< Pantheon (1) >The White Knight, the Saint of Auterica, Heinrich Saint Landgard, who had suddenly appeared on Earth, displayed tremendous divine power, and became famous in an instant.
Even after the awakened terrorist incident that had served as his debut, he continued to tour various hospitals, impressing his existence upon the public.
-Day 24 since converting to Autericanism. I prayed while looking at the Saint’s picture again today.
-Proof) I printed the Saint’s photo out large and put it up in my room, and my loss of appetite and insomnia were cured, my stress went down, and my life became happier! Let’s all do one Heinrich a day.
-Purifying my eyes again today♡ Of course, Heinrich’s outstanding looks were also one of the major factors that drove his popularity even higher.
His mysterious silver hair seemed to have light flowing down it, and his golden eyes sparkled radiantly as though they held the sun.
His charming appearance, as if he were a protagonist who had just leapt out of a comic rather than reality, combined with his abilities, character, and the various facts revealed about him, winning him a truly cultlike popularity.
A hero chosen to save the world and a devout saint who carried out the will of God.
Since such a figure, the kind who would only appear in stories, had appeared in reality, was it not only natural that those who learned of him would go wild over him?
Of course, in the process, his continued “volunteer work” drew dissatisfaction from the hospitals in question and the medical field as a whole, but they did not dare openly protest it.
The fact that he mainly used his power for those suffering from pediatric critical illnesses or rare diseases played a part, and divine power was—
—an act of miracle that ordinary people could hardly come into contact with, so they were worried that if they recklessly obstructed it, they would suffer a backlash for nothing. ‘Well, lately there have been a lot of occasions to send avatars to the Ganghwan Realm, so my visits to Earth have become a bit infrequent.’ Since Heinrich’s main base was Auterica, his excursions could only be made when there was leeway in “Summon Otherworld Transfer Formation.” If he had already used the transfer formation for something else, he had no choice but to give up on that day.
Of course, given the time difference, even if he said “for a while,” it would amount to only a few days at most.
And Heinrich, who had visited Earth after a long while, was now—
At the hour when the streetlights positioned throughout the roads were just beginning to turn on, looking down at the city below from the rooftop of a certain building.
“…Things worked out better than I thought.”
Recalling the people he had just met, he murmured softly.
He had just delivered the letter to I Se-a’s family in her stead, as she had requested of him a while ago, and come out.
At the sudden, completely unexpected guest… and a secret surprise visit from someone famous enough to appear on the news at that, they could not hide their bewilderment, but that was nothing compared to the topic he brought up immediately afterward.
“Pardon? Is… is that really true?”
“My goodness…!”
They carefully accepted the letter handed to them along with the unbelievable story.
It did not take long for her family to fully believe Heinrich’s words. ‘Well, with their daughter’s figure appearing so vividly, they had no choice but to believe it.’ The letter delivered to her family at I Se-a’s request was no ordinary item.
It was a kind of magic tool that she, an archmage, had created with great care, one that activated the moment a blood-related family member opened the letter.
—“…So I’m doing well. I think I’ll probably be able to return soon… Um, about two months in Earth time? Actually, it might be even shorter than that…”
The moment a three-dimensional hologram straight out of a movie projected her recorded image above the letter, it was not particularly strange that her family, who had been tense the entire time, reacted violently.
“…You were safe. Yes, that’s enough.”
“Oh, Saint! Thank you! And… please, take good care of our daughter from now on as well.”
“Wow, my big sister’s a mage!”
From the father, who forced himself to feign calm while his eyes reddened, to the mother, who made a fuss and bowed repeatedly, and even the younger brother, who rejoiced innocently.
Only after receiving their fervent gratitude was Heinrich able to leave I Se-a’s home. ‘In any case, that takes care of what I was asked to do. I received a proper reply as well, so I just need to go back and deliver it to I Se-a.’ As he quietly looked out over the nightscape, he slowly nodded.
In a sense, it could be called nothing more than an errand, but he did not mind such trivial things.
After all, this sort of small task was not particularly difficult for him.
And more than anything. ‘…Now then, shall I start moving in earnest?’ Compared to what he would do from now on, this much was nothing more than light entertainment.
The reason he had been showing his face here and there while calling himself an “otherworlder who had crossed over from another dimension” had all been groundwork for later.
As he had originally planned—
—to raise the value of his name as much as possible, and at the same time, to reliably drag the Beoncheon Society, which was hiding in the darkness, out into the open. ‘Pantheon.’ An otherworldly religious alliance organization encompassing the religions of countless dimensions.
Now it was time to make contact with them.***From immediately after Heinrich appeared in the media, Pantheon showed immense interest in him.
Not merely moving at the level of the Korean branch, but even to the point that the American headquarters, which, due to the nature of the organization as a coalition, rarely moved first unless the matter was serious, directly dispatched an investigation team.
But there was good reason for that—.
Because so many different religious orders had gathered in one place, they could only prove one another’s faith through divine power, and the miracle Heinrich displayed had been shocking even to them.
It was a miracle of an enormous scale, one that would likely be possible only for top-level clergy such as popes, saints, or apostles even in their respective home dimensions.
To begin with, on Earth the power of divine power decreased sharply, and there had been no clergy among awakened returnees who had risen to such a position in another world, so he naturally became the object of their interest.
Just what was that man, that he could be loved by God to such a degree?
And that curiosity did not fade at all even after he revealed his identity as an “otherworlder.”
No, if anything, the interest focused on him grew even stronger.
A saint chosen by God had crossed dimensions and reached Earth in person.
Was that not an unprecedented major incident? ‘At this point, whether he’s a real otherworlder or not isn’t exactly the important issue. Either way, he’s amazing all the same.’ Gang Taesan, a low-ranking member of the Ability Management Bureau who had been called here to assist his senior, diligently set refreshments on the table and let out a silent sigh.
