Normally, visiting the church wasn't something hard to do. However, in this world, it had been twisted into something entirely different.
The world of Aeon had a setting of repeating eras. In the beginning, everything had been fine. The only source of chaos was some minor conflicts between humans and eves. But everything changed when demons came along with the miasma. With a stubborn cockroach-like persistence, they relentlessly tried to take over Aeon.
The war between outsiders and the natives lasted until a hero emerged among the humans, and with his companions, he killed the demon king, sealing the remaining demons underground.
However, that wasn't the end. A seal could only last for so long. Like a boulder under a waterfall, the seal slowly eroded away. When the demons gained a new demon king, once again, they started to invade the overworld.
Another hero appeared—only this time, he was a eve. Leading his companions through the sea of demons, he killed the demon king, and the demons were, once again, sealed.
Since then, this cycle would repeat until the beginning of the story—when the god of Aeon, Delmira summoned the hero and saint(the protagonist) from another world.
Except for the first demon invasion, a hero usually appeared a year before the seal broke. They would be identified with the holy insignia of god Delmira—a celtic shield knot, and the entire sky everywhere would shine gold with its first appearance.
However, this time, no golden sky phenomenon appeared even when the seal was almost shattered. As a result, the god Delmira was forced to summon two heroes from another world. Their miraculous appearance caused the seal to repair itself and last for another five years.
As the only saint ever designated by Delmira, the protagonist was treasured by the church and could freely gather a harem. Ciel hadn't finished reading the novel but based on the direction it had been leaning towards when he had left, the ending was most likely the cycle being ended by the protagonist and co. in some deus ex machina way, and they lived happily ever after.
The reason why Jadiel had a headache was because in the peaceful eras when the seal was stable, the church isolated themselves on an island they called the Holy Land. Unless the demons were invading, the Holy Land was surrounded yearlong by a fog formation that would make it impossible for non-priests to pass through. Because Delmira had decreed that there was no need to pray to him, there were no church branches outside the Holy Land. Even if there were, they were small ones who had no connection to the Holy Land.
Except for large occasions where the church had no choice but to go out, such as Dominic's crowning ceremony where he had to receive a middle name representing kingship, the church was detached from the outside world. No one could contact them, but they would always be able to show up when needed in times of chaos.
In the eras of peace, the only way to go to the church was to find a traveling priest to guide you to the Holy Land.
"...And do you know how hard it is to find a wandering priest?" Jadiel rubbed his head furiously. They had debated this issue for several days now, and Jadiel was about to go bald from stress.
Ciel wisely chose to stay quiet. He couldn't just say that he knew how to dispel the fog formation from the information he had gotten from the novel. He only needed to go to the south sea where the Holy Land was hidden to enter the church.
But the conversation suddenly went in an unexpected direction with his next words.
"Alright, I've discussed this with the others, and we won't try to restrict you anymore. We'll try to support you to do whatever you like."
Ciel was confused.
"What's with the sudden change of attitude?"
"We understand that you are a very weir—unique child with your own circumstances. But since we've taken you in as the resident child of our organization, we should respect your choices."
"...What?"
"A little bird told me something about your conversation with Lilian. I should make something clear, I'm not the only one raising you. Lilian, Lanae, Kierra, Mason, Ivan—everyone in Fatalite is. They're not simply your coworkers."
Ciel cringed. "Don't tell me those newbies his highness sent are also raising me?"
Jadiel pressed his head down, "Only everyone from the mercenary group is. Don't interrupt. I'm trying to be serious here."
Ciel made a zipping motion across his mouth, and Jadiel continued.
"Additionally, I've realized that although you are young, reckless—even unhinged at some times, and have no regard for your own safety, you are mature enough to make decisions for yourself. Just make sure to tell us beforehand. At least tell me. I don't want to be one of the last ones to know that you've stolen a few bombs and blew them up into the sky."
Ciel looked at Jadiel, who had a dark circle around his one unscarred eye, and he remembered how Lilian had reflexively shielded him back at the plaza. He sighed—this world was full of stupidly kind people.
But that wasn't really a bad thing for him.
"I understand."
His smile was blinding.
.
A few days later, Ciel was fully healed. Full of vitality, he had a skip in his steps as he walked alongside the Fatalite people.
They were currently heading to the royal palace for the awards ceremony.
He glanced at Verdalite and Azar, who were also following them.
"I didn't realize you both were so old."
On the day they had returned from the palace, he had found the two of them lounging in the common room like they were in their own home. It turns out that they were the ones who had found Jadiel when he was younger and raised him. Later on, he had gathered his friends who had similar pasts and formed Fatalite—the mercenary group, not the current organization.
Apparently, both of them were over 100 years old—which was older than both of his two lives combined.
Verdalite recalled how Ciel had called him a brat and smiled dryly.
"I can tell."
Arriving at the stadium next to the palace, the group of ten stood right below the stage.
High up and behind the podium on stage and dressed in luxurious royal attire, Dominic was practically shining like the sun. But looking at that seemingly majestic existence above him, Ciel only had one thought.
Standing alongside his two ghostly brothers, Dominic looked incredibly short.
So, was he standing so high up to hide his height or to make everyone's neck hurt?
Looking around him, Ciel could clearly see the hierarchy in seating. The civilians stood on the ground, while the nobles sat in the boxes beside the stage—the higher they sat, the more prestigious the family. Cedric and his family were in a box slightly lower than the podium.
When the area was full, Dominic began speaking, with his voice amplified throughout the whole square with magic.
"Today we are gathered here to celebrate blah blah blah..."
Ciel sank into a daze as Dominic continued his speech. He had always been bad with long talks that didn't go straight to the point. To prevent himself from falling asleep, he started fiddling with Erin's hair. It was so long, yet somehow Erin was able to maintain its silky condition in this medieval world.
His sister in his past life would've been jealous.
At last, Cedric was summoned to the podium. Standing beside Dominic, Cedric looked no less noble with a gentle smile on his amiable face.
"After awarding the mages and knights who acted quickly in times of crisis, I want to give a golden sunrise badge to Cedric Norama, who blocked the final three explosions. Without him, the plaza would be a large pit, and no one would be standing here right now."
Cedric stood upright as the ghostly first prince pinned a gold badge in the shape of a mini-sunrise to his chest.
Listening to the applause, Ciel observed the faces of the nobles.
'He must've had trouble resisting the nobles. The Norama family had been safe from scheming because both Cedric's parents weren't mages nor combatants—they were harmless. Now that their son is a hero and a newly awakened mage. They'll be in trouble.'
He looked at the two living children beside the two ghosts thoughtfully.
'I really don't get it. Even if he's young, he's a promising child. Why are the nobles against him even when both his brothers are dead?'
Mini Theater:
Ciel: I don't understand. Why is everyone against Dominic, a perfectly fine young heir?
The previous novel's plot: Uhhhh… (ﾉ≧ڡ≦)