Apostle of the Goddess of War

Chapter 88

Ch.88 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“……Somehow lately I feel like I’ve become a doctor. Not only do people come to me for herbal medicine, but—hmm.”  

“Isn’t that right?”  

“Sir Sion, I am the Apostle of Wildflowers.”  

“That’s also correct.”  

“Well now. It’s good to see you after so long, but my mood’s turning sour.”  

“Aw, I feel great though.”  

Marquisin surrendered.  

He could only let out a hollow laugh.  

This place, filled with a gentle fragrance that cleared the mind and lifted the spirit, was the domain of the Wildflower Cult—also known as the Forest of Elim.  

It had been nearly a year since the Wildflower Cult began relying on the War Cult’s territory.  

The exchange between the Wildflower Cult and the War Cult had grown increasingly frequent, to the point where the distinction between the two Cults had almost lost its meaning.  

They had become so close, with no conflicts, and had developed a relationship of mutual support.  

Just like now, when Sion had boldly come to visit the highborn elf and knight of Wildflowers to confirm whether Anna was pregnant.  

“Lie down here.”  

“……Yes.”  

Anna lay on her back in the flower field.  

Marquisin tilted his head, looking as if he were thinking, ‘Is this really appropriate?’ before kneeling in front of her.  

Closing his eyes, Marquisin placed his hands on Anna’s abdomen. Warm sacred energy from the Wildflowers began to examine Anna’s womb.  

Sion and Ruina watched anxiously.  

Ruina clung to Sion’s arm, visibly nervous.  

Sion quietly asked,  

“How is it?”  

“Hm?”  

“Anna… is she…”  

“You don’t know either?”  

“What—what do you mean?”  

Ruina gave him a look as if to say, “You really don’t know?”  

“Your master. Mr. Garfenn.”  

“Yeah. What about my master?”  

“They’re lovers, aren’t they?”  

“What—!”  

Sion couldn’t help but shout.  

Marquisin gave him a stern look.  

“Sir Sion, please lower your voice. I must concentrate to detect life.”  

“I’m sorry.”  

Sion turned back to Ruina, mouthing silently.  

‘Since when!?’  

‘For a while now?’  

Ruina replied casually.  

Sion’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.  

‘I knew they had some secret connection, but lovers already? When did that even happen!?’  

Ruina pinched Sion’s arm lightly.  

‘You really have no sense at all, Brother.’  

‘No, I’m actually quite perceptive! I definitely knew there was something between them!’  

Sion protested.  

He truly felt wronged.  

‘But how come I didn’t know they were dating?’  

‘Wait, seriously? When did they start? When would they even have had the time!’  

Garfenn.  

My master.  

That shy, awkward man who only knows about swords.  

And he’s already in a relationship with Anna!  

The man who couldn’t even make eye contact with anyone at first?  

This was something utterly unimaginable, even in dreams.  

It wasn’t just a minor shock.  

Even if Goddess Achille herself descended to personally help with farming in Elim, he wouldn’t be more surprised.  

Sion trembled.  

‘I-Is this what adults are like…?’  

And Ruina looked at his naive expression with pity, even letting out a sigh.  

‘Brother Sion is such an idiot. A complete idiot.’  

While Ruina was internally frustrated, Marquisin’s diagnosis came to an end.  

“Hmm. I’ve examined everything.”  

Anna, as well as Sion and Ruina, tensed up. The two of them tightly clasped hands.  

“She has conceived life. I bless her in the name of the Goddess of Wildflowers.”  

“……!”  

“No way!”  

“Oh my.”  

It was astonishing.  

A miracle had arrived.  

Anna blinked rapidly, gently touching her own belly.  

Ruina wiped away tears, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion, while Sion could only stare at Anna, dazed.  

“Is… is the baby healthy?”  

Anna asked. Marquisin closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.  

“It appears healthy. My Goddess has spoken.”  

“I can’t believe it. Thank you, Marquisin.”  

“What thanks are necessary?”  