Inside an office he had visited before, one that at first glance did not seem to have any particular distinguishing features.
Just like last time, people dispatched from various places had gathered here in one place.
There were clergy who had flown across the sea from Pantheon’s headquarters, clergy affiliated with the Korean branch, officials from the Returnee Association, and even agents from the national agency, the Ability Management Bureau.
All of them were people who had taken an interest in Heinrich and tracked him.
“So, what do you all think? Is the White Knight truly an otherworlder?”
“While he has been going around hospitals doing volunteer work, he has also disappeared for quite long periods in between. Every attempt to track him during those times failed as well. If that was because he returned to his original world… I believe the possibility is quite high.”
“But we must also consider the possibility that he is a returnee pretending to be an otherworlder…”
The common subject of interest for those gathered here was only one thing.
Heinrich, the self-proclaimed otherworlder.
However, the air hanging among them was entirely different from the heavy atmosphere before.
Their faces were flushed with inexplicable anticipation, curiosity, and excitement.
They exchanged various bits of small talk while cautiously observing one another, then soon wore awkward smiles.
“Ahem, in any case, I don’t know what that man is thinking either. Asking to meet so suddenly like this…”
“Indeed. When we were chasing after him like that, he acted as if he hadn’t seen us and only kept running away.”
“…You have no idea how much trouble we went through because of that. How in the world does someone teleport as casually as eating meals…!”
Today was the day they would meet the person at the center of that topic face-to-face.
The past days, when they had wasted only time without any particular gains, flashed through their minds.
All this time, they had truly done their best to make contact with him.
But despite countless attempts, Heinrich repeatedly avoided them as if deliberately keeping his distance, and never responded.
And yet that very same side had finally contacted them first, saying he would sit down for a conversation…
Naturally, they could only welcome that request.
“Well, the past is the past. Who knows what circumstances there may have been all this time? Since a meeting has been arranged like this, if we speak candidly, we should be able to clear up any misunderstandings.”
“That is true. But it seems the appointed time is almost here. When is that friend coming? Surely he isn’t thinking of standing us up, is he?”
“…Surely not. He will probably arrive soon…”
They said even a tiger would come if you spoke of it, did they not?
“Then please go in this way.”
Just as the room was growing slightly restless amid a trace of anxiety, the door finally opened, and a man entered under the guidance of an agent.
Clank, clank—
The heavy sound of metal friction rang out periodically.
At that, those who had been conversing all turned their gazes toward him at once—
“Ah…”
“Mm.”
And upon facing him directly, they unconsciously let out small groans and tightly shut their mouths.
It was not a reaction imbued with any particular meaning, but merely a natural response that emerged instinctively. ‘That man is…!’ As a heavy atmosphere fell over the room, Gang Taesan, who had been standing quietly in a corner, silently swallowed.
Handsome features befitting the resplendent traits of silver hair and golden eyes.
A man whose face bore a gentle, benevolent smile and whose surroundings carried a reverent atmosphere, yet who naturally emitted a hot and intense presence like a blazing flame.
Even though he wore pure white armor that did not suit the modern era, there was not the slightest sense of incongruity about him—the otherworldly saint, Heinrich Saint Landgard. ‘Huh?’ Gang Taesan, who had been staring at him in a daze, suddenly met his eyes.
Golden pupils that widened slightly, as if something was unexpected.
However, that vanished in an instant before anyone could notice, and soon his eyes were covered once more by a faint smile, as though nothing had happened. ‘Ugh, he’s seriously disgustingly handsome.’ Gang Taesan, who had unexpectedly made eye contact and even received a smile attack, grumbled quietly to himself.
He knew very well that the other party was the benefactor who had saved not only him and his grandmother, but also his friend, and he was grateful for that, but that and this were separate matters.
Even so, in the midst of it all, there was an emotion that, without his realizing it, slowly rose from deep within his chest.
Awe.
That was not merely his own impression, but one shared by everyone present.
They already knew more than enough about the other party.
After all, the very work they had been focusing on all this time was investigating that White Knight.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that they had grasped every piece of information they could obtain, from video materials to eyewitness testimonies and analysis reports.
But the impression they felt upon actually facing him in person was on an entirely different level from merely encountering him through information. ‘…How can he be like that? It feels as though only the space around that man is a completely different world.’ ‘Somehow, he doesn’t seem like the same kind of human. An otherworlder who crossed dimensions… Was that really true?’ ‘This presence. It exceeds what we anticipated. Could he have grown even more during this time?’ It was a pressure as if they were facing not an equal human being, but an unknown existence standing on a higher plane.
At that, the minds of those present began to turn busily.
Since they each had a certain social status of their own, they had met quite a few strong individuals known as transcendents, but the presence they felt from the White Knight now was rather different from theirs.
“Greetings. I am the first sword serving Lady Auterica, Heinrich Saint Landgard. It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
A voice that made even a simple greeting feel reverent rang out, and Heinrich, who had been looking around the room with a faint smile, turned his gaze toward one foreign man.
A clergyman in his early forties, with brown hair and a sturdy build.
He was the representative of the investigation team dispatched from Pantheon’s American headquarters. ‘He’s a former holy knight. As for his order… I’m not sure, but he certainly doesn’t seem to be on the evil god side.’ However, from Heinrich’s position, knowing that the one behind the investigation team was a scribe of the Beoncheon Society, this was by no means an opponent he could let his guard down against.
He did not know whether the man had a direct connection to the Beoncheon Society, or whether he was merely being used by them… ‘That’s something I can take my time finding out from now on.’ The gaze hidden within Heinrich’s smile gleamed sharply.