“Oh, so this is Evidian curry. I’ll be honest, Lady Eshe, when I first came to Peolynca, I was surprised to hear that the levianewts have already invented something similar to the curry I know from Earth. At least, that is what I heard from the people who tasted Saori’s curry.”
It was lunchtime the day after I met with guild master Muraina and the imperial alchemist Krymdar. With two days left for my concert, I went over to the church’s orphanage in order to meet up with Eshe so we could rehearse the “idol of Aurena” part of the performance.
Although I had advertised myself as one of Aurena’s blessed before the nobles, there wasn’t a real reason for me to do more than to cast [Prayer] unassisted to impress them. Yet, Saintess Eshe and High Bishop Theodore persuaded me to do more, as it would be a good practice to know how I act like a proper clergywoman. I had to impress the clergy and the religious attendees, as well.
The two weeks of theological lessons I received was mostly contextual information for how the Church of Aurena worked, including the various small rituals and trips they made to bolster their support. It was—as they admit—pretty surface level as both agreed, unless I fully lived the life of a priestess, the good-to-know, but not need-to-know, information was wasted on me. They didn’t fully believe in the “learning for the sake of learning” mantra of the Istari followers.
Master Kush would disagree, but if something wasn’t interesting to me, then I wouldn’t want to sit down and memorize everything. I agreed on “learning for the sake of expanding one’s thinking.” Ignorance was bad, but I didn’t want a deluge of new, but unusable, information.
For example, the historical significance of certain small rituals or greetings, or how different countries greet bishops and cardinals to accommodate them. There was even a library full of small stories and heroic tales from the subordinate gods during their mortal life that influenced their modern followers and how they treated them. All good, but how was that relevant enough to warrant teaching me that in the two weeks I had?
What was important was the personalities of these gods and what their domains and religious headquarters were. Tasianna already taught me about the Pantheon of Light and their most important members, allowing Theodore to hammer into me the conflicts within the religion.
As much as the different parts of the Church of Aurena wanted to act as if they were completely united, most cathedrals and temples usually worshipped Aurena in addition to one of her subordinate gods. This was usually a matter of doctrine and ideology, since all gods represented something, usually related to their godly title. For example, old man, Kargryxmor—actually, maybe “Kramps” would be a better nickname for him—was the God of Dragons and Oaths and Istari was the God of Magic and Knowledge.
Among Aurena’s pantheon, some gods had conflicting ideals—one example were the sister gods Andira, the Goddess of Fairness and Equality, and Erithia, Goddess of Nobility and Wealth. Two goddesses both well loved by humans, but who rarely ever shared the same followers for obvious reasons. Firwood’s temple used to worship Andira when it was still just a small town, but once it grew, Erithia became more popular.
When I commented on how this seemed like they were breaking the second dogmatic doctrine—to not diminish the faith of other subordinate gods as they all serve Aurena equally—Theodore responded with, “Siblings quarrel all the time. As long as they don’t cross the line of acceptability, some friendly rivalry is not forbidden.” It felt as if he spoke from experience.
Which led me to, probably, the biggest “sibling” rivalry on Altrust—the slow separation of the western and eastern Church of Aurena. Specifically, the Holy Capital, Aureolis, led by the Pope, and the state church of the Empire of Man, Folschreck. Although it was expected of their Emperor to follow the Pope, as the latter usually crowned the next Holy Emperor, the teachings and attitude of the priests within the eastern church had changed due to the constant conflict the Empire experienced since its founding.
Meanwhile, Aureolis remained at peace, even during the War for the Faefolk as the elves never attempted to siege its capital city. The “weak and spineless” west, and the stoic and dutiful east; that was what Theodore explained was the current situation of their religion.
In any case, that was how I spent my time with Theodore. Eshe, on the other hand, was more focused on teaching me the culture of the Empire and the duties of the Saints and Champions of Aurena. Eshe mostly spoke about the former, since her home was in the Great Evida Desert.
And what was a better way to introduce your culture than through food, right?
Breaking off a small piece of bread, I dipped the still-warm chunk into the orange curry and scooped both the soup and some meat into my mouth. Unlike Saori’s curry, which was sweeter and used fewer spices in the recipe, Eshe’s curry was like a taste explosion, assaulting my tongue with intense spiciness, fulfilling savoriness, and enticing sourness.
I instinctively sucked in my flavored saliva and let out a sigh, as if the spiciness had affected me. This was probably the second spiciest dish I’d ever tasted since I was reborn, just behind the spicy mushroom roots Tasianna found in the Cedaraille dungeon’s depth.
When I told Eshe my thoughts, she seemed pretty interested in the mushroom, having believed that the Evida desert possessed the spiciest ingredients in all of Altrust. She was also interested in Saori’s curry since she only knew about the one her homeland made.
“Evidian curry began as a seafarer food, specifically from the levianewts who used to live on the seaside, since it was not only easy to make with whatever ingredient they had but they also easily filled the bellies of the sailors,” she explained. This wasn’t “nice-to-know,” this was “important-to-know!‘
With the levianewts sharing the recipe with the human sailors, it spread among seamen since the spices and ingredients used for the dish could either be stored dry for long trips or procured on the sea. Merchants and returning sailors then spread the dish to the various towns and cities inside the desert and it eventually became a national dish.
