The Medieval-Modern Man with a Gamer Mindset

23. Hand in Hand

While I was confined, I had a growing question as I studied the vows.

Vows are the biggest difference between the old gods of Yser and Lux Stella. It’s not just a matter of making an offering once and being done with it, but of making a commitment to how you will live your life going forward.

The key here is the nuance. Lux Stella doesn’t end everything if you break one, but gives you strength if you keep even one. Of course, the criteria seemed to be very strict.

The fact that Surtel, who had been a monk for several years longer than me, still couldn’t perform miracles without a relic is proof of that. Well… even if the criteria were more lenient, Surtel would probably have a hard time . Anyway, the key is in the type of vow.

Abstinence, evangelism, honesty, diligence, chastity.

After learning a bit, it became clear to me. There are a few vows that can be fulfilled without living like a good person as is commonly known. There was not even a restriction that only one vow should be made.

Do it if you can. Lux Stella seemed to say that, and I couldn’t help but laugh. There’s probably no one who can live by all five of those and not be a bit crazy.

In the position of not knowing what penalty would come if a vow was broken, there was no choice but to avoid the risk of a heavy burden. Of course, that doesn’t mean that someone who only makes one real vow is a fool.

I thought about it from the point of view of someone who is in a different position. Would someone who wants to gain the favor of God carefully choose only one, worrying about not being able to keep the vow from the start? If I were a god, I would have inspired, “Oh, you wrap, get out of here.”

There are times when you need confidence wherever you go. Excessive humility is not humility, but only irritates the people around you. This moment, when I am making a vow before God, was the perfect time to boost that confidence.

I acted according to the procedure written in the book.

The first step to making a vow. Prove your minimal resolve by drawing blood from your own forearm with a blade. As it says, I held the dagger in reverse without hesitation… and stuck out my tongue and cut my forearm just a little , just a little.

My resolve is to torment others while shedding tears in my heart. I didn’t have the shallow thought that I could prove my faith by merely harming myself. If it feels like an excuse, it’s a really shallow thought.

Tears of the heart and tears of the flesh. Even a god like Lux Stella would know which is more precious. I raised my bleeding forearm and exclaimed with confidence.

“Lux Stella, what I show you is not arrogance but self-confidence!”

“…”

I could feel gazes piercing the back of my head. The priests’t shouldn’t have arrived yet, but the gaze of Surtel, who had been slowly retreating, was clear. It seemed he never dreamed that I would suddenly attempt to take the oath.

Surtel was so flustered that he didn’t even try to stop my oath. Thanks to that, I was able to continue advancing toward the altar where the idol of Lux Stella, the Holy Cross, was enshrined.

“Lux Stella, look upon me with the starlight that illuminates the dawn of humanity!”

According to the book, the most important things when taking the oath are self-confidence and honesty. The book’s author had solemnly warned that one must show sufficient determination when taking the oath.

I didn’t take the book’s warning lightly. Rather than getting caught up in petty formalities and distorting my original intentions, I decided to reveal myself honestly. I had shown my determination, so all that remained was to decide what to swear.

I took a step, then another, toward the altar and expressed with all my might.

“I swear to devote myself to everything I do without being ashamed of myself!”

The Oath of Diligence. As I understand it, one’s devotion is recognized when one does one’s best.

For me, who had always lived my life doing my best, this was a very simple task. Even when I was a freeloader sucking up to my parents and got kicked out once for doing my best.

“I swear to pass on everything I have learned to future generations!”

The Oath of Oral Tradition. One’s devotion is recognized the more one disseminates knowledge and leaves records.

This is a piece of cake. This world is full of barbarians who would rather draw their swords than think. As a modern man from Earth who has lived in a more advanced society, all I have to do is enlighten this uncivilized, medieval-like isekai world.

Isn’t that easy?

“I swear to cast this isekai, which has been pushed into the twilight, beyond the horizon!”

The Oath of the Temple. One’s devotion is recognized the more one eradicates paganism, which worships the old gods of isekai, and spreads the faith of Lux Stella.

Well, if I had dreamed of living in a utopia where different faiths coexist, or if I were an atheist who hated religion, I would never have done this. I’m the kind of guy who goes to church because they give out Choco Pies in the military, goes to a cathedral because they give out hamburgers, and even gets a Buddhist name because they give out pizza.

Besides, the Lux Stella faith is going to be my meal ticket in the future. For me, who will soon live as a priest of Lux Stella, the pagans who worship the old gods of isekai are absolutely intolerable beings. If my meal ticket is broken, they’ll just go away quietly, right? Why would they dare to gather around my rice pot and try to eat with their hands?

Furthermore, those who fortunately had their meal tickets broken had some really awful brats. In such cases, an example is necessary, this world does not tolerate religious freedom.

