Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

“Brother.”

Because of the canopy, half of Amor’s face was covered in the shadows. I could not see his expression at all. But even in the dark, his eyes could be clearly seen. They shone like light reflecting gracefully off stalactites in a cave. For a moment, I could not take my eyes off the weak him as he reflected that beautiful light.

“What you just did.. I think we need to talk about it.”

“What did I do?”

A harsh expression returned to Amor’s face before crossing his arms and tilting his head. From his expression, it looked like he was asking me what was wrong.

“Well, what I meant was that just now, my lips…”

“Lips.”

I really could not recognise the expression on his face.

“Why did you kiss me?”

I did not want to sound this harsh. But if I did not say it directly, what I meant to say could have been lost in nuances or something.

My eyes could not stay fixed to one place and my gaze kept shifting but I could see Amor smiling bitterly.

“A templar’s kiss is considered a blessing.”

“But that’s not done on the lips. It’s done on the eyes.”

“It depends on which god you worship. I guess you weren’t taught this?”

“… You mean about lip-on-lip contact?”

I could not see my own expression right now but I must have looked wrecked.

Blessings should not confuse people!

‘More importantly, why was such an important piece of information left out in theology class?’

“Why didn’t I know?”

“Because the templar who gives you your ‘first blessing’ is supposed to tell you. The effect and meaning of the blessing differs from templar to templar which is why the templar will have to explain before doing it. Did you not hear about it?”

“Yeah.”

“Then was I your first blessing?”

Was he? No. Hernan kissed me first. I shook my head.

“Normally, your first blessing would come from your parents or your teacher if any of them are templars. Commoners would sometimes pay money for it or receive them from their lovers. Apparently, the first person who blessed you did not say anything. But still, you received some strong ‘protection’.”

“Protection? You mean, I’ve been placed under some spell?”

“That’s right.”

So what I received was a strong blessing of protection. Amor did say that as a templar, he could vaguely sense the powers of other templars.

“I don’t know who it was but I think that templar was trying to monopolise you.”

“Why?”

“They must not have thought you would be [blessed] by a templar other than them.”

There was only one templar who kissed me. Thinking of his soft lily-like expression, I furrowed my eyebrows.

Hernan?

What the heck was that beautiful duke thinking?

At some point, the sun was beginning to set and it was already dusk. I quickly asked him because I did not want to return just like that.

“Brother. Do you happen to know about the [Templar of Beasts]?”

As soon as I was reminded of Hernan, I wanted to quickly get rid of my thoughts about him. But Amor’s expression was strange.

“Did Hernan mention that? That he was the Templar of Beasts?”

“Uh, well, yeah.”

His cloudy green eyes scanned me before smiling straight after.

“Didn’t he tell you about his capabilities?”

“Well… Uh… I roughly looked it up in a book. Should I talk about that?”

“Enough. I don’t think I need to hear about it. So, he didn’t give you the details. He would never have spoken about it. I’m sure someone else told you about it.”

He swept his hair up before shifting his gaze to capture me in it.

“He hates himself for being the Templar of Beasts. He’s horrified by himself so he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Amor laughed out loud. He then seemed to ponder for some time. After moistening his chapped lips, Amor spoke.

“Are you curious? It’s not a pleasant story.”

“Yes.”

I nodded my head.

‘This… I feel like I’ve opened Pandora’s box.’

But still, I should know. This was something that did not appear in the original novel.

“Alright. To put it simply, he is a templar who was the most specialised in using their body. Templars of the Sword and War as well as Templars of Strength excel in battle but the Templar of Beasts remain superior to them.”

“Superior?”

“Their five senses are extremely developed and they have an exceptional ability to detect other templars. Their abilities are best suited for dealing with other templars. It’s accurate to say that they are the literal personifications of a beast.”

“Are they strong?”

I asked carefully.

“Extremely.”

“I see… It’s good that they are.”

As he continued to watch me. He laid his chin on his hand slowly.

“I sometimes envy templars.”

“Because you can do anything when you’re strong?”

“Well, something like that?”

I thought I could do anything if I had a certain amount of strength. Because I could protect myself and run far away. And I was looking forward to gaining strength as if it was something like a magical item I could get from somewhere. I guess I had not given up on receiving buffs yet.

“You’re quite ignorant about templars.”

Amor smiled. With a reproachful gaze filled with criticism.

“You sound so ridiculous, I don’t even feel like nitpicking.”

“Do I really sound that ridiculous?”

“Yes.”

He raised his head to look at me directly. His cold eyes stared at me.

“Do you think I’m strong? Do I look happy? I thought you’d know that there’s a price to pay for strength.”

“Ah.”

“Any normal person would think of templars as their God’s chosen representative but to say the truth, the powers of God is not something that falls out of the sky because of good luck.”

