Kidnapped the Saintess of the Hero Party

18 – The Wizard Loves the Stillness of the Night.

Sia replied.

“I don’t like it…”

I can also take the front line.

Of course, Sia preferred following Lucion’s lead rather than entrusting her back to him.

You’re reliable.

The back view is impressive.

So, let’s entrust the front line to Lucion.

I thought it would be more satisfying that way.

In fact, putting personal feelings aside, I believed it was right for Lucion to be at the front line.

Doesn’t Lucion know more?

He’ll worry less about stepping on the wrong foot.

Actually, there’s only a one-year age difference, but Lucia often saw Lucion as if he were much older.

Sometimes…

“King!” – Lucion

“King!!” – Kyle

“Woof woof!” – Lucion

It seems like he’s younger than himself, but words alone.

#

The royal capital was quiet.

Walking on the quiet street was quite boring, so Lucia had to find something to talk about.

There was one thing she was curious about.

“But what did Lucion already get? What did he obtain?”

He obtained something?

What comes to mind is what Tritan said to Lucia just before leaving.

The author has already obtained what he desired.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Lucion frowned.

He did gain something.

Quite a lot, actually.

But it would be difficult to convince Sia.

Now, it’s time for excuses.

What Lucion gained.

It was something that couldn’t be easily explained.

#

Lucia is a deep sleeper.

Once she falls into a deep sleep, she can’t wake up even if someone approaches.

That’s why her colleagues at the orphanage used to scribble on her face.

When they were camping near Tritan, Lucion stayed up all night by Lucia’s side.

Using the self-illuminating Tritan as a mood light, he covered Lucia with giant leaves like a blanket, and listened to her sleep talking.

There wasn’t anything significant.

“Mmm. Mmnya.”

“Euaeeaahh”

It was just cute.

Because she was fully energized, either dreaming a pleasant dream or holding onto him tightly, Haould almost suffocated. If Kyle hadn’t tactfully kept quiet, Sia would have probably woken up in the middle of the night.

As Lucion couldn’t sleep well, constantly reminded of Sia’s rolling head in front of his feet, he found solace in seeing Lucia’s peaceful face as she slept.

However, the sleep-talking was remarkably loud.

– Ugh.

‘What kind of dream is he having?’

– Hmm.

Perhaps it’s a misconception.

It feels like my name was called.

– aaah.

– Ugh!

– Uhh.

I decided to stop trying to understand.

Shia wrinkled her brow, repeatedly switching between frowning and smiling. It probably wasn’t madness. Even if I suspected it might be a nightmare, seeing the smile spread across the face made it seem like an overall pleasant dream, so I left it at that.

Watching Shia’s expressions change several times within a minute was quite enjoyable. She made those expressions too. It was a precious time that I wanted to engrave each and every expression into my memory.

In short,

Watching Lucia sleeping in the sacred space.

For Lucion, it was a sight so amusing that he wanted to reminisce about it forever.

“Seems foolish.”

Even in a situation like this?

Somehow, Lucia’s expression slightly furrowed. Well, that was cute too.

Soon, Shia’s expression relaxed, her face becoming comfortable, and she fell asleep without dreaming.

What was gained,

It was the tranquility of Lusia.

#

So.

What should I say?

What should I boast about gaining?

Lusion wrapped her head around it.

Ah.

A good idea.

“Don’t lie. Zion can tell when someone lies.”

Lusion openly sighed. Caught before even speaking. Can’t help it. Let’s equip honesty.

“I learned magic.”

Of course, it was a lie.

Sia pondered.

“Magic?”

Lusion, learning magic?

Unimaginable.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Sia, do you want to learn too?”

Huh?

Sia’s eyes sparkle.

“Can I learn too?”

“Sure.”

Lucion reminisced about the past.

Even priests had often mastered magic.

Not up to the highest level, but simple spells like conjuring fire or ventilation spells were helpful in everyday life. Priests were quite adept at learning many of these.

“Among them, the spell to repel bugs was particularly popular.”

When praying, do you know what’s the most disturbing?

It’s not cramps in your legs.

Nor is it the occasional low blood pressure.

It’s the variety of bugs that crawl on the church floor, skitter up the priest’s body.

They bite the legs, suck the blood from the face. They don’t just leave the priests in peace to pray.

Some priests claim it’s a test of faith, challenging themselves to pray under hard mode, but according to Lucion’s experience, there was no need to go through such hardships. It’s better to train comfortably.

Priests praying defenselessly. From the bugs’ perspective, it was like leaving a fruit tree unattended on the street. Not a typical fruit and easily juicy.

“Priests concurrently train their physical and mental stamina.”

They can offer more blood. It spurts like a geyser.

In fact, during blood transfusions, priests’ blood is most frequently used.

Since you’re receiving blood, why not make it clean and sacred? Priests’ blood is used the most, and the priests themselves consider it an honor.

“They’re all just perverts.”

