Turning around to confirm the identity of the person who had spoken, I found myself in awe.
“Oh….”
“I didn’t mean to startle you by talking.”
I thought I’d grown indifferent to the color white, having seen it so often, but that notion quickly vanished.
White skin, silver hair cascading down to the shoulders, and transparent silver eyes.
It reminded me of a serene early morning, with sunlight glinting on freshly fallen, untouched snow.
This boy had an appearance that naturally evoked the word ‘sacred.’ He seemed to be around the same age as Ciel, the eldest daughter of uncle Hevant.
The priestly robe he wore was one I hadn’t seen before. Was he an apprentice priest?
“Do you need help finding something?”
“……….”
Indeed, this was the main temple. Even an apprentice priest radiated such an aura of nobility.
He looked so holy that even speaking with him felt like a violation. Though remaining silent could be considered rude as well.
“Does it make you uncomfortable that I spoke to you?”
“No, not at all!”
I thought of attempting the noble greeting that Madam Freya had emphasized so much and started to gather my skirt hem to curtsy.
Just then, a deep vibration engulfed the entire temple. The ground shook, the building trembled, and my eardrums reverberated.
The ground beneath my feet wobbled, and the intense rumbling made it feel as if my mind itself was shaking.
‘Is this an earthquake?!’
What was it I was supposed to do in times like this? Seek shelter in a wide-open area, and then—
“Be careful.”
As I was fumbling in the midst of my first emergency experience, the boy grabbed my arm.
“You might fall. This tremor is caused by the rampaging holy sword.”
Even his hand, which held onto my arm, was incredibly delicate. I stared blankly at his long, slender fingers.
Despite his calm tone, his hand was trembling slightly. His tightly drawn expression seemed almost fearful.
Is he scared? He must be, right? The ground was still shaking violently.
However, the moment I realized the cause of the tremor was Wyndis’s rampage, my fear disappeared entirely.
“Don’t worry.”
“Worry…?”
The boy looked at me with a surprised face. I gave him a reassuring smile and said,
“My dad will handle it.”
[Little Quartz! You’re here too?]
Aqum! I quickly turned my upper body to look behind me. Aqum, who was standing on the opposite side of the water basin, was speaking to me.
[Look over there, water is pouring out! Let’s get closer and see!]
Pointing to the upper part of the waterfall, Aqum leapt down to the ground and started hopping towards it.
Oh no! Where are you going again?
I quickly ran in the direction Aqum was headed, not forgetting to reassure the boy as well.
***
Left alone, the boy quietly gazed in the direction where Berry had departed.
He had spoken to her instinctively, charmed by her adorable round head. Her front was round as well. Who could she be?
“Worry, you say?”
The boy touched his own lips, almost breaking into a smile.
At that moment, someone approached hurriedly, calling his name.
“Lord Yuraha!”
It was Holt, a high-ranking priest. He had also attended the charity auction hosted by Count Travel.
The priest, despite the boy being only twelve, approached him with utmost respect, carefully explaining the reason for his visit.
“Wyndis has gone berserk. We should move you to a safe place.”
Although the tremor had ceased, Wyndis’s rampages never ended with just one outburst. Yuraha gave the worried priest a gentle smile.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re fine, you say?”
“There was a revelation after a long time. No one will get hurt today.”
“Oh!”
The priest Holt exclaimed in awe. Yuraha was a human who could receive divine messages from the god Aubawth.
He received revelations through prayer. Although revelations were rare, not a single one had ever been wrong.
The church secretly protected Yuraha, seeing him as the likely future grand priest.
“But, Priest Holt, is there a girl among today’s visitors? About this tall, with pink hair and green eyes.”
Yuraha gestured to his chest level as he described her.
“Oh, you mean Master Reytan’s daughter? Did today’s revelation mention anything about her?”
Holt’s eyes sparkled with interest.
The youngest granddaughter of Count Travel. A
Although Reytan was the lowest-ranking family head candidate, that was merely internal to the Travels. The name Travel held power greater than any noble’s within the empire.
It was favorable for Berry Quartz Travel to forge a connection with the Aubawth Order.
“There was nothing.”
“I see….”
Holt’s face showed disappointment at Yuraha’s response, but his expression changed as he heard the following words.
“I asked because she was cute.”
Yuraha—a boy who had shown interest in nothing but the god Aubawth—was now showing interest in a human girl.
This could be the start of a close relationship between the youngest granddaughter of Count Travel and the Order.
As Priest Holt imagined the possible future of these two as adults, he realized his own indulgence and tried to dismiss such thoughts.
***
There is a sacred chamber beneath the main temple where the holy sword is stored.
The ceiling, walls, and floor surrounding the room were a staggering 5 meters thick. This multi-layered structure was designed to absorb and channel any impact from within the chamber into the ground.
This was to prevent a disaster from collapsing the main temple if the holy sword went berserk.
Of course, it would be best to store the holy sword elsewhere, but that would be considered blasphemy.
