-If it hadn’t been for someone, the Church might have elevated you to sainthood.
Ellie, at 19, had just completed a grueling course of study and had been a novice priest for only a year.
One day, while sweeping fallen leaves, she encountered a cardinal. She thought the meeting was too much for her, but what the cardinal said next was even more overwhelming.
-Go to Silania, the capital. You are appointed as the church’s administrator there.
-How can someone as insignificant as I…?
-Does it matter what your status is when spreading the will of Justitia? After all, we priests have no concept of status.
-But can I really handle such an overwhelming task?
-You just need to go there and dream. In this era of chaos, you are the light illuminating the Church. Please guide us.
At that moment, Ellie felt her heart drop.
How did they know she had ‘dreams’?
Thus, Ellie, a novice priest, rapidly rose in rank within the church, from a mere lower-ranking priest to the rank of bishop.
This was possible because of Ellie’s secret. Her dreams. She dreams of the future.
“Ahhhhhh!”
A piercing scream that seemed to tear the sky echoed through the dark city.
Knights in silver armor moved in perfect unison.
They set fire to the city and killed the screaming people with a single stroke. They died without any resistance against the overwhelming violence.
Over the burning city stood the Silania Cathedral. On its bell tower, a man watched the scene. He looked like a lone wolf standing against the moonlight.
His dark face briefly flickered as he closed and opened his eyes. The man suppressed his emotions. One wolf fell vertically. Drawing his sword in an instant, he killed a fleeing woman. Before her blood dried, he killed the next citizen.
He killed and killed and killed. Countless amounts of blood were spilled. Screams were buried. They were no longer audible.
Yet Ellie covered her ears. The inaudible screams were more terrifying.
‘No.’
Ellie tried to speak, but her voice didn’t come out, as if her throat was filled with water. She clutched her aching chest and looked up. Overcoming her fear, Ellie ran.
She desperately reached out her hand. The wolf looked towards Ellie. He walked slowly.
‘Please don’t kill any more.’
Ellie’s voice still didn’t come out. Her eyes, filled with hope, were the same.
The wolf passed through Ellie’s body. Her eyes widened. At the moment she realized she couldn’t interfere with this world, a huge explosion sounded.
Boom!
The wolf turned his head. In his fierce eyes, he saw the crushed arms and legs of a knight. The knights who were committing the massacre stopped and all looked in one direction.
A flame, darker than the burning city, floated in the air. A girl with blood-red tears emerged from the shadow of the flames. The black flame grew larger.
The girl with purple hair glared at the wolf with intense hatred.
“There is no God.”
“If there is, I will kill it.”
The clover with three leaves on the girl’s head burned. The wolf disappeared. The vanished wolf reappeared above the girl’s right side. The sword he wielded was precisely aimed at the girl’s neck. At that moment.
“Ugh.”
Ellie woke up from the dream. She got up from her bed. Her white nun’s habit was drenched in sweat.
“This is… no, before that.”
Stumbling, Ellie opened her notebook and wrote down the details of the dream.
The massacring knights. The burning city.
A gray wolf. A girl with a three-leaf clover in her hair.
The Silania Cathedral in the midst of it. The place where Ellie was.
After frantically writing down the details of her dream, Ellie finally took a breath.
“…What is Justitia trying to warn me about through this?”
A compass with no direction.
Ellie, a mere human, had no way of knowing the deep will of God.
She could only do what she had to do as the administrator of the Silania Cathedral.
“I must inform the Church.”
Something evil was blooming in the slums.
**
Sena was always sitting by the old tree visible from the window, hugging his knees.
‘I guess my head was too full of flowers.’
Modern knowledge can sometimes be a poison. Sena thought this was one of those times.
In this world, there was no one better equipped to handle this epidemic than Sena. Arrogant as it may be, he firmly believed it to be true.
But others did not. It seemed he fell short of earning their trust.
‘I’m just a ball of fur with no talent other than being white and clean.’
Sena, uncharacteristically, sank into his own gloom. Usually, Sena would cheerfully shout, “Let’s do it!” even in the face of difficulty.
-Don’t directly intervene in this matter.
Astria’s words were stern and left Sena feeling hurt. He spent time rocking back and forth, feeling lost.
Someone approached Sena.
He looked up with a hopeful face, thinking it might be the owner of this grand tree, only to see Chris. Sena buried his face in his knees again.
“Sena.”
Chris plopped down next to Sena. He gazed at the sky for a moment, squinting at the bright sunlight, looking almost like a wolf smiling.
After a long silence, Chris finally spoke.
“Being so downcast is unlike you.”
“Remember? When I tried to kill my family’s enemy, you stood in my way.”
Sena lifted his head slightly at the unexpected story. The image of Chris during their academy days, when he was wild and reckless, overlapped in his mind.
