Chapter 157

“Wow…!”

“Wow! I feel like I’m in a different world!”

When the eight girls arrived at the vacant land of the Shinto City that was under construction after passing through the【Transfer Gate】, they looked around and each of them shouted in admiration.

It may be natural to think of this city as a different world when you see it filled with buildings of Japanese-style architecture. In this place where the sound of irregular construction echoed from the surroundings, I could also smell the faint scent of wood in the wind.

“Your Majesty, Yuri, where exactly is this place…?”

The only girl among the eight girls who spoke with a bit of a mature tone asked this question.

She seemed to be quite smart for her age and might be the most suitable person to take charge of the eight girls.

“We don’t have a name yet because this city is still under construction. It’s located in a mountainous area to the south and southwest of Yuritania.”

Yuri dared to explain only its location from Yuritania.

Yuri doesn’t need to tell that this place was once the territory of the Duchy of Selsia, or that it is to the west of the capital of the Duchy.

―――All of the girls here had been treated as slaves when they were living in the Duchy of Selsia.

So Yuri was afraid to even mention the name of the principality in front of them.

I took the girls from the small clearing where I had set up the【Transfer Gate】to the large clearing across the street.

A little more than half of the area of this vacant lot was covered with grass and the other half with gravel. There were currently a total of 40 chickens free-range in this vacant lot.

The chickens are all female. All of them are larger than normal chickens, averaging about a meter in height.

“Wow, there are a lot of chickens here…!”

“Wait a minute!”

A little girl, who looked like a child for her age, happily ran towards the chickens.

The high priest Conrad saw this and hurriedly tried to stop her.

As you can see from the fact that there is a sport called ‘cockfighting’, chickens are quite aggressive animals. That’s probably why High Priest Conrad was afraid that the girl would approach him without warning and be attacked by the chickens.

Yuri stopped High Priest Conrad who was about to make a move to stop the girl.

“It’s okay.”

Yuri told the High Priestess Conrad briefly.

The chickens in this vacant lot are all under the control of a particular god. That’s why there’s absolutely no way that a girl could get hurt.

In fact, even if the girl ran up to it and hugged it. The chickens didn’t move an inch and did as they were told.

A normal chicken would have pounced on her or attacked her with its beak or claws.

“Oh, my God, this is amazing. These are well-behaved chickens…”

“It’s not that they are disciplined, but… Well, you don’t have to worry about attacking the children, which should give High Priest Conrad peace of mind as their guardian, right?”

“No, not at all. There’s nothing to worry about with this.”

The girl who had been hugging the chicken suddenly pulled away with a look of surprise on her face.

Said the little girl, with a face full of surprise.

“This chicken can speak!”

“Ha…?”

The High Priestess Conrad was puzzled by the girl’s words.

―――Well, no wonder. That would be a normal reaction.

“Yes, everyone pays attention!”

Yuri clapped her hands twice, attracting the attention of the girls.

A woman walked up to Yuri.

“Does everyone know that I’m “God”?”

“Yes, I do! The Goddess of Love!”

“……………………………………………………………… Yeah, that’s right.”

When Yuri is confronted with the fact that she is the “Goddess of Love,” the mental damage is great.

Even more so if it was innocent words coming from a girl’s mouth. While trying to keep a smile on her face, Yuri felt like crying a little inside.

“So let me introduce you all. This woman here is Amaterasu-sama, who is a goddess just like me.”

The eight girls rolled their eyes in surprise at the sight of Amaterasu, who gave a small bow.

The High Priestess Conrad did the same. The sight of his mouth gaping open was a little amusing to watch from the side.

“So, then… There are nine gods in this world, not eight…?”

“High Priest Conrad, it’s never wise to make decisions based on your speculations. If you have such a tendency, you’d better reflect on it.”

“Ha…! I’m sorry.”

“As the name suggests, there are only eight main gods in this world, including myself. However, many more gods are not the main gods. To put it simply, Amaterasu here is a lesser ・・・・・ god than me.”

“Oh, I see…”

The High Priestess Conrad nodded frequently and repeatedly, still with a look of surprise on his face.

The words that Yuri spoke were insulting to Amaterasu, the presiding deity of Takamagahara. Amaterasu smiled softly and did not change her expression.

―――Of course, this was not Yuri’s intention. After discussing it with Amaterasu, we agreed beforehand that we would set it up that way.

It is no exaggeration to say that for the people of this world, their faith in the eight gods, led by Lydina, is absolute. The eight gods are inviolable, and Yuri, who is a party to the eight gods, must not say anything that would deny them.

That’s why Yuri can’t introduce Amaterasu and the other gods who live in this city as gods of the same rank as herself. If she were to do so easily, it might lead to a violation of the authority of the “Eight Gods”.

We should introduce Amaterasu and the others to the people as gods of a lower rank than the eight gods.

That way, the authority of the eight gods would not be flawed, and people would recognize Amaterasu and the others as gods in their own right.

It’s not even a lie.

This is because God’s status as a deity is determined by the amount of faith people have in it.

In this world, there is a lot of faith in the “Eight Gods,” and at the moment, there is no faith in Amaterasu and the others, who have no recognition among the people.

I don’t know what the future holds. At least at this point, treating Amaterasu as a ‘lower-ranked god’ is nothing but a pure fact.

“I’m Amaterasu, and I look forward to working with you all.”

“““Thank you for your cooperation!”””

In contrast to High Priest Conrad, who was still a bit confused, the children were quick to adapt.

“The chickens here were created by my power, and they are called ‘Shinshi,’ which is a bit difficult to explain, so you can forget it.

(TN: 神使/しんし= Messenger of God; Divine Messenger.)

I would be happy if you all just knew that the chickens here are ‘special chickens’.”

The word ‘messenger’ means ‘an animal that belongs to the gods’.

The reason why chickens are allowed to roam free in the precincts of the Inner Shrine of Shinto City is that chickens are considered to be the ‘divine messengers’ of Amaterasu.

“What is so special about them?”

“The chickens here can understand what people are saying.”

Amaterasu replied to the slightly older girl’s question.

The chickens here can understand the language spoken by humans.

“You can talk to chickens?”

“Yes, they can talk. However, chickens do not have a vocal organ… Well, their bodies are not designed to speak, so they cannot produce a voice like humans.

However, the chickens here can ‘communicate’ to the person they are touching. So if you touch them directly, as this girl just did, you can have a conversation with them. Would you mind trying it?”

The eight girls fearfully touched the chickens.

If the girl speaks to the chickens, they understand and respond to her words, and if she touches them, they can hear her response.

Once they experience it firsthand, young children adapt very quickly. Within a few minutes, the children were not afraid to talk to the chickens in a friendly manner.

“Okay, that’s enough chit-chat with the chickens for now, okay?”

Once again, Yuri clapped her hands twice to get the girls’ attention.

“As the High Priestess Conrad told us, you will be taking care of the chickens here today.

―――There are three main tasks. The three main tasks are to collect the eggs that the chickens have laid, to buy daily food for the chickens, and to talk to and play with the chickens.”

I’m not going to ask you to do anything difficult.

All Yuri asks for is a job that can be easily done by small children.