From that day on, Hyakin threw himself even deeper into prayer. Needless to say, not in any positive sense…
“Please let me quit being the Saint!”
“Quit! Saint! Quit!”
“■■■■!”
Day and night, Hyakin hurled what could hardly be called prayers at the statue of the deity, and the heroes took to calling him by the derogatory nickname “Duck.”
It was because he waddled around squawking noisily, and on top of that, his hair happened to be the exact same color as duck feathers.
Muteric remarked with undisguised contempt.
“The duck’s flapping that beak of his again.”
Ciel let out a long, drawn-out yawn and muttered in his characteristically languid tone.
“He’s going to get struck down by divine punishment one of these days. I’ve never heard of a Saint getting struck down by God before, but with that little duck, I think it just might be possible.”
Ciel’s expression made it clear he was privately hoping for exactly that.
“Then maybe I’d actually get some sleep at night.”
Garet stole a sideways glance at Hyakin making a complete mess of things with his so-called prayers, and slowly shook his head.
“That’s a wish that won’t be granted today either, Ciel. I don’t think that little duck is ever going to stop spouting blasphemy.”
“Damn it all.”
Just as Ciel was about to mutter a curse of his own, Pesar covered his mouth.
“Enough, Ciel.”
“Mmmph (let go of me)……”
“Isn’t one livestock animal braying blasphemies at the Chief God more than enough? Isn’t one duck already too many?”
Though he was smiling, Pesar’s warning carried a cold edge that made Ciel shrink back.
Tch. This guy — acting so sensitive just because he’s a paladin.
The weight of every word spoken by a Holy Knight — a paladin — was enormous, and Ciel’s pride stung a little.
But he had no desire to pick a fight with Pesar over something this trivial.
The last thing I need is to be branded a heretic on top of that one duck already causing such a massive stain on the Chief God’s name.
Of all the heroes, Ciel held the deepest contempt and disdain for Hyakin and his so-called prayers.
There was nothing in life more worthy or honorable than being chosen as a hero.
“Send me back right now! To my home!”
Despite possessing an appearance that was the very image of God’s blessing, Hyakin refused to let go of his worldly attachments — attachments he should have long since abandoned — and every single day he raged, wept himself into exhaustion, and crumpled into despair.
You’d think he would eventually give up, yet the next day he would rise from his despair like a roly-poly toy and do it all over again.
He never stopped praying, even as he earned the contempt of everyone around him except the Pope.
“■■■■, are you listening to me?!”
Like a child who simply didn’t know the meaning of giving up……
Someone might have raised a thumb and called it indomitable spirit, something admirable — but Ciel and the other four heroes had grown so fed up with Hyakin that they were now firmly convinced something had to be done.
In the end, they couldn’t take Hyakin’s shouting anymore, and went to confront him.
“Hey. Duck.”
“Send me back! ■■■■!”
Of course, at first Hyakin had no idea the nickname “Duck” referred to him, so he didn’t even glance in the direction of the other heroes. He just kept on with his prayers as usual.
Muteric, feeling ignored, flushed slightly.
“Can’t you hear me, Hyakin?”
“Huh?”
Caught off guard mid-prayer by someone calling out to him, Hyakin turned his two differently-colored eyes toward Muteric.
In that brief moment when Hyakin fell silent and stared blankly at Muteric, he looked so genuinely pure and beautiful — every inch the Saint — that all four heroes privately found themselves wishing Hyakin had been born mute.
Hyakin, completely unaware of their feelings, tilted his head with his almond-shaped eyes wide and round.
“What do you want, coming here at this hour? And interrupting me while I’m ‘praying,’ no less.”
Praying? That?
Muteric’s eyes sharpened at Hyakin’s utterly calm and unapologetic attitude.
“You’re asking because you genuinely don’t know?”
“What? What’s your problem?”
Muteric raised his sword — still sheathed — and pointed it at Hyakin.
“Shouldn’t the other heroes step in when a Saint is brazenly spewing vile words every single day, desecrating the sacred and almighty Chief God? Isn’t it more of a problem if we don’t?”
“……”
“You are no better than a beast with no sense of shame, Hyakin. No — if anything, a duck that can sense danger and knows which lines not to cross would be a far better fit for the Saint’s position than you.”
His voice, dripping with contempt, was loud enough that nearby worshippers could catch fragments of it.
With the heroes stepping in personally to reproach the unhinged Saint, the worshippers no longer felt the need to hold back, and they snickered and mocked Hyakin openly.
“Look at that.”
“The Saint is getting scolded. By the other heroes, no less.”
“Maybe they’re telling him to pray harder.”
“Ah. So they came to cheer him on? Telling him not to push himself too hard?”
Ha ha ha.
The priests made no move to stop the worshippers as they tittered and filed through the corridors of the Papal Palace.
In fact, they shot Hyakin one withering look of their own before hurrying on their way.
It was an atmosphere that would have been difficult to endure even for someone with skin as thick as iron.
In that moment, Hyakin had not a single ally.
So it would have been perfectly understandable if he had burst into tears……
“Oh. So?”
“……What?”
“What do you mean, what. You’re right. I think even I’d rather have a duck be the Saint.”
