The Medieval Modern Man With A Gamer Mindset

The Medieval-Modern Man With A Gamer Mindset 39

39. The Miracle Screening Committee

We spent the whole day swaying in the carriage, which was more bumpy than a rice tub.

By the time I had finally lost the energy to even heave, I heard some welcome news as I lay there feebly moaning. Bishop Ganista spoke to me in a slightly hushed voice.

“Your Highness, are you still sleeping? We’ve just passed the city gates.”

“…We’ve arrived?”

“Yes. This is the holy land where Saint Illenio breathed his last. Some people who want to define the area more precisely call it the Toe of Saint Illenio. We’ll be at our lodgings soon, so please bear with us a little longer .”

True to his words, the carriage stopped before long. As soon as it did, there was a series of long sighs and groans. It seemed the servants and retainers outside were just as exhausted.

It took the servants a while to attend to us inside the carriage.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Bishop, and milady. We have almost finished unloading your luggage.”

The occupants of the carriage reacted to these words in their own ways.

“His Highness seems to be feeling unwell. Prepare a beverage to soothe his stomach.”

“Yes, sir. We have some fruit in the making.”

Bishop Ganista gave separate instructions, observing my complexion.

“…Don’t bother.”

I waved my hand, trying to save face, but I couldn’t help but smile.

“Your Highness, may I have a sip too?”

“…”

John, who had been keeping quiet until then, licked his dry lips with his tongue.

In the past, I would have hit him, but that was impossible now. I didn’t even have the energy to wave him away. I nodded vaguely, indicating that he could do as he pleased, and got out of the carriage.

Finally, I was outside. The first thing I did was inhale with all my might.

“Mmm. This refreshing, comforting atmosphere. It’s definitely different from the stuffy, unpleasant air inside that cramped carriage.”

“Excuse me, Your Highness. The carriage has windows that open wide.”

“How can looking at each other through bars compare to experiencing it firsthand with your own two arms and legs?”

As I listened to John’s quip, a proverb came to mind.

How can a sparrow the size of a millet seed understand the aspirations of a great roc? It was something a friend who used to put ten million won in a piggy bank often said. He was a true scholar, carrying the Analects under his arm and studying the words of the ancient sages.

In the end, that kid threw away the Analects as soon as he lost his money, but his words were so precious that they stayed with me.

However, the most important thing about words is ultimately the listener. John tilted his head with a blank expression, not understanding what I was saying. I was the fool for trying to make him understand with vocabulary and metaphors that were beyond his comprehension.

“Ugh. Never mind. When you bring the fruit water, bring three cups.”

“Excuse me? Why three cups?”

“If you don’t want to drink, bring two.”

It’s enough for a first-class swordsman to suffer from a single bite. When I asked why he didn’t just finish it off instead of taking a single bite, the answer I got so grim that I shut my mouth.

I still vividly remember the servant’s grim expression as he explained the reasons in detail.

‘Do not underestimate those who attempt to poison by ingestion. There are already numerous cases where people have avoided the initial stage by applying poison only to the most delicious parts or by contaminating the utensils.’

Even when I was king, it wasn’t safe to just take a bite. There were frequent cases of even the food-tasting servants being bribed, so those bastards would eat the good parts and leave me the bad, and I would be done for as soon as I opened my mouth.

The first-bite rule was an extreme measure that meant being prepared to die yourself if you were going to kill someone. It’s something I regret now.

I should have just eaten the good food since the country was going to fall anyway….

As soon as I thought that, something started to bubble up inside me.

“John, if you dare to touch my cup with your lips to take even a single sip, there will be no mercy.”

“Oh my, of course! Three cups! I’ll bring you three cups, exactly!”

***

The next day, I took John out for sightseeing.

The toe of Saint Illenio was not so much a tranquil countryside as a moderately complex tourist city.

Starting with the narrow streets lined with shops and the bustling market where people came and went. It was full of merchants who were enthusiastic about soliciting customers, as if everyone lived there.

“Adult toenail powder made by grinding the toenails of Saint Illenio! A mysterious item with the miraculous effect of driving away misfortune and repelling curses!”

“The frost that was created when the last breath that Saint Illenio exhaled met the winter cold and frozen… …The water that melted it! I’m selling it for two silver coins now!”

“This is the rosary that Saint Illenio gave to our ancestors. We are happy enough to give it to someone else, so please bring me exactly one silver coin, no more and no less.”

Walking around this street with John, I came to one conclusion.

“Everything in the world is the same.”

Wherever a famous person in the region, it seems to be the nature of merchants to disguise all sorts of things and sell them. Even though it was a street full of obvious swindlers, innocent people who didn’t know anything would often open their wallets.

“Master, this is Saint Illenio’s toenail powder. If I sprinkle it on my head, won’t it block the evil devil who is taking my hair?!”

Like the innocent person right next to me. I was about to say that it was all a lie, but I stopped.

The merchants in the street are just trying to make a living, and John is just doing it out of desperation. After much deliberation, I chose a way to respect each other’s honor and livelihood.

