CHAPTER 75………………………………………….
“This building was constructed to serve the Saint, so no one else is allowed to enter.”
“But Saint Melissa hasn’t come here until now, has she?”
Even based on what I knew, that was true. I had never passed this way on the pilgrimage route.
Lisa answered in a voice full of excitement.
“That’s right! You’re the first, Saint!”
Despite being neglected for a long time, the place was surprisingly clean, as if it had been waiting just for Saint Melissa.
“Oh! There are rumors passed down quietly that the first Saint once stayed here.”
“Lisa, how can you talk about things that aren’t even confirmed?”
I smiled faintly and placed my hand over Marsha’s.
“It’s okay. Stories are always fun to hear, aren’t they?”
“See? Marsha’s always so stiff, that’s the problem.”
Marsha sighed at Lisa’s words and looked at me.
“There are rumors that the first Saint stayed here, but honestly, we don’t know much.”
“But it’s not entirely unbelievable! I’ve heard that His Holiness also came here often.”
The dead Pope came here? The Pope, who was always so sedentary, actually traveled all the way here?
“Lisa.”
Marsha called out to Lisa in a cautionary tone, and Lisa bit her lip.
Judging by their reactions, it seemed the fact that the Pope had come here was meant to be a secret.
The two of them appeared in the mirror, drying my hair after I had washed it.
They were still silently bickering, clearly because of what had just happened.
“If you’re worried it might leak outside, you don’t have to be.”
Marsha gave Lisa a sharp look, then lowered the corners of her eyes toward me in the mirror.
“I’m sorry, Saint. It’s always a matter handled in secrecy.”
I nodded as if to show I understood.
I was curious, but it wasn’t something I could use to trouble them.
Knock, knock.
“Saint! It’s Luna, may I come in?”
The door opened with a bright voice. Luna entered, pushing a tray.
“I’ll have everything ready shortly.”
“Thank you.”
When my hair had dried enough, Luna’s voice came again.
“Saint, the meal is ready.”
Hearing that, I swept my hair to one side.
“This is enough.”
At my words, the hands of the two, which had been hovering in midair, dropped.
“You should go inside and rest as well.”
“Is there nothing else you need?”
I paused, then shook my head.
“No.”
“If you need anything at all, just call.”
“I will.”
Leaving the two behind, I walked to the table, and Luna hurriedly rifled through her front pocket.
“Saint!”
She then pulled something out and handed it to me.
“This was sent by the Temple Master, who asked me to give it to you.”
It seemed that the person who had guided me was the Temple Master of the Verche Temple.
Cold and hard to the touch.
I looked down at the item she had handed me. It was two keys and a folded note.
“What’s this?”
Luna pointed at the note resting on my palm with her index finger.
“I don’t really know, but they asked me to read the note first.”
“Ah. It must be the keys to the garden and the scripture storage!”
“The garden is locked?”
“Yes. Always locked.”
Seeing my puzzled expression, Luna smiled brightly.
“That’s right, no one can just enter! Only Pope Melissa and our Temple Master can go in.”
Just a garden that looked good for a stroll.
That’s what he had said, but I felt there was more to it than that.
“Also, in the past, there were rumors that oracles came down here in Verche.”
“Oracles?”
“Oh, of course, it’s just a rumor!”
Marsha sighed as soon as Luna finished speaking.
It seemed she was worried that Lisa and Luna were telling me uncertain stories.
When Marsha signaled the two with her eyes, Luna finally looked at me.
Marsha pulled out a chair and opened her tightly pressed lips.
“Saint, I’ll bring the food again.”
Lisa and Luna gasped at the sight of the now-cold food.
“Oh, you couldn’t eat because of us! Sorry.”
“I-I’ll go get it again!”
I waved my hands, but they were insistent.
Once we were alone, Marsha bowed her head and apologized.
“I’m sorry for speaking of things I’m not sure about, Saint.”
That the Pope once visited this forgotten place—quite a plausible story.
But her concern was a separate matter.
“I’m fine, you don’t need to apologize.”
I set the keys on the table and smiled as if it were nothing.
Even so, she still seemed to carry a faint sense of guilt.
“If your worry concerns your relationship with Melissa, don’t worry—I haven’t heard anything.”
“…Th-thank you, Saint.”
“Not at all.”
Eventually, the cold food was cleared away, and only after new dishes were laid on the table did I finally experience silence.
Although the food looked delicious, it didn’t particularly whet my appetite.
But thinking of the three of them, I brought a warm spoonful of soup to my mouth.
Being alone in the building, knowing all the Melissa people were far away, gave me a sense of security.
Perhaps that’s why my lips remained relaxed.
Though I didn’t eat with much savoring, enjoying a brief moment of peace meant that by the time I finished, night had deepened.
I picked up the small note I had momentarily forgotten.
After unfolding the paper that had been folded several times, the purpose of the keys became clear.
“The key with the rounded end is for the scripture storage, and the key with the pointed end is for the garden.”
Just as Lisa had guessed.
The keys were for these two places.
The fact that the garden was locked was curious, but I would find out for myself.
Whether it was rumor or not.
Fitting the key and turning the doorknob, there was a click.
The old door was stiff; I pushed with force. Inside was larger than expected.
It smelled of books, as if I had entered a library. I came here before the garden, thinking there might be something useful to me.
I went deeper into the storage room, which had a peculiar atmosphere, half-library, half-archive.
Among the many books, I picked one at random.
Despite the rough exterior, there was not a speck of dust.
Opening it, there were records of Verche’s history.
As I knew, Verche was the oldest of the temples.
According to these records, the first Saint, Aliana, was born here.
If there was no falsehood in the scriptures, it said the first Saint, Aliana, had received her first oracle not in Melissa, but in Verche.
Being such an old story, it might just be legend. If not, she would have been called Saint of Verche, not Melissa.
I didn’t care much.
Whether temple or kingdom, historical records were rarely fully reliable.
There was always a tendency to record only the good parts.
But what I wanted to know wasn’t about the first Saint.
The scriptures in front of me had no useful information.
After skimming a few more volumes, all I saw were records relating to Verche’s history.
I turned away from the historical records of Verche without hesitation.
I was examining the scriptures on the opposite side, running my finger along the edge, when suddenly…
“Did the Temple Master really tell you to look here?”
“Yes. He was curious about why His Holiness came here.”
“His Holiness came here? What does that mean?”
I froze at the faint voice coming from outside.
It was the voice of the cardinal who had followed me.
I couldn’t tell who he was speaking to.
A rather young man.
Aside from the cardinal, there could be others from Paviban, so it wasn’t shocking, but meeting them here now was a problem.
Footsteps stopped at the door.
I couldn’t move and held my breath.
Soon, there was a rattle as the doorknob moved.
