chapter 136
“Alright, the exams are over, it’s Saturday, and there’s no club activity. Let’s get our backlog of assignments done quickly.”
“I agree!”
“I agree too…”
Unlike Sylvia, who cheerfully responded to Chris’s enthusiasm, Silvester spoke in a weak, dying voice. Currently, he had a small bump on his head. Yesterday, after a chase, he had finally been struck by Chris.
Of course, Silvester had also retaliated with a small hit, but Chris was no ordinary person—he was a priest-in-training. Like Theodor, he had self-healed using divine power. Even though they had exchanged blows fairly, Silvester felt unfairly like he had been the only one who got hit.
When Silvester glared at Chris, Chris shot back with an equally sharp glare. Ignoring the bad blood between them, the other three placed their belongings on the desk.
They were currently in the academy library, needing resources for their assignments.
“I asked the librarian yesterday just in case, whether there were any books related to saints or holy figures. Here’s the list along with their locations, so we can split up and get them.”
“As expected of Sylvia! No wonder you’re the top of the school.”
“Oh, it’s nothing really.”
Sylvia smiled shyly at Selina’s compliment.
“Three of us are among the top ten in school, so first place is practically guaranteed,” Silvester remarked. Indeed, three of them were high achievers: Sylvia ranked 1st, Theodor 5th, and Chris 8th. Rumor had it Silvester was within the top 50. Compared to them, Selina’s grades were… well, still upper-middle.
“Thanks to Sylvia, we have a lot less work. Let’s first spread out and fetch the books.”
Selina and Luna began checking the notes listing the book titles.
“Let’s see… ‘The Moon’s Original Curse,’ ‘The Moon’s Original Curse’…”
They found a total of four books—some enormous and heavy, some appearing to be novels rather than academic texts, and others packed with difficult vocabulary. Just flipping through them made Selina feel queasy.
“Ugh, this cursed assignment.”
[Stop complaining already. You’re halfway done, you know.]
“What are you talking about?”
[Don’t you know the saying, ‘Well begun is half done’?]
“…Are you teasing me right now?”
[Who’s teasing? I’m just stating the truth.]
Selina’s eyebrows twitched, irritated by the pure, sparkling eyes, but she forced herself to ignore it, thinking of the information she could later get from him. Even so, as a god, he probably knew a lot about saints and holy figures.
‘Let’s gather the materials first, and ask if we get stuck.’
Since the divine perspective differs from a human one, she couldn’t rely solely on Luna.
Carrying the heavy books back, Selina returned to her desk. As the scattered students regrouped, the desk was piled high with over a dozen books. Seeing the many volumes, the children seemed to lose motivation.
“Let’s read as much as we can before dinner.”
“First, check the table of contents to see if it has the info we need. We can’t read the entire book; it would take forever.”
Following Theodor’s advice, each student picked up a book and began extracting information.
Origin of the Divine
This was the book Selina had chosen. A brief glance revealed discussions on what gods were and their relation to humans. Among the contents were sections related to saints and holy figures.
“God. The being that created all things from the beginning, oversees the world, and exists among us while simultaneously not existing.”
Starting with this cryptic sentence, Selina focused on the essential information rather than reading everything.
“Saints and holy figures, as the name suggests, are sacred individuals, innately possessing divine power comparable to that of a pope. To understand saints and holy figures, one must first understand the definition of divine power. Divine power is often thought to be the power of the gods, but it is actually only a portion of that power, primarily healing ability. Typically, only those devoted to a god, with sincere hearts, can cultivate it. However, some are born with it genetically or innately. A few awaken later in life, but this is extremely rare; most are born with it.”
Selina frowned in doubt.
‘Doesn’t the type of divine power differ depending on the god worshiped?’
Theodor had explained this before. But what if a person belonged to a different faith or was non-religious?
‘Ah, here’s the explanation.’
A few pages later, she found the answer:
“The characteristics of divine power vary with the god worshiped, but fundamentally, they are not much different—like humans of the same species having different appearances. Saints and holy figures possess power equal to or greater than a pope. Temples can identify them by examining their divine power, or through divine oracles given by the god. One method commonly used is the oracle.”
