Part 450: Gaius A
O gods, I thank you for this blessed of days.
......
You're desperately trying not to think of sweets, aren't you?
...Maybe.
Your trembling lip, your sweaty brow, your uncontrollable drooling... These are all the signs of a man fighting great temptation.
Not so, Padre. Ha ha! Who's religious now? I was just praying that I'd be unharmed in the next battle.
Oh? That's actually quite sensible. Perhaps I was being unfair. I thought for sure you were dreaming about swimming in syrup or some nonsense. But why now, if I may? You usually have such a cavalier attitude toward battle.
Well, in that last battle we fought, I had me a pretty close shave. If I'd been a split-second slower, my head would have been bouncing across the field. It made me think. You never know when your number's going to be up, you know? Anyway, I figured maybe I should take these prayers a bit more seriously.
Coming face-to-face with one's own mortality can have that effect.
But why should the gods pay an old sinner like me any mind? It's not like I've ever done anything to earn their appreciation.
In the eyes of the gods, we are all innocent, if only we open our hearts to them.
Yeah, that's easy for you to say, Padre. I bet you've never once strayed from the straight and narrow.
Oh, if it were only so...
I am as much a sinner as anyone.
You? Lord Squeaky Clean? I find that hard to believe.
Think about how many people have died because of me.
Huh?
Every time I survive a battle, it means others have died in my place. And when I pray for safety in a fight, it is the same as praying for my foe's death.
Wow. Never thought of that. ...Wait, so I've been praying for other people to die, too?! Crivens! I'm a terrible person!
Not terrible. Just human. Every soldier who prays for deliverance has done the same.
This religion stuff is complicated.
Yet, we should still pray. We shall pray for ourselves, and each other, and for our allies and comrades.
Even though in doing so, we are praying for the death of strangers.
....... O gods...