Why Did You Summon Me?

Only an angel could fall from such a height, make such a huge hole in the ground, and still emerge unscathed. Although the angel was not hurt, she climbed out of the hole in the ground with tears in her eyes.

The angel quickly traced her fingers along the kitty plush toy and was relieved to find it undamaged. Noirciel looked up with a sad expression, though, disturbed that she could only fly that high.

Everyone in the hall had watched the angel’s jaw-dropping fall with wide eyes, but only the Pope remained indifferent. He had long since forbidden everyone there from disclosing all they had witnessed, after which he issued an order that all planned events be scrapped. Afterward, the Pope ordered everyone but a select few to never approach the angel.

He planned to cut Noirciel off from the outside world, and no one could blame him for making this decision. This angel was incompetent and unfriendly, acting proud at one moment and falling to the ground, face first, at the next. This glaring contrast was enough to make any believer doubt their faith!

“You!” The Pope gritted his teeth and grabbed the pitiful High Priest by the neck. “I leave her in your care. Don’t let anyone else see her face, if you know what is good for you!”

With that, he and the Chief Judge hurried out of the chapel. They had already begun to deliberate on how best to proceed.

The High Priest and the youths that had summoned Noirciel looked at each other in confusion. What were they supposed to do with her? The angel seemed holy and ethereal, staring at the horizon, but on closer examination, the angel was staring only because she seemed to not know what to do.

“Um, Your Grace, what should we do now?” A youth asked the High Priest.

“How should I know? Go and ask Lady Noirciel herself! See if she needs anything!” The High Priest replied, a little too snippily. Truthfully, he was just as lost as all of them!

The sullen youth carefully approached the angel and asked in a low voice, “Your Grace, do you, by any chance, need some—”

The angel turned abruptly, causing the youth to stop. With her jade-like finger, she pointed at a building in the distance and replied, “I would like to go there.”

The boy turned around and looked at the building in question. He recognized its great, round dome; it was the basilica of Canningham — a place where the believers of God’s Grace in this Holy City gathered. It was the most spectacular religious architecture in the realm, and it was rumored to be the only place in this mortal plane that was the closest to the gods. Every day, countless believers flooded the basilica of Canningham for pilgrimage.

The High Priest was startled. The Pope had just warned him not to let Noirciel out in public, but now she wanted to go to the most public location in the Holy City! It was as though she was asking the Pope to strangle him to death!

Was it possible for him to refuse her, though? The Scripture and other religious texts have, in many places, emphasized that angels bore the wills of gods. A true believer would never deny the messenger of a god, even if the messenger was crazy.

The High Priest suddenly had an idea. The angel called herself a sinner, did she not? She also said she had descended to redeem herself. ‘Maybe it won’t be bad to be a little less humble with her,’ the High Priest thought. ‘Besides, are we not already indulging in blasphemy by treating a sinner the same way we would treat normal angels?’

With that in mind, the High Priest looked up at the angel and said, “Your Grace, since what interests you lies in the Holy City, may I suggest somewhere even better for you? It’s higher, more beautiful, and you can see every part of the city from there...”

The angel was taken aback, but she nodded.

The High Priest let out a sigh of relief. The angel was a lot easier to persuade than the had thought.

The High Priest’s attention shifted to the youths, and he ordered them to send away everyone they found at a certain observation deck. Afterward, he and the angel slowly advanced to the destination.

Noirciel was led to a tall tower in the city. Just as the High Priest had promised, this was the tallest building in Canningham. It was used as a watchtower in the past, but now, it was a clocktower, which attracted a lot of tourists to the city.

Noirciel soared towards the observation deck. The deck’s size was increased when the tower was renovated. The youths had vacated the premises earlier and made some last-minute decorations. When Noirciel reached the deck, it was lined with white lilies — which the faithful considered purity — which fluttered gently in the breeze.

The angel was so pleased that she forgot all about Canningham’s basilica. She quietly floated to the edge of the observation deck and looked at the beautiful expanse of land below.