Anyway, even priests pursuing such devotion didn’t entirely neglect precautions. While fire spells were most common and effective, they couldn’t solve everything. Some bugs possessed divine power, even sneaking through as mere vermin, breaching the protection of sanctity.

Therefore, high-level priests mastered magic alongside their other skills.

There is a solution that is the best for pest control.

[The Unreachable Room], creating a cube.

By creating an enclosed space, we were able to completely block the access of the bugs.

Of course, that alone is not a reason to learn magic.

Even in the church, priests were encouraged to learn magic alongside their studies, and the main reason was to maintain external dignity.

#

It actually happened.

– The remarkable priest from the kingdom has arrived for us!

– But I heard that the priest smashed the goblin’s head with his fist!

– What nonsense? Don’t speak absurdities. How dare you belittle a sacred priest.

Priests didn’t have the ability to wipe out multiple enemies.

In fact, if a priest was dispatched to a village, their body would be strengthened to the point where even if a goblin stabbed them with a dagger, their skin wouldn’t be harmed. But before exterminating the goblin, and even after, what remained was not the priest’s toughness.

– Look over there. Isn’t it real? The priest who dyes his monk’s robe red and smashes goblin skulls!

A priest who personally smashes goblin skulls.

Only that fact remained.

Afterwards, rumors spread that the priests were not as sacred as they seemed, and every priest learned basic attack magic as a necessity.

Even the church stepped forward to teach lethal magic.

So what if it’s just a rumor?

No.

Business was a matter of survival.

Priests usually live a life of service.

In a life where there are many things one can do, there was no one who wanted to be a priest and perform acts of virtue. To continuously receive the fresh blood of the young, the church and the clergy had to appear impressive outwardly. So they learned magic and adorned themselves with divine power.

Convergent magic transforms into a rather impressive form.

It’s like a kind of advertisement.

From that perspective,

In the face of the crisis that came to Lucion, he could say that he learned it from Tritan. At the same time, there was one very useful magic that could create a nonexistent faith. Even the high-ranking priests have all acquired this magic.

Explosion.

“Explosion.”

It was the most basic 2nd level structured magic where you gather mana and simply touch it to make it explode.

#

As the sun began to set.

Lucion lit a bonfire and set up a tent in the clearing.

“It’ll take about a week to get to the royal road, so let’s learn magic along the way.”

“Sounds good!”

They had quite a few stories to discuss about the situations they would face in the future. Since Lucion couldn’t remember in detail what happened twelve years ago, he had to go and experience it firsthand to find out.

It would be best to focus on magic right away.

After finishing their meal, Lucia and Lucion took a nap in order to be active during the night, which is known as the best time to practice magic.

#

Night.

The time that wizards love the most has arrived.

The priests adore the dawn,

Archers, the dusk,

Inspectors, the awakening at noon,

And wizards, the silence of the night.

The autumn night, echoing with the sound of crickets, was the best time to learn magic.

“Learning magic is easy.”

In truth, it wasn’t easy, but for someone dedicating their life to honing divine power, learning magic was simply an extension of their usual activities.

Lucion recalled his magic primer.

It had been a while since he read it, but regardless of which primer he chose, the phrases on the first page were mostly the same.

“Among the various forces that move this world, mana is undoubtedly the most commonly used.”

Lucion had this to say about it.

“To use magic well, you must first understand the force that moves the world. That’s what this is about.”

Even the sages of the past encapsulated the essence of the book in the first sentence.

The first sentence of the primer. Breaking it down into the essence from the very beginning.

Why handle mana the most?

For a simple reason.

“Because it’s the most abundant. And, it’s the most manageable source of energy.”

The world is filled with energy sources such as divine power, mana, magic, and other exceptional forces.

Exceptional forces are energies like dimension power, extremely scarce, and divine power and magic are not significantly substantial; most are composed of mana.

Realistically, the only energies that can be gathered and processed for use in nature are divine power, mana, and magic.

However, divine power requires innate goodness to handle, and magic requires innate mental strength. Above all, to use both energies, one had to bear significant risks.

That’s why people developed relatively safe mana.

Lucia was aware of the three forces too.

“Divine power, mana, magic?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

It was known information. The reason for emphasizing it is probably because it’s that important.

“Divine power manifests when one has a strong desire to help others, while magic is the opposite. It appears when one tries to take something away from others, and it wields great power.”

And while trying to continue the explanation about mana, Lucia couldn’t hold back her anger.

“Those villains!”

Stealing from others!

At first, Lucion had the same reaction as Lucia.

“Where are those rotten bastards?”

But the more they learned, the harder it became to distinguish between good and evil.

Well, the origin of divine power is the origin that [uses one’s own life force as cost]. It’s the energy that arises from giving one’s own thing.

On the contrary, the origin of magic is the origin that [takes away the life force of others] for use. It’s the energy that arises from taking away others’ things.

Whether you harm yourself or harm others, it’s just a difference.

In any case, damaging the body is the same thing.

In the end, the two were the same.

‘Uncomfortable truths are usually kept hidden, but learning magic as a priest means something a little different.’

In order to know the truth, I had to learn.