Kingdom's Bloodline, page 625
Melgen sighed deeply. “Even though I do not want to mention it, indeed, what you said is correct.”
Thales frowned.
“During the period of time our ancestors, magic, and wizards fought against those from the Path of the Youngest… Bright God Church, whose beliefs spread far and wide, once enlisted the Holy Temple Guardian Army to cast judgment on the heretics.
“The magnanimous and selfless Church of the Holy Sun once set up a Judgment Hall to correct the people’s ways.”
Melgen’s expression was solemn, and there was wariness in her eyes.
“Fanatic believers will not set any limits on themselves. They get rid of heretics based solely on their standpoints. They will suppress all remaining voices of objection, assuming an air of self-importance. The methods they resort to are also incredibly sinister. They use every method possible…
“There has been no benefit in spreading their religion. Their efforts were futile, and they also made countless enemies. Their infamy spread far and wide, and in the end, they lost themselves, and their sins were great.”
Melgen looked up with a stern expression, and it looked as if the thing pressing down on her shoulders was no longer the cloth from her robe, but the great weight of history.
“That is the ugliest and deplorable page on the history of beliefs and churches.”
Thales frowned as he watched her.
“If we revere something or some belief too much and infinitely increase its status to the point that we cast aside respect and limits to look down on the other paths and choices as well as ignore the other people’s wishes and meaning, this will be the source of the disaster brought by the Path of the Youngest.
“In history, quite a number of believers who were supposed to be the eldest of gods, my brothers and sisters in the god I believe, gradually lost their conscience and forgot their duty to heaven. In the end, they tragically walk down the same path of boastfulness, arrogance, and ignorance, but not knowing of their own ignorance.”
Melgen sighed softly, and it was clear how much she found this regretful and sad.
“They did not pass through the test and walked on the path that they should have done everything they could to reject.”
When she said this, Melgen put on the stance for prayers again, and she terrified Niah, who was listening intently by the side, to quickly pray with her in a flurry of motion.
“Gods are perfect, and perfection can even tolerate imperfection, such as their believers.
“The gods’ might is infinite.”
The priestess then continued saying, “But that does not mean that the people who believe in them also have infinite power and supreme might, can act on behalf of heaven, and speak on behalf of the gods.”
Melgen’s voice echoed in the room, and it caused people to fall into deep contemplation.
“That is why when we reflect on the disaster brought by magic, we also have to carefully reflect, perform self-examination, and ask ourselves questions. We cannot be used by the opponents that we are wary of the most and fall just like this.
“Only when we glorify ourselves can we glorify God.
“If we put too much blind faith in the gods, it will be easy for us to lose sight of ourselves.”
Once Melgen finished praying, she stopped speaking.
The room fell into silence for a long time, as though a conclusion had been made.
Thales tried his best to pull himself out from the solemnity he experienced just now, and he thought of some things that were rather relaxing.
‘Interesting.’ He quirked up the corners of his lips. ‘So, based on what Priestess Melgen just said, not only must I believe in God, but I must also not believe in them too much.
‘If I don’t believe in God, there will always be something missing in my world, but if I believe in God too much, the Path of the Youngest will be waiting for me.
‘So, do the gods have a sugar and ice personality or something?’
Translator’s Notes:
[1] Artanis and the zergs are characters from the video game, Starcraft
Chapter 529: Privacy |
“Being overly superstitious of the gods is also a sin. This statement is…”
Thales took a deep breath as he asked that joke that was deemed to be taunting and disrespectful, but he asked it in a decent manner, “Priestess Melgen, does your goddess agree with what you said?”
However, Melgen smiled. She sounded relaxed.
“An outstanding mentor will not like a student who thinks of the mentor as above all, who believes that his words are law, who makes use of his might, and who hopes that he will rescue the student himself, while the student does not realize it himself and never improves.”
Melgen cast a glance at Gilbert that was neither light-hearted nor severe.
And Gilbert, who was already numb, was too lazy to even try changing the expression on his face anymore.
Melgen spoke earnestly, “Believers should be more humble. That humbleness would also shield your thoughts on how to look at gods and beliefs.”
Thales suddenly had a thought.
‘That’s strange.
‘The feeling that I’ve heard this somewhere before… has returned.’
“So, magic and wizards.”
Thales was trying to recall his original intention of the conversation. He was also putting effort into changing the topic back to the thing he was interested in.
“These are things that have vanished from history for a long time. What are they exactly to you in your eyes?
“Victims? Assailants? The puppets of the Path of the Youngest or perhaps the soil and cradle?
“So, what is it that led to the banning of magic and even the fear of speaking about them?”
Melgen pondered for a moment.
“In history, in the eyes of some traditional conservative friars, magic is the source of misfortune. It is deserving of being the target of ridicule and of being condemned.”
Thales nodded. ‘As expected.’
