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Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 11

However, Theo didn’t have a bad impression of the Order of the Crest from the rumors he heard during his travels as a wandering Lord, so he decided to allow her to stay in the castle. He even allowed her to preach the Order’s doctrine within the boundaries of his territory.

「It seems like you have something that you want to say to me. However, before we begin to talk about anything, I need to know if you have anything against my contracted Mage, Siluca Meletes, because I trust her completely, so do bear in mind that everything that you’ll disclose to me will be disclosed to her as well. 」

「Siluca Meletes is a Mage, but she’s always putting the interests of Lord Theo above everything else. Her impression of the Order of the Crest is… not a favorable one, but nonetheless, I think she can be trusted. 」

Priscilla advises the archbishop.

Hearing this, Torkano took a deep breath as if he had made up his mind.

「Then please let me tell you what I wanted to talk to you about. 」

He continued speaking in a calm voice.

「The Order of the Crest was founded about 50 years ago, when a young man who became the Lord of Matre, a city located in Ismeia, was unable to inherit the Crest from his father, only to later discover that a Crest has indeed appeared on his hand on its own. When he examined it, he felt the divine power emanating from it. 」

「A divine power… 」

Theo materialized his own Crest and stared at it.

「I do think it’s a mystical power but I’ve never felt anything divine from it though. 」

「Most of the Lords claim that they don’t have any doubts about the nature of the power they’ve obtained. Lord Theo, by any chance, did you create your Crest by absorbing the power of a Chaos Core? 」

「Yes. I tried to become an Artist, but for some reason, I ended up becoming a Lord instead. 」

Theo smiled bitterly.

「Don’t you think that’s because the main thing that was driving you was not a desire for power, but your feelings instead? 」

「Feelings? It’s true that I wanted to protect my hometown and the people of Sistina, but I feel like what I was looking for was definitely power though. 」

He was so desperate back then that his memories of that time are honestly more than a little hazy.

「The Founding Lord Leon had a strong will to eliminate all Chaos from this world. It is said that When he took in the first Chaos Core into his body, his desire for power became an Art, which he then vowed to use in order to eradicate all the Chaos from this world. Or at least that is how we the Order of the Crest have chosen to interpret it.

「In the Order of the Crest, we believe that the founding Lord Leon was its first prophet. He felt that the presence of God was absent from this world, and then he concluded that once all the Chaos vanishes from the world and all the Crests become one, then the Inly God will definitely descend upon this world in all his glory. 」

Torkano explained, and Priscilla added right after him.

(Maybe it’s a good thing that Siluca is not here with me after all.)

She thinks of Leon as the ideal Lord, so she would definitely have gotten angry and told them not to interpret things in their own way whe they don’t even have any proof to back their claims with.
She just hates things that don’t make sense, and the doctrine of the Order of the Crest was definitely one such thing to her. She, just like many other Lords, believed that Crests are not a gift from some unknown God, but rather a manifestation of the will of the Lords themselves, so with her here, she’s just start bickering with Priscilla and the archbishop, and the conversation wouldn’t be able to move any further.

「The young Lord then turned his castle into a church and began to preach the teachings of The Only God based on the divine revelation that he has obtained from him. 」

「I have heard of the doctrine of the Order of the Crest. 」

Priscilla always preached it to him, and he has seen her preaching it to other people on more than a few occasions now.

According to it, it is said that The Only God in this world was lost because people lost their faith. Then, a chaotic explosion occurred and an Era of Chaos began. It is said that the Crest that was discovered by the Founding Lord was The Only God himself, and once it gets assimilated with all the other Crests, The Only God is going to be revived and he will bring the Era of Chaos to an end. And because of that, the authority of a Lord who holds a Crest can be recognized only by The Only God, and that’s why all the Lords are obliged to follow the teachings of The Only God and the Order of the Crest.

「I don’t know if that doctrine is correct or not. However, I don’t think it’s that different from the Mages Association’s explanation of what Chaos is. The only difference is whether or not they acknowledge the existence of God in the Crests or not, but that’s about it. 」

「Yes, that’s right. However, while the Mages Association can explain what Chaos is, they cannot do the same with the Crests and how they originated, right? 」

Archbishop Tokano gently pointed out.

「Come to think of it, I haven’t heard anything about it from Siluca… 」

Theo nodded his head to his words.

「But still, that doesn’t automatically mean that the theory presented by the Order of the Crest is the correct one. 」

「We don’t know that either. We only believe in the revelation from The Only God that was given to us by our founder. 」

The Archbishop answered.

「When I first heard about Lord Theo, I felt like I heard a voice in my head telling me that I need to serve him. That is why I asked the Archbishop for permission and went to see you at your old territory, Lord Theo. 」

Priscilla said with enthusiasm.
I don’t talk much. It seems different.

It was the first time I heard that. Priscilla was enthusiastic about recruiting and preaching the doctrine of the Order, but she never talked much about herself or the Order, not because she wanted to hide anything, but because she probably felt that there was no need for her to talk about it. But it was different now.

「I initially objected. I thought that the young man who was a wandering Lord that had expanded his territory through the schemes of a contracted Mage would be nothing but trouble… 」

The archbishop sighed.

「Actually, that’s exactly what happened. 」

Theo smiles bitterly. Back then, he seriously thought Siluca was a Witch. However, he believed that she was doing it for Theo’s sake, so he always did as she said without complaining.

But only God’s revelation is absolute.

「I didn’t want to leave Priscilla in the care of a Lord who could be destroyed by others at any moment, but the revelation from The Only God is an absolute truth that we of the Order of the crest cannot go against. 」

「I thought the Order of the Crest was the one who told her to come serve me? 」

「Of course, we were planning to send someone to you eventually, but Lady Priscilla is a special person to the Order. 」

「She’s… special? 」

Theo couldn’t help but look at Priscilla with a curious expression.

「She is the daughter of the founder of the Order of the Crest, she ever since she was born, her destiny is to become a Holy Grail. 」

The Archbishop took a breath before speaking again.

「Does that mean he is the successor of the founder of your order as well? 」

It may have come to him as a surprise, but Theo accepted the fact easily. Even among the priests of the Order of the Crest that he had met so far, she felt a little special, just like the Archbishop said.

「That’s not all. Lady Priscilla has been given possession of the Crest since she was born. 」

「Huh? 」

Theo couldn’t help but let out a strange noise. Not that he doubted it, but because he had never heard of something like that before.

「That’s just what I’ve been told. Actually, my mother was also a priestess, and when she gave birth to me, I received my Crest, so maybe it was transferred to me from her while I was still in the womb? 」