Saint's Prison - Chapter 27

The Brand of Paganism + Character Introduction

A sky covered in clouds.

Even during the day, it’s dim and heavy in atmosphere.

The brightness inside the monastery is barely different from the night.

I head to the silent corridor in search of light.

I lean against one of the round columns in the corridor and sit down.

Then, I look up at the sky and glare at the thick, gray clouds.

After calming myself for a while, I slowly take out the wax tablet I’ve been holding at my side.

With a slap on my cheek to motivate myself, I grip the stylus.

I came here to find light to write on the wax tablet. Also, the silent corridor of this world is the best environment for thinking.

“A Vows is something to hide secrets. Remember, your task is to investigate the foundation of this monastery. Make sure no one from other monasteries knows about it, and proceed discreetly.”

I recall Johanna’s words.

She told me to investigate the monastery’s foundation. At first, I thought of going to the library to look it up, but the only time I could enter the library was during Mass when the other priests were absent. I had to make the most of my limited time.

I concluded that it would be more convenient to organize my thoughts beforehand.

For now, I’ll start by writing down every fragment of information I’ve felt and heard so far, one by one.

Extract and organize what’s necessary from the mass of information. Then, integrate that information and gain insights.

(… Ideally, I would like to have sticky notes, a board, and large sheets of imitation paper, but I can’t afford such luxuries.)

I write words on the right side of the wax tablet. In this case, quantity is more important than quality. The more, the better.

Tracing the array of characters, I nod in satisfaction.

I move on to the next stage. Overlap related things and words that are close together. Do some grouping. I write it down, organizing it on the left side of the tablet.

First, I’ll start with paganism.

“… Stone circle. Crawling something. Otherworld. Heresy and orthodoxy. Inquisition. Witch hunt. Persecution. Burned village. Indigenous faith. That should do it.”

Next is the monastery.

“Precepts. Covenant. Faith. Blind faith. God. Sealed-off place from the outside. Secret. Conquest and invasion. Silence. What belongs to God is God’s.”

Uh, let’s see. After that, it’s about the king.

“King’s protection. Royal authority and church. King’s demise. What belongs to Caesar is Caesar’s.”

And finally, about Amal.

“Abominable child. A name that cannot be called.”

I take a breather after writing all that. I massage my furrowed brow and then take a careful look at the wax tablet.

Paganism.

I don’t know much about the academic aspects of it, as I’ve only learned about it in history classes. For now, I’ll proceed with the understanding that paganism refers to any faith other than Christianity.

First, considering the same exclusive aspect, I think of Judaism. However, Judaism has the purpose of saving its own people, which is in contrast to Christianity, which aims to provide salvation for all people regardless of specific ethnicity.

In other words, it was believed that all humans should believe in Christianity, the only legitimate teaching that could provide salvation for everyone. Any other religion was considered evil, and it was desirable for their faith to be corrected and converted.

That led to missionary activities, and sometimes the terrifying “death” was given to pagans or those who argued against Christianity. It was an exclusive and intolerant religion that should be described as such.

With that as a premise, I’ll think about it.
Originally, there was a village in Stonehurst, and according to Francesco’s story, the village believed in paganism, probably an indigenous religion.

That was the beginning of the tragedy. Christianity, which has an exclusive religious view, did not tolerate the evil paganism that contradicted (or was thought to contradict) the righteous religion.

– Therefore, they persecuted, burned, and gave terrible deaths.

On the site of that, ah yes, this Stonehurst Monastery was built. It was not to comfort the souls of the slaughtered and trampled pagans, nor to make a spectacle, but was there some reason behind it?

The fact that they did not destroy the stone circle, a symbol of paganism, might have been connected to that something… Would it be too rough to think so?

Having thought up to that point, I brought to mind that crawling something. I naturally thought that it was an existence related to the paganism that the villagers believed in. Of course, there is a good chance that it is not.

Is it my hallucination?
Is it a separate existence unrelated to paganism?
Or is it the “god who does not mingle” who lost the people who believed in it and had the land taken away?

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Character Introduction

A memorandum combined with the introduction of characters.

▪️Andrew (Ando Ryu)
– Protagonist.
– 27 years old. Black hair, short-cropped, black eyes. 186 cm tall. Lean and muscular.
– Nicknamed Ryu in Japan, but here he is referred to as Kuro-dono or the man in black. Only Amal calls him Andy.
– Not strikingly handsome, but has well-featured facial traits. Tall, good-natured, and caring, he was quite popular in Japan. He has a reasonable amount of experience with women. Prefers older, nurturing women but tends to be favored by younger ones.

▪️Amalthea
– Heroine.
– 14 years old. Silver hair, long, red eyes. Slanted eyes. A goddess-like beautiful visage. More beautiful than cute. 145 cm. Straight hair down to her waist, with one side of her temples braided. Short in stature, but appears taller due to her good posture. Impressive figure for her age.
– Since their first meeting, she has developed a strong obsession and possessiveness towards the protagonist, acknowledging her and becoming dependent on him. The climax from the beginning.

▪️Benedict Bonosus
– A Father priest of the Stonehurst Monastery.
– About over 60 years old, thin. A large aquiline nose is a distinguishing feature.

▪️Johanna Scotus
– Nun. 17 years old.
– Long blonde hair tied up in a chignon. Blue eyes.
– Slender and supple body. Surprisingly ample bust.
– Called a sadist by the protagonist, but essentially a pure-hearted and kind woman. Good at reading the situation.

▪️Sals Nielsen
– Priest. 29 years old.
– Serious and an exclusive rule-enthusiast. Considered young among the priests at the monastery. Handsome. Despises Amalthea like a plague. Strict towards the protagonist as well. Not good at reading the situation.

▪️Francesco Poitier
– Priest. 32 years old.
– Easy-going. Gets along well with the protagonist, so often glared at by Amalthea. Oblivious to it. Strong in a certain sense.

・Katarina
– Merchant’s daughter. 15 years old.
– Bright chestnut hair down to her back. Loosely braided and draped over her shoulders. Green eyes. Active and considerate personality. The type who would make a good wife.

TN: I Tried to make Andy and Amal illustration based on the text with picsart.