Words of Guidance

As a mature priest, Falk should learn to first eliminate his own useless emotions before communicating with others.

Because they must find ways to counsel others and guide them toward goodness.

Put plainly, when facing such situations, the first thing they should tell people is—

—Lay down the butcher’s knife, and attain enlightenment on the spot.

Just like now, when the lady before him spoke words that sounded like complaints, like resentment, even like thoughts of revenge, he should step forward and tell her—

—The past has already become the past, so let it slowly fade into memory. You cannot always be trapped by what has already happened. After all, the coming decades still have to be lived looking forward.

These could be considered standard lines, even carrying the flavor of clichéd spiritual “chicken soup.”

But for a priest who listened to others’ suffering, these words were the standard answer.

“……”

So Falk, in the small wooden booth unseen by anyone, gave a bitter smile.

Then, in a gentle voice, he replied:

“Miss, let the past remain in the past. We cannot always dwell in memories. If your mother were to see you like this now, she surely would not be happy. As a mother, what she would want to see is her child living happily. So there is no need for you to be troubled by these matters, nor to be plagued by nightmares. If these things harm your health, your mother would surely worry.”

“So our priest really is completely unfeeling, huh? Do you all serve only the gods, forever and ever? Serving those vague, illusory gods—has that made you heartless as well? What do you mean, let the past be the past? Those things already happened. I’ve already lost what was important to me. With just a light sentence of ‘let it go,’ who is supposed to compensate me for what I lost? I shouldn’t have had to go through such pain in the first place.”

Hearing Falk’s standardized response, Ellie already had a good idea of the situation.

She could tell that this matter had indeed touched Falk’s emotions.

That was precisely why he was replying with these thoughtless, formulaic lines.

And because of that, compared to her earlier weak and helpless tone, Ellie now added a few strands of anger to her voice.

One could even say she was deliberately stirring up the resentment buried in Falk’s heart.

“Miss… that’s not quite how it works. Those matters truly have already become the past. The dead have closed their eyes forever. No matter what we do, we cannot make them open their eyes again. Since they have already departed, we should all the more strive to live well…”

At the end of this sentence, Ellie keenly caught the faint sigh in Falk’s voice.

It sounded, perhaps, like helplessness toward an overly intense visitor.

But perhaps it was also because of his own circumstances.

“Your words are so light and careless. How can I live well like before? Have you ever experienced this feeling? Have you ever experienced the feeling of losing your closest family?”

So Ellie pressed even harder.

Happy things pass by with a single laugh, but sad things linger for a long time once brought up.

Right now, Ellie was thoroughly rubbing salt into Falk’s wounds.

When Ellie had seen Falk earlier, she had already noticed that his priest’s robe was different from the others’.

It looked more ornate.

Although it didn’t have many decorations, the difference was obvious at a glance.

If the hierarchy in this world had not changed, Falk was likely already at the rank of an acolyte.

He still looked very young, with boundless prospects ahead.

Reaching this level at such an age was enough to show that he was also an outstanding individual in this world.

And in this world, within the church, one naturally needed to have one’s own people as well.

Firth belonged to the knights.

Even if he wasn’t the commander, a vice commander was sufficient.

And if she could secure Falk, then she would also have her own person within the church.

This was far better than before, when she had influence over the church but no way to grasp the knights.

Moreover, now she was not in opposition to the crown prince.

What she needed to pay attention to were only the subtle movements in various places, using this to protect her brother’s smooth ascension to the throne.

Firth was easy to deal with.

He was already her brother’s man; she only needed to clearly state her stance.

As for Falk…

He didn’t seem difficult either.

As long as she could stir up his emotions—his sorrow, pain, and even anger after losing his father—then once she presented him with the prepared “gift,” he would naturally be grateful for her kindness.

With such a connection established, would it really be hard to later develop into partners?

This was Ellie’s “token of allegiance,” and also her “knocking brick.”

Only, this door now needed Ellie herself to build.

“I… Miss, there’s no need to be so agitated. The feeling of losing one’s parents—I have experienced it as well. I once fell into such suffering. But slowly, I emerged from it. I believe I must embrace a better life, to be worthy of my parents’ nurturing grace…”

“The grace of your parents’ upbringing is repaid by you ignoring their deaths after they’re gone? You don’t even want to understand how they died. Can someone like that still be considered filial? Can someone like that still serve the gods? Even the priests of this central church have such an attitude… does this church still have any hope? Why does no one bother to deal with such matters at all?”

“…I… I think… His Majesty the King will handle these matters properly…”

“Ah, His Majesty. Of course the current emperor is so wise… He will surely find a way to deal with what happened back then. But you never even mentioned what exactly happened to your parents. You just bottle this secret up inside? Letting their deaths never see the light of day? If it were me, I would definitely find the people who harmed my parents. Listening to your voice, you still sound quite young. Your parents likely died during the era of bandits and war, didn’t they? Have you never thought about finding those bandits and avenging your family?”

“As you said, that was the era of bandits and war. How could they possibly be found now? So compared to the past… I would rather look properly toward my future.”

“How useless you are, our priest. Do you know how many evil people your saintly heart has saved?”

Listening to Falk grow increasingly hesitant, Ellie knew—

Now, the opportunity had appeared.