Valerian, The Legendary

It sounded easy at first, but the thing was, the temple was understaffed. Valerian was the only junior acolyte in the high temple. This place was so big that it could provide for half the city. Yet, this place was filled to the brim as needy people would travel from all over the continent to seek aid.

The entire day Valerian familiarized himself with work. He followed a clergy to learn his duties. The young man did not complain at all. However, Solaria had told him not to use his collar chains. The chain looked like a stain on the plain sober habit. Valerian complied with the command without any babble. He did not mind going back to being a mute.

...

The following day, Valerian woke up before the sun was out and changed his clothes. He cleaned the kitchen and the main hall before he went on to work on all the corridors and rooms. The other priests and clergies woke up and were surprised to see him working hard.

They thought it was because he was new at it, which is why he was so excited. They had spent a long time looking at new followers who would join the order, but then they would leave the temple because they did not have enough patience.

Valerian did not know about their thoughts, and neither did he care. He worked his way through the work and was very thorough. Solaria told him that besides helping the wounded, he could and should not use magic for chores inside the temple.

The young man questioned why, and the high priestess replied, “Because these menial chores teach us patience and humility. Only those with these two qualities can be the true followers of Vita.”

Valerian did not know what to say, but he followed the instruction. After mopping the floor, he went out to deal with the messy garden. This place was so ungroomed that he shook his head. Then, holding the pruning shears, he began to trim out all the overgrown bushes and thickets.

.....

He was so indulged in his work that he did not even go for lunch. It was evening when he finished dealing with his chores, realized there was still some time for dinner, and came to the small library to read about the temple’s history.

This was his daily life from now on. Over the days, the people of the temple gradually recognized him as the hardest-working person, and he gained respect from his seniors. However, Valerian never boasted or anything like that. On the contrary, he would receive compliments humbly and never said no to anyone asking for help.

In just one week, he had helped many sick and wounded recover. Sometimes he would use magic. Sometimes he would use herbs. The southern continent was rich in herbs, akin to a city in the forest. Yet, the entire continent had no city or borders. Valerian wondered how that even worked, but the more he interacted with people, the better he understood what was happening.

...

It had been two weeks since Valerian had become a junior acolyte. He had finished tending to the cleaning and was sitting in the library when he saw a scene outside the window. A human was quibbling with a distinct, who stood in front of a small child with cat ears. This child had silver hair like Valerian and a pair of silver cat ears protruding from her head.

He found that the child was akin to a doll. He could not help but become curious, and opening the window; he leaned outside. The human said, “Do you even know the cost of this artifact? What should I do if not get enraged at this insolent child? You have to compensate me. I will not bear this loss.”

The distinct joined his hands and said, “Please forgive her. She is an orphan; this is her first time entering the city. She was just curious about your artifact and startled you. Please show some compassion. This was an accident.”

The argument was compassionate, but the human had suffered a loss. Valerian looked carefully and found a glass ball on the ground covered in cracks. He sighed. It was a soul communication bead—no wonder the man was crying for his Money.

This scene disturbed Valerian a lot. He focused on the young child but found her shivering. He recalled how Diligentia used to protect him from the world, and he would shiver in her shadow. He clenched his fist. He looked for a few minutes, but when the situation did not calm down and the human began to lose his temper, the young man had no choice but to walk out of the library.

Valerian crossed paths with Solaria, but she was surprised he did not greet her like usual and walked out of the temple with a firm gaze. Solaria was worried that he might do something awful and followed him. Valerian walked quickly, and after leaving the temple, he arrived at the confrontation spot.

Solaria was behind him. The people recognized the high priestess and began to bow in greeting. The lady nodded to all of the people as she walked forward. Valerian’s arrival might have gone unnoticed, but people spotted Solaria behind him. Someone exclaimed, “See, the high priestess of the temple of mercy is here.”

The attention shifted, and murmurs erupted in the crowd. The two parties in dispute also fell silent. They bowed toward Solaria, who nodded and said, “Please raise your heads.”

Valerian used his hands to make a few signs to converse with the people, but the people just looked at him with confused gazes. He understood that people could not understand him. He turned to look at Solaria, who nodded and said, “I will convey what you want to say to them. Go on.”

Valerian bowed slightly and made a few signs. Then he took a few gold coins from his magic pouch and extended his hands toward the human. Solaria was surprised and did not know how to talk when the human asked, “Your Grace, what is this boy talking about.”

He called Valerian a ‘boy’ even though the silver-haired junior acolyte was a head taller than him because of his young face. Solaria said, “Acolyte Valerian is compensating you for the losses. He wishes you stop fighting and not blame the child.”

The human was surprised. He did not expect the temple to come forward to help the child. He bowed and said, “No, your grace, please tell him not to do this. How can I accept money from a follower of mercy?”

Solaria looked at Valerian, who communicated with one hand, and said with a smile, “Money is materialistic and useless in the temple. He only hopes you look past the material and understand that love and affection for others cannot be replaced like a broken artifact.”

The man bowed his head. He was ashamed. Valerian did not bother with him and gazed at the child. He beckoned her to come close to her, and the girl hid behind the distinct. The person had a head of a cheetah but the torso of a man. He revealed a smile and said, “Valerie, it is safe. This brother is from the temple of mercy. He will not harm you.”

Valerie poked her head out from behind the man and blinked as she gazed at Valerian. The distinct said, “Sir, she cannot speak. Please bear with it.”

Valerian was surprised, and Solaria asked, “Did you bring her to the temple’s orphanage?”

The distinct man nodded. Valerian looked at Solaria and made a few signs. The high priestess was surprised. She did not expect Valerian to take the initiative of such a thing. The distinct asked with some hesitation, “Your grace is there a problem?”

Solaria woke up, and shaking her head, she said, “Acolyte Valerian feels closely related to this child as he also suffers from the same condition. He could not speak and was an orphan, too, before he was adopted. He joined our temple to return the good he received to the people. So, he wants me to accept the child into the shelter, and he will look after the girl.”

The distinct and the other people were surprised to see such a display of emotions from a young man. Nevertheless, they could not help but respect him. After all, an act of mercy was not something the weak could do.

Solaria stepped up and intervened. Then she took the girl to the temple. Valerian looked forward to his new life in the temple. He did not know what made him move with that intensity but he was sure that if he had not moved, Diligentia would not have been happy with him.