After several minutes of conversation, having hesitated for a long time despite Abrisius’s persuasion, Cairens carefully grasped the hand Abrisius had extended.
“……Thank you.”
Cairens wanted to live. More than the fate of being a hero, more than the responsibility of being a god’s son, his desire to live was more desperate.
But the moment he hesitantly grasped Abrisius’s hand, guilt weighed on him even more heavily than his desperate wish to live.
That he would have to sacrifice a friend instead.
What use would there be in living after making such a selfish choice? Rather, he would live crushed under guilt for the rest of his life. His complicated thoughts were quickly organized.
‘If someone has to die, it’s better that I die.’
Since he was the sacrifice chosen by the gods, he could not sacrifice anyone else.
“No, I can’t do this.”
Cairens shook his head as he released Abrisius’s hand that he had been holding.
The future of becoming a hero. Though Abrisius said that his precious person would only be happy if Cairens lived, that couldn’t be a reason for Abrisius to die in his place.
“I can’t do it. I’ll just die here.”
Even if he survived here with Abrisius’s help, he would be haunted by the specter of the one who sacrificed himself in his place for the rest of his life.
Watching Cairens, who couldn’t be persuaded with words, Abrisius let out a deep sigh.
He hadn’t wanted to use this method, but in the end, he had to.
“Alright, I understand.”
Having ultimately failed to persuade Cairens with words, Abrisius pretended to readily accept his decision. He hadn’t wanted to use the second method……
So, you turned out to be this kind of person after all.
The reason Abrisius couldn’t hate Cairens even knowing he was fated to kill him in the future.
It wasn’t simply because Cairens had saved his life.
“This is why I couldn’t hate you.”
Because his very character was upright—how could he hate someone who, before being a god’s son, possessed such a firm and warm heart as a human that he couldn’t help but like him?
Looking at Cairens with sad eyes, Abrisius carefully lowered the hand he had extended to him.
With Cairens’s will so firm, no matter how much he talked, it would only make his mouth hurt.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Just before leaving, Abrisius, looking back at Cairens one last time, said.
‘See you tomorrow.’ Cairens stared blankly at Abrisius leaving the underground prison, bidding farewell with an ambiguous expression that was hard to tell whether it was mockery at watching tomorrow’s execution or a pitying smile.
* * *
“……Are we really allowed to do this?”
A young priest preparing for tomorrow’s ritual asked in an anxious voice.
Even after experiencing the miracle-like event at Zeyaom’s temple a few days ago, he harbored doubts about whether offering Cairens would truly resolve this situation.
“You just committed blasphemy with those words.”
His senior frowned upon hearing that. He had overlooked various mistakes because his junior was young, but those last words went too far.
“You saw it too—our god gave us a revelation.”
“But what if it didn’t mean that? What if the youngest and most precious soul isn’t his life…….”
“Then what do you think it means?”
At his senior’s sharp question, the junior couldn’t say anything.
Even if he wanted to refute it, he had no proper grounds.
Since the miracle of Zeyaom last time, the High Priest had appointed the child chosen by the gods as an ‘Iaom’—a messenger conveying the divine will, selected every 50 years.
Iaom was a special position that existed only in Zeyaom’s temple, selected every 50 years. The beggar boy who had briefly been inhabited by Zeyaom became the most exalted being in Zeyaom’s temple in an instant.
Until that point, the High Priest had fully trusted the child who had become the Iaom.
But what could a child who lacked education and had been a beggar possibly do?
Satisfied merely by the fact that he could avoid hunger and the cold night dew, he didn’t even recognize that he was the Iaom chosen by the gods.
Despite lamenting this fact, the High Priest taught the child with as much patience as possible—what he should do as the Iaom, how to serve the gods, and how to interpret their messages.
“Originally, the Iaom’s role is to utter the divine message, interpret its meaning, and guide people on what to do. Iaom, think about it. What did Zeyaom say when inhabiting your body that day, and how do you think and interpret that meaning…….”
“I, I don’t know well……. I don’t even remember what happened that day.”
However, whether this beggar was stupid or not, he couldn’t even interpret Zeyaom’s revelation that he himself had uttered that day.
The law was that revelations received by the Iaom must be interpreted only by the Iaom himself.
But the new Iaom, being poorly educated, couldn’t do anything, while people hoped the Iaom would quickly interpret the revelation to find a clue to end this calamity. Judging that there was no time to teach that ignorant one in this urgent situation, the High Priest interpreted the divine will in place of the young Iaom.
She who had long served Zeyaom should be able to do it. But as she interpreted the cryptic prophecy, her thoughts multiplied, and she began to interpret the sentences to her own advantage on her own authority.
Humans are naturally good at rationalization, and the more thoughts accumulate, the more self-interest seeps in.
[Perhaps I can strengthen my position even more with this incident.]
This temple, which was the only entity on the Surface that could see the future except for Eurysis, was already exercising influence over various countries, but the High Priest couldn’t be satisfied with that.
Cairens, the son of a god born in Atlante. His existence was currently the greatest interest of each city.
And was one of the reasons why Atlante could become more prosperous.
[Those people and their pretentiousness. What, a hero? He’s just a child after all.]