Selina nodded. This aligned with what she had heard from Luna. Sylvia had been identified as a saint through an oracle.
Selina glanced at Sylvia, who was focused on reading.
‘The oracle… now I remember, Sylvia is a saint of the Moon Temple.’
Initially, Selina hadn’t known which temple Sylvia belonged to, but living at the academy had made it obvious. Thinking back, she had chosen the Moon Temple during theology class.
‘I should have realized then…’
But now, doubts arose. Before entering the academy, Luna didn’t know which temple Sylvia belonged to. Yet if the oracle was truly divine, the Moon god Luna should have known about it.
‘Could it be that the term “oracle” has a different meaning now?’
If Luna didn’t issue the oracle, then Sylvia’s oracle would be false… Yet, according to the original timeline, Sylvia would awaken as a saint.
‘I’ll have to ask Luna about this later.’
Luna was currently sleeping on Selina’s lap, so she postponed it.
‘Is this book done?’
Selina found all the necessary information. Scanning once more, there was nothing else related to saints or holy figures. She organized the key points into her notes.
One sentence caught her eye:
“Which is rarer: one born with divine power, or one chosen by the gods later in life? The author believes the latter is rarer. Strong divine power can come from good parents or ancestors, but the god’s choice is directly selecting a person from countless humans worldwide.”
‘What is this supposed to mean?’
Being chosen by a god? Selina had never heard this in class.
“Ugh… has everyone found the info they need?”
Just as she turned the page, Silvester stretched and drew everyone’s attention.
“I got nothing. I read both books, but there was hardly anything.”
“I found quite a bit.”
“Let’s do a progress check; we’ve been at this for about two hours.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Selina bookmarked her page, deciding to follow the group’s plan.
“Alright, let’s share what we found. I’ll start. I looked at The Chronicles of the Sun. It’s registered as a must-read in our temple, so the info is reliable. There were sixteen saints and holy figures in our Sun Temple, but most died young, so records are sparse. The longest-serving one was the 9th holy figure, Pedro, who served until age 45.”
Sylvia stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“Hm, I was going to research only saints and holy figures, but we should also check how many each temple produced.”
“For the presentation, it’s good to have extra info.”
“Last semester, Professor Felix preferred students to research related info rather than just the assigned topic.”
“Better grades if we do more anyway.”
With their combined suggestions, the report content became richer. They continued taking turns sharing info. Unfortunately, Chris had read fiction-based material, so there was little useful information.
Finally, with Selina last, the mid-progress check ended.
“Let’s research how many saints and holy figures each temple produced. Oracles are also important, so we should investigate those too.”
Sylvia added a suggestion:
“What if we include examples of oracles in the presentation?”
“Wouldn’t that be difficult?”
“The exact details of oracles aren’t public. Only interpretations are given. You’d need to be a high priest to know the full contents.”
The priest-in-training duo, Theodor and Chris, nodded in agreement.
“Then how about Sylvia’s oracle? We’ve heard about it before.”
Silvester reminded them that 11 years ago, when the Moon Temple announced the oracle at the royal court, Sylvia and the Hilares family were present.
The others widened their eyes, and Sylvia said awkwardly:
“It was so long ago, I don’t even remember. And even if I did, oracles aren’t usually shared with the public. Wouldn’t it be weird if we presented it?”
“True enough.”
They decided to skip using examples, roughly organizing the content for their presentation.
“Looks like we have a general outline…”
“Feels like something’s missing?”
The children reviewing the notes felt it was 98% complete. It would get good grades, but maybe not first place.
“Too plain. We need something unusual in the middle to stand out.”
“Right. Others will do about the same as us; we need something eye-catching.”
Selina suddenly remembered something she had overlooked. She hadn’t checked it fully yet, but a previous passage compared it to saints and holy figures.
She quickly opened the book to check. After reviewing it all, she looked up.
“Guys, how about this?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Selina opened the book in the center of the desk so everyone could see.
“About 500 years ago, there existed a being so remarkable it could not be compared to saints or holy figures.”
Sylvia read, entranced:
“However, now this being exists only in written records, and few know of it.”
The children’s eyes widened as they read the name of the mysterious being. Selina finished:
“They are called the ‘Apostles.’ Those who are called the representatives of God.”
