“Hey, are you here?”
A priest with a thick belly jumped out and rubbed his hands.
“My name is Peron, the high priest. Take good care of me… … ! Whoo… … .”
“hello. It is called Astina Persia.”
The priest, who introduced himself as Peron, exhaled a rough breath and looked at Astina.
Astina Persia.
Its fame was widely known throughout the empire.
The position of High Priesthood also had its own name and was a position of power.
However, he could not treat such a talented person with the name of a Persian marquise.
Even now, he has all the power and fame, but he was young and did not know to what extent he could become in the future.
So, I needed to look good.
“Looks like I’m the heir and this is my first visit. I was thinking of visiting at least once, but I’m sorry I’m late.”
“haha… … no. You must be busy, but I just want to thank you for coming.”
This was a temple in the Persian territory.
A temple dedicated to the god, Karua.
The empire served only one god.
He worshiped Karua, the deity known to rule and create the world, and all other gods were considered cults.
Of course, that didn’t mean they were witch-hunting because they worshiped other gods.
It was just the perception of people.
This was also possible because the power of religion in the empire was weak.
The Empire relies on magical powers.
He worshiped magic that was realistic and had infinite power, but did not rely on religion or anything like that.
Therefore, even if the largest temple, the Temple of Karua, regarded them as cults, there was nothing they could do.
“Then would you like to come in?”
Peron said to Astina, pointing towards the temple.
Astina smiled at Peron like that.
‘Wow, was it good for me to come out?’
Peron looked at Astina’s smile and let out a sigh of relief.
Astina’s reputation was high, but still a young successor position.
He was a guy who had just received the successor position.
Astina had not received much attention until she inherited the position of successor, so the high priest himself came out thinking that if he treated him like this, the temple would be treated well.
However, contrary to Peron’s thoughts, Astina was in a very unpleasant state.
If you keep looking at people, you can see their humanity even when they are still.
A person who flatters the strong and makes fun of his tongue.
It was the appearance of a corrupt priest, as if painted.
Of course, he may have felt that way because he had already been investigating this high priest.
However, Astina did not show any displeasure.
I’m not here to kill this guy now.
read from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Temples usually belonged to the central temples of the empire.
However, the temple in the manor was virtually nothing other than a business belonging to the manor.
As Astina acting as the lord, these guys could be dealt with with a few swipes of her hands.
I didn’t want to show my displeasure from the very beginning and give these guys a chance to respond.
Astina followed the high priest Peron into the temple.
The inside of the temple was decorated with ornate decorations.
The huge windows stood out, and I wondered how the decorations on the ceiling were hung.
Astina looked inside and exclaimed in admiration.
This admiration was not uttered because of the beauty of the interior, but by imagining how much money was spent on it.
‘The money seems to be overflowing with rot.’
Now, the power of the temple is dead, but when the development of magic was not achieved, the power of the temple was strong.
I still live on the money I earned back then, so there was no need to say more.
However, they did not see a future even with this money.
Even when the development of magic was taking place, they were just busy extorting money from their followers, and they have continued to do so until now.
When the development of magic was made dazzlingly, they were late.
People are praising magic, not praising the gods.
I was just trying to attract people’s attention with this gorgeous architecture, but people were not deceived by this external appearance.
As a result, the temple had a lower position in the empire.
Because there was nothing it could do as a temple without special powers like magic.
“The architecture is beautiful.”
However, Astina praised without saying these words.
“Heh heh, shouldn’t we have to do something like this to worship God?”
Peron said with a pleasant smile.
“Now, would you like to go in?”
Peron led Astina to the reception room inside the temple.
The inside of the reception room was more splendid than the reception room used by ordinary nobles.
It was no longer surprising.
Why are they using such a fancy reception room to entertain other priests?
Astina is tired of thinking like this now, so she just let it go.
“Come on, get me a cup of tea. Astina-sama is here, so it should be delicious. haha… … .”
“Yes, I understand.”
Peron jokingly told the priest next to him.
Having said that, Peron looked at Astina as the priest left.
“Heh heh, I hear Astina-sama’s reputation all the time these days and it hurts my ears.”
As soon as the priest left, Peron started flirting with Astina.
“That’s the story.”
Astina waved her hands and said.
“Do I want to get right to the point?”
“… … Is that the point?”
Peron’s eyes widened at Astina’s words.
I heard that Astina was coming here, but I didn’t get a reason as to why she was coming.
So, I didn’t think much of it because I wanted to come just to check the condition of the temple.
At this time, Peron hardened his face when he said he was going to the main point.
‘What are you talking about? There have been some rumors about raising taxes these days… … . Is it tax related?’
These days, the situation was on the chaotic side due to various incidents with the rebels.
So most of the territories increased the tax rate.
taken from noblemtl.com
Meanwhile, the location of the temple also began to become difficult.
Originally, the temple did not have to pay tax because it was tax-free.
