< 32 : Bipolar (1) >
Holy Land, Crossbridge.
Hus Allemier, who arrived at one of the six temples, the Temple of Knowledge, was treated as a guest of honor there.
It had been a long time since a hero with a mark appeared in the Holy Land.
Moreover, Hus was from a noble family of the empire with a clear identity.
A mage hero from a noble family who could become a patron was a blessing for the Temple of Knowledge.
It was only natural that Hus received a lavish treatment when he visited the temple.
“Hus, do you have any discomfort?”
As Hus was immersed in reading magic books in the temple’s library, a priest came up to him and spoke.
The priest was asking about Hus’s convenience.
Before he knew it, freshly brewed tea and snacks were placed on Hus’s table.
Hus couldn’t help but chuckle at the priest’s attitude.
As far as he remembered, the priests of the temple only showed this kind of attitude when his family donated money at the clan level.
But as soon as he came to the temple with the mark of a hero, they showed him an extreme hospitality.
Hus realized anew the power of authority.
“How long has it been since I came to the library?”
“It’s been five hours since you started reading.”
“Five hours…”
It seemed that he had been stuck in the library for five hours already.
There were many magic books in the Temple of Knowledge.
And most of those books were not easily available in the market.
In fact, the library was only open to Hus, who was chosen as the hero of knowledge.
It was a pleasant thing to browse through magic books with high-level contents in his own library.
However, since Hus was chosen as a hero, he had other schedules besides reading.
He couldn’t stay in the library and indulge in knowledge forever.
“Is the next schedule set?”
“Today you will meet the saintess.”
“The saintess…”
Hus closed the book he was looking at and nodded at the priest’s words.
The saintess chosen by God.
She was one of the most important figures in the Holy Land, except for the Holy King.
Hus had not met the saintess who served the Goddess of Knowledge yet.
It was the duty of the saintess who belonged to the temple to tell him about the divine device and the hero.
Hus needed to meet the saintess in order to become a true hero.
“Do you want to leave right away?”
“Is there any reason not to? Let’s go.”
Meeting the saintess was also an anticipated schedule for Hus.
Creak.
He got up from his seat and followed the priest out of the library.
He had been visiting the Temple of Knowledge for several days now.
The structure of the temple that he saw every time he passed by was already familiar to his eyes.
The priest who guided Hus turned around a long corridor and headed to the second floor.
“What kind of person is the saintess?”
“Are you asking about the saintess? She is very wise.”
“And?”
“She also has a warm heart as much as her experience.”
Experience.
Hus couldn’t help but ponder for a moment when he heard that word.
It felt like he heard a word that didn’t suit the position of a saintess.
But seeing the priest who stopped in his place, he quickly erased that word from his mind.
There was a refined door in front of where the priest stopped.
“Is this it?”
“This is the room of ritual. If you go inside, you will be able to meet the saintess.”
“I see. I’ll go in then.”
“I’ll wait outside until you come out.”
Squeak.
The tightly closed door opened and revealed the scenery of the room where the saintess was.
A altar with artistic patterns carved on it.
Several majestic candlesticks surrounding it.
And an old woman sitting in the middle of them.
As soon as he entered the room, Hus’s eyes stopped at the old woman in front of him.
“You are…”
He had heard that he would meet the saintess, but he had no idea that he would face an old woman.
But there was no one else left in this room except for her.
The old woman answered with a bright smile at Hus’s unfinished words.
“You are the new hero. Welcome. I am Aurora, the saintess of knowledge.”
“The saintess…?”
“The Goddess of Knowledge likes those who have accumulated a lot of knowledge. Thanks to that, I received her grace.”
The identity of the old woman who sat before Hus’s eyes was none other than the saintess chosen by the Goddess of Knowledge.
Hus was taken aback by the unexpected appearance.
The saintess he had imagined in his head was much younger than her.
But considering the nature of the temple that loved knowledge, it was not an incomprehensible decision.
The saintess in front of him looked more dignified and wise than any other person he had met.
“Saintess… I see.”
“Were you surprised?”
“No, no. If I think about it, it’s a decision that makes sense.”
Aurora nodded her head with a satisfied smile at Hus’s honest answer.
Even if the romance in his head was gone, it didn’t mean that his life in the temple would disappear.
Saintess Aurora was a person who would help Hus a lot in his life in the temple.
It was better for both of them to maintain a proper distance.
“I see. The new hero. You must have a lot of questions to ask me, including the divine device that you are allowed to use.”
