On the outskirts of Elsion, a provincial city in the Duchy of Saint Owan.
Adriana was getting used to monastic life again. Calm, serene, and uneventful. Her daily routine was tranquil, a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Temple.
“Sister, the Mother Superior is calling for you.”
“Oh, yes. I see.”
Adriana stepped out of the prayer room at the other nun’s call and walked slowly down the deserted hallway.
This place where there was no reason to be in a hurry.
This place where everything was quiet and secluded.
It was not a lively place to be, but Adriana was getting used to it again and was content with it.
Faces flashed through her mind from time to time, but she had moved on.
So, it’s time to forget.
-Knock Knock
“This is Adriana. You said you wanted to see me….”
“Come in.”
Abbess Melia has been taking care of her since she was very young, and was practically her biological mother.
Of course, there was someone else in charge when Adriana was very young, but when the previous abbess passed away, Melia took over.
She mourned Adriana’s return from the Temple, having sent her there in hopes that her talents would be of use to more people.
But in the end, Adriana chose to return, and while the abbess was saddened by that, she didn’t blame her.
Abbess Melia sat in her unadorned, book-filled study, looking up at her with a gentle smile.
“Have a seat.”
“Yes.”
Adriana sat down in the wooden chair, as she sat across from her.
There was nothing fancy about the place, only austerity.
The only things of value here were books. Artowan Monastery was not easy for thieves to enter, but if they did, it’s actually a place where they might even put down their own belongings and leave..
Abbess Melia looked at Adriana with a gentle smile.
“How is life at the monastery treating you, Adriana?”
“It’s good, Abbess.”
“Is it not difficult to adjust?”
“Yes, everyone treats me as well as before….”
Adriana hadn’t had any problems getting along with people, as everyone had been very attentive and caring to her since her return from Temple. Like now, the Mother Superior would call Adriana in periodically to talk to her to make sure she was adjusting well.
“Are you sure you don’t regret leaving Temple? If you’ve changed your mind now, I can talk to them about it.”
“It’s okay, Mother Superior.”
Though not pushy, Melia would occasionally ask her if she wanted to return to Temple. Adriana’s answer, of course, was set in stone.
She didn’t want any more chaos. It would be best for her to spend the rest of her days in this place of calm and peace, Adriana thought.
“Is that so… You’re still firm on that, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Adriana didn’t desire to return to Temple.
She’d be lying if she said had none, but for now, she was content. Abbess Melia pushed off the table and stood up.
“Shall we take a walk together?”
“Yes, Mother Superior.”
Adriana was fond of talking to the abbess, so she didn’t hesitate to follow.
Abbess Melia went outside the monastery, not further inside.
Outside the city of Elsion, a provincial city within the Duchy of Saint Owan.
Aside from the Abbey of Towan, there were no people anywhere else, since the area around the abbey was a field.
It was winter, and the dry grass was blowing in the wind.
“The wind is cold.”
“Ah, thank you. Abbess.”
Melia placed a hand on Adriana’s shoulder, and a faint white glow wrapped around her body, transmitting warmth.
Together they walked through the frosty winter air, bathed in a warmth that came not from coats but from divine power.
“Adriana.”
“Yes, Mother Superior.”
“It’s been a year since the Demon King fell.”
“…Yes.”
It was the end of a great epic, a deed that humanity had long sought to accomplish had finally been done.
The Demon Realm that had threatened humanity for so long has been destroyed, and the Demon King has been defeated by a hero.
Humanity has achieved the victory it has long sought. Adriana wasn’t sure why the abbess was suddenly telling such a story. But Melia always started with stories like this, stories that she was fond of, so Adriana walked alongside her in silence.
“Now that the Demon King has been defeated, and all the demons who serve him are gone, the wishes of humanity have been fulfilled, the wishes of the clergy have been fulfilled, correct?”
“Yes.”
Demons serving demon gods.
If the enemies of mankind were demons, the enemies of the believers in the Five Great Gods were the Demonic Gods.
Now that the demons who believed in the Demon Religion had fallen, those who fraternized with demons among the humans would also scatter. Adriana had no objection to the idea that this was also a victory for the Great Gods.
“However, I believe this is both a victory and a crisis.”
“What do you mean, a crisis…?”
Adriana tilted her head.
Melia stared out into the winter landscape with deep eyes.
“The empire is beginning to fear the power of the Church of the Gods.”
“Ah….”
“They have turned their eyes to the Knights Templar, seeing signs of rebellion when there is none. What an act of unfaithfulness.”
Adriana had never heard Abbess Melia speak like this before.
“The empire needed the power of the Five Great Gods to win the Demon World War, and now that the war is over, they want to persecute us like hounds.”
“Persecute…?”
“Yes. The empire is increasingly trying to step into matters it shouldn’t meddle with. It already has.”
Melia turned her head to look at Adriana. Those eyes were not the eyes of the always gentle and kind Abess Melia she remembered.
Anger and hatred seemed to swirl within them.
“They’ve already shown their ambition by replacing the head of the Templar Knights, Adriana.”
“…!”
Adriana’s breath caught in her throat. Her lip trembled, and she spoke cautiously.
“That, that’s… The former leader of the Templar Knights has been sentenced to… for what he did to….”
“Adriana, that is just Imperial propaganda.”
