***
Roberta stepped out of the tent. As she let out a long sigh, her breath also stretched out long before scattering. The effect of the alcohol had risen, making her face red and her body hot, but she felt her body tremble as the night wind blew. It was an early winter chill that was hard to believe for summer.
‘Am I going to live here from now on?’
She sighed deeply again and lowered her head.
“Ah, I hate this.”
The words leaked out of her mouth involuntarily.
There was a Lord whose inner thoughts remained entirely inscrutable. If that were the only thing, it would have been fine. However, the presiding priest appointed by His Holiness the Pope had gone missing, and no matter how one looked at it, it was a problem linked to the Lord.
Furthermore, he had lived for hundreds of years yet appeared to be her age, and despite not being a priest, he performed the Sacrament of Infancy as he pleased—and even succeeded at it.
Her head felt complicated enough to burst.
The even more terrible fact was that this was only the first day.
‘How many years was Lord Alonso here?’
The term of a presiding priest was usually set at ten years. Sometimes, it was made a lifelong post. Of course, it was not common because if the term increased, one might become as corrupt as a secular monarch.
‘I really hate this.’
She kicked a stone embedded in the ground with her right foot.
‘Everyone only says what they want to say. What do they expect me to do?’
Strength went into her kick. The deeply embedded stone popped out with a thud and flew far away before sinking into the earth. Or rather, it must have sunk. Since it was late at night, the stone was not visible, and the sound was buried in the wind and went unheard.
She tucked in her outer garment and looked out at the night scenery.
Scenery—it was not even that. Clouds had gathered in the sky and even covered the moon, so what could be seen? The darkness that remained the same whether she closed or opened her eyes was the only scenery before her.
And such a sight made her fall into contemplation. Since her eyes were resting from work, her head spun unnecessarily, and the conversation with Elder Brasse, which she had briefly forgotten, came back to mind.
Whether it was knocking down a giant larger than three grown men with a whip, helping a snow elf bring summer, or entering the nest of a sleeping dragon—every story was absurd, yet they were all interesting. Although the conclusion every time ended with praising the Lord, Ulrih.
‘Lord Alonso used to tell me similar stories in the past.’
Roberta recalled the conversation with the elder.
She had listened attentively while continuously sipping her glass. As the wine ran out and she began to swallow cheap distilled spirits, the elder’s voice had gradually lost its strength. His pupils had held strength, but his body could not keep up with his will, and his voice had begun to crack.
- Look.
At that time, the elder had concluded his words to her like this.
- I will return to the soil after living for merely half a century, but my master will live for a longer time than our clan has served him. And he will also look after my grandson who performed the sacrament today, just as he taught me with that hand that taught my ancestor how to use a bow. As long as we serve that person, it will be forever.
Roberta understood the elder’s words.
‘I don’t particularly empathize, but I understand.’
Such claims were not rare. Even if the era of humans had been continuing three times over, it was not as if non-human races had perished. Dwarves and elves, those different races, had merely lost their old vigor. Each was continuing its own history.
Because of this, mixed-bloods were sometimes born, or pure-blooded dwarves and elves stood above humans. The elder’s ancestor might have been a person from three hundred years ago, but if they were the ancestor of a tribe serving an elf, they would be a person from more than a thousand years ago.
History could be a stale shackle for humans, but sometimes it also became a driving force. Just as the Cormillius family, which had the first Emperor as their ancestor, held the unique right to elect the Pope based on that history.
Furthermore, if history was not a nation or a family but the life of a single person, the emotion toward him would naturally become heavy enough to be close to faith.
Roberta let out a hollow laugh.
‘Forever? How great it would be if that were possible.’
Unless one were a god, humans aged and eventually died. Even elves, who possessed such a long lifespan, merely did not age, yet the end eventually found them. So where could "forever" possibly exist?
‘It would be one thing if they just wished for it. But they completely believe it, like a god.’
Roberta did not like that.
If there was even a slight hole in logic, she was the type to dig in so obsessively that others would point it out as excessive. She had a personality that would agonize until she solved a curiosity once she harbored it.
