Chapter 277
“Hello, Aille.”
“Hello, Tesillid.”
As they exchanged ordinary greetings upon reunion, their hearts reacted with pain.
They wished to enjoy this serenity just a little longer.
Aillet smiled softly.
“We have many guests. I’m not exactly pleased, but I opened the door because you came, Tesillid.”
“I’m sorry. The Order Religion tends to assert its prestige through numbers, so I couldn’t come alone.”
“I know. It’s not something you need to apologize for.”
“Thank you for opening the door, Aille, even though it must have been inconvenient.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Perfectly fine. Were you worried?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
It was from that moment that his demeanor changed completely.
“To death.”
“……”
“If you hadn’t opened your eyes like that, I might have died along with the world.”
“……”
Gasps could be heard from various directions.
Naturally, Aillet’s was among them.
The conversation, stifling a heavy emotion, ended there.
“Aille.”
His low call had a distinctly different feeling than usual.
Everyone instinctively knew that the main topic was about to begin.
“I heard something strange at the Pontifical Palace.”
“……”
“They say you worship another god.”
“……”
“Is it true?”
“……”
Carried by his low, beautiful voice was Tesillid’s unique gentle tone.
However, it effectively pierced Aillet’s tender spot.
The situation she had envisioned so many times in her mind had finally arrived.
To squeeze out a single answer, she had to clench both fists until the bones on the back of her hands protruded.
“Yes.”
“Ah.”
The exclamation was remarkably bland. So much so that no emotion, let alone surprise, could be felt.
The surroundings, conversely, erupted into chaos.
“Hmph! D-did you just hear that?”
“The Holy Saint admitted it!”
“Heresy, it’s heresy…!”
Indeed, it was a world of deeply rooted monotheistic faith.
Amidst the pouring gazes of rejection, Aillet slowly raised her bowed head.
She wondered if preparing for the worst beforehand would lessen the shock.
So she first imagined Tesillid’s betrayed face and tried to match it with reality.
But the sight of him in her eyes rendered her self-defense meaningless.
“Aille, then what is the divine name of the god you believe in?”
“……”
“Please answer me. Honestly, please.”
“……”
His face, whether bitter or sweetly weeping, was hard to tell. For some reason, it felt familiar.
Before long, a scene from her memory overlapped before her eyes.
It was the same expression she had seen back then, in the deep-sea cave where the Well of Eternity was hidden, after receiving the ‘Save Point’ artifact and hearing its origin.
Aillet remembered the emotion she had read from Tesillid then.
Liberation.
Was he feeling the same emotion even now?
With an intense desire to confirm, she opened her mouth.
“Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World.”
That was the moment.
[
It wasn’t just the knight orders of both nations paying attention to the situation in the plaza.
The citizens of Hispenril Duchy were also here, and their number was…
[
Completion Condition: Declare to 1,000 people that your God is ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’
Completion Status: 1,000 people / 1,000 people]
[
Over a thousand. It was enough to fulfill her mission.
[
No great change occurred in the world itself.
No one felt any significant sensation of change. Not even Aillet.
However, to indicate that the world’s laws of existence had been altered, the ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ sent down a small omen.
To Aillet Rodelain, the mediator between God and the world.
“W-what is that?!”
“H-halo!”
Reacting to the powerful divinity, a screen of holy light widely unfolded behind Aillet.
Light forming a beautiful circular pattern. It was a halo, the nimbus that only appears around blessed saints.
“Gasp.”
“Hmph.”
Her amplified charisma sanctified the entire plaza.
Her near-divine presence, emanating from her, materialized into a physical force,压력을 가하며 압박하며 compressing the Order Religion Holy Knights.
Thanks to this, their mouths dared not babble heresy towards Aillet. They were too busy gasping for air.
The plaza, where those who had stepped in with ill intentions were not even allowed to breathe properly.
However, there was one heretic who remained uniquely composed.
“Aille.”
The handsome man’s chest rose and fell roughly.
Despite consciously regulating his breathing, he couldn’t hide the expectation and excitement mixed in his breaths.
“May I come closer?”
“……”
“Now.”
An atmosphere of tension hung in the air of the plaza.
Now that the Holy Saint had confessed to heresy, what action would the Holy Sword’s Master, who had come as an inquisitor, take?
It was certainly a situation where the worst must be assumed. Nevertheless.
“You may.”