Usually, this curry would be served with something similar to naan bread, but we couldn’t procure that in Peolynca nor could Eshe or her knights bake it. Honestly, the more I learned about the Evida desert, the more it reminded me of a fusion between India and Arabia. The parallels between Earth and Peolynca were peculiar yet entrancing at the same time.
Since Theodore couldn’t come today, as he was supervising the construction of the concert stage with Grimnir, I was eating lunch with Eshe and her knights. Saori was teaching bakers how to make pastries and rice sweets, Tasianna was studying under Krymdar to become a better alchemist, and Ellaine was helping out her parents by estimating prices and creating a place for the nobles to sit, leaving alone with Eshe.
Still no news of Jonathan. I can only imagine that Ellaine and her parents want to go out and search for him.
While enjoying the food Eshe made for us, I reopened the discussion we had before, “So, are all the blessed of Goddess Aurena known within the Empire? Every single one of them?”
“The humans ones, yes. We are celebrities akin to war heroes, however, that isn’t the case for two blessed—an elven one and you, Lady Hestia. You, of course, are too new to be know, while, historically, most ‘foreign’ blessed rarely visit the Empire for an extended period, so they aren’t hailed as much,” she explained.
Eshe continued, “I personally have met a few of our fellow blessed when I visited the Empire’s capital, where I also met my own teacher, Saintess Fleindia. A good soul, although she involves herself a bit too much in politics. I shouldn’t speak ill of her, but she fits her role as a noble priestess.”
“Oh? Is that so? Which reminds me, what is the relationship between Goddess Aurena and her blessed. Do you ever talk, or is it always business?”
One fact was certain, the gods couldn’t speak with mortals, even their blessed, as long as Aurena and Kramps did with me. This was due to a mortal’s fragile soul if they weren’t specifically reinforced for the task, like I was before my reincarnation. As such, a divine message was usually fragmented, forcing a blessed to interpret them. I wanted to understand what this meant.
“Talk?” Expectantly, my question confused not only Eshe but her knights, as well. Having taken off their scarves to eat, I was able to see the slight bafflement on Sir Alikar’s and Dame Anivh’s expressions. “Well, as her pious servant, doing something so casually as ‘talking,’ wouldn’t that be too inappropriate to do in the limited time we have with the Goddess? Shouldn’t you know this, Lady Hestia? Our souls aren’t strong enough to enter her divine realm and the messages we receive are often indecipherable, although, maybe your messages are more coherent than ours since your blessing is stronger?”
“Ehehe, I apologize, I wanted to understand how other blessed handle it.” I faked my response, although I did feel a bit sad what Aurena said was true. So even somebody who loved Aurena as much as Eshe had this much trouble understanding her.
Therefore, I decided to not expose the fact that I could visit and speak with Aurena whenever I wanted. It would only spook Eshe right now.
Seeing my faked sadness, Eshe calmed down with a renewed smile. “To answer your question properly, the Gods only choose mortals they believe will benefit their goals. As such, the amount of information we receive from them pertains to what our role is, and how we’re supposed to guide our fellow followers. Our souls, strengthened by faith, is a prerequisite to becoming a blessed; even if you are the most pious preacher or a rank A, you cannot become a blessed if your soul isn’t sufficiently strong enough to at least receive a five word sentence.”
Makes full sense. Doesn’t matter how much people hype you up as a possible blessed, all that matters in the end is that the gods think you are worthy.
“You’re talking about missing words or hard to decipher sentences through ‘the word of the gods,’ right?”
Eshe nodded to my question. Aurena had mentioned that this was one problem the Origin Gods had with communicating with their followers, since they had to reduce the length of the divine message to not accidentally overload the recipient’s soul, to the point the gods couldn’t even resolve misunderstandings if the first message failed.
If you looked at it that way, it made sense why Saints and Champions were so important for a relgion. Although, I did question why the Empire trumpeted all Folschreckian blessed to the public. Wouldn’t it be problematic if someone were to attack them specifically ‘cause of that reason?
I suddenly realized something. “Lady Eshe, you don’t do many sermons, right? Actually, I haven’t seen you giving one since I first met you. For a Saintess, who, as you said, is responsible for guiding her fellow followers, you usually only stay inside the orphanage.”
“Lad—” Anivh wanted to speak out suddenly, but Eshe quickly stopped her by raising her hand.
“Lady Hestia, I am the Saintess of Orphans; my role as the Goddess’s servant is to make sure that orphaned children are given a warm place to grow and learn the beauty of Her Holiness. To make sure they may enjoy a good childhood without fearing the real world until they reach maturity,” Eshe spoke with passion and zeal, asserting herself even more than usual. Her eyes had a strong influence on the impact of her words, imprinting them into your memory with ease.
She continued, “I am not much use as a preacher, for what do adults have to learn from me? Commoners have their own situations, so preaching to them about the woes of some random street urchin would be arrogant of me. Nobles? Why would they be interested in such a sermon? It isn’t much, but I prefer doing my duty by helping these children find a safe home here.”
‘Actions over words.’ Respectable.
Eshe also explained how her role as a Saintess was better used to gather donations from the pious and to help out at the local orphanages, using her influence to improve it and help create lasting benefits even after she left. The orphanages in most of the Empire’s cities were understaffed and underfunded due to the constant wars, to the point the older children usually had to act as caretakers with the shrine maidens for the young ones. The one in Eshe’s home city used to be like this.
