Chapter 111 – Abduction – Marina, Saint Marina
An elderly woman with benevolent eyes smiled.
Her face looked rather dark because of the light pillar behind her.
“Did you understand, Saint Marina?”
Saint Marina politely asked the person in front of her.
“Are you saying that I can go as a representative tomorrow and refuse the hero’s offer, Archbishop?”
“That’s right. To be honest, the horse is a warrior, and it doesn’t look like a warrior party. They’re just goofballs with no names.”
These are the words of a woman who was a member of the warrior party who actually killed the demon king and returned in the past.
I don’t know what the status of that warrior party is, but it doesn’t seem very promising.
“I can’t give a precious saintess to such people. It is the future of the Church.”
The Archbishop looked at Marina with her eyes full of affection.
“Of course… Archbishop.”
Marina felt that her mood was strange as she received those gazes.
She’s not a very likable human being.
However, even though she is such a person, she gives me a look full of anticipation, so she feels good, albeit a little.
Maybe she’s more like that because she keeps hinting that she’s nominated Marina as the next archbishop.
The archbishop opened his mouth again with a benevolent smile.
“Is it so. She seems to understand even the saintess, so let’s go back to her quarters. She has it comfortably set up. I’m sorry, but I and the other priests are busy and can’t see you off.”
After her words, Marina bowed her head to her gray-haired archbishop and opened her bare door.
And just as she was about to open the door, she slightly turned her head and saw the archbishop pulling out a bottle of red wine.
The wine bottle brilliantly reflected the light of the bright pillar of light behind the Archbishop.
Is it for disinfection?
However, it is an overly luxurious wine to be called medical.
Probably for drinking from a crystal glass hidden under her desk.
Just before closing the door, the sound of a bottle being opened released a sweet scent of decay.
Marina just sighed and closed her door completely.
“Saint Marina!”
But when she heard her bright voice calling her right in front of her, she quickly fixed her face.
Her saintess raised her finger towards the red-haired woman right in front of her eyes.
“Shh! You must be quiet in front of the Archbishop’s office.”
She saw the women staring at her with her twinkling eyes.
All wear white aprons and simple hats typical of the Church of the Goddess of Mercy and Healing.
Her expression is full of the bright and lively atmosphere unique to a girl in her mid-to-late teens.
And there was blood all over it.
“Ah, hello, saintess! I’m sorry, but please sign me later…”
“Me too!”
“Lenny! You didn’t come here to say that!”
“Hey… Opportunities like this don’t come often!”
A girl who looked relatively older interrupted the red-haired woman she had spoken to earlier.
She said politely, wiping her blood-soaked hands on her apron.
“Saintess, I’m sorry, but there are many patients who can’t do it with our ability. Can you help if possible? I came to visit after hearing the news that the famous St. Marina came to the Archbishopric.”
She was at least a grown-up child, but she was also still young.
Perhaps the priest who was guiding them would have been astonished if he had seen them now.
She said that she bothered the saintess who came from afar.
But she was a saint, and she laughed at her apprentices, who made a mess of treating patients of all kinds.
“Of course. Shall we go?”
“Thank you!”
Even the oldest apprentice expressed his gratitude in a raised voice, as if he wanted to be with the saintess.
Marina, who was walking down the aisle with her apprentice priests, looked back at her as if thinking about it.
“The sister who asked for an autograph… ?”
“Oh, eh? Me, me?”
Behavior typical of a teenager meeting a celebrity.
Seeing that innocent and enthusiastic appearance, the saintess felt embarrassed.
“Go to the place where the quill is, and I will do it. Are you not there now?”
“Ah! Go, thank you!”
Even the apprentice who held back her classmates cheered and clung to her saintess.
She entered the lowest part of the temple while answering questions about this and that.
Then she could immediately see that thick air and melancholy moans filled the space.
The apprentices looked at the saintess with her slightly tired face.
Without her divine power and lack of medical knowledge, this situation would be very bleak.
And they wouldn’t understand why there were so many dying patients in this place, which is the church’s headquarters and full of priests who use divine power.
Feeling sympathy for her dying poor and for the priests who were gradually losing their innocence, the saintess called the name of the goddess.
“Ah… !”
The apprentice priests behind her saint opened her mouth when they saw the radiance extending around her marina.
It was no different from the patients who were groaning and the other low-level priests who cared for them.
Soon everyone saw Marina, and she began to move her feet.
Most of the patients here are poor.
Healing magic that is difficult to even meet, or general medical facilities that require large sums of money, are never used.
So she came all the way here as a last resort, but even here she doesn’t receive great treatment.
“Goddess…”
As she suddenly spreads powerful divine power all over the place, her body begins to suffer little by little.
The saint prayed for those who were suffering and endured her suffering.
A radiance flooded the people as Marina took her step, calling out to her goddess.
In the baptism of overwhelming divine power, the patients stopped moaning one by one.
