Chapter 35 Gods And Goddesses

"Hmm..hmm..hmmm...hmmm.." The boy breathed out heavily, trying to calm down his raging heart.

The boy could feel the honesty and coldness in the demon's voice.

These two were, of course, Max and Ravenna. Max saw the boy panicking too much, which made him frown a little as he felt the boy might do something stupid.

"Ravenna, bind him." Max put the boy down, letting him sit on the bed. Meanwhile, Ravenna made a small opening on her finger, letting the blood flow out and bind the boy, acting as rope.

Max took the only chair in the room and sat down before the boy, face to face. He leaned forward and asked with a smile. "Let's start with an introduction. Tell me what your name is?"

"M- my…my…" The boy stuttered, not able to speak, still being in fear.

Max let out a sigh and then said. "Look, just answer truthfully, and I won't kill you. If you are too scared, then let me introduce ourselves first. This is one of my general, Ravenna, and I am M- ."

Max halted in speaking of his name; he pondered about what changes might be seen if his name becomes public. He was sure once his daughter finds out about his old name, mixing with demons, she might think different things. So, he didn't want to risk going with this name. For that reason, he used a name that he knew while living in Japan in the past.

The boy was stumped as to why the man before him stopped suddenly, but he didn't have to think too much as the man looked into his eyes and said with a smile. "Sorry for that; I forgot that I have a new name that I got recently. My name is Benimaru. Nice to meet you. Now, can you please tell me yours?"

Ravenna was surprised to see Max using this name, and he wanted to question him about why he did that, but now was not the time.

She will have to call him Benimaru from now on, and so will others.

The boy gulped his own saliva and pondered. 'These guys don't look bad. I heard demons kill humans on sight, but they are doing nothing. Maybe the rumors are wrong.'

What this boy heard was true, as demons would kill anyone or anything on sight; the only very few exceptions were people like Benimaru and Ravenna, or to say high-ranking demons.

"My name is…" The boy hesitated for a bit before finally blurting out his name. "My name is Nihal."

"Nihal, what a nice name! Nihal, can you tell me what your church is about and what god you worship? You see, I am new to this world and very curious about its culture." Max asked with great interest.

Nihal completely let lowered his guard after seeing Benimaru being so easygoing, and the girl behind him also had a sweet smile on her face like a sunshine girl next door. So he asked softly. "Can you please free me first? This binding is hurting me, so I hope you can do it."

"Sure." Benimaru agreed without a second thought. He signaled for Ravenna to take back the binding, which she did, retracting her blood back into her body.

Nihal rubbed his arms, where the blood rope was binding him, and then said to them. "You guys want to know about the church I worship in. So, let's start with who this church belongs to."

"This church is of Ignia, the Goddess of Nature and the Mother of Mana. She is the one who maintains the order of nature and the flow of mana in this world. So, the children and the worshipers under her can have the highest mana control and flow."

Benimaru and Ravenna were very surprised. Nihal might have only explained a few things about Goddess Ignia, but it already revealed how strong she was. Benimaru further asked. "These children you are talking abou, is that the sea of them I saw outside the church? Were they trying to get some sort of approval from her or something?"

"Yes." Nihal nodded his head, agreeing with his guess. "The children will come before Goddess Ignia's statue and connect with her through the help of the priest. Then by dropping a drop of blood in the pond, right before her statue, and showing their devotion, they will get a marking from the Goddess. The marking is a lotus flower, and the amount of patel indicates the favorability of the Goddess and the volume of mana they can contain and absorb."

Benimaru rubbed his chin, feeling there was more to it, but he wasn't able to quite put his finger on it. Then he asked. "Did the daughter of the baron also come to church to get the goddess's marking? Because I heard she is very talented, so she didn't need to come."

"No, you are wrong." Nihal shook his head and then explained to them. "You see, God and Goddess have the highest authority in this world, even more than the king. If they take a city, small or large, under their control, then everyone there will have to follow the teachings of that God or Goddess. Because they bring peace and protection to that place."

'Just as I guessed, there is a different social structure, and it determines a place's culture.' Benimaru was surprised to see that his assumption was correct. This also meant his daughter did come here to get the Goddess Ignia's blessing, which he didn't mind as it would make him grow stronger.

Then came the final question that had been bugging Benimaru for a while. He looked at Nihal and spoke with a stoic yet stern face. "Hey, I also heard a nasty rumor about the priest. It is said he does a lot of bad stuff to the young girl Acolytes and some beautiful children?"

Nihal was taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere, as it somehow turned gloomy. He could even feel the anger in Benimaru's calm face.