“All of you, seeds of isekai, those who are possessed by the power of isekai!!!!”

There are no exceptions for those who are after my rice pot. I’ll wipe them all out.

When I inspired with the purest and most unadulterated determination, I had arrived right in front of the altar. I had only just realized it because I was so intoxicated by my own words. Now all that remained was Lux Stella’s decision.

“…”

Um… are you taking a bit long? Is your connection not very good? Well, I’m not in such a hurry that I can’t wait for Lux Stella. I waited for God’s choice, even humming a little tune.

It was then that I heard the sound of many footsteps overlapping. The priests had finally arrived in the main hall. Those stragglers had arrived just as I had poured my all into the oath and was feeling a bit lazy.

As I was catching my breath in front of the Holy Cross, the door of the main hall was thrown open as if it were being smashed, and they entered violently.

Before long, the sound of their robes rubbing against each other filled the air, and soon a low voice could be heard, as if it were bubbling up.

“My lord… please come down peacefully.”

***

It was a voice I had never heard before.

Judging from the fact that I didn’t hear any screams or the sound of swords being drawn, Surtel hadn’t been caught. Or maybe he had run away after seeing the numbers. Either way, it didn’t matter.

I slowly turned around and looked at the priests. The pitch-black robes they were wearing were all soaked, as if they had been completely drenched. It was the middle of the night and the color was dark, so it was hard to tell, but it was obvious that they were soaked in blood.

The main hall, which had been filled with a faint scent of incense until just a moment ago, was now filled with the smell of iron. I opened my mouth as I looked down at the priests from in front of the altar.

“It seems you have enough faith to restrain yourselves in front of Lux Stella.”

“If you come down now, I swear by Lux Stella.”

“You swear?”

“I will let you go without a single ounce of pain.”

“Die with a prayer to your god on your lips, will you?” one of the monks said, placing his hand on the pommel of his sword. His eyes were bloodshot and wild, and his snarling, savage expression made him look like a true zealot. If you ask me, these fellows had chosen the wrong profession.

“You begrudge even a moment’s prayer to one about to die?”

“Master, your glib tongue will avail you naught. By now, you must realize there is no escape for you.”

“If you are so anxious to see me dead, why not join me in?”

“Master…!”

“I bear you no grudge, for I know you have your reasons for doing as you do. But grant me this one request: allow me to pray with you, a man who cannot escape death, a man who stands on the very precipice of death. Of course…”

I let my gaze sweep over these would-be barn-burners.

“…if you still have any faith in Lux Stella.”

“Blasphemy!”

“Until the bell tolls. Dawn is not far off. I would die in the light… in the sunlight.”

I might as well die with the sun on my face. At these words, a strange atmosphere began to spread among the swordsmen. It seemed that even among those who had condemned a twelve-year-old boy to death, there were a few who some shred of humanity.

More than a few of the monks who had placed their hands on their sword pommels furtively shifted their postures and looked up at the altar of Lux Stella. Now, at long last, they hung their heads in shame.

Finally, several of them spoke to the monk who seemed to be their leader.

“Brother Bathys, grant him this last indulgence.”

“What is this? Why should we show mercy to one who has slain our brethren?”

“Too much blood has already been shed. We, your brothers, may have earned our place in Lux Stella’s light through a lifetime of piety, but that boy has not lived long enough to do so.”

“…”

“Even in the cause of justice… remember that only human hands can grant absolution.”

Only then did the monk called Bathys slowly lower his hand. Of course, judging by the look in his eyes, he was far from convinced by their pious drivel. He had merely taken a step back to prevent his followers from splintering into factions and had forcibly stitched them back together.

Don’t be fooled by their show of compassion here.

Those bastards never said a word about sparing my life. The monks who had lowered their swords were merely seeking an excuse to salve their consciences with a show of clemency.

Bathys realized this too, and a look of disgust crossed his face, but it was gone in an instant. Instead of his companions, Bathys turned his gaze on me, his loathing and hatred laid bare.

“Until the bell tolls. After that, you will walk out on your own two feet. If not, we will drag you out.”

“Thank you.”

An oppressive silence descended. I turned back and knelt before the altar, adding one more name to the growing list of the damned: Surtel. He was the swordsman who should have drawn his blade and caused a diversion by now.

But despite all this stalling, there was still no reaction. Surtel… that opportunistic bastard must be bidding his time, waiting to see how things play out. He’ll keep waiting until he’s caught between a rock and a hard place.

I was still wondering who else I should add to the list of the damned when—

“!”

I gasped in surprise as a sharp sting pierced the backs of both my hands. I thought I had accidentally stabbed myself with my dagger and checked my left hand, but the dagger was lying on the floor.

