Damn Reincarnation

t a smile had appeared on Sergio’s face.
Eugene saw an eerie light flowing from the corners of Sergio’s eyes that had been squeezed into curves by his laughter.

“Sir Eugene, even if you think that way, our Saint Candidate won’t be able to feel the same way,” Sergio pointed out after calming down.
“She has gone through a lot of hard work to become the Saint, and if she couldn ’t become the Saint….
She wouldn’t even be able to imagine herself not being the Saint, especially since… she knows how special this era is proving to be.”

“Special?” Eugene repeated questioningly.

“The Hero never appeared during these past three hundred years.
All of the Saints who have been born since the Faithful Anise have served as symbols of Yuras and have become canonized Saints following their deaths.
That was all that they could do.
However, in this era, with the appearance of the Hero, the Saint can finally fulfill her duties as the Saint and accompany the Hero,” Sergio explained.

When the door was opened, a spacious room was revealed.
Eugene’s attention was drawn to the cross hanging high on one wall and the religious sculptures decorating both walls and shelves.

“You said you were leaving in the morning, didn’t you? I might be a bit late in asking, but where are you going?” Eugene asked as he stepped into the room.

Sergio, who had drawn a few steps back, didn’t have the same eerie glow in his eyes as he had before.

“I’ll be heading to the Fount of Light,” Sergio revealed.
“Since it is a sacred ritual, it must be conducted by a high-ranking priest.”

“A sacred ritual, you say!” Eugene exclaimed.
“If I am able to observe it at the site, don’t you think that faith will be kindled in my heart?”

“My apologies, Sir Eugene.
The rituals held at the Fount of Light are special, so even among our believers, only those who have been involved in the preparations for these rituals are allowed to observe,” Sergio informed Eugene as he began to close the door.

Until the very last moment that the door was closed, Sergio didn’t stop smiling at Eugene.

“So until the ritual is over and the Saint Candidate and I have returned, please feel free to embrace the presence of God within our cathedral,” Sergio said in farewell just before the door was completely shut.

Sergio clasped his hands together, raised them towards the closed door, and said a prayer before turning away.
He crossed the hallway at a different speed from when he first came through, and once he stepped out of the Cathedral, the Inquisitors from the Maleficarum fell into order behind Sergio.

Without even looking at Atarax, who had approached his side, Sergio spoke up.
“The Fount of Light?”

“The Blood Cross Knights are guarding the area around the spring.
The water has already risen, and the Saint Candidate is currently preparing for the sacrament in the chapel,” Atarax reported.

“Performing the sacrament by herself will not be enough.
The ritual that begins tomorrow must be unique and different from the ones before.
That’s why I’ve summoned all of you,” Sergio said.

“Yes sir,” Atarax acquiesced.

“Since I’ll have to assist in ensuring that the Sacrament is done completely and without any defects, it seems that I’ll have to make haste.
Since I’ve already made all my preparations, let’s head to the spring immediately,” Sergio announced.

Atarax asked, “What should we do about Sir Eugene?”

“He is unmistakably the Hero.
While his lacking faith is a flaw, we can address that in the future.
What’s important right now is the Saint Candidate’s ritual.
I think we still have enough time, but just in case she needs to spend more time in the light, we should make sure that we have enough time to spare,” Sergio said thoughtfully.

“Yes, understood,” Atarax nodded.
“However, shouldn’t we leave someone behind in the cathedral to keep an eye on Sir Eugene…?”

“Of course, we should.
Originally, I was going to let one of you stay behind, but… it seems that Sir Eugene is much sharper than I first thought.
If I chose one of you, it would be a great offense to Sir Eugene.
So let’s just leave that due to one of my servants.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was difficult for the Inquisitors to keep pace with the Cardinal.
Atarax couldn’t help but feel awed by Sergio, who was slowly pulling ahead.

It had been thirty years since Sergio had stepped down from active duty within the Interrogation Bureau.
Atarax had heard that from then on, Sergio had not gone out into the field, instead going back and forth between various churches and the Vatican to hold services and devote himself to his studies on scripture… but there still wasn’t a single Inquisitor able to keep up with the Cardinal, who was already well over seventy years old.

