Chapter 710 709. Talent, Tiredness & Tears
"Water! We have water!"
The people of Lankel Village cheered with great excitement as they almost started dancing around the water outlet, spewing the nectar of life that every being needed to survive. It was the middle of nowhere in the Blackhart Kingdom, so dry that even the grass felt shy from showing its blades.
Dry, harsh, and days of burning hell, while the nights were freezing purgatory. Yet, there was joy and worship in front of a seemingly ordinary metal pipe of water that protruded out of the ground.
"We will finish extending the outlets to a few more parts of the village, so please be patient. His Holiness' blessing will not ignore your plight," Archpriest Jon Pense reassured the Village Chief. "Soon, a road extension will also be made to connect this place with the Desert Road Highway."
The village chief, a man in his late eighties, with eyes almost blind, a bald head, and a hunched back, gripped Archpriest Jon's hand and kept shaking it as tears welled in his eyes.
Having lived his entire life and seen his parents and grandparents all succumb to the harsh nature and life in the village was a haunting memory. The young men and women leaving the village to live in the cities were a reminder of the doom that the village faced.
"Sire…" Village chief Ralph cried. "Thank you… T-Thank you… W-With this, our children migh…"
The man was simply unable to say anything without breaking down. That was the real luxury for a commoner, this was the real blessing of God for a man already suffering, not the sermon of some god, or preaching or some Priest.
Ke-Chak!
And sure enough, a Clergyman there always had a magic camera for the now bi-weekly newspaper to showcase. It was propaganda from Sylvester but also a silent message of hope. After all, Emperor Raz's undead birds' reached even the remotest places to drop off the newspapers.
"The new given name of your village has also been approved. It will start appearing on the latest maps soon. A Clergyman will also be assigned to make a small monastery here and oversee the Church's welfare plans," Archpriest Jon added, proudly loving his job; an honest job.
It was the reality. Villages like Lankel village were like drops of water in the rain. Small, nameless, and in such a faraway place that nobody ever bothered naming it. But with the new mapping work being done by the Holy Land, such villages were receiving names. Naming was also simple. Every village was being named after the most famous person to have ever lived there, or perhaps a legendary figure's name.
"Then, I will leave for now. Many more villages need my supervision. Five members from my team will remain here and oversee the expansion." Jon saluted the village chief and the crowd of impoverished and barely clothed people. "Please be sa—"
"Sire…" Chief Ralph interrupted. "I will kneel and show my gratitude to you for this blessing. But… we don't even have anything to grow after this harvest was ruined by the heatwave."
Archpriest Jon hummed and opened his personal diary to write something in it. "Don't worry about that. With your village being registered, you will receive free fertilizer for the first harvest. After that, it will be subsidized by the Holy Land. However, you will only sow the seeds we will provide you. They are made to grow in such dry places without needing too much water."
There was a solution to every problem.
"We are blessed."
"Long live the Pope."
Eventually, embarrassing Jon, everyone got down to their knees on the hard ground. To them, he was nothing less than an angel from God.
"P-Please… Don't do this. Only kneel in the monastery when it's made. His Holiness has strictly warned all. In the new Sol, none are born different, and none are deemed different. Rich, poor, from any land or species, are equal in the eyes of the law. Now, I must leave." Jon saluted them again and returned with his assistant to his modest stagecoach.
Next destination, another recently named town. With problems different, with challenges new, Jon's desire knew no fatigue. In the end, seeing those smiling faces all felt worth it.
"Giving up knight training and studying engineering was worth it," he muttered, speaking with his assistant Priest. "With the talent of a meager Black Knight… This is so much more rewarding."
"But you have to travel a lot, Sire." His assistant Priest complained, "I haven't slept on a good soft bed in seven months."
Jon chuckled and gently reprimanded the man, "Priest Lang, it's a reminder. As long as we find hard beds, we know there is someone to be helped. Another smile to be earned—being the bringer of a blessing to someone who yearned."
…
In the Holy Land, the underground base of Project Sky Eye reacted in real time, and the little spiders moved, doing their magic and noting down information. Right then, a new note dropped on a special box reserved for a few exceptional names.
[Archpriest Jon Pense - Action Points +5(1001) - Exceptional Rank - Promotion Review Due]
Right away, an undead skeleton appeared and picked up the paper before folding it into an envelope and stamping the name of the destination with a golden seal—Office of Saint Wazir.
…
Knock! Knock!
"Ah, no more, Mother Amanda!" Sain Wazir, Gabriel, cried as he noticed his assistant, an old Bright Mother with a smile of a true grandma, enter with a box of papers.
"Dear, it's a burden that comes with responsibility, and yours is greater only after His Holiness. Perhaps a little reward will be able to cheer you up?" Mother Amanda treated him like her grandchild. "Perhaps a healthy mango shake with some unhealthy scoop of ice cream, and a garnish of healthy dried fruits and nuts?"
Gabriel smiled and melted in his soft, comfortable seat. "You know me too well, Mother Amanda. I would lov—Wait, is that a golden stamp?"
"I thought you'd never notice, Saint. This just came in, so I placed it on top." Mother Amanda smiled and watched Gabriel rush to open the letter. "I will disturb you again once the refreshments are here, dear."
