Volume 4 Chapter Epilogue Part 1
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Translator: Kureha
Editor: Weasalopes
Since it has been abandoned for so long, the Elza temple was fairly worn out.
「Welp, tis look like ‘t has been messed ‘round a bit.」
「Seeing this, I really don’t want to think about what the kitchen would look like.」
「Ye, even though ‘t has prevent rot on em, I doubt they’ve all been store in that one area.」
Hiroshi and Haruna started to get worried as they saw the state of the temple. Since they have been requested to search the temple, the temptation to clean up the place was there. But they also knew that almost all the stuff inside the temple was something that should not be handled by an outsider.
「That aside, tis a bit too quiet here. I thought ‘t would be normal for ‘t least one person to be livin’ atta place like tis but…」
「Sensei, it’s not just people. I don’t feel the presence of any animals either.」
「Welp, ain’t that perfect. Barold’s boss came out as well. Just what on earth is happenin’ ‘round here?」
To the concerning state of the temple, the party couldn’t hold back their worry. They weren’t in a state to go into another battle right now. That was how much damage they took from the last combat.
「… wow …」
As if to let out all of her worries, Makoto gave out a sigh that sounded more like a cry. Hiroshi and others who heard her came in and saw what Makoto saw…
「… Welp tis ain’t purty… 」
There, an unholy scene was laid in front of them.
「… Hiro, what do you think?」
There, they saw bodies, bodies of people who were mascaraed brutally. Tatsuya asked Hiroshi in a dry voice as Haruna started to pray for these people. As if to respond to that question, Hiroshi spoke after giving a pray with his expression still pale and froze. He quietly and softly stepped closer to the scene and carefully inspected the bodies.
「 … ‘t looks like a work of curse. Lookin’ at the traces, they must’ve used a complicated n’ indirect method. My guess is that through many generations, ‘t slowly increased tis concentration ‘n intensity so that the person won’ realise it. Then somethin’ must’ve triggered the curse when the timin’ was ‘ight.」
「Are we safe from the curse?」
「I can’ say for sure but whatever was the core for the curse seems ta be gone. But there’re ‘nough traces left that I can detect ‘t so I think tis best that we leave the bodies alone.」
Hearing what Hiroshi said, Haruna who was praying stood up. Then she took a deep breath and started to sing sonorous and requiem.
As Haruna started to sing, someone who possessed a holy presence appeared. But they all quietly agreed that it was best to wait for Haruna to finish singing, so nobody spoke. The figure that appeared also seemed to be listening to Haruna’s song and remained silent on the spot; ignoring that nobody reacted to them entering the room.
A couple of minutes later, the song finished, and the afterglow has now died down. The figure who appeared half-way finally spoke.
「Thank you very much, Haruna-dono.」
「Not at all, I only did what I wanted to do.」
「As a Goddess, as someone who looks over the temple, I could not thank you enough for the things you have done. So please, at least accept my gratitude.」
With that, the woman bowed down again. Just by her appearance, she looked like she was in her thirties. Overall, her physique was plump but unlike Haruna and Mio, her waste wasn’t so thin that she would look malnourished if she lost a bit more weight. That was the only difference, and she did not appear obese either. In another word, she possessed a grounded, healthy, beauty. Judging from the Goddess like atmosphere that she emits, this woman was definitely the Earth Mother Goddess Elza.
「Um, so ya must be Elza-sama?」
「Indeed, I am Elza.」
Elza lifted her head again. Hiroshi did recognise who she was but decided to double-check. As they heard Elza’s confirmation, they decided to get permission to do what they had on their mind.
「Elza-sama, please forgive ma rudeness. Is ‘t okay if we leave the details for later?」
「I do not mind but is there something you wish to ask me?」
「I understand that tis a laxed mindset ta have. But I would like ta least make these people a grave.」
「… I understand. Please help them ascend to the afterlife peacefully.」
Hiroshi requested something which she was planning to do herself. As she accepted his request, Elza bowed once again. Although there were many things that they wanted to ask, they let their morals take over and decided to prioritize the burial and the memorial service for the people who have passed away.
==
「You have kindly helped me with the things which were out of reach for me. I am very grateful for all the things you have done.」
「We were only acting based on our aim, please do not concern yourself about it.」
Having Haruna as a substitute for the priestess, they finished the burial and memorial service and moved onto the important topic. While they were making the graves and cleaning up the tragic scene, the sun has set so they decided to stay the night at the temple. Now that they had plenty of time to talk, they were able to sit down and take their time listening to the details of what happened at this temple.
