Records of the Weakest Emperor

Chapter 140: Santiago

A wave of golden light spread in all directions the moment Calvin opened his eyes.

The wind chimes scattered above the ceiling of the cathedral simultaneously went off. The jingling sounds they made sounded relaxing to the ears, but the emotions of those gathered in this cathedral could be described with anything but relaxed.

"Golden..."

"It's golden!" 

"A golden class holder!"

Waves of gasps and exclaims rang out throughout the cathedral.

At this moment, almost every high-ranking member of the church and all members of the Cavaliers, James, Bruce, Ron, and Ashlynn were here. The reason why they were here in this cathedral was the fact that Calvin's Profession Bestowing Ritual took too long to complete.

Precisely, a week had passed already.

His eyes were still closed all this while.

But when the Wise One came forward and checked Calvin's body for any anomalies, he discovered that Calvin was perfectly healthy.

If not for the fact that he couldn't open his eyes and that his body was stiffly frozen as if he had died, then people would've thought that he was just sleeping.

The Wise One advised the Cavaliers to give Calvin three days.

If he couldn't recover after three days, then they must summon the high-ranking officials of the church for help. By doing this, Ron Samuel's arbitrary usage of the church's resources without asking for their approval would be revealed, but did it really matter?

Calvin's life was far important than a few herbs and powders.

Even though resources were rare, the life of a candidate member of the Cavaliers was more valuable than any ingredient or herbs out there.

After all, not everyone had the talent to become a Cavalier, nor had the motivation to become one of these people that frequently dwell in the dark and deal with monsters behind the scenes. 

A smile floated up the lips of Ron Samuel...

"Golden..." 

"I can't believe it..."

"He was bestowed upon a golden class? What's more, his injuries..." Bruce gasped, "It's healing! It's really healing! Praise the Goddess!"

Ashlynn and James Branzuela stared at each other before they turned their eyes to Ron Samuel whose smirk was now starting to turn into a smile.

James Branzuela was the first one to speak, "It seems that the church wouldn't dare to find any fault with us..."

"Even though we used those resources selfishly, we found a great talent for them. I don't think they would mind a few herbs or two since we're giving them a golden class talent in return..." 

"Yeah, right..." Ron Samuel nodded. 

In front of them, Calvin was still struggling with the chains strapped around his body.

"Calm down, child... Calm down... No harm will come your way... Accept the Goddess's light and favour..."

"Ah, it's golden... Truly a magnificent sight..." 

The golden light surrounding Calvin's body slowly dissipated until it finally dispersed.

With its disappearance, the chains wrapped around his body loosened and he fell onto his knees on the cold hard floor. The Cardinal, or rather the old man in front of Calvin hurriedly helped him to his feet as Calvin absentmindedly mumbled.

"Child... You are fine... You are safe... You are in the presence of the Goddess, and you have her favour..."

The Cardinal whispered into his ears. 

A shiver ran down Calvin's spine, but he knew that he had to pretend to be confused.

As far as he could remember, everyone that received the bestowal or the rejection of the Goddess would have their memories removed.

Calvin had no idea why the memories had to be erased, but he knew that he had to act his part. He had to pretend that he couldn't remember what happened just now, so he asked...

"Where am I...?"

"What happened?"

"I remember myself falling asleep, then when I woke up... I'm already here..."

"Where am I?"

Calvin repeatedly whispered. 

"You're safe, Calvin..." A familiar voice rang out from behind him. 

"Bruce... Ashlynn... Vice-Captain... Captain? You all... Why are you here?" Calvin asked.

Utter confusion was visible on his face which made Bruce smirk as he whispered, "Was I really like this after my own Profession Bestowal Ritual?"

"Don't laugh... You were exactly like him after your ritual. In fact, Ashlynn had it worse." 

"Oh?" Bruce let out a whimper of interest, but before James Branzuela could say that Ashlynn almost peed herself from the fear and shock of suddenly finding herself in an unknown place... A death glare came upon him which made him freeze on his tracks. 

It was pretty obvious that even though James Branzuela had a higher position than Ashlynn, he was still afraid of the woman. 

Bruce stared at James with sympathy in his eyes. Indeed, it was better to retreat than to fight when facing this troublesome woman. He secretly applauded James Branzuela's decision in his heart. 'A man really knows when to retreat and to fight!' 