"Wait!" Gabriel suddenly put the important envelope to the side and took out another one from his table drawer. "I have one for you as well, signed by His Holiness."
Mother Amanda's white brows rose in confusion as she accepted it. "Ah, another golden stamp?"
"Well, since I'm being promoted to Deputy Pope, you deserve one too."
Mother Amanda sighed and looked at the contents, then sighed some more. "You mean more work?"
Click!
Gabriel abruptly picked up the newly placed magic communicator, also named Magic Telephone, on his table and dialed a number with the rotating dial. "Yes, Bard's? This is Saint Wazir. Send me my usual Mango shake, and add the special strawberry one… yes, with vanilla ice cream."
Clack!
He ended the call and looked back at the old Bright Mother, smirking. "Congratulations to more tiring days of overwork, Mother Amanda."
"Oh dear, this will be the death of me," she groaned and proceeded to leave.
"It won't!" Gabriel responded before she disappeared. "You're an Arch Wizard. You still have a few more decades of God's work."
He loved the chemistry between them, and the fact that she could quite literally beat him to a pulp truly gave it the aura of a grandmother-and-grandson relationship. But, in the end, he was always Saint Wazir, and was respected.
"Alright, who do we have here?" He finally focused on the envelope from Sky Eye, which only he knew. "Hmm… Archpriest Jon, quite young and already exceptional rank? I'll let Max do the evaluation."
He shrugged and called a special messenger before happily throwing the work on another overworked man's shoulder.
…
Pope's Palace,
"That damn Gabriel! This is the fifth evaluation request he sent me. That bastard's doing it on purpose, I'm telling you," Sylvester grunted and complained like an old man while his young, bubbly assistant, Bright Mother Anya Moler, handed him the letter.
"Y-Your Holiness, you mustn't curse Saint Wazir," she requested with good intentions.
Sylvester shrugged. "I'm his boss, I can do it… At least in private… unless someone were to snitch on me."
"Never!" Anya felt like clarifying as soon as Sylvester's gaze fell on her. "I promise, my soul, my life, and even my body belongs to y—"
"Oopsie!"
Anya looked left and right in confusion as the third voice rang from nowhere, reminding her of the wrong words she had chosen. "Ah, forgive me, Your Holiness. I will leave now."
Once she left, Miraj proudly sat in front of Sylvester on the table, his fluffy butt planted on the papers, while his chest protruded out, and a smirk plastered on his face. "I caught an oopsie."
Sylvester chuckled and patted his head, playing with Miraj's ears. "Chonky, the problem is that you only catch other's oopsie, never your own."
Miraj puffed his chubby cheeks. "But… Oopsie is an oopsie, so gimme my reward."
"I'm out of bananas. Go home and ask Mum for it." Sylvester pushed the fluffball aside to focus on the letter on the table. "And tell her I want to eat honey cream pudding today. She loves it whenever I ask for any food."
"Mew mew?"
"Fine, you can ask for a banana-flavored one too."
"Nyaaaa!" Miraj excitedly jumped and flew straight out of the window. Yes, it was closed, yes he broke through the magical glass with ease. And yes, Sylvester waved his hand to fix it for the umpteenth time.
"L… eh… n…"
"Hmm?" Sylvester noticed noise coming from outside his office door. "Who is it?"
Bam!
"You can't enter like that… Cardinal Jinn… please!"
"I must, Mother Anya! I must give my resignation to His Holiness!"
Sylvester sighed and waved, letting the man enter. "What happened now, my Oppenheimer? This much anger? This is new."
"Oppen… what? No, I-I'm done working in the research and development department. I'm useless, Your Holiness. We're all useless," Jinn cried, slamming his hands on the table. "S-She… Ella did it again!"
"..."
Sylvester felt his heart racing already. "W-What did she do now?"
Jinn, in the most self-deprecating and tiring manner possible, replied. "She made it, Your Holiness. By simply looking at my and Robert's research, she fixed the designs and developed the Cyclic Solarium Electric Engine for trains!"
BOOM!
Sylvester abruptly jumped to his feet, almost flipping his desk, but then remembered he'd have to collect the papers later. "That's impossible! I only gave her that task this morning… I… You worked on that design for almost two years."
"I know… I fucking know, Your Holiness. I feel utterly dim-witted. Please demote me, I just… I don't know if I'm capable of being the co-head of research and development."
Thud!
Sylvester fell back in his chair.
'It's hard enough to make sure I don't look too foolish in front of my daughter. But it's getting impossible now.' Sylvester felt he was at wit's end. 'So this is the difference between being born too smart and becoming smart with repetitive training?'
"Exception!" Sylvester declared. "From now on, I am deeming Ella an exception to all normal norms in all fields of studies. It's not us who are dumb, Jinn. It's she who is utterly better than anyone else."
"Then, can I be her student?" Jinn requested.
'Perhaps that's the only way to save this poor man's dignity.'
"Not just you. I will allow Robert to do the same. But where is he?"
"At the sick bay," Jinn revealed. "After losing to her so many times, he stopped eating and studied day and night, only to faint after this recent loss."
Sylvester could do nothing but sigh and feel for the two men. He knew the rest of the researchers and experimenters must also be feeling down.
'Oh, my dear Ella, I'm so proud but… Show some pity on these poor lads.'
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