The holy sword was a sacred artifact granted directly by the god, allowing humans to wield a portion of divine power. Thus, it had to be stored in the holiest place within the church.
Even if that holy existence had fallen into lovesickness over its former master, draining precious holy power from the priests.
A few minutes earlier, in the chamber where Wyndis was kept.
When Reytan, Theon, the grand priest, and several senior priests had descended underground.
Boom!
Today, as if contradicting the Grand Priest’s assurance that the holy sword would remain calm, a powerful explosion sounded from beyond the 5-meter-thick closed door.
Woooom—!
Then followed a strong tremor.
It was the rampage of the holy sword.
Why already?
With the rampage beginning sooner than expected, the priests hurriedly opened the door. The room, apart from the platform holding the sword, contained nothing else.
‘Isn’t it too early?’
‘There’s still a full day left until the scheduled rampage…!’
‘Now, even the timing of its rampages is unpredictable?!’
Without a master, the holy sword unleashes accumulated divine power through its rampages. Wyndis was the holy sword of wind.
A fierce vortex was forming. They needed to subdue it with holy power; otherwise, it would begin rampaging again.
‘This is maddening.’
‘Today is the end of my holy power. I can’t keep doing this.’
‘O Aubawth, I’ll see you soon.’
The situation was grim, yet they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Imagining what lay ahead, the priests’ faces darkened further.
The rampage today was particularly intense, perhaps sensing its former master’s presence. The vortex seemed twice as large as usual.
If they missed the timing, the vortex would spiral out of control. However, Reytan was not yet recognized as Wyndis’s master, meaning he couldn’t stop the rampage once it had begun.
Each rampage grew stronger over time. The previous one had been subdued just before the third tremor. Although they’d been drained of holy power by the aftermath, they had no choice but to summon every bit of it at the outset of this rampage.
If not, there was a genuine risk that the entire main temple would be swept away by the vortex.
“It’s dangerous! Master Reytan, and your disciple, please step back!”
“I will take care of this.”
As the priests were about to risk their lives and use their holy power, they heard a voice from behind. In the blink of an eye, Reytan had bypassed them and leapt into the heart of the vortex.
“Master Reytan!!”
“No! Come back!”
Their urgent cries were sliced away by the fierce winds. The vortex engulfing Reytan swelled, filling the vast chamber entirely. One of the priests reached out towards the winds.
“Ugh!”
A priest beside him quickly pulled his arm, but a gust brushed against his skin. Blood from his palm instantly stained the white sleeve of his priest’s robe in red.
“Don’t get any closer! If any part of your body touches it, it’ll be severed!”
The vortex seemed to guard itself, enveloped in razor-sharp winds, as though to forbid anything from entering. With a force that seemed capable of slicing through bone effortlessly, the priests recoiled in fear.
They were taken aback. The power itself was astonishing, but this phenomenon was entirely new.
The vortex wasn’t growing or shrinking; it appeared to remain fixed in size. Nonetheless, the fierce wind blowing around it was enough to stir unease among the priests.
“This might be the precursor to an even larger rampage. We have to suppress it with holy power!”
“But isn’t Master Reytan inside?”
“Isn’t protecting the main temple more important? If this continues, we could—!”
Just as the priests’ voices began to grow louder in panic, the Grand Priest shouted,
“Calm yourselves!”
His voice, tinged with a hint of anger, silenced their conversation. Watching these senior priests lose their composure was a disappointment to him.
“Shouldn’t we place our trust in Master Reytan? He was chosen once by the divine relic. Let’s observe. If a second rampage occurs, I will take responsibility.”
The Grand Priest taking responsibility—though he was over sixty, his holy power surpassed that of five high-ranking priests combined.
The priests lowered their hands and looked ahead, while the Grand Priest glanced sideways at Theon beside him. His gaze was steadfast as he watched his teacher enter the vortex.
If even a child could remain this composed, how could these elders, who had dedicated their lives to the divine, behave otherwise?
‘Hmm.’
However, aside from Theon’s composure, the Grand Priest felt something unusual about him.
From the first time he saw the boy, his handsome appearance had felt strangely familiar.
He had initially dismissed it, thinking that attractive children often look alike when they’re young, but he now doubted that reasoning. It wasn’t because he was Reytan’s disciple and thus reminiscent of Reytan’s youth. It felt more like something from long ago—decades, perhaps.
“Grand Priest!”
The Grand Priest took a deep breath at the flustered call for him once again.
Starting tomorrow, make dawn prayers mandatory across the entire Order…
As he looked forward, the Grand Priest’s pupils dilated.
“……..”
The vortex was beginning to shake ominously.
Bang!
A loud explosion followed.
‘Is this a second rampage?’
The veins bulged and throbbed on the back of the Grand Priest’s hand as he prepared to unleash his holy power. Then, the scattered wind began to gather into a single point.
This was only a few minutes after Reytan Quartz Travel had entered the vortex created by Wyndis.
