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Chapter 5

It’s impossible to not be suspicious of someone who says they aren’t suspicious

 

——Do you believe in God?

 

There was a mysterious group of people wearing all red from top to bottom calling out to people on the street in the city with such a line.

Janet, with her face hidden by her triangular sorcerer’s hat, silently steps forward and tugged Vince who’s walking at the front of the group.

Both Emmy and I hurried to follow them, which was unusually forceful behavior for her reserved nature.

 

Later we were told by Janet that they were a new emerging conspiratorial religion that expands on the doctrine of the Goddess.

 

『If we carelessly respond and approach them, they will start saying something like, 『The Goddess knows what lies ahead』 or 『Our doctrines will unravel the truth』, and force us to join their cult.』

 

『And what will happen if you enter their cult?』

 

『If I’m not wrong, after they convinced you to join their cult, 『Red Salvation Society』, they will tell you something along the lines of 『The Goddess will only give her salvation to those who are faithful and reach the upper ranks』.

 

『I feel like there’s something fishy in this upper ranks of theirs……』

 

『That’s right… You need to pay a membership fee of 30 silver coins per month, with an additional donation of one silver coin per rank. ……It’s disgusting how it’s clearly not an amount that you can afford easily, isn’t it?』

 

What a shameless kind of cult they are.

And we, who had almost been fooled by such a scam, were grateful to Janet for her knowledge——.

 

——After returning from recalling the memories of Janett’s greatness, I looked back at the beautiful woman in front of me.

 

Good grief, what a day.

I thought I finally got to have a new encounter, but it turned out to be someone from that cult. What a shitty fate this world had for me.

I’m sure this woman made a lot of money with that beautiful features she got from her parents.

She’s been waiting for my answer with expectant eyes since a while ago.

But I don’t have the intention to play along with her plot, like what Jannet had taught me.

 

Let’s give her a bold unexpected answer.

 

「I…. hate the Goddess.」

 

I told her firmly and clearly.

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise and before she could say another word, I left and walked further into the inside of the orphanage.

I saw the look on Jema Baa-san’s face on my way, and it seemed like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t say anything in the end after I told her what just happened. 

……Come to think of it, Baa-san is a Sister of the Goddess’ church, huh.

 

As for what that woman is going to do after this, I’ll leave it to Jema Baa-san since I’m not the one in charge of this place.

But whether Baa-san will take her in or not is another matter.

 

…Still, what a tiring day today.

I had to walk all day long, dealing with the trouble of a child I’m unfamiliar with, and using magic for the first time in a long time.

 

I went into a vacant room silently so as not to wake the children, who were probably fast asleep further inside the building, and as if all of the exhaustion from today coming at me all at once, I fell asleep right away.

 

***

 

……In my dream, I see three of my childhood friends.

 

The three of them were walking side by side.

No, four of them were.

 

There was another girl with them.

 

A very beautiful woman, whom I don’t know, is looking around as if she is searching for something.

She met my eyes who were walking behind them, but she ignored me.

 

She eventually stopped looking around, and stood beside Vince——.

 

***

 

……That was quite a bizarre dream.

 

Well, it’s none of my business whether Vince has three or four more women with him now.

 

I walked out of the room and headed for the dining room.

Everyone else is probably already awake at this hour.

 

When I stepped into the dining room and heard the sizzling sound of meat cooking——.

 

「You finally woke up. Umm… Russell, was it? Good morning.」

 

——The woman from yesterday was brazenly sitting there while petting the head of the children.

 

「……Making yourself comfortable here, aren’t you??」

 

「It’s not like what I’m doing here is your concern, isn’t it? Besides, I’m quite fond of kids.」

 

She waves the fork in her hand and crosses her legs in a haughty manner while stroking the boy’s head.

That appearance also suited her greatly which is kind of annoying.

 

Even so, just what’s with this situation?

I wonder if Jema Baa-san knows who she really is.

 

But since we’re already at this point anyway, I might as well say my thoughts here to make things clear.

 

「You’re one of those 『Red Salvation Society』 lot, aren’t you?」

 

The woman raised her eyebrows after hearing my words.

 

「……What are you talking about? Just which part of me made you think I’m one of those 『Red Fanatics』?」

 

She said while spreading both arms wide, striking a pose as if to show her whole body.

She’s wearing black clothes with a stylish leather jacket on top.

Her long, crossed legs are exposed, and the skin between her black knee-high socks and shorts looks sickly white.

 

……Ah, I see.

I missed the most important part of that 『Red Salvation Society』 since I was too focused on the lines she said that sounded the same as what those cultists were saying in the city.

 

This woman… no matter how you look at it, isn’t wearing anything red.

 

「Sorry, I completely forgot about that part.」

 

「That’s fine. Since you can at least apologize, I don’t think you’re a bad guy. I forgive you. Well, I heard from that Baa-san that you just 『came back from the city』, so I can see your concern. They’re annoyingly persistent bunches, aren’t they?」

 

This woman seems to understand the situation and why I acted like that yesterday based on that.

If so, as I thought, she’s someone who also came from the city, huh.

 

But if that’s the case, now I’m curious why she’s asking the same dubious question as those 『Red Salvation Society』 guys.

 

「Then why did you ask me something like that?」

 

「Ahh, you mean something about the Goddess? I just wanted to know what you think about it. It’s not particularly a strange question, isn’t it?」

 

She answered my obvious question indifferently.

You wouldn’t normally ask something like that casually to a stranger, though. Before I can say that it’s weird and suspicious, the woman stands up and says, 「More importantly, why don’t you sit down too?」.

When I wondered what she was up to when she stood up from her seat, she walked toward the kitchen and began to cook the meat, as if it were a matter of course.

 

「Are you going to cook?」

 

「Sybilla」

 

「What?」

 

「It’s not “You”*.」

[*TL Note: He used ”お前” (Omae) here, which is a rude way to address someone who is not close to you.]

 

For a moment I didn’t know what she was talking about, but then I finally got it. Come to think of it, I haven’t asked for her name.

Now that I knew she wasn’t someone from the cult, she certainly would’ve hated it if I kept addressing her with 『You』.

 

Sybilla… Sybilla, huh.

 

「Got it, Sybilla.」

 

「Un.」

 

She nodded in satisfaction as she sprinkled some salt on the meat.

 

「Do we always have this much meat?」

 

「There are a lot outside, remember? I collected and processed them yesterday.」

 

「Ah. It’s the Dungeon Scarlet Bat’s meat huh.」

 

「Correct. Also, I asked Jema-san, who went outside for some errand, to do something for me, and that’s how I’m helping around here in exchange for that.」

 

She transferred the cooked meat to a plate and put it on the table in front of me, while saying 「Here you go, eat up」.

There were two plates, and she placed the other one on my opposite side and sat down. Sybilla, who sat in front of me, began to eat in silence.

 

……Did you let the children eat first and wait for me before having yours?

Before I could put into words the question that came to mind, she threw a question at me first.

 

「By the way, what are your plans for today?」

 

「Me? Let’s see… I’m thinking of going to check out the dungeon for a bit.」

 

I don’t have any good memories of exploring dungeons.

But as expected, when there’s a dungeon that has just appeared and even caused injuries to the villagers, I can’t just stay and sit idly by.

It’s going to be me alone this time, so I can only rely on my own strength and do my best. 

 

「Then, I will go with you.」

 

Sybilla replied with a carefree tone.