“Well, we should get going now. See you later.”
“Take care of yourself and make sure you rest.”
After expressing their concern, Liber and Caedwin left the room, allowing Christian some space. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
Knock, knock.
Two knocks followed by a brief pause. The door then opened quietly, revealing a young man who looked familiar.
“Welcome, young master Christian.”
“Yes. Sir Ail. May I come in for a moment?”
“Of course. Lady Rachel has been expecting you.”
Ail met Christian with courteous gestures, making him feel slightly uneasy.
He was not just any holy knight; as a guardian holy knight, he held a position respected enough that even captains of some knight orders would salute him first.
With Ail’s guidance, Christian entered the room and faced a woman who had risen quietly from her seat to look at him.
He had encountered her once before when she saved him and again when she was aiding Aira and Nemea’s recuperation.
Despite meeting her several times in the past, a peculiar mix of familiarity and strangeness lingered.
‘Aunt Rachel…’
The Rachel Christian remembered appeared beautiful yet seemed like a flower blooming precariously on a cliff, solitary and vulnerable.
But the Rachel standing before him now, during her youthful—no, her childhood years—was different.
She was a lively young blossom, a flower that stood out with its extraordinary beauty and fragrance amid many others.
As if she was born to serve the Goddess Latima and convey her will, her hair was an emerald green, symbolizing grass in the teachings of the Goddess Latima, while her eyes were pink, reminiscent of petals.
There was no hint of the loneliness and suffering he had seen while wandering alone after the fall of the Latima Order.
Facing Rachel from her childhood, the Rachel who received love and gave love, Christian was unsure of what to say.
In the midst of his hesitation, Rachel spoke first, looking at him.
“You’ve come, Saint.”
… I’m not a Saint.
It was delightful to see Rachel, but her greeting was so overwhelming that he wasn’t sure how to respond.
Even more so as she bowed her head deeply, showing excessive respect that made him all the more uncomfortable.
Ail seemed to share the same sentiments, unsure of what to make of Rachel’s actions.
“Why do you keep calling me a Saint…?”
“Because you are the new Saint designated by our Goddess Latima.”
“No, but I keep telling you, I’m not a Saint.”
As Christian sighed, Rachel chuckled softly with a sense of affection.
“Hoho. At first, it can be confusing and hard to understand. I was the same. Would you like to sit down first?”
“… Yes.”
As she offered a seat, Christian reluctantly sat in front of Rachel. It was only natural that Ail stood beside Rachel, holding his position.
It was a matter of duty—neither Rachel nor Christian suggested that he should relax and sit with them.
Offering him a seat might have been perceived as showing disrespect to him.
“Firstly, I sincerely thank you for your assistance. If it weren’t for you two, my party would have faced grave danger.”
Christian bowed his head with genuine gratitude.
If Rachel had not appeared to help at that moment, he might have been safe, but Aira and Nemea wouldn’t have survived.
Thanks to their help, he, Aira, and Nemea were now in this mansion.
“Assistance? We did what we had to. Wouldn’t you say so, Sir Ail?”
“….”
“… Are you still upset?”
“…”
For some reason, Ail turned his head away, pretending he hadn’t heard Rachel, indicating it was something beyond Christian’s knowledge.
Rachel gave him a sheepish smile, as if she felt genuinely sorry.
Anyway, it was a matter between them. Rachel returned her gaze to Christian sitting before her.
“It’s fortunate that we were able to save you, Saint.”
“Well, you keep calling me ‘Saint’ from the first time we’ve met, but I truly don’t understand why.”
He wanted to meet her because of past, future connections, and because she was a cherished person.
Naturally, Rachel couldn’t have any memory of Christian.
He wondered if perhaps the Goddess Latima had given her some hint, but that wasn’t the case either. Rachel didn’t know him at all.
And a Saint, not a hero? He had never heard such a title before.
Wondering about Christian’s confusion, Rachel ignited a vibrant holy energy as bright as her pink eyes.
“Huh?”
As the holy energy enveloped Christian’s body, he felt something warm and swelling within him.
This was…
“I am sure you feel it, too, Saint?”
“…”
As Rachel’s holy energy resonated with Christian’s heart, another source of holy energy flowed from the Arsenal settled inside him.
“The reason we came here was that we received a revelation after the Latima’s Chalice housed at the Order shattered – to meet the person embracing the new chalice, the Saint.”
“The Latima’s Chalice, shattered?”
“Yes. The new holy energy into a new chalice—that was the divine revelation of the Goddess Latima, and it seems you have become the new vessel, Saint.”
“Oh, a divine revelation.”
Among the twelve Ether Weapons Christian possessed, most had been crafted using Spirit Stones, but a few were heirlooms passed down through generations.
One of them was the Latima’s Chalice, a holy relic of the Latima Order. It had piqued his curiosity for some time.
The chalice he had and the chalice the Latima Order possessed—could they have become two?
‘Not two, but has the old one disappeared, leaving only the new?’
It might be possible, but according to Rachel, the Goddess reclaimed her holy energy from the existing Latima’s Chalice through revelation.
Meaning, if the Goddess had not withdrawn her blessing from the chalice at the Order, it would have remained intact.
Why did the Goddess withdraw her holy energy from the Latima’s Chalice? A fleeting thought occurred, but…
‘It’s limited how much a deity can intervene in this world. If there were two holy relics imbued with the Goddess’s holy energy, it would cause significant confusion.’
These were items imbued with holy energy.
Having two of such world-tipping items could have caused severe disruptions to maintaining the balance of the world.
The Goddess, concerned about such balance, had opted to withdraw her holy energy from one of the holy relics.
‘Huh? But why did she withdraw it from the chalice the Order guarded instead of mine?’
Christian wasn’t a devotee of the Latima Order, nor did he worship the Goddess Latima.
If the Goddess had to choose between the two, wouldn’t she choose the Chalice housed at the Order?
‘Gods really work in mysterious ways.’
He thought it was indeed challenging for humans to understand the will of a deity.
Clearly, there must have been a commotion at the Latima Order, which made him feel deeply sympathetic and guilty.
After all, he knew it was because of him that all this happened.
“Do you know what item you possess, Saint?”
Christian paused momentarily at Rachel’s question, but since it wasn’t something he could hide indefinitely or needed to be concealed, he nodded quietly.
“Yes, I am aware.”
“I knew it!”
Rachel’s face brightened at Christian’s acknowledgment, and even Ail appeared surprised, glancing at Christian.
Christian gave a wry smile at their reactions.
“So, that was why you called me ‘Saint’. Holding the Latima’s Chalice indeed made it inevitable.”
Rachel’s eyes glittered as she continued.
“At first, I thought it strange. The contents of the letter you sent me were baffling, but you too must have received revelation from the Goddess.”
“Huh? Ah, well…”
He couldn’t exactly say it was something his aunt shared over drinks.
The content of the letter Christian had sent.
A single flower left alone.
It was a revelation to her and the future of the Latima Order.
Initially, there were many interpretations when she received the revelation, but after the fall of the Latima Order, she realized it pertained to her solitary future.
“Did you come here to reclaim the Latima’s Chalice?”
“Yes. The Latima’s Chalice is a holy relic of the Order. It’s proper for it to reside with the Order. Therefore, it’s—”
Rachel spoke softly, looking directly at Christian.
“The Order wishes to host you, Christian.”
“Host? As in…”
“Would you join us as our new Saint?”
Christian found himself unable to respond to that proposal.