CHAPTER 165
What kind of relationship did Lua and I have?
Lua was the Saintess of the Holy Church.
Naturally, fitting her title of Saintess, she had not a speck of impurity and was a figure revered by some even as a goddess.
There was no blemish to be found in her beauty.
That was how much the figure of a Saintess was considered a sacred existence.
What kind of relationship could I possibly have with such a Lua?
Obviously, it was impossible.
Even a speck of dust touching the Saintess was considered profane in this situation.
Unless one was willing to throw their life away, becoming intimately involved with the Saintess was an absurd notion.
Therefore, I could act completely confident in front of Aranseol.
I could proudly say that I had no such relationship with Lua, and there was no need for such misunderstandings.
"Saintess, I have one thing I'd like to ask you."
Inside a room where only the Saintess of the Holy Church and permitted individuals could enter.
Aranseol sparked the incident.
"You seem much closer to Harua than before. What happened between you two?"
An incredibly easily misunderstood remark.
Aranseol, who had confessed her feelings to me, acted sensitive toward every woman who approached me.
This was exactly that.
An act of arbitrarily judging and being on guard even when the man in question had no interest.
Just as I was about to stop Aranseol, feeling my face heat up for no reason...
Lua blinked her large eyes, then slowly cupped her cheek with her hand and tilted her head.
"Haru and I, well. We're in a relationship where we shared a bed for a few weeks."
And then she casually dropped a bombshell.
I froze completely, and Aranseol's jaw dropped.
If Lululio, who was waiting outside, had heard this, her eyes would have been sparkling at the gossip.
Among us, only Aigis calmly drank her tea.
After all, she was the one who had watched everything unfold right next to me, so she knew exactly what was going on.
"......You slept together?"
When Aranseol asked again to confirm, Lua answered nonchalantly.
"Yes, we slept together."
Well, we did sleep together.
When three types of divine power were piling up in my body and going on a massive rampage.
To protect my body, Lua had taken extreme measures.
If Lua hadn't provided that treatment back then, I wouldn't be here today.
"You mean you just slept."
When Aranseol threw another question, Lua looked back at me.
I sent her a gaze pleading for her to give a proper answer, and she smiled brightly.
Ah, she understood my feelings.
"We didn't have a single thread on, though."
Ah, Lua is just having fun with this situation right now.
Maybe because she had lived such a boring life as a Saintess in the past.
Lua had become an ultimate troll.
Aranseol's gaze slowly turned toward me.
It was a look demanding confirmation of the truth.
However, this was a fact.
Denying the truth would only lead to unnecessary lies.
"Harua."
Aranseol quietly called my name.
But it felt completely different from the affectionate way she usually called me.
"I know there were circumstances. It's obviously a story from the time of the Radiant Faith Society. I also know the Saintess is just in the mood to tease me and Harua right now."

Aranseol was quick on the uptake.
Naturally, she had figured out exactly what this situation was.
"But still, it bothers me."
What bothers you?
Aranseol slowly approached my side and then wrapped my arm around her own body.
Then she quietly leaned her head against my chest and nestled into my embrace.
"Hold me."
"Yes."
If she tells me to do it, I have to do it.
As I held her properly, Lua was covering her mouth with the back of her hand, struggling to look away.
If you're going to laugh, I'd rather you just laugh out loud.
At least give the victim a laugh out of it.
"Saintess, may I ask one more thing?"
Meanwhile, Aranseol's barrage of questions continued.
"Yes, as much as you like."
"Do you like Harua?"
A direct fastball question without an ounce of hesitation.
I looked down at Aranseol, wondering if that wasn't a bit too rude of a question, but she glared at me, so I decided to stay quiet.
"Do I like Haru, you ask."
Lua looked back at me and slowly examined me.
I felt like I was being appraised piece by piece.
"To be honest, I do like him."
What is up with my popularity?
"Of course, I mean I like him as a person. Because I myself respect Haru."
My heart sank for a moment there, but it was a relieving answer.
A person respected by the Saintess.
I felt like I had become quite an incredible person in various ways.
Of course, I didn't show it, because Aranseol was poking my ribs with her elbow.

