Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 59: Let Us Pray to the Sun and Two Moons

The Sunlit Temple stood out even from afar.

Most of the buildings in the Imperial Capital were constructed with lighter-coloured stone, but the Temple stood out particularly as completely white, and exceptionally grand.

Before the Temple’s entrance, a dozen statues could be seen, carved out of the same stainless white marble and accompanying a staircase that was far too wide by my standards.

The statues, representing various men and women I didn’t know, weren’t anything you couldn’t find on Earth, but they seemed to portray certain notable figures of the empire’s religion, appearing to me like something out of fantastic mythology.

Although, here, I guess they would call that history.

Something interesting to note was that the figures represented there weren’t just priests or saints like one might expect. Most of them were, of course, but there were also a couple of statues that didn’t seem to quite fit in with the rest.

In particular, at the very back of the lot and closest to the Temple itself, two statues were positioned distinctly apart.

One wielded a human-sized kite shield and stood with a sword dug into the ground at his feet, wearing a great suit of armour like that of a knight or champion. Because of the white marble that he was carved from, the mental image of a holy paladin weaved itself into my mind.

The second statue was a woman of much more petite build; the white stone that formed her robe flowed all down her body to encompass her, and she too wielded something that resembled a staff in both her hands, unexpectedly giving the impression moreso of a mage than a priestess.

The two of them were the only statues that held items, and they were also the only statues with obscured faces―the paladin by his helmet, and the mage by the shadow cast from the hood of her robe.

’Huh... that’s cool. Wonder who they are.’

Admiring the statues from a distance, we swiftly arrived before them as we approached the Sunlit Temple.

I followed just two steps behind Lucretia, and as we climbed the stairs, bypassing the first few sets of statues as well as a number of other citizens going to and from the Temple, my gaze soon returned to the last two as we approached them.

Below all of the statues, there were metal plates with engravings, but I only cared about the paladin and the mage, mostly just briefly glancing over the rest.

Beneath the paladin’s figure, at the base of his statue, the epigraph read:

『~ Ingram Sol ~』

『~ The First Saint ~ The Divine Defender ~ The Radiant Knight ~ Paladin ~』

『~ "For ’He Who Battles Darkness’ shall know no fear of the Umbral Realm, and he shall save them all of the darkness, by hoisting the lonely deferring star into the heavens. To find the Holy Sun again, which had once been lost." ~』

Taking in the brief text, which seemed to bear nothing more than the figure’s name and his titles, as well as that cryptic final quote I didn’t understand, I then moved my gaze to the mage’s inscription.

『~ Elieth Jubar ~』

『~ The First Sage ~ The Star Mother ~ The Umbral Witch ~ Sunlit Moon ~』

『~ "When the Night of Evermore shall arrive, the littering stars swallowed, twilight shall appear before us once more. And she shall lament. To endure the worst of sorrows. To bear the heaviest of burdens. Mistress of the Moons, the forgotten saviour, the Paladin’s broken heart." ~』

I ended up staring at the two inscriptions for a while, not understanding what either of the quotations were supposed to mean.

Well, of course I would have trouble understanding them when I hadn’t learnt anything about this world’s religion... Still, I found it interesting, much more so than any of the religions of Earth, though perhaps that was because I was still in the mindset of it being a fantasy world, making it feel more like I was uncovering hidden lore.

’This is pretty detailed, so it’s gotta have some relation to the story, right? Unless it’s just worldbuilding... It’s a bit weird to have something that sounds this dark inside of a game for children, though...’

Either way, I didn’t have much to contemplate regarding the epigraphs, and I wouldn’t have had much time anyway as Lucretia soon turned around to call me from a way’s ahead.

"Enki? What are you dawdling for?"

"Ah, sorry. I just thought the statues were interesting."

Casting a final glance at the two statues, I hastened my steps, quickly catching up to her as we continued forward, passing through the arched entrance of the Sunlit Temple.

The interior was just as grand as I expected, resembling a large cathedral. Immediately upon entering, I spotted three additional statues placed right at the end of the vast hall―statues much more magnificent than any of those which stood outside, even the paladin and the mage, giving off a certain, almost imposing air even at this long distance.

Being in a precarious place like this, I was worried that I might be confronted for carrying a weapon around on my waist, but knowing that Lucretia would have warned me in advance if it were not allowed, I managed to subdue such concerns.

