Jeanne now truly understood just how immense the attraction of so-called "items created by God's own hand" was to the Sankta.
If someone could prove that you could see words written by God after you died, Jeanne suspected that the vast majority of Laterano might find a way to leave this mortal coil a bit early.
However, suicide was not permitted. The Laterano Church had long ago announced a strict ban on suicidal behavior among its followers. If a believer was found to have committed or planned suicide, psychiatrists and priests were to be dispatched immediately to provide treatment.
The sounds of discussion outside continued for a good while before gradually subsiding. Before long, the group of old men returned to the tent one by one, immediately expressing their guilt to Jeanne for having left her aside for so long.
"It's alright, it's not a big deal, there's no need for that. Also... you can just call me Jeanne. I'm still not quite used to you always calling me that."
Watching a group of people calling her "Lady Saintess" one after another, Jeanne hurriedly explained that she preferred to be addressed by her name directly; truth be told, she didn't much care for that title.
"Very well, Your Eminence Jeanne."
Seeing Jeanne's persistence in being called by her name, the group agreed to her request. However, as for the honorific title following her name, Jeanne figured she probably couldn't get rid of that. She would just have to let them have it.
"Your Eminence Jeanne, we are deeply grateful for the gifts you have bestowed, especially the 'God-Stone,' which is an incredibly vital holy relic for Laterano! We hope that tomorrow you might preside over a ceremony for us, officially delivering the God-Stone into our hands."
The Archbishops made their sincere plea. They felt that simply transporting the God-Stone back to Laterano as it was would be somewhat improper.
Yet, in a place like this, they couldn't strictly follow all the ecclesiastical protocols—that would be far too time-consuming. Therefore, the best method was to hold a ceremony where the Saintess herself delivered it into their hands, which would satisfy the requirements of etiquette.
Faced with this scene and the slightly pleading looks in everyone's eyes, Jeanne had no choice but to nod and agree.
Upon hearing Jeanne's consent, everyone broke into cheers of celebration. Soon, people headed out to begin preparations for the following day's proceedings.
As for Jeanne, who was exhausted from the journey, she was settled into a pre-prepared tent. Looking at the pristine interior, Jeanne marveled at the care they showed her... it was just that this care was a bit too passionate, making her feel quite constrained. She really wasn't good at handling these kinds of occasions; to her, fighting a war was much easier than this.
"How was it? How did it feel talking to those grandpas? You wouldn't even get a chance to see all these Archbishops together like this back in Laterano."
Lemuen entered the room and saw Jeanne sighing, then spoke up to ask. The Archbishops knew Jeanne wasn't familiar with the layout of the Laterano military camp, so they had asked Lemuen, who had lived with her for a while, to come and look after her.
"I'm not quite used to it; they're a bit too enthusiastic. Having a bunch of elders fussing over me like that... I just wasn't prepared for it."
Jeanne looked at the entering Lemuen with a wry smile. She really couldn't deal with the over-enthusiastic types. No wonder her God didn't come down very often—even He would find this awkward!
"I feel the same. Anyone would get nervous facing a bunch of old guys like that. I remember when my little sister met one of the Archbishops for the first time, she was so nervous she couldn't even speak. Back then, I could still scare her. But later on, she wasn't afraid at all."
As she spoke, Lemuen reminisced about her sister's childhood. Little Exusiai was such a soft child back then; how on earth did she end up growing so... "crooked" like that?
"I remember you saying your sister went to Lungmen. Chernobog and Lungmen aren't that far apart; why don't you go see her? We'll be staying in Chernobog for a while anyway."
Jeanne naturally knew about her sister—the "Exusiai" who worked at Penguin Logistics. Lemuen mentioned her occasionally.
Taking the opportunity of this meeting, Jeanne informed the Archbishops of her plan to stay with Reunion and politely declined their proposal to escort her back to Laterano.
Laterano was not without a solution for this situation. Under Lemuen's own recommendation, they temporarily appointed Lemuen as a liaison officer to accompany Jeanne. This meant that after completing her mission, Lemuen wouldn't go home but would follow Jeanne to Chernobog.
Executor, however, had already bid Jeanne farewell due to the nature of his work. Though he was somewhat reluctant to leave the atmosphere of that village, his duties called; the Notarial Hall could not function without him.
"I hope... nothing crazy happens during tomorrow's ceremony. It has to end smoothly. I mean, it's just a rock; it's not like a living person is going to pop out of it, right?"
(A certain God in the heavens: "Heh heh heh... naive child. While there isn't a living person in the stone, there is a surprise I've prepared inside!")
And so, while the Saintess remained completely oblivious, the "God-Stone" containing a surprise was moved onto a platform. Under the moonlight, it emitted a faint glow that was extremely easy to overlook.
"Eh? Did it just flash for a second?"
A nearby Sankta seemed to see something and rubbed his eyes, only to find no change. He nudged his partner and asked.
"Did it? I didn't see anything. Maybe the halo on your head just dazzled your eyes? But then again, who knows what special properties a holy relic like this might have?"
The crowd discussed the giant stone, but they were busy preparing for tomorrow's ceremony and didn't have much time to waste...
The next day at noon, when the sun hung high in the center of the sky, the pure white Saintess would deliver the God-Stone brought from the Holy Mountain to the Laterano Archbishops. This was a day destined to be recorded in history.
At this moment, Jeanne wasn't actually that nervous. The specific steps of the ceremony surfaced in her mind; she could even confidently say that no one understood this ritual better than she did.
Today, Jeanne was dressed in the same outfit as yesterday, yet the feeling she gave off was entirely different. If yesterday she was a majestic general, today she was a pure, flawless maiden. Her golden hair fluttered in the wind; as the strands danced, they seemed like massive wings extending behind her.
At that moment, several white pigeons flew over and circled in the sky—a rare sight for this location. With a military camp stationed here, timid birds usually avoided the area. Were these pigeons really that bold?
The ceremony proceeded slowly until it reached the final step. Jeanne was to wipe the rock with Holy Water, followed by the Archbishops, and then it would be complete.
Reaching this stage, Jeanne finally breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like everything was going smoothly. Surely nothing crazy would happen now?
The moment Jeanne's hand wiped the rock, it suddenly began to vibrate. Along with the vibration, parts of the stone turned to dust and dissipated, and ten lines of text appeared upon it.
Jeanne moved a slight distance away from the rock to clearly see the first sentence. Although she didn't know what language it was written in, she recognized the marks appearing as—
—"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
Uh oh. It's over.