Arc 3 - Chapter 11: Mora Kingdom of the Stars (2/2)

While they were waiting in line, the snow started to fall again. Workers cleared the road so that vehicles could pass, but after a while the snow covered the cleared areas again.

"Where do we go from here?"

"I want to see Sivina and Ana. I want them to..." He thought for a while how to say this part. "We sent them to tell them that the old Virgo Cardinal was gone and that you were coming to be the new Virgo Cardinal."

He didn't want to use the word dead for Rie when Yurine was around.

"They've already passed this news on to the Andromeda Church. I also want to make sure that the money I gave them is safe."

He trusted them, but he still wanted to see the gold as soon as possible.

"Let's go to the Church of Andromeda first."

Since Sivina and Ana had come on behalf of Neko, they would probably let them stay at the Virgo Cathedral. So if they hadn't run away, he believed he would meet them today.

"People in the church know you, don't they?"

"The Pontifex and most people know me."

"First we have to talk to the Pontifex and get him to approve you as Cardinal of Virgo. I hope the system still works the way you say it does."

"Yu, don't you believe me?"

"I believe it. I think if it's only been a year and the system has changed, we'll be in trouble. It would be easier for you to be accepted as Cardinal of Virgo because you're Rie's daughter, but if I suddenly come out and say I have the Blessing and I'm going to be a cardinal... I don't know, it's not likely. And I might be accused of killing the previous cardinal."

In fact, when it came down to it, Yu knew he was guilty.

When he was at Rolderhelm, the guilt he felt for Rie's death faded for a while, but after he left Rolderhelm, it flared up again, growing every day. He felt guilty even for the fact that the guilt he felt back then had subsided for a while.

"If I hadn't held her... If I trusted myself... So many ifs."

Yu chose to just watch. He watched and chose to stand by and think he was protecting a child. How stupid he was, he had done nothing but make a mess of things.

"I see someone dying and I don't intervene. That makes me as guilty as the murderer. I'm as guilty as Sorrow, if I hadn't been there, maybe they would have lived..."

Why was his guilt increasing day by day? Why did his emotions change so quickly? He hated grief, regret, but he was especially frustrated by the fact that his moods did not remain constant.

"While I am thinking about how bad I am, I just watched Yurine to massacre hundred people and I am totally okay with that?" He searched his heart, but couldn't find a regret about them. "Thinking they're bad people, is that why I am not feel guilt?"

He couldn't find a word to convince his conscience. Despite every other person he had killed, his thought still were about the Rie. In here, he couldn't thought anything but her.

"I'm trying to clean up my own mess, but even if I wash, will the blood on my hands go away?"

He was looking at his hand as he thought about it. Suddenly it felt even worse to have caused the death of someone who had saved him. The hole in his chest was waiting for a chance to open up again.

"Yu." Yurine turned to face Yu and took his hand. "Don't look so sad, I won't let you be blamed."

"You're a nice girl. What favor could I have done to deserve such a nice girl?"

Even if Yurine could protect Yu from the accusations of others, she could not prevent Yu from accusing himself, from being judged by his own conscience. Still, it warmed his heart to even try.

As the cars ahead of them moved forward and it was their turn, their wagon stopped under the big gate of the city. They could hear Tobias, the driver they had hired to drive the wagon, and the officer at the city gate talking.

When the officer asked to inspect the wagon, Tobias got out of the driver's compartment and knocked on the door.

"My lady, Mr. Valarfin, they want to check our cargo."

"Open the door, Tobias," Yu said.

Tobias did as he was told and opened the door. Their driver was taller than Yu but thinner. He had pink hair and yellow eyes. Yu had tried to see if he was trustworthy and decided that he was as trustworthy as a normal person could be.

So instead of making a long-term deal with him, he had made a short-term deal with him and he was going to send him soon.

The officer, whose job it was to prevent illegal goods from entering the city and to administer and keep records of taxes, greeted Yu and Yurine and entered. The city guards were waiting just outside the car.

The first thing the officer noticed and wanted to check were the crates that took up half of the space inside the carriage. When the officer asked for the crates to be opened, Yu stood up and started to open the locked crates.

"W-what are you doing with so much gold? Where did they come from?"

In the city where they had stopped before coming here, Yu had heard about the laws. He learned that if he brought too much gold into the city, the tax rate would increase, and if he brought too little, it would decrease.

Yu did not understand the reason for such a system, but he did not question it too much. All he knew was that he had to bring his gold into the city in pieces, not all at once, so that he would pay less taxes. So he entrusted some of the gold to the roarons.

And yet there was still a jaw-dropping amount of gold in front of him. So the officer could not hide his astonishment.

"This gold belongs to the Valarfin family, to me."

"Was there such a family in the Mora?"

"We are not Morans, the Valarfin family is from the Storm Kingdom. When my family fell apart, I took my inheritance and traveled to Rolderhelm, where I met the damsel, and when I learned who she was, I swore allegiance."

The Storm Kingdom also worshipped the Storm God Azer, but the Zodian religion had long since lost its influence there. Only a small minority practiced Zodianism and their beliefs differed because of the distance between the countries.

"If you are rich, why would you swear allegiance to a child? It's a ridiculous story."

"Your ignorance and disrespect are disturbing. The one you call a child is the bearer of the Virgo Blessing and is here to become the Cardinal of Virgo."

There might not have been anyone who cared about the Virgo Cathedral, but at least those in this city would have heard of it. After all, a new sect was emerging in their city with the approval of the Pontifex of Andromeda.

Of course, the important point here is not the Virgo Cardinalate, but the fact that Yurine bears the Virgo Blessing.

Most of the Blessings created by Azer centuries ago were lost and the only Blessings whose whereabouts are known are the Blessings of Andromeda, Leo, Aquarius, Libra, Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and the Orion.

He was not sure that they knew the identity of the bearers of the Gemini Blessing, but after all, the bearers of the Blessings were considered chosen by God and valued. Or, they just believed bearers of Blessings chosen by the Storm God Azer, but they also thought the female bearers are witch and did not like them. If it is as they think, and the bearers are chosen by God, they should also love witches. In such a contradiction, and believing that someone like himself could not be chosen by any god, Yu believed that the bearers were just random people.

"Can you prove she's carrying this?"

"We're going to the Church of Andromeda for that, but I don't think it's any of your business here, please just do your own thing."

The officer had no answer for this. Yu had come up with an explanation for the gold, and the story became more believable because both he and Yurine were charismatic people, not only in their clothes but also physically.

The officer counted the goods in the wagons and the slaves behind them, made his notes and prepared the wagons to enter the city.