86: Conversation (3)

Many people’s memorial procession continued over the mountain where the Pyro church was located.

The people attending held their hands with flowers in their hands.

The flowers were from the cypress tree, which were a symbol for justice.

And a flower which symbolized Pyro.
The flower of the Pyro religion.

When a priest of the Gods died, it was orthodox to take the flowers of the God.

Jamie too, was following their tradition.

‘Many people have come.’

He didn't know much about Archbishop Sephira, but seeing the number of people here, it was evident how influential he was.

No matter how many churches were established by other religions, the people of Apton never seeked them.

“The Archbishop is dead… I can't believe it.”

“He always smiled and welcomed everyone.”

“This has to be a dream.
The Archbishop cannot be killed… I can’t forgive the person who did that to him!”

“A huge star is gone.”

Everyone was depressed and frustrated at the loss of Sephira.

And their words were all sincere.

In front of Jamie was Sears who was crying as she held hands with Sarah, who was also crying.

He didn’t know about the relationship between Sears and the Archbishop, and Sarah was just crying because her mother was crying.

At the forefront, Marquis Bell was walking in a black suit.

At the entrance of the church, priests were dressed in black mourning robes and waving bells.

The ding-ding sound was really depressing.

And with that sound, the procession turned into a sea of weeping.

Jamie slowly placed the juniper branch down and looked at Archbishop Sephira, who was lying comfortably inside the coffin.

He looked like he was asleep, and it felt like with a little nudge the man would wake up.

‘It is ridiculous… to make him an undead?’

Leaving everything aside, Sephira was one of three people who were archbishops.

If the corpse of such a person can be raised, then it would be a formidable force.

In the past, he would have done it without hesitation, but Jamie was different now.

“Jamie.”

It was Lars.

He had bandages all over his body, and his expression didn’t seem good.

It was expected, his senior, someone he had worshiped like God, was killed by an enemy.
It would be a lie if the man said he was fine.

“Did you get some sleep, brother?”

“Sadly, yes.”

Jamie didn’t ask what was so sad.

“You need to be worried about your mother more than me.”

At Lars’ words, Jamie turned to Sears.

She was sitting in front of the coffin and weeping.

A priest who knew the Marquis for a long time, was comforting her.

Sarah was also clinging onto her mother and crying.

“I heard that the Archbishop was a gift to everyone.”

“That, he was.”

Lars smiled a little sullenly and put his hand on Jamie’s head.

“You are indeed an amazing one.”

“At what?”

“At what happened.”

It was when Jamie blinked, he heard an unfamiliar sound.

“Is it true that the Archbishop is dead?”

“What nonsense!”

There seemed to be commotion outside.

Lars and Jamie went to the place where the commotion was, and Lars who saw the people yelled.

“Captain! Senior!”

They were the Holy Executioners, Philos and Airak.

“… Zenith, those crazy bastards!”

Airak couldn’t hold back his anger and smashed his fists on the table.

The teacup fell to the floor and shattered.

But no one condemned those acts.
Because everyone was feeling the same way.

“I have nothing to say… I should have st…”

“It isn't your fault.
Because we got caught by them too.”

Philos shook his head and rubbed Lars’ shoulder.

“And it was the Seven Knights' head, then it was a tough fight.
If that kind of person came over determined, no one could have stopped him.”

“Damn it! Damn it! Are those dirty beings now bringing in demons too?”

Airak couldn’t calm down despite breaking the cup.
He kept looking for something to break, until Philos stopped him.

“Enough, Airak.
A memorial service is under way.
Are you planning to insult Sir Sephira?”

“… damn it! I know that!”

Philos knew how Airak was feeling, so he didn’t say anything more.

After a brief silence, Philos sighed as he asked.

“So, what exactly happened?”

Lars told them everything that happened in detail.

After hearing everything, the two of them looked at each other, slightly suspicious of what they heard.

“So… you mean the kid, Jamie Welton sent the leader of Seven Knights somewhere?”

“7 years old?”

Lars thought that such a reaction was natural.

Anyone who hadn’t met Jamie would think this sounds unusual.

“He isn’t an ordinary 7 year old.”

“Would that make sense for an unusual 7 year old to do that?”

“He is already a 6th class magician.
At 7.”

“… did you hurt your eyes in the fight? From 6th class onwards, they are high ranking magicians.
No matter how talented he is, he can’t be that level at 7.”

“Airak is right.
Even Siegfried, who is said to be the most talented magician in existence, reached 6th class at 15.”

“… you two haven’t heard about Jamie at all.”

Lars nodded.

Among the Holy Executioners, these two were uninterested in the world.

Even then, they should have come across the name of Welton, it was shocking that they were unaware.

As Lars shook his head, then Airak snapped his fingers.

“Wait a minute.
Welton… the Welton? Isn’t that the family famous for the sword?”

“That reminds me.
The best swordsmanship of the Seldam Kingdom.
Is there another noble family that has the name Welton?”

“Right.
Jamie is the son of Count Welton.
The young lord of Haiss.”

Airak frowned.