It was admirable. I felt ashamed for not being able to think of this by myself, feeling the answer was so obvious after Eshe explained it. If you thought about it, children were one of the most important “resources” of a city or country, since they would become the ones to lead the world’s future.
Orphans or not, it didn’t matter. Eshe’s efforts to give more children shelter, warm food, and a family made me respect her even more. It was so amazing to hear that it made me more curious why Theodore told me that Eshe switched from a priestess into a shrine maiden. Even if nobles disliked commoners, nothing bad could be said about a person who actively helped children, right?
Since we were having lunch together, I thought it would be all right to ask. We’ve known each other long enough. “If it isn’t rude of me to ask, could you tell me if those rumors are true? About how you were involved in some drama with the noble white robes in Sarkafiina?”
Anivh and Alikar looked at each other with slightly furrowed brows while Eshe’s smile broke for a couple of seconds. Their reactions were a clear indicator that I touched on something thorny, and that the rumors were most likely true. As I panicked and apologized, saying she didn’t need to say anything if it made her uncomfortable, Eshe said she didn’t mind it.
“You shared your struggles before coming to Peolynca. I was able to learn what drove you into becoming an ‘idol.’ It is only right for me to share my story, too,” she stated.
Eshe breathed in deeply, held it for a second, and let it all out before beginning to speak, “As you know, I am a commoner. Born with enough magical potential that both the mage’s guild and church wanted to buy me off from my parents in order to indoctrinate me from a young age. Naturally, as I was given this potential by the Goddess, I of course chose to go with the church, where they raised me into becoming a white robe.”
Eshe was pious, very pious in fact. At least, I could sense the joy in her voice whenever she spoke about Aurena specifically. During her explanation, she emphasized the greatness of Aurena a great deal, believing most of her decisions and gifts, like her high mana growth despite being a commoner human, were all given to her by Aurena. I would have been cringing at the conversation if this had happened two weeks ago, but I got used to it somewhat.
In summary, Eshe was turned into a white robe priestess when she joined the clergy after they bought her off from her family when she was still a young child. She was educated to become either a secretary or a lady-in-waiting for the noble white robes in the cathedral in her home city, while also serving the duties of a white robe to alleviate the temple’s workload. Sadly, though, she had little to no political influence despite being a priestess.
While sent out on official church duty to a nearby village, she was expected to only grant [Prayer], heal any injuries or illnesses, and maybe give a sermon if the local priest was injured; however, that was where the drama began.
“I … I did something I thought was rightful and proper as a priestess, but the consequences of that action brought nothing but problems. Not only to me, but also to the people I wanted to help.” Eshe hesitated in revealing the origin of the rumors, but decided to keep it to herself. She then trembled as if a cold wind had just wafted in, prompting Anivh to stand up and make a new cup of tea for her.
Once she recovered, she explained how the church was dissatisfied with her after learning of the results of her action, punishing her by stripping any privileges she still had and turning her into a shrine maiden. She was then sent to the orphanage as its new director, a duty usually given to grey robes in her city.
This new role was meant to break her, since white robes, regardless of whether they were commoners or nobles, lived a less taxing and more privileged life than she would have experienced growing up in the slums with her old family. However, it only had the opposite effect. Eshe thrived in performing her new duty, as taking care of the young children reminded her of her simpler days as a child.
As the director of the orphanage, Eshe was finally outside the scrutiny of the nobles and was able to move more freely. Through this, she was able to become one of the most popular clergywomen in Sarkafiina, to the point people treated her as a potential Saint candidate with her philanthropic work in the slums and her care for orphans.
“Naturally, the concept of a ‘blessed candidate’ is merely just words,” Eshe reiterated to me, slightly down. “Yet, the Goddess making me one only gave them more legitimacy.”
Stay strong. Those rumors can’t hurt us. I patted her on the back.
From what I learned of Eshe’s spells and skills, she sounded exactly like the typical supportive saint class, with only supportive custom spells and little to no combative skills. Well, for that, she had her knights, Anivh and Alikar, for combat encounters. As Sarkafiinian Knights of Aurena, this was their duty.
“I can guess, ahaha. Four years into your role as the orphanage director and you got your title? Wow, how did those noble white robes react?” I asked. Considering her story and personality, I fully understood now why she was made into a Saintess. She fit the stereotype perfectly.
“Well, they acted friendly—” Eshe said before her knight, Anivh, spoke over her.
“They hid their true emotions behind their masks of expressions, congratulating and praising Lady Eshe in public while speaking of her as a tool from behind. Members of the clergy or not, for disrespecting a chosen representative of the Goddess … unforgivable.”
Anivh and Alikar rarely spoke, staying silent whenever I came over for some reason. When they spoke, however, it was serious.
After finishing lunch, a shrine maiden knocked on the door and informed us that somebody who knew Eshe was waiting outside the orphanage. Although she was unsure who the visitor was, Eshe decided to go out and greet them anyway. I followed her since I had nothing else to do but wait.
When we came out, a young man in a familiar outfit stood there, saluting Eshe the moment she appeared out of the door. I noticed the crest he had on his outfit—a gavel with the eye symbol, the mark of the Lycerepth. It wasn’t surprising to see one of their members here, since the Lycerepth were also responsible for protecting Eshe, but what baffled me were the two men behind him.
