Chapter 20: One Who Trusts People
I try to make good use of my time.
It’s not to an incredible degree, but just enough that I was frequently able to get awarded leave in the military for earning certifications. For me, being confined to the monastery was a much better choice than the worst option.
In the medieval Ise society, there was no place to acquire knowledge as broad as the monastery. Especially after witnessing the miracle shown by Priest Sertell, my interest was focused on that.
Even while confined, I sought out writings related to miracles, and the abbot allowed me to study under the condition that I accompany Priest Sertell. It was an effort on their part to make it not appear as a forcible confinement.
I gladly took advantage of the abbot’s hypocrisy. Where there is danger and opportunity, there is a crisis. If I could obtain information difficult to access in the secular world, it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.
Priest Sertell’s face, who had to follow me like a servant, was fiercely distorted.
“Why would you want to know such things when you’ll have to spend the rest of your life here anyway?”
“Do you regret my choice? It’s the priests who will have to live their entire lives here.”
“Don’t treat a prisoner and a guard the same, Young Master.”
“Thanks for the advice. As you said, since I’ll be living here for life with nothing to do, I’ll just read some books.”
Priest Sertell couldn’t harass or kill me anyway. The abbot’s cautious personality was key. If they killed me, they would completely oppose Prince Athelton, and it’s not worth taking that risk.
Short-sighted people might think it’s better to just do as they’re told for their own benefit. But considering that those in high positions are best at cutting tails, it’s not a great judgment. Especially for those in positions that must maintain moral integrity.
Would there really be an excuse like “it was the willful actions of subordinates”?
The Bishop of Povius, who masterminded this, would remain silent even if Prince Athelton accused the monastery. Only after the monastery is destroyed would he point out that Prince Athelton overreacted.
After giving orders, he would keep his mouth shut, then pin the “disrespecting the Church’s authority” frame on Prince Athelton. As a result, outrage within the Church would ultimately be directed at Prince Athelton, who severely undermined the Church’s authority on the surface.
At this point, he would make a deal with Prince Athelton with the sweet promise of supporting his future appointment.
This is the broader picture I envision from the Bishop of Povius. Of course, in this process, the monastery would be utterly destroyed. The abbot knows this, which is why he’s using me as a hostage.
Therefore, I am in control. Even a prisoner with money and connections can boss around the guards.
“So if there are any books related to the miracle of Lux Stella, please stack them all here neatly.”
“Don’t speak so brazenly, Young Master. You may be a guest, but you are also a hostage. We may not be able to torment you, but the escorts who came with you are mere nobodies.”
As I gestured for him to bring some books, he couldn’t control his temper and bared his teeth. To them, I was a serious matter, but others didn’t need to know. Priest Sertell was trying to restrain my actions by taking the safety of my escorts as hostages.
I shouldn’t think of them as innocent priests in my mind’s garden. Of course, they have desires; since they have no entertainment, they’ve become obsessed with accumulating power and money. If they say they’ll do it, they really will.
Thinking of Sir Topa and the surviving soldiers, and our poor John, my heart felt heavy. If they can be saved, they must be saved. With this in mind, I spoke.
“Right. As you said, they are not worth my concern. Would you really kidnap such people and threaten me?”
“Stop with the bluster. As followers of Lux Stella’s righteousness, we do not lose our light even in the shadows.”
“You speak of turning people against each other quite nobly. Go ahead. Kidnap them and skin them alive if you want. But bring the books first.”
If I give the impression that I’m trying to protect them, it will only put them in greater danger. From then on, I would become the priests’ pawn, tossed around and eventually offered as a sacrifice to the winning side.
Even if I’m treated as a pawn, it doesn’t guarantee the safety of the hostages. In fact, it’s often more convenient and easier to just kill the hostages than to carefully keep them alive.
When alive, there’s a possibility of unexpected actions, but the dead cannot harbor any possibility. Therefore, if there’s something you truly want to protect, you must sometimes be willing to let it go.
The surest way to hide a treasure is not behind an impenetrable wall, but to place it in an inconspicuous spot where no one pays attention. Of course, there’s still a possibility that this bluff won’t work, and they may actually be killed.
Well, then I’ll just have to take revenge.
I sat on a chair prepared in the library, crossed my legs, and tapped the table with my index finger.
“Out of consideration for the monastery, please feel free to exclude any books you really can’t show me. Is it really okay for me to look through everything?”
“What are you believing in to be so arrogant?”
