Chapter 1 – The Blessing Ceremony

“Hey! Wake up, Relius! The Blessing Ceremony is today!”

I was shaken awake by my childhood friend, Lynn. The face of a pretty girl was right in front of me when I opened my eyes. She’s fifteen years old, same as me, with light red hair trimmed to her shoulders. She looked at me teasingly.

I still wanted to sleep, so I turned and ignored her.

“Ugh… please, let me sleep a little more.”

“Come on! If you don’t get up early, we won’t get there in time for the blessing!”

Actually, the Blessing Ceremony was held throughout the day, so there’s no need to be so impatient. Furthermore, since everyone is waiting for this day, there’ll be a lot of people at the church in the morning eager to receive their blessings. It would be better to show up in the afternoon when things have died down a bit.

Lynn stopped shaking me when I turned around. Apparently she gave up. Just when I thought I’d get to sleep until afternoon, Lynn got into the bed next to me.

“…Oy, Lynn. Why are you getting in my bed?”

“Hmm? Obviously, you were sleeping so comfortably, I want to lie down too.”

Lynn hugged me tightly, quite pleased with herself. The sudden turn of events made me a little self-conscious.

Geez…

“Alright, alright. I’m getting up.”

“Mhm… hehe!”

Lynn got up from the bed with a satisfied smirk. I got dressed and checked my outfit in the mirror before heading down the stairs to the ground floor.

Of course, Lynn was waiting for me at the door, ready to leave at any moment. Her parents were working in the dining room. Her father saw me come down and came over to talk to me.

“Ooh, Relius, today’s the Ceremony, isn’t it?”

“Umm, Yeah.”

“I hope you get a good Divine Treasure.”

“Well… I just hope it’s not a bad one.”

“Don’t worry, God will be watching over you. It’ll be fine.”

He gave me a gentle push of encouragement. I nodded, and headed out the front door with Lynn.

The city was lively as always. The Blessing Ceremony is only held once a year, on the day that God’s realm ― where God lives ― is closest to the Earth. In that ceremony, God gives power to children who are over 15 years old.

This power takes the form of an occupation and a Divine Treasure. First comes the Divine Treasure, which all children will receive. It’s a weapon created by God. If you’re lucky, you’ll be given an occupation on top of that.

Depending on the power you receive, your future could be one filled with riches and luxury. Lynn was next to me and looked over.

“What kind of ability do you want, Relius?”

“Let me think… Ideally, I’d want an occupation that can fight, like Knight or Swordsman. How about you?”

“A battle-oriented one, right? Um, I don’t think I want to be like that. You know my family manages an inn, so if I get an ability that could help me understand how my customers feel, I might be able to make it an even better inn!”

“Huh… really?”

“Yeah. But if you want something that can fight, does that mean you want to be an adventurer?”

“I do, I think. I want the power to protect the things that are important to me from the monsters.”

“Oh… I see.”

Lynn lowered her gaze a little, looking dejected.

…I guess I killed the mood, there.

She seemed to feel sorry for me. In actual fact, my parents were killed by a monster about five years ago, after which Lynn’s family decided to take care of me. That’s why I wanted enough power to live without imposing on anyone.

Ideally, I wanted to get both a Divine Treasure and an occupation. At minimum, I wanted a strong and useful Divine Treasure.

◆ ◆ ◆

There was an amazing line at the church. The kids in the line were mostly the same age as us, but there were a few a little older than us. Maybe they couldn’t participate in last year’s Blessing Ceremony.

We stayed in the line and advanced to the front, little by little. Eventually, our turn finally came up. From where I stood, I could see the sacred stones, and heard the joys and sorrows of those who had already received blessings.

“Whoooaaa, my Divine Treasure! But it’s a shame I didn’t get an occupation…”

“Aw, yeah! I got Fireblade! It’s the same Treasure as a great Knight who played an active role a hundred years ago!”

I was honestly happy for the guy in front of me. He got a promising Divine Treasure that was known for doing great things in the past.

“The next three, please come stand in front of the Godstone.”

Lynn and I came forward according to the priest’s instructions.

I hope I get both a treasure and occupation.

I had been watching for quite a while, but none of us had been given both a Divine Treasure and occupation for a while. That means it should happen soon, right? With that in mind, I turned my hand to a larger sacred stone.

A message appeared immediately. I was excited, but I was distracted by the excitement from the person next to me.

“A-amazing!”

“T-this child’s Divine Treasure and occupation… are the strongest!” Lynn was next to me, and I looked over to see what they were talking about.

“Oh God, it’s Excalibur, and the occupation is Hero!?”

What a combination. The strongest knight to ever appear in this empire was said to have received exactly this. Anyone who has ever learned about the Blessing Ceremony dreams of getting that combo… and I was no exception.

Great, my desired treasure and occupation already showed up! If Rin was a big hit, I’m sure―

I looked back at my own message, and saw the worst possible result.

Divine Treasure: Creation Hammer
Occupation: Blacksmith

It was the worst possible occupation in a world where everyone ― even a Blacksmith ― received a weapon from God.