The Blessing

"Okay, I'll bite—what happened? I almost didn't recognize you."

Ciel had been leading me silently through the palace halls after summoning me, until she suddenly blurted that out.

"What do you mean you didn't recognize me?"

"You just...seem like you had some sort of epiphany or something."

"An epiphany..." I did feel different ever since my conversation with Crow, it was true.

"Humph. And here I was, trying everything I could think of with no effect at all..."

"Ah, the princess appears to be feeling sulky. Perhaps you would do well to communicate your deep gratitude for her efforts on your behalf."

"Ack, Crow?!" I winced as Catra's claws dug harder into my shoulder; Crow's characteristic sudden materialization from thin air had startled her so much she'd almost slipped off her perch.

"Oi, Remille! Don't listen to him!"

"Of course, of course," I said quickly.

"Humph. Well, whatever. We're heading to the church. Before I Appraise you again, I want you to receive the ritual blessing."

"What...sort of blessing is that?"

"It's just a little ritual. A formality."

Typically, blessings were performed by the church in exchange for a fee. It was also traditional for nobility to go through the ritual as a formal coming-of-age rite. Tales of people receiving the powers of gods or spirits during the blessing were most likely just remnants of ancient times. Back in the day, the church used to perform an Appraisal on children when they reached the designated age. Nowadays, there were easier ways to receive appraisals, as there were more people like Ciel who possessed the ability. So the blessing ritual was reduced to a mere formality.

"Here we are," Ciel said.

"Oh, wow..." We had arrived at a magnificent church adjoined directly to the castle. The elaborate decorations and ornamentation rivaled the castle's own.

"Here, you'll need this."

"Need wh—? Oh."

"Payment, duh."

The leather pouch she'd handed me was heavy with gold coins. How much is in here...?

"Once you hand that over, just follow all the instructions and you'll be fine. Nothing to fret about. It's just some regular old priest."

"Your Highness, I believe His Holiness the Pope is conducting today's blessing personally...?"

"Yeah, I know. Like I said, just a regular priest. He's a harmless old geezer."

Only Ciel could get away with saying that...

"Crow, does Ciel have something against the church?"

"Not precisely. I imagine that her emotions surrounding the church are...complicated. It was the current pope, Rosabel, who discovered the 'uncut gem' power within her."

"Ah." The uncut gem. The discovery of her ability, which allowed her to wield the powerful Eye of Appraisal, had placed a heavy burden on Ciel's shoulders that she'd carried ever since. The memory might be a bit traumatic for her, in a way.

"What are you two mumbling about?" she snapped. "Let's go."

"Right, coming." As independent as she usually is, I guess the church's influence is too great for even Ciel to ignore.

"Rosabel, we're here!" Ciel threw open the doors, and...

"Welcome home, my lost lamb."

"Huh...?"

The person who greeted us was not the pope, but a short woman wearing a hooded cloak. The girl from the adventurers' guild!

"Remille! Watch out!"

"—?!" At Ciel's shout, I quickly assumed a battle stance. But...

"Hah. You are too late. Much too late."

"What?!" There had been a good deal of distance between us, but in less than the blink of an eye she was somehow at my back. I didn't even see her move!

As I stood frozen in shock, Catra sprang into action. "Meeeeeep!!!"

"Oh my, what a brave little thing to try to face me head-on. But I'm going to need you to be a good girl now."

"Meep?!" With one blow—honestly, more like a gentle pat—Catra fell unconscious.

"Worry not. She is alive. I did not come here to fight."

I looked at Ciel.

"Luring us into a trap isn't her style," Ciel said grudgingly.

"The princess is correct," Crow agreed. It was a testament to the woman's odd power that even Crow, an S rank adventurer, seemed paralyzed in place.

"I am so glad that we understand each other. Please, be at ease. Rosabel has agreed to this."

"Someone higher than the pope..." I mused. "But wouldn't that mean..."

"Correct. In your language," she said as she lowered her hood, "I would be called a god."

She glowed with a dazzling halo. In stark contrast to our guarded, tense postures, this woman who'd named herself a god sat before us as the very picture of nonchalance.

"Now then, where shall we begin?" The woman—no, the god—spoke with such serenity, absently stroking Catra, who lay across her lap. "Firstly, please seat yourselves."

We obediently sat around the table. It seemed we had no will to resist—or rather, that our wills were irrelevant.

"You need not fear for the little one," she went on. "She simply couldn't take that much of my power. If I just... Oh?"

"Meep!" The instant she regained consciousness, Catra sprang to my side.

"Hmmm... To think that you command the devotion of a behemoth, a creature worthy of being a disciple of gods. You are a man of breathtaking power."

Abstractly, I knew that I sat under the steady gaze of a literal god, but I couldn't really wrap my mind around that—after all, she just looked like a normal woman right now. The only thing I could make sense of was that she seemed to be praising my taming ability.

"How about we cut the chitchat and get to the point?" Ciel seemed to have reached the limit of her patience.

"I couldn't agree more. The truth is, however, that my purpose in appearing here today was truly to aid you in procuring the blessing you desired, and now that task is complete."

"...Huh?"

Ignoring my confusion, Ciel peered at me, her eye flashing emerald. "Well, whaddaya know..."

"What do you know???" I asked.

"Your stats are—no, wait, all of our stats, including Catra's, are rising dramatically," Ciel told me.

"But how is that...?"

The god only smiled benevolently.

