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Chapter 39

Within was a grand stage where many seats had been prepared.

The main stage was visible from not just the first floor but also the second, third, and fourth floors; it was like a huge theater.

I heard the Imperial City has many buildings like this.

In any case, the lighting was overall darker than before, and the atmosphere felt quite different.

“Young heroes, please come this way.”

Someone who looked like a knight guided us personally.

I should note, the title of “young hero” wasn’t something that would change if one received a lot of blessings or became an adult. Being chosen as a “hero” of one of the Great Houses was something entirely different.

With the guidance of the knight, we moved behind the stage.

Although it was simply a place for us to wait, it was unnecessarily large.

There were tables and chairs of course, but simple foods had been prepared as well.

They’re already forming groups.

The young heroes sat together with those they had gotten close with.

Honestly, this wasn’t particularly odd. They had spent at least two weeks within the main house of Bednicker.

The biggest group was the Imperial Prince and Hector’s group.

There were a lot of mutts swarming around them... Obviously, I wasn’t talking about actual animals.

They were opportunists who were trying to gain recognition from the children of great noble lineages.

If these people had floppy ears and tails, I was sure they would be wagging right now.

Unexpectedly, Sellen was sitting by herself.

“The opening ceremony will commence when all the young heroes are on the stage. Afterward, the proxy for the Bednicker family head will give the opening ceremony speech, which will be followed by the congratulatory message from His Highness the Imperial Prince, then the other family heads will speak...”

Maybe it was because this was a national event, but there were quite a few annoying procedures to go through.

The worst part was that I needed to sit silent and still through the entire thing.

I wanted to at least pass the time by practicing my circulation... but since assassins could be anywhere right now, I didn’t have that luxury.

As the young heroes all got together, we walked onto the stage at the knight’s signal.

The sound of applause filled the hall from the completely packed seats.

So these are the people who wield power and authority in The Empire.

Then, from the side opposite where we’d come up, a young man appeared.

“I am Asad, the proxy for the family head. Thank you, esteemed guests, for coming to this grand occasion...”

A big shot had suddenly appeared.

Asad. Hermit, Protector of Bednicker, Hidden Dragon... However, to the outside world, he was best known as Archmage.

Outwardly, he looked like an ordinary young man, but this man had protected Bednicker for hundreds of years. A legendary, historical figure, one even the Council of Elders needed to pay their respects to.

Asad was also publicly known as the right-hand man of the Lord of Blood and Iron... but even without that, no one would have a problem with him acting as the family head’s proxy.

[Hooh... That young man as well...]

The Martial God was once again showing interest in someone.

Regardless of whether they were a martial artist or a magician, he was probably just curious about anyone who was strong.

When Asad’s opening ceremony speech ended, the Imperial Prince went up to talk about something while his red hair waved about.

Next, the family heads of the other houses went and said their boring words.

Only after all that did Asad speak again.

“We shall now begin the Blessing Ceremony.”

The hall fell silent.

The young heroes all went back behind the stage to wait, but unlike before, not a single person spoke.

Nervousness, excitement, anticipation, anxiety, and even a small sense of fear... myriad inexplicable emotions were mixing together.

It was a fresh reaction.

Today is the day my life changes!

Most of the kids here were probably thinking something like that.

“Randolph of House Trion. To the stage.”

“Y-yes!”

He looked pretty tense as he went up to the stage.

Because Randolph was the first one to be called up, every eye in the waiting room was directed at him as he stiffly walked up to the stage.

“I am Randolph of House Trion.”

With a short self-introduction accompanied by a bow, he stared at the mirror on the stage.

This was the Mirror of Bhaal, one of the 72 gods worshiped in The Empire.

As the mirror held the leader of those gods, it naturally wasn’t an ordinary mirror.

“...”

Randolph walked up to the mirror and into it. As he did, a ripple formed on the surface of the mirror and Randolph’s body was welcomed inside.

Somewhere, a noble who seemingly had never seen this before let out an exclamation.

“Ah...”

The Mirror of Bhaal was a divine instrument.

Depending on how one used it, it could let one borrow the power of a god or even help one commune with the gods directly. One could even become connected to the gods.

However, there was a restriction: one must possess the bloodline of one of the Great Houses.

Where did Randolph go, and which god did he meet?

I didn’t know.

Although I had walked through the mirror as Randolph had just done, I hadn’t been able to see anything, not even a shadow of a god.

I had simply walked through an empty darkness and then walked out.

From what I’d heard, the scenes each person saw were unique to them.

Shwoo...

Right after Randolph disappeared into the mirror...

Rays of light flowed out from around the mirror and formed a shape above it.

[1]

Everyone knew what that number meant. That was the number of blessings that person had been granted.

At this point, Randolph walked out of the mirror.

“Ah...”

Randolph scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

He checked the number above the mirror, and his expression changed slightly. I could tell that he was very disappointed.

Of course, it was true that only having one blessing could be unfortunate, but that depended entirely on the blessing.

It wasn’t as if no hero in history had ever become famous despite having only one blessing.

The people watching clapped and congratulated him.

Still, the process is pretty quick.

Maybe that was obvious. If the process were slow, this would take the entire day.

As I quickly looked around, I saw that there were 50 or so young heroes attending the Blessing Ceremony today.

[2]

[1]

[1]

[3]

For the most part, the number above the mirror was either 1 or 2.

People who received a [1] elicited a bit of dry applause, whereas the audience put some energy into their claps for [2]s.