Unable to contain himself any longer, Priest Sertell asked with wrinkles forming on his forehead. To Priest Sertell, I must seem quite strange. I have no armed men under me, no way to seek help in my confined situation.
Even with enemies threatening my life, I’m acting like a madman. Rather, it’s Priest Sertell and the entire monastery who should be considered mad.
“What are you believing in to have captured me?”
“The monastery is the center of religious life in this region, a place where various knowledge and sacred relics reside. Even plunderers cannot easily cross it, so those who follow the light of Lux Stella cannot easily attack it either.”
“Aha.”
I pretended to understand and slightly changed my thinking. These guys were cultivating a garden in their minds. Priest Sertell seemed to interpret my answer differently, showing a mocking smile.
“Do you finally realize it? I must hear how you can be so arrogant.”
Although he probably asked the question intending to mock me, I could respond with a bright smile without any ulterior motive.
“I trust people. Just as you trust in the safety of the monastery.”
“We will act before any helping hand can reach you.”
“Of course you will.”
Priest Sertell assumed I was trusting Prince Athelton. Sertell only saw me as a child believing his father would use any means to help him in a crisis.
I decided to make a slight change to that perception.
“Now that you’ve heard my answer, move the books. If I tell the abbot to have you read me a storybook instead of these before I fall asleep, whose side do you think he’ll take? I’m saying I’ll cooperate without even moving a muscle, so…”
“…”
“Move them. I’ll read them myself.”
***
This is how I got Priest Sertell’s kind assistance.
Thanks to him, I could access a wealth of knowledge that the Church deliberately tried to suppress. Among them, discovering the way to gain Lux Stella’s favor was a great harvest.
Upon closer inspection, Lux Stella was indeed somewhat different from the other gods. According to scripture, while the old gods of Ise desired offerings, Lux Stella desired life.
This statement seemed puzzling at first, but after examining it closely, I could only nod in understanding. The old gods of Ise preferred one-time cool transactions. “We offer this much to our beloved god!” and they would bestow their favor accordingly.
In this process, if a few rules set by the god were broken, as long as the offering was impressive, they would laugh it off generously. Conversely, if they disliked the offering, there would be severe repercussions.
On the other hand, Lux Stella accepts ‘vows’ instead of offerings. One pledges to uphold or accomplish something for the rest of their life, swearing an oath to the god. There were various types of these vows.
The Vow of Temperance. The more one finds satisfaction in a life of abstinence, the more one’s devotion is recognized. It may seem insignificant, but it’s certainly difficult to maintain. Many people make the Vow of Temperance thinking it’s nothing, unaware of this fact.
Our priests were a prime example of this.
The next is the Vow of Transmission. The more one propagates knowledge and leaves records, the more one’s devotion is recognized. Records are not limited to writings, but can also be in the form of rumors circulating among people.
The Vow of Honesty. One’s devotion is recognized by not telling lies. It is said that if one maintains honesty even in situations detrimental to oneself, devotion is recognized even more greatly.
The Vow of Diligence. The harder one works, the more one’s devotion is recognized. It is said that if one truly feels they have worked extremely hard, their devotion is recognized. Therefore, it is said that the lazy unexpectedly choose this vow the most.
However, the lazy are those who simply brush it off thinking, “This much is enough~.” Of course, it is said that cases of their devotion being recognized are extremely rare.
The final vow is the Vow of Evangelism. It is the simplest, yet surprisingly avoidant vow, where one’s devotion is recognized the more one expels heresy and spreads the faith of Lux Stella.
The final vow is the Vow of Evangelism. It is the simplest, yet surprisingly avoidant vow, where one’s devotion is recognized the more one expels heresy and spreads the faith of Lux Stella.
It is a very simple vow, so why is the pick rate low? Upon investigating the reason, it is said that the heretic groups worshiping the old gods of Ise are so strong that it surpasses imagination.
The heretics who have survived until now are the cream of the crop, filtered and filtered again, so if one tries to crush them, one may end up being crushed instead. Because of this, it is said that even among the monastic knights who have sworn eternal evangelism, cases of taking the Vow of Evangelism are extremely rare.
After learning about all these vows, I fell into my own thoughts.
The miracle bestowed by Lux Stella is longevity and immunity from disease.
Considering how I suffered from toothache during my first possession, this is quite a great miracle. No matter how highly one regards the level of surgery in this era, they are still likely to mess people up, so it’s better to just fetch some cold water and pray.
Although it may lack impact, what great miracle is really needed for people to live?