“But magician? Isn’t it normal for Welton’s kids to learn swords?”

Lars’ eyes darkened.

His head was aching as he thought about how he could convince these two.

‘Hundred words go unheard by them.’

It would be faster to show them rather than explaining.

Having made the decision, Lars jumped up.

“Follow me.”

“Where?”

“So you two can see Jamie with your own eyes.
Come on!”

Philos and Airak looked at each other and then shrugged as they followed Lars.

The 2 Holy Executioners and Lars arrived late, and Jamie, who was left alone, wandered around the church.

Since the memorial service was in full swing, there was no place for people to even see.

‘Last time I came here, I sneaked in.’

Now, he could move around so openly and no one even cared.

And he wasn’t wandering around aimlessly.

The time to show up.

And unsurprisingly, the sign appeared from behind.

“Bhoo!”

“Ack!”

When Jamie turned around and shouted, Ricky fell back.

Seeing that, Jamie waved his hand.

“I should have stayed hidden a little more.
Do you feel everything?”

“… I just have a good eye.”

“It isn’t the eye, it is about instinct.”

Ricky grinned as he held out his hand, and Jamie grabbed it and pulled Ricky up.

“Did you know I would come?”

“I was just walking around hoping you’d come.”

As Pyro regained her strength, Jamie thought that Ricky would also have some new power.

“I can never beat you.”

“By the way.
Are you okay?”

Despite not saying it entirely, Ricky who understood it shook his head.

“I am not okay.
He was a good person.”

The death of the Archbishop was heartbreaking for Ricky.

He only knew the man for a few days, but the man had helped him a lot.

Some would say it was natural for him to help since they were the Apostle and Saint, but Ricky didn’t think so.

The man was innately good.

To the extent that the wounds he suffered because of the Zenith church were healed.

“Anna is more upset than me.
She really liked him.”

“Where is Anna?”

“She is with a sister.
I came out to get some air.
So let’s go.
The Goddess is making a fuss about bringing you.”

Ricky laughed awkwardly as he said that out loud.

The voice of a Goddess resonating inside was strong enough to give headaches.

“Follow me.”

“It won't appear and disappear like the last time, right?”

“Don’t say anything blasphemous.”

Blasphemy.

Jamie thought that was funny.

He said that knowing who the goddess was.

The two walked to the place where the statue of the Goddess was.

“Go in.”

Ricky opened the door to the basement.

A cold wind blew.

The place was so gloomy for a statue of the goddess.

Jamie followed Ricky down the stairs.

There was hardly any light.
The further they went, the less they could see.

“You can’t make light.”

Jamie, who was about to use light magic, held back.

It wasn’t some strict rule to follow, but since he was in the place of a God, he decided to follow it.

How far did they go into the dark?

At the end of the stairs, came flat land.

“Wait for a moment.”

Ricky’s steps faded.

In the dark, Jamie closed his eyes and waited.

After a while, a chill worse than before was felt and a squeaking sound was heard.

And the sound of water drops.

Even though he couldn’t see, Jamie could figure out what was happening.

“Come in.”

Ricky’s voice in the distance.

Jamie moved without hesitation.

Splash, splash!

The sound of water on the floor, and the more they walked, the deeper the water was.

At one point the water was close to their knees.

“Now is the time.”

Ricky put his hands together and mumbled something.

The language of Gods.

Normally a complex ceremony had to be performed, but Ricky was an Apostle so that wasn’t needed.

Because the Goddess directly teaches the language of Gods.

A soft hue began to rise from Ricky’s body.

The darkness lifted, and the surrounding was finally seen.

There were a lot of dirty and disgusting things in the water which made Jamie feel sick.

And about half the statue was surrounded by moss and not painted right.

Jamie knew why.

‘Because God cannot maintain himself, he doesn’t have to.’

Gods were annoying beings.

Cleaning it was an idea which humans had.

From God's point of view, even if it was the worst looking, they’d prefer being like that.

Fortunately, they didn’t impose that disgusting idea onto their believers.

As Jamie was looking at the dirty water, it was done.

“The Goddess will come.”

Ricky released his hands which were clasped.

Intense holy power was sucked away from Ricky’s body into the statue.

But the light stayed.

The room didn’t turn dark again.

Rather, they were in a state where light and darkness didn’t exist.

An unusual phenomenon, but this was what was called a ‘miracle’.

“I will thank you for this.”

Ricky turned around.

But it wasn’t Ricky who was standing.

The boy’s figure couldn’t be seen.

Instead, a woman with long green hair in a pure white dress was standing with a beautiful smile.

She looked rather ordinary, and Jamie couldn’t even smile at her.

It felt like with one wrong move, the enormous pressure would kill him right away.

But the woman didn’t care about it and continued talking.

“Thanks to you, I managed to punch Zenith.”

An absolute presence which made everything around seem trivial.

A force close to violent no one could have measured!

‘… humiliating.’

Jamie smiled bitterly as he looked at the beautiful woman.

The Goddess of Mercy and Punishment, Pyro had descended to Earth.