But Melgen turned her head around and smiled.
“But from how I see it, it might not just be the case.”
Thales once again felt curious.
“Although that is disrespectful to our gods, although arrogance and disdain lead to bad consequences, there are many wizards, even the unfortunate practitioners of the Path of the Youngest, are warriors and pioneers who are still people who deserve respect. Their existence is also extraordinary.”
Melgen slowly nodded and smiled.
“Their self-confidence and their relentless pursuits did not just affect themselves.
“I believe that magic appeared because it was the intention and blessing of the gods.”
Thales was stunned for a moment.
He looked up and blew at his fringe.
Niah, who was by the side, almost laughed. But the clever young nun was able to turn her laugh into a cough.
“More importantly, they also affected us—the eldest of the gods.”
Melgen did not mind the prince’s expression at all. She looked around the main study room of Mindis Hall, and she spoke in a mournful manner, “Look at the name of this lesson. It’s called a theology lesson, but do you know that long ago, the temple, regardless of which temple, never had a class known to as theology. At that time, the gods were omnipotent to many of our brothers and sisters’ eyes. They only had to practice worshipping the gods, that was all. How could they even study it?”
‘Theology.’
Thales suddenly realized something.
“Then, the wizards gained power. During the era where magic was in power, countless questions came from the Three Towers, which can be considered to be a few organizations from the wizards. They started to threaten our existence. How does God take in believers? How is a god defined? How does a god exist?”
Melgen’s words sounded calm.
But Thales took in a deep breath.
‘Three Towers. I knew it.’
Melgen spoke in an interested tone, “Their doubts and their denial had forced us to not be able to place an emphasis on our practices, actions, beliefs, and spirit with a tunnel vision. We had to touch deeper into theories and explore things to improve ourselves.”
Thales put up a smile and nodded at Melgen.
He understood that.
The familiar feeling he had just now… that was not a coincidence.
Humbleness, introspection, vigilance…
That was exactly the familiar feeling that Asda gave him during his lessons.
At the same time, Melgen’s lectures today had shown Sunset Temple’s concepts and perceptions…
That was definitely not a result that some religion, some temple, or some believer could just gain just by going into isolation and meditating for thousands of years in hopes for development.
Instead, that was the challenges that the believers had to face from the wizards for thousands of years. It was an outcome and product that was produced from countless honest people as they were persecuted and forced to move forward by magic.
Thales bit his lower lips gently for a moment.
Everything was just like the Old Crow said. This was just like how the long term confrontation between Eckstedt and Constellation had affected each other and shaped each other.
Magic.
Over thousands of years, they were one of the heroes that shaped faith, churches, and temples into their current state through conflict and opposition.
However, that was not the full picture.
Melgen continued to speak, “That is just one example. The Path of the Youngest was not only born from magic but may have also been born from churches. Hence, every time when magic and wizards thrived, every time when beliefs and temples fell into decline, these incidents can drive knowledgeable people among the believers to begin reflecting on themselves.
“It drove them to cast aside their prejudices, their obsession, their conservative views, the old ways of worship, and truly as well as sincerely listen to the words of the gods.”
Melgen stared straight into Thales’ eyes.
“They reflected on themselves.
“They reformed the church.
“They seized opportunities.”
She spoke in a very profound manner, “Just like Priestess Jade one thousand years ago, after she was raped by the military, she wanted to hang herself in a broken church. However, when she saw the mysterious message of Holy Sun Errol, it caused her to take on the risk of losing her neck to block Kessel the Sixth’s steed. Kessel the Sixth would become the ‘Emperor of Poison’ later.
“In another instance, Prophet Mohazzard from seven hundred years ago was on his last of his breath on the battlefield after the calamity wreaked havoc across the world. He heard of the grace bestowed by the Sunset Goddess, reached out a helping hand, and located the destined King of Renaissance.”
Upon hearing that, Thales noticed that Gilbert, who was listening at the side, started to have his expression turn sour again.
“Hence, even when magic was in power, when wizards held control in the courts, monopolized knowledge, looked down upon the rest of the world… even when the Path of the Youngest was the path worshipped by most, and when it was so strong that it was domineering…”
Melgen looked a little touched.
“The believers of the gods held on to their beliefs. They took care of the churches and temples which were in ruins to leave behind one more choice for humans, who were too confident with themselves, were blind, and rash.”
“Hence, that is how the Church of Holy Sun came after Bright God Church, and why Sunset Temple came after the Battle of Eradication.”
Thales did not bother himself with the old priestess’ expression, he just shifted his eyes to the young nun Niah.
The prince curled up the corners of his lips and revealed a bright smile at her.
The little nun noticed the prince’s smile.
She shivered slightly as she subconsciously turned herself around in order to avoid eye contact with him. It revealed her red ears.
But that was enough.
