Chapter 69 Priest

Dawn had begun to break.

Footsteps slowly returned to the streets.

Thin trails of cooking smoke curled from chimneys.

Little by little, Kalanfor awoke from sleep.

The border town lay in the southeastern reaches of the Kingdom of Servia, and the storm that had hammered it all night was finally dying.

The thunder faded.

The rain weakened.

Dark clouds dissolved beneath the growing light alongside the last remnants of night.

Xia Nan walked through the streets with both swords on his back.

The air after the rain was cool and damp, carrying the fresh smell of wet earth.

Each breath seemed to sharpen his already well-rested mind.

Flap.

A soft flutter came from overhead.

Xia Nan looked up.

A silver-white robin shot across the sky with surprising speed and agility before landing on the raised edge of a nearby roof.

The bird calmly began preening its feathers with its pointed beak.

Then it seemed to notice Xia Nan looking at it.

It stopped.

Stared back at him.

Tilted its head.

“Xia Nan, we’re here.”

Alton’s voice pulled his attention back.

Xia Nan looked across the street.

A church stood before them.

And it was magnificent.

Smooth gray-white stone blocks formed the outer walls. Flying buttresses supported both sides, intricate in structure yet perfectly ordered. A tall spire rose into the morning sky, catching the first light of dawn and reflecting it in a soft golden sheen.

Xia Nan could not deny that the building was beautiful.

At the same time, though, looking at it gave him a strange feeling.

They were already in central Kalanfor.

The streets here were clean and well maintained.

Detached houses lined the roads.

Large shops were everywhere.

By the standards of the town, this was clearly a prosperous area.

And yet beside the church, every other building suddenly looked dull and dusty.

The contrast reminded Xia Nan of the outskirts of some small fifth-tier city in his previous life.

A street cluttered with crooked utility poles, tangled wires, and battered storefront signs.

Then, in the middle of all that, someone had dropped a gleaming modern glass tower.

The church felt like that.

As though every scrap of wealth and vitality from the surrounding neighborhood, perhaps even the whole town, had been drawn into a single building.

Completely out of place.

“This church is… pretty impressive.”

Xia Nan’s tone carried a trace of something he could not quite name.

Alton, however, seemed utterly unsurprised.

“Aren’t they all?”

The halfling shrugged.

“Not every deity is as detached from worldly things as the Lady.”

“Build the place as grand as possible, and it’s easier to harvest… uh, gather faith.”

Ingram showed no reaction to that rather dangerous choice of words.

He simply pretended not to hear.

The sheriff walked in front, carrying Jeff’s stretcher together with one of the guards.

They entered the church.

If the exterior was magnificent, the interior was even more refined.

Thick stone walls supported the arched ceiling high above.

Rows of pillars carved with delicate reliefs ran down both sides.

Reddish-brown pews stood in perfect lines, spotless and polished.

The smooth stone floor reflected the morning sunlight in broad golden patches, making it look as though light itself had been laid across the ground.

But none of that held Xia Nan’s attention for long.

The true centerpiece of the church stood at the front.

An enormous stained-glass window filled nearly the entire wall opposite the entrance.

Its colors were vivid but not chaotic.

Under the radiance filtering down from above, the glass seemed almost dreamlike.

Anyone entering the church would naturally look toward it.

Xia Nan did the same.

A figure was depicted there.

The face was indistinct.

Long silver hair fell around his shoulders.

A thick book of law rested in his left arm.

A simple set of scales sat in his right hand.

Behind him blazed a golden sun, and deep within that radiance, the vague outline of a castle could just barely be seen.

The symbols were far too obvious to mistake.

[The Sun God of Contracts and Order, Amaunator.]

Xia Nan committed the image to memory.

Then his gaze moved along the velvet runner between the pews toward the altar.

A middle-aged man stood there.

He had a kind, composed face and wore bright robes of yellow and red. A golden sun holy symbol hung from a scarlet ribbon around his neck.

At first glance, he looked less like a priest and more like a judge.

His eyes were closed.

His head was slightly raised.

His lips moved faintly in prayer.

The footsteps entering the church did not disturb him.

He remained completely focused.

Several minutes passed before the prayer finally ended.

The man opened his eyes.

His calm gaze swept over the group and eventually settled on Ingram at the front.

A quiet question lay in that look.

The sheriff immediately stepped forward.

He stopped at the stairs below the altar.

His arms hung naturally at his sides.

Then he lowered his head.

“Sir, a townsman who appears to have been infected by undead power attacked an inn last night.”

“A merchant staying there, who is also my friend, was corroded by negative energy during the attack.”

“I hope he can receive the healing of holy light.”

The priest’s expression did not change.

His gaze moved past Ingram and landed on Jeff lying on the stretcher.

He gave a slight nod.

“Very well.”

Then he looked toward Xia Nan and Alton.

“And these two are…”

“They’re adventurers traveling with the merchant,” Ingram replied.

“Thanks to them, last night’s attack didn’t end in tragedy.”

Approval softened the priest’s already gentle expression.

“May the Lord’s radiance shelter you, brave travelers.”

Xia Nan gave a small nod in response.

Outwardly, that was all.

Internally, he was already thinking.

There was no question that this middle-aged man was a priest serving the Sun God.

Judging from appearance alone, he looked to be in his forties.

But this was a world where supernatural power existed, and priest was hardly an ordinary profession.

The man might easily be older than he looked.

More interesting was the way he and Ingram spoke to each other.

There was a clear difference in position.

[Superior and subordinate, maybe?]

While Xia Nan considered it, the priest descended from the altar.

He carried a staff made of reddish-brown wood.

A yellow crystal the size of an infant’s fist was set into its head.

The priest glanced at Ingram.

Nothing more.

The sheriff immediately understood.

He crouched beside the stretcher and began unwinding the bandages around Jeff’s injury.

The moment the cloth came away, pale bone and raw red flesh were exposed.

The smell of blood thickened in the air.

The priest did not even blink.

He raised the staff over Jeff’s severed leg.

Hummm…

A warm, bright light slowly blossomed from the yellow crystal.

The effect was immediate.

Granulation tissue around the stump began to writhe and knit together.

The wound closed visibly.

Right in front of them.

Xia Nan stood beside the stretcher with a perfectly calm expression.

Inside, his reaction was very different.

[Good grief. This is way better than a healing potion!]

His eyes shifted toward the priest.

A new possibility came to mind.

[A class holder?]