Chapter 168: Sermon
After helping Sister Mily with the children all day, Kael was finally released from his social work at sunset. The day had not been exhausting nor had it required his physical strength; on the contrary, it had passed in complete calm.
However, as soon as he left the orphanage, the world unfolded before him once again. He walked through the bustling streets of the city of San Martín. All kinds of voices reached his ears: vendors’ cries, young people’s laughter, arguments between merchants, the hurried footsteps of rushed believers.
He stopped at a small stall selling fresh bread. The saleswoman, her hands covered in flour, handed him a loaf that was still warm. Kael took it naturally, left a piece of mana stone, and continued on his way without looking back.
Little by little, his figure disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. His steps were calm, almost unnoticeable, but the shadow he cast under the setting sun stretched out disproportionately.
It spread like a dark tongue creeping across the stones, growing until it seemed capable of devouring the streets, the buildings... the entire city.
Soon, night fell, with the moon without stars, completely alone, not a single cloud obstructing its pale light.
Not long after Kael left the building where the children were, a carriage pulled by blue horses with three horns stopped, and a rather fat man got out, wearing a tunic that was quite tight on him.
"This is where the young lambs are," he said with a nasty smile, revealing all his gold teeth; now he really looked like a fence with gold teeth.
Shortly after, Sister Mily hurried out from where they were to look at the important person who had arrived.
"There’s something I need from this Cardinal Schwein." Sister Mily made the sign of the cross on her chest, then drew a circle around it.
"But what a warm welcome! I’ve come to take some little lambs away with me," Schwein flashed all his gold teeth, smiling perversely.
Mily shuddered violently. She knew exactly what he meant by "taking the little lambs." Those words were not new to her; she had heard the story of a former worker who ended up committing suicide, unable to bear the weight of having ruined the innocence of so many children.
That’s why Mily wasn’t going to let those little ones suffer the same fate. Even if she had to sacrifice her own purity in front of that repulsive cardinal, she was willing to bear that cross.
"Cardinal... why don’t you come to my room and give me a sermon? Do you have time for this nun who has lost her way in the Lord’s path?"
Schwein’s smile widened immediately. His eyes gleamed with a grotesque appetite as they devoured Mily’s figure. Placing his thick arm over her shoulder, he replied with feigned solemnity:
"Of course, I have time to guide a follower of our Lord, the Ancient Sun God."
Mily felt a wave of disgust wash over her, but she didn’t back down. It was either this or the children. The choice had already been made.
Cardinal Schwein and Sister Mily entered the two-story house. They walked straight to the farthest room, where no sound could reach the children who were sleeping soundly, unaware of the shadow that had passed by their lives.
The door closed with a sharp echo. That night, Mily had sealed her sacrifice, and thanks to that, the little ones would escape a fate from which they could never have returned.
Not long after, moans began to echo loudly throughout the room.
...
A few hours later, Sister Mily, sweaty and covered with a sheet, got out of bed. Silent tears ran down her cheeks.
She felt an unbearable weight: the faith she had always placed in the Ancient Sun God wavered when she remembered that it was precisely in His name that men like that cardinal had power.
A cruel question arose within her, one that would not leave her alone:
If she had given up a child, what would have happened?
The thought tore her apart. What would have become of them afterward? Would they still be able to look at her with those trusting eyes? Or would that innocent sparkle fade away forever, replaced by an irrecoverable emptiness?
Her faith told her that all suffering had a purpose. But what purpose could justify corrupting the only pure thing left in this world: the innocence of children? What kind of God allowed a man wearing his sacred robes to act with such vileness?
The more questions that arose in her mind, the more intense her tears became. They were tears without consolation, for there was no answer and no heaven to ease the pain. And yet Mily suppressed any sound, biting her own tongue so as not to moan, so as not to give Cardinal Schwein the slightest satisfaction.
In that oppressive silence, she understood something she never dared to say aloud: faith is not measured in hymns or prayers, but in the ability to bear burdens that no one else will ever know.
Schwein also got out of bed. His heavy body moved slowly, confidently, as if there were no stain on his actions.
With a rude slap, he spanked Sister Mily. The young woman remained silent, her eyes dull, unable to hold the gaze of the one who had marked her.
As he left the room, halfheartedly smoothing the folds of his robe, Schwein did not deign to look back. His lips curled into a crooked smile, a dirty smirk.
"I hope you learned something from this sermon," he said in a rough voice, laden with lust. "I will return, as you still have much to learn."
Standing at the window watching the carriage disappear into the streets, Sister Mily finally collapsed completely, sobbing loudly and clutching the blanket.
...
Sitting on the roof of the residence, feeling the night breeze blow against his body, Kael looked up at the lonely moon illuminating his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the silence envelop him, and then opened them again.
"What a beautiful night..." he murmured.
This kind of night was perfect. One where the masks come off, and men show their true faces.
It was on nights like these that faith died, leaving behind only emptiness and decay. Where the blasphemous mingled with the sacred, and the unclean was confused with the pure.
In the darkness, many could clearly see what had been denied to them during the day: that faith is not always light, nor is it always pure. Depending on the place, what they call sacred may be more corrupt than the profane, full of sacrilege and twisted deeds.
Faith, at its root, was nothing more than a mirror. And on that surface, what was reflected was almost always the filth of man.
Kael whistled softly. His expression did not change in the slightest; he remained just as indifferent, as if that gesture were merely an echo lost in the vastness of his calm.
He seemed untouchable. As if all the filth in the world, all the filth and corruption that devoured men and clans alike, could never touch him. His figure was isolated, as if he were walking on a different plane from the rest.
And he did so precisely there, in the place considered the most sacred in the entire Northern Frontier. A land revered for generations, stained with countless sacrifices, steeped in history and faith. For many, it was a place that inspired reverence.
Kael stopped looking at the moon, and a small smile appeared on his lips. He calmly climbed down from the roof and went to his room, as he had a long day of social work ahead of him tomorrow.
...
Quian Mountain.
The tree branches swayed violently as if they were about to break, but they held firm; the trunks moved from side to side as if they were rocking chairs.
The sound of animals was minimal; only the whistling of the strong wind blowing through the leaves and branches could be heard.
At the top of the mountain was a medium-sized city, where there was a cable system throughout the area, which was used by the citizens who lived there.
As strong gusts of wind prevent them from moving freely, they created this cable system to prevent people from being blown away.
In one of the most luxurious houses in the city, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, refined beauty and capricious presence, rested elegantly. Her black silk pajamas, sprinkled with tiny sparkles like stars, clung to her skin like a second layer.
It was Liyana Medici. Her face was bathed in the dim moonlight.
She was reading some books while her hair was blown by the strong gusts of wind on the mountain.
With a long sigh, she closed the book. The news about the destruction of Mount Vigerth resembled what had happened on Mount Kiran. She had also learned that there was one survivor of that destruction, Michel Abraham.
Liyana received information that he had been seen again in her territory, completely changed, and had already reached rank 6.
This gave her hope that her husband, Kael, was alive, because she knew that Michel was interested in Kael.
But the question she had was, if Kael is alive, where in the Northern Frontier?
"I don’t have to rush, there’s already a good chance he’s alive, it’s just a matter of time before I’m reunited with my darling~" She said with a lifeless look, her eyes like two black holes.