The Saint Wants to Rest - vanish into fiction

Glory is a nuisance, but it is effective.

Ian rubbed his eyes, which were darkened with fatigue.

“It is about time to turn the trainees into priests as well.”

As demand increased explosively, there was not enough time for Ian to handle everything alone. Therefore, he decided to put the next step into action. Since his interactions with the Goddess Regnasia were gradually increasing, the baptism of the trainees would now be possible.

“That is a good idea. The trainees have just finished their preparations. They are not at a magnificent level yet, but they have built a solid foundation.”

“From your perspective, wouldn’t everyone seem that way?”

“I assigned scores based on the standards of the priests in Lancia.”

If that was the case, Ian had nothing more to say.

“So, how many people are ready for baptism?”

“Five for now. More will be added after a month has passed.”

“Right, that much should be fine.”

The preparation for baptism was not complicated. It required someone with a disciplined body who believed in Regnasia. In fact, the most important part here was faith. For that reason, Ian had them undergo doctrine training in addition to physical training. Vermouth had personally stepped up for that training as well. Ian helped occasionally, but it would have been quite difficult without him.

‘The problem is the depth of faith.’

In modern society, a place where countless religions overflowed, how much faith could Regnasia obtain? The reason Ian had intentionally delayed the baptism was also to show the trainees the use of the badges. Since nothing drew out faith as easily as a miracle, he performed treatments on patients whenever he stopped by the hospital.

Thus, they gathered in the nearly completed hall of the Order’s headquarters.

The first batch of trainees, who had endured the harsh training, stood in a line with nervous faces. The bodies of the trainees, including Park Dong-ho and Kim Cheol-su, were built up so firmly that they could not be compared to their previous states. They looked like those who had truly survived Vermouth’s hellish grind.

Ian spoke before them.

“You have all worked very hard. I will now grant you the official baptism of Regnasia. The five whose names are called from now on, please step forward.”

Among the five Vermouth had mentioned, Park Dong-ho and Kim Cheol-su were included.

The process of baptism was simple.

One by one, they stepped forward and drank holy water. Then, Ian, who was connected to Regnasia, would bestow a blessing upon them.

“Darkness can never blind the light, thus the brilliant glory of the Great Goddess Regnasia descends upon this place. As her representative, I command that this noble light flows through your veins and becomes an unquenchable heart.”

As Ian stretched out his hand, dazzling white divine power bloomed and seeped into the chests of the trainees.

“Gasp…!”

“Th—this is…”

The trainees were astonished by the warm and massive power circulating explosively within their bodies. A miracle had taken root in their once ordinary flesh.

Though the degrees varied, all five succeeded in becoming priests.

“Now you can handle divine power. It is a force that will be a deadly poison to demons and a blessing to allies. Follow the will of the Goddess and save people.”

“Thank you! We shall follow the will of the Goddess!”

In this manner, a portion of the first batch of trainees who received baptism were officially assigned to the Priesthood of Regnasia. Their numbers were too small to divide into formal units for now, but they were scheduled to be dispatched externally once they grew accustomed to using divine power.

***

The priests entered training immediately. Since they were still clumsy at managing divine power, Ian did not pair them with Vermouth, but instead teamed them up with other experienced awakened individuals and assigned them to relatively safe B-grade Gates. This was to allow the priests to fully understand their own abilities and realize for themselves how to manifest divine power in actual combat.

For that purpose, Ian received help from his hyungs.

“It seems I’ll need to bring ordinary awakened individuals into the Order in addition to the priests.”

The Order had always been that way in the past. Besides the priests who handled divine power, they appointed talented individuals as representatives, assigned them various missions, and provided rewards.

“That is correct. In any case, the more people we have, the better.”

Since the prestige of the Order had risen quite a bit, it should be possible to find awakened individuals. Though, unlike in Lancia, he would have to pay them a monthly salary.

“It is regrettable. Everyone lacks faith.”

“No, well, this is how it works here.”

Moving without compensation was only possible because it was Lancia. Earth was not yet as dangerous as Lancia had been back then. Furthermore, since the Order of Regnasia was a newly established religion, this was only natural.