“You haven’t prayed today, have you?”
“Huh? Didn’t the nuns say there was no prayer time today?”
“I knew it. You weren’t listening properly.” A tired expression crossed Arcia’s face. “Today’s the eve of the presentation ceremony, so there’s no prayer time together. Instead, we’re all supposed to enter the prayer room alone to offer up one last prayer to God.”
“Really? Thank you for telling Neme!”
Although Neme was the church’s problem child, she was still a Cecinaist. She believed in God and she took her prayers seriously—they just happened to be different from everyone else’s. The nuns still got mad at her when she asked for things like dessert.
“Neme’s going to go pray right away!”
“Everyone else should be done by now, so the room should be free.”
“Neme knew she could count on you, Arcia!”
After giving her thanks, Neme hurried off to the prayer room.
That night was the first time Neme ever went to the prayer room alone. The room was normally full of nuns and other saint candidates, so she’d never noticed it before, but there was a mysterious reverence to the place. Part of that was attributable to the sheer size of the room, but another part was likely because of the statue of God enshrined at the back. Even the impious Neme found herself standing bolt upright with bated breath.
For now, she made her way to the statue and assumed a praying posture. Just as she was about to make her usual prayer for endless desserts, she paused. Arcia’s words flashed through her mind. Neme had completely forgotten that the presentation ceremony was tomorrow. Once it was over, their time as saint candidates would be too. Girls who didn’t inherit the sainthood typically left the church. There were some who remained as nuns to raise other children, but Neme knew she was considered a problem child.
“It’s the end of the road for Neme...”
When she looked back on it, life at the church had been nothing but fun. Arcia and her other friends were all kind to her. They never abandoned her for being useless and they always treated her like one of them. The sisters often scolded Neme, but she knew it was because they cared about her. They’d always follow up their admonishments with a warm hug. Their cooking was delicious, and they even made sure to buy books for Neme too. She didn’t know much about the outside world, but if heaven existed, she thought it would probably be something like this.
Everyone else at the church prayed for world peace, but Neme was happy just living there. Still, that life would come to an end tomorrow. No matter how much she whined, it wouldn’t change anything. So instead, Neme’s heart was filled with gratitude. For the nuns who raised her, the priests running the church, the older candidates who taught her things, the younger candidates who looked up to her, and her friends who’d been nice to her. Out of everyone, she was most grateful to Arcia.
Arcia had been the first person to talk to Neme when she moved to the church and was struggling to fit in. The two girls had naturally begun chatting more and more as they saw each other, and before Neme knew it, Arcia was her best friend. Arcia was beloved by everyone at the church. Yet in spite of that, she cared the most about a problem child like Neme—she was just that kind. Arcia was always giving Neme gentle warnings and guidance, and she’d saved her from a good scolding more times than anyone could count. Neme loved Arcia for that.
As the person closest to Arcia, Neme knew just how hard she was working to become the next saint. It was Arcia’s greatest aspiration, and she was willing to put in the effort to get there. Her grades and her mastery of holy arts hadn’t always been the best. She started off around average. But for the sake of becoming the saint, she would ask the nuns and older candidates about things she didn’t understand—even going as far as to sacrifice sleep to study up. Neme respected her for that, and she wanted Arcia’s hard work to be rewarded. So tonight, instead of praying for more desserts for herself, Neme decided to make a different wish.
“Dear God, please make Arcia the saint.”
This wasn’t because Neme wanted to mooch desserts off of Saint Arcia either. She sincerely, from the bottom of her heart, wanted Arcia to be happy.
“Neme’s seen how hard she works. She’s done her very best.”
With her hands firmly clutched together, she prayed, “You must have seen it too, God. So please give Arcia the skill to become the saint.”
Neme’s prayer would never come true. Years later, she knew that all too well—even while dreaming. By some mistake, she’d been granted Saint’s Authority instead. If no one had received the holy skill, Arcia failing to inherit it may have been written off as a case of bad luck. But rather, it was specifically given to Neme—the church’s problem child.
Neme hadn’t spoken to Arcia after the presentation ceremony. She was in too much shock and didn’t know what to say. Arcia was still processing her own emotions and had simply stared at Neme coldly from afar. That was when Neme realized it.
God was real—but not the kind, gentle being the church made them out to be. God was cruel, and Neme was angry. She would never forgive God for hurting her best friend. Even though she’d obtained Saint’s Authority, God hadn’t spoken to her...so Neme decided she was going to have to go complain to God directly. She’d once heard the rumor that if you reached the end of a dungeon, you could have a divine meeting.
Unable to sit still, Neme had walked away from the sainthood and fled Aifan. She eventually found herself in Puriff, where she met the Arrivers. She traveled to an unfamiliar land, learned to communicate with others outside of her cloistered lifestyle, and worked her hardest every day—all so she could meet God. It wasn’t because she was a Cecinaist. She just wanted her objections to be heard. Why had she received the Saint’s Authority? Why wasn’t it Arcia?
If possible, Neme wanted to give her skill to Arcia. If God was the one who bestowed skills, transferring them should be easy. And Neme wouldn’t take no for an answer. That was the sole reason she was intent on dungeon conquest.