Solsday, 9th of Septimus, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

"~Ale Amang, asi rohaM di au pardosa on… (Oh Lord, My God, I beg of Thee. Have mercy on my soul)." The voices of Josias and his companions reverberated throughout the cathedral's halls. "~Unduk do rohangkon nuaeng, marsomba di JoloM… (My heart is bowed, yet broken, torn, in reverence of Your Throne.)"

Singing in front of thousands of people was nerve-wracking enough for Josias. But to sing in front of the highest nobles of Feldonia as well as the king? That was something no one could truly prepare for.

Josias was surprised when a few days ago a message came from the Archbishop. He had heard of the Halak peoples' talent for singing as well as their church's many choirs. Because of that, both him and the king had asked for them to perform something in this week's Solsday service.

Obviously, one couldn't just deny a direct request from the archbishop. Not especially if it was also requested by the sovereign. Josias and his companions had little choice but to accept.

Because of that, in addition to lessons in etiquette, western history, and other such general knowledge at the count's mansion, they also had to squeeze in choir practice. All thirteen of them had to perform. Which, funnily enough, included Claire.

Claire was apprehensive at first and Josias didn't really want to bother her much more than they already had. She said she had never really sung in a choir before and didn't know how to read notes. Oddly enough, Bang Timo had managed to convince her. He even offered to give her some extra lessons to help her out. An offer she took gladly…

Josias shook his head as he focused back on singing the well and tested hymn. It was fortunate that Reverend Nalom had decided to bring a few copies of their old naposo choir sheets. He couldn't have picked a better hymn to sing. He thought it solemn, simple, and had a powerful message to it.

"~Unang jujur, unang jujur angka dosangki… (Do not count, Lord, do not count, Lord, all my sins to Thee)" They continued to sing. Josias, Sadrach, and Reverend Nalom acted as tenors. Because it was acapella, even Hesekiel sang with them. Bang Timo, Johannes, and Mateus provided the bass voices. The women divided themselves as well between sopranos and altos.

Josias had to hand it to whoever built the cathedral. The acoustics of the architecture truly made their resonating voices sound far more ethereal than they ever did. It felt pleasing even listening to the others' voices as they sang. Speaking of angelic voices…

"~Come every soul, by sin oppressed. There's mercy with the Lord!" Arta sang a solo in Feldonian as Josias and the rest accompanied her with melodic hums, 'aahs', and 'oohs'. "~...And He will surely give you rest by trusting in His word…!"

""~Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now!"" The rest then joined in "~He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now!""

Reverend Nalom had hurriedly written in the Feldonian version of the song and adjusted it to the notes. He only did that last night when he came up with such an idea on an absurdly short notice. They only managed to practice it once, a few hours ago.

But judging from the smiles of the people watching them, they shouldn't be doing too bad. They concluded with a final singing of the refrain in the Halak tongue. Once they closed their papers and walked to get back to their seats, the entire cathedral clapped. Some even gave them a standing ovation.

Josias looked around slightly confused and noticed the same confusion in his companions' faces. Perhaps it was indoctrination by their own clergymen or elders, but the Halak never clapped in church. Old Reverend Arnulfsson would always say all honour and praise are meant for the Lord, not human performances. Who knew it felt this great to be acknowledged? And by a good number of very important people, no less?

Getting back to their seats at the pews, Josias was content to enjoy the rest of the service. He was the most excited that day for the homily. The Archbishop of Skysea had chosen Bang Timo to give the sermon. To speak from the pulpit of such a grand structure, it must've felt absolutely mind-boggling. And nerve-wracking.

His brother gave a quaint sermon on the presence of God he felt from the great cathedral. And he wasn't joking. Even at his second visit, Josias was sometimes distracted by the pure beauty of the architecture.

Beautifully painted and decorated archways, intricately carved reliefs of biblical scenes, the shine of the stained-glass windows that made it feel magical. Perhaps there was a bit of magic put into them, who knows? And the absolutely gorgeous array of statues and other such ornaments.

Yet, even amidst all that beauty, Reverend Timotheus had warned the congregation of the cathedral. 'What use was all that beauty outside, if inside their hearts only lay dirt and decaying bones.' It reminded Josias of Christ's parable towards the old scribes and priests of the temple.

Though, it did get him thinking. His own feelings, no matter how far he buried them inside, were no less rotten. The scriptures tell of forgiveness and mercy. Yet, it would still perhaps take some time for Josias to render that unto his heathen uncle. Did apostates even deserve such mercy? After all, those people had rejected something they had once deigned to accept. What more could mercy grant them?

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Josias turned his focus towards the crucifix at the center of the altar. He made a silent prayer, beseeching his God to help sooth the storms within him. The rot felt all too real, yet it was hard to let go. Hard to forgive. Would he even ever manage it?

While thinking about this, Josias felt his wife's soft hand grasp his own. Josias glanced at Serena as she gave him an understanding look. Sometimes it scared Josias by how sharp his beloved's instincts were. But other times, he much appreciated it. They gently laid their heads on each other as they heard the rest of the sermon.

