“Anyway, let’s check out the robes!” I announce, before walking towards the temple’s entrance. “Hello!” I waved.

“Entrance is restricted. Even Samuel can not bring such a large group with him.” The guard announced. Hmm? I look at Samuel confused. You said I could enter!

“Um, I’m the Saintess,” I say while pulling out my proper ID.

“Excuse me!” He bowed. “Greeting Saintess, I apologize for not recognizing you.” Ah, yeah. I’ve only been here once, back when I was first introduced to the Cardinals. And I was surrounded by several Cardinals when I entered that time.

“It’s fine. However, how do you recognize who can enter? Are they just introduced to every guard?” I asked.

“No, the barrier surrounding this temple restricts everyone but those with permission from entering. That’s what our job is, to open the barrier for those that you have not registered with the core. Those with permission can just walk in.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Wait, I haven’t registered with the core yet!”

“Don’t worry, Saintess.” He laughed. “Your Divine blessing itself is directly linked to the core. It also makes it so only you can add or remove permissions. If you weren’t, losing a saintess would permanently remove that feature.” Ah, I see.

“That’s convenient. So, do I need to ask you to allow them in?”

“Not at all. You can freely open the barrier with your mana. Also, if you do not mind, may I ask who you have brought with you?”

“Yeah, they are my party members, Melly, Rapunzel, Gregory, and Hansen, sadly Mr.Roosevelt, the Hero, is busy.” My friends gave their greetings. “Ah, I plan on registering them with the core,” I added.

“Understood. Greetings, heroes, welcome to Saintess Temple.” He greeted.

“Hmm? Isn't it the Divine Hall?”

“Officially. Most saintesses decide to call it something else though. Saint Cameron named it Saint Temple, hence the current title.” He explained.

“I see.” So, I guess that means I can also give it a name. Hmm, what was it called again? “Ah! Mir Elysium! Let’s call it Mir Elysium!” I announced excitedly, to everyone’s confusion. “Does no one understand?” I asked. I pouted once no one answered.

“Um, does that mean anything?” Melly asked.

“Yeah, it’s the temple’s original name.” I sighed. “It roughly translates to Peaceful Paradise. It’s a name that represents the founding goal of the church, to make this world a peaceful paradise.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Did anyone else know about that?” Melly asked.

“I’m disappointed to say that no, I did not. Nor did I know that was the reason for the church’s founding. How do you know?” Cardinal Caitlyn asked.

“You didn’t!?” I quickly pulled out an old, worn-out book from my bag. “Here. The Translated Tales of Miranda. And before you ask, yes, this is real, my church confirmed it. It’s a translation of the original Miranda’s Tale.” I answered.

“Remarkable. The original is quite rare. Even the temple should only have one or two copies. Is this the original?” Samuel asked.

“No, It’s a copy given to me as a present.”

“Truly? You must really love this book.”

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorites. Miranda, the unofficial saintess from before the Church became, well, the Church. While many of her founding principles have since been overwritten, the core concept of protecting humanity from the dangers of the world still remains.”

“I see. I did not know that. Oh, that’s why you refer to here as the second temple, you see the modern church as a direct descendant of The Old Church.”

“Yeah, I mean, half of the founders were originally followers of the Old Church, it feels like more than just the spiritual successor everyone says it is.”

“Of course, the Old Church had all but collapsed under its corruption, no one wanted to have a link to it. Not even the Gods, considering they stopped gifting their blessings. That’s also why the Inquisition started, to make sure the same thing didn’t happen, though we instead went in a different direction.” He sighed.

“Regardless, the church, as adopted by Miranda, had admirable, if unrealistic, goals. Goals that, while seeming nigh impossible, are nonetheless good things to try to work towards.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know. Only those invested in history would actually know about such things, as even Miranda was only briefly taught.” Samuel admitted.

“Yeah, and that’s quite disappointing.” I sighed regretfully. “Anyway, that’s why I decided on that name. Anyway, I just have to use my mana to open the barrier?”

“Yes. Also, think about who you want to have enter while infusing your mana.” The guard explained.

“Oh. So I’m giving them temporary access, not opening the barrier?”

“Yes. While you can just open a barrier, like us, only you can give temporary access. I presume it would be more useful for you to learn that instead.”

“I see. Thanks.” I smiled before setting my hand against the barrier, which I couldn’t actually see until I focused the mana in my eyes.

Okay, infuse my mana, then- “Ah!” I shouted as the barrier rippled violently. I looked down at my hand to see that it was bleeding.

“It cut me.” I blankly commented as I healed myself. “Why?”

