believers… But there will be limits to such a rule-of-thumb…”

“Eve?”

“Please engrave the stigma first! I’ll take care of the rest!”

“Uh-uh.”

Once engraved. Eve stuck out the snake’s tongue at the clear mark on her hand and licked it.

“…With the headmaster…Connected as one…”

“Eve?”

“Oh no! As an apostle, such an insidious attitude would not suit you! Now… Where should we work?”

“Something to help…”

“No. You know. Even the teacher.”

Eve laughed briskly.

“The headmaster has already done everything he needs to do.”

. . .

The child roamed the streets of Garnet, which was being restored for a while.

“Be careful.”

“If you fall while running, you get hurt.”

“Ned. Are you scolding your mother again?”

The child laughed. Everything they had was gone, but the faces of the adults were bright.

In the midst of a crisis where there was nothing and starvation for a long time, they grabbed another opportunity. The child did too.

There are many times when I just walk around the streets in a very good mood without saying anything. The world seemed beautiful just by running.

The diligent running feet slowly slowed down. The child, who was panting and breathing heavily, pricked his ears.

Clear and pure voice. For some reason, I heard a charming voice that attracted people.

The child walked slowly.

Central Square.

There was someone standing on a temporary platform.

“Citizens of Garnet.”

Hair mixed with white and black. The flowing hair fell elegantly over the dark red priest’s robe.

Looks just like a pretty witch. However, his strong and confident voice was enough to attract attention.

“I am Eve, the voice of the Twilight Church.”

“…Cult of Twilight?”

“Is this the first church you’ve heard of?”

“Is there such a religion?”

At the whispers she heard, the beauty smiled brightly.

“It’s natural that you don’t know. A religion that was founded yesterday… It is a denomination that worships Saint Zahard as its symbol.”

The whispers stopped.

“…A saint as a symbol?”

“The church worships humans, not gods?”

“Isn’t it a complete… pseudo-religion?”

The child raised her head. She couldn’t contain her curiosity.

She made her way through the slowly gathering crowd. She moved forward bit by bit.

“God…That’s good. Then let’s start with the story of God.”

The voice was clear. There was something that caught people’s attention.

“When we were suffering and starving, what kind of help did they provide? Did you actually send something to free you from the pain?”

“……”

“Everyone has a god they deeply respect. But was the image of that god limited to the gods enshrined in different denominations? No. We pray to anyone in times of danger. Someone whispers while thinking of their mother, and someone remembers a friend who will save them. Was it God that you remembered at the last moment…Or was it someone else alive?”

The crowd slowly gathers more and more. The child struggled to move forward.

“The more shape there is, the more we can trust it. We’ve never seen God. I’ve never had any help from them. We each have to live our own lives and take our lives into our own hands.”

“……”

“Paladin? Priests? Of course, there were times when I got help from them. But wasn’t it ‘human’ after all that helped you? Didn’t only humans with the power actually extend a helping hand to us?”

“Ha, but God is real!”

“That’s right. I never said there is no god. But…the question is how far they are from us.”

There was a brief pause.

A brief moment of silence calmed the heated atmosphere.

“The gods don’t do anything directly for us. It didn’t give them any boost or give them crops. I didn’t do anything when I was hungry and starving. Even when they died and only their souls remained and wandered in the Nine Heavens… They didn’t do anything for them. All they did was just watch.”

“……”

“But he was different.”

There is divinity in the voice.

The child forcibly squeezed in between the gaps between the giants blocking his way.

“Zahard. That saint was different from the gods. Who has reached out to you directly to help? Who helped me to trample the ground again and again give thanks to the land for the blessings of life?”

“……”

“Humans cannot become gods. That fact remains. But… he is different.”

There was a thud.

The child listened.

A strange sound made by the earth.

“Your saint personally killed the snow demon, an ancient demon and a legend in the northern part of the empire.”

Ai finally broke through everything and jumped out to the front of the group.

And he saw.

The water that was created in midair depicts the achievements of a human being.

“The Holy Son personally saved the cursed city of Paramer and purified all the tormented spirits himself.”

From a gigantic octopus-like demonic figure to a cursed city.

“The Holy Son personally freed the prisoners imprisoned unfairly and directly punished the impure group who were secretly working within the Church of Ra.”

Even the shape of a monster that doesn’t even look like a human with horns and wings goes too far.

“And… Finally, this Garnet, a city that had been in decline, was raised from hell with a miracle.”

An army of humans confronting moving spirits is vividly drawn in the air.

The child looked blankly at the series of pictures.

“The achievements are too big for one person to accomplish. This is something that no other apostles have been able to do. Beyond simply being a servant of God, that in itself is impossible without God.”

“……”

“……”

“Can a person who tries to get closer to God with a human body be called a human being? Can we judge him with the same standards as we do?”