‘It can’t be helped,’ Atarax thought.
‘Before becoming a Cardinal, Sir Sergio was called the Exterminator and was close to becoming the next Head of the Department.
Since he even received the Stigmata and became a Cardinal… it could be said that he’s still as strong as he was in the heyday of his active service as an Inquisitor.’

Atarax felt deeply grateful to have been called to participate in this sacred and glorious ritual.

It wasn’t just Atarax, either.
A hundred Inquisitors had all received Sergio’s summons.
All of them had been influenced by Sergio in the past, and they considered it a great honor for Sergio to have invited them to take part in this ritual.

“What about the door?” Sergio asked.

Atarax replied, “It’s already open.”

The Fount of Light was quite far away from this Cathedral.
It would take too much time to ride a carriage or run there directly.
These Inquisitors who had escorted Kristina from the station to the distant Fount of Light had been able to return to the cathedral so quickly because there was a warp-gate in the basement of the cathedral that was kept hidden from the world and erased from all records.

“Sir Eugene has probably found out about the existence of the door already,” Sergio noted.

Eugene should have noticed that the Inquisitors who had left with Kristina had returned faster than it took him to arrive at the cathedral and had taken part in the ambush arranged within.

“Close the door as soon as we’ve gone through and left the cathedral,” Sergio ordered.

“Do we really need to go that far?” Atarax questioned.

“There’s nothing wrong with being careful.
While I don’t think that Sir Eugene will find this door or even try to reach the Fount of Light on his own… it seems that Sir Eugnee is quite an unpredictable individual,” Sergio said as he walked towards the warp-gate.
“If, by any chance, Sir Eugene happens to witness the ritual… I don’t think he will try to understand why we’re doing it.
He will probably also oppose us.
That’s why I can’t help but worry.
Because the ritual this time is extremely, extremely important….”

Yet regardless of the ritual’s importance, Sergio’s eyes narrowed into a calm gaze.
Once the Vatican had confirmed the Saint ’s authenticity, the new Saint ’s existence would be proclaimed in the Plaza of the Sun, right in time for the feast day of the Faithful Anise.

The Saint who had inherited the will of the Faithful Anise would then be formally announced to the world.
This era’s Saint would not just be the symbol of Yuras but also a protagonist of the era alongside the Hero.

That was why this latest ritual at the Fount of Light was so important.

Sergio himself felt immensely honored to be able to preside over this ritual.

* * *

“I, Rensol, will be serving Sir Eugene during your stay here.
If there is anything I can do to make your stay more convenient—”

“Is there anything like a holy relic in this cathedral?”

Eugene immediately interrupted Rensol, who had just knocked and entered the room, with a question.
He had no intention of building any relationships or having any unnecessary conversations with this cleric when it was obvious that he was meant to be a guard.

“Did you just say… relics?” Rensol repeated in confusion.

“Isn ’t this Tressia Cathedral one of the oldest places in Yuras? Since it’s been around for so long, surely there should be one or two holy relics connected to the Saints of the past, right?” Eugene demanded.

Rensol hesitated, “Uh… um… that’s… it’s not like there isn’t any.”

“It can’t be that outsiders are forbidden from looking at these holy relics, right?” Eugene asked coercively.

“The holy relics aren’t tourist attractions,” Rensol said with a firm expression.

At this, Eugene immediately changed his attitude and continued speaking, “My words were poorly chosen.
It’s just that I’ve recently realized what my destiny is, and I’m currently contemplating with a sincere heart whether or not to entrust myself to the Church of the Light.
I was just thinking that if I come into contact with the holy relics belonging to the Saints of old, I might sense their devotion and find my own faith dwelling within me….”

“Ah…,” Rensol hummed in confusion.

“I have no intention of treating it as some light-hearted tour.
It’s fine even if I’m just looking at them from a distance.
I only want to see the holy relics in person,” Eugene pleaded.

Thanks to such persuasion, Eugene was led to the holy relics.

There were various different types of relics.
The remains of a Saint, the personal belongings of a Saint, and objects that had touched the corpse of a Saint or the body of a Saint while they were still alive.
Naturally, among all the various relics, the most valuable were the remains of the Saints.
Then came the Saint’s personal belongings.

Beneath the altar of the chapel, the jawbone of a Saint from hundreds of years ago was enshrined as a holy relic.
Apart from that, several holy relics such as the leg bones and ribs of an ancient Sint, a cross that was said to have been worn around her neck, a cassock, a shroud, and a ring were all stored in the heart of the cathedral.

