Chapter 6: Holy Water

After the Aetheriel Theocracy defeated the Demon King, the Church collected books from across the entire continent.

From historical documents of various nations to legends passed down among neighbors, the number of books was so vast that a former Pope ordered the construction of a special tower to house them all.

Fen and Elian had come to borrow books a few times, but he was still amazed by the designer’s imagination—the inner walls of the tower were lined with stone bookshelves, and two staircases intertwined, spiraling upward all the way to the top.

‘Let me see… “The Healing and Efficacy of Holy Water”… this isn’t it either…’

Fen helplessly closed the book.

This was already who knows how many times he had come up empty.

Setting aside the question of truth, the effects recorded in the texts for commoners who came into contact with Holy Water varied—a nun whose magic power increased after a baptism ceremony; a woman in her thirties or forties who regained her youth after being touched by it; an elderly person plagued by illness who miraculously recovered after drinking it.

But there were no strange tales of a change in gender, let alone a complete transformation of the entire body.

And when it came to explaining the reasons, opinions were divided: some said it was the collected tears of each successive Saint, diluted, capable of curing all diseases; others said Holy Water was just ordinary dew, and the changes were merely because devout believers received the Goddess’s gaze…

Fen had been searching for almost a day.

Looking at the seemingly endless corridor, his expression darkened as he placed the book back on a high shelf.

‘It seems I must go ask the Pope for clarification…’

“Huh!? You’re that brooding guy always with Elian! Why aren’t you with the Knights, hanging around here instead!”

A childish voice came from behind him.

Fen turned around but didn’t see anyone.

“Hey! Down here!”

He looked down.

A “little girl” wearing a wizard’s hat, standing four or five heads shorter than him, was glaring at him indignantly.

“Whose child is this?”

“Child—!? Hey! Tin can, standing before you is the most, most, most, most renowned legendary Great Magician of the entire continent—Lady Kelly!”

As if deeply offended, the loli pushed up her glasses and put her hands on her hips, her slightly curled purple twin-tails swaying with displeasure.

“Huh? You’re the all-knowing, all-seeing Great Magician Elian talked about?”

“Hehe, that’s right.”

The little loli nodded, pleased.

“I’m in a good mood today, so go ahead and ask your difficult questions—I’ll graciously answer them for you.”

“Great! Kelly… uh, no… Senior Kelly! Do you know the composition of Holy Water?”

“Holy… Holy Water?”

It seemed to touch on a blind spot in her knowledge.

The girl looked somewhat embarrassed.

“Th-this is your Church’s secret, isn’t it… I… I’m just a magician… how would I know…”

“Then do you know, if someone accidentally comes into contact with Holy Water and it has some negative effect on their body, how to treat it?”

“Hah? N-no! Impossible! The books say Holy Water can cure diseases and strengthen magic power. How could it possibly have negative effects on people? That’s simply unheard of…”

Kelly muttered somewhat guiltily.

“So it’s the same as the information I found—”

Fen felt a bit speechless.

“Seems the Great Magician isn’t as amazing as advertised.”

“Hmmph…”

The girl’s face flushed bright red.

She hugged her books, turned, and fled in a fluster.

“Hey! Wait—”

Before Fen could catch up to her, Kelly suddenly collapsed with a thud.

“Hey! Are you okay?”

When he got closer, he found Kelly had already stood up in an eerie manner, her back to him, silent.

‘Could she be possessed…’

Fen swallowed hard, placing his right hand on the sword at his waist, cautiously moving forward to investigate.

“Kelly?”

“Kelly” turned around, her eyes glowing with a golden light.

“It is I. The Goddess of Light, Eseriel. Lower your sword. I have temporarily possessed this child to speak with you in the mortal world in this form.”

“The secret of Holy Water is known to few in this world. Of course, it is not something a mere magician like her could know.”

“Goddess? That’s right—about Elian…”

“I am already aware of Elian’s situation. Her transformation into this girlish form is indeed caused by the Holy Water.”