“Asla. Your hair loss is not the work of the devil, but the fate that Lux Stella has given you.”

“Master… aren’t you being too harsh?”

I didn’t say anything to John’s whimpering sigh and just kept walking.

The toe of Saint Illenio.

From this market to the pier, it was a small but bustling and lively place. It was full of porters moving goods, sailors unloading cargo, merchants shouting loudly, and pilgrims looking around in wonder.

There were about twenty ships of moderate size moored at the pier. Around them were pubs, inns, and women who sometimes let out strange laughter.

Sailors often headed there as if it were natural.

“I heard there’s a gambling den nearby. Let’s go there. Okay?”

“Oh, if you say such things in the Holy Land, the priests will scold you. Call it a game of chance or an exchange of money.”

“Damn it. What the hell is that?”

“Kuk, that’s what those stuffy priests are like.”

“What fun do priests have? They can’t drink as they please, and they can’t even… ouch? They can’t even do it.”

“You bastard. Just go to the pub quietly.”

It’s familiar to see each other nagging and making a fuss. However, not everyone took such behavior for granted. There were also those who raised their voices, criticizing the sailors who were walking in groups.

“Hey, you cursed bastards! You’re whoring on this sacred and meaningful land where Saint Illenio gave his life to lead the refugees!”

“Drive out the whores and drunks!”

When I turned my head towards the sound, there was a group that was protesting, except they didn’t have any pickets. They were pointing at the street of pleasure with their faces flushed red and their necks full of blood.

It wasn’t just the zealous fanatics who had gathered. A new group had entered the situation, which was on the verge of breaking out into a fight.

“Mumble mumble mumble… Lux Stella… May you be praised…”

“The deeds of Saint Illenio… Oh, the starlight of grace…”

Pilgrims in black robes walked around the streets with their hoods pulled down, rolling their rosaries. They literally parted the sea between the fanatics and the sailors.

Then, the fanatics who were about to rush in and the sailors who were thinking of going to the pub quietly turned their eyes away, overwhelmed by the real madness.

After watching this, I turned my head without thinking. John did the same. John and I were facing each other without realizing it.

“Master, I’m an ignorant man, so I didn’t know that the Holy Land would be like this. Am I lacking?”

“It’s okay. I am too.”

The real Holy Land was a little further away from the downtown area.

On a hill with a clear view of the sea, a wilted wreath was laid beneath a monument inscribed with an epitaph.

I had followed the narrow path wound that along the coastline, and despite the slightly chilly weather, it didn’t feel desolate because wildflowers still remained.

There were also no pilgrims in somber black robes, making the atmosphere even less gloomy.

“We came at a good time. John, if you have a prayer, say it now.”

“Saint Illenio… please take pity on me and ask Lux Stella to take this cruel fate away…”

I almost made a sarcastic remark, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak as I listened to John’s earnest and desperate prayer.

“Why have you even taken a single strand of my hair…”

A person is not at their most desperate when they have nothing. They are at their most desperate when they have little. Perhaps that was the case with John.

However, it seemed that John had the wrong person. I was certain of this after looking at the relief on the monument depicting Saint Illenio during his lifetime.

…Saint Illenio was bald.

“…”

I turned away from John, who was making an impossible plea, and read the inscription on the monument.

[Saint Illenio, who resisted the sweet temptations offered by the demons of mankind and led the remnants of the fallen kingdom to Lux Stella. His body suffered from illness due to the curse of the demons, but his soul was taken under the pure light.

However, his heart still remains on this earth.

He breathed his last with the fragments of the shattered kingdom, before the starlight could reach him.]

It wasn’t a metaphor hiding some kind of meaning. The starlight was probably Lux Stella, and the fragments were probably the remnants of the kingdom. I looked away from the inscription, feeling somewhat disappointed.

At that moment, a ship sailing in from the horizon with the wind in its sails entered my view.

It might have just been a ship coming to dock. But my instincts were screaming that it was no ordinary ship.

“John, that’s enough sightseeing. Let’s go.”

***

When we returned to the pier via the path we came, the bustling atmosphere from before had completely disappeared.

The fanatics who had been preaching and the sailors who had been mocking the priests were all now cowering with faces drained of color. The reason for this was at the pier.

The ship that had just sailed in with the wind was docked. And it was proudly flying a flag that had been furled until it was ready to dock.

A white background with gold trim, and the emblem of a blue cross in the center.

Although I had never seen it in person, I had seen something similar, so it was easy to recall.

“The Holy See.”

“What?”

“The Inquisition.”

I didn’t have time to answer John’s question in detail. The Inquisition quickly disembarked from the ship, overwhelming the entire holy land. They wore black robes like the pilgrims, but there was something different about their quality.

All the members of the Inquisition wore thin, gold-trimmed black shoulder capes, and they had straight swords at their waists.

As soon as they got off the ship and onto the pier, they looked at the revelers who had set up shop and began to click their tongues.

“How dare you.”

“Brother, this is where the remnants of the pagans still remain. You can’t help but have this kind of atmosphere.”

The Inquisition, as expected of those directly under the Holy See, were incredibly arrogant.