The blessing... As the words came to my mind, I started. My body seemed to move of its own accord. "Oh, right," I found myself saying. "Here." I held out the pouch of gold that Ciel had given me to offer in exchange for the blessing.

"Oi, Remille... It's a bit, uh, tacky to presume to offer money to a god, don't you think?" Ciel said, exasperated.

I could definitely see her point. I just figured I didn't want to keep walking around with that much money on me.

"Hmmm. Your action at this juncture was not as foreseen. It appears you truly were the correct choice."

"Choice? Choice for what?"

With a sigh at my obtuseness, Ciel explained. "She is the reason you have the ability to loop through repeated lives."

"Oh..." Oh. The reason I had been through seven lifetimes. It was her doing. "But... Why?"

"A fair question. But let us defer that discussion until after you have come safely through the ordeal."

"What...ordeal?" The monster that I faced in my third year flashed through my mind. Was that an ordeal sent by the gods...? But why? What was her goal?

As my thoughts swirled, she spoke again. "But first, the goal is this blessing you desire. It was originally my intention to bestow a hint upon you, but it appears that the princess by your side is more impressive than I had realized. You do not require anything more than this from me."

"Huh?" The god's form seemed to dissolve into the light that had formed her halo.

"Your ability to wield light magic has already been awakened. I shall bestow further power upon you."

A portion of the light that had been the god seemed to break off and flow into my body. And in the next instant, the light and the god had vanished so completely it was as if they'd never been.

"Wow..." said Ciel. "You really are a magnet for drama, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Repeating life over and over until you have many times the experience of a normal person... I knew that a supernatural ability like that would end up being tied to something bothersome, but this..." Ciel groaned in exasperation.

"Is it...that bad?" She seemed perfectly friendly to me... And anyway, weren't the gods supposed to be allies of humanity?

My face must have betrayed my thoughts. "Don't you get it?" Ciel said. "Gods are supernatural beings multiple dimensions above humanity. Dragons, elves, vampires—none of those higher beings are even on the same plane as the gods."

Yeah, that much I knew. Although nowadays, most higher beings or otherwise supernatural entities were mostly relegated to the realm of myth.

"The gods are neither allies nor enemies of humankind," she continued.

"Well, at least they're not our enemies..."

"No. That would be preferable. Think about it—if we knew they were enemies, then you'd know you needed to defend yourself as soon as you saw them. But as long as there's the possibility that they're friendly, then they automatically retain the upper hand. There's no way to know how to approach them. And if you offend them in the slightest, it's game over. Jeez, I just can't even..."

"When you put it that way, much of that could describe you as well..." Crow said.

"Excuse me?!"

Crow's tone shifted from teasing to soothing as he continued. "There's nothing we can do about her involvement now. We might as well count our blessings that she doesn't seem to bear us any animosity at present."

"Yeah, that's true enough. Okay, well, I'd like to Appraise your current abilities once more, and then we'll figure out what comes next."

Seems like this is a more serious problem than I realized... However, one obvious and elegant solution sprang to my mind.

"Sooo, can a god be, uh...tamed?"

"What?!"

"Ho ho. Fascinating," said Crow.

"Are you insane?! We're talking beings that are waaaay above even dragons here..." Ciel's yells gave way to a thoughtful silence.

And then...

"I love it!" A sly grin spread over her features. "Okay then. That settles the next steps of your training."

"Speaking such blasphemy inside a church... I never thought I'd see the day."

They both laughed. Despite having been the one to make the suggestion, I was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, but it was too late to take it back. Well, we have to do everything we can...

Oh, and speaking of what we could and couldn't do, something was bothering me. "Ummm, by the way, about that light magic she gave me at the end..." I had previously gained the ability to wield any magical attribute, but after her magic entered me I'd felt something change about the magic inside me. Like my skill with light magic had jumped one or two levels ahead of the other types.

"We'll work to strengthen that gift," Ciel said. "That magic must be the 'hint' she mentioned."

"Right... A hint..."

"Don't you worry about that for now. You're not very smart, so it's best to just focus on one thing at a time."

I couldn't honestly disagree with that assessment. If she says I shouldn't worry about it, I guess I should take her up on that and be grateful...

"Meeeeep..." Catra, now fully recovered, chose that moment to stretch herself out and give a big yowl.

"Hmmm, Catra, you seem like some sort of divine messenger," Ciel said. "Are we sure you should be involved in this conversation?"

"Meep!" Catra chirped as if to say, "of course I should," then climbed up onto the top of my head.

"Hm, fair enough," Ciel replied. "You did immediately fight her."

"Oh yeah, so she did." And the god seemed surprised by it. The god had said that behemoths were creatures worthy of being gods' disciples. Well, they were more powerful mythological beasts than even the dragons; I supposed that wasn't such a crazy idea.

Of course, given that I had just been visited by a literal god, the bar for crazy had been raised a good deal. "Well, anyway," I said, "let's just hope that she remains an ally and not an enemy, I guess."

"You really are a weirdo," Ciel told me.

"Huh? Why?" From her expression, it didn't seem like she meant it as a bad thing. I'll just take it as a compliment, then...

"Okey doke, time for the Appraisal, and then while we're at it we'll also improve your equipment. I took the liberty of having some things made that I think will suit you."

"Whoa, for real?!" Having your own custom-designed weapons was an adventurer's dream.

"A minute ago you were casually talking about taming a god, but now that gets you so excited?"

The church echoed with the music of Ciel's laughter.