“Send your votes through the polls now!” Suddenly, two options popped before every single member of the congregation that sat in the pews.

The options were in the form of panels displayed right in front of them, and they were meant to pick either ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’.

I had thought it would be something more magical, but this ended up being nothing more than a glorifies survey.

‘But, what’s the purpose of using a fame congregation to come to a decision?’

They were simply projections of my and Maria’s thoughts.

“Looks like the results are in!!!” The Pope declared, drawing my eyes toward the large panel they spread across the air above me.

I waited patiently to see how we had fared. After all, this was the whole reason I went through this.

Though my eyes glanced at Maria for a moment, and I quickly looked away. I could also feel a gaze on me, but decided not to look.

‘Let’s just get this over with. We can always discuss everything that happened, later…’

The Pope’s grin widened, and he announced the results squarely.

“Jared Leonard… and Anabelle Frederick… you’ve passed!”

I nearly jumped in joy, because that meant my reward was not for nothing.

‘Finally you’ll give us our reward, right?

“Since the opposition has been silenced, we can continue with the Marriage that was our oh hold before.”

‘E-eh?’

“Hold on a sec… weren’t we promised a blessing? A Gift?” I tried to raise the issue.

The Pope glanced in my direction and nodded.

“Indeed. My Gift to you is the blessings you need for a good marriage.”

‘Ahh…!!!’ I wanted to scream.

How long was the process before obtaining the Arcana? If I wasn’t certain about the reliability of completing certain tasks in a Dungeon, I would have just burned everything to the ground in a bid to find what I was after.

‘Fine…’ I stared at the smiling Pope, seeing as the chair and ropes and bounds me began disappearing me.

‘… Let’s play along, for now.’

****************

“I hereby declare you, man and wife.”

There was an awkward silence in the air, and I could feel several gazes on us.

“You may kiss the bride.”

Now, that was just ridiculous. It made me consider what would have happened if I came here alone.

Still… I did what I had to do.

Maria and I looked at each other. Passion could be seen in her eyes, and I was pretty sure she could see some sparks in mine.

‘It’s not like this is the first time… right?’ I reassured myself as our faces drew closer to each other.

In less than a second more, our lips would collide, and I slowly began to anticipate it myself.

However, once again—

“Okay, guys… that’s enough. Break it up!”

‘Huh?’

—The unexpected happened.

Right before our eyes, the cathedral began to lose its luster.

The pews vanished, the alter turned to dust, and the congregation vaded away.

I looked around me in confusion, and so did Maria. We saw everything turn to mist—as though they were never there. Even our wedding attires… disintegrated.

Ultimately, everything ‘fake’ was gone, and we were now standing in a completely empty room.

“I suppose I should apologize for taking my little roleplay a bit too far.”

Even though everything in the room vanished, one person remained.

He was adorned in his ceremonial garb, and a smile hadn’t left his face.

His staff was clutched tightly on his left hand, and on his right hand was a book.

“You’re a Singularity, aren’t you? I sense Aether on you… and Merlin’s Mana? I see. So you spoke to our leader.”

Once again, I was confused.

But, unlike before, I didn’t feel any form of restriction.

“Maria, can you see thi—?” I paused mid-sentence, upon noticing that even Maria wasn’t present.

“Where is she?” I looked around me, noticing nothing but utter darkness, with the Pope being the only thing that shine brightly.

“The other one can’t be present. She doesn’t have a connection to Aether. It seems the only reason you can communicate somewhat freely is because Merlin’s power still clings to you.”

‘Ah, did he mean the Arcana of Strength?’ I shook off my hesitation instantly and decided to get answers to the question I had.

The Pope before me had grey colored hair, but his youthful face and round glasses made him look very young.

He was somewhat tall, and his calm appearance put me at ease. I wondered what kind of person he would have been if he was still alive, and how he was able to manifest his Soul so freely even though a lot of time must have passed since his demise.

‘The story of the Arcanas started centuries before I was even born. These people… must have been really skilled at Magic to have made such a projection…’

Modern Mages couldn’t compare to them in the slightest.

I mean, no one’s Magic had surpassed any Arcana till date. Neron was close, but even he admitted that The Hermit greatly assisted him in furthering his Magic.

I was certain the title of ‘Great Sage’ rightfully belonged to them, since their inventions and knowledge were potentially greater than mine.

And here I was, standing right in front of one of them.

“You must have a lot of questions, but there’s really no time. I spent too much energy putting on that elaborate show. You know… I’ve always been into roleplay, and I always wanted to do this when I was alive.”

For someone who claimed not to have too much time, he sure took his time talking about things that didn’t seem urgent.

“I was a virgin till I died… which is why it is greatly fitting I became a clergyman, one who has taken an eternal vow of celibacy.” He smiled, as if that was something to be proud of.

‘To each man, their own… I guess.’ A smile spread across my face.

I couldn’t comprehend how he felt, but that didn’t matter at this point.

What was most important at this moment… was answers.

*

*

*

A

/N

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