C166
The murmuring was so low that only Arsia could hear it.
Not only the guards next to Liena, but even the guards a little farther away seemed not to have heard Liena's declaration.
"I'm still using this room."
Instead of falling into that low-level provocation, Arsia responded in a cold tone.
"If you have something to do, wait."
"Hmm, that's not quite right."
A slight smile appeared on Liena's lips.
"You didn't receive permission from the Holy Father. I did. So, in this situation, I have priority. The Holy Father plans to come soon. Shall we ask him?"
There was no way the Holy Father would side with Arsia.
Recently, he was anxious because he couldn't get Arsia, who was his puppet, to arbitrarily suggest that she become a saint in front of many people.
If he didn't have eyes to see, he would have locked her up somewhere to prevent her from doing something unexpected.
"Besides, according to the guard, it's been a while since you entered. Haven't you finished your business anyway?"
"...Not yet. Wait."
At that moment, Liena's complexion suddenly changed.
"Why are you doing this? As if you're hiding something inside?"
Arsia's heart sank.
Ethel was inside now. Her meeting ritual with the goddess had not yet finished.
"If this woman enters now, Ethel's presence will definitely be discovered!"
Indeed, according to the principle, it was a violation of the temple law for anyone other than the Holy Father to enter this place without his permission.
This also applied to the Saint, but the guard turned a blind eye when he saw Arsia's face.
But Liena, this woman, would definitely disagree with this, and if it were revealed that the person who violated the law was an outsider and not a priest, it was obvious that the temple would be turned upside down.
This could be resolved by revealing that Ethel was a true saint, but that was not what she wanted.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
As she wanted to fulfill Ethel's wish, Arsia desperately pretended not to know.
"Anyway, I'll stay here longer, so if you want to use it, come back in 30 minutes..."
"Why did you suddenly send the priest you always carry with you to prison?"
It was a story about Herciso.
"Do you think I don't know? How many times have you met with Ethel?"
Liena's red eyes burned intensely.
"You're bothering me again. As expected! I'll never forgive you!"
Clearly, it was hatred toward someone other than Arsia.
"Move!"
"Aaack!"
At that moment, Liena roughly pushed Arsia and opened the door wide.
However, there was no one in the revealed room.
"...oh?"
Unconsciously, Liena opened her mouth and ran inside, looking around.
"Where did you hide it?"
However, even after searching behind the pillar and under the water fountain, not a single ant was found.
After a while, Liena approached Arsia with an angry look and threatened her.
"Just wait and see. Even if two people take sides, I'll never lose. Because I am loved by the goddess."
Then she snatched Arsia's hand.
"Tsk."
Arsia fell to one knee under the pressure of the divine power felt through the joined hands.
It was an enormous amount, surpassing Arsia, who had dedicated her whole life to worshiping Goddess Miella.
Divine power is the power that comes from belief in the Goddess.
No matter how famous and faithful a priest was, one might ask, "Does a God really exist in this world?" There came a time when he began to doubt: "If so, is God good?"
How many people don't feel skeptical about God even after witnessing the irrationality of good people struggling in pain and of bad people living happily?
However, Liena's divine power was as strong as that of a person who never doubted whether a god existed or not and that the god was good.
"Ethel, a fellow saint, didn't seem to have such deep faith... How can she believe in God with such firmness and purity?"
Arsia was curious about the source of faith and, at the same time, about how long that faith could last.
She knew because she had seen many priests.
Usually, the more innocent a young priest was, the more surprised he was when he encountered the absurdity of the world and of the temple.
--------------------
After waiting for Arsia to move away from the deepest part, I appeared in front of her.
"Arsia."
"Ethel!"
Arsia looked at me and smiled.
"As expected, you used that artifact."
I smiled and patted my waist. I could feel the presence of a leather belt under the priest uniform.
"It's effective, isn't it?"
This belt, an invention of Kais, was made from the skin of a certain monster.
Although it wasn't very strong, it was a monster difficult to catch, for if it wanted, it could make its body transparent and disappear from the sight of other people.
Kais paid attention to such characteristics and, after long experiments, created an artifact that would make the user invisible. But only for a maximum of 20 minutes.
