Chapter 89

Ch.89 Apostle of the Goddess of War

Ruina was learning how to manage Cult affairs and diligently attending the academy. Her academic motivation had increased noticeably compared to before.

During the time Sion had been away, she had seriously begun to take interest. Only recently did he learn that she had even invited a scholar, a graduate of the Imperial Academy, to teach at Elim’s academy.

“Studying is fun. I didn’t even know that about myself.”

Ruina said.

It seemed she had found her calling.

Acquiring knowledge across various fields, including theology, had become her joy. This was the same Ruina who, during her noble days, had never even smelled the scent of paper.

To Sion, it was a startling transformation.

“I thought you hated anything that made your head hurt.”

It seemed circumstances had changed the person.

Indeed, survival had to come first before one could plan for the future.

All living beings were like that.

“I’m glad she says managing and operating the Cult is enjoyable.”

As long as no major issues arose,

Ruina would one day succeed Bishop Gustein as bishop.

The War Cult would grow larger.

Branches would be established in other regions.

Eventually, she might even aspire to the position of archbishop.

That was far in the future.

Yet Sion wanted to see the War Cult led by Archbishop Ruina.

Apostle Sion.

Archbishop Ruina.

War Knight Commander Set.

And—

The Priestess of War.

“Kaili.”

“Hmm? Brother, you’re here? I’m sleepy. Hold me.”

“You’re supposed to be in training. Is dozing off part of your training?”

“Ugh. Don’t tease me.”

Kaili yawned widely as she pushed herself up. She wasn’t aware of it herself, but she was overflowing with charm.

“Is it just because of her looks?”

They were in the church prayer room.

Lately, he’d heard she spent more and more time here.

She had been frequently seen staring blankly at the statue of Goddess Achille.

“What were you doing?”

Sion asked playfully.

Kaili answered with a sullen expression.

“Just spacing out.”

“Is that fun?”

“In its own way.”

A very Kaili-like answer.

Sion smiled faintly.

She never changes.

And that was exactly Kaili’s charm.

Despite being fully aware of her current situation,

despite recognizing the strange changes happening around her, she remained the same whimsical little sister.

“She was like this even when we first met in that prison cell.”

Sion placed his hand on top of Kaili’s head.

She liked it when he did this. It was simple.

“Huh?”

Kaili lifted her head and looked at Sion.

Around her dull hazel-colored pupils, a faint light shimmered.

At that moment, Sion experienced a strange sensation—as if his very soul were being read.

He sensed a spiritual power within Kaili’s eyes.

It was so sharp it made the hairs on his neck stand on end. A captivating sensation.

Sion steadied himself and asked,

“What’s wrong?”

“Brother.”

“Yeah?”

“Where did the Goddess go?”

His heart plummeted from the sky to the depths of the earth.

He wondered if he had misheard.

“Why…?”

He asked cautiously.

Kaili’s pupils glimmered again.

“I can’t see her. The Goddess.”

“Really? Could you see her before?”

“Faintly.”

That was all?

Sion was shocked all over again.

Kaili’s world was this different from everyone else’s.

“Why didn’t you say anything until now?”

“The Goddess told me not to.”

“…”

Sion nearly trembled.

His entire body went numb.

“So this is what a priestess is.”

Nothing special.

She sees the Goddess, hears her, feels her.

Born sacred.

Just direct communication alone would be extraordinary.

But to serve as a temporary vessel to contain the Goddess herself—

There was an enormous difference between conveying her will and her descending into the mortal world.

This was why every Cult protected their priestess and scrambled to obtain one.

Just now, Sion had felt, even if only briefly, the reason why.

But Kaili’s peculiarity didn’t end there.

“Brother.”

“Yeah?”

“The Goddess left something for you.”

“…What?”

Kaili slightly squinted one eye. It was her unique expression when concentrating.

“Come here.”

Kaili gestured. Sion obediently approached and lowered himself to her eye level.

The future saint gazed into the eyes of the future apostle.

