Chapter 30 - Training - 2

“A pleasure to meet you, Saintess.”

Those were the first words they heard upon opening the door and entering Trebo’s laboratory. Renée gave a startled jolt, then bowed her head slightly toward the voice.

“Hello.”

“It is truly an honor to meet you. You have come for instruction in the sacred arts, yes?”

“Yes.”

“You must have had a difficult journey. My name is Trebo, and starting today, I will be teaching you the sacred arts.”

“Oh, I’m Renée. Sir Knight has told me a lot about you. You’re the... unusual one!”

“Sir Bera spoke of me? My, how embarrassing.”

His voice was lively. From his tone, Renée could tell that Trebo was a very energetic person. Yet a question occurred to her.

‘Why is his presence so faint?’

Despite how spiritedly he spoke, she found it difficult to sense his presence—the same thought Bera had once had.

Thinking that she might not have been able to perceive Trebo at all if not for his voice, Renée slowly followed Bera’s guidance to the table in the center of the laboratory and sat down.

After seating her, Bera shot a sharp glare at Trebo, who was still beaming. It was a warning not to try any nonsense.

Trebo, whose eyes were swollen and bruised from the thorough beating Bera had given him two days earlier, flinched, then nodded with an awkward smile.

“Well, I’m sure you have other engagements, Saintess, so shall we get straight to the point?”

“Oh, yes.”

“There is no need to be nervous. What I will teach you is a simple introduction, so you should not find it too difficult.”

His words were meant to reassure her. Even so, Renée nodded without feeling any more at ease, unable to stop wondering, ‘What if I don’t do well?’

She had another worry, too.

“Um, I’m not too old to start learning the sacred arts, am I?”

Pepe, a man in the village who loved gossip, had once told her that all mages belonged to the highest elite, receiving special education for gifted children before they were even five.

Renée had assumed that the sacred arts were ultimately a similar field of study. Hearing her question, Trebo replied.

“Not at all. Hmm, to explain that, I should first tell you about divine energy.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never learned anything about this...”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Saintess. No one knows everything from the outset, do they?”

He spoke with a quiet chuckle. Renée nodded with an awkward smile.

Watching her, Trebo continued in a gentle, measured tone.

“How much do you know about divine energy and mana, Saintess?”

“Um... mana is the energy of nature, and divine energy is power received from the gods?”

Her answer trailed off uncertainly. It was only natural. Renée had never had a chance to encounter such things in her life, and both divine energy and mana had always seemed far removed from her.

“Well, you are half right and half wrong.”

“Hehe... am I?”

Embarrassment spread across Renée’s face. Seeing it, Trebo chuckled again and continued his explanation.

“You were correct about mana. Mana is an intangible energy source dispersed throughout the atmosphere.”

“Oh, I’m glad I got that right.”

“Yes, that was the half you got right. The half you got wrong concerns divine energy. Divine energy is not power received from the gods.”

“What?”

Renée tilted her head. If it wasn’t power received from the gods, then what sort of power was divine energy?

As the question deepened the puzzlement on her face, Trebo gently explained.

“Put simply, divine energy is a kind of mutated mana. Mana that has entered the body undergoes a mutation, taking on the properties of divine energy.”

It was a rather bewildering explanation.

“Then why is it called divine energy?”

“Because those altered properties contain the power of the divine realm. That is why it is given the name divine energy.”

“Oh...”

“This is not widely known. There has yet to be much active research into divine energy. Hmm, to expand on that a little, these characteristics mean that quite a few people possess this power without entering the priesthood. The Empire’s healers are a prime example.”

“Oh, that’s something I’ve heard about, too.”

“Yes. They regard divine energy as nothing more than mutated mana, so they do not connect it with reverence for the gods. The Holy Empire imposes no particular restrictions on them, either.”

The Empire’s healers were so well known that even Renée knew about them, though she had only learned the reasons behind their circumstances today.

“Is that all right? There could be people who misuse divine energy.”

“That is not the Holy Empire’s concern. We serve the gods; we are not custodians of divine energy, are we? It is only right that individuals bear responsibility for the power bestowed upon them.”

Renée found his explanation a little strange. At its heart, it was perfectly reasonable, yet hearing it from a priest’s mouth somehow felt odd.

Her preconceptions about the Holy Empire played a part as well. She knew it as an insular nation with many secrets, so she had simply assumed that it would impose restrictions on such things.

Watching Renée nod slightly as she accepted his explanation, Trebo gave a gentle smile and steered the conversation back on track.

“We have strayed rather far from the subject. To return to the original point, divine energy differs in nature from mana, so the sacred arts are not a field that requires systematic education in the way magic does. Provided you are born with the aptitude, learning them is actually quite easy.”

“That’s a relief...”

Renée let out a deep breath of relief.

“There is no need to be afraid. Sir Bera himself was exactly your age when he first learned the sacred arts, so I am sure you can do well, too.”

