While Ayra remained unaware, Aterra te Act was exuding a bone-chilling cold, as though she had committed so deep and personal offense against him. There wasn’t the slightest trace of respect toward the lord in his deanor.
“I ca here today to deliver a warning to you, my lord.”
“How dare you! No matter if you’re the High Priest, that’s outrageous language to use before the lord!”
Jinas, who had been silently enduring it all, finally lost his patience and raised his voice. Ayra, rather than being angry at Act, was more moved that Jinas was getting angry on her behalf. As if sensing that thought, Act narrowed his eyes and glared directly at her.
“Was it not you, my lord, who has repeatedly acted disrespectfully toward the Divine One?”
Ayra rely gazed back blankly, unfazed. That indifference seed to provoke him further—Act’s expression hardened, frost sharpening across his pale face.
“Solar is the resting place of Morunka! This very mountain is the sacred flesh of the Divine One. Every pure white rock and stone here is akin to a fragnt of Their bones. And yet, you dare to mine and sell Their bones? That is blatant sacrilege. Cease the quarry operations at once!”
“You dare speak such words before the lord!”
The tension in the room boiled—Jinas seethed with fury at the disrespectful tone, while Act and Ayra both exhaled sharply. Ayra, now calmly setting down her cooled tea, broke the silence with sothing entirely unexpected.
“So then, would that make our Lord’s Castle about the seventh cervical vertebra?”
“...Are you mocking right now?”
Act’s voice ca out hoarse, scraping through his throat. Ayra shrugged as she crossed her legs.
“No, I’m genuinely asking. If you’re suddenly claiming we’re mining the bones of Morunka... then doesn’t that an every ho in Solar is already built from Their bones? Even the Solar temple was made from those sa sacred stones.”
Her argunt was sound, but Act, clearly prepared for such pushback, countered smoothly.
“Solar is nestled within the Divine’s embrace. It is not theft but sacred ornantation, shaped as a part of Them. Taking those bones outside of Solar is an entirely different matter.”
Ayra did not let up, continuing to press her case.
“Why should only Solar be considered Morunka’s embrace? Aren’t all the mountains of this world Their domain? And every place surrounded by mountains, Their arms? So wouldn’t Morunka also gladly accept beautiful and sacred ornantation made beyond Solar’s borders?”
The two exchanged cold stares for a mont. The aning behind those gazes was clear:
This one’s all talk, isn’t she?
It had sohow turned into a theological debate, and because Ayra was not backing down in the slightest, the High Priest’s eyes filled with venom.
“No. The intent is impure! And more than anything, aren’t you doing this to repay the territory’s debt by selling the Divine’s bones? I’ve heard that thanks to your predecessor, Solar is ten thousand Cell in debt.”
At that, Ayra finally frowned. The debt her father had left behind—10,000 Cell—was still a closely guarded secret. In the entire castle, only she, Jinas, and Botello knew the full details. Even when Bolni’s army ca knocking, most citizens had only been told that “those bastards from Bolni ca to attack our land.”
But Act, as the High Priest, had access to that information. Then again, there was no such thing as a perfect secret. Still, unless rumors about the debt had already begun spreading in the territory, sothing about this was suspicious...
Ayra was growing increasingly tired of dealing with Act. She had mountains of work to finish today, and she’d already sacrificed a perfect opportunity to raise Janus’s favorability. She didn’t want to waste another second.
“Is that so? So you oppose the quarry business. But what a sha—the main Temple seems to think differently.”
“...What do you an by that?”
Ayra pulled a docunt from her subspace. The papers appeared smoothly in midair, causing Act to flinch and step back warily. Seeing that, Ayra deliberately manipulated the docunt with magic, unfurling it in front of him. Act read the floating docunt from a slight distance, and his face turned rigid.
“A business permit... issued by the Temple?”
“That’s right, Act. What I’m saying is: no matter how much you complain, the main Temple in Sobletz has already approved this operation. Are you saying your opinion holds more weight than theirs?”