Hyakin, who had been kneeling in prayer, brushed the dirt off his knees and stood up.
His expression held not a trace of sadness or shame.
All four heroes and the passing worshippers and priests were thrown off balance.
He can still stay composed in a situation like that?
A Saint was a Saint, it seemed — even with not a single person on his side, Hyakin was utterly, infuriatingly unruffled.
He even smiled.
Thud.
“Hey, Muteric. I had no idea you and I were thinking the same thing.”
“Wh — what? When did I ever——!”
“When do you mean, when. You just said a duck would be better suited as Saint, didn’t you? I feel the same way.”
Muteric’s face grew redder and redder. Ciel, Garet, and Pesar stood there with their jaws hanging open in disbelief.
Hyakin ignored their reactions entirely, patting Muteric on the shoulder as if he were proud of him.
“I — I didn’t mean it like that——!”
“Of course you did. They say a strong denial is a strong confirmation.”
“I’ve never heard that saying!”
“Ah, right, I guess you wouldn’t have……. Anyway, thanks. I didn’t think there’d be anyone else who felt the same way I do. It’s a real comfort.”
And with that, Hyakin smiled — so purely, so brightly — that it was nothing short of angelic, and everyone fell momentarily silent, simply taking in that smile, all talk of “Duck” and derogatory nicknames momentarily forgotten.
Muteric also faltered at that smile before his eyes blazed back to life with renewed fury as he resumed berating Hyakin.
“A real comfort? Feeling the same way?”
“Ah…… wasn’t that right?”
“Don’t you dare lump me in the same category as a brainless heretic like you!”
Muteric’s sword-bearing eyes twisted with humiliation and rage, and the look in them was dangerous.
“Unlike you, I will do everything in my power to uphold the mission I have been given.”
“……Even if it means you might die?”
“How many times do I have to say it before you understand that it would be an honorable death! According to the scriptures, heroes who fulfill their mission will go to the heaven reserved for great warriors — there is no reason to fear it!”
“……”
The smile faded from Hyakin’s face. In its place settled a deep, heavy shadow.
“I, for one, don’t see it that way.”
“You just won’t quit——!”
“Surviving is what’s truly great, you idiots. Who are you calling stupid.”
Having delivered that cold, cutting remark, Hyakin seemed to have had enough of the four heroes and moved away.
“If the monk can’t stand the temple, the monk has to be the one to move……. Honestly.”
As Hyakin muttered something incomprehensible and made his way toward where another deity’s statue might be, Muteric shouted after him a beat too late.
“Calling us idiots — do you actually want to die?!”
“Control yourself, Muteric Rivalster! You’re way too worked up right now!”
“……But the fact remains that I’m angry. Didn’t that little duck just insult us on top of insulting the Chief God?”
“I think a duel challenge is in order.”
While they bickered among themselves, Hyakin slipped away quickly.
The worshippers and priests who had been mocking Hyakin, now fearing they might end up in the same position as the heroes, frantically pretended to have somewhere else to be and rushed off in the opposite direction.
“Ha……”
Hyakin, having found another deity’s statue, muttered to himself.
“Are you pleased with yourself, keeping me locked up in this vast place with no one on my side? ■■■■?”
Alone, with no one else around, Hyakin wiped his tears.
“Mom, Dad…… I miss you……”
Tears fell one after another, dampening the statue.
Without thinking, Hyakin wrapped his arms around it.
Because within these walls, it was the only thing he had to hold on to.
Clutching his grief, Hyakin kept crying.
“I’m lonely……. I’m scared……. It’s so hard…….”
And the last words, as they always were, were I want to go home.
“Sniff. Crying like this — so embarrassing……”
Wiping his tears, Hyakin spent a few more minutes pouring out what was and wasn’t a prayer at the statue before he left.
Hyakin didn’t know.
He didn’t know that the statue he had cried against had shifted its eyes — ever so slightly — to follow the drooping shoulders and small back of the child walking away……
* * *
That night.
“Oh……?”
For the first time in a long while, Hyakin became aware that he was standing inside a brilliant light shining in the midst of darkness.
Hyakin knew very well who always appeared in dreams like this.
“I — is it God? The Chief God? You actually came?”
Hyakin looked around, and soon, through a thick billow of smoke, the Chief God appeared.
“Oh! It’s really ■■■!”
— Stop calling my name so carelessly. You might actually end up getting stabbed by the opposing faction that hates you, you know.
“Ah. Whatever. The fact that you showed up in my dream again means you can grant my wish now — right?”
— ……Yes.
Hyakin’s eyes widened with joy.
“Really? For real? Actually for real?!”
— A God does not go back on his word. I have come to grant your wish.
“Oh my goodness……!”
Tears of joy formed at the corners of Hyakin’s eyes. The God watched him with a gaze mixed with a quiet sigh, then spoke.
— However. I cannot grant the wish itself exactly as you’ve asked for it.
“……Pardon? So you’re saying you can’t——”
— That is not what I said.
The God looked down at his small Saint with eyes that held a firm, resolute decision.
— Hyakin. Would you be willing to retire… by dying?
“……Excuse me?”