The end of the speech is approaching.

Eve takes a deep breath.

“And more than anything else… there is a reason why the Holy Son dared to leave the Church of Ra and establish a new religion. The Holy Son made a promise to us. It’s not about dealing with injustice and keeping us safe…”

Whisper.

“To give all of us the strength to resist injustice.”

“…Strength?”

“What does that mean…?”

“Simple. The Twilight Cult provides equal opportunity for all. We will inscribe stigmata and provide minimal training so that anyone can use the s*x method. It will give you time to resist injustice and prepare yourself for the pain of life. But…if that power is not used in the right way, then the individual will be held responsible for it.”

Eve clenched his fists tightly.

“We will directly entrust the strength to resist to the believers, beyond just being swept away. It is an equal opportunity, and the only gift the Holy Son will give. It will be a power that will be given equally to all who will join the Church of Dusk.”

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“……”

“……”

Eve took one last deep breath.

“Open your eyes and look ahead. God’s time is coming to an end. They move away from us more and more and give no answer to our whispers. Only a select few, chosen from birth, can hear their voices. There is nothing left for the abandoned.”

“……”

“The opportunity is only now. The Twilight Cult can give us a chance to write our own story with our own hands. Only human gods can cope with what real gods cannot.”

“……”

“…Now.”

Eve held out her hand.

“Who will be the first to join the Twilight Church?”

The child looked to the side. Amidst the thickening gossip, no one dared to step forward.

Everybody was just watching. The child blinked her eyes.

Adults did that.

She cared more about the eyes of her surroundings than her own heart.

“…Me.”

She said so she voiced it.

The night her dead mother returned.

Just like she sure did.

“I… I want to do it. Sister.”

“…….?”

Eve’s gaze reached the child. Then she smiled slightly.

“I was pushed. Is it because you want it?”

“I want it.”

“…Why?”

“The Holy Son gave me back the things I had lost. But sometimes I think. If I hadn’t lost it from the beginning, I think there would be nothing to be sad about.”

I say what I think without embellishment.

That’s enough.

“So…I don’t like it. Trying to take away the things I have. I want to give you a hard time. I want to fight.”

“…….”

“And above all… I owe the Holy Son.”

The chattering voices of adults gradually disappeared. Everyone looked at the child.

“I learned that if you received a favor, you have to repay it.”

“…Who is it?”

“My mother.”

Eve gave a small laugh.

“Hey. What is your name?”

“It’s Ned.”

“Okay. Ned. Won’t you regret it?”

“If I regret it, I have already done it a lot. I don’t want to regret it anymore, so I want to believe in the Holy Son.”

The child’s eyes sparkled.

“Please accept me. Sister.”

Starting with the movement of a child.

Numerous adults followed suit.

. . .

Lucia, the apostle of the moon, waited for the others outside the darkened walls and beyond the ancient forest.

One paladin complained.

“Why don’t you live inside the walls?”

“Because if the Church of the Moon moves hastily, they may notice and run away. Avan. This is the best.”

“What is Choi Seon?

“Who are you just now?”

Everyone shut their mouths like honeydew mutes. In the meantime, the priest who smiled carelessly received Lucia’s glare.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“…No.”

Lucia nervously poked at the campfire. Before Jahad woke up, she read her telegram that had flown in from the Church of Lu.

The message was simple. Even an idiot could understand her.

– Zahard removed. Mercedes tracking.

Lu’s revelation is absolute. However, Lucia did not act immediately this time. He requested support from the Church of the Moon on the pretext that there were many dangerous people around him.

It was not for any other reason that I was waiting outside the city walls until they came.

“……”

I wanted to run away when he was out of sight. Lu’s apostle Lucia did not want Zahard to die.

That night. He saved hundreds of thousands of lives…

Because I still don’t understand why I have to die.

“…Reinforcements from the Church of the Moon are joining.”

“Have you come already?”

Lucia, the apostle of Lu, welcomed reinforcements. The two squads of Holy Knights who had joined took a quick look around.

Her paladin leader glared at her.

“Why didn’t you keep an eye on him in the castle?”

“He is quick-witted. If he’s going to ambush, he’s effective without any warning.”

There is one more apostle. The level of the Holy Knights is also high.

It feels like all the elites of the Church of the Moon have been gathered.

“It’s too bad I can’t handle that one properly. They say that they have lost most of their powers, so why not just assassinate them?”

“Hen…”

“Get out of the way.”

Another messenger of the moon, Henry, passed her on the shoulder.

“Follow Lou’s will. All paladins, follow me. Get rid of the incompetent b*tch Lucia…”

Henry put the mace in her hand.

“Tonight, I will kill a human named Zahad. Let’s go.”