Arc 3 - Chapter 14: Pontifex of Andromeda

Only special persons were allowed to enter the office of the Andromeda Pontifex, leader of the religion of Zodianism, commander-in-chief of the conservative side in the civil war.

In the past, the guards would allow her mother, the Virgo Cardinal, to enter this room because she had the Virgo Blessing, but Yurine, who had nothing to do with religion except being her daughter, always had to wait outside.

Whenever she was left outside by her mother so that she could talk to the Pontifex, she kept thinking about how boring it was to be separated from her and paced the hallway, waiting for her mother to arrive.

"No matter how long I wait now..."

This is what Yurine thought as she entered the corridor where the guards were lined up. Now no matter how long she waited there, her mother would never come. Waiting was useless now, there was nothing to be gained by waiting.

Yurine knew what she had to do to achieve her dream. She had to not stand still; waiting, wanting, doing was nothing more than dreaming. She had to say 'I am doing' to reach the happy ending.

She felt a great burden for her small body. Yu's presence was the only thing that kept Yurine from being crushed under this heavy burden.

The Andromeda Guardians stood motionless on either side of the corridor as Yurine walked. They were first and foremost loyal servants of the Storm God, sworn to protect at all costs the Andromeda Pontifex, which had inherited the Andromeda Blessing as his representative.

Never once in the hundreds of years of the religion's history have the Andromeda Guardians betrayed, shirked their duty, and spared their lives. They were the most loyal people in the kingdom, perhaps in the world. They were raised from childhood and devoted to the religion with everything they had.

They did not marry, did not want children, did not think about possessions and were not interested in entertainments. They were completely free of worldly desires. Once, during a conversation about their loyalty, Yurine even heard the words castration, child and Andromeda Guardian in the same sentence, but did not understand.

Because the word castration did not appear in Emily's memories and her mother refused to tell her what it meant.

"I'll ask Yu and he'll tell me."

Yurine walked along the corridor and stopped before entering the Pontifex's room. She was nervous and did not know what to say. She took a deep breath and knocked on the big door embroidered with stars.

"Come in, child."

Yurine could hardly hear the faint, old voice coming from inside, and when she did, she felt uneasy. Only two people were allowed to call her that, and the Pontifex was not one of them.

The door was so big that it was difficult even for Yurine to open it. She pushed the door with both hands and went in. Since the room was on the top floor, instead of a flat ceiling, there was a dome decorated with religious symbols and a silver chandelier hanging from the top of the dome. The chandelier was so big that if it fell it could easily take the lives of several people.

The chandelier was hung with thick chains, but she was still careful not to walk under it. Yu would have done the same.

Another surprising thing was that there was a hole in the center of the chandelier. The hole was right on top of another hole in the center of the dome. This hole went all the way down to the bottom floor. Anyone falling through this hole was certain to die.

This hole was exactly on top of the Morning Altar. Whenever someone was worthy of Morning, a light would rise from this hole into the sky.

Even with candles lit on the chandelier, it was still dark because it was winter and the chandelier failed to illuminate the space.

Yurine could smell a disturbing odor. This sour smell emanating from the incense was clouding Yurine's mind.

"I have prayed to our God for you, and I am happy that you have arrived safe and sound."

Pontifex was very tall but very thin. His skin was full of age spots and wrinkles and the smell of soap was strong enough to overpower even the smell of incense. The top of his head was bald, but the rest of his gray hair grew down to his waist, along with his beard.

The officials of Zodianism preferred to dress in white, orange or red, but he, some say, had only worn black since childhood.

When asked why he did this, he always gave the same answer: he was mourning for those who had not found the right path and had fallen into sin.

"I am an old man who can no longer see, please tell me something so that I can understand where you are," said Pontifex. His eyes were looking straight at the door.

"I'm here."

Being in front of him made her uneasy. Everyone without exception said that the Pontifex was a good man, even better than he should be, but Yurine didn't feel safe in front of him. She would rather be with Yu than here.

"You don't have to stand, you can sit wherever you want."