Aillet allowed Tesillid to approach.
Unable to hide his joy, Tesillid slowly took a step forward.
One step.
The knights of Hispenril Duchy flinched.
They were wary of the Holy Sword’s Master being able to swing his sword without drawing it first.
Two steps.
The Holy Knights of the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy, who had barely regained their breath, watched the situation as spectators.
‘Yes, Sir Tesillid. Approach like that and induce the heretic to let down her guard!’
Three steps.
The citizens of Peronsa held their breath. At this moment, the plaza seemed to have become a vacuum.
Four steps.
As the silver-haired handsome man approached Aillet within arm’s reach, he smiled radiantly.
And finally, the fifth step.
Aillet’s usually calm eyes wavered. Tesillid didn’t stop approaching even though there was no more distance to cover.
The man’s large hand came towards her face.
“Sister…!”
Ash, realizing Aillet had let down her guard, cried out urgently. But it was already too late.
The handsome man’s face invaded Aillet’s focal range.
Warm heat enveloped one of her cheeks, and lips, filled with breath, pressed together.
When Aillet came to her senses, she was exchanging breaths with his half-open, sea-colored eyes.
“……!”
He didn’t allow her to reflexively retreat with a flinch. He pressed his lips closer, delving deeper into her breath.
It was a kiss that revealed a desire so profound it was hard to believe he was a noble and devout Holy Knight.
It was then.
“It’s the signal! Everyone, commence attack—Hmph!”
It was an Aura Blade that silenced the fanatical cultist who couldn’t grasp the situation.
Maghram gasped in horror at the light dagger plunged at his feet.
He quickly knew where it had come from.
The light dagger immediately returned to Tesillid.
“Haa…”
Tesillid, separating their lips, faced Aillet with an enraptured expression.
Disregarding his own dishevelment, he simply traced Aillet’s wet lips with his thumb before slowly regaining his usual composure.
Having finally controlled himself, he proceeded to his next action.
Thud.
He knelt on one knee before Aillet, for all to see.
Again in the guise of a noble and devout Holy Knight, he said with utmost courtesy:
“Your Holiness, the Holy Saint.”
“……Tesillid?”
“I, Tesillid Argent, request that you bestow baptism upon me here and now.”
“……!”
Still intoxicated by the lingering emotion, she opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I have always wanted to convert.”
“……”
“I swear. From today until the end of my life, I will serve the Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World.”
“……”
Aillet remained silent for a long time. She simply couldn’t believe this optimal, ideal situation.
Her silence made Tesillid anxious.
He desperately wanted to be saved. So, he whispered, putting on the most appealing expression he could manage.
“Please, Aille. Accept me.”
“……”
Naturally, a system window was already floating before Aillet’s eyes.
[
Given this, the answer was decided. Aillet’s hand descended to rest on Tesillid’s silver hair.
“I, Aillet Rodelain, as the proxy of the Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World, baptize Tesillid Argent, who wishes to follow the will.”
[‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ says that since the main body is merciful, it will gladly accept even a fool like you.]
[‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ promises ‘Tesillid Argent’ the status of Holy Saint’s Guard Knight.]
The one who had been a god’s slave and a jester when he knelt, stood up liberated and free.
He raised his head as if he had awoken in a new world.
And then he turned around.
The first thing he did as a follower of the Incantation Cult was to spread the gospel to the Holy Knights of the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy.
“You should all convert too. The ‘Strict Order and Goodness’ Order Religion has no future.”
“……”
The Holy Knights were appalled.
The shock brought about by Tesillid’s sudden change of allegiance was no less than when the Holy Saint was declared a heretic.
On the other hand, the Duchy side was thrilled.
“Brother-in-law, a wise decision!”
“As expected of our grandson-in-law!”
“This mother-in-law believed in you, son-in-law!”
“Son-in-law! Lunch today is roast goose!”
Tesillid smiled at the Holy Knights.
“If you are not converting, would you please withdraw? It will soon be lunchtime.”
Swishhhhhh.
A dozen or so Aura Blades unfolded behind him, harmonizing with Aillet’s halo.
This was a polite request from none other than an Aura Master. The Holy Knights of the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy had no choice but to withdraw with the same calculated politeness with which they had arrived.
This was the full story of the historical event that would later be called ‘Conversion of Peronsa’ by the Incantation Cult, and ‘Humiliation of Peronsa’ by the Order Religion.
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