A normal person would turn down the offer of staying at a temple where traces of curse was discovered along with a large number of corpses. However, even Tatsuya and Mio who were teleported over to this universe last has been living here for around ten months now. During those ten months, have they not only camped out in the wild but have also stayed overnight in a dungeon. So, staying a night in a building where people have died wasn’t enough to creep them out.
「So, I would like to confirm few things but…」
「Yes, I understand. What would you like me to explain first?」
「Let me see, I would like to know what caused this temple to be abandoned. It has been requested by the King of Forre as well.」
「I understand. It must have worried the people of Stillen and I am sure the information would be relevant to all of you as well. I will explain as much as I know about the situation.」
What Elza said after her little introduction was a slightly more detailed version of what Hiroshi was able to deduce from the residues of the curse.
To explain the main points, about a thousand year ago, Elza’s priestess had a lover. However, her lover has listened to Barold and managed to give the priestess a hereditary curse without her noticing it. Naturally, Elza noticed the curse straight away and tried to exorcise it, but the timing was bad. Right after Barold retired, along with his death, he left a curse that was stronger than before onto Elza’s priestess in exchange for taking the priestess’s life.
Although her life was spared, she now had a slow yet strong curse within her. What was even more troubling was that putting aside Elza, the three of the five major Gods, (at this point Zanafel was already sealed), and the God of Knowledge Daljan couldn’t see through the property of the curse. That was how deep and precise the curse was embedded into the priestess’s soul. Until the curse met its requirement for activation, it will continue to charge up the negative energies and build up its concentration. Furthermore, the curse used the power of the priestess so that it will be arranged in a way that it couldn’t be detected with the power of Gods. As the curse got stronger after each generation, the Gods couldn’t do anything but to wait for the tragic day to come.
The curse itself had multiple layers of abilities. The first curse which was activated happened right before Hiroshi’s group arrived at Crest Cave. One of the triggers for the curse was the dungeon created from the Crest Cave’s mine by the Void Resident. The priestess who wasn’t feeling well before the incident wasn’t able to fight back the curse. Even at that point, Elza wasn’t able to find the core of the curse.
In the end, there was enough time to partially exorcise the curse. But at that point, those who were told about their fate still remain asleep to this day. They tried told a large-scale ritual to awaken the priestess. However, with the temple isolation plan organised by the Void Residents, the increase in negative energies, the frequent activities of monsters, and the increase in the death rate from those incidents, pulled two more triggers for the curse to be activated. With that, not only the priestesses at the temple but even the animals living in the area were murdered; resulting in the scene which the group found earlier that day.
Although the entrance to the forest was already strange and eerily, the tunnel turning into a dungeon was all done by the Void Resident. But the negative energy that was born from this situation was the main cause of all of the incidents. Also, the way in which the King of Forre and the citizens were able to confirm the priestesses’ death was through information which leaked out after they were cursed, and the information was passed on all the way to the palace with ill intention. However, no matter which organisation stepped in to prevent the tragedy, the result wouldn’t have been much different.
「And what happened to that priestess?」
「We have sealed her away just in case. But I am afraid that even if we disspel the curse and awaken her, she will not be able to complete her tasks as a priestess.」
Although they could all imagine the outcome of the situation, Tatsuya asked just to double-check. To which, Elza gave the expected response.
「However, my words alone may not be convincing enough so I shall disspell the seal a little bit. Please confirm with your own eyes.」
With that, Elza summoned the sealed body of the priestess to the room. The priestess that was summoned was in an unsightly condition.
「… Welp tis ain’t the same as Ellie…」
「Hiroshi, is it difficult even for you?」
「If there was somethin’ I could do, Elza-sama or Arawen-sama probably would’ve done somethin’ by now. Or ‘t least haf the time re-wound by Alfemina-sama.」
「Oh~ I see…」
Makoto agreed to Hiroshi’s response. There were many conditions that the Gods had to meet to interfere with the material side of the world. However, if the matter was related to their priestess, the conditions weren’t as strict. In Aearis’s case, she was physically placed in danger so there wasn’t much which the Gods could do. However, with curse and illness like in this situation, as long as it was something that could be cured by some kind of miracle, it wasn’t an issue for the Gods.
In another word, Elza’s priestess cannot be cured even if a miracle was to occur.
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