Prologue

“High Priest, the High Bishop is summoning you.”

“...Looks like that Crushing wasn’t enough to kill him.”

High Priest Ferdinand sighed and stood up after hearing the report from his attendant, Fran. He left his room with another attendant named Arno, while regretfully thinking about how much more work he would have been able to do had the High Bishop remained out of commission for longer.

Along the way to the High Bishop’s room, Ferdinand passed by the book room. It reminded him of Myne, the child who had caused a huge fuss in order to read the books within it. She was the source of his recent headaches, and the reason he was being called by the High Bishop. There was no doubt that he would be confirming what had happened with Myne and subsequently complaining about it. It was easy to imagine what kind of biting complaints would be coming out of the High Bishop’s mouth. Dealing with him was a pain, but as he was technically the highest authority in the temple, Ferdinand had no choice but to go along with it. He rubbed his temples and squashed his feelings of annoyance.

Ferdinand was often mistaken for a twenty-five-year-old, or a thirty-year-old at worst, but he was actually just twenty. His half-brother often said he lacked a youthful spirit, but personally, Ferdinand blamed his environment and upbringing.

Ferdinand was in a somewhat special situation. He hadn’t been raised from birth in the temple, but instead had been raised until adulthood in noble society. He was the son of a mistress, but as he excelled in his studies and had enough mana to work with the foundation’s magic device, he was raised to support his half-brother. They were close enough, but his brother’s mother—the wife of his father—was not fond of him even being relegated to a support role. After the death of his father, her rejection of him became more concrete and forceful. Power-seeking adults supported her, and his own mother could not be relied upon. When Ferdinand began to feel that he was in danger of losing his life, his half-brother recommended that he join the temple.

In noble society, joining the temple was equivalen