The Pontifex spoke so slowly that Yurine could have told him about something that had happened to her before he finished his sentence. Of course, it would have been disrespectful to bring it up, so she put up with his slow speech.

She didn't want to face him, so she sat diagonally across from him instead of directly in front of him. From this angle she understood why he didn't want to be near him; old age had turned him into an ugly man.

"Yu is so handsome, I hope he doesn't age."

He didn't want him to grow old and turn into an ugly man. He wanted Yu to stay young with Rie. So the three of them could live together forever.

"We received sad news from your friends, I'm sorry for your loss, little one. I realize how big your pain is."

"Thank you."

She didn't know how to respond when someone said 'I'm sorry for your loss' and she didn't feel it was right to just say 'thank you' and stop the conversation.

"I want to keep my mother's legacy alive, I will take over where she left off."

The tips of the Pontifex's thin lips curled up slightly. He was smiling, but he was facing the door, not Yurine.

"Your love for her is admirable. Of course, how can a child not love her mother? I hope you can fill the void in your heart with our God."

She felt like crying if they talked about her mother any more. She stopped looking at the Pontifex and kept her eyes on the floor. He wouldn't have seen it if she wasn't already looking at him.

"Who brought you here? Your friends were talking about a butler, did he bring you? Or did you come with your mother's apprentice?"

"Her apprentice is dead."

"How?"

"B-burning..."

In fact, his death was suspicious; Yurine was not sure if Sharley had been killed by Yu or if he had already died and his body was sustained by black magic.

Still, it was better not to say that Yu killed him.

The Pontifex had tears in his eyes. He was crying for Sharley? Yurine would never cry for him.

"What a terrible fate. May our Lord take his soul to heaven when the day comes." The Pontifex put trembling fingers to his face and said a short prayer.

"He speaks without knowing anything..."

She wonder if he would have said that if he knew the problems Sharley was causing.

"Don't get me wrong, little one, I'm only thinking of you. How did you find a butler and those girls to serve you?"

She had forgotten how uncomfortable it was to be interrogated. Rolderhelm was also uncomfortable being interrogated, but it was easier to answer then because she thought she would never see the commissar again.

But now being questioned by the Pontifex was more uncomfortable, as she was likely to meet him often, and she had to think carefully about her answers.

"The butler, why is he standing next to you? He didn't put you in a difficult situation, did he?"

By difficult situation, he meant forcing Yurine to make a deal with him as a sword fairy. Pontifex, like everyone else, must have thought of that first.

"No, I still can't make a deal with anyone."

"Then why is he with you?"

Yurine did not answer. It would have been embarrassing enough to talk to Yu about it, and she didn't want to talk to the Pontifex about something she hadn't talked to Yu about.

"I want you to know that you are in an important position right now. We must not let others use you."

"Nobody's using me. I... I don't want to talk about it. It's just between Yu and me."

He had to summon the courage to give this answer. The Pontifex remained silent for a while, then took a deep breath and spoke.

"I understand. If you need help, don't hesitate to tell me."

After the last sentence, they both stopped talking and just waited. After half a minute, which seemed like an hour to Yurine, the Pontifex interjected again.

"Have you inherited the Blessings your mother had?"

"Yes."

She had gotten some tips from Yu on how to tell convincing lies. If she wasn't confident, her lie wouldn't be convincing, so she answered without hesitation.

"Rest today, tomorrow morning I will hold a ceremony for your mother and in the evening I will perform the Rite of Confirmation and make you Cardinal of Virgo. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes."

Yurine nodded, even though the other person couldn't see her.

"Because your friends came on your behalf, I let them stay at the Virgo Cathedral. They must be waiting for you there, I wonder how worried they must be. You should go there and apologize for being late."

"I understand."

Yurine stood up and headed for the door to leave the room.

"But first you need to see someone else waiting for you."

---

"Why are we left out! What nonsense! Why did they only let her in!"

Yu was walking angrily in a circle in the center of the waiting room. Kigaro, who had been watching him as he moved at a fast pace, began to feel dizzy.

"I don't know why you're so worried, try to calm down."

Yu gave Link a stern look. "Why is this guy still with us?"

"You don't have to look at me so hostile."

