Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Hearing his question, Sir Avalon tilted his head and asked in confusion.

"You don’t know?"

Adrian also tilted his head, mirroring him. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

’Am I supposed to?’

From Sir Avalon’s reaction, it seemed like the answer to that question was something Adrian was supposed to know and was like common knowledge.

Sir Avalon sat back down and asked him.

"Seeing as you are asking that question, you must not know very much about today’s festival and why it’s celebrated. First, tell me what you know about it."

Adrian answered after taking a few seconds to think.

"I am aware that it is a festival that used to be primarily celebrated by the followers of the lord, but has become widespread in recent years, resulting in it now being celebrated throughout the empire."

Sir Avalon sighed.

"So you don’t know why this year’s Fiducia festival is being celebrated by House Ravenshade? Disappointing, but understandable. After all, you are still only a child."

He paused for a bit, then continued.

"A few months ago, the imperial family recognised the Fiducia Festival officially. This is a very significant event for the church, the holy theocracy, and for the empire itself‌. It involves a lot of complicated political situations, so I can’t explain to you why it is significant."

In these cases, Adrian would have usually pushed to know more in order to understand the whole picture. But right now, he wasn’t in the mood.

The banquet was a headache as it was; he didn’t wish to get more. All he cared about right now was knowing about those strange chalices.

"Anyways, moving on to those chalices, it has to do with why the Fiducia festival is celebrated, which is something you don’t know. Well, child, you must at least be aware that the lord only helps humans and does not even interact with any other race besides ‌humans."

Adrian nodded.

’That’s actually the reason for half of this world’s problems.’

The god of this world seemed to favour humans, and that favour was too extreme. Extreme enough that he only protected the humans whenever some calamity befell this world. This caused the population of the other races to dwindle as they were left to fend for themselves.

Humans grew in power, protected by the lord, while the other humanoid races were left unprotected in the harsh world. Their numbers dwindled to the point that they had to all unite into a single alliance, only to contend against the empire—which doesn’t even include all the humans on this world.

This was one of the reasons why other races, like elves and beastmen, were treated so harshly by humans. Though them being slaves also greatly played a part.

When Adrian had first learned that the god of this world was quite literally racist, it was hard for him to describe how strange he felt.

’I mean, why create something you don’t like?’

Sir Avalon continued.

"It has to do with history. After the era of terror ended, the era of divine rule came. By the end of the era of terror, the population of all humanoid races had dwindled to the point of near extinction. Witnessing this suffering, the Primordial Light felt pity for them and thus decided to grant them all his protection, creating a united kingdom where all humanoid races lived in harmony, and the lord ruled over them all as their god and protector."

’That’s new...’

He didn’t know this part of history; it was only vaguely mentioned in the books, even though it came after the era of terror.

"The era of divine rule lasted for several hundred years, and the humanoid races grew in numbers under the lord’s protection. But that era came to an end, all because of a single incident."

Sir Avalon paused and looked into the empty space, as if thinking about something, then he continued after a few moments.

"A chalice containing the lord’s own blood fell down to this mortal land. It is said that drinking only a single drop of it would significantly increase one’s lifespan, make one immune to all illnesses, and elevate one to the pinnacle of human might. As soon as that knowledge spread, the entire world turned chaotic. All the races fought and killed each other in order to get their hands on that chalice. Their behaviour is said to have seemed borderline crazy."

Adrian’s brow slowly furrowed. He didn’t quite like the direction in which this was going.

"But there was one race that did not react like the others. They protected the chalice from the other races, yet did not show any desire to have it for themselves. This race was the humans, and they believed that drinking the blood of their god was blasphemy, regardless of the rewards."

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. It was indeed going where he was expecting it to go.

"Seeing everything unfold, the lord grew disappointed in all other races aside from humans and abandoned them. Thus, the era of divine rule came to an end. And to this day, we celebrate the Fiducia festival because this was the day humanity gained the divine trust—why are you looking at me like that, child?"

Adrian let out a deep sigh and locked eyes with Sir Avalon as he spoke in his usual dull tone.

"Sir Avalon, this whole story is obviously fake, and you must know that too. So what is the point of telling me all this?"

The moment he said that, his teacher paused, and his expression underwent several changes. He first appeared somewhat shocked, then his lips stretched into a wide, disturbing smile. But he hid that smile the next moment, and his expression returned to normal.

Adrian felt quite disturbed after seeing that smile, even though he only glimpsed it.

Sir Avalon was staring at him deeply, as if trying to discern something. Then he smiled lightly and asked.

"Why do you think so? It is recorded history; what reason is there for it to be fake?"

’Because it’s too unrealistic to be true. Something like that can only happen in a story, not in reality.’

He was suddenly feeling uncertain about whether he should speak further or not. But in the end, he simply sighed and answered.

"I can understand the reaction of the other races. After all, who wouldn’t want to drink that blood after being told about the benefits of doing so? It is the reaction of humans that does not make sense."

Sir Avalon narrowed his eyes.

"Are you saying that humans can’t be faithful enough to the Lord not to desire that blood?"

Adrian shook his head.

"Those are your thoughts, not mine. Isn’t that right? I can totally believe that a certain number of humans may be devout enough to starve themselves just to prove their faith. But it is impossible for the entire human race to be the same. After all, there would also be humans who would kill their siblings for the throne, kill their parents for inheritance and kill their friends for their own benefits. To say that not a single human desired that chalice, that..."

’...is bullshit.’

Sir Avalon was looking at him with an unreadable expression. After a few moments of silence, he sighed and asked.

"Child, you have a rather low opinion of humans. Why is that?"

Adrian replied in his usual dull tone.

"Because I am human too."