Chapter 58: Christmas in Another World (2) (58/225)
"It is the most important event for the Heirem Order. This year as well, we are preparing with the help of the faithful."
At Leira's words, Jinseo slowly looked around the area surrounding the cathedral.
Decorations and patterns that had not been there before.
Workers gathered in small groups, installing various things.
Details that had gone unnoticed at first gradually entered his field of vision.
"Because of various circumstances, even brothers and sisters who normally cannot visit the cathedral make sure to come during the Holy Festival period. However, since everyone is so busy, there are occasionally brothers who forget even that…"
Leira deliberately used brothers instead of brothers and sisters, and her gaze turned toward Jinseo.
When Jinseo pointed at himself with his right hand, Leira quietly shook her head, signaling no.
"Oh dear! To think I forgot that…"
"I'm sorry. I've been so focused on the food truck that it completely slipped my mind."
Jason and Foltan avoided Leira's gaze and stared off into the distance.
"Ahem! Ahem!"
Lowering her eyes, Leira cleared her throat.
"It's all right. She is a merciful being, so please do not worry too much. In any case, since you are not a believer, Jinseo, it's only natural that you wouldn't know about the Holy Festival."
"May I ask you to explain it?"
"Of course. I would be happy to."
The Holy Festival was an event held to honor the period during which the Holy Being descended to the Francia Continent in order to create the world and remained there.
Thus, unlike Christmas, which is held on a single day—December 25—the Holy Festival lasted for the entire fourth week of December.
During this time, the clergy and believers of the Heirem Order spent their days together with those who shared the same faith, bringing the year to a close.
Not overly solemn, yet not excessively extravagant either.
I never expected there to be something like Christmas on the Francia Continent.
In modern times, Christmas had become heavily associated with couples' events, but at its core, the feeling was not so different.
"Which is why I wanted to ask whether you could bring the food truck on the final day of the Holy Festival."
"Since it's a sacred relic, of course I should come. While I'm at it, I'll stop by Kaysus Cathedral every day during the festival. You fixed my wrist, after all—that's the least I can do."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you. Still, please make sure to come on the final day."
"All right. That day should be…"
Jinseo checked the date on his smartphone.
It was too perfect to be a coincidence.
"Do you already have a prior engagement that day?"
"Well, on the continent where I'm from…"
This time, Jinseo explained the origins of Christmas to Leira.
The believers of the Heirem Order nearby, as well as Jason and Foltan, all listened attentively.
"That's fascinating. I'd like to hear more details about how that event is conducted. Would that be possible?"
"The explanation might get quite long. Is that all right?"
"Opportunities to learn about religions from other continents are rare. Conversations with you are always enlightening, Jinseo. Please, continue."
"Then, Jason, Foltan, I'll leave things to you for a bit."
Jinseo entrusted the food truck to the two of them for the sake of the believers who had gathered.
Jason and Foltan set out tables for the believers and Leira, handing out snacks and drinks that required no cooking.
They also hurriedly placed hot buns—the most popular item recently—into the steamer to cook.
"In December, where I come from… This would probably be easier to understand if I showed you a video."
Taking the opportunity, Jinseo played a short clip from a movie set during a modern Christmas.
The scene on the large TV captured everyone's attention.
Streets blanketed in white snow.
Brilliant Christmas decorations and tree lights shining vividly in the darkness.
An atmosphere closer to a festival than a formal ceremony.
Leira and the believers focused on the screen, biting eagerly into their hot buns.
After that, what remained was an intense back-and-forth between a protagonist left home alone and two burglars trying to rob the house, but Jinseo stopped the video there and turned the screen off.
"That's all. You should have a general idea of the atmosphere now, right?"
A sigh of regret escaped the believers, but they quickly exchanged glances and fell silent.
"...Is that really the end?"
Leira looked at Jinseo with visible disappointment.
"The rest of the story isn't really related to Christmas."
"I see. Still, thank you very much. It was enlightening to learn how religions on other continents conclude the year."
She nodded while finishing her second vegetable hot bun.
"More than anything, the way Christmas naturally draws in even those who don't follow that religion is something our order never considered. In that sense, watching the rest of the film together with the believers might be even more—"
Leira stared hopefully at the darkened TV screen.
Unaware of her inner thoughts, Jinseo looked around, but the person he was searching for was nowhere to be seen.
"Is the Cardinal not here today?"
Whenever Jinseo brought the food truck to the cathedral, Fedora would usually appear with other clergy to eat bunsik.
Yet she still had not shown herself.
"She is inside the cathedral, but it seems she is still deep in thought."
"What kind of concern could it be…"
Jinseo had a guess.
