Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 65: Sunday

Sunday was an important day in Drakon-Rasa.

On Earth, religious folk would generally go to church on Sunday―that much was common knowledge, and true at least when talking about a couple of the major religions. Here, though, they seemed to be a bit more fervent with their practices.

Thus, similar to Earth, but evidently more extreme, it represented a day of religious significance.

"The Father of the Holy Sun, Soldeus, is the primary religious figure of the Drakon-Rasa Empire. On this day, every week without fail, rituals vital to our culture are held, with countless prayers being made to the Sun Father."

Even if I looked out the window now, I could see the streets of the Imperial Capital flooded with citizens on their way to the already-packed Sunlit Temple.

’It’s so popular, huh.... Is that why the weather is always so perfect? Or I guess, maybe it’s explained like that in the game’s lore...’

Incidentally, all of those citizens right there were either nobles or noble-adjacent, it seemed. Granted, the Sunlit Temple was absolutely something that could be called a place of grandeur, but there would obviously not be enough space to accommodate the entire capital city’s population in a single building.

Supposedly, there were a number of smaller temples around the city to compensate for this that the commoner masses would use. Hearing this explanation, I only belatedly realised it was common sense, and felt rather stupid for a moment.

In any case, seeing just how flooded the streets were at this moment, I was honestly taken aback.

"...It’s a much bigger deal than I expected."

"I must say, it isn’t this hectic every week. I suppose the people are off to pray for the continued grace of the Sun Father for the coming weeks and months as we are entering the cold seasons―a time known colloquially as the ’Sunship’. This is my first time witnessing it first-hand, however."

Gazing out the window beside as she elucidated the Empire’s heavily religious culture, stood Lucretia.

"Oh, because you lived in the north? That’s also why your family doesn’t worship the Sun Father, right?"

It was intriguing lore, making me recall those cool statues from the previous day.

Actually, Lucretia’s family and the entire Christina-Rasa Archduchy it ruled, was based in the northern regions of the continent. I had heard the customs were different up there, and because Christina-Rasa was ruled by the archduke, that effectively made Lucretia its princess.

As it turned out, the Antagonist was of grander standing than I gave her credit for, even initially.

From what I heard through the gossip of some of the residence’s maids who moved down here with her, special thanks to Mary, she only started living in the Imperial Capital to attend the Royal Academy. Before that, apparently all her interactions with the crown prince were through brief sojourns in the Imperial Palace.

At my show of curiosity, she nodded.

"Indeed. Within the borders of our vast archduchy lie manifold frozen tundras, snowfields, and uninhabitable mountains. The Sun Father’s grace and reach is limited in the far north, and so instead, we rather have a tradition of praying for the Winter Mother’s guidance and protection."

"Mmm... wouldn’t praying to the Sun Father keep you warm, though? Why not pray to both?"

"Enki, you cannot have both the blessing of the Holy Sun and the Winter Moon simultaneously. Praying to both would be moot, and a waste of resources which are already scarce in the lands of unforgiving ice."

Being told something that sounded a bit unfair for the people up north, I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? But why...?"

[Erm, pardon my interruption, but I believe the two would counteract each other due to their contradictory quintessence, is that not correct...?]

Suddenly, the Librarian interjected.

’What, really? I mean, it makes sense, but that just sucks, right? And wait, doesn’t that also mean it’s impossible for me to get a Blessing from the Sun God now since I already have one from the other side? What if I wanted the other one, or both?’

Evidently oblivious to my internal strife, the northern princess continued.

"Regardless, in the land of our archduchy, it is far more efficient to integrate with the natural state of the world and adapt to it rather than waste energy in a futile endeavour to resist it. There is no reason why you should strive to deny the will of the world, in any manner."

"Right..."

Hearing that I would never be able to obtain a Blessing from the Sun Father was disappointing, but what could you do.

It was a net gain even with just the one I got, and besides, if what the Goddess said about the Protagonist being blessed by the Sun Father is true, then I probably never would’ve received one anyway.

’Maybe it’s a good thing. I finally have a clue what her hidden power is, too.’

That also means the Blessing I got might be able to help me counter her... well, I still don’t know what the Blessing does, though, so maybe not. The piercing chill that never left my chest, slowly and continuously killing my heart and emanating endless waves of bitter cold across my body...

To be honest, I don’t even know how something like that could even be called a "Blessing".

The cold was detestable, and this wasn’t any consolation at all.

