Chapter 157 – The Person Who Came Back Suspiciously
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“TRANSLATOR: Anargya”
“EDITOR: GhostApe”
「That child is Kami-sama himself…? She looked like a human no matter how I look at her…」
My eyes opened wide.
A while ago, The Saintess had also pretended to be a normal child in Seiren. But to be honest, it is a crude performance with a lot of holes and could be figured out at a glance.
But this time is different. Even with my eyes and Rēko’s eyes, we can only see her as a normal human.
「It is not unreasonable if you don’t believe it. Our God’s mimicry is perfect you see. That is definitely God’s existence as a “Shrine Maiden Girl”.」
「But how could you know that the child is Kami-sama himself?」
「Fuh. Could you not underestimate this church— and the youngest servant of God who climbed to the highest rank of Cardinal? I could understand at a glance that the girl’s true character is God himself.」
So it’s something like that? There is something that only a devout priest could understand, but I can’t?
「It’s because the predecessor Shrine Maiden and the Shrine Maiden before were all always a girl named “Ria”.」
「Hm?」
「There are records detailing it. Everytime a Shrine Maiden is chosen, a girl named “Ria” with an unknown identity will appear. And when she becomes the Shrine Maiden, she will always fulfil her duties for 10 years before suddenly disappearing. And when we are going to chose a Shrine Maiden again, a girl with the same appearance will appear as candidate.」
「Wait, anybody will realize that was strange as long as they are with the church right?」
Everytime and every time, anyone would think it’s strange if the perfectly same person would appear as a candidate everytime.
Rēko clicks her tongue lightly.
「How boring. In other words, the Shrine Maiden festival is a finished race. Even though Evil Dragon-sama was seriously considering running for it…」
「Come to think of it, you and Yoro-san were trying to make me a candidate. I don’t think the chance of success is even there, though.」
Even if it isn’t a finished race, I still wouldn’t win. Even if an animal would be confused as a candidate when choosing the Shrine Maiden, they would just prompt me to leave.
I focused my mind back and faced the Cardinal.
「But, is that the only reason? I understand that a child named Ria is special, but isn’t it too weak of a reason to assert that she is the same person as Kami-sama just because the same child comes every time?」
I think it is fully possible that she is just Kami-sama’s familiar or subordinate or some sort.
「About that. Sometimes, God himself would get confused, and her personality will get blurry— but I never missed it happening.」
「What do you mean by blurry?」
「While God is possessing the shrine maiden, she would say something like 「What is today’s dinner!」, or conversely, at the time of daily prayer, she would say「Today’s magma has only a little momentum.」And when I looked into it, the volcanic activity was actually calming down.」
「That is rather dynamic.」
If the personality change were that flashy, you won’t miss it even if you are not the Cardinal.
「Our God doesn’t seem to be doing it on purpose. If he is, there is no way he is not aware of how full of holes his acting is. It is known in the church that it is something like a split personality, not just God acting.」
「Well even if that was the case, why is he doing this in the first place?」
「I told you already, it is too avoid fighting.」
「I don’t know about that」, Rēko said.
「Didn’t he have the power to defeat that armor in the past? In other words, he is one of the strongest beings in the world. Why would someone like that be afraid of fighting?」
「It is no doubt that our God is an invincible being. But, having so much power also has its difficulties. Have you heard that our God’s magical power is linked to the volcanic activity?」
The Cardinal reached down to the basement floor with his hand and tapped it a few times.
「That’s why, if our God wields his power, this country which is on a huge volcanic island—I think you know what would happen.」
Ah, my mouth opened by itself.
I imagined a scene where cities were sinking due to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
「The God of thunder, the incarnation of volcanic lightning, was created from the smoke of the volcano. Monsters with little harm were used as the guardian beast, and God started to prepare to protect our well being by fighting himself. 『It is a pain to fight every single small fish one by one』he said, but everyone knows that it is much more troublesome to prepare that.」
「To think that he would avoid it that much…Then, if he fights Yoro-san…」
「This country won’t be safe either.」
Rēko easily completed the rest of the sentence.
What a situation. Even if Yoro-san himself doesn’t intend to destroy the country, the act of the duel itself will lead to its destruction.
So far, it seems like a pessimistic story, but the Cardinal shook his head suddenly.
「—And that’s how concerned our God is. Personally, I’d like to say that he may have been too cautious. Even if the volcano becomes a bit rough when his magical power is released, it will be over in a few seconds. In that case, there will be almost no damage at all. I want him to be more confident in himself as an existence that could defeat a Demon King.」
I was anxious, but I calmed down a little by the Cardinal’s appearance that seemed to be slacking off.
His absolute trust on Kami-sama didn’t break even in this situation apparently. He thinks that I am the Evil Dragon, but he isn’t afraid to talk to me.
I believe that one of the reasons he treated me this way was because Ria=Kami-sama testified to me being a “gentle person” though.
I lowered my voice and whispered to Rēko.
「Nee. If Yoro-san and Kami-sama went into a duel, is it possible for Kami-sama to defeat Yoro-san in a few seconds without any damage?」
「It’s impossible. If anyone can kill a demon as powerful as that armor, that person would be Evil Dragon-sama. I wonder if there is anyone else.」
More like the opposite. He’ll kill me instantly.
「Anyway, let’s keep this a secret from Yoro-san… If he knew that Ria is Kami-sama himself, who knows what he would do. Rēko, don’t speak about this, okay?」
「Understood.」
「Well, Cardinal-san. Ria… or should I say Kami-sama? Where is she right now?」
「She is currently resting in Shrine Maiden’s chamber in the cathedral.」
「Can I go see her situation?」
「Of course.」
If Yoro-san tries to forcibly make contact with her, only Rēko can face him. Moreover, it is possible that the fake kin is still in this country, and only I can neutralize his attacks(for some reason) .
From the dungeon, I went up the stairs and returned to the first floor. And I noticed that the hall is strangely noisy.
I can see that some guard soldiers are discussing something in a circle in front of the large door leading to the outside.
「What’s wrong?」
I approached them as I wondered if some incident happened.
One of the soldiers looked at me and as if troubled, opened the big door saying “About that…”
And there,
「Hey. I’m sorry that I left the prison without permission. I bought some souvenirs to make up for it, so could you let me meet the Shrine Maiden girl?」
Yoro-san is right there, politely asking for permission to enter the cathedral.
With a liquor bottle and a bun in hand.
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