To the Church
After returning to my room from the royal capital's library, I immediately opened the stone tablet. A new [Mail] button had appeared, flashing with a "(1)" in the top right corner.
I pressed the [Mail] button and checked the contents.
(You have gifted a book to the Sage God that was not in the Sage God's library. As a result, you have received bonus points from the Sage God.
By praying before the statue of the Sage God at the church, you will be able to speak with the Sage God.)
When did I ever give a book to the Sage God? I have no idea what this means. I can talk to the Sage God?
… Well, I might as well go to the church and see for myself.
Today, I’m heading to the church with Brother Chris.
When I told my family that I had received bonus points and that the reward seemed to be the ability to talk to the Sage God, they decided I shouldn’t go alone in case I collapsed again. So Brother Chris was coming with me.
Unlike the church in our territory’s capital, the royal capital’s church was adorned with decorations on its pillars and walls, and light streamed in through the windows, making the interior bright.
I first offered prayers to the Creator God and the Harvest God in the center, then to the Plant God, who had granted me divine protection. Finally, I approached the Sage God, whom I was supposedly able to converse with.
Kneeling before the stone statue of the Sage God, I expressed my gratitude for the divine protection, thanked him for the bonus points from yesterday, and stated that I had come upon hearing that I could speak with him.
Then, the statue suddenly began to sparkle, and a young man who resembled the statue appeared. However, unlike the statue, he gave off a more easygoing and lighthearted vibe.
Was this the Sage God?
"It's finally nice to meet you, Reinhardt. Can I just call you Hardt from now on?" He asked.
"I don’t mind." I replied.
"I was getting impatient because you weren’t going to the library, so I couldn’t explain the details of your blessing."
The blessing, at first, allowed me to read books faster and understand difficult texts.
When my rank increased, I gained the ability to transcribe books. My guess was correct.
By reading books and meeting other criteria set by the Sage God, I would accumulate points. When I reached a certain threshold, I would level up.
However, the total number of points and the required points for a level-up weren’t visible. The Sage God said that striving solely for that purpose would go against his principles, and besides, not knowing when a level-up would happen made it more thrilling.
As a bonus, he had made it easier to rank up until I reached Rank E.
Additionally, once I had visited a library, I could transcribe books from there using the stone tablet. Some books in larger libraries were inaccessible to me, but that would be resolved as my mana capacity increased.
Duplicate books would be automatically merged.
Bonus points were awarded when I discovered books not found in the Sage God’s library. Apparently, there had been one such book in the royal capital's library archives.
Just how many books did the Sage God have?
The system worked by automatically sending any books I found that were not in the Sage God’s library to him. However, newly published books were acquired automatically, so there was no need for this. That’s why he advised me to at least step into any new library I found.
Curious, I asked him about the riddle I heard just before I collapsed at the royal capital's library—"What is the phrase every reincarnated person wants to say at least once?"
Was that from the Sage God?
"That’s right. Isn’t it more fun to present it as a riddle rather than just telling you to say ‘Status Open’? It wasn’t a difficult riddle, though."
This guy doesn’t seem very godlike...
"Ah, don’t say that! People tend to think of the Sage God as a serious and rigid figure, but you shouldn’t let preconceived notions cloud your judgment."
Can he read my thoughts? Well, he is a god...
"I apologize.” I said.
"It’s fine. I’ll take one more question—do you have anything you want to ask?"
I asked if the three blessings I received (one of which was still unknown) were related to the Great Forest or the White Dragon.
"You’ll understand the blessings in time. I believe you’ll be able to make full use of them." He replied.
"The bonus points let you talk to me. If you pray to my statue in the church, we can have a conversation. So keep finding books for me, okay? See you!"
Am I just being used for his convenience...?
"Hardt, are you finished? Let’s head back.” Brother Chris urged as he led me out of the church.
As we got into the carriage, he said, "The church apprentices were pretending to work while secretly watching you from a distance. If we had stayed any longer, some higher-ups from the church might have shown up, so I hurried you along."
Once I mastered controlling water magic, I would start practicing healing magic. If my healing magic reached a high level, the church might try to recruit—or even monopolize—me.
In reality, those with strong healing magic were often recruited, regardless of whether they were nobles or commoners, and many worked at the church’s medical facilities.
Those with particularly strong purification abilities were even called Saints or Holy Maidens.
Apparently, there were a few such individuals in our country as well.
Saints and Holy Maidens were sometimes sent to purify mana reservoirs (which could trigger stampedes) at the request of other nations.
So the church gave them status in exchange for exploiting them to maintain its power.
In fact, my father had even received a letter asking if they should dispatch a healing magic instructor, which he had politely declined.
I didn’t want to be used by the church. I wanted to use my abilities for the people of Westland and our own Knights Order.
If they say it’s for the sake of the country’s people, then they should do the work themselves.
I refuse to be exploited for their popularity.
I was truly grateful to my family and those around me. They let me do things my own way.
"Did you manage to talk to the Sage God? The time you spent praying didn’t seem any longer than when you prayed to the other gods." Brother Chris noted.
"Really? I had a proper conversation, so I thought quite some time had passed."
"… If that’s the case, then maybe time was stopped around you while you were talking to the Sage God—through divine power."
"I’ll ask about it next time I speak with him."
"Wait, you can talk to him again?"
I told Brother Chris everything about my conversation with the Sage God—except for the riddle part.
"So the three blessings are likely connected to the Great Forest and the White Dragon. Hardt, you should increase your magic training. You may have to face the White Dragon next summer."
When we returned home, I reported everything to my family, including Brother Chris’s thoughts.
Father added, "Since Chris’s schoolmates were also instructed to level up, it’s highly likely that something will happen in the Great Forest next summer—whether it involves the White Dragon or not."
Brother Gerald said, "Brother and I should both aim to raise two of our magic levels to at least 30."
Mother suggested, "We should prepare evacuation sites, food supplies, and guidance procedures for the villagers near the Great Forest. If nothing happens, then great, but it’s far better than being caught off guard and suffering greater losses. Let’s consider this time a gift from the gods to prepare."
She was right. It was better to see it as receiving hints and time to prepare.
Since our parents had to attend the year-end party at the royal castle, we planned to return to Westland territory right after the New Year.
What do you think about this chapter?
