The lizardmen had bodies covered with green scales, while the mermen had the lower bodies of fish and the upper bodies of humans. The members of both races were praying together with the human pirates. The mermen were situated in wooden barrels filled with seawater. It was truly a strange, bizarre sight. Moreover, the mermen and the lizardmen weren’t praying to their god of the sea—Posma—but to the three gods. To be exact, they were showing reverence toward the twin-headed ogre whose eyes shone red when Eugene entered the building.

“They’re out of their minds…” Eugene muttered under his breath when he saw the fanatics crying out. The holy knight seemed like he hadn’t heard Eugene’s words as he looked around with pride and excitement before speaking, “It’s all thanks to the monster Your Majesty sent… Ah! Please excuse me. The warrior of god you sent. The pirates repented when they saw that people carrying holy artifacts or wearing clothes with the symbol of the three gods weren’t being attacked. Ah! There comes the high priest.”

A group of priests in white clothes walked through the fervently praying pirates along with holy knights.

‘A woman?’

Eugene was slightly surprised to see that the person leading the group was a woman.

High Priest Laerina took her place in front of him and spoke, “The humble servant of the gods, Laerina, gives her greeting to Your Majesty Jan Eugene Batla, the rightful monarch of Maren, a man of true faith, and the honorable knight blessed by the gods.”

She proceeded to draw the holy symbol in the air in such a reverent way that it made it seem as if she were practically glowing. Eugene repeated the gesture unknowingly at the moment.

“I see… So, you’re the high priest of the Holy Empire. I am Jan Eugene Batla.”

Officially, high priests of the Holy Empire were commoners with no title, but technically, they were still above the cardinals of various kingdoms in terms of status. In that sense, Eugene’s words could be considered rather impolite.

However, Laerina seemed to be unconcerned about Eugene’s attitude.

“I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. The warrior that Your Majesty sent has saved us and led the sheep of this island to the path of faith.”

“It’s nothing. I simply did what I could and had to do,” Eugene responded. He wasn’t trying to be humble; he was simply telling the truth. Eugene had judged that the Dragonborn pirates were strong enough to capture the delegation of the Holy Empire. As such, he had sent the twin-headed ogre to gauge their power and check if they had any hidden cards. And since he couldn’t risk harming any members of the delegation, he had instructed the ogre not to touch anyone possessing holy artifacts or those with the symbol of the gods. Lastly, he instructed the ogre to draw the holy sign to prevent the holy knights from attacking it.

But it appeared his instructions had led to an incredibly strange result.

“I can’t believe how humble you are…!”

“Oh! Though you have the spirit of a hero, you are also a wanderer of the wilderness and a seeker of truth who pursues faith.”

The bursts of admiration from the priests were enough evidence.

‘This feels a bit burdensome…’

He felt most bothered by the high priest. She had her hands tightly clasped and was looking at him with glistening eyes as if she were praying.

“Your Majesty…” she started.

“Please speak,” Eugene responded.

“Your Majesty has led a monster to the path of faith, and although I cannot compare to you, I am also someone who treads the same path of faith,” she responded.

“...?” Eugene wasn’t sure what she was building up to, but he remained quiet and allowed her to continue.

“With the authority granted to me by His Holiness the Pope, I would like to bless Your Majesty and your warriors. Will you allow me?” she asked.

“Huh?!”

“What?!”

Exclamations of shock echoed from the surroundings. Amidst the surprise, Parma quickly stepped forward from behind Laerina.

“High Priest! Even though we are indebted to His Majesty, for you to give your blessing is…”

“His Holiness has said that he trusts my judgment and decision,” Laerina responded.

“B-but…”

“I am in charge of the delegation, Sir Parma,” Laerina said.

“…”

She was displaying a calm, determined attitude, which was different from how she treated Eugene. Parma stepped back while biting his lips.

‘I don’t know what the hell they are doing.’

Eugene was flabbergasted as well. He was completely fine with the fact that the situation was unexpectedly resolved thanks to the great performance of the twin-headed ogre, even though the result was quite strange. It was truly bizarre that the pirates had repented and converted, but the Dragonborn pirates were eradicated and the Holy Empire’s delegation was saved. It was surprising that a young female high priest had offered to give them her blessing, but it wasn’t that bad.

It wasn’t rare for priests to bless people, and a high priest of the Holy Empire wouldn’t be so stingy that she would withhold her blessing from her savior.

So, why were the priests and holy knights so surprised? And why were they trying to dissuade her?

‘Is there something more than meets the eye? She’s just a little girl, right?’

Eugene’s gaze was indifferent as he stared at Laerina. He couldn’t feel anything similar to the aura of a strong knight or a wizard from her. The special people Eugene had seen so far were unique, but they all possessed the aura and energy befitting their power and mystery. However, he couldn’t feel anything similar from Laerina. Instead, he could only feel a burdensome gaze filled with favor and goodwill toward himself.

“A blessing of the Holy Empire’s high priest. This is quite valuable,” Eugene said.

“…???”

The priests and holy knights standing behind Laerina took on dazed expressions after hearing Eugene’s words.

Very valuable—it was true, but why were they annoyed?

But despite their reactions, Eugene remained calmly gazing into Laerina’s blue eyes. Laerina looked slightly surprised, but she soon gave a soft smile. “Although it is rare for me to personally bless someone, it’s not that valuable. Then…”

Laerina raised her hand and Eugene slightly lowered his head, knowing well what she was about to do. It didn’t matter if the other party was a high priest of the Holy Empire. He was the King of Maren and an Origin vampire. He could not kneel. Even if the pope were here in person, he would still never kneel.

