CH 26

The other offerings were dedicated to the central temple’s proprietor, Saintess.

“Many have been sent indeed.”

Among them were countries that sent an exceptional number of offerings. It seemed that the more remote the country, which had to rely on the central temple’s assistance, the greater the amount of offerings it sent. It was a way of requesting the dispatch of the Order of Temple Knights or high-ranking officials to their respective countries.

“I heard that they didn’t send this much…”

The novel mentioned that the quantity of offerings had multiplied several times after Evelina became the Saintess. The reason was her sending of the Order of Temple Knights and officials to the countries that sent more and more valuable offerings.

Initially, I wondered if the Saintess would discriminate among the countries based on the quantity of offerings, but as time went by, it became clear that sending offerings had turned into a competitive endeavor.

“And this is the result.”

After exhaling a short sigh, I picked up a small wooden box nearby. Attached to the box was a paper with the word “Laurus” written on it. Upon recollecting my memory, I remembered that Laurus was a small country quite distant from the central temple. I wondered what they had sent here.

“This is…”

Considering it was a small box, I casually opened it. Inside, a brilliantly sparkling red gem, about the size of a child’s fist, caught my eye. Despite my lack of knowledge in this field, I instinctively knew.

“It must be extremely valuable!”

Carefully, I put it down with trembling hands and then laid my eyes upon a slightly larger box. Made of solid, fragrant black wood, it was exquisitely adorned with delicate carvings. Even before opening it, I could sense that what lay inside was even more extraordinary than the gem I had just seen.

With that thought in mind, I opened the lid of the wooden box and was left speechless, blinking my eyes.

“Wow…”

Nothing came out of my mouth but a simple exclamation of awe. Were those diamonds? Inside were necklaces and earrings, a set embedded with hundreds of transparent jewels. They reminded me of artifacts from a distant museum that I had seen in a book.

After closing the box, I quickly moved on to the next ones. Inside every box were jewels and ornaments—sometimes even gold ingots and coins.

“This is not merely a jewellery store…”

Rather than offering treasures adorned with biblical inscriptions, or framing elaborate ill**trations depicting the exploits of past saints, these dedicatory offerings were all, without exception, meant for one purpose…

“For personal use,” the clergyman standing nearby, his gaze transfixed upon the boxes I opened, murmured, bowing his head.

“This year, it seems you have taken great care in fulfilling the words of the saint,” he added.

“As I instructed?”

His words stirred a sudden recollection of Evelina.

“Goodness gracious.”

The memories of last year’s prayer meeting flooded back to me. In those memories, Evelina had flung offerings brimming with devout faith out the window. The object she cast into the depths was a tapestry crafted in the fashion of the region’s inhabitants, adorned with biblical verses, a creation born of unwavering faith, crafted diligently amid the hardships of a place where daily sustenance was scarce and the threat of malevolent forces lurked.

“Who in the world would send such rubbish as an offering?”

Uttering those words, Evelina cast the offering into the pond beyond the window. And to the land that sent it, no knight or clergyman extended their gratitude.

That land was Laurus.

The country from which I received the first opened box.

No wonder my mouth felt as though I had chewed on sand. Laurus had suffered great losses in the past year, besieged by frequent attacks from malevolent forces. Hence, this year…

“These were sent as pleas for salvation.”

I closed the box with a bittersweet feeling, different from before, and pushed it aside. How should I handle these offerings? Once the prayer meeting concluded, it seemed I would need to meet the envoy sent by Laurus and promptly dispatch knights and clergymen.

“And return those offerings as well.”

Laurus was a far-from-prosperous country. How difficult must it have been for them to prepare such offerings? As I silently reproached Evelina in my heart, I moved forward.

“This is…”

Then, I noticed a towering pile of offerings, seemingly accumulated as children’s playthings, sent by Laurus just moments ago.

“Where could this be?”

Surveying my surroundings, it became apparent that this land had sent the most offerings. Recalling the names of the powerful nations on the continent, I picked up the box that lay closest and harbored a sense of suspicion.

“This can’t be true.”

It had been clearly written in the book. All had sent offerings, except for the Empire of Appelius, which had refrained from sending an offering to the saint.

Yet, affixed to the box I now held in my hands was a slip of paper bearing the words “Empire of Appelius.”