However, a recent law began to tax the temple little by little.
So the temple had a lot of trouble with it.
‘Never, never, never pay taxes… … !’
Peron cried inwardly.
If the feudal lord rips off the dwindling offering, the amount of money he will have will decrease.
Peron had no intention of keeping her eyes open and watching this situation.
However, like Peron, who has served as a priest for a long time, he smiled once again.
“If you’re talking about the main point… … .”
Peron pretended not to know for the first time and said.
I thought it would be a bad idea to talk about taxes first.
Still, because he had the position of a priest, he tried to hide the worldly side as much as possible.
Astina saw Peron like that and crossed her legs.
“I want to know about the saint.”
“Wait, are you a saint?”
Peron put on a puzzled expression on Astina’s words.
It was a question I hadn’t thought of at all.
“Why all of a sudden about St. … .”
“Ah, it’s a personal question. Is there anything difficult to say?”
Peron thought for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.
“Heh heh, what secret is there between me and Astina-sama?”
At those words, Astina frowned slightly.
‘What’s the relationship between you and me?’
However, he quickly changed his expression and went to the main point.
“I’ve been reading some Imperial History books and Karua-sama’s Bible lately.”
“Oh, are you interested in theology?”
At Peron’s words, Astina nodded her head.
“Whatever you do.”
“So, what about St. … .”
Astina smiled and opened her mouth.
“I read the history books of the Empire and they said that the saint came from another dimension.”
“… … Dimensions?”
“Yeah, the world God made, not just the place we live in, but the world… … .”
“Awkward… … .”
“…?”
At Astina’s words, Peron suddenly burst into laughter.
“Pu ha ha ha! What do you mean by dimension? chuckle… … . The saint came from another dimension. Astina-sama is naive!”
Astina frowned at those words.
“What else does that mean?”
Peron slapped his thick belly and laughed out loud.
“The saint is a citizen of the Empire. It is not from any other place!”
“… … Even the first saint?”
“I don’t know if I wasn’t alive in the early days of the Empire, but I know it wasn’t. Just an ordinary imperial man. It’s also commonplace… … .”
Astina narrowed her brow.
“How can you confirm that?”
“I have talked to St. Mary many times. Since he was a high priest in an important estate, we had many opportunities to talk. This gave me other information about the saint.”
Peron continued.
“But there was nothing strange about it. First of all, the origin was clear, and there was nothing special about coming from another dimension or a strange place. It was the same with all the saints.”
Astina patted her chin and opened her mouth.
“Surely I heard you could use the bizarre ability to read the future, didn’t you?”
Peron shook her head at Astina’s words.
“Do you really think a saint can read the future?”
Astina did not respond to that.
There are records of the fact that a saint cannot accurately read the true future, and many people know and experience it.
In the past, there were many times when nothing happened where the saint said it was dangerous.
There have been times when similar things have happened, but never with exact predictions.
So, the future that the saints tell me only tells me some uncertain results.
He didn’t say exactly what was going to happen, only vague things.
‘But obviously Rudy said… … .’
It reminded me of a conversation I had with Rudy in the North.
Rudy said that she passed the risk with the information I gave her at the winter prom.
I passed the risk to the future that the saint told me… … .
‘What the hell is a saint doing?’
“Heh heh, I’m glad to see Astina-sama’s pure side. It feels like I’m back in my childhood after a long time.”
Astina looked at Peron, who was sarcastic.
“By the way, can I talk about this?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s a story everyone knows. Also, although the saint actually belongs to the temple, it is because she is a bit far from the temple.”
“Are you far away?”
Peron rubbed his hands and smiled.
“It is the former saint who appoints a saint. We do not know for what or for what reason it will be handed over, but it will be handed over by the former saint.”
“Hmm… … .”
Astina thought, sweeping her nose.
I felt like I had more questions when I came to get information about the saint.
Then, I remembered what Peron had just said.
“By the way, didn’t I say earlier that the origins of the saints were clear?”
“Oh right. The hometown is clear and the parents know exactly.”
Astina laughed at that.
“Then will I be able to meet Saint’s parents now?”
@
-Hello, are you Haruna? I came to see you.
– Do you have any intention of becoming a saint? It will be a good opportunity for you.
– You want to become a saint? okay! Well thought!
-This is what you must learn to become a saint.
– What a saint must learn… … It’s ‘magic’.
“eww… … .”
Haruna grabbed her head and got up from the bed.
Haruna got up from her seat and sat still for a while, then let out a sigh.
“It’s been a long time since this dream… … .”
It was when he inherited the priesthood.
Haruna looked at the eye patch placed next to her.
“ha… … .”
Haruna picked up the eye patch and let out a sigh.
“I’m going to go slowly now.”
Haruna got out of bed and stretched out.
“Ugh… … !”
After that, I rolled up the curtains and looked outside.
“Hey… … The weather is nice!”
He said looking at the fresh trees basking in the sun.