“The Lord once said: ‘Accept His teachings with humility, look to the distance, and wear the light upon you.’”

It was a quiet church. Below sat people dressed in linen clerical robes, while a middle-aged, clean-shaven priest stood at the pulpit.

Those wearing the linen clerical robes were all quite young. There were even a few children among them. Still, every face was solemn and reverent as they listened in silence.

His features were as solemn as a marble statue. When facing him, people couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of reverence.

His voice was distinctive, too—clear, pure, and somewhere between masculine and feminine. As he taught, it rang out beneath the dome, stirring echoes all around.

His pure, sacred tones recited the words the Lord had left behind, as though a true angel were at your side, reading them aloud to you.

He was a former member of the Church’s sacred choir. He had kept his innocence and turned his heart toward the light, a devout and pure believer. He’d only left the choir because he’d outgrown it, and had become an ordinary instructor instead.

Even so, he held a certain standing. Even the church’s pastor treated him with respect, because this priest had once sung of the Lord’s glory and proclaimed it to the world.

“Children, you must put your hearts into learning the Lord’s wisdom.”

The priest spoke kindly. “The Lord is the only truth in this world. We must revere Him and follow His teachings if we are to enjoy such a happy life.”

“Um… Father…”

Among the young people below was a little girl. She raised her hand hesitantly. “I have a question…”

“Go ahead, child.”

The priest, who had retired from the sacred choir, smiled. “Don’t be afraid. We’re all companions, basking in the Lord’s light.”

“Mm…”

The girl, her face dotted with freckles, nodded. Her voice grew a little louder. “Father, you often teach us that we mustn’t break the commandments. But how are these commandments different from the rules we follow every day?”

“…Heh. That’s a good question.”

The middle-aged priest fell silent for a moment, then smiled. “We’ll actually cover that later in the lessons. But there’s no harm in talking about it now.”

“Let’s use a fairly simple example.”

The priest spoke at length. Soft light flowed around the place where he stood, making it seem as if he were bathed in holy radiance—and all the more worthy of reverence and trust. “Take pride, for example. In the Lord’s teachings, it is one of the original sins, and one of the commandments we must observe.”

“But we are human, not angels who serve the Lord in perfect purity. That means we ourselves are not yet pure enough. We still make mistakes, whether without meaning to or because we’ve been tempted.”

“Some people commit the sin of pride in their daily lives quite often. But that doesn’t mean they’ve committed the original sin itself, because this kind of pride isn’t the same as that kind.”

Here, the priest used two entirely different words. The one for the original sin of Pride was short and forceful. The very sound of it, even spoken in an ordinary sentence, stirred an unsettling feeling—as if the person it described were looking down on you, making you deeply uncomfortable.

The word the priest used for the lesser character flaw of pride was longer and sounded somewhat unnatural, as though someone had coined it later just to tell the two apart.

The latter was closer in meaning to “arrogance” or “defiance.”

It was far more common than the former, found everywhere—and especially obvious in people with power and status.

The priest didn’t point that out, though. He knew this was a gray area, and if he dug too deeply, who knew what he might uncover?

Besides, such matters were beyond the reach of a humble priest like him to speculate about. His job was simply to do his duty and serve the Lord. That was all.

Come to think of it, he’d heard that Pastor Marshall had once again caused quite a stir in Church circles recently. That venerable old man had never held a glorious position in his life. Plenty of people had thought he would become just another insignificant figure in history. But in his later years, his quiet life and devotion to the Lord had finally been rewarded.

It was enough to make anyone envious—and to deepen their reverence for the Lord, in the hope of receiving His revelation.

“Then, Father!”

A lively-looking boy raised a question. “What is the original sin of Pride really like?”

“Heh heh. Child, I’m just an ordinary person.”

The priest joked, “If I were a holy knight or an archbishop, perhaps I could describe the true nature of the original sin. But as things stand, I can only share my own guess.”

“In the Lord’s teachings, Pride is a form of absolute power.”

The priest spoke slowly. “I don’t know what that power represents, but it certainly stands above us. It is pure evil, something every one of us must resist. According to legend, among the fallen beings there was a Sorceress known as Pride. She tempted several rulers into corruption, bringing misery to all living things in that age. In the end, the holy knights of our Church slew the source of that corruption with their own hands.”

The children’s eyes grew wide. They loved stories like this. They were far more interesting than dry doctrine.

“All right, children. We’ve talked enough. We should put more effort into our lessons now.”

The priest smiled. “We don’t need to worry too much about the original sins. As long as we hold fast to our faith, evil will never be able to reach us.”

“I… I’m going to walk myself to death… Can’t you let me rest for a bit…?”

Dust swirled over a rough road, and Rhodes was just barely visible in the distance.

It wasn’t even eight in the morning yet, but the world was already wide awake. Nobody here had a habit of sleeping in.

Leaning against a tree by the roadside, Leticia patted her own flat chest, gasping for breath.

She’d been in such a hurry to reach the city that she’d nearly stolen a car. And when she’d wanted to take a break, that damned brat had seized control of her body and forced her into another long-distance sprint.

By the end, she’d nearly collapsed like a dead dog.

“Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!”

Stano kept urging her on, as if it were easy to talk when you weren’t the one doing the work.

“Ahem. I can’t do it! Keep rushing me all you want, I still can’t walk!”

Her body hadn’t been in good shape to begin with, and that run had nearly wrung her dry. Leticia took a couple of deep breaths and looked at the road. “Come to think of it, why are there so many people here?”

There had been plenty of people on the road the last time she came, too, but most of them had been merchants. Today, there were a lot more… idle onlookers, like they’d come to watch a show.

She could see the city gate from here. Leticia noticed that the guards protecting it had increased from eight to more than thirty. Among them were several people in white robes, wearing the insignia of the Church.

“What… happened here?”

Leticia had no idea. But Stano, seeing it all through her eyes, felt his heart tighten.

“They’re holding a public execution!”

“Hey! You bastard, stop right now!”

Her exhausted body was dragged along like a puppet once more. Stano could feel how heavy the frail little body was as it moved, and knew it was a sign of overexertion. But he still broke into a run.

“Stop talking! I’ll make it up to you afterward, I promise!”

“You…!”

The pressure that had been lodged in Leticia’s chest surged upward, catching in her throat.

Her ears rang. Her head spun, and her vision went black. Every sound seemed to recede. Leticia knew she really couldn’t hold on any longer.

Before she could finish speaking, it felt as if she’d been struck hard on the head. Her consciousness sank into darkness.