Faith and Determination

Fortunately, there was no last-minute twist like in so many stories. Duanmu Huai successfully obtained the Skull Staff. After that, he simply set the entire monastery ablaze—there was no other choice. Every nun and guard in the monastery had been transformed into Undead by that damned Vampire Necromancer. If he did not burn them, they would only crawl back out and plague the living again.

Standing in the pouring rain and watching the blazing monastery before her, the Novice Priestess wore an expression of profound sorrow.

"Why... why did it turn out like this...?"

"I advise you not to let your imagination run wild."

Hearing the Novice Priestess mutter to herself, Duanmu Huai's gaze sharpened as he spoke coldly. At his rebuke, the Novice Priestess shuddered.

"But..."

"I can more or less guess what you're thinking. You think they believed in the Lady of the Lake, yet they still met such a terrible end. They died in agony and were even turned into evil Undead, so your own faith has begun to waver. Am I right?"

"..."

The Novice Priestess said nothing, but she clearly did not deny Duanmu Huai's words.

"Listen, little girl."

Duanmu Huai lowered his head and stared at her.

"Don't forget what the abbess said. Their mission here was to protect the Sacred Gear, and they had already prepared themselves to sacrifice their lives. Of course, this was not the ending they wanted, but when has this world ever gone as people wished? Knights shout that they fight for the goddess, but have few of them been hacked to death by Greenskin Orcs? That's just how this world is. Get used to it."

"B-But... what am I supposed to do?"

At last, the Novice Priestess could not hold back any longer. She raised her head, stared at Duanmu Huai, and cried out.

"If even the goddess herself is unwilling to protect us, then who can we rely on?"

"When all is said and done, you can only rely on yourself."

Duanmu Huai sighed and patted her shoulder.

"Remember this, little girl. Placing your hopes in someone else is an extremely foolish thing to do. It is the helpless choice of the weak. If you want to change your Destiny, then you must hold fast to your heart, become strong, face all of this... endure all of this... instead of constantly thinking about running away, avoiding it, or finding someone to protect you. Of course, you must also choose your methods carefully. If you choose to rely on the power of an Evil God, then... you know what the consequences will be."

Looking at the Novice Priestess before him, there was not the slightest ripple in Duanmu Huai's eyes. He did not know whether this child could emerge from the shadow of this incident. Perhaps she would be broken by it and become a follower of an Evil God... That possibility was not merely small—it was quite likely.

When that time came...

"Or, if you feel that living is too exhausting, I have a better solution."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai drew the Mechanical Sword from his waist.

"Let your soul return to the goddess's side. That way, you'll never have to endure the suffering of this world again."

"..."

This time, the Novice Priestess remained silent for a long while. In the end, she made up her mind, raised her head, and looked at Duanmu Huai.

"I'm sorry, Knight. I don't know... what I should do. I think perhaps I can no longer believe in the goddess as I once did... Is that all right?"

"That's normal."

Duanmu Huai nodded and put away the Mechanical Sword.

"Besides, I think you may have some mistaken ideas about faith and gods."

"Huh?"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the Novice Priestess froze and looked at him in surprise.

"Perhaps you believe that as long as you devoutly worship a god and dedicate everything to her, you will receive her Protection. But in fact, that is not how it works most of the time."

"Is... is that so?"

"That's right."

Duanmu Huai nodded.

"Nothing falls from the sky for free, whether it is a god's Grace or a pie. Back in my hometown, we had a saying: do all that you can, then accept Destiny. Simply put, people must first do everything they ought to do. Only then should whether they succeed be left to Heaven and Destiny. You do not give up at the very beginning and sit around waiting for the gods to Rescue you."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai turned and looked toward the distant forest. In truth, this was a common problem among many believers. They thought, I've dedicated everything to my god. I believe in you so devoutly, reciting scriptures and worshipping morning and night. When I encounter trouble, naturally you should help me. If the god does not reveal herself, then the god has betrayed me. I'm already this devout, yet you still refuse to save me from danger... This is all your fault!

This was also why so many veteran believers immediately went to the opposite extreme after abandoning their faith. They believed they had done nothing wrong. It was the gods who had failed to answer their expectations, so the one at fault was not them but the gods. Since the gods had betrayed them, they might as well Fall...

But in truth? That was not how it worked at all!

Gods also looked at results and performance. You did nothing but chant scriptures all day, donate a large sum of money, or work for a temple—did that count as performance?

Of course it did not.

Take the Lady of the Lake. Did those Knights get to meet her just by attending services every day and devoutly worshipping her?

Of course not. To receive the Lady of the Lake's Grace and become a Grail Knight, they had to set out on dangerous adventures where death was always one step away. Only then could they receive the Lady of the Lake's Grace, right?

So who should take the blame for this?

Naturally, those preaching the faith.

Think about it. "As long as you believe in the Lady of the Lake, she will ensure your prosperity and protect you from evil," or "If you want to receive the Lady of the Lake's Grace, you must become an Exploration Knight and survive a journey where death is always one step away before you might get what you seek." Which one was more likely to attract believers?

Obviously, the former.

After all, most people did not have the courage to go courting death.

Except for certain idiots with terminal teenage delusions, of course.

To be honest, Duanmu Huai often felt that those superficially devout believers might have been infiltrators sent by the Chaos Gods. The way they lured in followers looked exactly like they were waiting for those people's faith to collapse so they could Fall into Chaos.

That was why most Inquisitors had little fondness for clergy... With a few flaps of their lips, those bastards had probably conned countless future potential Fallen into the hands of the Chaos Gods.

And they were still smug about it, as though they had made some great contribution to the gods they worshipped.

Never considering that the gods they worshipped might be so furious in Heaven that they wanted to strike those bastards dead with lightning.

Duanmu Huai did not want to see the Novice Priestess one day lose her faith and appear among the ranks of the Chaos Gods, so he decided to give her a little preventive advice. As long as she could strengthen her mind and look at the world from another angle, that would be a good thing.

After listening to Duanmu Huai, the Novice Priestess lowered her head and thought for a while.

"I-I don't know... but I'll work hard to understand it..."

"Do your best."

That was all Duanmu Huai had to say.

After burning down the monastery, Duanmu Huai brought Okegis and the Novice Priestess to a nearby temple of the Lady of the Lake, where he told the temple's Divine Office about what had happened at the monastery. Upon learning that a Vampire had infiltrated the area, they were greatly alarmed and said they would immediately send people to handle the aftermath. As for the Novice Priestess, Duanmu Huai left her at the temple. What path she would take from then on was up to her.

"That was really close. I nearly wiped out."

After leaving the temple, Duanmu Huai recalled what had happened and broke out in a cold sweat. Good thing he had acted quickly. If he had arrived a few days later, he might have found nothing but the monastery's ruins. If the system had then given him a tracking-and-search mission, he would have wanted to die.

What he hated most were those tracking-and-search missions. Not only did they waste time, but they were long and irritating.

That was why Duanmu Huai had come for the Skull Staff first. Compared with those other Sacred Gears buried beneath ruins, something sealed away like this was much more likely to draw someone's attention.

Fortunately, he had finally gotten his hands on it!