An old bronze bell next to her began to toll solemnly. This caused the lilies to shed their petals, and the gentle breeze blew them towards the one-winged angel.

The youths held their breath at the scene. At that moment, the angel was quite pleasant to behold.

Emboldened by his success, the High Priest walked a little closer to Noirciel. This time, he decided to ask her something more personal — a question about her past.

“Your Grace, are you here to show us directions?”

“No. I’m looking for someone,” Noirciel replied honestly. “I’m looking for Mia. If I can see her again, my heart will finally be at peace. She will move on, and I will revert to my original self.”

Her words were simple, but the High Priest looked confused. “Who is this... Lady Mia? Is she your friend, Your Grace? Another Angel?”

“No. She is just a mortal.”

“Huh?!”

“I do not know her personally, and I do not know where she is now; however, I do know that Lulu adores her. I must find her so that Lulu can move on,” replied the angel.

The High Priest was even more confused now. ‘Who is this Mia person? And who, in the name of the saints, the Angels, and the gods, is Lulu? Do you speak our language?’

Feeling gloomy, the High Priest retreated back to the youths and said, “Can anyone tell me who this Mia person is?”

“Mia? Why would Your Grace ask about her?” A girl said. “If I recall correctly, she’s the daughter of a minor noble, who is a professor at Da Xue. People call her the ‘Princess of Da Xue’. I have met her once, at an evening ball. She was small but very beautiful.”

“That Mia? Preposterous. Lady Noirciel surely means someone else with the same name, right?’ The High Priest shook his head. As a core member of the Church, he knew that this Mia was really close to that devil.

According to the Church’s intel, Mia was the first unfortunate soul to meet Hope the Deceiver. She was heavily seduced and became his property. Although their relationship was that of a teacher and his student on paper, there were rumors that they acted like father and daughter behind closed doors. Some people even swore that their relationship was that of a husband and his underage wife.

There was no way any angel would be interested in someone like that; it was just impossible!

The High Priest shook his head vigorously, dismissing the thought, after which he relayed Noirciel’s words to the youths. “Inform the Pope about this, and tell them to find every one of our believers called Mia. If everything is as she says it is, Lady Noirciel might return to normal after seeing her.”

The message was quickly passed. Noirciel’s words had once again triggered a great hunt.

Back at Da Xue, the Voidwalkers had assembled for another meeting.

In Baiyi’s hand was the latest report from Umbra. It seemed the Church had been acting suspiciously; it had sealed off a small area of the city. It was as though something nasty was hidden there.

“I bet it’s the angel,” Baiyi said. The Cleric Walker had sensed her before Umbra’s report arrived, so the news did not surprise Baiyi. He was curious, though; why would the Church hide the angel from everyone?

“I don’t understand, either. According to the Church’s scripture, the descent of an angel is a cause for celebration. There should be a huge procession and a lot of ceremonies taking place in the Holy City. The streets should be lined with flowers, and choirs should be heard singing hymns for an entire day. The followers ought to have already crowded the streets, praying to their divine messenger,” said the Cleric Walker. “However, they had chosen to hide the angel. Is it because they fear that the cost of such a celebration would burn a hole in their coffers?”

“If they cared about resources, they would not want a war with us,” Baiyi replied, shaking his head. “The only reason I can think of is that they want to maintain the element of surprise.”

“Now that’s just daft. How overconfident could they be to think they could hide such a being?” The Cleric Walker asked, disagreeing with Baiyi’s assessment. “I think this is what the angel ordered them to do. It might be an introvert that really hates attention.”

Baiyi recalled his encounter with Noirciel back in the ancient Rohlserlian empire. She had been indifferent and complacent. Someone like that would not care about such celebrations. Only mortals would fret over such superficial festivities.

“No. You’ve never met an angel before, so you don’t know how little they care about optics. They are just that lofty,” Baiyi replied. “Anyways, although the Church’s move is a bizarre one, we must prepare for an attack. In the meantime, we can have Umbra gather more information.”

After that, Baiyi shared the memory of his run-in with Noirciel with the other Voidwalkers.