Forsaken Priest of the Hero's Party-Chapter 3: The Lords Message

Imagine you’re in a field at night.

A place devoid of people.

And light.

If you lie down on that vast field and gaze at the stars in the sky, you’ll see a picture more beautiful than anything a human could come up with.

The very night sky would be a canvas to this perfection in form.

The Observatory of Celestial Dreams.

Night in Larpentia is both dark and bright.

While the land is covered in darkness, the sky is bright.

The moon, the queen of the night sky, flaunts her presence, as infinite constellations adorn her. Looking at those stars, I thought of the child who must be asleep now. The beastman child whose name I don’t even know.

The reason He took back that miracle was because I didn’t know the worth of His blessings.

At a glance, the stars in the sky seem to move as they please.

However, if someone carefully observes them, they will notice that there are rules to their movements.

If I were to sit here with a notebook and study the stars for several days, observing their movements from the same spot, I would be able to understand the Greater Order that commands the stars.

And should I understand the Greater Order,

I could predict how the stars would move in the future.

Stars, comets, and even meteors all follow the laws of the Heavens.

By understanding the Greater Order, their secrets would be plain to see.

The Observatory of Celestial Dreams follows the same principle. The miracle doesn’t show the future, but it gives the tools to predict it.

That is why the Lord can gaze into the probabilities. Because he knows the entire process that leads to the future. Therefore, he can choose the desired future by changing parts of the process.

From the start, this miracle isn’t something a mere human like me could wield.

From the probable near future to the nearly infinite possibilities.

My Lord interprets the future as a state where those countless possibilities are intermingled.  He watches it all, conveying to me the future with the highest probability of coming to pass.

Like a pig wearing a pearl necklace...I couldn’t even properly use such a miracle.

However, the further into the future one gazes, the lower the chances of predicting its events. Even gazing one day ahead is a considerable challenge, despite this being a single fragment of the future.

But I could only predict a mere inch ahead.

Regardless, that single inch was more than enough to change the flow of battle.

Since I could predict future dangers, I could also change it. A future once observed could be altered. That was the sole reason I managed to stay at the Hero’s party.

But now that this miracle has been taken away, I could no longer see the future.

However, even when I lost this ability, the Lord continued to see things in a manner incomparable to me. His sight is something the likes of me can’t even fathom.

“My Heavenly Lord. While this servant failed you. I still wish to ask you something.”

Kneeling down, I prayed to Him.

Seeking an answer to what should I do with the child whom the Lord guided to me?

“Did you foresee that I would meet that child from the moment I picked those apples?”

As always, the Lord didn’t answer.

Instead, I was compelled into a deep slumber. Yes, I was used to it now.

My Lord was calling me.

*****Where I was? This place was too vacant to be called a maze.

Too bright to welcome the darkness.

But without a single shed of color.

In this colorless limbo, I saw a light. A golden light flickering in the monochromatic void. Yes, I know what approach.

“Greetings, Angel.”

The golden light was none other than the Lord’s message.

A Light Angel.

He was one of many servants attending to the Lord.

The Angel circled around me and then stopped. His solemn will flows into my mind.

-Apostle. Raise thy head. We are both slaves who follow the Lord’s will.

Following the Angel’s words, I raised my head and looked at it. No matter how many times I gazed into it, I could only see it as light gave form. I didn’t know the Angel’s true appearance.

My mind simply couldn’t comprehend the Angel’s nature, that’s why I only saw light.

-The man who was chosen. The Apostle who was made. Do you perhaps resent the Lord?

“How could I ever do such a thing?”

-What the Lord gave you, he took away. A miracle you born no more. Can you truly say you have no discontent with the Lord’s decision?

“None at all. It was never mine to begin with.”

The Lord simply took something he lent to me.

It was never mine, so I couldn’t even say I ‘lost it’. How could I resent the Lord for doing something natural?

All power comes from the Lord. I am simply a conduit to his Divine Might.

This unworthy being received his overflowing grace. He only took back a part of that grace. My only regret was not living up to the Lord’s expectations.

-Even if thou lost thy companions as result?

“If that’s the Lord’s will, there must be a reason for it.”

I am just a foolish human, who despite having eyes, couldn’t even see the Angel’s true nature, even when it stood before me. The Lord sees far more than I do. His sight divines matter that I cannot possibly know.

If such being dictated the events, then it must have a meaning to it. As the Lord’s servant, I merely live according to His will.

The Angel emitted light silently for a moment, then continued speaking.

-Apostle. Forgotten about it, you may have. But you doubted the Lord during thy battle against the foul Ancient Demon King.

“I did such a thing? That...”

I wanted to deny it.

But in the end, I couldn’t. My memory of that fight was fragmented.

At the time, I remembered seeing a miracle, but I don’t remember what was.

Perhaps the Lord took that memory away.

-You lost your hope. Like a candlelight being snuffed out. You doubted the Lord. Believing He couldn’t guard thy companions from harm.

“So...”

-In the face of a trial, the Lord found you wanting. Thus he took away your farsight.

The Miracle - The Observatory of Celestial Dreams.

What future did I see with such power?

What future made me doubt the Lord? No matter how much I hacked my mind, I couldn’t remember. I was just frustrated that I couldn’t understand why the Angel was scolding me.

-Apostle. The Lord wishes that you understand one thing.

The Angel solemnly conveyed His command.

-Why Hope is not a useless concept. You already know the answer, but you don’t realize it yet. Apostle. On the day you realize the truth, the Lord will return what He took away.

“I will simply act according to the Lord’s will.”

I would do it.

As I vowed, the Angel looked at me for a moment before continuing.

-Seeking the answer Apostle. But know this. Knowing the answer won’t be the same as saving yourself.

“I would like to hear your advice, Angel of the Lord.”

-My advice you won’t have. But hear the Lord’s words. Live. Live thy life and you shall understand.

Just live huh?

Live the life I desire.

-Should you do so, one day you might know the answer.

“Is that enough?”

-That alone is enough.

The light adorning my surroundings began to flicker.

Knowing that the Angel was about to leave, I bowed my head in gratitude.

However, the Angel left me a final message.

-We await the day you shall stand with us, Apostle.

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Flicker-.

The light finally disappeared.

Waking up from my slumber, I looked at the sky, which had already brightened as dawn approached.

The brightest star was slowly rising on the horizon.

Apostle...They always call me that when they see me.

A small question arose in my mind as I recalled the message from a moment ago.

It’s not a question limited to just that being.

But what does it mean?

I have met several Angels so far, and some of them I have seen often enough to be familiar with.

Even when I want to ask them about the word Apostle, I keep forgetting that I am going to ask as I listen to the Angel’s holy voice. So I still don’t know what an Apostle is.

It seems similar to the word Prist and Believer...1

Did they just combine the two and call me an Apostle?  2

I’m not sure. But that isn’t important now.

The important thing is how will I treat the Lord’s guest who has come to my house.

1. Prist 사제; saje and believer 신도; shindo2. 사도; sado