Chapter 101
Chapter 101
Eye of Aira (3)
“Are you alright?”
Aira took care of Winter, who had faintly opened her eyes. At the cautious touch brushing her forehead, Winter quickly came to her senses.
“Yeah. This is…”
“This is where you originally were. How did it feel to look back on the past?”
“Yeah. Well.”
At Aira’s question, Winter gave a faint smile. It seemed Aro had already regained her senses as well, as she had made herself comfortable on Winter’s stomach.
Naturally, Winter held Aro in her arms and pushed herself up.
“Both of you have been engraved with the Mark of Pilgrimage. Congratulations. I have brought tea to help calm your minds.”
Hearing Aira’s congratulations, Winter examined her hand. On the opposite side of the Emblem of Anaye, the Mark of Pilgrimage had been engraved.
A heavy emotion settled within her. Until she met Davide, she had thought she wouldn’t be able to enter the Order.
“It feels new.”
But now, she had properly completed even the sacred pilgrimage and had become a legitimate priest.
At Winter’s words, Aira showed a pleased smile.
“Aro sunbae-nim, are you alright?”
“Yeah. Well. I’m fine.”
Winter asked with concern as she looked at Aro, who, despite being a fox, sat cross-legged and elegantly tilted a teacup.
Aro roughly nodded in response. Perhaps she hadn’t seen good memories of the past, as her mood seemed subtly subdued.
“Um. Administrator-nim.”
“Yes, Priest.”
“May I ring the bell?”
At Winter’s sudden words, Aira tilted her head. At present, there was nothing on Winter’s body that could be called a bell.
“You may ring it.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
At Aira’s permission, Winter bowed her head slightly. Soon, she took out Anaye’s Silent Bell.
Winter’s Divine Power began to take form, and a black bell was created. Watching that scene quietly, Aira let out a brief exclamation.
“It is a sacred relic (聖遺物). Or what is also called a holy relic (聖物).”
“A sacred relic?”
“Yes. It refers to an item once used directly by a god. It seems Anaye-nim cherishes you greatly, Priest.”
At the mention of a sacred relic, Winter looked at the Silent Bell again. It didn’t seem like something particularly extraordinary.
Of course, she knew the ability it possessed. Davide would practically collapse at the sound of this bell, but Winter honestly didn’t think it was to that extent.
—Ding.
The Silent Bell swayed. Along with it, a clear resonance that calmed the mind and body spread out.
With just a single chime, Aro’s expression became a little more at ease.
“It is a gentle ability. Sacred relics are certainly recorded. If you search well, you may be able to draw out its original power.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
Aira did not hold back on her advice. Even though she must have been startled by Davide’s lightning, she maintained a demeanor like a calm lake.
“Administrator-nim. About the Eye of Aira……”
After finishing her tea, Winter carefully brought it up. At the words “Eye of Aira,” Aira hesitated briefly before putting on a gentle smile again.
“Of course, I should give it to you. Originally, the Eye of Aira should be granted through a trial, but this situation is different.”
“……”
Winter held back her words. Aira, who now had to rebuild both the top of the clock tower and Horashu-nim’s temple, looked sorrowful.
“This is the prepared Eye of Aira. I hope that both the Apostle and Anaye-nim will ease their anger through this.”
Hesitantly, Winter accepted what Aira handed to her.
Aira’s position as the Administrator of the Sanctuary was not low. It was roughly between that of the Cult Leader of a great Order and an Archbishop.
“Thank you, Administrator-nim.”
But for some reason, Aira regarded Davide as an extremely high figure.
Winter wanted to ask for the reason, but being poor with words, she quietly expressed only her thanks. She carefully put away the pendant adorned with an emerald carved like an eye.
“Um, Administrator-nim.”
“Yes?”
“The Cult Leader told me to receive two… of them…”
“……”
Aira’s words abruptly trailed off. Winter cautiously glanced at her. Aira’s face was filled with bewilderment.
“Kh. Kheup.”
Aro, who had been silently meditating, suddenly swallowed a burst of laughter. Covering her snout with both hands, she lowered her head onto the table.
“……Two. Yes. Two. I should give them……. Apostle-nim.”
Hearing Aira’s muttering, cold sweat ran down Winter’s back. Aira let out a small sigh and stood up.
She went to a drawer in the corner of the reception room and brought out another Eye of Aira.
“For some reason, the Goddess has not been responding, so the trial to obtain the Eye of Aira has been suspended. Thus, we do not have many items prepared.”
Winter quickly accepted what Aira handed her. It looked far more worn than the first one she had received.
“It is quite an old item, but this is all I can offer.”
“N-no, not at all. We’re the ones who should be sorry.”
At Winter’s apology, Aira gave a sorrowful smile. Everyone had witnessed the suspension of the trial.
Seeing Davide directly reporting to Anaye, they had suspected it, but Anaye turned out to be far more powerful than expected.
“Priest-nim, how long has it been since you joined the Order?”
“I was appointed together with its founding at the beginning of this year.”
Having composed herself, Aira asked Winter a question first. Upon hearing Winter’s answer, Aira looked surprised.
“I see. That must be why you are receiving the Goddess’s love. Priest-nim, you may become an Archbishop within a few years.”
“A-An Archbishop? That’s out of the question.”
Winter waved her hands at Aira’s praise. She felt burdened by such a high position.
An Archbishop was the second-in-command of an Order, holding power and authority just below the Cult Leader.
“No. It is a position that suits you very well. In the end, you will make a great decision.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Approximately how many believers does your Order have?”
At the word “believers,” Winter found herself at a loss for words. Excluding the Cult Leader, the only ones who could be called believers were herself, Worden, and Aro.
