Chapter 99 — On Religion
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 3
To be honest, setting aside that last bit of sermonizing, Gao Yang's impression of Viroday was actually rather favorable. This saint-princess did indeed possess traits that drew people in and made one want to praise her: humble, courteous, gentle, approachable—qualities that were rare treasures in the nobles of this age. And Gao Yang could tell that her approachability was no pretense, nor was it reserved for him alone. As they passed through the cluttered construction sites of the camp, when she saw the busy, rough-mannered commoners and serfs, she kept the same smile on her face; neither her words nor her manner nor the look deep in her eyes betrayed the slightest contempt or distance. By contrast, Count Kern at her side wore an expression of pure disgust and impatience.
And even if Viroday were a prodigy of acting, merely putting on a show of closeness to the common folk, in Gao Yang's view that was still no small feat—after all, the nobles of this age never even considered it necessary to be close to commoners. They could not be bothered to pretend.
But in the end, Viroday was a believer who had converted to the God of Holy Light early on, and from the look of things now, this was not the simple political transaction the outside world rumored it to be. She had thrown herself into that sect body and soul—and thrown herself in with a certain fervor.
Gao Yang had no aversion to religion itself, especially in a world where the power of faith truly existed; he regarded religion as an inevitable and natural phenomenon of this place. Since those gods more or less sheltered the mortals under their names, he bore no baseless ill will toward the deities. But he found Viroday's evangelizing attitude somewhat hard to stomach... In the end, he still carried a little of his past life's attitude: "respect the gods and spirits, but keep them at a distance."
Viroday keenly noticed the shift in Gao Yang's attitude, but she did not read too much into it. She took it as the normal wariness a noble would feel toward an outside force meddling in his own domain. After all, whatever else one said, half of her title "saint-princess" was still "princess"; she carried the shadow of the royal house to some degree. So on this topic, she stopped while she was ahead.
At last, the time came for these honored guests from the royal capital to take their leave.
The "White Oak" by the Whitewater River was ready to set sail. Gao Yang watched the saint-princess and her two attendants walk toward the gangplank leading to the deck. But before stepping onto the deck, Viroday suddenly stopped and turned around. "Duke Cecil, I actually have a rather presumptuous question I have wanted to ask you, only I never dared to speak it aloud. Might you satisfy this junior's small curiosity now?"
Gao Yang nodded with a chuckle. He felt his expression at this moment could only be described as kindly—having played the head of the Xuanmai Sect before these "juniors" for so long, he had gotten far too into character. "Ask away, as long as I know the answer and it doesn't touch on privacy or secrets."
"I don't know whether this counts as touching on privacy," Viroday said with a faint smile. "In those years when you... returned to the realm of the dead, did you ever see the gods?"
Though she only smiled faintly, Gao Yang always felt that smile still carried a certain believer's fervor. He gave an awkward chuckle and spread his hands. "Haven't seen them. Probably I didn't die thoroughly enough back then—the gods never took me for a dead man at all, so they just ignored me."
"Is that so..." Viroday seemed a little disappointed. She shook her head thoughtfully. "Thank you for your answer. I will pray before the Lord for you and your domain."
With that, the saint-princess led Count Kern and that Goddess-official Sandy, who had been glowing in Gao Yang's sight from beginning to end, onto the deck. The three figures quickly vanished behind the bulwark of the White Oak.