Chapter 5 – Justification by Faith and Works
I wake up with all of the girls off my bed with the exception of Donna as it should be. It looks like Donna got up when everyone was sleeping and put them on the floor. I’m not in the mood to deal with any of the drama that comes with having these girls fight over me, so I get out of bed, get dressed, and head over to the capital of the Fedele, La Santa Vedere, by myself on horseback. I can never get used to the sight of this holy ground that is built upon the place where God was sacrificed when He was human.
‘I remember building my home here when I was a hero. I think I built it near the exact sacrifice area.’
Since the head bishop and his cardinals are expecting me, I head over to the main church in the area.
‘You’d think one big church in the capital would be enough, but no, they have three large churches here.’
All Fedele towns have three large churches to honor the Trinity. There are exactly seven Fedele towns since it’s the perfect number for spiritual perfection.
‘Or disaster.’
Right.
I go through a small beginning ceremony where three small knives are blessed before I kneel at the front of the church with the knives in my hand. It’s a tradition for heroes to carve the Holy Name of the Son of God into their upper arms to see their devotion to Him as His chosen hero for humanity. The first letter tests me on my attachment to worldly things. The second letter tests me on my attachment to people. The last one tests me on how much I value my relationship with God.
‘I can’t help you while you’re doing this.’
It’s fine. I got this.
‘I know you do.’
I close my eyes as I begin to carve the first letter. I then open my eyes to see that I’m completely enveloped in light. An angel with red wings approaches me with a book in his hands.
He says, “From what I can tell, you have many worldly possessions. Your weapons, gear, house, means of transportation, and more make you quite a rich man, Benedetto. What do you intend to do with all of it?”
“Use it to faithfully serve the Lord.”
The angel reaches into my chest and feels my heart. “You are being truthful. You pass and are worthy to have the first letter of the Lord’s name on your arm.”
The angel disappears into the light and another appears with black wings and a book. He says to me, “It looks like you have lots of connections to people. Donna is your faithful wife. Stella is a friend who is close to your heart along with Franco. Your family is held in high regards as well as Volante. Lilia is someone you feel much sympathy for. You even have some passing affections for Bonito since you both hold a lot in common. You’ve even managed to become close friends with Tunc. Not that many heroes can get themselves to like him. Which connection do you value the most?”
“My connection to God.”
The angel reaches into my chest then says, “You speak truthfully. I do have to remind you never to value the connections you have here too much or else you lose sight of God. You don’t want to do that because He will become jealous and get you to realign yourself with Him.”
“I understand.”
“You pass and are worthy to have the second letter of the Lord’s name on your arm.”
This angel disappears like the other one and another appears with golden wings and a book. He says to me, “You’ve passed the other two tests with flying colors. Your faithfulness to God is admirable, but I will warn you that the future will test you more than now. You will gain enough power to be the most powerful man in the land. Your army will be vast, and your influence will be felt by everyone. Do not give into temptation no matter what or else what you value most will be taken from you.”
“I understand.”
“I hope you do. You pass and are worthy to have the last letter of the Lord’s name on your arm. This will prove useful to you in the last days of this world even if you stumble in your faithfulness to Him.”
As I blink my eyes, I see that the light is gone. It’s like it wasn’t there to begin with. The name of the Lord is now carved on my arms and…shhhhh. I’m starting to feel the effects of me carving it in. The bishops are bandaging it up not only because of the wound, but because the name would kill someone who had at least one sin on their soul if they saw it. Everyone gives thanks to God before cheering for me. I’m awarded the three knives that I carved the Lord’s name as if having His name on my arms isn’t one of the greatest awards I could receive. As I leave the church to go to my celebration party, I see Donna, Stella, Lilia, and Bonito waiting for me outside with looks on their faces.
‘Not friendly looks though.’
I don’t care.
Donna comes up to me and asks, “Why did you leave without me?”
“I didn’t want to deal with the other girls waking up and starting trouble like yesterday.”
“I’m sneaky!”
“As sneaky as an ax to the face.”
The other girls are about to say something, but I hold my hand up and get serious. “Listen to me. I like you all, but I have only one wife. That’s it. I don’t want you fighting over me anymore. I don’t want any of this harem business going on either, alright?”
They’re speechless and just nod their heads.
“Good. Let’s go celebrate. I have the trust of all three cultures, which means I’ve passed my next quest as a hero.”
The other girls were about to hug me, but they take one step forward then back and just let Donna hug me, as they should. We have a decent party at La Grande Cena, which is one of if not the best place to eat in the entire world.