His soul, his inner world, his universe.

“…Brother. You almost died, didn’t you?”

A chill ran down his spine. It was hard to maintain his composure.

“How… how do you know, Kaili?”

“Just… I see it.”

A casual answer.

Exactly like Sion himself.

By putting himself in her shoes, he realized how dull and frustrating his own answers must have sounded.

“…Hmm.”

Kaili pursed her lips like a bird’s beak and concentrated. She seemed to be attempting something.

“You haven’t felt Achille for a while, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“When you nearly died, she helped you and seems to have temporarily lost her strength.”

He hadn’t said anything, yet she was stating everything correctly.

So this was a priestess.

“Unbelievable.”

He couldn’t suppress his shock.

Kaili continued observing Sion’s eyes, then moved her lips slightly.

“Wisdom… the Goddess of Wisdom.”

“Huh?”

“She made a deal with her. In exchange for lending her the power to descend, she promised not to intervene in Elim for the time being.”

Sion was so shocked he had to ask again.

Kaili’s divine power was astonishing, but the content was impossible to ignore.

“The Goddess says to be careful. The Wisdom Cult. She said they’re coming soon.”

Sion grabbed Kaili’s shoulders.

“Is that really true?”

“It’s a message engraved in your soul. It feels like she left it for me to see.”

“This can’t be.”

The shocking news lasted only a moment.

Kaili suddenly threw herself into Sion’s arms.

She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, making it impossible to push her away.

“Why… why are you like this?”

“Brother. I don’t want to go to the Wisdom Cult.”

“What?”

“You won’t send me away, right? I’m scared. I don’t want to be separated from you.”

Calmly.

She had eerily predicted and relayed everything.

Yet Kaili was still Kaili.

Whimsical and lazy, Sion’s baby sister.

Still young and fragile.

Kind and pure.

And afraid of leaving her family.

Priestess or not, Kaili was Sion’s family.

If anyone tried to take her—

No one would escape Sion’s wrath.

Not even if it were the Goddess of Wisdom.

Sion gently patted Kaili’s trembling back.

“Of course. I’ll never send you away.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. I’ll chase after you to the end of the continent, to the edge of the ocean if I have to.”

Her shoulders grew damp.

“Pat me… pat me…”

Sion smiled bitterly.

Even her childishness wasn’t the same as before.

***

Kiiing—!

Sion swung his sword alone in the empty training ground.

He cut the wooden practice dummy again and again.

To get used to the sword and to sharpen his mind.

Whoosh!

The sword carved a trajectory as if sucking in the wind. It was truly threatening.

It seemed as if the sword itself moved, slicing into vital points.

Pakak!

Only when the wooden dummy was split cleanly in two did Sion’s training end.

“Huff… huff…”

It was deliberately rougher than usual.

Yet his distracting thoughts wouldn’t leave him.

“Wisdom Cult.”

The Wisdom Cult was coming.

To take Kaili.

Now that this fact was confirmed, it was hard to calmly train and pass the time.

Garfenn was absent. Goddess Achille was absent.

The responsibility of protecting Elim fell on Sion.

The young holy knight was more sensitive than ever.

“It’s impossible to guess how they’ll approach.”

He wanted to believe that, as a Round Table-affiliated Cult, they wouldn’t resort to underhanded tactics.

Yet on the other hand, he couldn’t shake off his unease.

Lately, he was increasingly understanding why Garfenn always hated the Round Table Cults and looked at them with disdain.

“They only claim to be the Round Table’s Goddess…”

Their actions were utterly wicked.

He didn’t believe they truly represented ‘justice.’

Rather, it would be better to assume they would boldly make unreasonable demands.

Using their Cult’s influence and the Goddess’s status to pressure others.

“If they come at us like that, what should I do?”

Sion wiped sweat running down his chin and agonized.

There was no one to show him the way.

Bishop Gustein wasn’t someone who could provide answers in this matter.

“Master. Goddess.”

He said he’d never relied on them.

But in truth, their absence was deeply felt.

