WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

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◈ The Regressor and the Blind Saintess ◈

Chapter 7: The Holy Kingdom of Elia

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‘...Is this the place?’

At the end of Vera’s gaze stood white castle walls, and before the gate at their center, two paladins clad in pure white armor.

The Holy Kingdom of Elia.

The smallest nation on the continent. The largest temple on the continent.

It was called the smallest nation because a single fortress made up its entire territory, and the largest temple because the whole fortress was one temple.

Vera had ridden for an entire week to finally reach this place. Looking at the white fortress in the distance, unexpected feelings welled up inside.

Vera had never dreamed of coming here in person.

Had it not been for the Saintess, had she not been the connection that reached Vera only at the end of life, this was a place Vera would never have spared a glance.

The reason Vera had not come here in the previous life was simple. At the time, there had been too much to lose by devoting himself to the Holy Kingdom.

The clergy of the Holy Kingdom were forbidden from engaging in private economic activity. They must not be blinded by wealth and corrupt their faith.

They could not receive noble titles, either. Those who carried out the will of the gods must not be blinded by a thirst for power.

The most one could gain by becoming a paladin here was honor.

That was why Vera had hidden his Holy Mark for his entire life.

What Vera had wanted throughout that previous life was wealth and power.

In other words, luxury and indulgence.

As Vera continued down that train of thought, a faint laugh escaped.

‘You brought me all the way here.’

The Saintess came to mind, a truly remarkable eccentric.

Four years from now, on the day the Holy Mark descended upon her, Vera would go to receive her.

To uphold the covenant. To pursue the light that had shone upon Vera only at the end of life.

For that, Vera needed one thing.

‘...Status.’

There would be a procession to receive the Saintess. Vera needed a position high enough to lead it.

In other words, a rank high enough to command paladins.

Vera had no concerns about whether that could be achieved within four years.

Vera already possessed everything needed to become a citizen of Elia and a paladin.

The Mark of the Covenant granted to Vera.

That alone was enough.

By showing it, Vera could enter directly into the presence of the Holy Emperor.

There, Vera could have his status as an Apostle recognized.

The Covenant’s divine power was heavily martial in nature. If Vera showed the Mark and rose to the rank of Apostle, the position of paladin would naturally follow.

Still thinking, Vera slowly approached Elia’s gate.

‘Wait for me.’

In four years, I’ll come to meet you.

I won’t let you die miserably as you did before.

I won’t make you hide away in the gutter like that.

I’ll put you in the most radiant place, and at your side, I’ll finally live something that can be called a life.

Just as the distance between Vera and the paladins guarding the gate had narrowed to around five paces.

Thud.

The two paladins struck the ground with their halberds at the same time.

“Stop. What business brings you here?”

Vera looked at the two stern-faced paladins.

They had identical features, brown hair and brown eyes, square jaws and sturdy builds. Twin paladins.

Vera knew their names. They had been too renowned in the previous life for Vera not to know them.

They were among the Apostles who had received Holy Marks, pillars of the Holy Kingdom.

‘Krek. Marek.’

Krek and Marek, twin paladins and Apostles of Payron, the God of Protection.

They had become Apostles by each receiving a share of a single Holy Mark. They were the gatekeepers of the Holy Kingdom.

When the Demon King descended and swept across the continent in Vera’s previous life, these two had held back the Demon King’s invading army on their own.

Human weapons made for defending a fortress.

Feeling a strange sense of awe at meeting in person those Vera had only heard of through rumors, Vera raised his right arm and rolled up his sleeve.

There was no need for a lengthy explanation.

Watching the twins’ mouths fall open at the Holy Mark carved into his arm, Vera spoke a single sentence.

“A Holy Mark has descended upon me.”

That was enough.

* * *

At the southernmost edge of the continent lay a closed nation where no one except clergy was even permitted to enter.

The clergy went out to procure all the food and supplies needed for daily life, and all the clergy belonging to the nation lived on what they brought back.

It was a bizarre nation that would have collapsed within a year had it not been filled with people granted the powers of the gods.

That was the Holy Kingdom of Elia.

Even Vera, who had visited every nation on the continent in his previous life, was entering the Holy Kingdom for the first time. Vera entered with a small sense of anticipation, but...

‘...This is exactly the sort of town that gives people mental illnesses.’

That anticipation was crushed the moment Vera entered.

Beyond the gate, Vera stared down the broad avenue with a sickened expression.

White here. White there. Every building in the Holy Kingdom was white.

There were trees and flowers along the streets, so it was not entirely white, but the white buildings still stood out so sharply that a feeling of revulsion rose within Vera.

As Vera walked on with a deep frown.

“I am Krek.”

The words came out of nowhere.

It was the twin walking to Vera’s right.

When Vera turned toward Krek, Krek gave a small bow and continued.

“I received the Mark of Protection. I am undergoing Apostle's Trial.”

The speech came in abrupt fragments.

Naturally, a thought rose in Vera’s mind.

‘Is this one an idiot?’

It was not simply the way Krek spoke.

The vacant eyes, the flaring nostrils, and the fact that Krek had not noticed the cape caught on the halberd all made the answer obvious.

