Chapter 99 - Regarding Religion (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

To be honest, if the final ‘preaching’ part had been excluded, Gawain had a rather good impression of Veronica. This Saint Princess indeed had attractive traits that would make someone praise her: she was humble, courteous, gentle, and amiable. All these were traits that could be considered a rarity when found in this era’s nobility. In Gawain’s opinion, her amiable personality wasn’t a pretense, and she wasn’t just using this attitude with him. When they walked past the chaotic construction sites and when they saw those busy and ‘vulgar’ commoners and serfs, she would still maintain her smile. Be it her words, actions, or the expressions in her eyes, there wasn’t any disdain or estrangement. However, Count Cohen beside her had an utterly resentful and impatient expression.

Even if Veronica had astounding acting skills and acted as if she was very close to the commoners, Gawain felt that it wasn’t easy either. After all, this era’s nobles didn’t need to consider being close to the commoners; thus, they wouldn’t even bother to pretend.

But in the end, Veronica was a devotee that had converted to the God of Holy Light long ago. From the looks of it, it didn’t seem like the rumors that said it was purely a political move. She had committed her heart and soul to this religion, and she was rather fanatical about it.

Gawain never contradicted religion himself, especially when real power of conviction existed in this world. He had viewed religion as a kind of necessity and natural phenomenon. Since the gods would protect the mortals that prayed to them, he wouldn’t have malice towards the gods for no reason. But he wasn’t really able to accept Veronica’s attitude when she preached… In the end, he still maintained his previous life’s attitude to ‘remain at a respectful distance from gods and demons’.

Veronica was keen enough to notice the change in Gawain’s attitude, but she didn’t think too much about it. She had viewed this situation as a noble being vigilant when an outside force was meddling with his regime. After all, her title as the ‘Saint Princess’ still consisted of the word princess, and she would still have the shadows of the royal clan no matter what. Hence, on this topic, she would simply touch on it and leave it there.

Finally, it was time for the guests from the royal capital to depart.

The White Oak that was at the White River was already prepared to depart. Gawain followed with his eyes as he saw the Saint Princess and her two accompanying members walking towards the gangplank that led to the deck. Before stepping onto the deck, Veronica suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, “Duke Cecil, I have a rather presumptuous question that I have been wanting to ask you, but I didn’t dare to ask until now. Are you able to satisfy this younger generation’s curious little heart?”

Gawain chuckled and nodded. He felt that his current expression could simply be described as benevolent. He had been putting on the airs of the old ancestor front of these ‘juniors’ for almost half a day, and it seemed like he had been overly involved in his role. “If you have a question, you may just ask. As long as I know the answer and it doesn’t involve any secrets.”

“I am not sure if it is considered a secret.” Veronica let out a faint smile while asking, “During the… years that you were a deceased individual, have you ever seen a god?”

Even though she was only revealing a faint smile, Gawain felt that the smile had the zealotry of a devotee. He chuckled before spreading out his hands and said, “Never… Perhaps, I didn’t die thoroughly back then, and the gods didn’t even treat me as a dead person and ignored me.”

“Is that so…” Veronica seemed to be rather disappointed before she shook her head pensively. “Thank you for your reply. I will be praying for you and your territory to The Lord.”

After finishing her statement, the Saint Princess stepped onto the deck along with Count Cohen and Priestess Sandy, who had been glowing in Gawain’s vision from start to finish. The trio’s figure quickly vanished into the rear of White Oak.

Once the fleet departed, Gawain and the others walked down from the docks and returned to the camp.

Along the way, Heidi, who had spared some time to bid farewell, looked as though she had a load on her mind. Gawain asked after noticing, “What are you thinking about?”

Heidi opened her mouth a few times and couldn’t help but ask, “Ancestor, I heard that you refused Princess Veronica’s assistance and goodwill to build a Holy Light church?”

“Goodwill…” Gawain pursed his lips and looked at Heidi’s eyes before asking, “Do you think it was inappropriate?”

“The priests and priestesses from the Church of Holy Light have the ability to heal and pacify the hearts of people,” Heidi said. “The territory is lacking medical personnel. Mister Pittman might be a qualified druid, but most of his energy is on agriculture and the medicines that he concocts aren’t enough for the long term. Especially after the recent battle that resulted in many injuries, all the medicines in the reserves have nearly been used up. There is also an urgent need to purchase medicines from Tanzan Town. But if there was a priest or two from the Church of the Holy Light, or even just an apprentice priest, the current situation would be alleviated.”

“That’s right.” Rebecca couldn’t hold back anymore either. “It is impossible for our territory to provide for an official church, and it isn’t very worthwhile to hire a priest with our own money. If the Princess is willing to provide her own personal funds to construct a church for us, we will be able to save a huge sum of money! Furthermore, the priest that the Princess sends over will definitely not be those dabblers from some small rural church. It would be extremely cost-effective.”

“I don’t like the Church of the Holy Light,” Amber mumbled behind Gawain. “They are always preaching and are also inflexible and stubborn. People like me who worship the Goddess of the Night feel as though we have slaughtered their entire family. No matter where we go, they will look at us with cold eyes…”

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Amber and said, “Isn’t that because you’re always stealing things from the Church of the Holy Light?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! When have I ever been discovered to be stealing something?!” Amber glared and said, “They obviously don’t even know who stole their things, but they still seek trouble with me. If they are not finding fault, what are they doing?”