The place Alehandro took me to was a common canteen, I see several men and women dressed similarly eating breakfast, from what I see the breakfast is very simple.
There is fresh bread, a glass of milk and a thin slice of some kind of cheese, and the same on all the plates.
Normally I wouldn't like this because it's too simple and nothing special, but this was in my life as a man, after the despair of knowing they were drugging my food, even this simple food seems wonderful.
I go to the little window in the wall as I approach the cook speaks.
"Good morning miss Saint, may the grace of Solaris be with you."
"G-Good morning, may the grace of Solaris be with you." I simply repeat what she said, not sure if that's right, she soon starts to get the meal and put it on the plate.
I take the tray she put the things on and go to one of the tables, Alehandro didn't come, he just stood at the door of the canteen, I'm not sure why but I'm not going to question it.
"Good morning, may the grace of Solaris be with you... could I sit here?" I ask the 3 people who are already at the table, a young redheaded girl with green eyes responds.
"Good morning, holy miss, you may, it would be an honor."
'So when someone talks about the grace of Solaris, the other doesn't have to respond to the greeting exactly the same...' I nod my head while thanking her with a gentle smile.
'How would the breakfast prayer be?...' I don't know what to do, I close my eyes and join my hands in a prayer position and start reciting anything that comes to my mind.
"Goddess Solaris, I thank your grace that allows me to have this breakfast on another day bathed in your light... I'm grateful for the chance to live another day and contemplate your glory... I'm grateful for the food that is provided to me and that your grace may shine over the world forever."
When I finish this totally made-up prayer, I look at the people at the table who look at me in surprise.
"D-Did I do something wrong?" I ask nervously because the whole canteen is looking at me.
'Did I mess up? Can't I just make up a prayer from scratch?' Suddenly, applause starts along with whispers of praise.
"It was magnificent, holy miss, your gratitude to our goddess is touching and your prayer was unique but so gentle and full of faith." The redheaded girl says, crying as if she had witnessed a great honor too big not to cry.
'Whew... I thought I had gotten into trouble...' What a relief, I know how religious people can be fanatical, especially in ancient times, and I judge that this is a medieval world.
That's why I could end up being executed or something for saying nonsense, at least I'm relieved that my prayer made on impulse is accepted with joy.
I start to have my breakfast, the bread is quite mediocre and the cheese is a bit bitter, I think the food production techniques are not very good, but even so, just knowing that there are no drugs makes me eat enthusiastically.
After breakfast, I get up from the chair.
"Excuse me, but I need to go..." I say to the three people at the table.
"May the sun's brightness guide your path." The three say, and I say goodbye in the same way, after taking the tray back to the cook, I go to Alehandro who is standing in front of the canteen door.
"A-Alehandro, what do I have to do?" I don't know anything, so I'll just ask Alehandro, he must know what a saint has to do.
"Well... according to your schedule, we first have the morning prayer, followed by lunch, and then we must go visit the less fortunate to donate meals to them, then we will only return at night where an evening prayer will be held, followed by sleep, and tomorrow you will meet the Pope."
'Wait... the current schedule is between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning... does that mean I'm going to be there for hours?...' I didn't like that very much, but I guess that's what I should do from now on.
"So could you guide me, Alehandro?"
"Of course, Miss Shizune, follow me." We walk through the halls, which are quite beautiful, these paintings depict something that seems impressive.
"Alehandro, the church's paintings are impressive... could you tell me a little about them and the history behind them? It's just that I want to know the opinion of others about our history, after all, I'm a saint, I should try to understand others." I make up an excuse for him not to suspect the reason I asked that.
"Of course, holy miss, I've studied a lot, I can assure you I know the details." He speaks enthusiastically, it seems he likes to talk about this kind of religious subject.
"Let's talk while we follow... first, this painting here." He shows one of the paintings, in it there is a sun symbol and strange shadows drawn below, I say strange because their shape is too abstract to be realistic.
"This painting represents the beginning of this world, a long time ago this world was bathed in darkness no matter where you went, there was nothing but darkness."
"It was a hostile and inhospitable environment with creatures of the shadows lurking everywhere, this lasted until the day she appeared, her name is Solaris, the goddess of the sun."
"With all her power, she banished the darkness from the world, destroying the beings of darkness, thus allowing life to thrive."
'That's a lot of stuff for a painting that just has a sun and shadows drawn, I would never have guessed...'
"Now this painting here represents the first humans." He points to a painting that has two humans and the sun in the center.
"The first humans emerged from the sun, being the Solarians, Goddess Solaris created the first forms of life that now inhabit this world, humans were the creation that the goddess loved the most... until... that." He points to another painting, in it is the drawing of a woman.
The painting shows a woman with black hair dressed in a strange, very detailed outfit, her dress is black and her skin is pale.
"According to historical records, this was the first witch, she was responsible for bringing darkness back into the world, thus corrupting the Solarians, which is why sin arose."
"And because of sin, we lost the favor of our goddess, who was affected by the errors of her creation..."
"And currently, humanity sins more and more as more witches emerge... but that's why there are the Inquisitors to punish the wrongdoers and purify them."
'I like the way he tells the story, it's very explanatory...'
"And that painting over there, could you tell me about it? I don't know about it." I ask, looking at an extremely detailed and realistic painting of a girl, she has white hair and golden eyes.
Of course, saying I don't know could get me in trouble, but this painting caught my attention because it's much more detailed compared to the others.
"She is Amarant, the first Saint, many don't know her appearance, so it's no surprise you don't recognize her."
"Amarant was the first Solarian to whom Goddess Solaris granted her blessing in the world sunk in sins."
"Amarant fought against the first witch, killing her with the sacred relic now known as the Sword of Execution."
"Amarant sacrificed her life to be able to free humanity from its sins and thus allow Solaris to bless humanity again."
"They say that Solaris blessed Amarant in the world sunk in sins because Amarant is her image, being the Solarian closest to the image of the goddess Solaris."
'Their religion is quite complex...' I didn't think it would be something so distinct, I thought it would be similar to the Bible of the modern world.
"Unfortunately, we have lost a great deal of our Solarian ancestry since many have been corrupted by darkness."
"Because of this, there are no more pure Solarians, only us, Humanity... I personally think that purification is the only choice we must accept, in the end, these witches who have surrendered to darkness deserve death."
His tone was so cold that it gave me chills.
"I-I... I don't think so." I tell him.
"Do you have a different opinion on this, Miss Shizune?" Alehandro asks, confused.
"I-I think everyone deserves a second chance... Goddess Solaris gave us a second chance, so we should also give new chances for the sinners to redeem themselves..."
I don't know if I said this out of altruism or if I was referring to myself and my own sin.
"Oh... I see, I never thought much about it as an Inquisitor, my job has always been to eliminate these filthy heretics... thank you for the lesson, Miss Shizune." Alehandro responds with a charming smile.
"Y-Yes... were you an Inquisitor?" These are not the people who usually hunt, torture, and kill heretics? Why would one of them be my bodyguard?
"Yes, Miss Shizune, I was the captain of the Inquisitors... but I was removed from this duty..." He speaks with a sad tone.
"Oh... why?" I ask, not understanding, from what little I've seen and heard him say, he seems to be a very nice and religious person.
"Well, it's that my brother took this position from me... I was challenged for the leadership position and lost the duel... but it's alright, I was initially sad about it, but now thanks to that I can be your bodyguard." He speaks enthusiastically.
"Yes, really... I'm very grateful to have someone like you as my bodyguard." I say to him with a genuine smile, I was very afraid of everything, but knowing I have such a nice person around cheers me up for real.
We continue on our way as he explains to me what various paintings represent.