For [3]s, there was some murmuring and exclamations.

“Sellen of House Goodspring. To the stage.”

At some point, my ex-fiancée was called up as well.

Sellen rose from her seat with refined movement. As she was heading to the stage, she momentarily glanced at me for some reason.

Is this her first Blessing Ceremony?

That was probably the case.

I didn’t remember seeing her during the First Blessing Ceremony at the start of the year.

As Sellen got up on stage, small murmurings started to echo out from the seats.

This was only natural. After all, she was the sole attendee from House Goodspring in this Blessing Ceremony.

Sellen ignored their gazes as she confidently walked up to the mirror and, after briefly introducing herself, immediately disappeared within it.

Almost immediately, lights appeared from the mirror.

The audience exclaimed in surprise.

The number of light rays, their strength, and their brightness, nothing was normal.

And then...

[6]

“Woah...!” someone loudly exclaimed.

Even the nobles who had been pretending to be calm couldn’t hide their excitement this time.

It was understandable.

Before Sellen, the highest number of blessings anyone had received in this ceremony was 4.

“Hm.”

Sellen confidently put her hands on her hips. But, maybe because she was still a kid, her expression looked a bit awkward.

She wasn’t able to completely hide her satisfied smile.

After coming down backstage, Sellen smiled brightly toward me.

“Good luck. Though, you won’t be able to beat my record.”

* * * * *

* * * * *

How rude.

Sellen was receiving attention not just from me but from many people around us, including even Hector and the Imperial Prince.

This was Hector’s second Blessing Ceremony. If my memory served me right, he had received five blessings in his first Blessing Ceremony.

He lost.

As I snickered to myself while thinking that, Hector’s gaze met mine.

The moment a cold smile appeared on Hector’s lips, the knight spoke.

“Young master Hector, please come up to the stage.”

Hector turned his attention away from me and went up.

I looked at him from behind the stage.

Usually, one would receive fewer blessings in the second Blessing Ceremony than in the first.

Hector would probably receive one or two more blessings this time.

Hector had a relaxed smile on his face as he climbed up on the stage. It was a completely different smile than the one he’d shown me before.

Age really showed a difference here, since Hector was much more proficient at hiding his true emotions than Sellen.

Wait, maybe...?

I momentarily doubted Hector, but he was a fanatic of the Lord of Blood and Iron.

The possibility was low.

...However, it wasn’t completely impossible.

Clap clap clap.

While I was thinking that, I heard applause from the seats.

It seemed Hector’s Blessing Ceremony was already over.

He had received a total of three blessings this time.

Considering this was his Second Blessing Ceremony, it was a good result.

“Luan of House Bednicker. To the stage.”

I looked at the knight who had called my name.

Even though he was a Bednicker knight, he had addressed Hector as “young master” and me as merely “Luan of House Bednicker”.

And I just had to be placed right after Hector. Although the order wasn’t arranged by house, I felt a sense of evil intent from this.

But I simply laughed as I rose from my seat.

Step.

“...”

Many different gazes were on me as I took the stage.

Curiosity, ridicule, contempt, disgust, and a bit of sympathy?

The young heroes still controlled their gazes a little, but when I took the stage, the mocking laughter became audibly loud.

I know Hector is Hector...

But if the mastermind was here, wouldn’t they be hiding within the crowd?

“...”

As I stepped up to the mirror, it started to reflect a completely different scene.

It was as if I was seeing a swirling darkness.

Something was raging within, but its form wasn’t solid.

In any case, I didn’t hesitate to put my hand into the mirror. The part I touched felt refreshing for some reason...

Shwoop!

In the next moment, I stepped into the mirror.

“Hm.”

I was in a region of total darkness.

Although there wasn’t even a single ray of light, I could for some reason see myself clearly.

Maybe it wasn’t darkness? It felt like I was surrounded on all sides by pitch-black wallpaper.

It’s similar to before.

Would I receive zero blessings this time as well?

With that doubt in my mind, I continued to walk forward.

Before long...

It’s definitely longer than last time.

I noticed that the darkness didn’t end even though I had already walked for a few minutes.

I heard that the flow of time here was different from the outside world... but I was starting to wonder how long I needed to stay here.

[The 72 Ranks look at you.]

“Ah.”

Was this it? The “voice of god” that you were supposed to hear inside the mirror?

It was a jarring experience.

I had never heard this immaterial voice in my past life.

[Many of the Ranks are interested in you.]

[Many of the Ranks desire to grant you their blessings.]

This situation began going in a direction I had never expected.

The 72 Ranks were the gods worshiped by The Empire. They were also the beings that personally granted blessings to the descendants of the Great Houses.

[Rank 1, Bhaal, shows interest in you.]

Bhaal?

The leader of the 72 gods was interested in me?

Suddenly...

[The Guardian reveals themself.]

Who the hell was this “Guardian”?

[Strongest Under the Heavens, Baek Nogwang glares at Rank 1, Bhaal.]

What.

[He asks, What kind of bastard are you to try to poach my disciple?]

[Bhaal becomes enraged.]

Even during this chaos, I understood one thing.

You shouldn’t make my master angry.

[Baek Nogwang emits killing intent.]

[Baek Nogwang advises Bhaal to stop glaring like that before he takes Bhaal’s eyes out of their sockets and shoves them down his throat.]

[...]

[...]

[Bhaal glares.]

...Goodness me.