OH! This is not good! I’m going to be arrested for impersonating the Saintess!

“Um, uh, I-I’m going to try again,” I announced in panic.

I once again infused my mana into the barrier, a lot of it.

Was that stupid? Very. In my defense, I was terrified.

Of course, if a trickle of mana caused a violent reaction, flooding the barrier would obviously be far worse.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was on the floor. I also couldn’t feel anything… Ah, I’m using my pain nullification technique. Why?

Oh! I’m glad I specifically trained to automatically activate that technique, as I’m quite injured right now. Haa, time to heal.

In the meantime, I looked around. Hmm, where is everyone? I’m sure they would be crowding around me normally. Ah! There they are! They are... shouting? And Melly is pounding on the air? Are they miming? Wait! I focused my mana, and there was my answer, they were on the other side of the barrier.

“Huh, I get why my friends would be stuck there, but why didn’t the guards do anything? Actually, they seem to be stuck outside too. Huh, why?

Once I was healed, I got up and walked towards the barrier. For some reason, everyone started yelling even more. Ah.

“It’s fine, I know that it was my mana that caused the issue. I obviously won’t do that again.” I say. My hand had just peacefully passed through the barrier. So I should be fine as long as I don’t infuse it.

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And would you look at that, I was right!

“Eli! Are you okay?” Melly asks.

“Yeah. I wasn’t actually that injured, it just looked bad. It would be quite painful without my technique though.” I laughed. Everyone just looked at me in worry though.

“What happened?” Cardinal Caitlyn asked

“Well, the barrier seems to really dislike my mana. Also, I can’t actually let people in, so, can you let everyone in for me?” I ask the guards.

“Is everything safe?”

“Uh, probably? It only reacted like that once I infused it with my mana. And, well, that’s pretty standard, as my mana seems to like picking fights with barriers.” I sighed.

“Understood.” He said, before nervously touching the barrier. When it didn’t react violently, he sighed in relief before opening it. “Welcome to Mir Elysium! I hope you enjoy your stay.” Huh, he adapted quite quickly. Quicker than my companions at least.

“So, what happened? How’d I get inside the rampaging barrier?”

“Ah, the barrier was designed to capture intruders, but when it tried to wrap itself around you, it happened to push you through instead. It seems to quite dislike you-r mana.” He quickly corrected.

“Haa, okay. While this is annoying, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”

“How will you register everyone then?” Cardinal Caitlyn pointed out.

“Ah, well, unless things would go differently with the core for some reason, I’m sorry to say that I can’t register everyone. I’m sorry.” I bowed.

“Don’t worry, Eli.” Rapunzel accepted. “Just worry about yourself for now. Besides, it’s not like we’ll have many opportunities to visit until the demon lord is killed.”

“True.” I nodded. “So, let’s check out the robes!” Haa, hopefully, there aren’t any more incidents.

“Follow me then.” Cardinal Caitlyn said, leading the way.

After a fairly short walk, we arrived. “Here it is.” Cardinal Caitlyn said, before opening the door to the room. And…

“It’s, quite plain,” Melly commented.

“Indeed.”

“Yeah, it is.” I agreed.

“What, were you expecting some grand display?” Samuel teased. Yeah actually, though no one actually said that.

The room only had a few glass cases scattered throughout it, with the robes on a mannequin in the main display at the center.

Though, while not what I was expecting, this was actually better. I can already guess what some of the stuff displayed here is. I’m looking forward to physically seeing these historical artifacts!

“So, what do you think?” Cardinal Caitlyn asked us, though it was particularly directed towards me.

“Hmm, I can’t really describe it,” I answered. The clean white robes looked nice, if surprisingly simple. I was mainly expecting more of a presence though, especially from its halo wreath, which was pitifully dim. Strangely, I could also feel something from it, as well, hence my odd response.

“Is that so?” Samuel commented. ”Why is that?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I just have an odd feeling towards it.” I shrugged.

“Hmm, is it, a sort of bond?” He hinted.

“Yeah! It feels connected to me, though that connection feels oddly… muffled?” I suggested.

“Yes, the glass was specifically made to do that. That way, the saintesses wouldn’t be constantly drawn to the robes during their stay. Though, that doesn’t matter all that much for you.” He sighed. Yeah yeah.

“True, I can see why that would be needed. I am quite curious about what that bond actually feels like without it being suppressed. So, I need to fill out some paperwork to actually try them on?”

“Yes. Shall we head to the office to fill it out now?” Cardinal Caitlyn asked.

“Sure, though is that fine with everyone else?”