Yu turned his head and continued to move quickly around the circle he had drawn with his eyes.

"I've watched a lot of movies and anime, I've read news that are like this; these are these... If you only knew how many pedophiles come out of them... Repent, repent, what am I saying... Rhea, Azer, whatever you have, you keep my mind on my head."

"What does that mean? Or whatever, never mind."

Not sure if Yu could even hear his voice right now, let alone get an answer, Kigaro gave up asking.

The more Yu thought, the more he worried; the more he worried, the more he thought, and the more he thought, the more he worried, and so on in a vicious circle. Finally, he decided to change what he had asked the gods to do.

"Gods, forget about my mind, take care of the girl." Yu threw his hands to his head and pulled his own hair. "You idiot! Why would you leave a little child alone? I swear there will be blood, don't even think about it!"

"Even if we're alone, you shouldn't say such things. The ground has ears and you couldn't get your head back."

Link came closer to stop him, but Yu raised his hand to stop him from approaching him.

"Who will hear us here? I'm going crazy anyway."

Yu accelerated so fast that Kigaro tired of following him with his eyes and turned his gaze to Link.

"Why is he like that?" asked Kigaro. "Is the Pontifex a dangerous man? Then I should have gone with her."

"Pontifex is a good man." Link put a hand to his chin and lowered his eyes to the ground. "But I don't think the same of the other people here."

"Why?"

"We'll talk about it later."

While Kigaro and Link were talking among themselves, Yurine, who had finished her meeting with the Pontifex, entered the room where they were waiting.

"Yurine!"

"Y-Yu... You shouldn't call me that here."

Yu ignored her and almost floated in the air, kneeling in front of his daughter and holding her hands. He looked like a father raising princesses instead of children.

"You're okay, right? Tell me, what happened in there? Did he touch you?"

"Yu, what are you trying to say? I appreciate your concern for me, but no one can harm my exalted self. Yu! Don't hug me here! They'll see! Anyway..." Instead of rejecting him, Yurine smiled and represented herself. "I'll let you hug me some more."

After hugging her tightly, he pulled away and looked her up and down to make sure she was all right.

"See? You've been worrying for nothing."

Yu ignored Link and stood up, pulling himself together.

"What does the young lady want to do now?"

Yurine's answer after a moment's pause stunned Yu.

"Duke Leoral dri Vermilia is here, we need to speak to him."

"Vermilia..."

Their efforts at Rolderhelm revealed that Cecilus dri Vermilia was the mastermind of Rie's murder and that Yurine wanted revenge on him. Leoral dri Vermilia was Cecilus's father.

"The Vermilia family is a supporter of the Virgo Cathedral. He has been waiting for me for some time, we must go to him."

"I know, it's just... It's so sudden."

Why would the Vermilia family want to kill the cardinal they supported?

Was their goal to obtain Rie's Blessings?

Yu did not have detailed information about how the Blessings were obtained. All he knew was that when Rie died, the Blessings passed to him and maybe they could try to kill Yu or Yurine to get the Virgo and Orion Blessings.

But if they wanted the Blessings, shouldn't they have been with Rie when she died? After all, Yu was there that day so the Blessings could be passed on to him.

Perhaps their aim was to make Yurine a cardinal and control him. Virgo Cathedral may not be worthy of attention now, but the Vermilias were a powerful family, and with their power the cathedral would be valued and the Vermilia family would have more control over the people.

"But wouldn't Yurine have died there too? Still..."

This was the first and only logical reason Yu could think of. Although he pushed himself, he couldn't come up with any other ideas about the motivation behind the murder.

Also, killing Cecilus would have been problematic as the Vermilians were their only supporters. Yurine certainly wanted to kill him, but the cathedral would have taken a big hit if rumors spread that they had killed their own supporters.

On top of that, if Cecilus's father was involved and Yurine wanted revenge on all Vermilians, Yu wasn't sure he could do it.

"I have to be careful with Leoral, Yurine must not be alone with him, and even if they don't want to let me in this time, I will insist on going in."

"They put his room on the bottom floor to make it easier for him to get in and out, let's go there."