What the—? I thought, lifting the back of my hand.

“…”

A lacerated wound appeared on the back of my hand. It was too jagged to have been caused by a scratch—it looked as if someone had deliberately carved a symbol into my flesh. A cross-shaped laceration. Drops of blood oozed from the wound .

The drops of blood trickled down, and then, as if by magic, they began to take shape on my forearm, as if it were a canvas. At first, I had no idea what it was, but after a moment, it became clear .

These are… words. The blood flowing down my right forearm had formed a sentence.

[Do as you will.]

I turned my head, just in case, and saw that the same had happened on my left forearm.

[As you will.]

Unconsciously, I looked up at the crucifix on the altar. It was an idol made of what looked like burnished brass. As I looked closer, I saw that a faint blue light was flowing over its smooth surface.

That was when the long-awaited sound of the bell rang out.

It was still the dead of night. The fact that the bell, which was supposed to announce the break of dawn, was ringing now was highly significant. It meant that the entire monastery was under attack.

The monks who had kept silent until then began to move busily. Some of them even stood up, forgetting that they were in a sanctuary, and began to approach me.

The one leading them was the monk who had been in the forefront, Bathis.

“Your Highness. As promised, the bell has rung.”

“I said that I will wait for the sun to rise.”

“But a promise is a promise. You made the promise, so you must keep it.”

“Do you always keep your promises?”

“…I will help you keep it.”

The monk named Sertel had once said that indiscriminate killing would corrode one’s heart. Sertel had proven this well by bringing countless cases in addition to what he had shown me himself.

They had already drawn their swords in the blink of an eye, like madmen who had slaughtered their fellow monks. There was no choice. I couldn’t just stand there and be stabbed, so I decided to follow them obediently.

“Well, you’ve already wasted enough time.”

“?”

“Don’t fall for his Highness’s nonsense. It’s just a bluff…”

Bathis, who had been rebuking his skeptical colleagues, suddenly shut his mouth. The sounds that had been buried by the loud bell had finally reached his ears. Those who had been slow to react at first began to widen their eyes.

The monks were looking at each other, not paying any attention to me.

“Are there still so many brothers alive?”

“That can’t be… It was a successful plan. There’t be enough survivors to fight back now!”

Can you really say that you slaughtered people in such an elegant way?

I clicked my tongue at their pitifulness… and quickly picked up the dagger that was lying on the floor.

Clang!

The noisy ringing sound came from nearby. The dagger had deflected the flying blade and was stuck in the wrist. The owner of the wrist, Bathis, was glaring at me with his lower lip raised.

“You filthy bastard, how dare you talk back in the temple of Lux Stella.”

There seems to be some misunderstanding. I can’t tolerate being misunderstood as someone who would set fire to a house just to catch a rat.

“You fools. It’s not me, but Bishop Powis and Yubas.”

“Don’t give me that nonsense again!”

“The surest way to keep a secret is to reduce the number of people who know it.”

Now it couldn’t be hidden even by the bell. This time, even vivid screams could be heard. It was circumstantial evidence that they had died fighting back, not in a surprise attack.

When the occasional sound of swords and shouts mixed together, everything became clear. Even Bathis, who had tried to kill me, seemed to be a little slow-witted, and his face was gradually turning pale.

I gave these guys a little jab.

“You beasts, didn’t you know that if you eat too much of what you’re fed, you’ll be dragged to the slaughterhouse?”

Now he seems to have realized that the line he had caught had been cut from the beginning. Bathis started to step back without even thinking about covering the wound on his wrist. The other monks were just as bewildered by the unexpected commotion.

“W, what is this.”

“Brother Bathis, do you have any idea what’s going on?! W… What should we do!”

“T… That… Surely not.”

“Brother!!!”

Sometimes a harsh situation can cloud a person’s judgment. Bathis’ choice, when cornered, was irrational. It was clear that he had turned around in confusion. Bathis’ target was none other than me.

“…It’s you. It’s your fault and the fault of the king who sent you! You, I’ll kill you!”

“Tsk.”

I gasped at the sight of him looking for something to grab in his hand with clumsy movements that were completely different from before. Even the monks who were standing next to him stepped back because it was obvious that he was not in his right mind.

I looked at the monks who were still sane and gave them a piece of advice.

“Do you know why I came to the sanctuary?”

“Hey, Your Grace.”

“The entrance is so wide, it’d be incredibly difficult to defend.”

Screams grew louder, along with the grating of metal against metal.

“If you want to live, you’ll have to fight your hardest.”

Amidst all that, I raised my scarred hand and chuckled.

“Well, then I’ll have to live.”

We’re on the same side now.