And the wonder of the apprentices behind and the gratitude of the patients raised their voices.
“Wow, you are great!”
“Thank you… !”
Whenever I hear such admiration and cheers, I feel strange.
Frankly, not in a bad mood, she walked to the end of the clinic.
After treating every one of her last patients here, she looked back at her, catching her weary breath.
All of her are watching her as she looks in awe of her.
Some bowed her head, some bowed her knees.
Those who shed her tears are more than those who do not, and there are many who praise her goddess and her her.
I thought I’d get out of this rather busy place right away.
However, Saint Marina continued to look at people, feeling lingering for some reason.
Then everyone gathered at her feet to praise the hero of the miracle.
Every time they called her Saint Marina’s name, she felt a little satisfaction and was soaked in the sensation.
In that sensation, her first sympathy had faded.
* * *
“The name… ?”
“This is Lenny!”
“Lenny… I wish you the best in your apprenticeship.”
Marina handed over a white bandage with her autograph on it.
But Lenny hesitated and asked her one more favor.
“I-over there… Could you write down that you wish to persevere even on a long journey?”
“Ah, are you going on a relief trip? Gladly…”
“Thank you!”
The last apprentice priest ran out holding a bandage with Marina’s autograph on it.
There will be thoughts of bragging about it to others, or of wanting to keep it quietly.
But Marina thought that the strict middle-aged female priest next to her had a greater impact.
“Saint… You know you can’t treat so many people at once, right?”
Then, a large number of complaints from nearby clinics and healing magicians poured in.
Even the poor can buy medicines that can’t pay enough to treat them, but help keep them alive.
In other words, they are protesting against the church because they deprived them of the opportunity to sell drugs.
“Be careful next time.”
The saintess deliberately looked at her opponent with a tired expression.
Then the priestess did not dare to say more and bowed her head.
“I didn’t mean to offend the saintess.”
This woman
If I had been a simple priest without holy power, would I have shown this attitude?
“All right. So can I take a break now? She looks tired from using a lot of divine power.”
Marina issued an explicit celebratory order.
But the priestess hesitated and pulled out something of hers.
“Before that, I will give you a letter from the saintess.”
“Letter… ?”
Marina got it.
The priestess who handed her the letter explained lightly to Marina and walked backwards from her guest room.
“I don’t know either. I just kept it because it came for the saintess…”
The letter was sealed with wax wax.
And the seal belonged to a person Marina knew well.
“Ah!”
As she tore off the wax bearing the image of a praying man, she held in anticipation.
Even before Marina was revealed to her goddess and she became a saint, the one with whom she had been exchanging letters.
An enigmatic figure who only revealed himself as a retired theology professor in the South.
Ever since she was a simple shrine orphan to her, this person has been sending her letters.
Every time I send a donation, it was a lot of help.
It was thanks to the advice and various information given by this unknown benefactor that she even walked the path of a priest.
Otherwise, her orphan Marina would never have received a higher education and become a priest.
Moreover, it is a letter that has been received for over 10 years since she barely started reading when she was 10 years old.
Although suspicious, it was unreasonable to be wary.
[Marina. No, Saint Marina.]
Letters always start like this.
[I think you’re going to the headquarters of the church, so I’m sending a letter there. Is the Archbishop in good health? Now, you shouldn’t be as outspoken as when you were younger.]
Hearing this, he sounds like a very old man.
Of course, that is mere speculation.
Marina knows very little about this man.
Even after she became a saint, even with all the intelligence she had acquired, she couldn’t know even a hair’s worth of information about this person.
[It’s quite hot where I am. It’s like someone started a fire. This is enough for a rabbit to be grilled naturally.]
Heat like a fire.
Is it in the south or near the rhubarb?
Marina continued to read her letter, imagining places she had never been.
The first part of the letter was just as ordinary and full of warm words.
Marina felt something like friendship for this unknown character and focused on her writing.
[By the way, there are rumors that a warrior party was formed recently, but the saintess must have heard of it too, right?]
The saintess unconsciously nodded her head.
[I’m already looking forward to it! What they do to reach the Demon King and make this world more beautiful. It will probably go down in history.]
Your name will remain in history.
It is difficult to imagine for Marina, who is a mere orphan.
Although she is famous as a saint herself, most of her saints only have names left in the records of her church.
Perhaps she herself will live as an existence that empowers the church until her death, and she will die leaving behind only a few titles of saints without personality.
If she lived only as a saint, she certainly would.
[In that sense, the priests participating this time will be greatly honored. To think that such an opportunity would go to an apprentice priest who was only a newbie. In a way, she is also the grace of the Goddess of Mercy.]
Send an apprentice priest… ?
She is completely unknown to Marina.
Could it be that they are trying to hand over an ignorant little boy to the warrior party?
If you pass over one priest who has barely received divine power, the church will save face, and even if that priest dies, there will be no change.