“Oh, now that you mention it...”

She thought she had heard something like that before. Renée turned her head toward Bera.

“Then by the time I’m your age, Sir Knight, will I be able to wield divine energy the way you do?”

Her heart began beating a little faster. Like Bera—the thought brought that reaction naturally.

But the reply immediately returned her heartbeat to normal. Trebo addressed her in a somewhat troubled tone.

“Hmm... reaching Sir Bera’s level may be a little difficult.”

“... What?”

“Sir Bera is...”

Trebo glanced at Bera, who was watching him with an indifferent expression. Looking at him, Trebo continued.

“...a little—quite a bit, actually—talented.”

Trebo did not like giving people false hope. That was why he felt compelled to say it.

Bera was a monster. There was no other way to put it. Hadn’t he created his own unique sacred art using only the few introductory books he had taken on the day he first came to ask Trebo about the sacred arts?

What a shock it had been to learn that. Even Trebo, who had once been a candidate to become the next master of the Magic Tower, could not have done such a thing.

Of course, Trebo’s knowledge was far deeper when it came to the academic side. But in the practical application of the sacred arts alone, no one in the entire Holy Empire could match Bera except His Holiness.

“I-is that so...”

Renée’s voice sank, sounding a little dejected. Bera’s eyes widened as he glared at Trebo.

Why say something so pointless and discourage her? Had the beating not been enough? With those thoughts, he fixed Trebo with such an intense glare that the man flinched and shrank back.

Bera let out a deep sigh at the sight, then addressed Renée in a calm tone.

“You do not need to be as skilled as I am. There are things only you can do, Saintess, so please do not let it trouble you.”

“B-but...”

“Am I not here to do what you cannot? I will always be by your side, so that you never have to feel you are lacking. Please, take heart.”

Her heart gave a heavy thump. At his words, Renée felt as though it had dropped in her chest.

Always by her side.

That was the phrase she had reacted to. The same inexplicable response had started again. Feeling heat rise throughout her body and her head spin, Renée nodded stiffly.

“Y-yes...!”

The words came out in a stammer, as though her throat had stopped working.

Trebo stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him, his mouth hanging open.

That... he had never seen Bera like that. The Bera he knew was not that sort of person.

Naturally, a thought occurred to him. This Bera was an impostor. Perhaps the real Bera had left on an assignment after beating him up two days ago.

Then what was this Bera?

With that thought, Trebo looked at him. By then, Bera’s expression had changed, and he was glaring back with a menacing face.

His lips moved silently, shaping the words:

‘Lower. Your. Eyes.’

Trebo lowered his eyes. He was a man who learned from experience. He knew that ignoring those words would lead to another beating later.

It was a bizarre atmosphere, with utterly opposite moods radiating across a single table.

Once again, it was Bera’s words that broke it.

“Now, let us continue the lesson. Trebo.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Continue.”

Trebo nodded.

“Well... then! Let us resume the lesson. Shall we begin with some simple manipulation of divine energy?”

“Yeees!”

The lesson continued. Yet for some reason, the atmosphere in the room remained thoroughly awkward.

* * *

“Then, Saintess, I shall see you tomorrow. Have a peaceful night.”

“Oh, yes. Get back safely.”

Outside her quarters, Renée said goodbye to Bera, who was leaving after escorting her back, and took Hella’s hand.

“Good work today, ma’am.”

Her manner of speaking sounded unusual no matter how often Renée heard it. Renée nodded, wondering how she had managed to make it all the way back in her dazed state.

“Th-then, shall we go in?”

“Yes.”

Renée’s cane struck the ground.

CLICK

Her heart was still pounding. Holding Hella’s hand, Renée walked along, feeling out the ground with her cane. Unable to calm herself at all, she finally asked Hella a question.

“Um, Hella?”

“Yes, ma’am. Go ahead.”

“Well... ever since I came to the Holy Empire—no, ever since I left the village—my body has felt strange...”

“In what way, ma’am?”

“For some reason, my heart keeps pounding, and little things people say keep bothering me for no reason. I feel hot, too...”

She went on and on. But unable to bring herself to add “when I’m beside Bera” to her description of those reactions, Renée made them sound rather like symptoms of an illness.

Of course, she had no idea.

As Renée continued, Hella tilted her head and examined her complexion. Her face was quite flushed.

“I think you’re feeling unwell because the seasons are changing, ma’am. You’ve been through a lot, so it’s understandable.”

“Th-that must be it, right?”

“Yes. I’ll bring a priest tomorrow, just in case something’s wrong.”

“Oh, please do.”

Renée smiled at her words, thinking, ‘So I really was just overreacting.’

In truth, Renée’s reactions were so obvious that even a slightly closer look would have revealed they were not symptoms of an illness. Hella simply had not caught on.

Unfortunately, Hella had not inherited her father Norn’s perceptiveness.