Chapter 110
“…I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Maybe things could have changed if I’d tried harder until you believed me, but I never even tried.”
Ariel nodded with a complicated expression. He hadn’t said it out loud, but it was clear he’d doubted me too.
“…Um, Estira, what do you think about sharing the water with the people?”
“I’ll do that, so don’t worry. But not too much. Just give out enough for people to cook with. We have to hold out until someone comes to help, at least.”
“…Someone.”
Ariel looked pained.
For three days, he’d prayed day and night to return Seonui Lake to normal as it turned pitch black at a frightening pace. He’d gone deeper and deeper to get closer to that ‘something’ in the lake, and dozens of times ended up floundering in the water. No matter how many times he called for his angel, Ariel received no answer.
Why?
When he prayed before her statue in the temple, she always answered.
Ariel bit his lip.
Was it because of what Estira had said? He’d tried to deny it, but deep down, maybe he had doubts, too.
Surely the angel had sensed the shadow of doubt in his faith.
Ariel was in despair.
But just because he despaired didn’t mean he could give up. He felt it was his destiny as a servant of God to save the villagers looking to him and to purify the tainted holy lake.
All he could do was try his best to one day hear the angel’s voice again.
***
At times like this, Feyden was really helpful.
People who lined up for water started shoving and trying to cut the line, but Feyden put a stop to the chaos in an instant.
He slammed a man to the ground for trying to steal someone else’s water jug, then, for the first time, pulled out the huge sword he’d been carrying on his back and stabbed it into the ground. Just like that, the line that had looked like Black Friday was perfectly straightened out.
Feyden couldn’t even say ‘hello’ in Dongguk-o, but he sure picked up the bad words fast.
Anyone who whined for more water or tried to get back in line for seconds got an earful of curses.
「 Not leaving? I’ll kill you. Hey, you bastard. Damn it! 」
His pronunciation was perfect, too.
Thanks to him, distributing the water went smoothly, and before I knew it, lunchtime had already passed.
‘By now, they should have arrived.’
I’d glanced toward the village entrance several times when I spotted, in the distance, a holy knight carrying the temple’s banner at the front of a procession.
‘…They’re here.’
Joy returned to the exhausted faces of the villagers.
「 We’re saved! We’re saved! 」
「 Thank goodness! Thank you! 」
「 The Holy Kingdom is finally here! 」
But as the procession drew closer, the villagers’ faces shifted to confusion.
The people visiting the village weren’t from the Holy Kingdom, but a procession of temple pilgrims.
Let me explain for a moment.
The Holy Kingdom and the temple are different sects worshipping the same god. It’s kind of like Catholicism and Protestantism.
The Holy Kingdom is the group that worships the ‘tree’ inhabited by Angel Natasia, while the temple worships the ‘angel’ who resides in that tree.
It’s all the same to me, but since the author set it up differently, I just went with it.
Anyway, the two groups were similar but always kept each other in check.
Especially the temple, which treated the Holy Kingdom like heretics and tried to undermine them at every turn. The most notable example was this lake incident.
While people were being driven by fear and the Holy Kingdom was ignoring them, the temple came, saying, “We are the ones answering your prayers.”
—That’s the big scheme the temple had cooked up.
In other words, this contaminated Seonui Lake was the temple’s own manufactured incident. More precisely, a collaboration between the Pope and Kyte.
Of course, I couldn’t say this outright, but I planned to gently guide Ariel so he’d realize it for himself.
‘It’s time to break out of your shell, little silver chick.’
“Your Holiness…?”
Ariel looked up in awe at the Pope, who walked in the center of the procession.
“Looks like a procession of pilgrims.”
Feigning ignorance, I approached and spoke. Ariel knelt on the ground and nodded.
“Yes. Yes, that’s right. It’s the pilgrimage procession. I’d forgotten all about it since coming here. To see the procession from another country—this is truly moving.”
He blushed and couldn’t hide his excitement, like a child meeting a cartoon character he’d always admired.
As the Pope passed in front of him on a snow-white horse, Ariel even held his breath and pressed his forehead to the ground.
When the Pope said he could raise his head, Ariel’s face blossomed like a flower.
‘Is it really that great?’
With a sour expression, I watched the procession of those corrupt men.
‘How much did they demand to ‘save’ Seonui Lake?’
I seemed to recall they’d demanded everything down to the last brass bowl. As I was recalling the events of the original story, a pink blur fluttered before my eyes.
‘Huh?’
Blinking, I looked at what had just passed by.
The soft, warm pink I’d mistaken for cherry blossoms was actually the hair of a girl about my age.
As she turned her head, I was sure of it.
‘Rozemian.’
The original novel’s female lead had arrived.
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