Marquisin stood up and helped Anna to her feet.  

Then he pointed toward Emily’s tree, which had grown so large it now covered the sky.  

“From now on, come here every day for one hour to rest. Breathing in the sacred energy of the Wildflowers and the fresh air will help your child grow healthily.”  

Anna carefully bowed her waist.  

“Thank you. I’ll do that.”  

Whoosh!  

Ruina ran over and hugged Anna tightly.  

She was overjoyed, as if her own sister had just gotten pregnant.  

“Sister! What do we do! I’m crying! Congratulations, seriously!”  

“Haha, um, what now? What should I do?”  

“I don’t know? First, we should tell the Bishop. Oh! From today, I’ll take over all your work!”  

“What are you talking about? I’m still perfectly fine.”  

Laughter wouldn’t stop filling the air.  

Nearby followers of the Wildflower Cult came over to offer their congratulations.  

Sion remained dazed, quietly turning over the news of this new life in his mind.  

‘The life I saved… is now creating another life…’  

It was a strange emotion that couldn’t be fully expressed in words.  

Truly indescribable.  

Anna approached Sion.  

She bowed her waist to him as well.  

“Mr. Sion. Thank you. Everything is thanks to you.”  

“Ah, um, no, not at all. What are you saying?”  

“If you hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t have been able to have this child. I hope you’ll bless this baby too.”  

“O-of course.”  

Sion knelt down.  

Looking at her still-unborn belly, he prayed.  

‘Please let this life be born healthy. Goddess Achille.’  

There was no response from the Goddess.  

She remained silent longer than usual.  

If she knew of this, Achille would surely be happy too.  

Sion smiled, hiding his disappointment.  

“I bless you. Take care of yourself until the baby is born safely.”  

“Thank you. Later, with his permission, I’ll let you name the baby.”  

“Me?”  

“Yes, please think about it in advance.”  

The corner of Sion’s mouth twitched.  

‘Me. I will…’  

……Become an uncle?  

Overwhelmed by this wonderful, unbelievable news, Sion didn’t know what to do with himself.  

Ruina and Anna left first.  

From now on, every step had to be taken carefully, cautiously.  

This was a time when the number of people protecting Elim was growing. A double celebration.  

‘The first child born in Elim, not from an outsider, but from within Elim itself.’  

There was more to protect now.  

Sion felt his sense of responsibility grow even stronger.  

His heart pounded.  

He had even more reasons to grow stronger.  

Marquisin quietly asked,  

“I heard you’ve returned from the east. You seem to have gone through some rough experiences.”  

“How did you know?”  

“Your aura is different. There’s a slight impurity—something like that.”  

“……It’s the miasma of Decay.”  

“Sit down. I’ll help you cleanse it.”  

“You really are a doctor after all.”  

“I might as well consider making some money from this.”  

“You’ll become rich. There’s no other doctor as skilled as you, Lord Marquisin.”  

For a brief moment, Marquisin was tempted. He thought seriously it might be worth considering.  

Training disciples to use medicine and help Elim seemed like a good idea.  

Marquisin placed his hands on Sion’s back and infused sacred energy.  

A short while later, he spoke.  

“Remarkable. Only a tiny residue remains. The rest of your sacred energy is purer and stronger than ever before—beyond human limits. How is this even possible?”  

Sion roughly understood what he meant.  

He began to recount what he had experienced.  

Marquisin would surely offer good advice.  

“……It’s unbelievable. The evil Goddess of Decay appeared personally, and the Goddess of War descended to save you?”  

“I don’t remember the latter part, though.”  

“That explains this abnormally strong sacred energy. The Goddess Achille must have personally refined it.”  

“Personally…?”  

Sion murmured the words, closing his eyes.  

He searched within himself for the warmth of the Goddess he could feel.  

It was her will—the effort she had exerted to protect him.  

‘When will I be able to feel it again?’  

Just as Sion’s concern for the Goddess deepened, Marquisin dropped a hint.  

“Sir Sion, have you not felt Achille’s presence for quite some time?”  