Having already seen firsthand how powerful the Morunka faith was in Dalum, Ayra had taken great care to avoid religious conflict when she launched the quarry. Religion, more than politics, could lead to fierce ideological clashes. Solar was practically a holy site, so any such issue needed to be handled delicately. That’s why she had secured an official permit from the main Temple in advance—through Dalrok Logia.
Yes, High Priest was a significant title. But it was nothing compared to having an affectionate elder brother who just happened to be the Pope.
Act’s jaw visibly clenched, his muscles twitching with restrained fury. Monts later, the familiar notification window appeared.
[Aterra te Act’s favorability has decreased ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) by 7.]
Current Favorability: –20
“...I see. Your will is clear, my lord. I... was out of line.”
With a forced, choked voice, he said he would take his leave. Turning briskly, his robes flaring behind him, Act exited the lobby. Watching the dramatic departure, Jinas couldn’t help but let out a scoffing laugh.
“Pfft. A man who’d freeze to death getting lost in the backwoods in midsumr, daring to challenge our lord...”
It was the first ti Ayra had heard that expression, and she turned in surprise at the biting remark. But Jinas was wearing his usual dignified face, as if he hadn’t just insulted soone like a peasant. Ayra decided to pretend she hadn’t heard it and asked about sothing else instead.
“By the way... what’s with that guy? It doesn’t feel like it’s just about the religion. Am I imagining things, or was there sothing personal behind it?”
To Ayra, it didn’t seem like Act had co storming in because he truly thought the quarry was a blasphemous act. More like he had so personal grudge and had jumped at the chance to pick a fight. In fact, the way he so confidently challenged the lord made her think he had sothing backing him.
And he’s the High Priest, but it doesn’t seem like he’s heard a word from the main Temple in Sobletz...
Ayra fell deep in thought, then asked Jinas sothing that had been bugging her for a while.
“Co to think of it, I’ve always wondered—why did Father persecute the Morunka Temple in the first place?”
Unlike her, Jinas was born and raised in Solar. He would’ve understood how unwise such behavior had been. At Ayra’s question, Jinas let out a soft hum. After glancing around to make sure no one was listening, he lowered his voice.
“I only know what I was told by your father, but... a long ti ago, the late lord was originally engaged to a woman of the Aterra family.”
That was during the ti when marriage talks were circulating between the ruling Solar house and the Aterra family, which had produced generations of High Priests. But back when Ayra’s father had still been heir, he visited Sobletz and fell head over heels for a beautiful woman. They had a passionate affair and ended up in trouble. That woman beca Ayra’s mother.
She, too, was from a fairly reputable house in Sobletz, so the Solar family didn’t hesitate to make her the lady of the estate instead of the Aterra woman.
The problem was—Ayra’s mother followed a different faith.
The Aterra family, bitter at the snub, began publicly criticizing the Solar lord’s wife for being a foreigner and a heretic. Furious, Ayra’s father slashed donations to the Temple. The Aterra family, wounded, retaliated again—accusing the lady of spreading heresy on sacred land. In response, Ayra’s father had so priests expelled from Solar under various pretexts.
And so the feud deepened, layers of slander and insult piling up between the two houses.
“Honestly, before you went into the labyrinth, the discrimination against mages wasn’t even that bad. But after that... the Temple started making moves.”
Jinas trailed off.
In other words, the Aterra family had deliberately escalated anti-mage sentint. Then, when Ayra entered the labyrinth, they used it as ammo to attack the Solar family. A grudge from the previous generation had poisoned the one after.
Ayra sighed.
Of course. Nothing ever cos easy. This shitty ga—no, this cursed territory.
At least, since she had official authorization from the main Temple, Act wouldn’t be able to openly oppose the quarry. The problem now... would be the covert sabotage.
And sure enough, a few days later, the problems began.
Reviews
All reviews (0)