136 - - The Influence

The strong winds that had been blowing on and off recently have stopped.

The creaking window frames, the rattling of doors, and the roaring wind noise that rattles the trees have suddenly stopped, and there is silence. It must be a blessing for the residents, who are warming themselves in their rooms and going to sleep.

However, for Galahad and the others, who are walking through the forest at night, worrying about Camilla's poor health, the silence, which they have not felt for a long time, is eerily unsettling, as if insects and small animals are hiding their breaths for fear of predators.

"d*mn!　I didn't realize they were holding back the temple."

"It's probably just harassment, all he has to do is say a few words or fill out a few forms. We'll cross the border now, we'll have the cavalry and the transference stones, it'll be easier."

"So he was set up, too. I'm an idiot.

We go down a road abandoned long ago. The stones of the road have long since been stripped away, and the mountain paths are little better than animal trails. The few stones that remain are pushed up by the roots of the trees and scrape the feet of those who pass by.

The power of the great mage whom Galahad calls the One, who has existed since the time of the first kings, pervades every corner of the land, and the power that seemed so dependable when he did not doubt it, now feels like a repulsive watchful eye.

"It couldn't be helped at the time, no one would have thought that he was leaning (...)".

Although he knows it is useless to say it, Eagle tells Galahad that it is inevitable, as he begins to blame himself. The reason he thinks it is futile is because he has not forgiven himself for acting the way Galahad did at that time. He did not want to see this man, who usually smiles even when he is in a difficult situation, blame himself so much.

"I joined him in his fight because I believed in him at that time.

This time, no white-knuckle comfort came to Eagle's throat.

"Don't, we all believed in him then."

Camilla's words, which seemed to be painful, made Galahad, who did not blame himself enough, shut up. But his silence does not erase the sense of disappointment and regret that swirls in his heart.

She is gone.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

I logged in and was able to slip into the evening hours in <>, so I went to the general store and was greeted by Lapidus and Noel, who hugged me from both sides. Lapidus rubbed his forehead against Noel's while his tail wagged, and I stroked Noel's hair, which was becoming more and more soft to the touch.

The beastman recovers quickly, no longer the starving, scrawny man he used to be. Their cheeks, which had been floppy, regain their child-like plumpness. I'm sure there will be a lot of misunderstandings such as pedophile or boy-crazy, but my boy is cute, and it would be great if he could mooch off his tail.

This is a person, this is a person, not an animal, this is a person," I chant in my mind. It is more painful than the Verus ordeal. I'm just a mofuu, not a kemoner, just for the record!

While I was fighting my desires in my mind, Cal told me that he had a visitor. I stop stroking them and they leave me. I couldn't quite picture a situation where Cal or Reno would let a guest through, but who was it?

Leno opens the sliding door that leads from the break room to a small room called the business meeting room.

"Why are you here?"

I was stunned to see who was inside.

"Oh, no, ha ha ha!"

There was Cardinal Kyle, still expressionless and speaking without intonation. The words "ha-ha-ha" seemed to be read as "ha-ha-ha" without any inflection. I wish the head of the temple wouldn't come to a humble general store.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it would have caused too much trouble if you had waited outside."

"Oh, thank you."

I wonder if this is what it feels like to want to hold my temples. I've never made that gesture in the real world. I thank Cal for his apology and turn to His Eminence Kyle.

"I need to talk to Mr. Lengard for a moment. Would you mind if I came with you?"

"No, Lapidus is with the Lord."

"Are you going to tell the Lord a story that he cannot hear?"

Lapidus responds simply to High Priest Kyle's request to leave the room, and Noel asks with a smile. Why the condescension, Mr. Noel, when you're taking care of us in the temple?

"We just want to talk a little bit about the object you have, Mr. Lengard."

"What?"

While I was lost in thought at the three words that High Priest Kyle uttered without expression, Reno collected the two children, shoved me into the small room, and closed the door with a bang. The words coming out of his handsome face with intellectual glasses were quite destructive.

Wait a minute, Ekaterina has found out about [Bosatsujutsu]!　No, no, no?　I'm a bit of a mussel, if I may say so myself, and it's hard for me to talk about such a topic alone with your eminence!　Huh?　Who should we ask for help here?　Who is the right person for the job!　No, before that, I've never taken my pants off in this world and I've taken the liberty of taking people's things ......

"About his dragon in your possession..."

"Bahamut or ......"

On purpose?　It's on purpose, isn't it!　What's up with this guy? He's Yekaterina's boss, man!

I swallow a sigh and sit down across from him, wondering why this man would say something so outlandish with no expression on his face. He is indeed a man of the level of Val's oracle.

"Ah, it is Bahamut, after all. I was hoping for some kind of magic. I didn't expect him to have his dragon under his command, let alone the white beast. It's as if Fagat's top brass has poked a hornet's nest."

"Oh, that."

You're fast. And by the way, maybe it was a trick to confirm that it was Bahamut.

"We will disclose it eventually, but we have decided that it is too early to make public the fact that the seal of the beast has been loosened and broken. Fagat is going to settle the matter as if by some mighty <>. I don't know how he did it, but he did a perfect job of destroying the evidence.