A gust of wind blew. The hem of his white clothes flapped to reveal his slender body lines.

“Divinity is the power that sustains the Empire. The Lord of the Gods and the 24 gods who descended afterwards decided to choose the Empire over the individual. Do you know what that means? The values that the gods pursue transcend the will of the individual. And it is said that the individuals chosen are the cost to the benefits accrued by the rest.”

“… They are sacrificed for the Empire.”

“That’s right. A templar is someone who was once human and is endowed with the powers of their god to bear their fate. So in exchange for gaining power, every templar has a price to pay.”

Amor paused before turning to face me halfway.

“Now, here’s a question for you. If there are many templars around, the portion of the pie of fate they receive will be smaller. But what if only one templar of their kind exists, like me?”

“… The portion will be huge.”

“Since the foundation of this Empire, the Templars of Beasts have always been few in number. Hence, the price they pay will be larger than that of other templars.”

It was said that if they did not take the necessary inhibitors when they were young, they would remain as a hybrid between a human and a beast for the rest of their life. Their God was the one who suggested that their templars suppress their instincts to carry out ferocious slaughter and destruction. Amor continued to explain what I read in the book.

“If they meet the wrong ‘master’, they will lead a harsher life than that of other templars.”

“… Is Hernan’s master the Crown Prince?”

“Well, you’ll know it when you see it.”

He smiled wistfully before stopping.

“They generally awaken during their childhood. It’s said that they live their entire lives struggling to fight against their instincts. They’re very pitiful. The younger they awaken, the stronger their powers and the harder their instincts are for them to control.”

Amor chuckled in a relaxed voice.

“Although it is their lifelong wish to meet their [Companion]. It’s not up to them to choose who that is. Because it’s decided by fate. They are always standing on the crossroads of whether to choose their companion or choose the life of a beast. So those who have a strong enough ego would kill themselves to escape suffering from a fate that was not of their own will.”

“Ah…”

Amor seemed to have noticed that I had frozen stiffly as he flashed a tired smile.

“This is too bloody to listen to.”

I did not want to pity him because a part of my heart had gone irreversibly cold. But I wondered why there was still a part of me that felt uncomfortable listening to him.

If I were him, I would not have been able to survive being swayed by something that had been decided since my birth.

“Doesn’t it sound familiar?”

His harsh and cold gaze softened.

“To you and I.”

Amor opened his eyes slowly. As if he was staring at something pathetic and pitiful, he whispered.

“It sounds familiar.”

I was going to ask him what he meant but I realised.

Something I did not want but ended up in my hands as it continued to sway my life terribly. I could not let go of it myself so I had no choice but to be together with it. It felt like a curse to be with it forever.

And it was right under my feet.

Just like he said, we knew what it was like to live in a never ending hell we had no choice but to be in and continue to be shaken because of our surroundings.

We were a ship sailing in a storm.

“I don’t know how much you can help me if I tell you this.”

“…..”

“Hernandez, like me, is the only templar left of his kind in this world. Do you know the dead God of Winds? In fact, when we refer to a god as dead, we do not just consider the absence of a templar.”

“Then?”

Amor was no longer looking at me.

“Templars. Artifacts. Blessed Lands. If any of those three are not present in their complete form, the god’s power cannot be passed on to the next generation. The last remaining templar is left to choose whether or not to pass the name of their god to his successor.”

With the strange tension, I gulped nervously.

“… Then if the last templar gives up, will the god then be considered to be a ‘dead god’?”

“Correct.”

As if it had been stripped bare, Amor’s voice was clear.

“He’s like me. I have no thoughts on letting go of this power and neither is Hernandez.”

He rested his head on his knees before looking up at me.

“As far as I know, the last Templar of the Winds chose to do the same thing. That’s how he became a dead god.”

“… What does this story have to do with the Templar of Beasts?”

I glanced at him before pulling on his drooping clothes. As soon as I removed my hands, his clothes dropped back down. It was useless.

“Didn’t you know? What it means for such a powerful god to disappear.”

As if he was having fun, he smiled.

“It means the Empire is weakening.”

There was a strange glow in his gray-green eyes.

“How many of the 12 gods still exist today?”

He shifted his gaze before flashing a smile that was as cold as ice. He looked so wistful as if he was just about to crumble before me.

With a trembling voice, I asked.

“If the Empire weakens…”

“Many things will happen. Either we get invaded or collapse when an enemy from the inside like if the Templars of Chaos move again.”

“Our brother, the Emperor, I mean, the Crown Prince, does he know this?!”

I wondered why I was recalling the ending of the original novel when this had nothing to do with it.

“Well, would he be oblivious to things I know?”

Amor then whispered, “Stop, now go back.”