At least, that was all Winter knew. Come to think of it, didn’t Davide say he created three more believers while exploring the temple?
“Excluding the Cult Leader, there are currently six believers in the Order.”
“Six… Pardon? Six?”
Aira doubted her ears, wondering if she had heard wrong. It was such a small number that it was embarrassing to even call it an Order.
It wasn’t a problematic Order either, and with a Holy Scripture and even an Apostle, its legitimacy had already been secured.
“Th-then… why is that?”
“From what the Cult Leader said, Anaye-nim has very high standards for appointing believers.”
Hearing Winter’s answer, Aira could not hide her dumbfounded expression.
“This may be presumptuous, but gods generally do not involve themselves in appointing believers.”
“What?”
“An Order is divided into clergy and believers. Clergy refers to those with ranks such as bishops and priests, and they can be considered the closest to the god. Believers refer to all other followers, generally the lower-ranking members belonging to the Order.”
After hearing Aira’s explanation, Winter nodded. That much she already knew.
“Appointing clergy requires the god’s permission, but appointing believers does not involve the god.”
“Huh?”
“That falls under the authority of the Cult Leader.”
Winter made a blank expression. She recalled the time when she became a priest.
Anaye had not accepted her as a priest right away. She had only been allowed in after numerous qualifications and Davide’s persuasion.
“Th-then how are believers appointed?”
“Those with appointment authority, like the Cult Leader, seek the target’s consent, and if the target does not refuse, they automatically become a believer. The Holy Scripture performs that role.”
“……”
Aira’s explanation was simple. Even within appointments, there was the appointment of believers (clergy) and the appointment of regular believers.
And all the appointments Davide had made so far were appointments of believers (clergy).
“Thank you. Truly.”
“I hope it was helpful.”
Winter exchanged a polite bow. It had been an extremely valuable conversation.
“May I come again next time?”
“Of course. Promising juniors like you are always welcome.”
After receiving Aira’s definite answer, Winter quickly left the clock tower. She wanted to inform Davide of what she had just learned as soon as possible.
***
“…So what you’re saying is, the believer appointments I’ve made so far weren’t actually believer appointments?”
“No. They were believer (clergy) appointments.”
“No, I mean what’s the difference? They sound the same.”
Winter, who had suddenly come to find me, chattered rapidly like a machine gun.
Having just returned after offering a tribute to Anaye-nim, I tilted my head at her words.
“If you compare it to a country, regular believers are citizens, and clergy are important officials. And you would be the king, sunbae-nim.”
“So the point is that the appointments I’ve made so far were appointments to official positions?”
“Yes! So we’ve basically been creating officials in a country with no citizens.”
Only then did I understand what Winter meant. Even though she rambled, she had conveyed all the key points.
“So there’s no need to give them the Mark.”
“Yes! If someone with appointment authority makes a proposal and the other party doesn’t refuse, they’re automatically appointed.”
It was quite a lenient standard. Proposal and refusal. Several scenarios came to mind.
The key wasn’t agreement, but simply not refusing. For example, what if I proposed it while they were unconscious?
“Winter.”
“Yes, sunbae-nim.”
“If I recommend believer appointment to someone who’s been knocked out?”
“Huh?”
Winter gave a dumbfounded reply. Aro, who had moved from Winter’s shoulder to mine, let out a deep exclamation.
“Are you some kind of genius?”
“Th-th-that’s a bit much… Even so, shouldn’t they at least be conscious…?”
At Aro’s admiration, Winter quickly stepped in. Her words did make some sense. I turned my gaze toward the inn clerk.
“Sunbae-nim! Sunbae-nim. Not that. Let’s, let’s test it later. Somewhere else!”
Noticing my intent, Winter hurriedly intervened. It was admirable how she tried to redirect my attention.
“Who has the appointment authority?”
“Huh?”
“You said appointment authority. It didn’t sound like it was limited to just the Cult Leader.”
“Uh… I’m not sure.”
Winter scratched the back of her head. It seemed she hadn’t heard that part from Aira. I took out the Holy Scripture.
The softly glowing book appeared in my hand.
“Let’s check it after a while.”
It had been a while since I last checked the believers through the Holy Scripture.
“Anaye-nim. May I see the list of believers?”
[Holy Scripture of the Anaye Faith]
A book containing the doctrines of the religion that serves Anaye, the Thunder Deer. As it is a newly founded religion, its pages are still empty. The first follower, ‘Apostle,’ holds the duty of recording the growth and history of the Anaye Faith.
—Believers: 1,703
—Faith: 1,703
—‘Trace of Anaye’ enhanced.
—‘Trace of Anaye’ can be granted to other believers.
“Are my eyes messing with me?”
“Huh? Wh-what is this?”
I handed the Holy Scripture to Winter and rubbed my eyes. The last time I checked, it had been at the very beginning when there was only one believer.
After checking the list, Winter also handed it back to me and rubbed her eyes.
“…And you didn’t know even though there are this many?”
“It’s not something that’s always displayed. It only shows up if I ask Anaye-nim.”
At Aro’s incredulous voice, I made my own excuse. The only ones I had personally appointed were Winter, Worden, and Aro.
The three merfolk didn’t really count, and with so few people, all easy to remember, why would I need to check?
“Th-the 703… isn’t that a decimal?”
“So you’re saying it’s 1.703 people? Then does the 703 only have a head, chest, and stomach, without arms and legs?”
At Aro’s remark, both of us fell silent. It seemed that appointment authority was held by all the clergy I had appointed.
So those nearly two thousand believers were probably mostly merfolk.
“Tax, damn it.”
“Sunbae-nim. Should we hide it for now?”
“Let’s do that.”
At Winter’s suggestion, I nodded readily. Even for me, there was no way I could handle taxes for 1,700 people.