You mean you put the stage back.

"Wouldn't it be better to disclose it and prepare for the other beast?"

White and Bahamut are both docile (?) This is not a problem for the other beasts, but it is not always the case. In fact, the stories of the beasts are quite graphic: they dominate people, eat them, burn their countries, and make neighbors fight with each other. Even if it is exaggerated, just half of them are out of the picture.

"To the people, sir. Even before you came along, the nations and temples have been moving, having noticed the loosening of the beast's seal. But we were going to let them know after we had secured the strength to fight the raids by bringing in the fast-growing adventurers of the gentiles, who are far less powerful than you are. It is dangerous to tell only the existence of a powerful enemy to a large number of powerless people without the power and methods to oppose it."

"Is it that important?"

"Of course it's important."

Uh, yeah?　Sure, I might cry in a raid battle if I was asked to fight Bahamut.

"Nations that never used to take in their own citizens of good background are beginning to take in promising gentiles. Not only nations, but temples and guilds as well."

"Yeah, I've heard a few stories here and there about serving."

Come to think of it, the clan is an adventurers' guild, but I hadn't decided on my personal affiliation.

"That's why I'm recruiting you. Do you believe in God?

Why one language?

I mean, who in this world doesn't believe in that?　Even though they're actually there!!!!　Oh, so believing in existence is not the same as believing in guidance.

"I believe in existence, but I don't have faith."

Having faith is difficult because of the image of an annoying god, pants, underpants, and mappa.

"Just belonging is good enough. They will know about this place (Zakka-ya). The top management of Fagat is friendly to you for some reason, so you could belong to them, but in that case, you might get a request to move to Fagat to make the fact that you belong to the country, or you might get an avalanche of invitations to the state-sponsored evening party, or you might be given the impression that you are taking orders from the government.

"Night Party: ......"

A request to take down a tree is one thing, but an evening party?　Don't be absurd, it's a pain in the ass just to ask. And the clan house will be on Fagat's island, will it be free?

"Well, even if the upper class is favorable, the nobles, the people, and the country are all in trouble, so it can't be helped. On the other hand, this temple is good, after all, I am a one-man operation.

Is that a bad temple or a good temple?　I have never heard a bad word about the temple in the fast, so is it a good temple?

"I'm a magical swordsman, and I don't think I have a shred of temple stuck in me."

"Temple knights, temple fighters, temple apothecaries, and temple-attached medicine men of all talents are highly sought after."

"......"

No facial expression, no inflection, no pause, no rave or anything like that. .......

"I promise you that the Temple of the Fast will not bind you in any way. You will not work for me, but only pretend to belong to the temple as a favor to you. Fortunately, the nation of Fagat is favorable to you, and you will be able to roll along in name only. I would like you to be aware of the fact that if you are not careful, the government may order you to take down the temple. If you do not do so, your freedom will be compromised. Val, god of the winds, does not want that."

Gghh. I thought it was just going to go through the hole, but it turned out to be an unexpected hole, so what the hell.

"An oracle. Why do you obey the oracle?

That's like asking why I became a priest.

"I'm going to do what I've always wanted to do, okay?　I'm not actively killing beasts or anything."

I don't care. If you feel that belonging to the temple is too much work for you, you can leave."

Well, if it's the same as before, I agreed in the end.

The exchange with His Eminence Kyle was tiring but interesting. It's funny but also tricky, and it's a strange situation in that it's tricky but also convenient for me.

"Sorry, I've kept you waiting so long. Let's have dinner."

Since His Eminence Kyle is going to eat as well, I'll be taking the two Lapis Noel members by transfer with him today, instead of by horse-drawn carriage. I hear that High Priest Kyle can use as well.

Zucchini flowers stuffed with potatoes, cheese, and bacon and deep-fried. You can also fry minced meat and onions, grind them with Parmigiano cheese and bread crumbs, stuff them and bake them. It is good to put nothing in it but a batter of flour and deep fry it. Unlike the zucchini itself, the flowers are literally short-lived, so enjoy them when they are in season. Well, it will not deteriorate if you throw it in your luggage, so it's just a mood.

A few kinds of meat, char-grilled with salt and pepper, and claimed to be gibier style. In this world, gibier is just meat, since it is not distributed in packs in supermarkets like in the real world.

Salad mixed with shredded green papaya, bucket, light vegetable soup. Mulberry jam so dark purple it looks black and yogurt ice cream.

I fried some of the fried food that I didn't even need, and when I lightly slapped the hand of the fryer who was crunching the fried food soaked in Dudu's garlic sauce, and it turned out to be His Eminence Kyle, what was I supposed to do? It seems that His Eminence Kyle just wanted to participate in the "nibbling", but the two main culprits were in a hurry to shove the evidence (fried chicken) into their mouths and were fainting from the hot gravy or rather meat fat.

I would like to say to Lapidus and Noel, "Don't grow up like this," but aside from Reno who is out of the regulations of the human world, on the one hand he is the top cardinal of the temple, and on the other hand he is a man of great valor and personality who is known as the . One can't help but feel that something is a little bit wrong with the world.