While their clothes weren’t in tatters or ragged, they still looked old and used, as if little effort was put into cleaning the sweat, food, or dirt stains off the fabric. It looked gross even after the clothes had been washed. Like pack mules, the men were carrying full backpacks, which looked like they were filled to the brim with groceries and tools, heavy enough that they were standing on their feet with crooked backs and their hands bowed.
Both men raised their heads when the young, energetic Lycerepthor saluted and shouted, “Desert winds fly forth! May the Goddess bless your day with bountiful light, Saintess Eshe!” At this point, I was able to see a blue runic tattoo etched onto their foreheads. Looking closer, it showed the image of an eyed gavel inside a cage.
Wait, where did I see—No, I don’t think I’ve seen this before but I think I heard about that symbol somewhere. Uhm, a cage symbol with something ins—Oh!
“A-are they slaves…?” Yet, nobody answered it. In fact, nobody was as surprised as I was, even Eshe was only sullen.
With quivering eyes, she decided to move over to the young man with Alikar.
As Eshe spoke with him, I barely listened to them as I was more focused on the two men standing still behind them. They weren’t attempting to set their backpacks down despite their shaking legs. In Artorias, selling or owning slaves was forbidden, but here we were, in broad daylight, and a guest from the Empire was openly dragging his slaves around Griffonpeak.
I remembered how the Artorian nobles at the ball complained about the slaves the Empire brought with them, and I couldn’t help but agree. Letting people look this haggard … This is foul.
“Dame Anivh, they have that runic tattoo Lady Eshe explained to me. Are they—?”
“Yes, Lady Hestia. The Empire has a flourishing slave economy. Please, be reassured, they most likely have runic tattoos to increase their strength and stamina to carry those heavy burdens,” the knight informed me, showing a lack of emotions now that she was back on duty.
“No, that’s not what I … Whatever.”
I remembered. Eshe disliked slaves just as I did, so what good was complaining to her knights? I would just be barking up the wrong tree.
After some time, Eshe’s discussion with the man ended and she briefly went over to the two men and prayed for them, earning Eshe their rapid thanks. She then returned to me and informed me Pestrodus wanted to discuss some matter with her, so she apologized to me for a short meeting today. I told her it was all right, and that we would meet up again at the concert. She agreed, telling me to practice the rehearsed text she and Theodore wrote for me as an opening act to create the “correct mood.”
As Eshe had to pick up something from inside the orphanage, I left first. I said goodbye to the kids and also gave the two slaves a small prayer just like Eshe. Seeing my white robe, they also thanked me, but their words only made me pity them even more. There was nothing good to feel about all of this.
I wasn’t arrogant enough to imagine the pain their enfeebled bodies had to endure. Yet, I could see their emotions coming from their dull, almost hopeless eyes. It was desperation, knowing as long as they kept their heads down and made people tolerate them, they would survive. Their hope was through the small salvation Eshe and I brought them, knowing this was all they could get.They were thankful I was even friendly to them.
Enough hope to cling to life.
“Empire’s blessing to you, Lady Shrine Maiden! May the Goddess bless you on this bright day!” The young man had medium-long, dark yellow hair groomed to show his forehead. As I looked into his eyes, I noticed how it was colored yellow and red, split equally right in the middle.
I glared at him. “… May this EarthDay find you well, Lycerepthor. May the Goddess bless the grounds you walk on, banishing the shadows on your path.”
As a girl from modern Earth, my opinion of the Folschreck Empire deteriorated even more today. The law was on their side, as they ruled over Artorias. I had to control myself; Eshe would get in trouble as well.
I slapped my cheeks as I walked back to the mansion. There, I found House Helvas’s servants and attendants rushing out and into our RV, carrying boxes that were either empty or filled with either rice or wheat flour.
Room.
I entered through the back entrance of our RV, stepping a room far too wide for it to fit into our small RV. It was our subspace dimension created through my [Room] spell turned into runes. I smiled at the number of fully decorated tables inside it, noting how beautiful and refined it looked, so similar to a greifnoble’s dining room. It wasn’t huge, as our aim for it was to serve a small handful of patrons; after all, it was Saori’s noble restaurant.
Entering through the kitchen, I then moved into a room next to it, where the white floor and walls were replaced by earthy colors. The heat was noticeable but I ignored it entirely for the incredible smell of fresh bread and the sound of hammers pounding onto something soft and squishy—it was our pastry room.
There, I saw Saori, Marianne and Theresa, Duke Greenveil’s wife, ordering attendants around as they pulled out piping hot sponge cakes from the dozens of stone ovens I made using earth magic. Pastries like milk bread, cream puffs, and croissants were being brought en masse to a table, where they were being placed into presentable boxes.
In another corner, people were pounding wet and softened rice into mochi while others dried them into sweetened rice crackers. From inside the kitchen, I could hear people frying something, so I went out, seeing them making a bunch of fried rice balls and coating them with honey or edible seeds.
This is amazing.
Yeast was being made in a separate facility to avoid people learning the recipe for it while Saori was teaching workers inside our RV’s [Room] how to create the pastries and rice sweets we were planning to sell at my concert. Later on, they would establish their own bakery according to our standards to sell them throughout Artorias through the Sarlenzia company and Amelia’s sweet shop.
Artorias, prepare yourself for a pastry and confection revolution!
Two more days before I could step back on the stage.
