The younger priest’s ears were filled with phrases like, "It’s a relief it was found by your lordship," and "Thank you, Lord Leon, for returning it to the cathedral."
Once Leon and Alicia had departed from the cathedral, the younger priest finally stepped out of the relic chamber and asked sullenly, "Why did you let them go?"
The older priest glanced at him.
"That Lord Leon is a scion of the Douglas family. Furthermore, he just performed a great service by protecting the residents of a town during their evacuation from the gray mist."
The younger priest lowered his head. "So what if he’s from the Douglas family..."
"So what?" the older priest interrupted him directly. "Do you even know which Douglas family that is?"
The younger priest stiffened his neck. "I... I don’t care which one..."
"Duke." Before he could finish, the older priest interrupted him again. "Lord Leon belongs to a ducal family."
The younger priest’s neck suddenly retracted. A ducal family?
"But being a ducal family isn't the most important thing about the Douglas name," the older priest said. "The most important thing is that Lord Leon’s father is named William Douglas."
He paused, then added, "In other words... the current Imperial Prime Minister!"
...
"Did... I... do... wrong?"
On the way back to the manor, Alicia walked with her head down, her voice sounding dejected.
Though she was a bit slow, she wasn't completely ignorant. Seeing the attitude of those two priests, she understood that she seemed to have done something wrong. With her excellent hearing, she had even caught the word "theft."
But she clearly hadn't stolen anything. The priests had once said she could treat the cathedral as her own home. If she went home to get a divine spell book for Leon, why did that count as theft?
Alicia didn't understand, but seeing Leon return the 《Hand of Divine Spells》, she had a faint feeling that she had indeed made a mistake.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong."
Leon looked at Alicia’s bowed head and said with a smile, "You just didn't quite understand."
"Even though the priests of the church say to treat the cathedral as your home, those are just superficial pleasantries. They don't actually mean it."
"It was those hypocritical priests who misled you. It wasn't your fault."
Alicia looked up upon hearing this, but her face still held a look of grievance. "But... life-saving... reward... gone."
"So that’s what you’re worried about." Leon smiled faintly. "Speaking of which, I haven't properly thanked you yet."
Leon paused, then said, "Alicia, the reward you provided—the 《Hand of Divine Spells》—is something I needed very much. It solved a pressing problem for me."
With that, he raised his priest’s staff.
In the next second, a brilliant arm forged of holy light, about the size of a baby's arm, materialized in mid-air. Under Leon's control, the hand gently rubbed Alicia’s head.
Alicia stared blankly at the sight as Leon said:
"I like this gift you gave me very much."
He recalled the light that had flashed across his panel earlier while he was leafing through the 《Hand of Divine Spells》.
【Reading Divine Spell Book: Hand of Divine Spells】
【Hand of Divine Spells EXP +0】
【Hand of Divine Spells Lv0 (0/1)】
This 《Hand of Divine Spells》 was not a 【Divine Spell Codex】, but an ordinary 【Divine Spell Book】.
Leon hadn't expected that a divine spell book which hadn't undergone 【Divine Grace Guidance】 to inject a priest's insights could actually be recorded by the divine spell panel.
Although the experience gained was +0 and the spell level was only Lv0, it had indeed been recorded.
And being recorded on the panel meant one thing—Leon could cast it directly!
Even with a spell level of Lv0, the effect and power of his 《Hand of Divine Spells》 was only about one-tenth that of an ordinary priest.
But as long as he could cast it, it meant Leon could level it up!
【Divine Spell Performance Rating: Normal】
【Hand of Divine Spells EXP +5】
【Hand of Divine Spells Lv0 (0/1) → Hand of Divine Spells Lv1 (4/100)】
Three flashes of light crossed the panel.
The hand of divine spells, which had originally been the size of a baby's arm, suddenly expanded into a massive arm as thick as a grown man.
Leon looked at the information on the panel, feeling somewhat puzzled.
He had originally thought that the Light Prayer he performed when giving Alicia the pea soup had improved from a "Poor" rating to a "Normal" rating because he had done a good deed and used the spell to draw the gaze of the townspeople.
That fit the rule of "the divine spell was applied when it should be applied."
But right now, there were only him and Alicia. Why did the panel give a "Normal" rating after he cast this Hand of Divine Spells?
Leon pondered, and after discarding all impossible factors, only one remained—
He looked at Alicia, who was curiously examining the hand of divine spells. She was the factor influencing the performance rating!
"A God-Chosen?"
If Alicia had anything special about her besides being a bit dazed, Leon could only think of her status as a God-Chosen.
So, the divine spell performance rating wasn't just related to the venue, his own state, and audience feedback, but also to the identity of the audience themselves?
The more special the identity, the more prominent the status, or the more powerful the audience, the stronger the feedback would be, and thus the higher the divine spell rating would climb?
Leon silently committed this point to memory, planning to experiment more in the future.
"Leon... priest... you... really... not... God-Chosen?"
Alicia stared at the hand of divine spells for a long time before turning to look at Leon.
Leon had clearly told her that only a God-Chosen could receive direct gifts from a deity and learn a skill or divine spell so quickly.
But Leon had clearly just received that divine spell book and learned the spell almost immediately. How could he not be a God-Chosen?
Hearing this, Leon said:
"Not yet."
"Then... later... will be?" Alicia asked again. She really wanted Leon to be a God-Chosen. If he were, she would have a companion.
"I will be," Leon said with a smile.
Only by becoming a God-Chosen could he freely enter the relic chambers of various Sacred Light cathedrals to browse through all sorts of Divine Spell Codices and Divine Spell Books.
Since Light Prayer could link with Healing after reaching Lv2, could it also link with other divine spells?
Leon's intuition told him it could.
At that time, he had only learned two spells, Light Prayer and Healing, so there was only one linkage option.
But once there were more spells on his panel, he might be able to link even more of them and gain even more powerful linkage effects.
Even without the linkage, learning more divine spells would always come in handy.
The saying "biting off more than one can chew" didn't apply to Leon, who possessed the divine spell panel.
With the panel, as long as he could read through a book recording a divine spell once, he could master it completely.
Mastering many things poorly is called a superficial understanding, while mastering one thing deeply is called being overly specialized.
But for him, with the divine spell panel, mastering everything and being proficient in everything was entirely possible!
Rate on N.U.
