The carriage gradually slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop. The carriage door opened, and I held the hand of the knight who had accompanied us as I stepped down from the carriage slowly.
After I got off, it was Kalina and Anita’s turn.
“Welcome, miss.”
Even though there was no prior notice, the priest who had greeted me when I arrived before came out in advance and bowed to me.
“Hello, priest. May the grace of the goddess be with you.”
I greeted the priest with the courtesy I learned from Lady Maynard. The priest seemed a little surprised at first, but then he smiled softly and greeted me back in the same manner.
“May the grace of the goddess be with you too, miss.”
After the greetings, the priest’s gaze fell on the pendant hanging around my neck. Then he smiled bitterly.
“So, it has come to pass.”
I felt like I could understand what he wanted to say. However, I was a bit puzzled as to why he smiled bitterly.
Shouldn’t he be pleased to know that I held hands with Vivre?
With a perplexed expression, I blinked at him, and he opened his mouth again.
“Please come inside for now. Everyone is waiting.”
“Did you know that I was coming?”
He knew that I would be visiting, both because he came out to wait for me in advance and because everyone was waiting for me. I had to know that I would be coming to the temple.
But since I had decided to visit the Duanah Temple based on Vivre’s sudden words yesterday, I didn’t bother to inform them in advance.
Could it be that they were informed from the mansion?
“Saint Fleon informed me.”
The familiar name reached my ears, which had been full of questions.
Memories of the conversations I had with Vivre on the way here came to mind. He mentioned that Fleon had always been a servant of the Goddess Duanah.
Does he have not only memories of the future but also the ability to foresee events?
“He might have some degree of foresight. After all, Fleon was a vessel of the saint, no matter what.”
Vivre explained to me amidst my confusion. I finally understood and nodded my head.
“Please come inside.”
Guided by the priest’s invitation, I started to enter. The people inside the temple all looked at me and politely bowed their heads in greeting.
I had visited the temple several times in the past, but there had never been a case where everyone greeted me so politely.
Has news already spread that I accepted Vivre’s proposal?
Well, Fleon also knew in advance that I would be arriving at the temple, so it wouldn’t be strange for them to know that fact as well.
“I am Priest Lionel, serving the Goddess Duanah.”
In the midst of my wandering thoughts, the priest who was guiding me introduced himself.
I looked up to confirm his words.
“Just call me Lionel Priestess.”
Lionel Priestess said with a casual smile.
“I am Mirabel Crichton. Please call me Mirabel, not ‘miss.'”
I also finished introducing myself to Lionel Priestess.
“Yes, I understand. Can I call you Mirabel?”
“Yes.”
Although it felt a bit awkward to add “priestess,” it was still much better than before.
“By the way, where are we going?”
Come to think of it, I entered inside without asking where we were going. I hadn’t confirmed where exactly we were heading.
I could guess that it would be the place where the other priests were, but I still asked him for confirmation.
“We are heading to the conference room. Archbishop and the other priests are waiting for you there, Mirabel.”
“Oh, I see.”
When I expressed my agreement, Lionel Priestess looked at me with a gentle gaze.
“I can see that you don’t have any questions. It seems you’ve already heard the explanation.”
“Yes, I heard some details from Vivre.”
“And you have decided to take on the task.”
“Yes.”
There were some omitted words, but I could still understand them.
“It will be a difficult journey. It’s something that has already failed once. That’s why I feel deeply sorry to entrust such a heavy task to you, Mirabel.”
Priest Lionel smiled bitterly. Then he looked at me and smiled again.
“If you ever need help on that path, please don’t hesitate to come to the Duanah Temple. Not only me, but everyone in the temple will assist you, Mirabel.”
Though it was probably sincere, Lionel’s words had a calming effect on me.
Already, my uncertain feelings that had arisen during my conversation with Vivre seemed to settle a little.
“This is it.”
Finally, we stopped in front of a large door.
Compared to when I met Saint Fleon before, it was much smaller in size, but now, from the perspective of a nine-year-old, the door to the conference room looked large enough.
“As before, only Mirabel is allowed inside.”
Lionel said to Kalina and Anita.
“Can’t we really go in? We just want to stay by her side.”
Kalina anxiously pleaded, but Lionel firmly shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but no one except Mirabel can enter. Please don’t worry, nothing dangerous will happen. Please wait outside.”