‘Those were the days.’
But Sena wasn’t worried about the high-ranking nobles, just about Chris.
Revenge. It sounded good. But then what?
Even in the medieval times, murder was a grave sin. Especially if a noble died, it wouldn’t be overlooked easily.
If he took revenge, Chris would spend his life as nothing more than a drunkard.
So Sena stopped him.
“I couldn’t see anything. I was just resentful of the world.”
“But you convinced me, despite that.”
Chris looked at Sena with sincere eyes.
“You have a power. The power to change people.”
“So if there’s anyone who can change Her Majesty’s mind, it’s you, Sena.”
He was sorry for Chris, he didn’t have much time left to accept that request.
But the words were comforting.
Sena stood up.
Nothing changes if you just sit still.
Time is too precious to waste on depression. Thanks to Chris, his motto resurfaced.
“You know what, Chris? Her Majesty likes the title ‘tyrant’. But I hate that word. I’ll solve this problem so well that she’ll be praised as a benevolent ruler by everyone.”
Sena moved forward. Watching his departing figure, Chris smiled.
“That’s a pretty terrifying threat.”
After Sena disappeared from sight, Chris lay down on the lush green field. He watched the leaves of the great tree sway in the gentle breeze.
He repeated to himself, words he should have said earlier.
‘Tomorrow at dawn, Sena.’
‘I have to massacre the slums with my own hands.’
Astria had ordered Chris not to tell Sena about this.
As the Empress’s Guardian Knight, Chris couldn’t defy that command.
So this was the only way he could help.
But Chris believed.
His only friend would save everyone.
As he always does.
**
Hush, hush.
Revitalized, Sena’s energy was almost a problem.
Holding Sylvia’s hand, who had just woken up, he hid behind a wall.
“…What are you doing?”
“Lower your voice, Sylvia. This is no joke. I’m like a platypus in front of a beast.”
“…You mean a badger.”
Sylvia’s shoulders slumped.
‘He looks healthy, but.’
What is he up to now? Sylvia sighed, looking at the white ball of fur in front of her.
“Now!”
Sylvia sighed deeply and followed Sena.
Sena was heading towards Astria’s bedroom. Why are we sneaking in here? Sylvia wondered, but her expression hardened as she saw what Sena was doing.
Sena grabbed his travel suitcase. He was dressed in the white robe he always wore when going out.
“Now, Miss Sylvia, I am giving you an order.”
Sena smiled triumphantly.
“Escort me safely out of the palace. We must not be seen by anyone.”
With a confident “Follow me,” Sena moved past Sylvia towards the door. Sylvia, with a dark expression, grabbed Sena’s arm as he passed by.
Sena stumbled but didn’t fall, thanks to Sylvia holding him.
“Where are you going?”
“Huh? As I said before, I’m going to the slums.”
Maybe he sounded sarcastic? Sena thought, and added seriously,
“We don’t have much time. We must hurry.”
But Sylvia didn’t let go of his arm.
Sena was puzzled.
“Sylvia?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I can’t accept this.”
Sena, already in poor health, couldn’t be allowed to go to the epicenter of the epidemic.
Sena’s face darkened for a moment.
“I’ll go even without you. Let go.”
Sena tried to shake off her grip, but it was futile. He bit his lip slightly and squirmed, trying to pry Sylvia’s fingers off.
“I told you before, if you insist on going, I’ll stop you by force.”
Sena’s vision suddenly tilted towards the ceiling.
The next thing he saw were Sylvia’s bright red eyes.
His body was on the floor.
“I…”
Sylvia pinned Sena down. She instinctively resisted his attempts to break free, holding his hands firmly against the floor.
Sena, too astonished, was about to demand she get off. But seeing Sylvia’s face, on the verge of tears, he averted his gaze.
“Senior’s life is more important to me than the lives of hundreds in the slums.”
“That’s not right…”
“It is for me!”
Sylvia lowered her head.
“You’re kind, and so kind you don’t realize there are people like me. People who value the life of a dear one more than the lives of thousands of strangers.”
“…Sylvia.”
Sena called out to her calmly, but Sylvia ignored him.
“You can’t go. I won’t let you. If you want to go, you’ll have to defeat me first.”
“No matter what you do, my decision won’t change.”
Knowing he couldn’t win against Sylvia’s strength, Sena still struggled. This was the only way he could show his determination.
But Sylvia, equally resolute, didn’t relax her grip. She was determined not to let him go, no matter what.
While they were arguing with each other like that.
The two were so focused on each other that they didn’t feel it.
The cold air that was seeping into the room.
“What is this?”
A low voice made them both freeze. Sylvia’s eyes trembled slightly. Sena’s expression also stiffened.
“I asked, what is this, Miss Sylvia?”
Astria’s eyes were blazing with anger.