It had been fifteen days since the grandfather and granddaughter had been in the same place yet left without meeting or speaking.
He suspected unresolved emotions from that day were still troubling her.
"Actually, I came to speak with the Cardinal about something. Would it be inconvenient to see her now?"
"Not at all. I'll guide you."
Leira stood up and left with Jinseo.
The remaining believers' gazes naturally turned toward the two people inside the food truck's kitchen.
"Tteok-twig-sun-ra-gimbap for two servings, please, Brother Jason."
"May her blessing be with you… Three servings of tteokbokki, please."
"One serving each of vegetable gimbap and tuna gimbap. And about that movie earlier—could you play it again?"
Orders began pouring in.
Quietly, unlike at Falstead Castle—perhaps because this was in front of the cathedral.
But for Jason, who had started running the food truck without Jinseo, it felt like a silent approaching nightmare.
"Just a moment! We'll prepare and then start! Please eat hot buns until then! Foltan!"
"I-I just started steaming them, so you'll need to wait!"
Even Foltan began panicking as they scrambled to prepare.
"Boss! You'll be back soon, right? You will, right?!"
Jason shouted desperately toward Jinseo as he prepped ingredients.
I should have come to see her sooner. I was too careless.
But Jinseo, lost in worry about Fedora, didn't hear Jason's desperate call for help.
"She is currently praying, but she said that if it's you, Jinseo, you may enter at any time…"
At the cathedral entrance, Leira reached for the door handle, then hesitated.
"Before that, Jinseo, I have a request."
"A request?"
"Yes, well…"
She glanced around again to ensure no one was nearby.
"About the movie you played earlier—could you show us the rest later?"
Creeeak.
Jinseo entered the cathedral, closed the door, and looked around.
Light streamed through transparent stained glass.
Long benches arranged in neat rows.
A semicircular arched ceiling.
Aside from the symbol of the Heirem Order hanging on the wall opposite the entrance, it was not much different from cathedrals Jinseo had seen in Korea.
"..."
Kneeling alone in prayer before the symbol, Fedora came into view as Jinseo slowly approached.
When the distance between them closed by about half, she slowly lifted her bowed head.
"Is that you, Jinseo?"
"I interrupted your prayer. I'm sorry."
"Not at all. The visit of the owner of a sacred relic is always welcome."
Making the sign of the cross, Fedora stood and turned toward Jinseo.
Dark circles stood out beneath her pale eyes.
"Haah…"
She let out a long sigh and rubbed her throat with her right hand.
"I've shown you an embarrassing sight. I've been worried because my hymn isn't coming along."
"A hymn?"
"Oh, you don't know much about the Holy Festival, do you?"
"I heard a brief explanation from Priest Leira."
"I was supposed to sing a hymn with the choir, but as you can see, my throat is like this… It's something I do every year on the final day of the Holy Festival, but this year, it's complicated in many ways."
Jinseo found her lament puzzling.
Even if the issue with Painfolt couldn't be resolved immediately, healing a sore throat seemed relatively simple.
"What about directly blessing yourself for treatment?"
"That… blessings cast on oneself are far less effective than those cast on others."
"Could you ask another priest?"
"Blessings from brothers and sisters with lower divine power than mine have no effect on me at all. The same applies to other abilities manifested through divine power."
"That's quite restrictive."
So it's like a game system where self-heal doesn't work?
Jinseo couldn't fully understand the reasoning, but he could roughly grasp what determined rank within the order.
Only those with higher divine power could bestow blessings upon those with less.
This logic inevitably created a structure where the less powerful served the more powerful, making divine power the determinant of status.
Looked at another way, it also meant that the person at the very top of the order received no blessings at all—
despite granting blessings to countless others in the name of the divine.
"And in celebration of the Holy Festival, I also need to compose a new hymn, but with my throat like this, my thoughts won't come together."
"You compose hymns as well?"
"Yes. Composing hymns is one of a Cardinal's duties. Creating songs to spread the teachings of the Holy One is itself a shortcut to drawing closer to Her."
"A hymn…"
In Jinseo's mind surfaced the image of his mother, eyes closed, listening quietly to hymns on religious broadcasts.
For her sake, he had once bought a CD player and a collection of hymns with money earned from construction part-time work.
Those items had lost their owner after her passing, but now, before Jinseo stood Fedora—someone who might need them.
"I'll stop by the food truck and be right back."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jinseo stepped outside and entered the additional trailer of the food truck.
After rummaging through his subspace storage and finding what he was looking for, Jinseo ignored Jason's voice behind him and returned to the cathedral.
"These are hymns from the religion my family believed in. Would you like to listen to them?"
In Jinseo's hands were a CD player and several CDs.
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