Kalina and Anita hesitated and looked at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I nodded to reassure them.
Soon, Lionel opened the door and gave two knocks as a sign, then stepped back. The door creaked open.
“Please come in.”
When I hesitated and looked back at Lionel, he raised his hand and pointed inside.
I took a deep breath and stepped inside. There were about ten people gathered in a round table in the conference room. They all stood up as I entered.
“We’ve been waiting. Saintess.”
Among them, a person dressed in the most magnificent attire approached me and greeted me.
He seemed to be the archbishop.
And the other people were dressed in the same attire as Priest Lionel.
I slowly observed them and then fixed my gaze on one person.
It was Fleon, who looked slightly younger compared to when I saw him as a ghost before.
Only after seeing him did I realize that the Fleon at that time must have been the future Fleon. That’s what I thought.
[It’s been a while, Fleon.]
Even though he couldn’t hear it, I greeted Fleon, who I hadn’t seen in a long time, in my mind.
“Hello, I’m Mirabel Crichton. May the grace of the goddess be with you.”
I folded my hands and greeted him.
I could hear the sound of people around me smiling happily.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Baron, overseeing this temple. I greet you on behalf of everyone. May the grace of the goddess be with you.”
The archbishop, who introduced himself as Baron, brought his index and middle fingers together and placed them on my forehead.
I had a fleeting thought that I should avoid it, but I couldn’t escape the overwhelming atmosphere.
As his hand touched my forehead, a faint light flickered and disappeared.
Strangely, I felt much lighter.
“Come this way and have a seat. If we have time, I’ll introduce everyone properly.”
The archbishop guided me to my seat.
Although there was no designated seat since we were all sitting in a circle around a large round table, my seat was next to Archbishop Baron.
“First of all, before we start the conversation, I want to express my gratitude to the saintess for making a difficult decision.”
It seemed that everyone here already recognized me as the saintess.
I had thought that becoming a saintess would bring about ceremonies or a sense of great responsibility, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
As Vivre said, since I had accepted Vivre’s proposal and joined them, it seemed that I was being treated as a saintess here.
“Normally, it would be appropriate to publicize the existence of the saintess to the world, but due to the circumstances, I ask for your understanding in skipping all the formalities.”
At the moment of slight disappointment, Archbishop Baron added.
If that was the case, there must have been some procedures or processes normally.
But since there were things I couldn’t do, I just shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s okay. And I came here because Vivre said I needed to hear more details. You don’t have to waste time with unnecessary discussions. You can get straight to the point.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
Archbishop Baron bowed his head in gratitude.
Somehow, since I arrived here, it felt like I was constantly receiving greetings, and I felt a bit awkward. At that moment, Fleon spoke up.
“As the saintess probably already knows, there are those who are trying to unseal the Evil Dragon Crypts. I am Daniel Creighton, your great-grandfather. Have you heard about this from Vivre?”
“Yes, I heard.”
“Fortunately. Our task is to stop the cult worshiping the Evil Dragon that wants to unleash Daniel Creighton. They are the ones we need to stop.”
The cult worshiping the Evil Dragon.
I briefly thought that the cult’s core must be Daniel.
No, it makes sense.
So Vivre and Fleon must have brought up the topic centered around Daniel.
“We are currently tracking the traces of that cult. It was so secretive in the future that it wasn’t easy to find the core. But now, we know.”
“Yes, that’s right. The ringleader is Daniel Creighton. And he is most likely in possession of the Evil Dragon Crypts’ seal stone. Our task is to either stop Daniel Creighton, take away the seal stone he possesses, or… kill him.”
Fleon said in a serious tone.
“But unfortunately, apart from the fact that Daniel is the core of the cult, we haven’t obtained much information. We had no information, and it was too late. In the end, I failed in the future time frame, and the seal of the Evil Dragon Crypts was released.”
By the time Fleon finished speaking, sighs of concern from the other priests could be heard here and there.
Since Vivre informed me, I already knew that Vivre and Fleon had obtained little to no information, and they had failed, resulting in the task falling to me. So, I wasn’t greatly shaken by it.
“To undo all of this, Vivre turned back time, and finally, he found someone more suitable than me: you, Saintess.”
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Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
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