‘Today is a grand day for you, Benedetto. Why aren’t you more excited? You have all three of the cultures at your disposal for the end of the world. That’s no small feat that you managed to do in a short amount of time like the last time.’
What do I get now that accomplished this quest without using my time traveling blessing?
‘Haha. Of course you were wondering about that. You get an increase in wisdom as if you needed more.’
Excellent. I’m sure this will be useful in the future.
‘Don’t be too cocky or confident in the future. Do you remember the king who was the wisest of all but fell because of his harem?’
It won’t happen to me.
‘That’s what they all say. Everyone falls. God won’t damn you to Hell if you fall one, twice, or hundreds of times. You just have to get back up and do better next time. The thing that damns you is doing nothing at all.’
I promise to stay faithful.
‘That’s what God wants to hear.’
I still want that fight with you.
‘Hahaha. Okay. Go somewhere private so I can teleport you to my realm. The adoration chapel should be empty.’
Heading there now. Okay. I’m ready.
‘Just give me a second, and…Here you are.”
“It’s nice to see you in person. I think I’ve only seen you in person a few times.”
“Do you miss looking at me? Am I turning you gay?”
This is why I want to fight you. I quickly lung towards Tunc and try to get a couple slashes in.
“Hahaha. I guess I am.”
“You’re dead.”
“I am. Literally.”
“Then you’re going to be double dead.”
Tunc is skilled for a man who doesn’t fight anymore. His attacks with his scythe are swift and flow into another while his defense is almost impenetrable with his clock shield.
“I have to admit. You’re good, old man.”
“Old man?! My voice is the same tone as yours, but I’ll take the compliment. Just because I don’t fight unless called to doesn’t mean that I’m out of practice. I bet that you won’t even lay a scratch on me-OWWWW”
He left his feet open, so I plunged my knives through them to keep him still.
“Hahaha!”
“That wasn’t funny. It was cheap!”
“I won the bet.”
“I didn’t say I’d give you anything for winning, so you aren’t getting anything.”
“Damn.”
I then use the Cuchillos curved blades to take away his scythe.
“I’ll just beat you with my shield then.”
The sword that I got from the Blighted is able to break through his shield after multiple hits.
“Got anything else, Tunc?”
“My fists. Now don’t be cheap and use your special knives and fight me like a man.”
“It’s on.”
Our fist fight is one of exchanging blows and it feels like Tunc is cheating since his skeleton hand hurts more than his human one and he seems to know it. Nevertheless, I still fist fight him until he’s wide open. I take my three knives and put them through his head.
“AHHHHHH! You stabbed me in the eyes!”
“I win.”
“No, you don’t!”
“Yes, I do. You can’t die so this is the best I can do.”
“I’m not done yet! I haven’t been defeated!”
I punch Tunc in the crotch for a hilarious screech from him.
“Okay, I give in! I give in! What do you want as your reward?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to test my skills against you. This second quest you gave me was easier than the first. The most challenging part of it was dealing with the girls around me.”
“That’s true, but it will get harder now that you’re the strongest person in the land.”
“And I welcome the challenge. With God, my allies, family, friends, and you, I can overcome.”
“That’s the heroic mindset I like. Now, can you kindly remove these knives from me?”
“Alright, my friend.”
Now that all of the cultures trust me, I make some real changes. The Blighted let go of their long-held tradition and no longer replace their human skin with the skin of dragons. They now just specialize in making weapons, armor, and gear made from dragons that allows them to be a more profitable culture since tons of people want to buy their products. The Cuchillos are constantly working on reformatting their political and business practices so even the poorest of people can become successful. The influx of new products from the Blighted encourages the Cuchillos to welcome in new talent and ideas. Since one tradition has been lifted from the Blighted, they are now working to outdo us Fedele and Cuchillos since we’re ahead of them in terms of faith and technology.
The Fedele are still constantly at work increasing our faith and doing the works God has given to us. We don’t see a need to change at all unless the Almighty God commands us to. Since I have more power and influence, I have larger forces and more resources to work with which I put to work immediately with Sparrows, military and guards out to defend whoever finds themselves in danger. Because of this, crime and mortality rates along with demonic possession rates drop decently within a month. Lilia and Bonito are honored for helping me along with the other Sparrows and guards I had with me. Donna wants more children and I don’t want to recall everything that happened.
Everything is working out so far without any kinks. I’m unbeatable with the forces and mindset I have right now. The future seems bright and I welcome any challenge that comes my way.
The End
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