Chirrrk… chirrrrk…
In the early dawn, the song of a starling seeps through the cracks of the cabin window.
Jeanne d’Arc gently opens her eyes and immediately gropes beside her pillow.
Her fingertips touch something hard.
‘…A wooden box, and two pouches.’
These were items she had prepared before going to bed.
As she carefully sits up, Anna, who had been sleeping right next to her, curls up.
“…Sister, where are you going?”
Jeanne softly whispers as she covers Anna again with the disheveled blanket.
“I have something to do, so I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry, sleep a bit more.”
“Mm, please be careful and come back…”
After finishing her preparations, Jeanne looks once more at her sleeping family’s faces before leaving the house.
「Jeanne d’Arc, could you help gather Believers for me?」
Last night, God appointed Jeanne d’Arc as an Apostle.
Not only had He saved her from the brink of death by wolves and cared for her family, but He had now entrusted her with the honorable position of serving God.
‘If that’s so, then with my meager strength, I want to be of help to God.’
That was what Jeanne thought.
The first place she visited was the Salt Mountain and Pepper Mountain beside the cabin.
Despite the morning dew moistening the surroundings, the Salt and Pepper remained untouched.
It was as if some mysterious power was protecting them.
Jeanne d’Arc put Salt and Pepper into her prepared pouches and offered a prayer.
“God, thank you once again for watching over my family.”
After finishing her prayer, Jeanne entered the forest, still shrouded in darkness.
Sunrise Forest.
True to its name, this forest, located at the eastern edge of the Fortress World, is where morning begins first.
The forest path, with the sun yet to rise, was filled with the bluish light of dawn.
Rustle, rustle—
Squirrels and rabbits, startled by Jeanne’s footsteps, scattered away.
After walking for some time toward the direction of the sunrise, Jeanne finally reached her destination.
It was the grassy thicket where she had almost lost her life to wolves the day before.
What she sought was the trace of the miracle God had performed yesterday.
“It should be around here…”
But with the darkness not yet lifted, it was hard to find the exact spot.
Just then.
Beyond the horizon, the sun began to rise.
As sunlight brightened the land, dewdrops on the blades of grass started to sparkle.
It was as if God Himself was guiding her to her destination.
“Thank you for sweeping away the darkness and helping me with Your light.”
After a brief prayer, Jeanne d’Arc searched the thicket again.
Soon, the very patch of grass where she had lain on the brink of death came into view.
“…It’s still here!”
In the grass, the pure white Ointment of Life that had brought about the Miracle of Life still remained.
Jeanne d’Arc looked around and took a short breath.
Overnight, a riot of colorful flowers and young trees had grown around the Ointment of Life.
Jeanne d’Arc transferred the Ointment of Life into the wooden box she had brought.
“God, please grant me courage and wisdom for what I am about to do.”
Rising to her feet, Jeanne d’Arc set off not toward the cabin, but toward the Castle.
‘The Slums are unusually noisy today.’
The lame man watched the restless people of the Slums going back and forth and thought so.
“What on earth is happening that everyone is heading to the square?”
Unable to contain his curiosity, he finally asked, and a passing man replied in an excited voice.
“They say a young girl is performing miracles! Come with me. I’ll support you!”
The square was already crowded with a throng of people.
And at the center stood a beautiful young girl.
Her shimmering golden hair and eyes as clear as a lake.
But beyond her graceful and beautiful appearance, she exuded a strange aura that drew people in.
“That young girl is performing miracles?”
“I’m telling you, it’s true!”
“This time, she’s going to heal a Leprosy patient!”
The girl stood with a woman whose Leprosy was particularly severe among the Slums’ patients.
Soon, the girl took a pale ointment from a wooden box and applied it to the woman’s body.
Then, on the woman’s ragged skin, fresh, white flesh began to sprout.
“L-look at that! The disease is healing!”
“It’s a miracle, a true miracle!”
“No doubt about it! She’s the Saint!”
The woman, her face now clean beyond recognition, groped her cheeks and then prostrated herself before the girl.
“Ah, ah… Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Please, rise. The one you should thank is not me, but the all-powerful God.”
After a short prayer, the girl addressed the crowd.
“Is there anyone else who is suffering?”