The Goddess stared at him with her golden eyes.

Seeming to perceive the doubt in Fen’s heart, she continued to explain.

“The Holy Water in this world is a potion I refined using my own blood before I ascended to godhood. After becoming a goddess, all items in the mortal world related to me were imbued with Divinity. This bottle of potion was later obtained by the Church and, after dilution, became the Holy Water used in baptism ceremonies today.”

“Even after dozens of generations of dilution, the Divinity within it has not diminished. It bestows a ‘Blessing’ upon any believer who comes into contact with it. The more devout the faith, the more pronounced the effect of the Blessing.”

‘Then Elian he…’

“Elian’s piety is well-known throughout the Royal Capital. Therefore, the Holy Water bestowed upon her a form similar to mine.”

Fen nodded, carefully recalling Elian’s current appearance.

It did bear a seventy percent resemblance to the Goddess.

“Is there a way to change back?”

“Once a ‘Blessing’ is bestowed, is there any reason to take it back? This process is difficult to reverse. You can think of it as a form of ‘Evolution’.”

The Goddess sighed.

“The tricky thing is, the general course of the Prophecy has not changed. Elian is still the Fated One—besides helping her regain her spirit, we now also need her to adapt to this new body.”

“What a long and arduous road lies ahead—”

Fen lamented.

“By the way—as a deity, why don’t you directly interfere with events? For example, use your divine power to erase that Voss? Or more simply, just kill the Demon King yourself. Why leave the task of saving the world to us?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but that I cannot.”

The Goddess shook her head.

“After becoming a deity, it is difficult to interfere directly in the mortal world. I can only grant my power to believers in the form of Blessings.”

“So… so I beseech you here—please guide Elian. This is to save her personally, and to show mercy to all living beings on this land.”

Hearing Eseriel’s seemingly ‘humble’ request, Fen felt a bit embarrassed.

“It’s fine! According to plan, Elian and I are already like brothers now.”

Fen scratched his head.

“If nothing goes wrong, she should regain her spirits soon!”

“It seems to be getting late, so I’ll head back now to tell Elian about the Holy Water—”

After paying his respects to the Goddess, Fen bowed slightly and walked out of the library.

‘I hope so.’

If it were still the Paladin Elian, following the original plan, with Fen’s support, she probably would have emerged from the shadows before long, right?

‘But Elian is a girl now… Fen…’

The Goddess watched Fen’s retreating figure and smiled wryly.

‘A girl’s heart is very difficult to guess…’

—

“Great! You’re finally back, Fen!”

The moment Fen opened the door to his home, a silver head of hair pounced on him.

“So? What potion should I take to change back? Let me tell you! Rumors about me are starting to spread in the Holy City!”

Elian spoke in a rapid-fire manner, her girlish face beaming with a bright smile, that conspicuous silver ahoge swaying constantly before Fen’s eyes.

“I must change back quickly and clarify things before everyone—”

“Elian…”

“Hmm? Tell me first…”

What followed was an eerie silence.

Seeing Fen’s hesitant, troubled eyes, a sense of foreboding rose in her heart.

“Don’t… don’t scare me! Fen!”

The smile on the girl’s face gradually turned bitter.

She had lived and trained with Fen for two years.

She had definitely already guessed what Fen wanted to say.

But she didn’t want to believe it, like a death row inmate awaiting sentencing—she was waiting for Fen to speak the truth with his own mouth.

“Listen, Elian. Those who come into contact with Holy Water receive a Blessing. The degree of the Blessing depends on the firmness of your faith.”

“A Blessing is a form of Evolution.”

Fen paused, imagining the expression the girl would have in a moment—would she be furious?

Or cry?

Fen wasn’t sure.

“This process is irreversible. Th-that is to say—you… you probably can’t change back…”

“…”

The silver-haired girl said nothing.

The stiff smile frozen on her face made it difficult to guess her feelings.