There was a difference between relying on them in spirit and having them completely gone.

Sion steeled his resolve.

“I must not grow weak.”

Do what can be done.

Prepare to the best of his ability.

As the next apostle of the Goddess of War.

The deeper the night grew, the deeper Sion’s worries became.

***

The next day, an unexpected guest arrived.

It was Chairman Apur, whom Sion had been too busy to see lately.

“Sir Sion! Ohoho! Long time no see. You’re growing taller day by day—must be youth!”

“Have you been well, Chairman?”

“Oh, as you can see, I’m eating well, sleeping well, and earning well. All thanks to you, Sir Sion.”

The mining business Sion had restored for him had now become so insignificant compared to his income that it barely registered.

Thanks to properly investing in Elim’s reconstruction project.

As Sion had said, investing in Elim had become the greatest gamble of his life.

“I’m glad things are going well. It eases my burden a little too.”

“Haha! ‘Burden’ and ‘Sir Sion’ are words that don’t go together at all, are they?”

“Not at all.”

Right now, this was the greatest crisis of Sion’s life. He had never felt such pressure.

He was so sensitive that even meeting Apur felt awkward.

“So, what’s the reason you came all this way?”

Sion asked directly.

He hated wasting time.

Apur, too, straightened his posture, thinking, ‘Just like Sir Sion.’

At that moment, Ruina brought out tea.

Glug.

After taking a sip of tea, Apur spoke.

“Sir Sion.”

The atmosphere turned serious.

Please, don’t let this be another bad piece of news.

Sion prayed desperately.

“Someone from the Wisdom Cult came to see me.”

“What?”

His small hope, of course, was dashed.

The news was heavier than expected.

And more shocking than expected.

“The Wisdom Cult is already in Foils…”

The crisis was arriving sooner than anticipated.

He didn’t have enough time to prepare properly.

Well, even with more time, the situation probably wouldn’t change much.

Apur continued.

“They told me to cut off my business with Elim.”

“For what reason?”

“They promised to give me double my current annual profits from Elim business if I comply.”

“That sounds tempting.”

Apur moistened his pale, unhealthy lips with his tongue.

“That’s why I came. Like this. I’m not particularly loyal to either side, but I had to deliver this news. It’s an important matter.”

Sion spoke coldly, like a blade of ice.

“Because your life is at stake.”

“Yes. That’s why you should never get too deeply involved with a Goddess Cult. Haha.”

“What do you want?”

Apur smiled.

“Of course, you’re quick to catch on. Too quick.”

“Please, just say it.”

“…Just assurance.”

“Assurance?”

“Assurance that my investment is safe.”

“Hmm.”

Sion crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

It was exactly the kind of thinking a follower of the Abundance Cult would have.

Even a life-or-death choice was weighed to the extreme for profit.

“Why hesitate when they’re offering to double your money? If you came here to test my intentions—”

Sion glanced slightly at the sword standing beside him.

“I won’t just sit still.”

“Haha! Of course not. I only care about money. The power struggle between the Wisdom Cult and the War Cult? What do I care? As long as I can earn more money.”

“So you’re saying the War Cult can make you earn more?”

“In the long-term perspective, yes.”

Indeed, he was a brilliant businessman.

He could see the bigger picture, looking far into the future rather than focusing on immediate gains.

It was a mindset Sion needed to learn.

Regardless of whether his prediction was right or wrong, such insight was always worth remembering and mastering.

“Very soon, we’ll be able to sign a contract with Deogel Estate.”

“Hmm? You mean the estate in the east with the plains?”

“Yes. We just finished clearing it recently. Lord Deogel will soon announce that he will serve the War Cult.”

“Hmm—famous as a breadbasket. Many of the region’s specialty products are sent to the imperial court.”

Sion shrugged his shoulders.

“If you stay quiet, you’ll be able to conduct business there.”

Apur stood up, grinning like a greedy toad.

“May the blessings of Abundance and the Goddess of War be with you.”

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