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“Oh, so this is Evidian curry. I’ll be honest, Lady Eshe, when I first came to Peolynca, I was surprised to hear that the levianewts have already invented something similar to the curry I know from Earth. At least, that is what I heard from the people who tasted Saori’s curry.”
It was lunchtime the day after I met with guild master Muraina and the imperial alchemist Krymdar. With two days left for my concert, I went over to the church’s orphanage in order to meet up with Eshe so we could rehearse the “idol of Aurena” part of the performance.
Although I had advertised myself as one of Aurena’s blessed before the nobles, there wasn’t a real reason for me to do more than to cast [Prayer] unassisted to impress them. Yet, Saintess Eshe and High Bishop Theodore persuaded me to do more, as it would be a good practice to know how I act like a proper clergywoman. I had to impress the clergy and the religious attendees, as well.
The two weeks of theological lessons I received was mostly contextual information for how the Church of Aurena worked, including the various small rituals and trips they made to bolster their support. It was—as they admit—pretty surface level as both agreed, unless I fully lived the life of a priestess, the good-to-know, but not need-to-know, information was wasted on me. They didn’t fully believe in the “learning for the sake of learning” mantra of the Istari followers.
Master Kush would disagree, but if something wasn’t interesting to me, then I wouldn’t want to sit down and memorize everything. I agreed on “learning for the sake of expanding one’s thinking.” Ignorance was bad, but I didn’t want a deluge of new, but unusable, information.
For example, the historical significance of certain small rituals or greetings, or how different countries greet bishops and cardinals to accommodate them. There was even a library full of small stories and heroic tales from the subordinate gods during their mortal life that influenced their modern followers and how they treated them. All good, but how was that relevant enough to warrant teaching me that in the two weeks I had?
What was important was the personalities of these gods and what their domains and religious headquarters were. Tasianna already taught me about the Pantheon of Light and their most important members, allowing Theodore to hammer into me the conflicts within the religion.
As much as the different parts of the Church of Aurena wanted to act as if they were completely united, most cathedrals and temples usually worshipped Aurena in addition to one of her subordinate gods. This was usually a matter of doctrine and ideology, since all gods represented something, usually related to their godly title. For example, old man, Kargryxmor—actually, maybe “Kramps” would be a better nickname for him—was the God of Dragons and Oaths and Istari was the God of Magic and Knowledge.
Among Aurena’s pantheon, some gods had conflicting ideals—one example were the sister gods Andira, the Goddess of Fairness and Equality, and Erithia, Goddess of Nobility and Wealth. Two goddesses both well loved by humans, but who rarely ever shared the same followers for obvious reasons. Firwood’s temple used to worship Andira when it was still just a small town, but once it grew, Erithia became more popular.
When I commented on how this seemed like they were breaking the second dogmatic doctrine—to not diminish the faith of other subordinate gods as they all serve Aurena equally—Theodore responded with, “Siblings quarrel all the time. As long as they don’t cross the line of acceptability, some friendly rivalry is not forbidden.” It felt as if he spoke from experience.
Which led me to, probably, the biggest “sibling” rivalry on Altrust—the slow separation of the western and eastern Church of Aurena. Specifically, the Holy Capital, Aureolis, led by the Pope, and the state church of the Empire of Man, Folschreck. Although it was expected of their Emperor to follow the Pope, as the latter usually crowned the next Holy Emperor, the teachings and attitude of the priests within the eastern church had changed due to the constant conflict the Empire experienced since its founding.
Meanwhile, Aureolis remained at peace, even during the War for the Faefolk as the elves never attempted to siege its capital city. The “weak and spineless” west, and the stoic and dutiful east; that was what Theodore explained was the current situation of their religion.
In any case, that was how I spent my time with Theodore. Eshe, on the other hand, was more focused on teaching me the culture of the Empire and the duties of the Saints and Champions of Aurena. Eshe mostly spoke about the former, since her home was in the Great Evida Desert.
And what was a better way to introduce your culture than through food, right?
Breaking off a small piece of bread, I dipped the still-warm chunk into the orange curry and scooped both the soup and some meat into my mouth. Unlike Saori’s curry, which was sweeter and used fewer spices in the recipe, Eshe’s curry was like a taste explosion, assaulting my tongue with intense spiciness, fulfilling savoriness, and enticing sourness.
I instinctively sucked in my flavored saliva and let out a sigh, as if the spiciness had affected me. This was probably the second spiciest dish I’d ever tasted since I was reborn, just behind the spicy mushroom roots Tasianna found in the Cedaraille dungeon’s depth.
When I told Eshe my thoughts, she seemed pretty interested in the mushroom, having believed that the Evida desert possessed the spiciest ingredients in all of Altrust. She was also interested in Saori’s curry since she only knew about the one her homeland made.
“Evidian curry began as a seafarer food, specifically from the levianewts who used to live on the seaside, since it was not only easy to make with whatever ingredient they had but they also easily filled the bellies of the sailors,” she explained. This wasn’t “nice-to-know,” this was “important-to-know!‘
With the levianewts sharing the recipe with the human sailors, it spread among seamen since the spices and ingredients used for the dish could either be stored dry for long trips or procured on the sea. Merchants and returning sailors then spread the dish to the various towns and cities inside the desert and it eventually became a national dish.