As the service concluded, Josias and his companions were called upon by the king. Besides bowing, Josias greeted the king and queen with the traditional Halak salim. The monarch and his wife seemed well-amused by the gesture, with the king even giving Josias a friendly pat to the back as he bowed.

The king had only sought to introduce Josias and his companions to some other officials and nobles. One of the more interesting people he met was an older man with greyed hair who sat upon a wheelchair.

"This is someone who had been excited to meet you, Prince Josias." the King said as he held the man's wheelchair in reverence. If even the king treated him like that, he must be important. "This is the Count of Talltree, Prince-Imperial Alfred de Lamellarouge. When he heard there was a warrior who reached the level of a fourth star warrior at eighteen, he rushed straight to the capital to see you."

"This old pack of bones is also the last surviving of my beloved uncles." Countess Catherine said as she hid her smiling face behind her fan. Josias could see the old man roll his eyes, but still. It didn't seem like she held any real malice towards him. "He doesn't like formalities, so we all just call him Uncle Al."

"Aye, being an adventurer for a few decades would do that to you, hahahaha. Prince-Imperial, my arse." A rotund man bellowed out next to them. Josias had met the larger man earlier at the feast. He was the current Guildmaster of the Royal Adventurer's Association.

"I apologise for the fact that my family and friends are a bunch of sorry-arsed pieces of shite." The old man said unapologetically "But, you look like a good lad. Like what my lovely niece said, you can just call me Old Al."

"Uncle! We're in church!" the countess lightly slapped the old prince with her folded fan.

Josias was surprised at the man's straightforwardness. He reminded him more of what a Halak person would be like rather than a noble of Feldonia. And a Prince-Imperial at that! Being the countess' uncle, he was both the son of an Emperor and the brother of one. He might be the highest ranking member of the royal dynasty Josias had met.

"I give my greetings to you, great elder." Josias said as he gave Prince Alfred a salim. Serena followed suit behind him. The old man accepted their greetings but he still clicked his tongue.

"Bloody hell, I told you not to bother with all that." Prince Alfred said "Anyways, behind me here is my granddaughter, Rosie."

The polite-looking girl pushing Prince Alfred's wheelchair gave Josias and his wife an equally demure smile.

"Now, if you'd humor an old man, can you show me whether you can manifest true aura?" The old man finally got to the crux of his request. Josias nodded his head before he held out his arms and manifested flames around them. He even managed to form the rough outline of a sword made completely out of flames. It was something he'd been working on for quite a while. "Absolutely amazing… Honestly, why'd the lord wait until I was seventy before he decided to show me all these absolutely wonderful things."

The old prince sat there astonished as he looked at Josias. He'd been used to such a reaction by now. With how everyone reacted to confirming his powers, Josias was now more sure than ever that the Halak people had more innate talent in aura than any of them.

While the elders of Goria surely praised him for his talent, no one went overboard in their praise of him. Josias found the fascination even stranger because he knew that the rotund guildmaster was a sixth star blademaster. Only a step below a swordsaint.

"In the presence of a blademaster like Lord Rolfe here, I feel absolutely ashamed of being praised for only being this much." Josias said to which the guildmaster laughed while shaking his head.

"I don't think he's gonna tell you himself, and the king gave a horrible introduction of Prince Alfred. So I'm going to give you a proper presentation." Baron Rolfe motioned his hand towards the old man in the wheelchair "I present to thee, His Highness, Alfred de Lamellarouge, Prince-Imperial, Count of Talltree, First Guildmaster of the Royal Adventurer's Association, Platinum-ranked Adventurer, and honourable blademaster of the King's realm."

Josias widened his eyes as he heard the second introduction. Josias was in the presence of two absolute warriors. He glanced at the king who laughed but made no attempts to correct the guildmaster. That only confirmed that he was the real deal.

"There you go, running your fat mouth again, Rolfe." Prince Alfred had an exasperated tone "Why don't you do less talking and more exercising, you fat slab of meat?"

The old man's tone and words were harsh yet the guildmaster laughed heartily as he purposefully shook his round belly.

"This, you old fart, is my armour, thank you very much." The guildmaster sounded absolutely proud in his statement "Helps keep me warm at night, and keeps me from getting seriously armed. It's called body conditioning."

"It's called being fat and the only thing it helps is to keep you from seeing your miniscule cock." Prince Alfred retorted without missing a beat.

"Uncle! Language!" The countess' tone was growing tired.

"Right, sorry."

It took every fiber of Josias' being to not laugh at the old man's pricklyness. Lord knows the guildmaster was only laughing because it looked like the two were friends. If he made that mistake, Josias was sure a blademaster could easily make him part ways with his head.

"Anyways, Prince Josias, I must ask you something." The old prince's tone turned serious as his attention was focused back on Josias.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Josias perked up his head with a smile.

"Were you summoned here from another world and reality by some freak experiment and have been granted a ludicrous ability by an ancient heathen god? Also, do you see words floating in your mind that describe your powers?"

"...Eh?"

"Huh?"

"Lord Granduncle?"

"I think my uncle's finally lost it."

"What the fuck, Al?"

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