Chapter – 53
Chrrring. The sound of cash being deducted sounded almost beautiful.
With this, I had learned all the holy power skills sold in the cash shop, from basic skills to ultimate skills.
Dealer, supporter, healer—without caring about roles, I learned everything!
[‘The Word that Builds the World’ applauds your wise judgment.]
[‘The Scales that Judge Souls’ expresses favor, saying you seem to know how to shop.]
[‘Manager of the Creative Economy’ smiles, saying this month’s sales performance will be good.]
Huh? A new god appeared.
[‘The Word that Builds the World’ asks why the business director is here.]
[‘Manager of the Creative Economy’ says they should have a meeting about the upcoming large-scale update.]
The gods disappeared to focus on their main duties.
Right then, the message I had been waiting for appeared.
[<System> Your ranking has changed. Current rank: 573 (▲20,412)]
Finally, I entered the top 1,000 and my rank became visible.
I still hadn’t completed the tutorial quest that required entering the top 100 of the world setting.
Even with saint-level holy power and ultimate skills, the reason my rank was still low was obvious.
‘Because all my skills are still level 1.’
If even my healing was level 1, how could I call myself a healer?
For now, I needed to focus on leveling up my skills.
But there was a problem.
“They only level up when I use them… so where am I supposed to use them?”
Ugh. This is troublesome.
✠
Meanwhile, in the Holy Empire of Elfenheim, at the Papal Palace, another commotion broke out.
It was because a sacred white light had poured down into the center of the Grand Cathedral for the first time in a long while.
“Oh! Someone has reached the level of a saint! This is the first time in 200 years!”
“A human who has reached the limits of holy power in this era! They must be the protagonist of a Divine Descent!”
“They must have been in closed-door training since they haven’t used Divine Descent for over two years!”
“Ah! I want to welcome them quickly! But where could they be…!”
At the moment when Ailet’s vessel of grace expanded to saint level, the cardinals who sensed her existence trembled.
Among the gathered cardinals was Cattleya, Bianca’s grandmother.
Without even imagining that Ailet was the owner of that sacred light, she simply listened to the conversation.
“We must quickly locate the Saint and bring them to the Papal Palace!”
“Sir Clovis, who leads the Saint search party, hasn’t made much progress.”
“Well, now that the Saint’s presence has become clearer, good news should come soon. Let’s wait a little longer.”
“But has their gender been confirmed as female? Everyone keeps calling them a Saintess.”
“Ahem… the public reaction is better when we promote a Saintess rather than a Saint.”
The conversation subtly shifted toward politics.
After enough discussion, the cardinals began to disperse.
When most people had left the Grand Cathedral, Cattleya also stepped into the corridor.
That was when—
“Cardinal Cattleya.”
It was a beautiful voice worthy of the Papal Palace’s first choir.
When she turned, she saw a boy who had grown to nearly her height.
Silver hair that seemed made from moonlight. Eyes that shifted between teal and pale blue depending on the light.
His delicate, sculpted features looked like a master craftsman’s crystal statue, almost unreal.
Silver hair, pale face, and a holy knight uniform.
From head to toe he was dressed in colors of purity and holiness. Standing in the sunlight from the tall windows, he looked less like a human and more like a figure from sacred art.
Cattleya called his name.
“Brother Tesilid.”
Tesilid Argent.
A bearer of stigmata loved by God, overwhelmingly powerful.
Cattleya’s gaze habitually moved above his head.
‘As expected.’
His lived lifespan appeared normal.
But his remaining lifespan could not be seen.
He too was someone specially chosen by God.
With a voice that had not yet deepened, Tesilid spoke calmly:
“I heard you visited Count Gillette’s estate during the last harvest festival.”
“I did.”
“You must have had a peaceful time. Was everything well with the family?”
Were they close enough to exchange such considerate greetings?
Though puzzled, Cattleya answered:
“What troubles could there be? It’s a family that has long abandoned central politics and dungeon expeditions. As always, it was peaceful.”