Usually, this curry would be served with something similar to naan bread, but we couldn’t procure that in Peolynca nor could Eshe or her knights bake it. Honestly, the more I learned about the Evida desert, the more it reminded me of a fusion between India and Arabia. The parallels between Earth and Peolynca were peculiar yet entrancing at the same time.
Since Theodore couldn’t come today, as he was supervising the construction of the concert stage with Grimnir, I was eating lunch with Eshe and her knights. Saori was teaching bakers how to make pastries and rice sweets, Tasianna was studying under Krymdar to become a better alchemist, and Ellaine was helping out her parents by estimating prices and creating a place for the nobles to sit, leaving alone with Eshe.
Still no news of Jonathan. I can only imagine that Ellaine and her parents want to go out and search for him.
While enjoying the food Eshe made for us, I reopened the discussion we had before, “So, are all the blessed of Goddess Aurena known within the Empire? Every single one of them?”
“The humans ones, yes. We are celebrities akin to war heroes, however, that isn’t the case for two blessed—an elven one and you, Lady Hestia. You, of course, are too new to be know, while, historically, most ‘foreign’ blessed rarely visit the Empire for an extended period, so they aren’t hailed as much,” she explained.
Eshe continued, “I personally have met a few of our fellow blessed when I visited the Empire’s capital, where I also met my own teacher, Saintess Fleindia. A good soul, although she involves herself a bit too much in politics. I shouldn’t speak ill of her, but she fits her role as a noble priestess.”
“Oh? Is that so? Which reminds me, what is the relationship between Goddess Aurena and her blessed. Do you ever talk, or is it always business?”
One fact was certain, the gods couldn’t speak with mortals, even their blessed, as long as Aurena and Kramps did with me. This was due to a mortal’s fragile soul if they weren’t specifically reinforced for the task, like I was before my reincarnation. As such, a divine message was usually fragmented, forcing a blessed to interpret them. I wanted to understand what this meant.
“Talk?” Expectantly, my question confused not only Eshe but her knights, as well. Having taken off their scarves to eat, I was able to see the slight bafflement on Sir Alikar’s and Dame Anivh’s expressions. “Well, as her pious servant, doing something so casually as ‘talking,’ wouldn’t that be too inappropriate to do in the limited time we have with the Goddess? Shouldn’t you know this, Lady Hestia? Our souls aren’t strong enough to enter her divine realm and the messages we receive are often indecipherable, although, maybe your messages are more coherent than ours since your blessing is stronger?”
“Ehehe, I apologize, I wanted to understand how other blessed handle it.” I faked my response, although I did feel a bit sad what Aurena said was true. So even somebody who loved Aurena as much as Eshe had this much trouble understanding her.
Therefore, I decided to not expose the fact that I could visit and speak with Aurena whenever I wanted. It would only spook Eshe right now.
Seeing my faked sadness, Eshe calmed down with a renewed smile. “To answer your question properly, the Gods only choose mortals they believe will benefit their goals. As such, the amount of information we receive from them pertains to what our role is, and how we’re supposed to guide our fellow followers. Our souls, strengthened by faith, is a prerequisite to becoming a blessed; even if you are the most pious preacher or a rank A, you cannot become a blessed if your soul isn’t sufficiently strong enough to at least receive a five word sentence.”
Makes full sense. Doesn’t matter how much people hype you up as a possible blessed, all that matters in the end is that the gods think you are worthy.
“You’re talking about missing words or hard to decipher sentences through ‘the word of the gods,’ right?”
Eshe nodded to my question. Aurena had mentioned that this was one problem the Origin Gods had with communicating with their followers, since they had to reduce the length of the divine message to not accidentally overload the recipient’s soul, to the point the gods couldn’t even resolve misunderstandings if the first message failed.
If you looked at it that way, it made sense why Saints and Champions were so important for a relgion. Although, I did question why the Empire trumpeted all Folschreckian blessed to the public. Wouldn’t it be problematic if someone were to attack them specifically ‘cause of that reason?
I suddenly realized something. “Lady Eshe, you don’t do many sermons, right? Actually, I haven’t seen you giving one since I first met you. For a Saintess, who, as you said, is responsible for guiding her fellow followers, you usually only stay inside the orphanage.”
“Lad—” Anivh wanted to speak out suddenly, but Eshe quickly stopped her by raising her hand.
“Lady Hestia, I am the Saintess of Orphans; my role as the Goddess’s servant is to make sure that orphaned children are given a warm place to grow and learn the beauty of Her Holiness. To make sure they may enjoy a good childhood without fearing the real world until they reach maturity,” Eshe spoke with passion and zeal, asserting herself even more than usual. Her eyes had a strong influence on the impact of her words, imprinting them into your memory with ease.
She continued, “I am not much use as a preacher, for what do adults have to learn from me? Commoners have their own situations, so preaching to them about the woes of some random street urchin would be arrogant of me. Nobles? Why would they be interested in such a sermon? It isn’t much, but I prefer doing my duty by helping these children find a safe home here.”
‘Actions over words.’ Respectable.
Eshe also explained how her role as a Saintess was better used to gather donations from the pious and to help out at the local orphanages, using her influence to improve it and help create lasting benefits even after she left. The orphanages in most of the Empire’s cities were understaffed and underfunded due to the constant wars, to the point the older children usually had to act as caretakers with the shrine maidens for the young ones. The one in Eshe’s home city used to be like this.