Thales’ gaze went through Niah and landed on the luggage which was placed behind Niah and was revealed when she turned around.
That was the ancient metal nameplate… belonging to the tomb of King Anzac.
Thales curled up the corners of his mouth even further. He did not bother at all about the fact that Niah had become even more alarmed.
Over thousands of years, the Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Department was not the only organization who had left behind records of magic and wizards after Operation World Cleansing.
That also included their greatest enemy.
“So Thales, what is magic?”
Thales was absent-minded at that moment. He did not notice the question.
But fortunately for him, Melgen did not want him to answer her question. “Magic is a mirror. It is a disaster brought along by the Path of the Youngest, causing us to realize its absurdity and allow us to realize we might walk on the wrong path, force us to face our own weaknesses head-on, realize our better selves, and thereby allow us to return to the Path of the Eldest Son. As I was saying, the two paths of both the Eldest and Youngest co-exist, and they prove just how important they are to each other.”
‘That’s right. It’s just like what Melgen said.
‘Magic is just like a mirror.
‘Similarly, beliefs and churches were also magic’s mirror.
‘They reflect, show, and detain the marks of their opponent of over one thousand years, isn’t it?’
Once he thought of that, Thales looked at the luggage behind Niah. He looked at the outline of the ancient nameplate. His smile became even more sincere.
Niah avoided meeting the prince’s unscrupulous eyes. She leaned down stiffly, and she picked up the teapot while tremble and poured tea into the cup that was still very full.
Melgen’s words were heard once again.
“In fact… the tragedy of magic is the trial that we must experience. It is the consequence that is naturally formed when we sink too deeply into our sins for a long time, and while we still don’t know about it.
“It is the anger and punishment that the gods delivered upon us for abandoning the truth of our beliefs, misinterpret the meaning of the gods, ignore our own glory, and fall into the trap of the Path of the Youngest.
“That is the meaning of it to us and perhaps the world.”
When she said this, Melgen could not help but sigh.
“The path of a believer is never a smooth one. Each person will have to face countless setbacks. Each era will descend into darkness. But we believe that each setback is merely a test by the gods in order to strengthen our beliefs and loyalty. They show to us the path that human beings should take by using the conflict between the eldest and the youngest.
“To the believers of God, beliefs will always face dangers, we are constantly surrounded by skepticism, and the conflict between the eldest and the youngest will always be around.”
She looked out at the position of the setting sun through the window as she spoke in gratitude, “But as long as the Flame of the Eldest does not extinguish, there will come an end to the Disaster of the Youngest.”
The atmosphere in the room had become heavy again.
The sky outside the window was slowly turning dark. Dusk was arriving.
“Priestess Melgen, I must say this. The things you said today are indeed thought-provoking, and they allow me to think about them for a long time,” Thales suddenly spoke in a tone that was half sincere and half deliberate.
Melgen smiled. She bowed respectfully at Thales.
“If it can inspire you for even a tiny bit, that would be my fortune and also the blessing of the goddess.”
Thales nodded with gratitude on his face. “So, if I have questions in the future, can I visit the Sunset Temple and ask you personally?”
*Crash!*
Everyone in the room was shocked.
It was Niah.
At some point of time, she broke the teacup, and she was picking up the pieces in a flurry of motion. Her ears, which were behind the veil, were red to the extreme.
Everyone in the had extraordinary self-restraint. The three of them only looked at her briefly before they turned away and pretended that nothing happened.
“It is my pleasure, Your Highness. Sunset Goddess accepts every believer who wants to get closer to her.” Melgen seemed to be in a good mood now. “You are welcome to visit me anytime. You do not even need to make prior appointments. I will have Niah welcome you.”
“Ouch!”
The three of them turned their eyes once again.
It was Niah, who cut her finger when she was cleaning up the fragments of the broken teacup. She applied pressure on her would, lifted her head, and looked at Melgen with an aggrieved expression. Her eyes were watery.
Melgen stared at the young nun with displeasure for a moment. The nun quickly stood up anxiously.
“Then…” The old priestess coughed once before she stood up. She returned to her amiable state. “We shall end it here today.”
Thales stood up at the same time. His smile was the same as usual. “So soon?”
‘Oh, this is great.’
Melgen smiled and pointed at the color of the sky.
“The sun has set, night is arriving.”
Her tone sounded a little profound.
“However, the stars are bright, they serve as the foreshadow for many things, and you cannot imagine what they are.”
Thales blinked.
“Is that a prophecy?”
‘The ones that also serve the purpose of buttering up to someone?’
“Other than the gods’ prophets and envoys, no one can make a prophecy.” Melgen smiled gently. “But even if it is a prophecy, it will only be a prophecy.”
Thales did not understand the logic behind all this rambling, he just continued smiling.
“Besides, Madam Jines told me before to give you more time to rest.”
That actually shook Thales a little.