To be precise, it’s not complete immunity from disease, but rather an enhancement of the immune system… Considering the standards of this era, it’s still a great benefit. More importantly, there are said to be additional miracles according to one’s devotion.
This longevity and immunity from disease is merely the first miracle bestowed by Lux Stella. If the first miracle alone is already so extensive and powerful, how grand must the second miracle be?
The Church cleverly omitted any description of this second miracle, as if saying, “You must obtain it directly.” It seems to be a way of motivating those who have experienced the effects of the first miracle to live more devotedly.
And it was the miracles bestowed by Lux Stella that drew me to the vows.
Hah… vows. It seems okay if I can make them. Looking at how things are going, the monastery is unlikely to allow me to make vows, even if they allow other things. Well, if I just live an ordinary life, who would bother watching closely to see if I gain the god’s favor?
As I was deep in thought, there was fortunately someone who shared and shouldered my concerns.
“Young Master, why are you so calm! They say we might all die!”
John of Riverside. Having grasped the situation belatedly, he was crying loudly with a hoarse voice.
If only Sir Topa were here to give him a scolding… Sir Topa and the soldiers were isolated separately due to the risk of them conspiring to escape. John was left here, deemed harmless even if kept together.
Only now realizing the situation, he cries without rest every single day. As a roommate sharing the same room, it’s truly dreadful, but the priests find it even more dreadful, so they’ve just left him be.
“Young Master is at least a noble, so you’ll be fine, but a lowly life like me could die at any moment! I was only dragged along because of Young Master’s stubbornness!!!”
Seeing him bawling like that pains my heart. Without adding a single lie, John’s earnest words struck a chord with me. To the point of forgetting his position, he must be suffering greatly from the fear of death.
I decided to set aside the book on vows for a moment. Knowing this would happen, I had prepared some warm words of consolation for John in advance.
“John, I trust people.”
“No… No! Young Master! Isn’t this the result of having trusted!”
“Tsk tsk tsk. Not that.”
“More nonsense!!!”
Seeing him even lose his temper, he must have been driven into a corner. Watching John at a loss for thoughts, I could only click my tongue.
“John, think about it. The ones who extremely dread the intervention of the Papacy are Yubas and the Bishop of Povius, these two. These two have prepared numerous means in preparation for any possible situation, and desperately wish for my death.”
“Just tell me the main point, the main point!”
“But the abbot is keeping me alive for fear of my father the prince. Though he may pretend to remain neutral, just how will that appear to those who wish for my death?”
“…Ah.”
Upon hearing this, John finally calmed down. I could smile brightly at the somewhat composed John.
“I believe in the cruelty of people. This monastery will be attacked by both sides as the price for aiming for a half-hearted neutrality.”
***
In the shadowy corridor where even the moonlight is sliced thin, footsteps of priests stained with guilt echo in the dark night.
The priests concealed their bodies with black robes, preventing any light from touching their skin, and carried sharply honed daggers at their waists. Their bulging eyes projecting only a fierce glint, as they tried to suppress the trembling of their hearts.
With each step towards their respective targets, the priests trampled not only the darkness of the corridor but also their faint sense of guilt. Their footsteps, drenched in fear and remorse, were causing rippling shockwaves in the quiet monastery in the middle of the night.
What shattered this stillness was a priest who appeared from another direction, holding a lantern. With wrinkles on his arms and graying hair, he smiled calmly, failing to notice the ominous intentions hidden in the shadows.
“Brothers, what brings you all out at this late hour…”
The priests’ hands hesitantly reached for their dagger hilts. At that moment, they recalled their past selves swearing to uphold the strict monastic rules and vows. However, mere recollections of the past could not stop their resolution.
The daggers drawn in an instant replaced the moonlight, sinking into the back of his neck. Only then did the priest who was patrolling realize the situation and urgently scream, but it was too late for anyone to hear.
The innocent priest grabbed his own neck, trying to stop the gushing blood with his hands. However, it was hopelessly insufficient with just two hands. He collapsed into the pool of his own blood, his life fading away.
The priests stood dazed for a while, having killed an innocent brother with whom they had lived together. Then, the first to break out of the trance spoke.
“There is no turning back now. Move, brothers. Instead of the power-hungry abbot, we must lead this monastery.”
He deliberately averted his gaze from the dagger in his hand, the evidence of his crime, as he spoke.
“It is time to be resolute in place of those who cannot act justly out of fear of retaliation.”