It was admirable. I felt ashamed for not being able to think of this by myself, feeling the answer was so obvious after Eshe explained it. If you thought about it, children were one of the most important “resources” of a city or country, since they would become the ones to lead the world’s future.
Orphans or not, it didn’t matter. Eshe’s efforts to give more children shelter, warm food, and a family made me respect her even more. It was so amazing to hear that it made me more curious why Theodore told me that Eshe switched from a priestess into a shrine maiden. Even if nobles disliked commoners, nothing bad could be said about a person who actively helped children, right?
Since we were having lunch together, I thought it would be all right to ask. We’ve known each other long enough. “If it isn’t rude of me to ask, could you tell me if those rumors are true? About how you were involved in some drama with the noble white robes in Sarkafiina?”
Anivh and Alikar looked at each other with slightly furrowed brows while Eshe’s smile broke for a couple of seconds. Their reactions were a clear indicator that I touched on something thorny, and that the rumors were most likely true. As I panicked and apologized, saying she didn’t need to say anything if it made her uncomfortable, Eshe said she didn’t mind it.
“You shared your struggles before coming to Peolynca. I was able to learn what drove you into becoming an ‘idol.’ It is only right for me to share my story, too,” she stated.
Eshe breathed in deeply, held it for a second, and let it all out before beginning to speak, “As you know, I am a commoner. Born with enough magical potential that both the mage’s guild and church wanted to buy me off from my parents in order to indoctrinate me from a young age. Naturally, as I was given this potential by the Goddess, I of course chose to go with the church, where they raised me into becoming a white robe.”
Eshe was pious, very pious in fact. At least, I could sense the joy in her voice whenever she spoke about Aurena specifically. During her explanation, she emphasized the greatness of Aurena a great deal, believing most of her decisions and gifts, like her high mana growth despite being a commoner human, were all given to her by Aurena. I would have been cringing at the conversation if this had happened two weeks ago, but I got used to it somewhat.
In summary, Eshe was turned into a white robe priestess when she joined the clergy after they bought her off from her family when she was still a young child. She was educated to become either a secretary or a lady-in-waiting for the noble white robes in the cathedral in her home city, while also serving the duties of a white robe to alleviate the temple’s workload. Sadly, though, she had little to no political influence despite being a priestess.
While sent out on official church duty to a nearby village, she was expected to only grant [Prayer], heal any injuries or illnesses, and maybe give a sermon if the local priest was injured; however, that was where the drama began.
“I … I did something I thought was rightful and proper as a priestess, but the consequences of that action brought nothing but problems. Not only to me, but also to the people I wanted to help.” Eshe hesitated in revealing the origin of the rumors, but decided to keep it to herself. She then trembled as if a cold wind had just wafted in, prompting Anivh to stand up and make a new cup of tea for her.
Once she recovered, she explained how the church was dissatisfied with her after learning of the results of her action, punishing her by stripping any privileges she still had and turning her into a shrine maiden. She was then sent to the orphanage as its new director, a duty usually given to grey robes in her city.
This new role was meant to break her, since white robes, regardless of whether they were commoners or nobles, lived a less taxing and more privileged life than she would have experienced growing up in the slums with her old family. However, it only had the opposite effect. Eshe thrived in performing her new duty, as taking care of the young children reminded her of her simpler days as a child.
As the director of the orphanage, Eshe was finally outside the scrutiny of the nobles and was able to move more freely. Through this, she was able to become one of the most popular clergywomen in Sarkafiina, to the point people treated her as a potential Saint candidate with her philanthropic work in the slums and her care for orphans.
“Naturally, the concept of a ‘blessed candidate’ is merely just words,” Eshe reiterated to me, slightly down. “Yet, the Goddess making me one only gave them more legitimacy.”
Stay strong. Those rumors can’t hurt us. I patted her on the back.
From what I learned of Eshe’s spells and skills, she sounded exactly like the typical supportive saint class, with only supportive custom spells and little to no combative skills. Well, for that, she had her knights, Anivh and Alikar, for combat encounters. As Sarkafiinian Knights of Aurena, this was their duty.
“I can guess, ahaha. Four years into your role as the orphanage director and you got your title? Wow, how did those noble white robes react?” I asked. Considering her story and personality, I fully understood now why she was made into a Saintess. She fit the stereotype perfectly.
“Well, they acted friendly—” Eshe said before her knight, Anivh, spoke over her.
“They hid their true emotions behind their masks of expressions, congratulating and praising Lady Eshe in public while speaking of her as a tool from behind. Members of the clergy or not, for disrespecting a chosen representative of the Goddess … unforgivable.”
Anivh and Alikar rarely spoke, staying silent whenever I came over for some reason. When they spoke, however, it was serious.
After finishing lunch, a shrine maiden knocked on the door and informed us that somebody who knew Eshe was waiting outside the orphanage. Although she was unsure who the visitor was, Eshe decided to go out and greet them anyway. I followed her since I had nothing else to do but wait.
When we came out, a young man in a familiar outfit stood there, saluting Eshe the moment she appeared out of the door. I noticed the crest he had on his outfit—a gavel with the eye symbol, the mark of the Lycerepth. It wasn’t surprising to see one of their members here, since the Lycerepth were also responsible for protecting Eshe, but what baffled me were the two men behind him.
