About Taboo

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know?" Katze raised her voice. She's displeased by Rosine's nescience. The priestess, however, keeps her composure and calmly explains as to why she doesn't know.

"…The only memory I saw within her mind was only the time when she was a slave and till the time she escaped. But in one point, some kind of unknown force prevented me from seeing her most recent memories."

"Unknown force?"

Rosine affirms, "Yes. I'm afraid that's true. There's something that blocked me from entering her memories when she escaped up until now."

"No way… is it possible that Dux used some kind of magic to her?" Katze got a bit desperate.

"A mage has a vast ability to perform many tasks. But there was no record of a mage being able to shroud someone's memories."

"…then… what do you think?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Katze. I don't want to make assumptions, but unfathomable phenomenon implies that a greater force is at play. We, as simple human beings, subjects of Altria, can only see how things unfold."

"…tsk."

"Please be at ease. I don't know how things will go from now, but I will continue my duty as a priestess to heal her mental wounds until she's back to normal. I suggest you do the same as her guardian, Miss Katze."

"Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry for pushing myself like that, Rosine. It's just that… it's too hard to believe a girl like her had been through so much horror…"

"It's okay. I understand how you felt, especially after what you've been through yourself. But let's not worry too much, shall we? For her future, we must work together."

"Yeah… I get it. I will try my best to take care of her."

"Hm. That's good to know."

The priestess stands up from her stool and puts the prayer beads back to the drawer in the corner. "Oh, yeah. I haven't told Mrs. Poly about the effects of my magic. I'd like you to know, Miss Katze, that my magic works for 24 hours. Past that, the magic will dissipate, and her treatment will need to go back from square one. Please keep that in mind."

"Y-Yeah, sure. That means I should bring Oria here before the deadline, right?"

"Exactly. Oh, and one more thing. Make sure you don't induce excessive sadness or anger to Oria. It will weaken my magic. If she receives too much sadness or feels wrathful, my magic will be overwhelmed and thus erased."

Katze gulps. The way Rosine spoke calmly, yet seriously made the atmosphere awfully heavy. She then nods to her, "…I will. Thank you for the warning, Rosine."

The calm and graceful priestess fetches a pot and fills it with tea. She brings two cups and asks Katze, "Teehee. That being said, I would like to see how long the sleeping side effect lasts on Oria. Would you care to accompany me for a morning tea, Kattie?"

"Hey, now… don't call me by my old nickname, will ya? That's embarrassing."

"Heehee. Well, then. Would you care for a tea?"

"Like the old days, eh? A'ight. I don't have anything to do for the day, anyway, heh-heh."

…

..

.

Forty-five minutes later, Oria wakes up. As she opens her eyes, she sees the priestess and the dressmaker having a warm conversation while occasionally laughing at things they discuss. Blinking twice, Oria then remembers where she's at.

"Oh, yeah… I'm at the village chapel…"

She gets up from the bed, which catches the two young women's attention.

"Oh! Oria, you're awake!" Katze got up from her seat to come to her. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"I'm feeling super great!"

"Phew… guess it was a success, haha."

Rosine comes to them and greets Oria, "Hello, Oria. It seems you've awoken earlier than yesterday."

"Really? I'm not really paying attention, though…"

"Teehee. You do. It appears that your body can regulate my magic quicker, therefore you can regain consciousness so soon. I thank the Goddess for Her care upon you."

"Huh… I don't get it, but okay."

"With this, I can rest easy for today. Miss Katze, Oria, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare myself for the class today."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, thing, Rosine," Katze nodded. "Thanks for your help today. Really appreciate it."

"Teehee. It's a pleasure to help."

"Miss Rosine, are you going to teach them like yesterday?" Oria asked.

"This one is a bit different, Oria. As you might have seen, the chapel provides Sunday school for children of your age up to twelve years old. Bishop Arun and I are the primary teachers for the kids," Rosine calmly explained.

"Oh. Can I join, too?"

"But of course. We'll be happy to have you with us. Katze, you don't mind, do you?"

"Nah, it's okay. Go on and study to your heart's content, Oria."

Oria smiles brightly and thanks her, "Thank you, Miss Katze!"

…

..

.

With that, Oria inserts herself among the children that's going to join Rosine's class. Bishop Arun is glad to have her, a young, spirited child who are interested in learning the teachings of the Goddess.

And so, Rosine's class begins. Her lecture consists of some topics, but one of the most interesting parts for Oria is when she tells the class about the Grand System.

"The Grand System is one of Goddess Altria's creation that governs the nature of the world. Stats, skills, magics, titles, and many more can be found within it. An individual can see their overall statistics by saying 'Display Self Status' and then a panel will appear in front of you, showing your status."

The priestess then demonstrates to everyone, "Display Self Status."

Everyone can see the panel showing up but it's facing her, so the letters and numbers are blurred from behind. The children are still amazed by such display.

"Can we try it too, Miss Rosine?"

"Sure. All of you can try."