“The servants as well?”
“The servants?”
“There was a girl who got caught in a dungeon sync when she visited the Papal Palace before. I believe she was a servant there.”
“Ah, you mean Ailet. You were the one who rescued her and carried her out. That was already over two years ago. Have you still been thinking about it?”
“Yes. A little.”
“She’s doing well. She’s grown a lot—though not as much as you. She’s starting to look like a young lady.”
“I see…”
Tesilid lowered his gaze, and a faint smile appeared.
His face was always gentle and kind, but this felt slightly different.
Sensing Cattleya’s observation, he quickly ended the conversation.
“Thank you for your time, Your Eminence. Then…”
After giving a knight’s salute with his fist over his chest, he turned and left.
At the end of the corridor, two boys were waiting for him.
“Why’d you go see those old guys?”
Hestio, the shortest of the three, asked crookedly while brushing back his long black hair.
“Yeah. Cardinal Cattleya isn’t even that friendly toward stigma bearers.”
Ipeil added with his cracking voice.
Tesilid answered:
“I wanted to ask about Ailet.”
“Hey!”
“Hey!”
Both friends shouted at once.
“We told you to stop talking so formally! It’s annoying!”
“You awakened your aura and got knighted and now you’re acting weird? I get being inspired by chivalry but this is too much!”
“……”
Unable to explain his circumstances, Tesilid could only look troubled.
‘I can’t exactly say it’s because using formal speech raises my holy power.’
The problem was the Seven Virtues and Seven Sins Regulation buff.
Since he knew polite speech satisfied humility and kindness requirements and increased holy power, he had no choice but to change his speech habits.
There was actually a sad story behind this.
He thought after awakening his aura he wouldn’t have to worry about holy power as much.
But as expected of a protagonist, his constitution was special and he awakened something called Holy Aura.
Ironically, after awakening his aura, he had to manage his holy power even more strictly.
“…I just wish you’d understand.”
He tried to appeal to them.
“I don’t!”
“Cut it out!”
The reactions were intense.
He couldn’t afford to lose his few friends.
Tesilid rarely chose to back down.
“Alright. I’ll try not to talk like that in front of you guys.”
“Yeah, please. Let’s just live normally.”
“Don’t embarrass us when we walk together.”
As they left the main building, the topic returned to why Tesilid had asked about Ailet.
Hestio brought it up:
“You asked about Ailet? You mean that girl from the Toy Mansion?”
“Yeah.”
“She did leave a strong impression. When she put a flower in her hair and said she’d marry a demon… I thought another weird one like you showed up.”
“……”
“Anyway, she was interesting, sure… but you’re still thinking about her? She’s just a normal girl living in a different world from us. You’ll probably never meet again.”
“We will meet again.”
Tesilid said firmly.
After all, they had shared skills.
Reunion was inevitable.
Seeing his certainty, Hestio fell silent, and Ipeil cleared his throat and advised:
“Well… just don’t let the elders find out. If they think you’re interested in a girl, they’ll freak out.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Even if it isn’t, be careful. They’ll jump to conclusions.”
That was true.
The Order was devout, but also conservative.
Though their doctrine had allowed marriage for over two centuries, when it came to stigma bearers, they still pushed the idea that they should dedicate their lives to God.
Basically, they wanted to keep them celibate and use them forever.
Ipeil, who dreamed of leaving the Order, became depressed after saying this and sighed deeply.
Hestio tried to change the subject. Fortunately, there was good news.
“Anyway, looks like we might finally get to leave the Papal Palace soon.”
“Leave? Really?”
“Yeah. Ipeil, I overheard the State Council meeting this morning. They were talking about preparing to send stigma bearers to places across the continent where the Order is needed. Supposedly missionary and volunteer work… but it’ll mostly be dungeon subjugation.”
“Oh yeah!”
“You’re really excited.”
It seemed the stigma bearers would finally expand their horizons beyond the Papal Palace.
Tesilid also felt a small sense of anticipation rising in his chest.