Indeed, this artifact had a fatal flaw: since it was made of monster leather, when it was used, demonic energy leaked into the body.
Fortunately, I had abundant divine power and had learned to control it from the divine beast, so I could properly suppress the demonic energy with divine power.
"When I came to my senses, Arsia wasn't there, and there was a lot of noise outside. So, I used the belt."
And when Liena entered with the door wide open, she quickly left.
Arsia smiled faintly and then said, "Well, actually..." And she told her what happened with Liena.
"That's right, it's divine power. I guess that's what Liena believes in."
In a way, Liena's thoughts were simple.
If Arsia shows up in the sanctity test, she will undoubtedly win. Even if she verifies sanctity and opens the door, the one with more divine power will have the advantage.
It was unlikely that the temple, which had so far declared that there was only one Saint under heaven, would recognize two saints in one day.
It would have been more like the temple to accuse someone of opening the door through a clever trick or of deceiving many people.
"And if there's no other reason, the temple will choose the one with more divine power."
Just in case, I approached Arsia and asked her to evaluate my divine power.
As I unleashed my divine power, drops of sweat formed on Arsia's forehead as she held my hand.
"It's an enormous amount of divine power, but..."
"It's weaker than Liena's, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry. That's how I feel. It's a very narrow difference."
I received a lot of power from Terence, but it was disappointing not to be able to catch up to Liena yet.
"Well, it can't be helped."
I really don't believe in Goddess Miella, but Liena's faith was very strong.
This belief might be due to the illusion that the goddess absolutely loves her.
"You're very kind!"
I comforted Arsia, whose expression darkened.
"Having divine power isn't everything. We'll stick to our plan."
Anyway, from the beginning, I had no plans to engage in a divine power battle with Liena.
Time passed quickly. Arsia and I practiced outdoors as planned.
Because the Holy Father suddenly lost interest in Arsia, she was able to escape without much difficulty.
"I heard that the Holy Father, who entered the room where the Verification Door was kept with Liena, came out with a dazed expression about ten minutes later."
This is what Arsia told me after receiving information from the guard.
It is said that Liena could not stay long in that room because the guards assigned to her in the imperial palace urged her to return.
However, judging by the fact that the Holy Father kept asking if she wanted to eat with Liena after that, she definitely seemed to have opened the verification door.
Moreover, as someone who would have lost her position to Cardinal Morton if she had remained passive, she must have wanted to establish a relationship with a true saint.
In short, she abandoned Arsia and joined Liena.
Arsia prepared for the sanctity verification with a relieved expression rather than disappointment.
So today finally came the promised day.
The square in front of the Grand Temple was filled with people from all over the empire.
It was the first time I had seen so many people since I possessed Ethel's body.
"Well, if it's not now, when will I see the saint opening the verification door?"
While each change of emperor was celebrated with important national events like the coronation of an emperor, the event of verifying the Saint was the first in the empire's history.
It's a shame Arsia set the preparation time at three days; if it had been a little longer, it would have been crowded with many more people.
"Silence! Verification will begin now!"
When the priest's voice, full of divine power, resonated in the square, the commotion subsided a bit.
Soon, two people stood on a huge platform at the end of the square.
They were Liena and Arsia.
Behind the two people, there was a raised cloth, and when the cloth was removed, the verification door was revealed.
The priest in charge of the procedure opened his mouth again.
"The order was decided fairly by drawing lots. Liena has the chance to open the door first."
Unlike last time, Liena, dressed neatly in luxurious white clothes, approached the door.
"Goddess Miella, show these people that you have chosen me! Give me the courage and strength to save them!"
She prayed aloud and then placed her hand on the doorknob.
Liena turned the handle. In that state, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds... Time passed.
Gradually the silence of the people began to break.
"What? Why didn't it open?"
"I thought she could open it, but she can't."
"I knew it would be like this."
"Well, I expected it because the cardinal said so..."
Liena was sweating and groaning, but the door trembled and wouldn't open.
It's natural.
That's because I, with a leather belt, was on the other side, firmly holding the door handle to prevent it from opening.
I'm sorry, but I brought an artifact that enhances strength.