"(Huh… Miss Rosine's idea of the system isn't really different than what Faruk taught me…)"

Learning that what Faruk taught her wasn't different to what Rosine is currently teaching, Oria decides to sit back and listen to the rest of her lecture in a less interested expression. Only Oria who didn't try seeing her status. After all, she had done that a lot of times.

Eventually, the class continues to a somewhat serious topic.

"I beg your attention, everyone, for this lesson will be one of the most important things that will last forever until you pass from this world."

The class that was rich with spirited faces, eager to learn many things and ask so many questions to her, now turns silent as graveyard. Rosine's words have a strong influence on everyone. Even Oria is stunned when she says something so serious like that.

"Thank you."

"(Gulp. What kind of heavy feeling is this…?)" Oria felt goosebumps suddenly.

With that, Rosine begins her last lecture.

"No matter how great the Grand System is, there will always be people who will try to use it for bad things. Those who try to abuse the Grand System for evilness will be punished severely. They will be awarded with a skill for doing so. It is called [Taboo]. [Taboo] is absolutely something that you MUST avoid having. If you ever obtain it, you must hurry go to the nearest church, chapel, or cathedral and beg for the Goddess's mercy."

Oria feels that she has heard that term before, "(Taboo, huh… where have I heard it before? …Oh, right. Faruk mentioned it when I told him about my [Diligence] skill.)"

Rosine continues her explanation.

"…One of the prime examples of taboo is killing fellow humans. Killing people out of malice, for entertainment, for selfish reasons, is forbidden by the Goddess. Do so, and you will be awarded [Taboo]. And those with that skill will be marked as a 'Heretic' and will be hunted down by the church if they're not hurry or refused to repent."

"(Heretics, huh… I wonder if those scary people from the slave camp are marked as heretics in the eyes of church were. They did so many bad things to us. They even killed some of us and they… laughed. Calm down. Stop thinking about them…)"

Oria avoids remembering her past further. She focuses her eyes to the priestess instead.

"There are plenty of things that's considered as taboo. But for now, that one example is the most important, since many people had done that in the past, even now."

The class is silent. Hearing her graphical explanation has been rather intense than interesting. After all, they are still so young to understand the gravity of the lesson she taught.

"Well, then, class… is there any question?"

One of them then asks, "Miss! What if we have to kill for our own survival? Like, when there's a bad guy who wants to steal from us."

The others applaud the kid's question, "Yeah! That's right. There's many of them, right?"

"Good question. A criminal that was killed in their action by their victim is considered justified by the church. After all, in the holy tome, it is a must that you protect what's rightfully yours."

Oria then thought to herself, "(I guess that makes sense. Does that mean it's okay to kill those scary people?)"

"Miss!" another kid asks, "Is there a skill that's considered taboo?"

"Why, yes, there is," Rosine confirmed. "The usual example is Ruler skills. Obtaining them will grant you the [Taboo] skill. I will not say how you can get them, but one thing for sure is that you must always behave accordingly to avoid obtaining them."

While everyone is busy asking, Oria feels uneasy as the class progresses, "(Ruler skills… Faruk said that [Diligence] skill was a part of them and having them is a taboo. But I don't have [Taboo] anywhere in my list of skills. I wonder… I just hope I don't get them. Now, I understand why Faruk was so angry at me when I told him about the [Diligence].)"

After one hour, at last, the class is over. Everyone thanks the serene and kind priestess and then the bishop. They all leave the chapel with satisfaction in their faces.

"You've followed the class pretty well, Oria. That's really good."

"Heehee. Thanks, Miss Rosine."

"Gee, Rosine. Is it necessary to teach the kids in such, well, graphic way?"

Rosine nods calmly, "Yes. It is imperative that they know the boundaries of the Grand System from a young age."

"Yeeaaah… I guess you're right. But man, you sure have a lot of guts to explain about one of the most absurd things in the system, eh, Rosine? Even till now, I'm yet to understand regarding is it actually okay to kill people or not."

"Now, now, Miss Katze. Don't say it so casually in front of Oria, you'll make a bad example to her."

"Oops. S-Sorry."

"Teehee. Well, I agree with you, however. I only say the most general ones. Only the Guardias know the true boundaries. I will not overstep my own boundaries."

"Heh-heh. Guess that's right. So, what are you gonna do next?"

"Well…" Rosine looked at Oria. "I promised to teach Oria about healing magic today."

"Oh, really? Is that right, Oria?"

"Uh-huh. That's right!"

"Is that so… Here I thought you need to come here for a treatment."

"Ehehe… oh, yeah… Miss Rosine, where are those four? I mean, umm… Tili, Alex, Alex was it? And then Kon, and uhh… who's the last one again… ah right, Ayako! I don't see them joining the Sunday school…"

"You did well to remember them. Well, they had Sunday school very early in the morning."

"Huh… so, where are they now?"

Rosine smiles at Oria's curiosity. "They are training with the blacksmith, Mr. Marcus."