289 - - 287. My Suspicion, Uni-chan's Suspicion

"Mistiff ......?"

"Oh, sorry. I hope you don't mind."

The black nose, still frozen in place, is pushed gently back into the pocket. He must have gotten a fright when he saw a stranger, although he had come out to say something.

"Black, huh?"

"We don't get them very often, but we do get some non-brown ones."

Most mystiffs are generally brown with short hair.

"Are they not of the Ishvaan blood?"

"I don't know that much."

Still, the name Vern somehow sounds familiar: ....... I'll ask White about it later, since it sounds slightly different. As for gender, neither black nor white has a mate, so there should be none, right?

"Wait, do you speak Mysphe?"

As I was about to sink into my thoughts, King Hadil asked me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Do you speak normally?"

As I was about to finish, I realized that I had only exchanged words with White, Black, and Faria. Could it be that only powerful individuals can speak?　Mistiff hates humans, and I have never asked him about it, thinking that he would not like me digging into it.

"If it exists even though it is not under the moonlight, has it been enchanted by the hunters of Elan?"

I will try to answer the questions that come up one after another in a casual manner. I will not tell you why Black is in the material world, nor his habits, nor of course that the Mystics are in my House.

"Well?　Does the hunter have such skills?"　

The hunters of Elan are a clan of five people I once put on [inclination]. On the contrary, when I asked the Prime Minister about them, he told me that they have skills against mystics, including one that prevents them from moving from this material world to the spirit world for a certain period of time.

King Hadil was shocked that the mystics could speak human language and froze. The king's shock is that he had never thought that he was hunting a creature that can communicate with people.

Even if you can't communicate with them, don't touch them unilaterally, and don't say what you are saying when there is a possibility of a battle between the same kind of people. Good luck, boy!　Good luck with your education, Vizier!　For a king, you've got a whole lot of expression on your face!

And Cal, stop pointing your smirk at me!　This is supposed to be directed at the boy king!　It's like he's reading my mind, and I can't help but feel slightly annoyed!

"May I return to the subject?　

Eagle puts down his glass and looks at the Prime Minister.

"--Mystiff."

"Oh."

I see. Then we have enough to do on our own.

"We have to take two equal routes under the temple, don't we have enough people?"

The boy king joins Camilla and Eagle as they exchange words with the Prime Minister.

A small sound is heard at my feet. I notice that the pattern is changing from my feet.

"You want me to take the guys who were looking at me from the cloister?　It would be more efficient if we split up on our own, wouldn't it?"

Galahad's words were a bit provocative as he brought the drink to his lips.

"No, I don't think so!"

"Hadil-sama."

The vizier calls the boy king's name quietly, as if he were chiding him for strengthening his tone.

"If you want to practice bargaining, do it somewhere else.

Galahad, who is usually so generous, is unusually a bit grumpy.

Since this country has the right to enter the basement, it would have been enough if he had given the condition that the two groups go together, but he seemed to want to play a subtle game of games with them. I have no idea what he was trying to bargain for, but I could tell that he was trying to bargain. The inflection of voice is important, as well as facial expressions.

"What do you want to do, sir?　It seems you want us to ask him to accompany you."　

Oh, you wanted me to come out of the woodwork and ask for help. I don't mind if you and Yuni and the others go on a joint front, but I'm more concerned about something else.

"Is the guardian beast's name really Ishvan?　Isn't it Aldvaan?"

Galahad puts down his cup and turns to face us. I guess I startled him with my lowered voice without realizing it.

The boy king gulps as they suddenly straighten their posture.

"<>"

"<>"

Looking at the Prime Minister, he traces the words in his memory and tells him.

The hunter of Elan once said these words to me. --<

The sound of a mosaic shuffling and moving echoes through the silent halls.

"I hear that the souls of the mystics are kept in the censer stored in the basement. --But we are not offering a new sacrifice. Those of us who are related to the guardian beasts recognize that the souls of the mystiffs from the days of Hasfarn's destruction long ago have been collected."

"Mi, Mistiffs are supposed to be protected by law in this country. They are not to be harmed, except by the leader of the group that was just here, who has not been seen in years!"