It was also because of that that she had suspected and pushed Ulrih, despite the guarantee of the Pope and the Bishop. She thought that if it had been another priest, it would have been simple; they wouldn't have tried to grasp the facts.
The reason her faith was not exceptional despite being a priest lay there. It was natural for gossip to circulate that she couldn't have become a priest if Alonso, who was like an adoptive father, hadn't lent a hand.
‘I don't know what intention Lord Alonso had in sending me.’
She shook her head while letting out a sigh, not knowing how many times she had done so.
#
And a little over a week passed.
On the morning after finishing the Sacrament of Infancy, Roberta, who had returned to the city of Freize and was assigned to the diocese, immediately began her duties as the presiding priest.
She laid the foundation for restoring the diocese that had collapsed since the disappearance of her predecessor, performing tasks such as restoring the temple, selecting practitioners, and administering sacraments from the ground up.
Along with this, she did not forget to investigate the Lord.
‘Because in any diocese, the work of the diocese is entangled with the Lord.’
While she couldn't say she had no selfish motives, it was also something she naturally had to do as the presiding priest. Secular monarchs and temples were in a relationship where they shared the same domain. It was a relationship where they could clash or cooperate.
So she proceeded, thinking of it as a major duty. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
The problem was that her goal was blocked from the start.
“The Lord? Um… it is difficult for me to say anything.”
In this way, whoever she asked avoided answering. She even missed the elder who had poured out all sorts of stories while drunk, and she was at a point where she wondered if she should really go and ask the elder.
‘What? Why are they avoiding the talk?’
They could at least tell her if it was good or bad, couldn't they?
It was one day when she was racking her brain in such embarrassment.
Guests arrived in the city. It was an old man and a boy. Roberta, who was wiping holy objects with a sulky face, narrowed her eyes. She had heard that outside guests were extremely rare in Freize because it was located in Dithmarschen, a polar region.
“Umm?”
At least since she had been assigned, she hadn't seen a single person, let alone an old man and a boy who looked like they would have a hard time even passing this year. Why would they come to such a place? Roberta’s peculiar curiosity was piqued, and she followed their tracks.
Sure enough, they were heading straight for the Lord’s manor.
Intuition whispered in her brain.
‘Suspicious.’
Coincidentally, she was staying at the Lord’s manor. Since the temple was in a more disastrous state than Alonso’s hint, Ulrih had suggested she stay at the Lord’s manor.
Since it was an uncomfortable suggestion, she had wanted to refuse and have them build a new temple or provide another residence, but due to the circumstances of the territory, there was no other choice. So, for the time being, she was in the middle of an uncomfortable cohabitation at the suspicious Lord’s house.
It was also a time when the sunset was slowly falling. She closed the main hall and quickly headed for the Lord’s manor. While dinner preparations were in full swing, no one paid any attention to her.
Roberta searched for the place where Ulrih would meet the two guests.
That place was the office.
“Greetings, Lord.”
When she arrived in front of the office, she heard the old man’s greeting just in time.
She peeked through the slightly open crack in the door. It was not a very wide space. Since the Lord’s manor was made by remodeling the inner keep, it was quite insufficient as a living space.
‘If he lived for hundreds of years, couldn't he decorate it a little?’
While she was grumbling inwardly, Ulrih spoke.
“Yes, what is the reason you sought me out?”
He was sitting at his desk with a small window behind him.
“I heard stories about you and came to see you. That you have lived for a very long time. I heard you have lived for three hundred years, no… a longer life than that.”
“It is the truth.”
“But you are young.”
The old man took his time while observing Ulrih.
“How can that be?”
“Did you come because you wanted to know that? For agelessness?”
When an answer didn't come out right away, he continued speaking.
“Even if you know the reason, it is not something you can do.”
“Is that so?”
“It will be hard to believe, but I am sorry.”
“No. The reason I sought you out is different.”
