By Zephyria 
“Anyway, after receiving Ordination, you’re formally employed as a Chanter for your own family. You’re no longer a noble, but you can continue to live with your family, or stay at the Church… and in some cases, you’re hired as a Chanter by another family and live there.”
‘I get the first two… but why would anyone accept the last one?’
If they’re a noble who has been legally severed from their family, aren’t they just an extra mouth to feed?
“Didn’t you say that almost no nobles need the services of a Chanter anymore?”
“That’s true. Unless they’re some brand-new noble on the very fringes, most can speak the common tongue.”
“Then why hire a Chanter from another family?”
“Hmm…”
Ter fell silent for a moment, seemingly pondering how to explain it, before speaking again.
“The most common reason… is that they were hired to do the work of a Scribe or a Steward, but since the person has received Ordination, it’s reported as having hired a ‘Priest’ for the sake of formality.”
‘Aha. So even if you get a normal job after being kicked out of the family registry, you spend the rest of your life with the title of “the guy who got kicked out of the registry.”’
But if that were the majority, I don’t think Nasir would have reacted with such utter disgust.
I asked again.
“Are there any uncommon reasons?”
“Plenty. Very many.”
“Like what?”
“…A famous recent case involved two families with a deep grudge who would never allow a marriage. The woman refused to give up on the man, so she received Ordination.”
“What? Doesn’t receiving Ordination mean you can’t marry at all?”
“Exactly. That way, she couldn’t marry any other man either. By receiving Ordination, she signaled that it had to be him or no one—that she would never marry anyone else.”
An ending where one turns to religion rather than being unable to be with the man they love.
‘It’s like a bland version of
It lacks the stimulation of a story where lovers commit suicide in each other’s arms.
Is this considered high-stimulation and a hot topic because there’s so little entertainment in the Middle Ages?
‘Since I’m thinking about it, maybe I should plagiarize some comedies.’
If I give them a taste of modern soap opera melodrama, the people of the Middle Ages probably won’t know what hit them.
Of course, other players might feel a sense of déjà vu and try to track me down, so I’d have to be extremely thorough in hiding the fact that I’m the author.
“So, what happened?”
“The woman who received Ordination went to the man and told him that it didn’t matter if they couldn’t be joined in marriage, and that he should accept her now. To that, the man replied that he had only loved her background, and that he had no interest in a woman who wasn’t the heir to her family.”
‘Oh… it was a soap opera where the man is a piece of trash.’
Suddenly, I’m tasting some MSG.
“And then? What did the woman do?”
‘Please let it not be a frustrating ending where she just goes back crying.’
It’s the hopeless Middle Ages, so I shouldn’t expect too much, but…
“So, the enraged woman cut off the man’s head in a single stroke.”
‘…Huh?’
He died…?
“But since the perpetrator was a Priest who had received Ordination, the trial for the murder was conducted by the Church.”
‘Not just stabbing him to death, but taking his head…?’
Does a head come off that easily?
Doesn’t it?
‘Is this… the Dark Realm?’
This isn’t just MSG; I feel like I’ve eaten pufferfish poison and my tongue is paralyzed.
“The sentence was quite high because the woman showed no remorse.”
“…So, what punishment did she receive?”
“A 15-year Labor Reformation Sentence.”
‘Isn’t that light?’
I mean, I guess it depends on what kind of labor she’s doing…
Still, she killed someone, and she can wash away that sin by working for only 15 years?
Weren’t punishments in the Middle Ages supposed to be brutal?
Wasn’t this a place where they’d cut off your arm for stealing once?
She killed a man from a noble house, not just some random person, and yet 15 years of labor reformation is enough.
“That’s scary…”
“Don’t worry. You won’t run into her at the Capital Church.”
‘Is she really out there working somewhere right now?’
Hearing that made the woman feel like a real person.
“Was there no protest from the man’s family? That the punishment was insufficient, or something…?”
“…Protest?”
Ter frowned as if he had heard something truly bizarre.
“Protest a ruling of the Church? No matter how powerful a family is, they are but insignificant mortals before the Lord.”
‘Oops. I almost committed blasphemy.’
I quickly pulled out my “ignorant serf” shield.
“O-oh, because of my ignorance, I have spoken truly foolish words. I had absolutely, entirely no intention of doubting the greatness of the Lord. I shall never harbor such doubts again…!”
“Huh? No, I wasn’t warning you! You don’t need to apologize so fearfully. I told you the Lord would never abandon you, no matter what.”
‘From what I saw during “Die Heretic!”, He seems to abandon people quite a lot.’
“Having doubts is not a sin in itself. Above all, it’s not your fault that you are outside the Order, is it? The Lord does not punish you for things that are not your fault.”
‘…So people inside the Order don’t even have such doubts.’
It’s going to be really hard to pretend to be someone inside the Order.
Until I get a feel for things, I must never ask questions and never let it show if I have doubts.
“Anyway, a Chanter. Since Chanters come from diverse backgrounds and many have complicated stories, you won’t stand out too much being there…”
Ter closed his eyes slowly.
‘Did the apostles start a telepathic chat?’
“…Were you from the County of Richelon?”
At Ter’s words, a pop-up window suddenly appeared.
[On the day Carla formally inherited the title of ‘Count Richelon’, a great festival was held in the village. Father lost at the gambling table again, but he seemed in a good mood after getting plenty of free drinks. He gave me a glass of apple cider, but it tasted too sour to me.]
‘This feels like some sub-quest.’