At those words, the lame man cried out urgently.
“P-please! Saint, could you heal my leg? I beg you!”
The girl smiled warmly and took out a small, cut Amulet from her waist.
“Here, attach this to your leg.”
“This Amulet, what is it…?”
“It is a holy item bestowed by God, a ‘Pain Relief Patch’.”
As the lame man attached the Amulet to his leg, a transformation began.
Color returned to his blackened, hardened leg, and his sinews became more pronounced.
“I-it’s moving! My leg is moving! Uhh…”
Standing tall on his own two legs, the man could not hold back his tears.
“…Thank you. Thank you, Saint! I will repay this grace for the rest of my life.”
The people of the Slums looked at the girl, who had performed miracles one after another, with eyes full of respect and awe.
Soon, the girl introduced herself as Jeanne d’Arc and began to speak in a clear, ringing voice.
“Everyone! I am not a Believer, nor a Saint. I am merely an Apostle who delivers God’s words.”
Only the sound of dry swallowing was heard as Jeanne continued.
“Yesterday, God performed four miracles. First, He revived my dying body. Second, He created food in the barren plains. Third, He made my father, who could not stand without crutches, rise again. And finally…”
Jeanne took out white and black powder from the pouch at her waist.
“These are proof of the miracles. Next to the cabin where my family lives in the forest, Salt and Pepper are piled up like mountains!”
As Jeanne d’Arc finished her story, murmurs spread among the people of the Slums.
“To get that much Salt and Pepper, I’d have to work myself to the bone for three years.”
“That’s right, there’s no way an ordinary girl from the forest could get her hands on those!”
“She’s the Saint sent by God. No doubt! She is both God’s Apostle and the Saint!”
Jeanne looked around at the people of the Slums and spoke.
“The reason I have come here is to lead you to God! God desires Believers with pure and upright hearts. Please, join me!”
Jeanne d’Arc spoke passionately, gazing at the people with clear eyes.
The reactions of the Slums’ people were varied…
“God has finally come to care for us. Let’s follow her.”
“Don’t just follow blindly without knowing anything! Who knows what her intentions are?”
“Well, I’m not sure either. I need to think about it…”
Those who doubted the miracle or were not yet convinced remained in the Slums.
In the end, about a hundred people—half the residents of the Slums—followed Jeanne d’Arc toward the forest cabin.
Among them were many who looked as if they might collapse at any moment, especially a young woman holding a frail baby.
“…Madam, how many days have you gone without eating?”
At Jeanne d’Arc’s question, the woman replied in a barely audible voice.
“This month, I haven’t had a proper meal. Others shared a little food, but for the past few days, even that…”
The baby in the woman’s arms seemed so weak that it didn’t even have the strength to whimper.
“I’ll go get some food. Please wait a moment.”
First, she had to fill the bellies of those who looked as if they might starve to death at any moment.
As Jeanne d’Arc turned toward the cabin, a burly man beside her spoke up.
“Saint, please take this.”
The man took out two dried fish from his pouch.
“My workplace provides meals, so I can go without for a day. Please use this for those who haven’t eaten in a long time.”
“…Thank you! God is surely watching your good deed.”
Then, the people of the Slums began to approach Jeanne d’Arc one by one.
“Saint, please take this too. They’re wild fruits.”
“All I have are wild roots, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Tsk tsk, if a nursing mother starves, her baby will starve too! Take this piece of bread and feed her!”
Before she knew it, Jeanne’s arms were filled with all sorts of ingredients.
Dried herring, wild berries and roots, a piece of shriveled, blackened bread.
Of course, these were pitifully humble ingredients.
But the food, willingly offered for others rather than themselves, was more precious than any luxury ingredient.
“Everyone…”
Moved by the warm hearts of the Slums’ people, Jeanne wiped her reddened eyes.
“You, who put others before yourselves, are the true Believers God desires.”
Just then.
「…What is going on here?」
A holy voice echoed to everyone near the cabin.
A look of surprise and awe appeared in the eyes of the Slums’ people.
Watching the Believers, Jeanne d’Arc felt something welling up deep within her heart.
“Everyone! Please pay attention! God has arrived!”
At that moment, before a hundred Believers, the almighty Creator appeared.