“H-how did you know?”  

“Did you normally feel her before?”  

“Yes. I used to sense her at the crown of my head. But since her descent, I haven’t felt her.”  

“Hmm, as I thought.”  

Marquisin walked around Sion with an unusually serious expression.  

Sion pressed him.  

“Do you… know something?”  

“My Goddess just whispered to me.”  

“What?”  

“She said the Goddess of War cannot interfere for the time being.”  

“What?”  

Marquisin said he didn’t know the full details, only that the Goddess was under some kind of restriction.  

“She said it’s because of a contract made when she descended to save you.”  

“That can’t be.”  

Sion had a rough idea, but now that it was confirmed as fact, his heart sank unexpectedly.  

Had the Goddess’s absence really been this painful?  

There had always been the belief that she was with him.  

Even if unseen, even if unheard.  

The certainty that she was by his side.  

That belief had given him courage.  

It had been the very reason he dared to fight enemies he couldn’t possibly defeat.  

But now, she wasn’t here.  

This was the first time since becoming the knight of the Goddess of War that Sion had faced her absence.  

“Then… when will she return?”  

“There was no word. But only this.”  

“But?”  

“……We must prepare.”  

No further words were needed.  

The Goddess’s absence meant crisis.  

Evil deities, Goddess, and rival Cults would surely exploit this.  

Threats were abundant.  

‘And my master isn’t here either.’  

They would have to firmly prepare for the storm that was coming.  

A great trial, the first Sion had ever faced, was upon him.  

***  

It was quiet.  

Inside the Temple of Wisdom, the space was filled only with a heavy, sinking silence and the faint glow of candles.  

Since the Chaos evil deity’s forces began encroaching on the Cult’s territory, the temple had long lost its vitality.  

Now, with the absence of a ‘Priestess’ to guard and manage the temple, this decline was even more pronounced.  

At the center of that silence, a girl knelt before the statue of the Goddess of Wisdom, who sat with eyes closed in deep contemplation.  

“Huuuk… Goddess… please show us the way…”  

Arwen, the Apostle of Wisdom.  

She prayed with clasped hands, tears streaming down her face.  

Everything was sorrowful.  

The world was sorrowful, and life was suffering.  

That was why she never stopped crying.  

Her prayer for wisdom to pierce through this darkness had now become a weeping plea, endlessly flowing down her cheeks.  

In this desperate situation where only news of defeat arrived, this was all she could do.  

She, who should be leading the battlefield, now had to take on the role of priestess as well—making their situation even more disadvantageous.  

Right at that moment.  

Whoosh!  

The candles on the altar suddenly flared brightly, and a soft, halo-like light rose from the statue.  

A quiet whisper, as if audible only to the soul, brushed past Arwen’s mind.  

“……Ah.”  

Arwen’s tears stopped abruptly.  

Slowly, she lifted her head.  

Her tears had ceased, but her glistening eyes now held a clear, resolute determination unlike before.  

It was the face of one who had received an answer.  

Arwen silently rose, turned her back to the altar, and headed toward her room.  

Then she took out a blue set of armor and began to put it on. Her attendant, alarmed by her sudden action, ran over and asked.  

“Apostle! Why are you suddenly arming yourself? Where are you going?”  

Arwen quietly fastened a slender longsword to her waist as she answered.  

“To where… the storm will begin.”  

“What? What storm?”  

“I’ve… received a divine message.”  

Arwen’s gaze turned toward the distant, faraway west beyond the window.  

“I’ll take the Scales Knights and visit Elim. I… won’t be gone long.”  

Sniff!  

Arwen walked past her attendant, wiping her nose.  

The attendant hurried after her.  

“A-Apostle! You need to take this!”  

“Ah, thank you.”  

Arwen took the handkerchief the attendant handed her. She didn’t forget to bow deeply at a 90-degree angle.  

“Then. Lloyd! Please feed the birds for me!”  

“……Yes. Please return safely. I’ll pray that the light of truth reveals the answer.”

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