"I also think it would be fun if Haru and I became lovers. If it weren't for my title as Saintess, I probably would have played even more mischievous pranks on him."
You're already mischievous enough right now.
If you get any more mischievous here, it's going to be a problem.
"But if you're asking about romantic feelings."
Lua looked honestly at Aranseol and spoke.
"It probably wouldn't be enough to say I like Haru as much as Lady Aranseol or Lady Babiyen does."
He's a good person.
Her evaluation stopped exactly at that point.
Once Lua clearly drew the line, Aranseol finally lifted herself slightly from my embrace.
Aranseol's unique, cozy scent lingered on my chest.
It felt like a cat had left its scent to say, 'This is my spot.'
"Lady Aranseol must really like Haru."
"Yes, I like him the most in the world."
How embarrassing.
I was weak to this kind of confession attack.
"The way he acts secretly smug while being so embarrassed is also cute."
"I agree that part of him is cute. Haru fills his self-esteem in strange areas."
"You've observed him very carefully."
"It's true that I respect Haru, after all."
I really wished they would pick just one—either praise me or insult me.
Still, since it was clear that I was a good person to both of them, I was satisfied.
"I'll have to be careful not to fall for Haru in the future."
"Yes, please be careful. It's troublesome because Harua is so popular."
Since when was I popular?
No, wait. Having two women like me does mean I'm popular.
But why is it that I strangely can't accept it?
Maybe it's because I had never been popular even once in my entire past life.
"Well then, that's enough fun catching up, it's time to get back to the main topic."
As Lua finished speaking, the door immediately opened.
There were the coffins containing the two corpses transported from the carriage.
The Paladins skillfully set the coffins down and quickly left.
It was an incredibly swift movement, likely afraid of interrupting our conversation.
"Ganibal and Arborex, the two Deadly Sinners, correct?"
When Lua asked to confirm, I nodded.
"Right. Both of them didn't respond to my Resurrection Magic, as if they had become Apostles."
"Resurrection Magic didn't work. This is a serious matter."
Lua stood up from her seat and walked over to the two corpses. Soon after, divine power began to surge around Lua's body.
Mi-myeong was so startled that it poked its head out from my embrace.
It was the most massive amount of divine power I had ever seen.
As expected, the title of Saintess wasn't something just anyone could obtain.
A moment later, Lua's divine power slowly began to push into the insides of the two corpses.
The area around the corpses was dyed with pure white light as massive amounts of divine power undulated.
How much time had passed?
Finally, Lua's divine power stopped moving.
Lua's eyes slowly opened.
As I waited to hear what she would say, Lua soon furrowed one eyebrow.
"This is strange."
"Strange how?"
At my counter-question, Lua looked at the two corpses.
"I don't feel any divine power whatsoever from the bodies of the Deadly Sinners."
The moment we heard those words, all of our faces stiffened.
That meant that Ganibal and Arborex had not resurrected as Apostles.
Not resurrecting as Apostles meant there was some other means of resurrection.
As our thoughts reached that point, all of our expressions became complicated.
The power of resurrection had fallen into the hands of Black Dawn.
There was no greater crisis than this.
"Haru, it's probably not a perfect resurrection like the one Haru thinks of."
Lua, noticing my thoughts, corrected me.
My head lifted toward Lua.
"If it's not a resurrection?"
"When Haru resurrects someone, the soul remains in a complete form."
Lua swept her hand over the faces of the corpses.
"But right now, the soul remnants of these two people have a different form. It's completely different from the resurrection Haru uses."
Even with her saying that, I couldn't immediately understand.
"These people didn't come back to life."
So Lua explained it in simpler terms.
"The fundamental nature of their souls has changed, which means their souls were placed into new bodies."
Their souls were placed into new bodies.
It was a completely different result from coming back to life.
"But is that even possible?"
"Well, your Resurrection Magic is possible, isn't it?"
She had a point.
But to think that existing souls were placed into new bodies.

What is that? At that moment, a fact flashed through my mind.

"...Ah?"

The Blood of the Reincarnation Tree.
It was the material of a White-class Fantasy Species that the wanted merchant, Dark Hood, had stolen before he was killed by the Sinner of Pride, Arborex.
At the time, I thought it was just another one of Black Dawn's deeds.
I just figured they had some kind of ulterior motive.
Don't tell me they used it here?
But even if they reincarnate, all their existing abilities and power become meaningless.
What meaning could there be in doing that?

"Haru."

At that moment, Lua looked back at me, as if my words had sparked a thought.

"Do you remember when Black Dawn stole Bloody's body?"

To be precise, it was corpse dust, not even something you could call a body.
But it was true that the power of a Transcendent was contained within that flesh.

"They couldn't do much with Bloody's body alone, but up until now, Black Dawn has been stealing or gathering massive concentrations of energy."

The artifact stolen from the Imperial Family.
The artificial sun stolen from Nox.
Like this, every time Black Dawn caused an incident, they stole something harboring colossal energy.

"...The main experiment conducted on Cruden Island was the process of creating the basic skeletal framework for an artificial Transcendent's body."

Of course, it had seemed like a meaningless endeavor at the time.
No matter how many bodies of different races they gathered and experimented on, there was no way that could become an artificial Transcendent.
But what if we thought about it differently?
It wasn't the process of making an artificial Transcendent.
It was the vessel to contain the artificial Transcendent.
The creation of a vessel closer to a Transcendent than a Grade 1 Light attribute or a Grade 1 Dark attribute.
And that vessel... would be themselves.
At this moment, everyone felt a chilling sensation.

"...Crazy bastards."

The grand picture Black Dawn had been painting.
Finally, the puzzle pieces had fallen into place.