To be honest, it was difficult for Eugene to understand why the remains and the belongings of a deceased Saint were kept as holy relics.
However, he made sure not to reveal such disbelief in his facial expressions and kept looking at the relics that Rensol was guiding him to with enthralled eyes.

“That is the last of the holy relics kept in Tressia Cathedral.
It’s said to be the skull of Saint Theodore, who served as the Pope nine hundred years ago,” Rensol declared.

Eugene silently contemplated how to react as he looked at the white skull enshrined within a glass coffin.

The jawbone of the Saint buried beneath the altar and the ribs and legbones of another Saintess had already been extremely shocking… but now it was a whole skull.

“Aren’t there any relics belonging to the Faithful Anise?” Eugene finally asked.

“Huh?” Rensol blinked in surprise.
“Did you say a holy relic belonging to the Faithful Anise? Since she disappeared on a far-off pilgrimage, not even a fragment of her remains was left behind.”

“But relics don’t need to be from her corpse, right? Things like Lady Anise’s cassock… or a necklace…,” Eugene trailed off.

“Ah… certainly that may be the case,” Rensol agreed.
“However, I have never heard of any such relics belonging to Lady Anise.
If there are, they wouldn’t be kept in this cathedra either.
If Lady Anise’s holy relics do exist… then they would most probably be stored in the Vatican’s special reliquary.”

“Special reliquary?”

“Yes.
The Faithful Lady Anise was a great Saint who was second only to the Founder of Yuras, the Incarnation of Light.
If such relics of Lady Anise did exist, then they must be of exceptional quality, so the Vatican would keep them under direct management.”

After that, Eugene parted ways with Rensol and returned to his rooms.
Rensol would surely report to Sergio that he had gone looking for holy relics, but that didn’t matter to Eugene.

‘The special reliquary….’

It was certainly possible that Anise’s holy relics were indeed kept there.
In a few days, he would be heading to the Vatican with Kristina, so if Eugene were to make good use of his position as the Hero, he might be able to enter the special reliquary.

‘But that thing earlier… what was that?’

The pillars of light, the smell of blood, and that wounded back.

Although Sergio had said that everything that happened back there was a miracle, Eugene definitely couldn’t believe that was the case.
Eugene pulled the Holy Sword out of his cloak and set it down beside his bed.

“You were the one showing that to me, right?” Eugene asked the sword.

Back in the Samar Rainforest, the Holy Sword had independently meddled with Eugene’s dreams and showed him a vision of the past.

“What were you trying to show me?” Eugene asked once more.

That girl with her back turned towards him… was it Anise? Or perhaps it was Kristina instead.
Either way, he couldn’t just consider it to be a meaningless vision.

“Sir Eugene?” Mer, who had been hiding inside the cloak, poked her head out with a question.

As Eugene felt Mer begin to crawl out of the cloak, he unfurled it slightly.

Mer hesitated, “…Um, what should I say?”

“Just don’t say anything,” Eugene told her.

“However, I really don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

“There’s a reason for everything.”

Mer looked down at Eugene, who had closed his eyes and was trying to sleep while hugging the Holy Sword.

“If you intend to sleep like that, I won’t be able to sleep next to you,” Mer complained.

“You don’t sleep anyway, so what’s the matter with that?” Eugene scoffed.
“That’s right, Mer, you can stay at my side… and keep watch so that I don’t let go of the Holy Sword in my sleep.”

“Sir Eugene, are you really asking me to watch you sleep all night and listen to what you say in your sleep?” Mer asked in disbelief.

“How long has it been since you started traveling with me? What are you so surprised about,” Eugene grumbled.

Mer smiled slightly and got off of the bed.
Then she pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down next to Eugene.

“Well, fine then,” Mer acquiesced.
“I’ll be sure to listen to whatever you foolishly mumble in your sleep.”

“Instead of my face, keep a careful eye on the Holy Sword,” Eugene ordered her.

Mer assured him, “Don’t worry about it.
But just why are you trying to sleep like that? Is it refreshing if you hug the Holy Sword in your sleep?”

Eugene explained, “I’m doing this for the dreams.”

“The dreams?” Mer tilted her head in question.

Eugene didn’t reply any further and just fell asleep, still paying close attention to the Holy Sword in his arms.