208 – EP.9 Am I a Saint?-1
***
It rained. It was a sudden rain in late fall.
The raindrops that had been moistening the ground one or two drops at a time seemed to be angry with the unyielding earth, bringing my in-laws and cousins with me and hitting the ground.
People were confused by the rain that fell ahead of the harvest. Although some were harvested in advance, the majority had to be returned to the land.
Farmers rushed to the wheat fields despite heavy rain in order to get some crops.
It rained for two days, and there was no sign of it stopping on the third day.
All official events were canceled due to the unprecedented rain, and people at the church headquarters focused their efforts on self-cultivation, except for the morning service.
When the schedule was canceled, the saint locked himself in his room.
People were puzzled when he, who had been very active recently, became absent-minded, but soon they began to think that the saint might have some kind of meaning.
In fact, it did not have any meaning to the saint. He just looked out the window with his sunken eyes.
There was no sight of the saint who was drinking tea with his attendants and writing down unknown characters.
His eyes, without a single ray of light, resembled dark clouds covering the sky.
What is similar is that there is no brightness whatsoever.
According to Mary, who was assisting him by his side, the saint seemed to have been greatly shocked.
“Sister Maria, a letter has arrived.”
Her call came out of the blue at a time when she was blaming herself for her ‘indecent behavior.’
Mary asked the saint’s understanding and headed to her reception room. The saint just stared at Mary leaving her door for no reason.
It didn’t take long for Maria to return to her reception room.
Not only was she not from a facility far away to begin with, but Maria, holding the letter, forgot all manners and came running down her hallway in a huff.
As a result, her massive chest bobbed up and down.
Mary took a deep breath and showed her letter to the saint.
The saint looked at Mary with a questioning look on her face, and then Mary remembered that her saint could not read her writing.
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“Huh… Hu…..”
Maria, who was about to open and read her letter, took another breath.
Maria’s green eyes quickly scanned her letter.
“Sister Maria, what letter is this?”
“This is a letter about Antonio’s whereabouts that you instructed us to receive last time.”
“I see.”
As the saint spoke earnestly, Mary tilted her head.
Wasn’t he the saint who was more interested in Antonio than anyone else?
She suppressed the urge to ask Saint Erado immediately, and Maria finished reading her letter.
“…….”
Maria’s face became increasingly hard as she read her letter with a light heart.
Questions gradually appeared on the saint’s face as he watched the scene indifferently.
“Saint…”
After reading her letter, Mary pursed her lips and looked at her saint.
***
It was still raining. It was late at night, and the saint was sitting alone in her unlit room, looking out her window.
It was a night when the moon was obscured by rain clouds. It was like the day he went out on a night trip out of curiosity.
The saint’s fingers tapped the table rhythmically.
He was thinking and digging.
He was helpless, and this was his own action to help him gain strength again.
For a short period of time, his eyes looked alternately between the window and the bed.
He was hesitating.
“Huh….”
He then lets out a long sigh and covers his face with his hands.
Lethargy is in his breath.
After wasting time for a while, he woke up.
His steps went toward the closet, not the bed.
In the closet, there was a priest’s uniform that had been moderately repaired.
The saint wore it. He then covered his face with the remaining cloth.
It was still raining. It was the heaviest rain this year.
The saint surrendered himself to the rain and disappeared into the darkness.
***
It was a road I had seen while riding a carriage, but walking on it with human legs made it feel like the distance had doubled.
Still, the saint went down to the village, thankful for the downhill slope.
The poor visibility caused by the rain acted as a positive factor. Thanks to this, I was able to avoid the guards even with my inexperienced body.
The saint pulled up his rain-soaked clothes as they kept falling down.
“2Nd floor of the fourth house after the bridge.”
In order not to forget what he had heard from Mary, the saint constantly repeated the home address.
He walked down for a while and when he arrived at the village, the square was empty.
Well, it would be more suspicious if there were people walking around in this rain.
“2Nd floor of the fourth house after the bridge.”
The saint’s eyes scanned the square.
As I was returning from Madini village, I could vaguely see a bridge beyond the direction where the beggars had disappeared.
The saint urged his heavy body to move.
Under the bridge, there were several homeless people trying to make a fire with wet tree branches.
Seeing them whining and avoiding the rain, the saint crossed the bridge.
After passing the bridge, the fourth house was difficult to call home.
The house, which was old and poorly maintained, was in the form of a villa where many people lived together.
Because the stairs were built outside, the saint had to go up to the second floor while facing wind and rain.
The saint remained silent for a moment in front of the rotted wooden door.
Instead of his silence, the rain pounded the ground and made a sound.
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door with his hand.
***
Maria, lying in bed, could not fall asleep easily.
After staring helplessly at her ceiling and recalling her Bible verses, she raised her body again.
Because an uneasy feeling remained in her heart.
The eyes of the saint, who had no regrets about the world recently, changed when he heard the news about Antonio.
If she had changed positively, Maria would have been happy, but since it wasn’t, she was distraught.
Mary recalled her conversation with the saint.
She didn’t even have a conversation. She unilaterally recited the contents of her letter.
“Antonio’s family is said to be in Solzio Village now.”
Solcio Village. It was the name of the village attached to the denomination.
“It… Seems like it came right here from Albaynin Village.”
“Why….”
The saint’s murky voice demanded detailed information.
“It is written that the Antonio family was ostracized by Albainin village. The reason is…”
“It’s because of Antonio’s dismissal.”
“Being dismissed means having committed a crime, so it was natural for other villagers to reject him.”
Maria added.
“Dismissal? Didn’t you return to your hometown because you couldn’t adapt?”
The saint said as if he did not understand.
Mary curled her lips inward and lowered her eyes.
She seemed to be contemplating what to say.
“Yes, it is called dismissal. Dismissal… Is a punishment given when a priest does not behave properly as a priest or commits a serious sin according to the Bible.”
After thinking for a while, Mary slightly turned her gaze from her saint’s gaze to the side and opened her mouth again.
“Before I was an apprentice bride, I was a child. Isn’t it possible to make mistakes in one’s behavior? How can I be dismissed…?”
The saint muttered as if he could not believe it.
“Well, saint. Antonio was not dismissed for not behaving properly.”
Maria was the first to interrupt him.
“Antonio was deposed for blasphemy.”
“Blasphemy?”
The saint confirmed it again.
“The fact that he asked a question without the saint’s permission… Is the reason for Antonio’s dismissal.”
Maria let out a sigh.