“Of course.”
“Let’s start with the story that you asked the priests separately.”
Hus listened carefully to Aurora’s words.
The topic she brought up was the story he was looking forward to very much.
The story that he asked the priests separately.
It was about his brother who was serving in the Holy Land.
Several days had passed since I arrived at the Holy Land.
During that time, I had not seen my brother Evan even once.
“Are you looking for Evan Allemier, a knight who works at the Temple of Honor?”
“Yes, he is my brother.”
It was already a situation where I was chosen by the goddess.
I had a pile of things to talk to Evan about.
More than anything, I was curious about how Evan would react to me becoming a hero.
As I waited for the story about Evan, Aurora picked up a paper that was nearby.
The paper that Aurora picked up was a profile of Evan that the priests had found out by wandering around the Holy Land.
“According to what the priests have investigated, Evan Allemier, a heretic inquisitor who serves the Goddess of Honor, is…”
“My brother is…?”
“He has not returned to the Holy Land since he applied for a vacation last time.”
“What?”
Thud.
I tried to lean on a candlestick nearby and fell down with it.
Was it because of the one eye that I lost a long time ago?
Or was it because the information about my brother was shocking?
Either way, it was hard for me to accept the situation.
*****
Centrius province, located on the outskirts of the empire.
A carriage that was passing by a remote road stopped in its place.
The owner of the carriage was Shuron, a merchant who was building up a decent-sized business.
Shuron looked at the front of the carriage with an annoyed expression.
For some unknown reason, the carriage could not move forward.
“Hey! Why did you stop the carriage!”
Shuron urged the coachman with an angry voice.
The horses that were heading to the city stopped still at some point and did not move.
It was an incomprehensible situation for Shuron who was sitting in the back seat.
The coachman answered him as he looked at him.
“I think something is blocking it.”
“What? Is there a rock on the ground or something?”
“No, it’s not…”
“Then what is it!”
There was nothing that could be an obstacle in front of Shuron’s eyes.
But the horses did not move and stayed still.
What was blocking the road?
Shuron got off the carriage and approached the coachman’s seat.
He wanted to check for himself what was wrong with the horses.
“I don’t know why either.”
“Don’t give me some nonsense! I’ll cut your next salary, you hear me!”
The coachman had already gotten off the carriage and checked the horses once.
But Shuron didn’t trust him and went closer to the horses to see for himself.
Shuron’s eyes scanned over the legs of the horses that were standing still.
There was no sign of anything stuck or wrong with them.
The only strange thing was that they both raised their heads in the air and snorted.
Thump. Thump.
This time, Shuron moved a little further and reached out to where the horses were standing still.
Thud.
His hand that reached out to the air hit something invisible and stopped.
“What, what is this…?”
Shuron’s fingers touched the invisible wall.
There was a transparent barrier in front of him, created by some kind of force.
Come to think of it, when the horses stopped, he remembered that the carriage shook quite roughly.
If there was a barrier blocking their way, it also made sense that the horses stopped by pushing their foreheads against it.
Shuron was surprised by the transparent barrier that blocked his way and spoke to the coachman.
“The road is blocked! Turn the carriage around!”
“Sir, to turn the carriage around, we need…”
“We’re stuck here! We have to get out somehow!”
An unknown force was blocking their way.
Shuron guessed that this was a magical phenomenon.
They wouldn’t be able to use this road until a decent mage came and dispelled it.
It was unfortunate that their progress was delayed, but it was best to make a quick decision and save some time as much as possible.
He made up his mind and ordered the coachman when someone appeared from the nearby forest.
“The barrier made by our apostle is reliable.”
The one who showed up from the forest was a middle-aged man wearing a tunic.
He smiled with a friendly face and looked at Shuron.
The man clearly said “the barrier made by our apostle”.
He was obviously involved in this matter.
Shuron couldn’t help but ask his identity after hearing such a suspicious word.
“A barrier? Who are you?”
“Me? I am Archbishop Roan Hebris. I am a faithful servant of the great one.”
“Archbishop? What the hell…”
Archbishop was a religious position that oversaw a diocese.
Shuron had some information about the temples nearby.
But the man named Roan in front of him was an unfamiliar name to Shuron.
He was undoubtedly a suspicious person.
As Shuron looked at Roan with a wary eye, Roan slowly walked towards him.
And then he extended one hand to him with a dignified attitude and said.
“I want to invite you to our cult. Would you accept my invitation if you don’t mind?”