“Yeah. While everything is fairly interesting…” Rapunzel hesitated. “Well, I believe only Gregory will be particularly interested in the objects stored here.” She admitted.

“While these artifacts are of great historical significance, I must admit that I am far more interested in your robes,” Greg corrected.

“Okay. So, I guess you are free to explore?” I offer. “Or you can just hang out in the garden. I don’t know how long this will take, so… just make yourselves comfortable?”

“I shall lead them to their new rooms.” Samuel offered. “While we can’t officially register everyone yet, your intent should suffice.”

“Ah, thank you. Haa, I wonder what the problem is.” I muttered as I followed Cardinal Caitlyn.

“Hello, may I get you anything?” A young priestess offered once we’d arrived. Huh, I thought that only the Cardinals were allowed here? Though, I guess that does make sense, they probably can’t actually take care of this place themselves, after all. Hmm, how do they select who works here then?”

“Ah! Yes, sorry, I got lost in thought.” I apologized.

“No worries.” She smiled. “So, what can I help you with?”

“I need the paperwork for trying on the Saintess robes,” I say while handing her my ID.

“Ah, yes. I was told that you would be arriving. One moment please.” She asked.

Actually asked, apparently, as she just stood there waiting.

“Ah, sure…”

“Thank you.” She bowed before heading into the back.

“Uh, what was that?” I asked.

“That’s how you are supposed to react here, to give proper respect towards the higher-ups of the church.” Cardinal Caitlyn explained.

“Uh, that seems quite… old-fashioned,” I commented.

“It is. It has not truly changed since this place was originally built, after all.”

“Ah, that would explain it. I’m surprised no one has changed that though.” I mean, most probably wouldn’t, but I’m sure at least one previous saintess would have disliked this tradition.

“Some have, though it always ends up being changed back so the next saintess can decide how things are run. No matter how poorly managed it ends up.” She sighed.

“So, I can just… completely change how things run here?”

“Yes. This is your domain, to do with as you wish.”

“So, what exactly can I do then?” It can’t actually be everything, right?

“Everything, from worker count and how files are organized, to the culture and traditions. Really, as long as you don’t try to reconstruct the building itself, you effectively don’t have any limitations. Just consider that everything presently works, and fairly well at that, so any changes can potentially cause problems. While a bit of chaos is acceptable, pushing too much can cause the cardinals to meet elsewhere.” She advised me.

“Understood.” I nodded. That sounds… interesting. Well, that’s another thing to check out later. “Oh, what do you mean by culture and traditions?”

“Well, for example, you can have the place decorated like the Kingdom of Trimune, while requiring the workers to follow its customs. Or,” She sighed. “You can require everyone to stop what they’re doing and bow to you until you leave.”

“Why? That just sounds stupid.”

“That’s just how much control you have. And, while most saintesses have been fairly lenient, most also include at least one strange rule. For example, Saint Cameron required everyone to speak calmly and politely at all times, even when angry.”

“Ah, in reference to his mana trait.”

“Correct, though…” She gave me a strange look. “Please don’t force everyone to act like thugs, the cardinals fight enough as it is.” She all but begged.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do something like that,” I affirmed, before noticing that the priestess had arrived. “Ah, hello. How long were you waiting there?” I asked.

“Not too long.” She smiled.

“Ah, sorry about that.” I bowed, surprising her.

“Don’t worry, that’s just how she is.” Cardinal Caitlyn informed the panicking priestess. Haa, this just seems stupid.

“Hmm, maybe I should normalize bowing whenever you make a mistake. For everyone.” I added, just in case they thought I only meant the workers.

“Haa, that’s going to cause a fair amount of conflict. Most of the cardinals are quite prideful, after all.” She sighed.

“All the more reason to do so. We are all human. We make mistakes, and, when we do, we need to apologize to those affected. That’s what the church taught me, after all.” I smiled.

“Haa, understood. I’ll deal with that once you’re done here.”

“Thank you.”

“So, let’s fill out this form. Thank you for bringing this to me, miss.” I thanked.

“Ah, you don’t need to thank me, I’m just doing my job.” She shyly said.

“Of course I do.” I deny. “You helped me, so I thanked you in appreciation. It’s basic manners.” I sighed. “Well, that’s another thing to add. Well, basic manners in general, like the church taught me.”

“Well, at least that shouldn’t be hard to implement. Now fill out your form, before you have me add more rules in your stead.” She sighed.

“Ah, sorry. That can all wait if you want.” I offer.

“No, it’s fine. It’s better to start early anyway.”

“If you’re fine with it.” I shrugged. “Now, let’s fill out this form!” I cheered.