Rong-fa's Days as a Priest Revealed

[This vignette is taken from pg. 112 of the Lunar I & II artbook.  
Translation by R. Capowski at RACapowski@sceneryrecalled.com, 4/30/10, and 
is unaffiliated with the franchise copyright holders, etc.]

Our story opens two years before Lunar 2, in Pentagulia.  At the time, 
Rong-fa is a highly talented apprentice priest; great things are expected 
of his future.  He is greatly inspired by the dreams of Althena, and with 
his childhood friend Mauli, Leo, and others, he is undergoing rigorous 
training to make them a reality.  Three years prior, the village where they
lived on the Frontier was attacked by monsters.  Leo and Rong-fa just 
barely survived, but Leo's younger sister Mauli was beyond hope.
It was then that Althena, thought nothing more than a legend, appeared and 
revived Mauli.  She then asked for their assistance in setting this world 
of chaos to rights.  Rong-fa, Leo, and Mauli all thought it an honor to 
work for Althena and followed her from their village.  Now, both Leo and 
Mauli's days were packed with obligations.  Rong-fa was able to see Leo and
Mauli only once a month.  But nothing had changed his love with Mauli, 
tender and delicate as a winter's first snowfall  -  or so Rong-fa 
believed.  He said that Mauli was working hard for Althena, achieving great
works and deeds  -  in which Rong-fa took a pure, naive joy.
But then, one day, Rong-fa heard the most incredible lie  -  about the true
nature of "Mauli's job"  -  an abhorrent task, it claimed, where she used 
magic to slaughter mercilessly innocent villagers.
At night, Rong-fa visited Leo's quarters.  He got a warm reception, but 
when the conversation turned to Mauli's duties and actions, Leo became 
evasive; he stonewalled as if his very world would collapse if he even 
touched on the subject.  Rong-fa's misgivings and worries only deepened.  
Leo's cries of "forget those worthless lies!" at his back, Rong-fa left 
Leo's chambers.  He found his feet heading toward Mauli's room.
Rong-fa had not seen Mauli in a long time, and yet he found he just as 
beautiful and sweet as ever.  So warmly received, and seeing Mauli so 
strong and devoted, Rong-fa felt like a fool  -  ashamed at having been 
caught up in such ridiculous lies.  Laughing, to share the joke, he 
recounted to Mauli the lies he had heard.  And, the smile upon her lips 
utterly unchanging, she confirmed their every word.
"But whatever is the matter?  It is necessary to deliver divine retribution
upon those who do not fear the light of Althena's judgment."  Rong-fa was 
horrified.  "Yes; it is trying for me as well.  But pass judgment upon one 
village, and we deliver ten or twenty!  Do you not think it splendid?"  Not
a hint of remorse or bitterness crossed Mauli's face to betray her words. 
"W...who are you!?" Rong-fa near-screamed, snapping to his feet.  
Mauli's stood illuminated by the light of the Blue Star that streamed in 
from the window; her face was as a doll's.  "Oh, my dear Lord Rong-fa.  
Always ready with a joke..."
Rong-fa began to back away; Mauli stepped forward to embrace him.  "How I 
adore you..."  "G, get away!"  Without thinking, Rong-fa pushed Mauli away 
and ran from her room.  Mauli watched him as he left, her face and beauty 
unchanged as ever.  But her eyes glittered dead as glass.
Several days afterward, Rong-fa disappeared from Pentagulia...  
Subsequently, Rong-fa disowned his abilities as a priest, choosing to live 
in a village on the Frontier as a professional gambler.  He forgot it all  
-  the Order, the priesthood, his acts of mercy...or, rather, he pretended 
to forget......  Even so, a great heaviness lingered in the depths of his 
heart.  
Then, one day, a boy with a light in his eyes appeared before him.  The 
young boy's bright heart, seeming always to look forward, made an impact on
the gambler that surprised even Rong-fa himself.  He had thought this part 
of him long dead  -  but he now knew that it had merely been sleeping, 
biding its time.
--The boy's name was Hiero.

By: Kei Shigema  (from preliminary draft-era settei)