Chapter 77: Cardinal Marcellus

’Well, now it seems everyone knows who I am.’ Zaid grumbled to himself, but he followed the voice inside.

Across the room, seated at a polished wooden desk, was a well-groomed man. He was dressed only in his basic white-and-gold clerical robes, with a dark star on his chest symbolizing his faith.

He didn’t wear necklaces or adornments like Shoaff, but he did have a ring that signified his authority within the church. His hair had white strands that graced his old age, but his face didn’t show his true age.

Cardinal Marcellus was a man of respect, authority, and great power. And he wasn’t just someone with great power within his clergy; in fact, he was a quite powerful Rank A, renowned throughout the kingdom.

Although he doesn’t concern himself much with worldly matters.

"Cardinal Marcellus, I hope you are well and enjoy a long life." Zaid greeted him and bowed respectfully.

"If my gods smile upon me, I’m sure I’ll live for quite some time yet, young man." Marcellus made a brief gesture with his hand, motioning for him to come forward.

Zaid nodded and walked over to him, ready to hand him the letter.

"Before that, how is your father?" The Cardinal gestured for him to put it away for the moment.

"I don’t have a father, Cardinal Marcellus. I’m an orphan," Zaid replied almost immediately.

"An orphan?" Marcellus laughed. "You don’t really believe that my divine revelations aren’t coming true, do you?"

"To tell you the truth, I don’t put much stock in the Seventh Night, Cardinal. I came to leave a message," Zaid said frankly.

"I know. The Zacharys have their own beliefs, and some don’t even have one." The Cardinal wasn’t at all bothered by his direct response. He was a man who, no matter what you did or said, would never lose his temper.

"I know who the Zacharys are, but I think you’ve got the wrong person." Zaid smiled beneath his mask.

"Did things end that badly?" Marcellus suddenly sighed and pressed a hand to his chest. "Mother Goddess, I beg you to help them understand... Family comes first," he whispered.

Zaid stood tall before him. "Cardinal Marcellus, I came here to deliver a message I was asked to bring... I suppose you already know who it’s from."

Marcellus opened his eyes after repeating a prayer a few times and nodded at him. "Anhur, an old friend. How is he?"

"He’s doing well. However, if you expect me to answer that question in more depth, I’ll have to say I have no idea. I’m a new disciple of his, and I don’t know the details of his health."

"A new one, huh." Marcellus asked for the letter, removed the seal, and opened it. "Young man, even though that new teacher of yours is a stubborn man who’ll make your life miserable, follow his advice. He’s a little odd and eccentric, but he’s been trying for a long time to help disciples become so powerful that they’d be terrifying. Maybe with you, this is the moment when his strategy will succeed."

Zaid nodded, but didn’t reply.

And Marcellus proceeded to read the letter carefully.

"It seems you’ve been assigned a long mission," said Marcellus, closing the letter.

"Is there a mission for me in there?" Zaid frowned.

"In a nutshell, yes."

"What is it?"

"So that you can open your eyes and see what the world is like now, Anhur wants you to experience the Seventh Night."

Zaid blinked several times and, in shock, said, "Why would he want me to see something sacred to his church?"

"He has his own peculiar ways of training people. But you surely have a serious philosophical flaw that will prevent you from achieving your goals."

Zaid couldn’t understand how that related to the Seventh Night. He went over it in his head several times, but in the end he still didn’t get it, so he had to shift his thoughts.

"Since it’s something so sacred to his church, there’s no way he’d do it. Why ask him to take on a mission like that?"

Marcellus turned his head slightly. "It’s not impossible. Since it’s a request from Anhur himself—my good friend—I can grant it."

"Huh?" This time, Zaid was so surprised that he let out a gasp.

A stranger observing the Seventh Night!

Would they really break their rules just because Anhur asked? What the hell is going on with this church and its codes?

"If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Actually, even though it’s a sacred code, it’s not as unforgivable as many believers think. Besides, you came at just the right time this time, since the Prophet of the Seventh Night is in the Temple. He was the one who revealed to me that you would come in no more than three days—that was the night before last."

Although Zaid wanted to refute them or ask them more detailed questions, wasn’t this a golden opportunity? He would become the only Stranger who knows and has seen what the famous "Seventh Night" is.

Besides, there are powerful players around every corner here; many overwhelmingly wealthy people live here, too. It wasn’t a bad idea to try to make some connections, especially since the possibility of going abroad was on the table.

Having connections will do you good, then.

"Are you sure there won’t be any problems?" he asked.

Unfazed, Marcellus nodded. "Of course. I give you my word. Although I see you don’t have much of a choice—he says that if you don’t do it, you don’t need to train with him anymore—but... I won’t force you if you don’t want to."

Zaid thought it over carefully. There were pros and cons. He didn’t like knowing people’s secrets, much less those of organizations so powerful they could sentence him to death with a single word. That was a major con.

However, the pros were compelling: contacts, experience, the chance to learn from that strange but powerful old man...

Clearly, this was strange, but how many alternatives did he have?

He wanted to ask if he could think it over, but perhaps temptation got the better of him, and he replied, "I’d like to give it a try."

’Shit, why did I say that?!’

Marcellus smiled, unaware that inside Zaid, a battle was raging between two parts of his brain. They were mercilessly insulting each other.

Marcellus smiled gently. "All right. I’ll send people to protect you and bring you the outfit you’ll wear tomorrow."

’Tomorrow...’ Zaid remembered that tomorrow was the day they could leave...

"Oh, don’t bother thinking they’ll leave tomorrow. Apparently there are too many boxes to unload, and this shipment is heavy and fragile, so they won’t be free until Monday. So don’t worry about it—just focus on this mission Anhur assigned you. Then they can leave in peace; we’ll give them good food while they’re here."

Zaid frowned. ’Will they let a lot of strangers watch that festival? That’s what those guys on the rooftop were talking about...’

Perhaps the religious leaders just wanted to attract more converts. Although, if he had thought about it for just a moment longer, Zaid would have realized that one of their strange and very peculiar rules was that this religion did not allow converts... not in the conventional sense.

Zaid spoke a little longer with Cardinal Marcellus, who remained respectful and kind throughout. His tone of voice was also reassuring, helping Zaid relax. It was no wonder he was a high-ranking cardinal of a religion with centuries of history.

They knew how to choose their people.

After saying goodbye, Zaid found himself under the protection of five rather powerful local guards; he almost looked like an important man.

’They’re at least Rank B, right?’ Zaid swallowed hard.

It was dangerous, but also quite good. That way, that crazy woman wouldn’t come after him even if she found him again.

Zaid took a long walk through Town Number 3. He explored the area, ate some local food (which tasted awful, since most of it was day-old and lacked flavor), and then returned to the Rain Hotel.

There he ran into Martin and Finn, with whom he struck up conversations again... he seemed to be rambling.

Or rather, avoiding the issue.

He wanted to go back to his room, but at the same time he was afraid to do so. It seemed he had just discovered something he was afraid of: finding out whether Alice would reject him or let him in.

After Martin and Finn went to their rooms, he was left alone in the hotel courtyard, so he mustered his courage and went upstairs.

He knocked on the door...

It took a long time for it to open—more than two minutes.

The creaking sound of the hinges snapped him out of his astral journey and back into the world of thoughts and daydreams.

He pushed the door open, expecting to find Alice, but she had already returned to the window after opening the door.

He scanned the room... his "belongings" were still inside.

At the window, Alice was petting Valia, who was already used to it and had even come to enjoy it.

The room was dimly lit, with only a lamp by the window turned on and moonlight streaming in from beyond the curtains.