It was a plan that the cunning old archbishop would not hesitate to commit.
[The demon king this time is called a dreamer. Very weak. In addition, the demons are also tinged with peace these days, so even a relatively weak party might be able to subdue them without difficulty.]
“Uh… ?”
The saintess involuntarily let out a sound.
Information that she does not even know is pouring in, which can touch her high-ranking information of her own church.
[If my information is correct, the priest who will be sent to the warrior party this time is Lenny. I heard he’s a pretty promising priest.]
Lenny?
That red-haired girl?
[Besides, this is just a rumor, but it is said that she is now the archbishop’s hidden daughter. Of course, these are just rumors.]
The information given by the sender of this letter was never wrong.
Then what about this?
[Maybe it’s the achievements of the current archbishop who is trying to raise the next archbishop!]
“That…”
Marina felt her embarrassment creep in.
She was honestly thinking that she wouldn’t be the next Archbishop herself.
The archbishop cared for him and hinted that he would continue to do so, and made him continue his external activities.
Many of them were arduous, but she did them all considering that she could help others and that it was necessary for her weak position because of her orphaned origins.
But actually another priest as archbishop?
[The Church of the Goddess of Mercy will get another great man, so it’s a joy indeed. I believe the saintess would think so too.]
She was going to think so.
But she keeps coming up with other ideas.
She herself is an orphan.
If she hadn’t had the opportunity to become a priest, she would have lived her life as a whore in her back alley and died without her name.
It’s not that different now than it was back then.
Her hard-won position as a saint is too weak to leave her footprints in the world.
If she stays like this, she will disappear like dust.
“…”
And she herself hated it.
A forgotten life is more terrible than a miserable life.
She hoped that she would remain in people’s memories somehow, and that her name would not be erased even in her history.
[And the saintess. It will be difficult to send this letter for the time being…]
The saintess read only that far and folded her letter.
And she kissed her on it.
An unknown sponsor.
He always lighted her way in her subconscious.
“Is it the guidance of the goddess?”
Sometimes she wondered if it was God’s guidance.
Such solid help and advice.
Perhaps it is the long-held will of the Goddess who wants Marina to become an archbishop and reform this corrupt church.
Marina gritted her teeth and lay down on the bed.
You will need to rest beforehand to prepare for tomorrow.
* * *
“Saint!”
Cried the archbishop, her eyes popping out in amazement.
“Ji, what now?”
“I will go myself.”
The saintess walked in front of the party of four warriors.
There was also a red-haired apprentice priest she had heard called Lenny.
“Eh, Saint Marina?”
“Lenny. This adventure is very dangerous. It’s practically a suicide mission.”
Lenny said with a firm face.
“But I am prepared for that! Surely for mankind…”
“Good! We will get help from this saintess.”
The warrior who overheard the conversation shouted loudly.
Then the archbishop jumped down directly in front of the light pillar called the lighthouse.
“Saint! Let’s talk to me for a moment.”
Marina followed her.
Arriving at a somewhat secluded place, the Archbishop asked with sharp eyes.
“What are you thinking! A saintess herself jumping into such a dangerous thing?”
“Then what if we send an apprentice priest like Lenny to such a dangerous job?”
“Yeah…”
The Archbishop glanced at Lenny with her red hair and frowned.
“Since I am the head of the Order, I am acting for the benefit of the entire Order!”
Marina felt a little strange.
Is it just a rumor that Lenny and the archbishop are related by blood?
Or the performance of this old foxy Archbishop?
“Withdraw now! The conflict with the royal family is so severe these days that it is difficult to refuse the hero’s request…”
“I’m sorry during the conversation…”
Marina turned her head at the sound of a man’s voice behind her.
The dark-haired man asked politely.
“Since the saintess also expressed her will, and we agreed to accept it, isn’t it already over?”
The Archbishop seemed about to burst into anger.
However, as the hero behind the man shook his eyes fiercely, only the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Archbishop.”
The saintess, who had already made up her mind yesterday, said hard as she looked at the archbishop.
“Will you give me a blessing? May I come back safely.”
The archbishop trembled in full swing and eventually came forward.
“Bless you! May the protection and mercy of the goddess be with you in front of your warrior party!”
The archbishop spoke to Marina one last time with a bitter face.
“I hope that the saintess will be guided by the goddess, who is like a lighthouse that always shines. Please come back safely. I will wait for you.”
Standing with Lenny, the Archbishop couldn’t take his eyes off Marina and bit her lip.
Seeing this, Marina felt a sense of trembling for no reason.
However, the people who became new colleagues behind them waited, so they only bowed their heads and turned around.
She said hello while standing in front of the warrior party.
“Nice to meet you. It is said that Marina serves Ruiner, the goddess of mercy.”
The saintess hoped that her name, Marina, would not be forgotten, and she went into them.