Rumors fly, and the truth is distorted.
“The previous Grand Master of the Templar Knights was a man who accomplished the feat of winning the Demon World War. The empire was afraid that the Templars would revolt, and he was the one they needed to keep in check.”
Hearing that, Adriana couldn’t help but widen her eyes.
The leader of the Templar Knights had been caught trying to torture his foster daughter and had been deposed for his crimes.
In order to keep the current Templar Knights, along with their powerful leader, in check, the empire replaced him with a combination of rumors and fabricated evidence.
The truth and lies mixed together until neither could be discerned from the other, but the empire actually had such intentions.
People believe in rumors that are interesting, and they ignore the ones that sound boring.
These rumors were the former, so it spurred the faithful, leading them to believe that the Empire’s persecution of the Church of the Five Great Gods had begun.
But Adriana knew the truth.
A truth she and Reinhardt have discovered. Actually, it was another first year schoolmate who found out, but he was apprised of the truth.
The abbess didn’t realize it is something she was directly involved in, so she believed it was an Imperial conspiracy to declaw the Templar Knights.
“Since the next Templar Knight Grandmaster is pro-Empire, the rest should be self-explanatory.”
This is a land far from the capital.
The removal and replacement of the Templar Knight Grandmaster was seen by many as religious persecution.
Riverriere Lanze was a hero of the Demon World War. His actions, while inevitably leading to his removal from the position of Grandmaster of the Templar Knights, was inevitably met with resistance from the majority of the religious community.
In reality, the dismissal of a Templar Knight is not something the empire can weigh in on, or actually do.
It was a decision made at a meeting of the Five Bishops, which the religious believed to have bent to imperial pressure.
“Adriana, it is a religious virtue to stay out of the affairs of politics, but when politics begin to persecute religion, it is a matter that must be addressed.”
That’s why Abbess Melia of the Artowan Monastery hasn’t spoken about politics in her entire life, but now that she believes the Empire is cracking down on religion, she’s talking about it.
Melia stared deeply into Adriana’s eyes.
“The Templar Knights are a unifying organization that exists for the fellowship of the members of the Five Great Gods, now that the Demon Realm has been destroyed. The unfaithful will misunderstand it, misinterpret its intentions, decide it is a threat to the empire, and seek to dismantle it.”
The power of the Churches of the Five Great Gods were united in the Templars Knights.
It was an unprecedented organization.
The Templar Knights had been created to invade the Demon Realm, but it was not an organization that could be disbanded just because the Demon Realm was gone.
The Templar Knights also served as a way for members of each of the Five Great Gods to come together and communicate.
If the empire tried to disband them arbitrarily, it would be a disaster.
But even though the empire hasn’t said anything, religious people like Melia believe that the suppression of religion had already begun.
This is how the fight between demons and humans began.
Neither side intends to attack the other, but they imagine that the other will, and so they prepare huge armies.
This is how the Demon World War began.
What do people do when they start believing in violence that doesn’t exist?
“We can’t let this continue, Adriana.”
“Whoa, Mother Superior….”
“We must unite the power of the Churches of the Five Great Gods against the Empire.”
Naturally, they prepare for violence with violence.
But as much as Adriana was horrified by Melia’s words, she was also doubtful.
The Artowan Monastery was not an armed group. She had no idea how they would go about this. What were they planning to do? And she had no idea why she was being involved either.
“Adriana, the Nameless Order needs you.”
The Nameless Order.
Adriana had never heard of that name before.
Abbess Melia stood still and took Adriana’s hand, leading her somewhere.
“Adriana, I’m afraid to send you off on your own, but you don’t have to worry because the person you’re going to see has promised to protect you as much as he can, and he says you won’t be in any danger.”
“Who, who… Who are we going to meet…?”
It was freezing.
As Adriana crossed the hill, she could see a wagon parked on the side of the road and several people standing beside it.
They were all strangers, but Adriana recognized one face.
So that was why.
Adriana knew why the abbess of the convent, on the outskirts of the Elsion, had spoken to her. Melia held Adriana’s hand gently.
“You have been swept up in the Empire’s machinations and wronged, and now all you have to do is restore your honor.”
Adriana could see why Abbess Melia was so relieved to have someone to turn to.
If she didn’t know the details, she had no reason to fear entrusting herself to this person.
“You must be Adriana.”
“….”
Adriana couldn’t help but go pale at the sight of the cold, middle-aged man.
Riverriere Lanze, the former Grandmaster of the Templar Knights.
He was staring at Adriana.
She could tell by the look in his eyes.
He clearly knew that Adriana was involved in his fall.
He had found her.
But Abbess Melia did not know it.
“She’s a good girl, but she’s hard-hearted. Leader. Please take care of Adriana.”
“Don’t worry about her. She is in good hands.”
That’s why she handed Adriana over to Riverriere Lanze so easily. She gave Adriana to him because she believed he was innocent.
Abbess Melia, her foster mother, had become a member of a mysterious organization. Riverrierre Lanze placed a hand on Adriana’s frozen shoulder.
“There’s no need to tremble. Adriana.”
Adriana shuddered, barely able to open her mouth. Riverriere’s cold gaze bore into her.
“One would think you had done something terribly wrong.”
She wondered why she was being taken.
‘What is he up to?’
Adriana knew nothing.
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