The old man tightly grabbed the hand of the boy standing next to him. Although he grabbed it so tightly that his shoulders shook for a moment, the boy was looking at Ulrih without moving.
“I am called Rasid. I have come from the Kingdom of Ararik.”
“Ararik Kingdom.”
Ulrih muttered as if retracing his memory.
“I remember it as a country in the East. You have come from quite a far place.”
“I also didn't know it would be such a long journey.”
“And you probably didn't know it would be this cold.”
Rasid gave an awkward smile.
“Is that child your grandson?”
“No. He is my son.”
He narrowed his eyes and asked back.
“Is he a late-born child?”
“He is a child I had at twenty-one.” New chapters come out on g.com first.
At twenty-one—when those words came out, Ulrih leaned his body forward. Roberta, who was peeking, also narrowed her eyes.
It was inevitable because the appearance of the two was different enough for them to appear as grandfather and grandson. Rasid looked much older than the clan elder she had met previously, and his son looked to be ten years old at most.
“How old are you?”
Rasid stated his age was sixty-seven.
“Indeed, I see.”
Ulrih pulled back and let out a long breath.
“This side was the problem.”
He pointed to the boy.
“Right?”
“Yes. As you can see, my son’s growth has stopped. He is at an age where he should have several grown children, but his body has stopped growing, and his mind has changed to be like a baby’s. Before I die, I want to break the curse placed on this child.”
“Even his mind is like that?”
“He doesn't remember anything other than that I am his father. His speech is also simple, like a child just beginning to learn to speak, and his behavior is the same.”
Hmm, Ulrih, who made a sound and stroked his chin, stood up.
“Let me examine him.”
The boy stepped back and flailed his hands in the air. Since he looked like he was going to scratch Ulrih when he approached, Rasid put his hand on his son’s back and raised his voice to tell him to stay still.
“No!”
He even snapped his teeth at Rasid, threatening him.
“This fellow!”
Rasid raised his palm.
“That’s enough. I will take care of it, so do not worry.”
Ulrih picked up a fruit bowl and held it out to the boy. The boy, who saw the bowl full of dried fruits, opened his eyes wide and hid his teeth, then snatched the bowl and shoved the fruits into his mouth.
In the meantime, Ulrih examined him by feeling the boy’s neck, chest, and wrist. The boy growled like an animal while eating the fruits, but Ulrih didn't care.
“I see.”
After a while, Ulrih stood up.
“How is it?”
“What do you think is the cause?”
“I do not know. Although I suspect it might be a type of curse...”
“Do you really not know?”
His voice was low. The old man lowered his head to avoid his gaze. Ulrih looked down at him from his tall height, calmly, without laughter or anger.
“When my son was eight, there was a time when he insulted the temple. It is probably because of that. By bringing anger to the gods—”
“Stop the lies. Who did this?”
The old man immediately blocked the front of the boy.
“Looking at your reaction, you know what you did.”
After hesitating, he said yes.
“And you must have sought out many others before me.”
Ulrih stepped back and sat in his chair again.
“What did they say? Did they say it couldn't be fixed?”
“……”
“Let me guess. They probably asked you what you did.”
Rasid lowered his head further and bit his dry, wrinkled lips.
“The diseases and curses circulating in this world can be solved by priests. Even if they cannot solve it, you can solve most of them if you find a wizard or an alchemist. The same goes for stopping growth and mental regression. It is a problem that humans who crave agelessness and immortality have experienced so much that there are many solutions.”
However, he added.
“That is only the case when you say it is a disease or a curse. If it were such a common and easy problem, why would you have specifically sought me out? You came all the way here from the far East? Did the rumors about me spread to the East? There is no way; once you leave this Osnober, there are only a handful of people who know me. You merely came to me after roaming around all sorts of places. Is that not so?”
Silence was an affirmation.
“Tell me. What did you do?”
Ulrih leaned against the back of his chair and crossed his fingers.
“Or do you want me to speak until the end?”
After a moment of hesitation, Rasid raised his face.
“This child has lived again, from death.”