I don't remember threatening him, but the boy king was a little teary-eyed.

"It's quite a big place, isn't it?"

The courtyard where the small temple is located, as Yuni-chan said, is so large that it cannot be called a garden. It looks like a castle or two could be built here.

"There is a guardian beast under here. Some people say that it is extravagant to have nothing in the center of the country these days, but if the guardian beast moves, this area will fall.

The vizier leads the way with his magic-lit cantera, and a young priest follows at the rear, also carrying a cantera. The old temple, located in the center of the courtyard, is said to open only at night, so we waited for the sun to set before leaving.

We silently followed behind, thinking that there was a rational reason besides legends, miracles, and the like for this place being considered sacred and forbidden. In the end, we decided to attack together with Yuni and the others.

Princess Sylvia led the way for Yuni's party, and a priestess who looked like a scholar followed my party. It was the other side who had already flagged me, and I guessed that they would have raised their liking level for me. The number of people in the party is not counted, and the color of the priests on the map is the color of the target to be escorted. I'm not good at protecting them, but since Cal is there, I'm ready to push them.

We enter the temple, thinking that it is indeed the first time to defeat a princess. The small temple had only one room with a heavy dark blue velvet-like curtain in front. If it was made like this, there must be a statue of the god behind the curtain.

As soon as the Prime Minister entered, the candles attached to the pillars and walls of the temple lit up in response to the cantera, making the inside bright.

"Why is it hidden?"

Yuni asks the same question. From what we've seen so far, the god's statue here is probably Verna. Unlike Verus, who destroyed his own statue in a fit of anger, Verna's temple and god's statue were destroyed by human hands. The temple is full of secrets that only certain people are allowed to enter, probably hidden by thick curtains and the silence of the people involved in the time of confusion with the evil god.

The situation of the temple hidden by the curtains reminds me of the last scene of A Dog of Flanders. The last church that was hidden by the curtains was Rubens' church, wasn't it?　

"Sadiras is by no means a land of evil gods."

I was just thinking about the poor Patrush, not about the humans, and the story was going on. It seems that Yuni and his friends are making allegations against the princess and the prime minister. I wonder if I would have had the same suspicions if I had followed the storyline properly.

"If you don't mind, why don't you show us the statue of the god?　She is the Goddess of Darkness, isn't she?"

If the condition for going underground is the blessing or blessing of the moon goddess, then the people here must have met Verna or an incarnation of Verna. I want to go to the dungeon as soon as possible, so please solve this problem.

How do you know?

I know the Dark Goddess is not an evil goddess. It is pointless to hide it."

I did not answer the princess's question, but said it appropriately. The player equates the goddess of darkness with the evil goddess, and is likely to be pleased with the blessing of the evil goddess as usual. However, it would not be the case with Yunika.

The Prime Minister opened the curtain and a statue of Verna made of pale stone appeared from behind it. The color and material of the stone are cold and hard, but the impression given by the statue is soft. The sculptor must have been very skillful.

"Long ago, people equated the goddess of darkness with an evil god and destroyed temples and statues of deities. Having given up on the people, the goddess disappeared and only incarnations remained. If you met her incarnation, you would only recognize her as the Moon Goddess. I did not seem to be upset when I mentioned the Goddess of Darkness, and I wondered if her favor had been bestowed directly upon me.

Well. That's how it was set up!　I've rather only met the main body: ！！！！　At any rate, the stares are painful.

"The God of Darkness and Light, the Goddess of Darkness, who has been hidden from sight, has returned to this place ......"

The princess, who seems to be trembling with emotion, says with tears in her eyes, while the people in the general store are turning away from her with all their might.

"Homraaaaaaahhhh ！！！！！"

"I inadvertently accepted it as normal: ....... Don't tell me I'm getting off on it too......?"

"It was a long time ago, it's not that important. Maybe ......."

The party conversation is going in a direction that sounds like it's my fault. It's not my fault!　Shouldn't be. Even though the content of the party conversation is incomprehensible to anyone but the party, the three of you are very dexterous in shouting it out without showing it in your faces.

"Can you show us the way to the basement?　You won't be able to get back before nightfall."

Cal urges with a smile, "I'm glad you're cool.