’I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have the Villainous Blade out...’

"Enki. I will demonstrate the proper procedure, so follow my lead closely."

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Whispering that in a low voice to me, Lucretia started walking off to the nave’s other end before I even had a chance to respond.

Suddenly, I felt something strange.

"...?"

I didn’t know what it was, but something felt a little off for some reason. Shooting furtive glances around, I couldn’t find anything unusual, yet I couldn’t shake that unsettling feeling...

Kind of as if I was being watched?

’Hm...’

Instinctively, I frowned.

It didn’t feel explicitly dangerous, and it was a relatively common feeling to experience in public anyway, but it invoked cold shivers to slither down my arms, so I hurried myself.

Approaching Lucretia, standing just a few metres away from the base of the three statues, I gazed up at them silently for a few seconds.

There was a small crowd in front of us, kneeling and giving their silent prayers, so I suppose we couldn’t make any noise. It was still quite early in the morning, so it’s not like the place was flooded, but out of the lot, I did note the fact that every one of them seemed to have knelt only before the biggest middle statue of the three, even if there wasn’t much space on the carpeted floor around it.

’Can’t they just sit on chairs or something and pray? Why do they have to do it on the floor?’

I was curious, but I guess it wasn’t a huge deal.

Looking at it from where I was standing, it was as if they were completely ignoring the two statues on either side of the middle one, and such a dismissive attitude was even reflected in the size and placement of the statues themselves.

The centre statue was a man, and the two adjacent statues were women.

I barely knew anything about this world’s religion yet, but I could make a few inferences based on what little clues I had.

Presumably, the centre statue, standing tall and prominently, was a depiction of the figurehead or representative of the religion as a whole. On the other hand, the two women, who were considerably smaller and appeared almost identical other than a few distinctions in detail, were evidently of lesser significance.

Still, considering their placement right besides the main guy in the middle of the church, they must hold some amount of status.

’...Oh, no, I suppose the left one is a little bit bigger.’

Like the two strange statues outside, none of the threes’ faces were visible.

However, unlike those two, it wasn’t because the faces of these ones were covered, but rather because the marble in that place was utterly smooth, as if no one had even made an attempt to carve their faces in the first place.

To me, it indicated that no one knew what the figures actually looked like, or otherwise were refraining from depicting them out of something akin to blasphemy.

In that case, I guess they really must be a god and a pair of goddesses, or at least of that nature.

At that moment, Lucretia finally began to move; placing herself in an empty spot before the three statues, she lowered to her knees.

Acting against the current of everyone else’s actions, she knelt before one of the side statues and shut her eyes. I only realised something was up when I noticed the angle of her body. She didn’t face the middle statue like everyone else did, but rather, she fully faced one of the female statues with her whole self―the left one, to be precise.

As if, like how everyone else was ignoring her statue, she was in turn ignoring theirs.

’Oh... Well, now I don’t get it at all...’

I thought I was doing quite well to figure out the details of the religion on my own, but I guess it was never going to be such a simple thing to logic out.

At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter. I was only doing it out of curiosity. Obeying the earlier command, I went on my knees beside her, facing the same female statue she did and closing my eyes.

’Okay... what now?’

I wasn’t religious, and I had never prayed in a church before, so I felt stuck as to what to do.

Kneeling there stiffly with my eyes darting about, I could only feel awkward. The pressure from sitting on my legs in an unusual position was also uncomfortable.

Still, well, this was also part of the job, so I didn’t think I had a choice but to wait until we were done here.

’It’s fine. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do after this, so it shouldn’t take long...’

Thus, I waited.

I waited, but it didn’t take long for my previous awkwardness to be blown away completely.

[E...ki... al...tine...]

All of a sudden, I heard something peculiar, like a murmur.

[Can... hear...?]

The voice, occasionally cut off by something bizarre, akin to radio static, wasn’t coming from outside, but rather from within my own head.

’Librarian...? Is something wrong?’

It was a female voice coming from inside my own head, so it could have only been her.

It could――only have been her.

I had no idea why it would have happened, but I could understand if something unexpected occurred and her communication was disrupted somehow, so I did my best to concentrate and listen.

[...Enki... Valentine...]

Yet, as I did so, I soon realised.

[Can you―]

This voice...

[―hear me...?]

It wasn’t the Librarian’s.