While their clothes weren’t in tatters or ragged, they still looked old and used, as if little effort was put into cleaning the sweat, food, or dirt stains off the fabric. It looked gross even after the clothes had been washed. Like pack mules, the men were carrying full backpacks, which looked like they were filled to the brim with groceries and tools, heavy enough that they were standing on their feet with crooked backs and their hands bowed.
Both men raised their heads when the young, energetic Lycerepthor saluted and shouted, “Desert winds fly forth! May the Goddess bless your day with bountiful light, Saintess Eshe!” At this point, I was able to see a blue runic tattoo etched onto their foreheads. Looking closer, it showed the image of an eyed gavel inside a cage.
Wait, where did I see—No, I don’t think I’ve seen this before but I think I heard about that symbol somewhere. Uhm, a cage symbol with something ins—Oh!
“A-are they slaves…?” Yet, nobody answered it. In fact, nobody was as surprised as I was, even Eshe was only sullen.
With quivering eyes, she decided to move over to the young man with Alikar.
As Eshe spoke with him, I barely listened to them as I was more focused on the two men standing still behind them. They weren’t attempting to set their backpacks down despite their shaking legs. In Artorias, selling or owning slaves was forbidden, but here we were, in broad daylight, and a guest from the Empire was openly dragging his slaves around Griffonpeak.
I remembered how the Artorian nobles at the ball complained about the slaves the Empire brought with them, and I couldn’t help but agree. Letting people look this haggard … This is foul.
“Dame Anivh, they have that runic tattoo Lady Eshe explained to me. Are they—?”
“Yes, Lady Hestia. The Empire has a flourishing slave economy. Please, be reassured, they most likely have runic tattoos to increase their strength and stamina to carry those heavy burdens,” the knight informed me, showing a lack of emotions now that she was back on duty.
“No, that’s not what I … Whatever.”
I remembered. Eshe disliked slaves just as I did, so what good was complaining to her knights? I would just be barking up the wrong tree.
After some time, Eshe’s discussion with the man ended and she briefly went over to the two men and prayed for them, earning Eshe their rapid thanks. She then returned to me and informed me Pestrodus wanted to discuss some matter with her, so she apologized to me for a short meeting today. I told her it was all right, and that we would meet up again at the concert. She agreed, telling me to practice the rehearsed text she and Theodore wrote for me as an opening act to create the “correct mood.”
As Eshe had to pick up something from inside the orphanage, I left first. I said goodbye to the kids and also gave the two slaves a small prayer just like Eshe. Seeing my white robe, they also thanked me, but their words only made me pity them even more. There was nothing good to feel about all of this.
I wasn’t arrogant enough to imagine the pain their enfeebled bodies had to endure. Yet, I could see their emotions coming from their dull, almost hopeless eyes. It was desperation, knowing as long as they kept their heads down and made people tolerate them, they would survive. Their hope was through the small salvation Eshe and I brought them, knowing this was all they could get.They were thankful I was even friendly to them.
Enough hope to cling to life.
“Empire’s blessing to you, Lady Shrine Maiden! May the Goddess bless you on this bright day!” The young man had medium-long, dark yellow hair groomed to show his forehead. As I looked into his eyes, I noticed how it was colored yellow and red, split equally right in the middle.
I glared at him. “… May this EarthDay find you well, Lycerepthor. May the Goddess bless the grounds you walk on, banishing the shadows on your path.”
As a girl from modern Earth, my opinion of the Folschreck Empire deteriorated even more today. The law was on their side, as they ruled over Artorias. I had to control myself; Eshe would get in trouble as well.
I slapped my cheeks as I walked back to the mansion. There, I found House Helvas’s servants and attendants rushing out and into our RV, carrying boxes that were either empty or filled with either rice or wheat flour.
Room.
I entered through the back entrance of our RV, stepping a room far too wide for it to fit into our small RV. It was our subspace dimension created through my [Room] spell turned into runes. I smiled at the number of fully decorated tables inside it, noting how beautiful and refined it looked, so similar to a greifnoble’s dining room. It wasn’t huge, as our aim for it was to serve a small handful of patrons; after all, it was Saori’s noble restaurant.
Entering through the kitchen, I then moved into a room next to it, where the white floor and walls were replaced by earthy colors. The heat was noticeable but I ignored it entirely for the incredible smell of fresh bread and the sound of hammers pounding onto something soft and squishy—it was our pastry room.
There, I saw Saori, Marianne and Theresa, Duke Greenveil’s wife, ordering attendants around as they pulled out piping hot sponge cakes from the dozens of stone ovens I made using earth magic. Pastries like milk bread, cream puffs, and croissants were being brought en masse to a table, where they were being placed into presentable boxes.
In another corner, people were pounding wet and softened rice into mochi while others dried them into sweetened rice crackers. From inside the kitchen, I could hear people frying something, so I went out, seeing them making a bunch of fried rice balls and coating them with honey or edible seeds.
This is amazing.
Yeast was being made in a separate facility to avoid people learning the recipe for it while Saori was teaching workers inside our RV’s [Room] how to create the pastries and rice sweets we were planning to sell at my concert. Later on, they would establish their own bakery according to our standards to sell them throughout Artorias through the Sarlenzia company and Amelia’s sweet shop.
Artorias, prepare yourself for a pastry and confection revolution!
Two more days before I could step back on the stage.
AbyssRaven Bring hope, Hestia!
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