Now, unlike before, the Saintess had a subtle, practiced expression of serene patience.
"The presence of the Goddess is weak in this place, Grul. Perhaps weaker than any other place there is in this world—land or sea."
She also shifted into a more professional tone.
It was a speech that felt like it had several dozen rehearsals before.
"Father Urian, the one who heeded the request of this Quietus settlement before me, gave notice to this oddity. Explaining how the Goddess's blessings and holy energy was unreachable in the Quietus Forest. Of course, as the acting representatives of the Goddess's will, we had to act. There must be no land in this world that did not have the touch of the Divine in it. The Goddess wrought tirelessly to create this world and us, and thus She must always be heeded, feared, and loved."
She stopped her speech for a moment to take a sip of her tea.
"The greatest minds of the temple have come to the hypothesis that there must be a darker force pervading this Forest. Because not only would the land accept the Goddess's touch, but it would more than welcome the life energy it gives."
Uh…the land isn't alive, though?
I wanted to ask some questions, but I let the Saintess continue with her expatiation.
"Which is why, the only reason the land itself would reject the presence of the Goddess would be because something—or someone—is preventing it from doing so."
Okay, okay.
I think I get the picture now.
Church's influence(or more precisely, the Goddess's) can not reach Quietus Forest, and that's causing problems with the skills and abilities that priests and priestesses of the Theocracy have.
I guess that's why, when that priest from before—Urian, was it?—tried to throw some holy water or something at me, it didn't work.
I thought I might have a natural immunity to it, or it's just because he was a quack, but it seemed like something else was simply preventing it.
With that thought, I can see why the Theocracy is taking this situation very seriously.
But, the one question remains: what does all of this have to do with me?
"This, what do with me?"
I bluntly stated, simplifying my words to discourage eloquent avoidance of the question.
The Saintess didn't flinch at my bluntness.
She merely smiled at me.
Eyes narrow like a sly fox.
"You may not have noticed this, Grul, but for us, who have dedicated our lives to the Goddess, we were granted many blessings. One of those blessings was the sight of purity."
She slowly moved her hand up to her eye, and opened her eyelids.
Her blue eyes now had a yellow shine; a trait commonly related to holy energy.
I'm pretty sure I've heard about this skill, but let's hear her own take on it.
"This blessing allows us to quickly analyze whether a being is shrouded in impurity, or in a different term, unclean darkness. Darkness that is unwelcome by the world."
This wasn't the game's description of it…
It only referred to it as 'the ability to detect whether someone or something is good or evil.'
And 'Darkness'?
That's the same attribute as the Void-Stag…
"And you…"
Me?
"You are…marked with this darkness."
Uh-oh.
Does that mean I'm enemies with the Theocracy now?
I'd hope not.
I'd reaaaaaallly hope not.
I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllly do.
"Do not worry, the mark is not something you yourself have; it's an 'acquired' mark."
What?
What's the difference?
"I don't follow."
"'Acquired' only means contact with a being or thing that has this type of darkness, but not being innately a creature of darkness yourself."
"So…good?"
The Saintess abruptly giggles at my simplistic question for some reason.
Am I funny to her?
Do I amuse her?
Am I some sort of clown to her—okay, I'll stop with the dramaticism.
"I guess you could say that. To have an acquired mark implies that you yourself are not an impure being, but someone that has come into contact with one."
Hoo…
That's a relief.
"But in your case, it isn't just that. This mark of yours—it seems that it was purified."
The more I listened to her talking about 'darkness' and 'marks', I had come to the realization that what she was referring to was the 'darkness inflicted' status that I had when the Void-Stag was still alive.
"Cases where darkness purification occurs are very rare, Grul. So rare, in fact, that you could only count them in the handfuls. And usually, what happens to those who have this divine miracle happen to them…they are given the honor of becoming honorary priests of the Theocracy."
…
…
Wait…
WAAAAIT!
Honorary priest?!
I thought you could only get that after you get the title of Hero?
And you have to do all sorts of side quests that span the entire map, to boot!
I'm stupefied right now because honorary priests—
"Honorary priests have the same privileges as normal priests; which means that any church of the Goddess they go through will allow them to have full access to its available facilities, and hold priority for healing, meetings with the acting head of that church, and support. Furthermore, unlike normal priests, they will not have responsibilities and duties to uphold; simply acting as they are now suffices to keep their status as honorary priests."
–was that.
Yeah.
Thanks for the explanation, Saintess.
But still, I was wondering…
"Why?"
Why give me such a privilege just because I got purified from this 'darkness'?
Aside from the rarity of the event, at least.
At my question, the Saintess's face turned grim; as if recounting horror stories that she heard.
"The reason we give the title of honorary priests to people who are purified of the dirty darkness that you once had…is because of the prophecy that envelops it."
Another lore drop?
Either I really haven't played the main game all that much, or the game itself was hiding a ton from those playing it.
"A prophet of the Goddess during the ancient times once foretold that a dark curse would befall on this world, and that only those with the will and potential would be able to persevere. At that time, no one believed the prophet, as no one held faith or even knew about the existence of the Goddess. After the prophet's passing, the curse did emerge, and untold suffering ensued. Countless creatures of the world, borne by the Goddess's will, passed away. The curse left only rot and decay in its wake. Entire areas had to be vacated by even the most resilient of beings because of this curse."
So far, the tale was pretty grim.
But with the way this world looks and is right now…it seems that something stopped this curse.
Someway, and somehow.
The Saintess's words soon after would verify my guess.
