After tidying up his outfit, Bishop Darco entered Norlan National Theater.
A gloomy-looking middle-aged man was beside him. Bishop Darco calls him ‘Vulture.’ That was not a bright-sounding name.
But, no one could deny the strength possessed by that middle-aged man. As the Legion Commander of the Ecclesiastical Templar Army’s Fourth Army, he was an expert among experts when it comes to taking on surprise attacks from demons.
A bishop and a legion commander, a pair like this would be capable of taking on a Sin Demon.
Indeed, Bishop Darco came to this theater in full preparations of fighting against demons.
It was not only against those terrifying Sin Demons, he was prepared to take on the rulers of the Demon Realm, the ones leading their armies in the battlefield, the Chaos Demons.
“I sense no demons nearby,” Vulture reported to Bishop Darco with a low voice.
“These humans were all invited by that Chaos Demon... That Chaos Demon must be plotting something.”
Bishop Darco was holding a pamphlet of the World’s Singers.
From the descriptions given on the pamphlet, World’s Singers was a simple singing competition. It was similar to the ceremony held by the nuns and choirs in the Holy City.
For the ceremony, the host will be gathering all the singers together. The person with the most pleasant singing voice will be allowed to join the Holy Church’s choir, a majestic honor to any believer in the Nation of the Holy Church.
Regretfully, the participants in this ‘World’s Singers’ were not learned singers like the choir nuns.
All the nuns needed to pass through stringent training in order to obtain the opportunity to receive the choir of the Holy Church’s appreciation.
Alas, that was not at all the case for the singers in this ‘World’s Singers.’
“Are they really here to display their singing abilities?”
Bishop Darco was observing the people walking past them to ensure that none of them would be able to endanger the safety of the saintess.
But, the more he observed the participants, the more skeptical he became.
If any of the people that walked past him could be described as ‘singers’ or ‘bards,’ then they would be amateurs at best.
He had seen multiple mercenary-looking fellows donned in animal hide, horned helmets and rock-solid muscles walking past them.
There were also a lot of apron-wearing middle-aged women that looked like housewives...
If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a banner with ‘World’s Singers Audition’ hanging above Norland National Theater’s main hall, Bishop Darco would doubt whether he had entered a chaotic and disordered inn filled with mercenaries.
“The participants in this competition are all civilians from all over Norland,” Vulture seemed to be very fond of this sort of chaotic atmosphere.
“I know,” Bishop Darco already knew about the nature of this competition from the pamphlet.
Regardless of identity, regardless of status, as long as one was confident in their voice, they will be able to ascend onto the stage.
“Are these people truly qualified to stand on the same stage as Lady Saintess?” questioned Darco as he watched the commoners walking past. As one of the supervisors of the Holy Church’s choir, he knew very well how difficult it was to become a singer.
Saintess Herolia was the most outstanding singer in the history of the Holy City.
Bishop Darco has always believed that there would not be anyone with a singing voice that could match the Saintess Herolia. Even Farucci’s most outstanding opera singers would lose all their luster when compared to the voice of the saintess.
Yet, such a grand existence was to compete with a bunch of commoners who might not even know what singing entails.
“Qualification is a different matter. Say, don’t you think we’re being too generous toward the people of this nation?”
Vulture looked toward the back views of Herolia and Messai who was following her.
“Generous?”
“Fifty years ago, Lady Herolia graced the Nation of Frost’s frontier battlefield,” said Vulture, “That was a military campaign so difficult that no one wishes to recall. Reinforcements from the demon army continued to flock in from the Demon Realm. Yet, I had only two hundred-plus warriors alongside me. At the end of that battle, I was no longer able to feel the sensation in my hands and the pain of my body.”
Vulture showed his hands to Bishop Darco. Just by looking at those hands, one would feel very uncomfortable. A vast amount of scars, like centipedes, were entrenched all over his hands. There was practically no normal skin to be seen at all.
“I have no idea how many people survived at the end of that battle. All that was left were the shouts of the demons and the blood that filled my sight... all my other sensations had left my body,” As Vulture recounted till this point, a forced smile appeared on his gloomy face, “I had thought that I would be dragged into darkness by those demons. But alas, I saw the light... or perhaps, I heard the light.”
“Lady Herolia’s singing...” Having heard so much, Darco was able to understand what Vulture meant by generous.
“Correct. It was a magical singing voice. I was able to clearly feel my wounds healing. My consciousness that seemed to have sunken into a swamp started clearing up,” Vulture caressed his wounds on his palms before slowly saying, “Long ago, I didn’t believe your choir’s singing would have any use. But, the truth revealed to me my ignorance. Her singing isn’t only capable of simply rinsing one’s soul...”
After hearing Vulture’s story, Bishop Darco grew silent. To be able to hear the singing of the Saintess was an act of charity from the god in the Nation of the Holy Church.
Any templar who heard her singing would view it as their life’s honor. But, apart from pacifying one’s spirit and soul, her singing also possesses unfathomable powers.
It could slow down the aging process, increase the magic quantity in one’s body, cure one’s injuries... Any one of those abilities could be a miracle in their own right.
“We are both lowly ones that God has shown grace upon,” said Bishop Darco, “Lady Saintess is impartial to all of us. Likewise, everyone is entitled to hear her singing voice. It’s just...”
“That those lowly ones aren’t qualified to stand alongside the saintess?”
Vulture was able to tell what Bishop Darco truly felt. Hearing Vulture’s sentence, Bishop Darco sighed.
Allowing the saintess to leave the Holy City was already an extremely risky matter. Yet, she ran all the way to Norland so that she could participate in a competition with mostly commoners, a competition with no class and quality. This was enough to give Bishop Darco a major headache on how to explain things upon their return.
But, after thinking things with a different mentality, Bishop Darco was able to accept Herolia’s behavior.
“Perhaps Lady Saintess’s singing will allow us lowly ones to realize... exactly how vast of a disparity there exist between us and her,” said Darco.
By ‘us,’ Bishop Darco was naturally also referring to the other competitors in Norland National Theater.