7. Bishop Barkius (4)
Sister Rohel of the Barkius Cathedral hastily packed her belongings. She was heading to the Holy Kingdom to report the issues of Barkius directly.
Something was off about Barkius. No, to be precise, it was Barkius’s bishop and spiritual pillar, Barkius, who had become strange.
The man who was closer to goodness than anyone else had begun to grow arrogant one day. He displayed the pride that God’s will was his own.
He began to practice hypocrisy, not for the sake of goodness, but for the recognition and praise of others. His inspections, which used to be every two weeks, were reduced to once a week, and then even further to once every three days…
No, reducing the interval between inspections was not a problem in itself. There was a time when he was so inactive that he was urged to go on inspections more often.
But that didn’t mean he should rush his work, waiting for the inspections. It didn’t mean to go crazy on inspections without taking care of himself.
“It’s strange… It’s strange…!”
Why didn’t anyone notice his transformation? Why didn’t anyone realize that he had become arrogant? Where did it all go wrong?
“It is truly, truly an honor to meet the great saint, Barkius!”
“Heh… Don’t flatter me. It’s just a title bestowed upon me by God for nurturing a small gift. I’ve merely taken good care of it.”
That was the kind of person Barkius was. A person who never showed off himself.
“But you’ve raised Barkius from nothing, Barkius! Isn’t that enough to earn the title of a saint?”
“Enough, Sister Rohel. I am nothing. It was the people who settled here first who built this village, not me. All I did was provide a small amount of help. I received the title of saint solely because I raised a saintess. To be called the father of a saintess, a saint, when I couldn’t even fulfill the role of a proper father, haa…”
He was a person who always belittled himself, thinking that even what he had was too much. But why…
Rohel bit her lip as she recalled Barkius when he first took office in Barkius. Rohel, who was packing her belongings, knelt down and covered her face with both hands.
“What’s the problem with God’s representative, saving a child on behalf of God?”
“I am Saint Barkius! A man who received the name of a saint that even the Pope of the Holy Kingdom could not receive!!”
“How did you fall into corruption…!”
The fall of the man she had believed and followed like a father came as a great shock to Rohel. God, please have mercy on him-….
Behind her, praying with a trembling voice, a pair of red eyes slowly appeared from the darkness. The red eyes, smiling faintly, approached Rohel, who was praying.
“Do you really think Bishop Barkius has fallen into corruption?”
Startled by the voice that suddenly came without any sign or sound of the door opening, Rohel closed her eyes tightly. She was the only one in the room. She closed her eyes, thinking that the voice was definitely that of a demon.
“You know~ closing your eyes doesn’t mean you can’t hear my voice?”
“Oh great light in the sky…. please watch over me and keep me from the temptations of the demons….”
“Sister Rohel, it’s me.”
Upon hearing those words, Rohel, who had been tightly closing her eyes, finally opened them. She swallowed her dry saliva and turned to look beside her. There was the boy who had most recently entered the orphanage.
“You…”
“I thought you seemed troubled, so I came to see you. May I ask what you’re worrying about? If it’s a problem so big that you’re hastily packing your things, I think I might be able to help.”
There were so many things she wanted to say. It wasn’t about Bishop Barkius, but rather, so many questions arose about this boy.
Why is he in my room at this late hour?
How did he appear without making a sound?
And didn’t he just bring up the topic of Bishop Barkius?
The office and the dormitory are on opposite sides, so where on earth did he hear that story?
Did I say it out loud?
No, that’s definitely not it.
“You seem confused. Would you like to have a cup of tea and talk?”
As the boy said this, the sweet smell of black tea began to fill the room. A luxurious teacup, its rim gilded, was suddenly in the boy’s hand.
Seeing this, she was certain.
That boy was a demon.
Why had she forgotten?
Thinking about it, the bishop started acting strange when the boy appeared.
―Wasn’t it because the bishop followed his guidance?
The demon led the bishop into pride. Rohel, whose thoughts had reached this point, glared at the boy and abruptly stood up.
“It was you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You led the bishop to fall…!”
She spoke with conviction, but the boy feigned ignorance and tilted his head. At his nonchalant demeanor, Rohel felt anger rising within her and shouted.
“Don’t play dumb! You led the bishop…! You led him down the path of pride!!”
“Me? What did I do?”
“That’s…!”
She had nothing to say.
In reality, the boy hadn’t done anything.
But that didn’t explain the situation.
There was no evidence, but there was plenty of circumstantial proof.
Rohel bit her lip and glared at the boy, who just shrugged his shoulders with a smile. Anger surged within her, but she held it back. If she let her anger take over, she felt she might lose herself.
“You have nothing to say, Sister. I didn’t do anything. And the bishop fell? The bishop just helped people, didn’t he?”
“He didn’t help people to help them, he helped people for his own satisfaction. That’s hypocrisy, pride, a sin.”
“Isn’t helping people the same in the end? Then, is it pride to feel proud while helping people?”
It sounded right at first, but the nun wasn’t fooled. Feeling proud of helping people and feeling proud of oneself for helping people are distinctly different.
“Don’t try to bewitch me with words. Pride is a sin. The proud will be disgraced and will incite strife. It’s written in the Bible. In fact, after the bishop fell into pride, he, who was always kind, became angry. Even though he usually spoke softly and solved problems through conversation.”
“People naturally get angry. They have emotions, how can they live by suppressing them all?”
“Patience is a virtue. And it didn’t end with him getting angry. The bishop, who always glorified God, started talking about his own virtue, his own accomplishments. That’s undeniable pride.”
“But it was indeed thanks to the bishop. If he hadn’t helped, a bigger problem would have occurred. How is it pride to simply state the facts as they are?”
“Helping people is a given for a clergyman. It’s a position given by God to help others. It’s not something to brag about to others, nor is it something to call your own virtue.”
“Why is that a given? If God has given the position to help others, does that mean ordinary people who haven’t received a position from God don’t need to help others?”
“Since God has given life, even if one can’t bestow good, one should try to do good.”
“So, in the end, everything is God’s will.”
The boy nodded at this.
Rohel swallowed her dry saliva as she looked at him.
“What about the people from whom God has taken everything?”
“What…?”
“What about the child who have had his parents killed, his only place taken away, and even his only person die? The child who, despite crying out and praying in God’s name, receives nothing? Is that also God’s will?”
The boy glared at Rohel with his split, blood-red eyes.
Rohel was breathless at the endless despair and anger contained in those eyes.
“God doesn’t save humans. God doesn’t love humans. God doesn’t favor humans. God is strictly an observer. No matter how much you pray and praise, it probably only sounds like the flapping of a bug in the garden. The unpleasant sound of wings brushing, buzzing.”
“Ah… demon…!”
“Demon, that’s a bit harsh. I do have a proper name, you know. It’s Venus.”
Venus.
The boy who introduced himself as the morning star approached Rohel, who was slowly backing away.
“I’m sorry for getting angry. I just get upset when I hear God’s name.”
“You, you were right… You were the one who led the bishop to fall…!”
“The conversation has come full circle. Sigh…”
Venus, who let out a deep sigh, slumped on the bed and propped up his chin.
“You say that I led the bishop to fall, but that’s a misunderstanding.”
“What… what are you talking about?”
“Are you seeking an answer from me? Well, fine. I was going to tell you anyway.”
The demon, who chuckled, began to recount the bishop’s past as if reading a fairy tale to a child.
Thanks.