Parma slightly frowned at Eugene’s attitude.

Laerina’s refreshing voice resounded. “Oh, thou three holy gods, who care for all creatures and all things. This humble servant was allowed to borrow the authority of the master of all heaven and…”

Eugene felt his mood worsening as Laerina continued. He could not feel any hostility coming from her, but it felt as if there was a bug crawling inside his head. Eugene experienced an incessant and indescribable unpleasant feeling. After a while, he came to a conclusion about Laerina’s ‘blessing’.

‘It feels like I’m listening to a scammer trying to fraud me with some nonsense.’

Indeed, the discomfort he felt was due to the fact that he had to continue listening to her words, even though he knew well that they were complete rubbish.

“…So I dare implore you. Bless Jan Eugene Batla, the rightful monarch of Maren and the knight of true faith and noble honor. Anoint him with a blessing that permeates all the land within your reach.”

Paaaaaa…!

A pale light appeared from the tip of Learina’s hands when she finished, and it wrapped around Eugene.

‘What is this?’

Eugene wriggled unknowingly. The unpleasant sensation was being transmitted throughout his body. Thankfully, it quickly dispersed, and Eugene raised his head after sensing that the blessing of the high priest had ended.

“…?”

Eugene was puzzled. Laerina had blessed him with a voice as clear as the sky and as refreshing as morning dew. However, she had a confused, flustered expression.

“T-this shouldn’t be…?”

“…”

This shouldn’t be? What was she saying after giving her blessing?

“A-ah! P-please excuse me, Your Majesty. You have been blessed…” Laerina quickly corrected herself.

“Is that so? Anyway, thank you. It’s an honor,” Eugene responded before turning around, perhaps due to the lingering, unpleasant feeling. Princess Lilisain and the elves were as calm as ever, while Galfredik and the two vampire high lords looked slightly stiff as if the high priest’s voice had bothered them.

However, there was one person with a stupefied look and it was Romari with her mouth agape.

“Ah… T-that…” Romari stuttered as if she wanted to say something, but then she quickly approached Eugene while patting her robe.

“What is it?” Eugene asked.

“Sir Eugene, Sir Eugene. This is a jackpot,” Romari said.

“Jackpot?” Eugene asked. It was unlike her to be so excited.

“Yes, yes. The blessing that you just received is…”

Romari cupped her hand over her mouth before whispering something in Eugene’s ear.

Eugene’s eyes widened as he asked, “Is that true?”

Romari answered, “I’m ninety percent sure. As far as I know, if the blessings of the three gods were given to a member of the Dark Clan, it’s the only possibility. It’s a piece of information that has been passed down from the founder of our school, so I’m sure.”

“Hmm. This is…” Eugene took on a slightly troubled expression as he desperately stopped himself from grinning. He could finally understand why the high priest had been so flustered after giving her blessing, and why she had uttered such words.

“I feel like I received a precious gift, even though it’s just my duty to save everyone,” Eugene said.

“A-ah, n-not at all. W-well, I’m a little tired, so…” Laerina stuttered before turning around with an obviously flustered expression.

“Brothers, and sirs. I will leave the matter of returning home up to you. S-sir Parma, if I could speak with you for a moment…” Laerina said.

“What? Ah, yes.”

The delegation of the Holy Empire suddenly became busy preparing for their departure. Eugene could only smile with satisfaction after receiving an unexpected gift in an unexpected situation, and in an unexpected place.

***

“This is a little—no, it’s quite the trouble,” Laerina said.

“Sigh! That’s why I—no, never mind. Anyway, why are you acting like this? What kind of a blessing was it?” Parma stopped himself from rebuking Laerina and asked. Judging from the way she was reacting, it seemed that the King of Maren had been given an unusual blessing.

“Well, the blessing… No, more importantly, as soon as the blessing was given, I heard their voices,” Laerina responded.

“What?! Are you saying that a divine proclamation came down?” Parma asked.

“Yes…”

Divine proclamation—it was a miracle similar to an oracle in which the gods had personally spoken to a believer. Naturally, an oracle was the command and will of a god and was considered more important than anything else. And a divine proclamation was also a message from a god, so it was considered the utmost honor for any believer to experience it even once.

There were only very few special people who could hear the voices of the gods more often than others, and Laerina was one of them. It was how she had become a high priest and a saintess of the Holy Empire at such a young age.

“So, what did they say?” Parma asked with slight agitation.

“T-that’s…” Laerina hesitated while biting her lips.

Just as Parma was about to say something out of frustration, Laerina spoke with a sigh, “Well, they… they asked if I was crazy.”

“What?”

“I heard them asking me… if I was out of my mind,” Laerina said.

The gods had asked their own saintess if she was out of her mind?

“W-what? What kind of blessing was it that the gods would say such craz—no, such unexpected words…” Parma quickly corrected his words.

Laerina looked as if she were about to cry as she responded, “If it’s a place within the reach of the three gods… The King of Maren can now enter anywhere he wants, without the owner’s permission.”

“Huh? What does that even—what?!” Parma exclaimed after belatedly realizing the significance of her words.

It was the most powerful constraint of the Dark Clan—they could not enter a city or a building without an invitation from the owner. That was why they had to cooperate and sometimes bow to humans, elves, dwarves, and others from time to time, even though they were so powerful. But now, the only shackle binding the King of Maren and the undefeated duke of Brantia had disappeared.

“…I have never agreed more with the words of the gods until today, High Priest,” Parma said, thinking that he would have uttered the same words if he were a god.

“I’m sorry...”