"What’s about the smaller moon? Is that another Goddess?"

"That’s correct. Helene, Twin Goddess of the Harvest Full Moon, or Mother of the Harvest. She is worshipped by various rural regions. We also hold seasonal rituals for Her blessing in the north, however, the same could be said for any region that wishes the utmost for its crops and produce. There is nothing to lose from it, I suppose, so everyone worships Her."

"I see."

’So it’s fine to have multiple Blessings if they’re not oppositional, huh.’

[Certainly! You do have the Blessing of the Illusory Spirit, after all!]

The Librarian said as much, but I couldn’t really consider that the same.

Unless, was the Library’s Spirit a god too...?

Anyway, it was a system that made sense. I wasn’t sure if the Blessing of the Winter Mother was something that would restrict me from receiving any sort of contrasting Blessing from other Illusory Worlds, or if it was just limited to the Sun Father, but I guess I’ll only ever find out if the situation arises.

In any case, because today was indeed the Day of Sun, Lucretia’s agenda was fully open.

She obviously didn’t need to pray at the Temple herself, but because nearly everyone else living in the city was doing exactly that, there was no business to handle by going out today. She would probably spend her time studying something or other in the residence.

For me, that meant a day off from being her attendant.

Of course, I still had to be near her so I could protect her just in case of something unexpected, but I didn’t really need to do anything in particular.

Spending time idly in my room whilst Lucretia had her self-study session, I decided against trying to replicate the knight training for a third time; I hadn’t gotten anywhere close to achieving anything meaningful the previous two times, so I didn’t want to bother wasting my time with it again, at least not without a skilled instructor.

Somehow, I ended up lying around lethargically.

Incidentally, you might not realise it unless you experience it for yourself, but being in a world like this with no modern technology was boring as all hell, particularly when that was the kind of life you were adapted to, so I had to find something to pass the time.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

My phone was in Storage, but because it both had a limited battery life and since I was doing my best to not use up the Mark’s stored energy as much as possible, I couldn’t justify using it.

Also, it goes without saying that I had already tried to see if I could learn the magic of this world through some of the other servants of the residence, but because I had no mana, it was useless.

It would be nice if Isabella could have taught me her holy-based healing magic, but alas, such a dream was but that. Apparently the gods wanted to slurp your mana up too to use their divinity for magic, which I thought was a bit bullshit, but whatever.

Instead, since I had nothing else to do, I ended up doing normal calisthenic workouts. I had very little experience doing them before, but I more or less knew the basics.

I absolutely wasn’t someone who liked working out, or even putting effort into anything, really, but recalling the ’Poor’ rating on my General Physical Ability, a spark of something like motivation originating from dissatisfaction and anger ignited within me.

"―Librarian, are you seeing this? This is a plank. I’ve heard people say they struggle with holding it for a minute, but isn’t it not that hard? I guess my core strength isn’t too bad."

Well, I wanted to think that, but the more likely case was that I was simply so light that I could support my body weight without much stress. The same was true of other upper-body exercises like pull-ups and push-ups.

It’s not that my upper-body strength was good, but that I weighed close to nothing at all.

Of course, with the selfish desire to feel good running rampant within me, I buried that forbidden knowledge deep inside and put a smile on my face.

[Certainly! Ooh, really?! Congratulations! I’m new when it comes to physical exercises, so it looks quite difficult! I’m not strong at all...! Hmmm, in fact, if I were to do it, I think I might snap all of my limbs off, hehe!]

Thud-!

"E-excuse me?"

Hearing the Librarian’s exclamation, which was conveyed in an abnormally enthusiastic tone for such dark content, I subconsciously tilted my head, tipping my balance to one side and falling to the ground as a result.

Envisioning the familiar image of the fragile-looking Librarian I knew inside my head, I began to see what she meant and slowly nodded.

"...I can see why it might be tough...?"

[Certainly! Anyway, it’s a good thing I’m not much of a physical person!]

"Neither am I, but doing this will increase my Physical Ability, won’t it? And it’s better than sitting around uselessly, so I might as well force myself to do it... and, well, I’m sure you could do it if you tried too, right?"

[Certainly, hehe! But I won’t!]

Rising to my feet again, I wiped away the sweat on my forehead before getting into position for squats.

’I think this is the correct posture...?’

For the first time in my life, I continued exercising until all my strength dried up.

Although, for that exact reason, it wasn’t very long.