The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master [Novel] Chapter 27

“What? Th-that’s…”

“It hasn’t been long. Mari’s from the same village as me!”

Sena answered on Mari’s behalf, explaining that Mari had also awakened holy power and come to the Holy Temple together with her.

‘So they’re a child she already knew.’

In that case, the odds of Riri being Rien in disguise were practically zero.

‘I suppose eye color alone was too much of a stretch.’

Cecilia obediently shook off her delusion and released Riri. The child hastily pulled down their chapel veil and stood at an awkward distance, fidgeting.

Cecilia turned her gaze back to the bowl full of grass and swallowed the sigh rising in her chest.

Her runaway appetite still showed no signs of returning. She stabbed a piece of fruit with the heavy silver fork — her own portion — and thrust it toward the children’s mouths.

“Come on, say ‘ahh.'”

“I-I’m f-fine, really…”

“That’s right! We already ate breakfast! Please eat it yourself, Saintess!”

“Sena. Remember the other day, when you watched the saintess take down those thugs? Snapping the knife and axe like nothing?”

“Yes! That was so cool!”

“If you want to be that cool, you need to eat better. When I was your age, I was constantly putting something in my mouth.”

“Oh! Yes!”

“You too, Riri!”

“…Okay.”

Sena clenched her tiny fists with determination, while Riri, head bowed low, diligently chewed and swallowed the fruit offered to them.

‘Once I escape from here, I’ll send them a mountain of snacks at least.’

Her stomach was empty, but her heart was reasonably full. That was the kind of morning it was.

‘Should I just escape now?’

After breakfast, following behind the archbishop alongside Miguel as usual, Cecilia recycled the same dilemma for the forty-third time.

Feeding her garbage — fine, she could live with that. But making her pray and study all day on top of it was a bit much, wasn’t it? The truly shocking part was that the impossibly thick book the archbishop had given her before really had been only a “portion.”

What fresh horror awaited today? Her chest pounded with something between dread and stress.

But the place Kiar stopped was not the records room with its smell of old paper. He passed several familiar rooms and stepped outside altogether.

They crossed a garden thick with plain wildflowers, then moved to the east side of the building, where a small lake soon appeared.

The lake was exactly the shade of emerald you’d only see in a computer wallpaper, and around it stood several enormous willows that looked centuries old.

“This is where the ceremony will take place.”

Fingers blanched white from lack of sunlight pointed to the altar beside the lake.

Beneath a long, trailing canopy stood a large stone statue roughly five meters tall and an altar of white marble. The top of the altar was simpler than she’d expected — just a rough silver candlestick, a white beeswax candle carved with the likeness of a god, and an empty cylindrical vase.

“You’ve already read through it multiple times in print, but today I’ll walk you through the ceremony steps in person.”

Cecilia let the purpose she wasn’t particularly curious about drift in one ear and out the other, gently closing her eyes. The warm sunlight and the muggy breeze became more vivid against her skin.

She’d assumed today would be another day of endlessly reading dense print or memorizing incomprehensible prayers under Kiar’s look of disillusionment. If all she had to do was listen to explanations in a place with scenery this nice, she could stay focused for hours.

Contrary to her confidence, however, Cecilia soon lost all focus to something she spotted near the lake.

Flowers with a distinctive shape — white petals forming inverted triangles arranged in a circle, with vivid red stamens — were blooming around the lake’s edge.

‘No way.’

“Are those… the flower of God?”

She dredged up the memory of the existence that had given her such frustration. Why were flowers rare enough to be a competition prize growing in abundance at the Holy Temple?

If you could just see them lying around like this, then what had all her humiliation been for? When she asked flatly, Kiar instantly furrowed his brow.

“As if something like this could be the flower of God.”

“It’s not? I heard it was a rare flower that grants eternal love.”

“That’s what’s believed outside?”

How dreadful. Kiar muttered before correcting the misunderstanding.

“First of all, this is a different cultivar that merely resembles the flower of God. It only blooms near this lake, so it is rare — but it has no such grotesque power.”

‘Of course not.’

She hadn’t truly believed it possessed such an ability either. She’d simply thought of it as a flower with symbolic significance.