Long ago, she harbored great hatred toward Atlante, which had abandoned her.
If Zeyaom had not accepted her, she would have died miserably in the bitter cold of winter. Among the great Zeyaom’s teachings was the saying, ‘Human lives are equal under the gods.’ Those who couldn’t even grasp such a simple truth and had turned away from her—now it was their turn to pay the price.
From the day she received the divine calling, she vowed to make this temple the greatest temple to repay the debt she owed to Zeyaom.
To do so, she didn’t hesitate to do anything.
She formed close relationships with kings of various nations, participated in all kinds of state events, and demanded patronage for the temple. As needed, she delivered prophecies they desired, and used the enormous shadow called “the will of the gods” to conceal facts and content favorable to royalty, deceiving the people. Even that wasn’t enough. To gain greater power and authority, she had to interact with the royal families of each nation. The purpose of doing it for Zeyaom’s temple had long faded.
[We’re going to solve this incident. The son of a god, Cairens. Yes, offering the youngest and most precious life in Atlante—that must be Cairens’s life, what else could it be?]
In the end, the High Priest, blinded by greed and vengeance, made a decision she shouldn’t have made.
[I trust your will. O Zeyaom, please protect me.]
Even if that wasn’t the true will of the gods, she rationalized under the name of divine will that her thoughts—having served that deity until becoming High Priest—must be correct.
After several prayers and rituals, when she had made all her decisions, she wrote letters and informed the priests of temples in each nation.
<The great World Tree speaks:
From the nation where a demigod resides, offer the youngest and most precious soul to the gods.
This is the hero’s destiny,
and all this is Zeyaom’s will.
The priests of each nation are urgently requested
to proceed with the ritual ceremony in the great land of Atlante.>
A ritual conducted without even properly seeking permission from the gods.
She firmly believed all this was a prophecy and revelation given by the god she served.
Since the revelation given by Zeyaom was his permission, she felt no need to seek permission again. Perhaps deep down, she knew he wouldn’t grant it.
In this process, several temples condoned Zeyaom’s temple’s arbitrary actions to weaken the power of Henelion’s temple, which had the strongest influence.
Among them, several temples didn’t participate in the ritual ceremony, saying they hadn’t received a response from their gods. Whenever this happened, the High Priest denounced them for defying the will of the gods.
When she herself hadn’t even properly sought the god’s permission.
Recalling the High Priest who had delivered this message to the priests of her temple and temples of each nation that day, the youngest priest sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t know what reason Zeyaom conveyed that will for. But did Zeyaom really leave those words with such meaning? That Henelion’s descendant really must be sacrificed?”
“Don’t argue, just stay quiet. If you’re really dissatisfied, go tell the High Priest. Though you’ll obviously just get beaten for it.”
With a bitter laugh, the senior wiped the wine and chalice for tomorrow’s ceremony.
Honestly, though she spoke coldly, she too had doubts. Did Zeyaom really say such a thing?
The most precious soul. Was it really correct that it referred to Cairens?
She briefly had doubts, but immediately shook her head. The High Priest had never been wrong.
“People like us just have to follow what the High Priest says.”
“But…….”
“If you’re not going to die in his place, shut up. Don’t you know that her words are the will of the gods?”
As her senior said, from the moment the High Priest ascended to that position, she had been utterly devoted to Zeyaom. She was diligent and always carried books, never losing her thirst for learning.
As countless priests respected her, she too respected her to her very bones.
That’s why her words couldn’t be wrong.
* * *
Under the dark night sky, two crows sat facing each other below the castle wall.
The feelings of those who once slept above that night sky but now found themselves looking up at it.
In an indescribable complexity, the two simply looked up at the sky.
—Noona, so what are you going to do?
—About what?
—What do you mean what? That child you mentioned earlier. Do you really want that child to die?—
—……I don’t want him to die, but what can I do when he’s acting that way? It’s not like I can solve it by stopping him.
Lyriet turned her head sharply, becoming sulky at her brother’s words. Though she seemed prickly on the outside, Lyutios understood her inner feelings better than anyone.
—But it’s the first time I’ve seen Noona this upset.
At the words hitting the mark, her wings trembled.
—What’s so special about that child? What’s so precious about a kid you’ve only exchanged a few words with?
—Well, I don’t really know either.
She sighed at Lyutios’s question. Truly, even Lyriet herself couldn’t understand why she was like this. She could just ignore whether that little brat lived or died, so why did he bother her so much?
—I just keep thinking about him. As if he was originally inside me.
—……I see.
Lyutios didn’t respond further to his sister’s words. And he followed where her gaze was directed. The child who had just gone to the underground prison, evading the guards’ eyes, confirmed the soldiers were still asleep and came back out.
—……He didn’t go to prison in that child’s place, I see.
Lyutios couldn’t understand his sister being relieved seeing the child come out.
Why did she care so much about a child she’d met today and spent only a few minutes with? The child had begged him to help ensure he could safely meet Cairens. Thanks to that, he had personally put the soldiers to sleep to help a child he was seeing for the first time.
—Does he have some amazing power? I don’t really understand.
Though Lyutios spoke as if it was no big deal, he too couldn’t help but keep worrying about the child for some unknown reason.
