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130. Childhood Friend – Brass Cup

When Reb crossed the border and arrived at the capital of the Holy Kingdom, Lutetia, it was a breezy autumn day.

There had been a couple of skirmishes on the way. However, compared to the previous subjugation forces, there were few priests, almost no holy knights, and just a pathetic army of soldiers mobilized.

Reb had killed them all. Why would he spare the enemies charging at him to their deaths?

He simply passed by the towns and cities. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kill them all and offer them as a tribute, but ever since he killed Lena Ainar and Leo Dexter, he had been too confused. “Why did I kill them?”—that question constantly arose, making his head spin.

As an Apostle of Barbatos, he was just doing what he was supposed to do. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going wrong.

Also, at times he wondered if he had run out of ‘mirrors’, which was another of his concerns.

He thought of mirrors in relation to the offering his father made when he became a follower of Barbatos.

But that was no time to be feeling sorry.

What was there to feel sorry for when it was dedicated to the gods? Besides, it wasn’t even his to begin with… No, it was his, but he’d used it all up—what was he even thinking?

Reb shook his head vigorously. Having camped for a night on a small mountain in southern Lutetia, he muttered while packing up the tent.

“Ah—why am I like this? Did I get too much wind?”

That seemed to be the case. All the exhaustion from the long journey piled up.

Feeling dizzy, Reb loaded the collected tent onto Bante’s back.

Bante, whose leg had been broken, was commendably restored with Barbatos’s divine power. He limped a bit but wasn’t too uncomfortable, thanks to having ridden a horse named Woody, who had short front legs.

Reb descended from the mountain. The grand capital of the Holy Kingdom, Lutetia, wasn’t far off.

– Kill them. Please listen.

Another strong impulse hit him.

He felt a desperate urge to kill all those humans there to replenish the divine power he had consumed while fighting the filthy devils of the dark lord.

However,

‘…It’s not an urgent matter. Let’s think about it after bringing Lena.’

Lena wasn’t far either.

{Tracking Skill} clearly pointed to the Monastery Church to the east of Lutetia, indicating her presence there.

Strangely enough, when he thought of Lena, the desire to slay vanished. He felt deeply sorry for Barbatos, but he wanted to see her soon.

Eventually, he arrived at the enormous main gate of the Monastery Church. Towering spires scraping the sky and white stone walls. This was only the second time he had come to a place bustling with statues of various kinds.

‘Brings back memories…’

Strictly speaking, he hadn’t experienced the events himself, but he couldn’t believe how shocked he was to hear that Lena had been expelled from here. The thought of Lena crying and hanging onto this gate made him feel a deep sense of pity…

However, he would not allow such a tragedy to repeat itself. As the Apostle of Barbatos, he would personally make her a follower and ensure her lifelong happiness…

‘But would that make Lena sad? Would she even like it?’

“Ugh!”

The sudden counterargument made his head throb painfully.

Until now, every time he had thought of Lena, he had felt unusually confused, so he had avoided thinking deeply, but now faced with an undeniable contradiction, it felt like his mind was splitting apart.

‘I, I am the Apostle of the great Barbatos… but Lena’s dream is…’

“Gahh!”

“What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”

At that moment, while Reb was gasping for breath, a young monk guarding the main gate approached him with concern. He asked about the well-being of the youth who was clutching his head and staggering about.

But the responses he received were not polite ones like “I’m fine” or “I just suddenly feel unwell.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Don’t talk to me, you insolent.”

“…Yes, my apologies.”

A noble, indeed.

The monk took a step back, startled by the intimidating gaze and unspoken grace emanating from the youth, returning to his original spot.

Had the holy knight been on duty, it would have been great. Then he could have vented out at least a complaint while riding on that authority…

The monk couldn’t help but grumble as he watched the arrogant noble’s back as he stumbled inside.

Unfortunately, there were no holy knights remaining in the Monastery Church at the moment. They had all left along with the priests to subjugate the Apostle of the Evil God.

For the citizens of Lutetia, news that the Apostle of the Evil God had emerged from the Orun Kingdom was slowly beginning to spread.

Some even argued that it wasn’t a monster from myths like the Apostle of the Evil God, but rather that a civil war broke out in the Orun Kingdom due to misinformation.

Despite knowing the truth, the monk suppressed his words because of the church’s orders. For someone who loved to chatter, it was quite a torment.

‘Can I only speak about this after returning from the subjugation? This is killing me. By the way, where is that noble going? Over there…’

He thought about telling him he was going the wrong way, but the irritated monk muttered, “Hmph! Go suffer a bit. If you get lost here, it’ll be a mess because you won’t know where you are.” and cut off his interest in the arrogant noble.

*

“Phew… finally done reading.”

In the library, Lena stretched as she piled up books like a mountain on one side of a desk.

There was an enormous amount of records about the eighty-seven past holy women. Following Priestess Ophelia’s advice, Lena had tracked their paths and caught a small clue.

Why did the church prohibit the marriage of priests?

This custom was decided through numerous meetings and now felt obvious since the notion that clergy should not marry permeated society, but in ancient times, it hadn’t been like that.

Ancient priests rarely lived single lives. Before the holy woman descended onto the continent, there was neither divine power nor a Cross Church, nor was it established as a national religion as it is now. Thus, ancient priests were nothing more than civilians expressing their personal faith in preaching.

Their lifestyle was no different from that of commoners.

They worked alongside villagers and shared their meals. They merely took it upon themselves to help the people in times of hardship.

So, there was no reason for them to cling to single lives.

When they had someone they loved, they would thank the holy lord for the beautiful bond and tie the knot. Comparing to modern priests, ancient priests were much freer.