“And because it’s called a ‘flower,’ people seem to have twisted its meaning into something romantic. In truth, the flower of God discerns truth. According to the records, its petals fall when a lie is spoken.”

“You mean it’s not merely myth — a plant like that actually exists?”

“Believe what you will. It is, after all, one of the ‘gifts of God.'”

“Gifts of God?”

“It seems we need to resume our lessons.”

Kiar clicked his tongue softly and continued with an expression that said this was supremely tedious.

“When God departed after dwelling among creation, four gifts were left behind. The flower of God, which discerns truth. The record of God, which contains all the world’s wisdom. The tears of God, which permit miracles. And the breath of God, which holds a great power.”

“Then where is the real flower of God?”

“Who knows. Most of the divine relics were lost long ago.”

Just as Cecilia was about to dismiss it as another absurd myth and lose interest, Kiar calmly presented evidence.

“At present, the Holy Temple possesses only the record of God. By another name, it is also called the diary of God.”

‘The diary of God?’

Cecilia’s eyes lit up.

“It is such a precious relic that even someone of my rank as archbishop cannot view it. But from what the Pope has told me, divine wisdom resides within it, allowing one to find answers to any trouble or problem. Though I doubt it holds the answer to my life…”

She cleanly ignored the gloomy addendum.

The important part was answers to any problem. If so, couldn’t she obtain a way to return to her original world?

Assuming a being called God truly existed in this world, and it was something that being had created.

Considering that the place where she’d first opened her eyes was the Holy Temple, it was well worth investigating.

“Th-then, could a saintess view it?”

“Yes, the Saintess and His Holiness the Pope are permitted to view it.”

“In that case—!”

“If she is a formally approved saintess, that is.”

Ah.

Her excitement sank as if by magic, settling into calm.

‘Right. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.’

When had life ever been easy on her? She nodded vaguely, barely even disappointed. And at the same time, she decided on Plan F.

A plan to view the record of God.

Even if it meant going to the capital, where hardship and adversity awaited.

While Cecilia steeled her resolve, Kiar explained the ceremony process in a voice dripping with reluctance.

“His Holiness the Pope will read the prayers, so you need only participate in the closing of the ceremony. Share red wine and fruit, then receive a torch imbued with holy power.”

She’d thought she’d have to produce the flame herself. It was simpler than expected.

“Do you see the structure in the middle of the lake? You will take this ferryboat across and place the torch there. That’s all.”

And Cecilia immediately retracted her previous thought. Travel all the way to the center of the lake!

“Wait — I have to ride a boat?”

“Yes.”

The ferryboat Kiar’s fingertip indicated was barely large enough for two people — maybe.

‘One wrong move and it’ll capsize.’

Cecilia snuck a glance below the surface. The water was as clear as distilled water, yet the bottom was nowhere to be seen.

“I can’t see the bottom — is it deep here?”

“Outsiders sometimes call it the bottomless lake.”

Not his problem. Kiar answered with casual indifference. Useless explanations followed — how it was a sacred spring where God once bathed, how it never dried even in the worst drought.

“So do take care not to fall in.”

His face suddenly hardened as he issued the warning in a firm tone. A little — no, actually quite frightened, Cecilia froze. Miguel jumped in hastily.

“Your Grace, please don’t frighten her needlessly. For someone filled with holy power, the lake has a bottom. There’s nothing to fear.”

“Oh, really?”

“An ordinary person would drown, though.”

“…Pardon?”

The chilling remark Kiar tacked on sent the reassurance that had knocked politely and entered straight back out the door.

‘What if I fall through because I’m not the real Cecilia?’

“If you’re that anxious, you could simply go in and check for yourself.”

Kiar blinked his dark, boredom-laden eyes slowly and jerked his chin toward the lake.

‘Go where? Is he seriously telling me to get in there right now?’

The suggestion was so absurd it left her speechless. It truly wasn’t funny, but…

Admittedly, confirming now was less embarrassing and safer than having an accident mid-ceremony.

Even as she thought that, she hesitated, unable to actually step in — when suddenly, with a loud splash, someone fell into the water.