Well, well, my lord Marquis!
What a pleasant surprise to see you in a borderland so distant as this.
I thank you again for your numerous heartfelt offerings and generous donations.
As you can see, this temple welcomes, in vast numbers, people who have nowhere to go.
We also give food and a place to sleep free of charge to the sick and injured who come here to be healed. We manage somehow.
There are attendants preparing tea in another room.
We want to hear all about your accomplishments, my lord.
They were grand enough for you to earn the honor of being named Defender of the Continent, after all.
You are owed a debt of gratitude not just from the Baldemost Kingdom but from the entire continent.
We all offered a prayer of thanks when we heard that you defeated the foreigners who came from across the sea.
Yes.
If I had to describe what we do here, it’s praying.
You’re probably wondering what all that prayer accomplishes.
I thought the same thing at first. That it is wrong for a person in service of the gods to do nothing but pray. That before they shut themselves away in a temple and make self-aggrandizing statements, they should go out into the streets and help people in need.
But I learned something when I met Father Raillura—that there is no work greater than prayer.
This temple has stood for a long time.
In the past, it was known as the Ocean Temple.
Praying was all Father Raillura did at this temple. Aside from taking meals and educating the shrine maiden, he devoted his every waking hour to prayer.
I’m not sure why, but the first time I beheld his visage, locked in prayer, I was moved to tears.
Before long, I settled down here and came to serve Father Raillura.
A number of other people arrived at the temple and had an experience similar to mine.
Father Raillura passed away only four months later. In his parting words, he asked the shrine maiden to pray for the suffering.
I was told that Father Raillura and the shrine maiden secluded themselves in the temple three months before I arrived.
That’s right. This sect started with just two people—Father Raillura and the Dragon Maiden.
Actually, I shouldn’t call it a sect. Father Raillura had a distaste for words that suggested we were some sort of organization. The sect just happened to form as people who adored both the Dragon Maiden and Father Raillura gathered here.
Huh?
Did you say Gondona?
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Where did you hear that word?
That is slang used by congregations in the west. It means something like a corrupt priest.
Yeah, yeah.
Father Raillura would sometimes refer to himself as Gondona as a joke.
He would do that because he hated being revered in any way. He even said that he fled the Gorenza Empire because it seemed like he was going to be recognized as a saint.
Huh?
Oh, I guess you didn’t know that.
Father Raillura was a high-ranking priest at the Elvetta Temple in the imperial capital. He is very famous. I didn’t realize who he was, either, until he told me his real name. If not for his hatred of nobles, he would have been made the head of the temple long ago.
But we don’t call him anything like saint or founder, as other sects would. We simply call him Father Raillura.
We would never call him Father Gondona, of course.
Ah, now that I think of it, a little earlier, you visited Father Raillura’s grave and left a lot of high-quality wine as an offering.
No, no, I think it is certain to make him happy. After all, no one could match his love for wine.
I’ve never seen the meat you offered with it.
What? That’s smoked ettin meat?
W-wow, that’s very rare. Thank you very much.
Oh!
I knew it. I thought that might be the case.
You met Father Raillura in life, my lord.
Apologies if this is invasive, but what kind of relationship do you have with the shrine maiden?
Whaaaat?
You say you named her?
B-but you don’t look like you could be old enough.
When I met the shrine maiden nine years ago, she must have already been fourteen or fifteen. She certainly doesn’t look over twenty now, though.
Ah, well, it doesn’t matter.
The shrine maiden is a strange person.
She is at once like a young girl and a loving mother.
She is at once innocent and full of wisdom.
She is beautiful like a goddess, and she has mysterious blessings that can heal any sickness or injury.
And she has gained powerful protection.
There have been many lords who have sent soldiers in order to forcibly invite the shrine maiden to their land. They have all been obstructed by rain, wind, and lightning, and they always end up crying and begging the shrine maiden for forgiveness. The rumor of her dragon form comes as no surprise.
Do you mind if I ask you one more question?
Just before, you offered what looked like an animal horn at the temple’s altar.
What was that?
Oh! Okay. I see, I see.
So you thought visiting the Dragon Temple and offering that symbol to the altar was the most appropriate way to show thanks for all the blessings of the gods and the people you encountered on the trip you once took for personal growth.
Ah!
I have no doubt that Father Raillura will be very happy.
Sorry for taking so much of your time.
Please enjoy a rest on this balcony.
The shrine maiden will finish her business and be here shortly.
How long the shrine maiden has looked forward to this day!
She even called this a fated day.
Ha-ha-ha-ha.
If you’ll excuse me.