80 . Maria (3)
An overwhelming sight that is on a different level from an ordinary city.
All over the city, guards were guarding the streets without even moving, and merchants were more lively than ever. In the shopping district centered around a huge fountain, each one was soliciting customers, and people passed them as if they were accustomed to it.
It’s a place full of energy just by looking at it, but their positive energy didn’t affect me. I lifted my heavy body, looked at the floor, and sighed deeply.
‘I didn’t expect to come here again….’
I shook my head from side to side once, erasing the grim expression from my face. It was because of the children who were clinging tightly behind me.
It was a long-awaited trip for the sake of the children without thinking about anything, but if I was sluggish throughout the trip, I would not be familiar with seeing the children.
The children looked around the street and exclaimed in admiration, and Stella opened her mouth first as if regretting it.
“I wish my sister would have come too.”
This is the opinion of Stella, who especially likes Rihanna, but unfortunately, the other children did the same. Of course, I got the word out. Rihanna was initially suggested to come along, but she dismissed it by saying that she was sick without even opening the front door. She sure does, but she too will need her own time. There are many apothecaries selling good herbs in the capital, so you can buy some when you get home.
Right now, the priority was to focus on the children. In the past, it was the fear of losing their children, but now, to other ordinary humans, they were no different from bombs that could explode at any moment. As I got used to it, I walked over and asked the children.
“Where shall we go? Shall we find a place to stay?”
Unpacking at the accommodation, resting for a while, or going to a restaurant to satisfy hunger, that was one of the first things the children did when they went on a trip.
But today was different. The children opened their mouths brightly, pointing to the monastery built with the momentum to invade the sky.
“I want to go to the abbey.”
I froze for a while at the unexpected answer. There was a nursery school nearby that I didn’t even want to think about. Not many people know me now, but memories in themselves are a source of reluctance.
I didn’t answer right away, and after a moment of silence, Elia tilted her head curiously and asked.
“Dad?”
But I couldn’t just send the kids. Artaria Abbey is a place known to have been touched the most by the goddess, what if children recall memories of the past? Besides, there was no guarantee that those memories were necessarily good ones. I gently caressed Elia’s head, who was still looking at me with a concerned expression, and then she smiled hard.
“It’s okay. It’s because I’m dizzy for a while.”
Ignoring the touting behavior around me, I moved on, looking only at the abbey.
As the majestic building got closer and closer to my field of vision, the discomfort that had settled in the bottom of my heart was gradually increasing.
One side of my chest was stuffy, and my insides were throbbing.
‘It’s okay.’
He tries to comfort himself and only shows bright smiles to the children.
After all, the nursery school is a place where you have to pass through the abbey, so you won’t have to go there.
The moment I passed the entrance of the monastery I finally arrived at and saw the inside of the building shining with white marble, I felt infinitely smaller.
The colorful light coming through the stained glass created a sacred and solemn atmosphere that was different from other spaces.
A shabby person like me is not suitable for this place.
Olivia carefully brushed my hesitant back and added her words.
“Dad, you are more qualified than anyone else.”
“Right, he’s someone we recognized, not anyone else, right?”
Hearing that from these women, who are no different from the source of the monastery, made me feel much better. I didn’t like myself for changing my mood in an instant with just one word, but human beings sometimes healed many wounds with just one word from a person.
Encouraged by the words of the children, I entered the monastery, watched for a moment at the numerous statues of the goddess spread out to the left and right, and the people praying in front of the huge statue of the goddess at the end of the road, then sat in the back seat. I didn’t really want to pray, but I didn’t even want to wander around.
I took a seat and sat the children next to me.
The images of the goddess statues with their eyes closed and benevolent smiles felt somehow unfamiliar.
Is it because you have a goddess right next to you?
Unlike me, who took a deep breath and organized my thoughts for a while, the children seemed unable to concentrate. Stella was the first to react. Stella, who had been looking around, suddenly opened her eyes wide, got up from her seat, took a seat in front of a statue, and stared blankly at the statue’s face for a while. Although the statue is in a position that does not interfere with prayer, I cautiously called Stella’s name because the act of walking around itself could be a hindrance.
“Stella? What’s the matter?”
Stella smiled bashfully as she raised her finger and pointed at the statue’s face. Then, on rare occasions, a rather high voice rang out of Stella’s mouth.
“This is me!”
It felt like my heart was sinking. I turned my gaze and looked again at the statue Stella was pointing at. There were certainly some resemblances, but I didn’t expect them to show such a confident side.
Beginning with Stella’s words, the children checked the faces of the statues located throughout the monastery with their eyes shining. Was it just the fact that there were people who still remembered them, were they happy? The children started walking around the monastery with bright smiles.
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Fearing that someone would listen, I followed the children with a nervous heart, but the people praying around me only smiled benevolently as if they thought they were innocent children who loved the goddess. Everyone will have such an experience in their childhood. The time when they played with the children claiming to be the legendary hero, people seemed to be reminiscing when they saw the children claiming to be the statue of the Goddess.
Although people’s eyes were bothering me, it was much better to see the children smiling after a long time. However, something was strange.
According to Sharon’s words in the Great Forest, aren’t they evil spirits whose names have been erased due to their unique cruelty and are not even remembered by people?
Why do statues of them remain in the abbey?
‘Well, since it’s an old building, can there be at least one trace left?’
Otherwise, there was no explanation. However, even the answer he gave was turned into nothing by a nun.
A nun who was sweeping the monastery with a mop in her hand saw a statue her children claimed to be hers, and tilted her head and muttered:
“Uh… ? Since when did this happen?”
There was no way that she, living in the monastery every day, would not remember her goddess statue. I couldn’t help but feel as if the nun had hit her head with a hammer when she denied my hypothesis.
Then, someone approached the nun and made her remarks.
“Sister, can I ask you to clean up over there?”
“Ah, yes!”
Hearing the familiar voice, I looked in that direction without realizing it. Her red eyes stand out, perhaps thanks to her platinum blonde hair and white skin.
There was only one person I knew who had those characteristics. I wanted to check more closely, but the woman quickly disappeared without saying a word, so I had no choice but to recall the image of her old colleague, relying on memories from the past.
She was her no matter how much I thought about it. Suddenly, her heart beats fast and her breathing becomes unstable.
The children opened their eyes wide as if they had seen a ghost, looked at me curiously as I stared at the place where the woman had disappeared, and asked questions.
“Why?”
“No… I felt like I saw someone I knew.”
Yeah, that’s speculation. If I’m not mistaken, the woman she had just passed was wearing a purple robe that only a bishop could wear.
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Four years later, she was an apprentice saint at the time she barely joined the party, but in the meantime rose to the position of general manager who manages others? It couldn’t have happened. Especially if she is the one who left the monastery for a long time to subdue the demon lord and got away from her doctrine.
She felt like what her spirit would be like if she was in this place. I said to the children who gathered around me before I knew it.
“Shall we go soon?”
“Yes, I was satisfied with this.”
The children looked as if they were satisfied enough with just the presence of their statues.
As I was about to leave the monastery after packing up my luggage, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
When I reflexively turned around, there was the woman in the purple dress I saw earlier looking up at me with surprised eyes.
I was also surprised. Yeah, you couldn’t have been wrong, could you? It was a face I had longed for, and of course I knew it at first sight.
Seeing my reaction, she also called my name cautiously to see if she was sure it was me.
“Ain… ?”
Maria, just the way I liked her back then, was right in front of her.