Vera watched for a moment, then decided there was no need to point it out. Vera merely returned the greeting and ignored Krek’s appearance.

“...I am Vera.”

“We have met. Nice to meet you.”

“I am Marek.”

The words came from the other side. Vera saw Marek stare blankly after speaking and quickly reached a conclusion.

‘They’re both idiots.’

Vera had thought they might be quiet types because they had said nothing until now. It seemed they were simply not very bright.

“I, too, am undergoing Apostle's Trial.”

“...Yes.”

Nothing more followed.

Having said what they wanted to say, the twins guided Vera to the Grand Temple at the end of the avenue, then headed back toward the gate.

Krek still had not noticed the cape caught on the halberd.

They had made a brief but powerful impression.

‘...Those are Apostles?’

Did the God of Protection like idiots?

As Vera wondered what standards the gods used to bestow Holy Marks, Vera recalled Lushan, the God of Covenants, who had granted Vera’s own Mark. Then an irreverent thought arose that perhaps all gods were idiots.

Vera let out a soft laugh at the thought, then looked around the Grand Temple alone. Vera’s gaze settled on a mural covering one wall.

It depicted nine figures seated upon a massive altar.

‘...The Nine Gods.’

It was a mural of them.

Nine gods led by the Lord, transcendent beings who had created and sustained the continent.

At the center sat the Lord, surrounded by light. Beside the central figure were one holding a mace and another holding a shield.

There was one holding fruit in their hand, and another carrying a massive book.

As Vera’s gaze moved farther along, one figure stood apart from the others. Its entire body was concealed in robes, and its face was not visible.

Vera knew at once whom the figure represented.

‘Lushan.’

Lushan, the God of Covenants.

The god who had granted Vera a Holy Mark, and, by Vera’s standards, the biggest idiot among idiots.

As Vera looked at the figure, a question that had always occupied one corner of his mind rose again.

What had Lushan been thinking when granting Vera a Holy Mark? Why grant one to such a vile creature who cared for no one but himself?

It was a question Vera had carried throughout life but had never answered.

‘...No.’

A question Vera had never even tried to answer.

As Vera stood blankly before the mural, a voice spoke.

“The Covenant has no face.”

Vera turned toward the voice and found a frail-looking man who could have been mistaken for a scholar. Vera flinched.

‘...I didn’t sense him.’

There had been no footsteps. No disruption from breathing. Not even a sense of presence.

It was the same even now, after Vera had noticed him.

It was an unfamiliar sensation.

Someone stood right before Vera, yet Vera could not sense the slightest presence from him.

‘Who is he?’

Watery blue hair. Red eyes. Pure white priestly robes.

Judging by his presence in the Grand Temple, he seemed to be a high-ranking priest, but Vera had no information about him.

As Vera sharpened his senses in caution, the man smiled and continued.

“Do you know why that is?”

It was a question connected to his earlier words.

Vera watched the man for a moment, then clenched and unclenched his fist to release the tension before moving his lips.

“...I do not.”

“Because a covenant has no form. That is why the Covenant, who represents covenants, has no face.”

As he spoke, the man approached Vera and made a small sacred sign over his chest.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Trevo, administrator of the Grand Temple.”

“...I am Vera.”

“I heard from the twins. Would you show me your Holy Mark?”

His words were full of warmth. Vera nodded and rolled up his sleeve to reveal the Holy Mark.

Then Trevo, who had been smiling all along, began behaving strangely.

There was no warning.

The instant the Holy Mark was revealed, without even a moment passing, his expression changed completely.

His red pupils trembled. His face twisted. His shoulders shook.

“Ah, ahh...”

Vera startled and stepped back at Trevo’s sudden behavior.

Thump.

Trevo fell to his knees and began to wail.

“Ahhh...!!!”

Vera shuddered at the sight of Trevo suddenly kneeling and sobbing loudly.

‘He’s insane.’

That thought filled Vera’s mind.

It was only natural. Anyone in their right mind would think the same.

How could anyone regard a person who suddenly wailed without warning as normal?

“The Lord’s hand has descended upon this land, and I am overcome by that grace...”

Trevo kept drawing sacred signs as he burst into tears.

Without meaning to, Vera wondered whether coming here had been the right choice.

The twin Apostles at the gate. The mad priest Vera had met upon entering the Grand Temple.

Every last one of them had a screw loose. They were harmful people.

As revulsion rose from deep within, Vera suddenly wondered whether the Saintess had become such an odd woman because of people like them.

‘...It makes sense.’

The Saintess had been an exceptionally noble and compassionate woman, but if that side of her were set aside, she was not so different from the people Vera had met here.

Someone with a screw loose, someone whose thoughts could never be understood.

That was the Saintess Vera had known in the past.

Vera recalled once more the thought from upon arriving here.

A city of pure white, perfect for driving someone mad.

The Saintess was blind, so she could not see it, but after living among people bordering on madness in a place like this, it was only natural that she might become such an eccentric.

Vera wanted to leave immediately. Vera’s past self had been right.

Yet even while thinking that, Vera forced himself to endure.

‘If the Saintess is left to associate with people like these...’

She would become like them.

That was why.

Vera’s fist clenched tightly.

‘...No.’

That must never happen.

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