Yet, once they became members of the massive organization known as the Cross Church, they gradually became entangled in various rules.

Of course, those rules were created for good intentions at the start. It shouldn’t be viewed entirely negatively. However, Lena felt that the rule prohibiting the marriage of priests was not strictly necessary for serving the gods, and the reasons behind its establishment involved external influences.

The prohibition of priests’ marriage began in the mid-Acaian Empire when Cardinal Tigolov V was in office.

Cardinal Tigolov was a great figure who left behind numerous writings. In particular, his later work “Ontology of Consciousness” was recognized as indispensable in understanding Constantine’s “Chains of Creation” and Lazar’s “Responsibilities of Creation,” which led to him being canonized posthumously.

Though Tigolov left such a magnificent work, he was an extremely dissolute figure.

With three marriages and divorces, a duel from his youth that left him lame for life, and the abuse of his position as a cardinal, he was never canonized during his lifetime.

This was something Lena had only recently learned. The class on “The Achievements of the Seven Saints” hadn’t taught about Tigolov’s darker sides. She understood why that was, though…

The content Lena had devoured in the “Records of the Holy Women” provided all these details. Every time he made a mistake, he was summoned by the holy woman and reprimanded, and when he divorced for the third time, he was punished with the prohibition that he should never marry again.

This prohibition sparked the ban on priests marrying.

Initially given only to Tigolov, the idea that “Clerics should live celibately to serve the gods better” gradually expanded, extending to all cardinals, high priests, and priests as well.

However, Lena’s research didn’t stop at just discovering this. She meticulously analyzed contemporary records to uncover why it had expanded and realized that the single lives of the holy women greatly influenced this outcome.

The holy women never married.

Not a single one.

While this may seem obvious from today’s social norms, it was not the case in an era when marriage was free.

Following Daniel’s recommendation, Lena also referenced a book titled “The Birth of the Holy Woman,” which noted that during that time, it was considered strange and significant for a holy woman—whose lifespan was rather short—to maintain her youth for decades without marrying.

Finally, Lena understood why the church prohibited priests from marrying, yet did not explicitly forbid monks from doing so.

Ultimately, the rule against priests’ marriage was built on the contemporary belief that “As the holy woman with divine power is unmarried, it would be best for the priest, who also possesses divine power, not to marry.” That’s why the prohibition didn’t extend to the monks as well.

Having caught a clue, Lena neatly began to return the vast quantity of “Records of the Holy Women” she had been reading back to its place.

Now she understood the cause and reason.

However, the road ahead was still long.

Having learned the cause and reason, so what? The next step was to prove why priests should be allowed to marry and why the rule should be revoked.

‘Hmmm… that might not be easy.’

Brushing the dust off the book with her hands, Lena fell into deep thought while packing her things.

‘I can’t be sure yet, but it seems I should link it to “Responsibilities of Creation.” Since it’s about loosening the regulations, philosophically speaking, that might be the right angle. I should ask Veronian about which book would be a good starting point…’

Phew, there’s a mountain of studying ahead.

As she thought about all the studying she had left to do, a smile appeared on Lena’s tired face.

Studying wasn’t a boring or cumbersome task for her. During her time in the small village of Demos, she had to find food each day, which prevented her from going to the church on weekdays, but every weekend Lena would read books all day in the church.

Comparing to that, how blessed was this Monastery Church!

A place where she could study as much as she wanted.

Recently, as all the priests had been dispatched and disappeared, some classes had been canceled, but she could still attend various excellent classes as much as she desired.

There were also many books.

The library held so many books that one could spend a lifetime reading them and still not finish, and they were all quite affordable.

With the money Reb had given her, Lena bought a large number of theological books secondhand for Daniel, who would soon hold a ceremony and graduate, and several other apprentices. She couldn’t contain her joy.

At that moment, the book she cradled in her arms wasn’t borrowed from the library; it was her own.

As she descended the stairs, Lena hummed cheerfully.

“I’ll wrap up the morning studies like this, have lunch quickly, and find a sunlit spot to read a book.”

Before heading to the dining hall, Lena instinctively looked for the ‘cup’ to offer her prayer.

But,

“Huh? Where did it go?”

The brass cup that was carelessly placed at the bottom of the staircase in the library building had vanished.

It had definitely been there when she came in this morning. She had offered her morning prayer at that cup engraved with the symbol of the Cross Church, so it must have been moved while she studied.

“Oh dear…?”

Lena felt bewildered. She had been offering her prayers at that cup ever since she arrived here half a year ago.

The Monastery Church was filled with statues suitable for prayers, and if she walked a little further to the main building, there were dozens of divine items and a few holy relics on display, but Lena didn’t feel the need to go that far.

Having frequented the library, Lena preferred items that were close at hand, and for some reason, she just really liked that cup.

‘Why was it moved?’

Who should she ask about this? ─ just as she turned to step away,

“Ah!”

Lena let out a startled scream. Her eyes widened in shock, before bursting into an explosive expression of joy as she ran.

“Reb? Is that you? Oh my god! How did you get here?!”

Reb was right in front of the library’s main door. Lena dashed up to him, unable to believe her eyes, overwhelmed with happiness as she got close.

“Lena… urgh!”

“You look so thin! It must have been tough to get here. But what are you…?”

Just as Lena placed her hand on Reb’s gaunt cheek, she froze, her expression hardening.

– Hahahaha! Thank you!

Something horrific overwhelmed her. A slippery, heavy something wrapped around her mind, licking at her as if it were delicious.

Lena, gripped by fear, screamed, “Aah!” However, her body wouldn’t respond, and only shallow breaths escaped her lips, that shallow exhale being the last breath she would ever take voluntarily. Lena’s eyes had already turned red with terror.