Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 274 - 251: Guardian (5000 words, editor’s task 4/6, 5/6)_2

When Raphael approached the light barrier, a standoff had already unfolded inside. About a dozen Guardians were protecting Vitim in a corner, his face marred with several bruises and scars. The moment the elder responsible for saving the infected entered, he was tackled by frenzied people. Unable to stand idly by, the Guardians charged in to protect the old man and beat up those who initiated violence. The beaten men on the ground revealed wry smiles.

"You’ve come too, filthy Holy Light. You will suffer the torments of the Black Death just like us!"

Vitim looked apologetically at the children. "You shouldn’t have come."

"To stand by and watch you suffer is worse than death for us! Besides, His Eminence Raphael has arrived. I trust that he and all the Guardians will heal us."

Raphael watched everything that happened, promising to the crowd inside the light barrier and to his own Guardians that he would save them.

"Let the Reverend maintaining the light barrier step back, and have our Paladin brethren take over their work. We are more resilient than they are."

In the following days, the Guardians devoted themselves to chanting the scriptures, while Raphael patrolled the entire city. Every person here needed the descent of an angel, the strength to be at peace.

Meanwhile, within the light barrier, there was a new development.

One day, one of the men who had hurt Vitim knelt before the old Reverend. His father too had caught the plague, his health deteriorating day by day. The old man felt his time nearing an end, his final request to his child was,

"I need a Reverend, my child."

"Mentor, we don’t need to help him; he got what he deserved!" The memory of that day’s wickedness replayed in the man’s mind. Supported by kinship, he finally realized his past ugliness. He offered no rebuttal, only bowed his head, silently begging with tears in his eyes. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"I understand, child. Please allow me to offer the last prayer for your father."

"Reverend Vitim, this man doesn’t deserve your kindness!"

"But his father does, and it’s not a difficult task for me. I’m just going to meet an old man of my own age, a friend I have yet to meet."

Following the man’s lead, they saw the elder about to reach his last moments, so thin he was but skin and bones, lying amidst several layers of crumpled cloth, his lifeless eyes no longer seeing the light, his lips opening and closing like a fish.

"My child, have you returned?"

"Yes, father, I have brought back a Reverend."

"Bless you, sir, by the Holy Light."

The man lying on the bed actually smiled. "Thank you, Reverend, the Holy Light’s blessing is precious to me at this moment." With his voice growing faint, the old man turned his head and lifted his arm, thin as a reed, from the covers, reaching into the air. "Reverend, I have an impertinent request, I implore you."

Vitim took the old man’s hand. "If it’s within my power, I will fulfill your request."

"Reverend, I beg you, forgive my child." The dying old man clutched him with his last bit of strength. "I cannot see your face, but I can hear people’s words. Surely, your face still bears the wounds my child inflicted on you. I am sorry, and my child, he is not a bad person. He has been good to me, but this terrible flu is ravaging everyone here, and my health is worsening day by day. I know the burden in my child’s heart. Reverend, we are not like you, we are mere mortals, laden with original sin." The old man reached out with his other hand, calling to the man who was now in tears.

"My child, sin rests in the heart of each one of us, yet it is no excuse for inflicting pain upon others. I know you suffer much, but such is the plight each man must face. You are a strong man, my child. Promise me one last time, will you? Make no more such mistakes, and apologize to the Reverend."

"Yes!!! Father..." As the old man’s wrist fell limply, the son wailed desperately. "I promise you! Father! Can you hear me? I will apologize to the Reverend and beg his forgiveness for my sins! Can you hear me? Father!"

The child’s anguished cries did not awaken the father; he did not hear his child’s promise, but the trust in his heart allowed him to close his eyes.

As the old man’s body was cremated in the waning light of the fire, the son knelt before Reverend Vitim.

"I am deeply sorry for all I have done to you, and your forgiveness makes me all the more aware of my own ugliness. Reverend, please forgive my sins and allow me to bear the punishment I deserve."

Vitim patted the man’s shoulder, his hand more substantial than the father’s yet bearing the same weight upon the man’s heart.

"I forgive you, child. As your duty, live well, and survive until the Holy Light saves us."

With hot tears in his eyes, the man knelt devoutly, kissing the earth beneath him.

"Praise the Holy Light."

Vitim gained his first follower from Lokarot, and that number continued to grow. When death walks with you, many pretenses of people are exposed. They may start with madness, but ultimately they become numb from the lack of response. Some, however, seek the voice within their hearts under guidance.