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Volume 3 Chapter 14.3

Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes

「Basically the same thing. But I can’t say that they’re identical right now. Even if I know what the overall quality is, I can’t really know until I take the parts home and separate ‘em with a machine.」

　The priestess went into thought.

「Okay. I’ll give you permission using my authority as priestess to take some grass in this area, so can you investigate？」

「Alright, I’ll do what I can.」

「Thank you.」

　Nodding at the priestess’s proposal, Hiroshi dug out whatever stood out.

「You still haven’t heard my name, right？」

「Nope. Ya ain’t even introduced yerself.」

「How rude of me. I am Nazaria. On paper I am the priestess of Igreos temple.」

「On paper？」

「Embarrassing as it is, I have hardly any talent compared to the other priestesses throughout history. I don’t even have the ability to communicate with Igreos the way that the Farlane priestess and the Elf priestess do.」

　No one was sure how to respond to Nazarina’s self-deprication. In actuality, there were cases of priestesses just like her, but when two priestesses of her generation showed up with unusually high talent it was only natural.

「Well it ain’t much of a problem is it？」

「Right. Elle-chan talks about silly things with Alfemina-sama and Artiem hardly even communicates with her side, I hear.」

「That’s cause Aranwen-sama is a weirdo. Even if you reach him, he just leaves vague answers and disappears because he’s lazy.」

「So as long as ya stay in the temple to talk to Igreos and he answers every time then there ain’t no problem.」

　Everyone knew the two other priestesses, so they stopped trying to comfort her and just dismissed the issue. Aranwen was still fine even if he was lazy. Usually gods and goddesses were like that. Alfemina talked to Aearis frequently but never answered the crucial information due to being busy.

　It was only reasonable from a human perspective that a god like Aranwen at least give a short answer when asked even if he was truly busy.

　Also, Alfemina had still yet to respond to Zanafel’s leaving home. She had tried to ask in Aearis’s body but apparently a problem had occurred among the gods.

「What kind of timing is this……」

　She had spit out, saying she would go to Igreos Temple and speak to them there. Her peeved facial expression didn’t look faked, so there apparently was some sort of divine problem going on that couldn’t be ignored.

「Well, changin’ the subject.」

「What is it？」

「Yer a priestess, so ya know about the founding of this temple, yeah？」

「Not as much as the elders. I’m just a little girl after all. Those who have rich experiences, knowledge, and wisdom will always be above me.」

「But you can summarize it at least？」

　Nazarina nodded. If she didn’t at least know the gist of it then she couldn’t call herself a priestess.

「So is there anything bout somethin’ sinkin’ under the water of this oasis？」

「Not from what I know. But there is holy water in this lake, so maybe some holy relic fell in.」

「So I gotta dive right down.」

「Or you could go ask Igreos-sama.」

　Hiroshi tried changing the subject and Haruna steered him right back. Diving into the equivalent of a holy land would cause more than a ruckus. Haruna generally gave him free rein, but if it risked going against public policy and pissing local residents off then it was best to pull on the brakes.

「Well I personally think you can dive down whenever you want if you need to.」

「We don’t know if we need to though. Wouldn’t that be bad？」

「I don’t even think we’ll get permission.」

　Hiroshi grimaced, unable to find a retort to Tatsuya and Haruna. He assumed something was down there, but was unable to find a legit reason and didn’t feel a huge impulse to go down, unlike back at the ruins.

「Well, we can return later. We might even come back here or to that island in the distance……」

「Tell me when that time comes. I’ll give you permission for small things like that.」

「Okay. I’ll report some sort of investigation result at tomorrow’s meeting.」

「I’m looking forward to it.」

　Hiroshi’s group waved at Nazarina and returned to the inn. Nazarina turned to the other people bathing and decided to talk to them too while she was at it. At this moment she could have gone straight back to the temple to avoid getting caught up in the commotion to follow, but unable to communicate with her god unless she were in the temple, the poor priestess had no way of telling the fate in store for her.

「We finally got back！」

「Why do you look so panicked?」

「Well just put yourself in our shoes！」

「Sensei, Tatsu, Haru! Elle and Artiem got kidnapped！！」

「Whaaat！？」

　Hiroshi’s group let out shrill voices at the sudden turn in events. Seriously, why did these things always happen.

「Hold up, calm down and tell us what’s going on.」

「Yup yup. I gave all sortsa things to Elle and Artiem to make sure they don’t get easily abducted, and I can’t help if I don’t know what’s goin’ on.」

　Haruna was the first to regain her composure, followed up by Hiroshi. Without knowing the situation they could do nothing.

「So first, how did it happen？」

「As we finished the procedures, the whole car got taken away.」

「So Doul was with y’all？」

「Yes. Sergio-san and the queen stayed at the temple and went separate ways, but Primula and Judith got taken away together.」

　If it was in the middle of the formalities, not much time had to have passed. They must have planned to walk around a bit after meeting with the priestess.

「I see. And how’d they take ‘em away？」

「A gigantic dragon thing latched onto the car and flew off.」

「Mm, well yup, not much you can do there.」

　Everyone else just nodded at Hiroshi. If Mio were outside she might have been able to shoot it down with her extra skill at least.

「But ya coulda notified us as soon as ya found out.」

「We weren’t able to.」

「Preparations, preparations……」

「Don’t you think our preparations have always been pretty sloppy？」

　Hiroshi and Haruna had to agree with Tatsuya on that one. Barold had done something completely different than what they had anticipated him doing in Darl, making their plan not much of a plan.

「Anyhow, we know the situation now.」

「At this point, Nazarina might be abducted too.」

「Yeah, let’s operate under that assumption. What about the queen？」

「She’s still over there.」

　As soon as Makoto explained, a knight came rushing in.

「Message! Igreos-sama’s priestess Nazarina-sama has been taken away by a gigantic dragon！」

「That’s what I thought.」

「Prolly cuz she was outside……」

「Regardless of what we do, there’s one problem.」

　Haruna began organizing the information in order to help everyone calm down again. Now that stuff had happened, panicking or making noise wouldn’t help things.

「We can’t do anything until we know where she was taken to.」

「Yup. Well, unfortunately we don’t know much about this area, so I doubt anyone knows.」

　Hiroshi and Haruna did their best to act calm, but were inwardly gritting their teeth at the wall they bumped into. They weren’t experienced enough to stay calm in a situation where someone close to them was abducted.

「For now we can compare the direction they flew off with a map and estimate where they might have gone.」

「That’s about it, yeah.」

　Everyone accepted Makoto’s plan and spread out the big regional map. As they kept looking but to no avail, the group felt that something was off. Indeed, they were overlooking something.

「Hold on a sec! Elle gettin’ abducted ain’t make no sense！」

「Huh? Oh, right!!」

「The Farlane Royal Family teleportation magic！」

　Hiroshi’s one word helped them realize what was so off. If Farlane’s special transportation magic didn’t work, they must be in an isolated dimension.

「In which case, the likeliest spot is……」

「It has to be the Sweltering Tower.」

「Sounds so easy that it’s too obvious, y’all.」