"You've been asleep for a week since that day..."

"What?!" Calvin exclaimed.

Ron Samuel stared at him before he let out a sigh, "Don't worry, it's a paid leave..."

"Oh... Wait! I don't really care about the salary! Please tell me if my family is okay! What about Charlotte and Cecilia?"

"Your wife is incredibly worried about you, but she told your daughter that you are in a ship somewhere to some random island and you'll be back after a few weeks..."

"Strangely, your daughter isn't worried at you at all, she says that you'll be just fine since you are Superman. What's that Superman?" Ron Samuel said with an amused smile on his lips.

"N-N-Nothing..." Calvin sighed in relief.

Footsteps soon rang out from behind them as the Cardinal wearing his holy appointed robes.

The expressions of the other Cavaliers changed as they simultaneously took a step backwards and bowed towards the Cardinal.

The Cardinal nodded his head towards the Cavaliers before he turned to look at Calvin and asked, "My child, are you fine? Are you still disoriented?"

"Or are you worried that we are out here to harm you?"

"In that case, you do not have to worry about that. I've heard that you're still a candidate Cavalier, so you might not know who I am, so let me introduce myself..."

"I am the 7th Cardinal of the Church of All-Encompassing Light."

"You may call me by my appointed name..."

"Santiago!"

Calvin stared at Santiago with complicated emotions. 

Images flashed across his mind as he remembered that day when Ashmelion fell under the relentless attacks of the invaders.

At that time, even though Santiago could easily escape from Ashmelion and regroup with the other Cardinals and the Pope at the Capital City of Laguna, he didn't leave the city to escape.

Instead, he stood at the front lines of the battle and faced the invaders without fear. In the end, Calvin personally witnessed the death of this valiant Cardinal with tears falling down his cheeks. 

Crawling his way over to the body of the fallen Cardinal, so that he could at least take a piece of the Cardinal's body to bury... It was at that moment that Calvin saw the Cardinal's aspect... 

The Cardinal's aspect...

The representation of his class was none other than a piece of golden chalk!

His Golden Class was Teacher!

Having such a mundane class without any significant fighting prowess, he managed to defeat close to a hundred thousand invaders on his own through the use of his strategies and ideas.

Santiago, the man whom Calvin thought to be one of the bad guys ended up to be one of the most remarkable heroes in his heart. 

Now...

He was standing right in front of his hero... 

Right in front of the hero of that time.

Calvin felt his chest ache. 

A sour sensation surged up his throat as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and suppressed his emotions.

"Y-Y-Your Eminence!" Calvin bowed his head. The emotions he was displaying at this moment were raw and unfiltered, nothing but complete respect to the man who swore to protect Ashmelion until the end.

"Raise your head up, child... We are kindred spirits... We are birds of the same feather for you have a golden class. You need not pay me so much respect, for I am still a human in the end, not a person worthy of worship." Santiago said with a smile.

Calvin also smiled, 'As expected, Santiago's still such an honourable man... Any other man would've already enjoyed such display of respect and reverence, yet he pays it no heed and even dislikes it...'

Raising his head, Calvin didn't dare to stare right at Santiago's eyes for he was afraid that he might not be able to prevent himself from crying.

"Child, you have the golden class..."

"Do you mind sharing to all of us what class did the Goddess bestow upon you?"

"I... I don't know..." Calvin shook his head, "I don't know what's my class, Your Eminence..." 

The smile on Santiago's face deepened, "Child, utter the word, 'Status' in your heart." 

"Status?" Calvin audibly whispered, but then when he remembered Santiago's words that he must utter these words in his heart.

He closed his eyes for a moment and put up a facade of utter concentration. 

The entire cathedral went silent...

The other high-ranking officials focus their eyes on Calvin. 

Even the Cavaliers were no exception as they didn't even dare to breathe until Calvin told them what class he obtained from the Goddess.

Then, after a few seconds of suspense.

Calvin opened his eyes once again and whispered into the air. 

"Writer..." 

"What...?" Bruce couldn't suppress his shock and audibly whispered.

Calvin turned to look at Bruce and reiterated, "The class that I got... this floating transparent window is saying that I got the Writer class?"

Calvin's casual words sent the entire cathedral into an uproar.