"But then, a miracle was bestowed by the Goddess—a lone child was born in a village that was all but lost due to the plague. This child had the spirit of the Goddess within them; they were granted an everlasting life, a compassionate heart, and a gift from the Goddess that could be given to the people of the world. They would go on to heal the world of the curse, spread the Goddess's name to everyone, and form the Theocracy along with their disciples. They were…the first Saint and founder of the Theocracy."
She spoke with a hint of reverence in her voice.
My tea, at this point, was gone.
Why?
I drank it all.
Duh.
I kind of wanted to refill it, but also wanted to keep listening to her story.
In the end, I chose to wait and listen more.
"But, the thing that's important to us right now is this great figure's first trial: conquering the plague themself. For they, too, were infected by the plague, and were given an acquired mark by it."
The end of this story seems pretty obvious, no?
This 'figure' whoever they may be, overcame the plague.
By the way, how come she keeps referring to the figure as 'they'?
Does she not know if it's a guy or a girl?
Meh, doesn't matter I guess.
"They endured the curse for a whole month, and despite the conditions of the plague worsening over time, they persisted, determined to cleanse the world of this foul darkness. And in the end, they triumphed. Successfully vanquishing the plague from themselves, and going on to do the same to the rest of the world."
Right, right.
Then, that comes back to—
"Now, the story comes back to modern times. Now, the curse of this unclean darkness is long gone, and much of its effects on the world have been removed. But this curse—this stain on the world—refused to perish. Instead, it developed into something else. It developed into creating monsters who's only purpose is to spread it once more. One of our purposes is to annihilate any chance of these monsters ever becoming too powerful to cause another such event to dawn upon the world."
"So, curse, still continue?"
"Yes, unfortunately. And in most cases, there will always be casualties when dealing with these creatures of darkness—both from innocents, and those who serve the Goddess. But there are those people that are born in a fortuitous day, those people that could endure this wretched curse and who could endure and survive; these people would more often than not become history-shapers and lead humanity to greater heights. In the church, we decided that, in order to help the world and improve the lives of the Goddess's children, we would actively support these people."
Ooooh.
Okay.
Well.
I guess that's that, then.
Explains why they're so interested in me.
"So…come here to just…make me priest?"
"Oh, no, not exactly. Actually, the church would like to make a deal with you."
"Deal?"
Or maybe not?
The Saintess started leaning forward again.
Her eyes got that glazed-over look a person get right before they're about to launch into a fifty-minute explanation of why the sky is blue, the grass is green, and why everyone should start buying more jellybeans.
I figured I only had about a three-second window before I was stuck listening to another in-depth exposition that probably wouldn't be as interesting as the stories from before, considering she'll only be talking about a deal offer.
"Wait."
"Hm?"
"Deal. Twenty words or less."
"Huh?"
"Say in twenty words or less."
Her eyes went wide at my words.
It was like the sun came up from the west, or there was a flying drift of pigs.
It was a spectacular look.
For a second, I thought I'd broken her.
Then, her lips twitched.
The twitch grew into a small smile, and the smile exploded into a fit of giggles.
"Hm…hmhmhmhm!"
The sound she made was pretty weird, but as long as she's happy.
I was fully expecting it to be the opposite, actually.
That she'd be pissed off but trying to hide it.
Guess she has a sense of humor.
After a while of giggling, she gasped, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Oh, Grul, you are absolutely right! I have been talking for an eternity, haven't I? My apologies. It's an occupational hazard. Give me one moment, I'll think of a way to propose the deal in twenty words or less."
She closed her eyes, brought her hands together, and actually looked like she was meditating for a moment.
I waited, twirling the spoon in my empty cup.
The room was quiet, save for the soft clinks of wood on metal.
She finally opened her eyes and smiled.
"How about this: 'Church opens here. Grul helps church. Grul helps investigation of darkness with Isabelle. Grul gets blessing and pass for one relic.' How's that?"
"One word too long."
"Hmhmhm~ You're right, my bad."
She giggled just a bit more.
It felt like I was dealing with a kid that likes to be a bit rowdy.
It's good enough, though.
The deal itself was alright.
I didn't fully trust the Theocracy, but I wasn't fully suspicious of it, either.
There were some suspicious points in the talks with the Saintess, like how, throughout all our talks, she never gave a reason as to why she herself, of all people, was the one who went here, in this rather medium-sized settlement.
I'm pretty sure there are other figures who could come here and do what needs to be done.
And something tells me the church isn't really highly interested in me just because of me surviving the darkness—how did they even know that, actually?
Plus, she came in my home and did something inside of it.
To put briefly, this entire thing felt a bit fishy.
But the offer they gave me…was just too much to refuse.
A blessing and a pass for one relic?
Yeah, that's not something you could get just about anywhere.
I took a moment to consider.
Should I risk it?
The Theocracy wouldn't dare lie on their offer.
They were bound by oath.
I looked at the Saintess, who was now giving me a wide smile, her hands perched on her chin.
It wouldn't hurt to try, at the very least.
Alright, fine.
I scratched my chin and looked at the expectant Saintess.
"I agree."
The Saintess beamed, a proper, glorious, blinding beam this time.
She extended her delicate hand across the table.
"Please shake my hand; it'll be our way to officiate the deal and certify it."
I took it in my large hand and gave it a firm shake.
Then, out of nowhere, an invisible energy compressed our hands together, before vanishing entirely.
With that, it seemed that the agreement was done.
No papers like with Silver, and no need to learn another language or something.
I quite like the way they officialize deals there at the Theocracy.
"Excellent."
I can finally sleep now, right?
Since that's been settled, I'm going to sleep.
Nothing is going to stop me from my long awaited rest.
The Saintess retrieved her hand, and then looked at me.
"More tea?"
"Zug."
Yes, please.
…A bit more tea wouldn't hurt before sleep, right?