It was a bright, clear day. The sunlight streaming through the window was far more refreshing than a place like the Poison Swamp deserved, almost making me forget where I was for a moment.
After staring outside from my bed for a while, I tidied myself up and left the room.
Graymond was likely already busy preparing breakfast; the aroma of the usual soup reached all the way to the second floor. I followed the scent down to the first floor and entered the dining room.
Neneva was sitting alone at the dining table. Her posture was unnaturally rigid, and her face was taut with nerves.
She wasn't wearing her usual work clothes that were "fine to get dirty." Instead, she was clad in a dress I had never seen before. It was a special day, after all.
Her fifteenth birthday.
The day when one is informed of their human aptitude in the form of a Job by the God Karia. The priests of the Karia Church are informed of the people’s birthdays by the god and time their visits accordingly.
It had been the same for me. To the priests, it was a matter of grave importance—though it was just as significant for the person receiving the Job.
"Here you are."
Graymond placed bread and a soup filled with garden vegetables and wild bird meat on the table.
Neneva, who was usually the first to dig in, sat frozen as if she had forgotten how to eat. She was likely so preoccupied with her Job that she couldn't focus on anything else.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"Oh—right. I’ll eat."
Neneva finally picked up her spoon and began to sip the soup. However, her mind was clearly elsewhere; she looked as though she couldn't even taste it.
"...Walt. What was the priest of the Karia Church like?"
"The one assigned to my village was some middle-aged guy with a shaved head. He didn't speak much—a bit blunt and a little eerie."
"I see..."
Neneva fell silent again. Her hand stopped moving, and her soup began to grow cold.
"Don't worry. Even after you receive a Job, you can change it later through the [Rite of Job Change]. Your entire life isn't decided today."
"You're right."
Neneva gave a small nod, but her anxiety didn't seem to fade.
I stood outside, facing the direction of the road leading away from the Dusk Hollow Wetlands. I activated [Hawk Eye], a [Hunter] skill, and focused my awareness on everything within my field of vision.
Before long, I spotted a black dot. It gradually grew larger, revealing itself to be a three-horse carriage. They must have used three horses to compensate for the rough terrain of the wetlands.
The carriage grew larger by the second until I could practically hear the horses' heavy breathing.
"They're here."
I headed to the front of the mansion and threw the doors wide open.
"Neneva! The carriage is here! It’s the priest!"
A chair scraped against the floor inside. Neneva, who had been sitting in the dining room the entire time, must have stood up. After a brief silence, I heard her footsteps.
Neneva appeared, dressed in her white gown. Her red eyes stood out beautifully against the fabric.
"Are they really here?"
"Yeah. See for yourself."
I pointed toward the three-horse carriage. It was already pulling up to the mansion.
"It will be alright, Young Lady. I am certain of it," Graymond said gently, appearing behind her. Neneva gave a tentative nod, her face still clouded with worry.
The carriage slowed as it approached the front of the house. Its hooves made a boisterous splashing sound as they churned through the mud. The horses, their obsidian-colored coats swaying, took their final steps and came to a dead stop.
The coachman pulled the reins and moved to open the passenger door. When it swung wide, the first thing I saw was the hem of a white vestment.
A priest with a shaved head stepped out. His vestments were embroidered with the crest of the Karia Church in gold thread.
Neneva stepped out of the mansion to face him. Graymond and I stood behind her as witnesses.
"You have reached your fifteenth birthday today. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
Neneva answered the priest’s question firmly. Her eyes looked as though she had finally steeled her resolve.
"Very well."
With those words, the priest raised his right hand and held it over Neneva's forehead. Neneva bowed her head.
"—In the name of the God Karia, I shall grant you a Job befitting your soul."
A faint light spilled from his fingertips, enveloping Neneva. Suddenly, the priest's face contorted with shock.
"This... this is impossible... How could this be... in a place like this...?"
The hand he held over Neneva’s forehead began to tremble. His eyes went wide, and gasps of disbelief escaped his lips.
What was happening? What kind of Job had she been granted?
The light surrounding her body dissolved into the air, and Neneva raised her head.
"Um... what is my Job?"
"...[Saint]..."
The moment the priest spoke that word, a chill ran through me. My body suddenly began to shake, and my vision blurred.
"Master Walt?"
I could no longer keep my feet. I collapsed to the ground as if dragged down by an invisible weight. It felt as though my body no longer belonged to me.
"Walt? What's wrong?!"
"Master Walt...!"
Their voices reached my ears, but my sight had gone dark. Then, something inside my body burst.
"Um... what is my Job?"
"...[Saint]..."
The moment the priest identified her as a [Saint], Walt’s condition took a turn for the worse. His red hair suddenly stood on end, and he began to convulse violently, clutching his own body with both arms.
"Master Walt?" Graymond called out, but there was no response.
Walt’s footing gave way, and he rolled across the ground as if trying to flee from Neneva. He seemed unable to control his limbs, moving awkwardly as he scrambled through the mud to put distance between himself and the girl.
"Walt? What's wrong?!"
"Master Walt...!"
Walt’s body went into a massive spasm, scattering mud in every direction. And then—
Thump!
With a dull bursting sound, a purple mist erupted from Walt's chest, and the space itself seemed to distort. The surrounding area was instantly filled with a thick, violet haze.
The horses whinnied in terror, and the coachman struggled to keep them under control as chaos erupted.
"This is...!"
The priest let out a cry of shock. However, his gaze wasn't fixed on Walt. He was staring at Neneva, who was now bathed in a brilliant, pale blue light.
Neneva swept her hand through the air, and the purple mist vanished, revealing the scene. Walt lay motionless on the ground. Beside him sat a single, ominously crafted small box. Around the box, a viscous purple liquid was writhing.
"What on earth is that...?" Graymond tightened his grip on the knife he had drawn in an instant.
"Step back, Old Man."
Neneva stepped in front of Graymond, glaring down at the box and the hideous liquid crawling around it.
"But, Young Lady—"
"It’s alright. I know what that is. That is a [Fragment of the Evil God]. And I... I can seal it."
Her voice was dignified and powerful. Graymond found himself unable to argue.
The pale blue light enveloping Neneva intensified. As she thrust out her right hand, light poured down from a rift in the sky, and a complex magic circle appeared beneath her feet.
The small box and the purple liquid began to tremble.
"[Holy Stake]."
As she spoke, the light condensed, and a massive pillar of radiance rose behind the Saint. The pillar reshaped itself into a gargantuan stake—pure white, with golden lightning pulsing at its core.
The purple liquid swelled, lunging toward Neneva, but she didn't flinch. She simply finished her incantation.
"Pierce the darkness, pin down the malice...!"
The stake of light was unleashed with the speed of a thunderbolt. It pierced the purple liquid, obliterating it instantly.
When the [Holy Stake] struck the ground, an explosive wave of light surged outward. The radiance was so pure that it even began to dissolve the Miasma of the Poison Swamp itself.
"Y-Young Lady..."
Once the light finally subsided, Graymond called out to her. Neneva looked like her usual self again; the pale blue light was gone.
"It seems... I was granted the Job of [Saint]."
In the Dusk Hollow Wetlands where Neneva stood, the miasma had been completely purged. All that remained was the unconscious Walt and the priest of the Karia Church, who was prostrate on the ground in a display of profound reverence.