The kind of sub-quest often found in games that add collectibles to increase the game’s volume.
If this were a game, the quest window would probably show how many memories are left to collect under a title like [Let’s find ‘Fabio’s’ memories through keywords!].
‘Can’t I cancel this quest…?’
I don’t want to know too much about Fabio.
‘I don’t need it anymore.’
I cleared the window with a thought and nodded.
“Yes. The place I was born and raised was the County, and the frontier village I later went to was also part of the County. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever left the County.”
“Is that so? Count Richelon, Carla… does she only have two sons now?”
This might be a bit troublesome. Apostle Ter muttered with his eyes closed.
‘What’s troublesome?’
“No, never mind. It would be better if you just hide where you’re from.”
“Pardon?”
“Sorry. I’ll go discuss this further with the Saintess for a moment.”
With that, Ter fell into complete silence.
I waited for the conversation to end and thought.
‘What’s troublesome about the Count having only two sons?’
Was he planning to fabricate that I was the Count’s illegitimate child or a distant relative?
Since most Chanters are from noble families, someone from a serf background would stand out more…
‘No, but realistically, there’s no way I could pretend to be a noble as Fabio.’
The fact that Fabio doesn’t look like a noble at all is one problem, but the biggest problem is that I know absolutely nothing about the noble culture of the Dark Realm.
I played the game for over 1,000 hours, but I don’t know a damn thing.
‘Because that stuff never comes up in the game in the first place…’
In
It’s like playing a city-building game where you memorize the construction cost and effects of a city hall, but have no way of knowing how many men’s restrooms are inside that building.
When playing
Above all, if I didn’t have my “ignorant serf” shield right now, I’d be finished.
I just made a blasphemous remark, but because I immediately bowed low, acting like “Stupid Fabio! Fabio said something stupid again!”, I managed to brush it off.
A stupid, uneducated, ignorant serf who somehow became a Chanter…
‘How about a setting where I’m a servant who received the grace of the Count’s family?’
‘Fabio’ was a castle servant who saved the young master from falling off a horse… the generous Count’s family offered to grant ‘Fabio’ a wish… and the country bumpkin Fabio said his dream was to visit the capital… something like that common backstory.
‘But with that setting, there’s no reason for having two sons to be troublesome.’
I thought about it carefully, but nothing came to mind.
I didn’t even know if the problem was that there are “two” sons, or that there are no daughters.
“…Hmm. Fabio.”
Ter opened his eyes and spoke.
“The Saintess also agreed that it would be fine for you to live as a Chanter.”
“Is that so?”
‘Yahoo! I avoided the boring monastery.’
“Let’s say you were in the County and caught the eye of the Count during a tour of the territory, which is how you came to the Capital Church.”
‘So we’re going with the “serf who received grace” setting.’
I asked Ter, “How did I catch his eye?”
“…Huh?”
“I mean, shouldn’t there be some reason when explaining it to others?”
An anecdote like, “I was using a type of plow never seen before in the frontier village, and when asked who devised it, it was me.”
If someone is going to pick one guy out of many, many serfs and send him all the way to the Capital Church, shouldn’t there be some kind of genius spark that caught their eye in that brief moment?
“Hmm… would ‘he’s good at talking’ be enough?”
“What?”
“I think everyone would accept that.”
‘Accept what, exactly?’
He’s probably just too lazy to think about it.
‘Good at talking’ isn’t even something you can put in the special skills section of a resume.
What does that even mean? Being “good at talking”?
“No, in the first place, don’t answer even if someone asks. Don’t say which County you came from, or what the Count’s name is.”
‘Wow! That’s a great tip for making me sound like an incredibly suspicious guy to the whole neighborhood.’
If a suspicious serf of unknown origin appears among Chanters who are all from noble backgrounds, I’ll be practically invisible.
Why not just tell me to walk around with a sign around my neck that says [!Watched One! (Currently under the protection of the Order)]?
“If you just say it’s a secret, people won’t ask further.”
‘Can you really be this careless just because it’s not your problem?’
Would he have been this sloppy if it were Adna’s business?
‘Common sense says people will definitely pry if such a suspicious person appears.’
“…Um, are there other serfs?”
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering if there are other people besides me who are from serf backgrounds among the Chanters.”
“No, as far as I know, there aren’t.”
Ter said that and stared at me.
“…Are you nervous about meeting nobles?”
‘No, I was trying to make you realize how naive you’re being.’
Think about how much the only serf will stand out there.
“It’s fine. Everyone is equal within the Church. If you feel like anyone has forgotten that doctrine, tell me.”
“To you, Lord Ter?”
“You can call me even for trivial matters. No need to feel burdened.”
“…But, Lord Ter, you’re an apostle, aren’t you? Wouldn’t I stand out more if I called for an apostle?”
“I’ll pretend to be an Apprentice Holy Knight, so it’ll be fine.”
How is he going to hide the white hair that is the symbol of an apostle?
Does a helmet cover it?
“More importantly, if I were to call you…”
I have to call him by the new Baptismal Name he received when he became an apostle, not this name.
“Ah.”
Ter’s face stiffened, as if he had only then remembered the setting that ‘one cannot call an apostle by their name.’
“I made a mistake again…”
“No, it’s okay! Thank you for thinking of me.”
‘I really shouldn’t expect anything from this guy.’
Did he use up all his brain capacity on “thinking about Adna” so there’s no room left?
He doesn’t think before he speaks.
“Then, even if you don’t call, I’ll visit you often.”
“What?”
‘What is he even talking about.’
39 – #039