CH 102

Chapter 102 – Instigate The Saint

“I’ve been thinking about God’s intentions. In my own way.”

“In your own way?”

“In my own way. Now, to a priest, the idea of a mere mortal trying to figure out God’s intentions would be ridiculous, but hear me out.”

“Let’s hear it.”

While holding a glass of milk, Ellen turned her crimson eyes toward me.

“The first place I stepped into this world… or rather I was thrown out, was the border between the Black Forest and the Great Omit Wilderness.”

“That’s quite a remote area. How were you able to survive?”

“If by some chance I had gone into the Great Omit Wilderness instead of the Black Forest, I would have died. So I went into the forest in search of water and food, and after a lot of difficulties, I ended up under the protection of a certain elf.”

“Under protection?”

“To put it bluntly, I became her slave. At least, in terms of position.”

It was a relationship that started out with a lot of calculations on both sides. Now I think about it; I miss it.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It wasn’t so bad. At the time, the forest elves and refugees from the Merinard kingdom were very… hostile to humans. If I had not been under her protection, they would have killed me before long.”

“…I see.”

Ellen turned over with her eyes downcast as if she had something on her mind. Obviously, the Adel religion is the one that fuels the interspecies conflict between humans and subhumans. As a saint, she must have some thoughts on the matter.

“At that time, I had no idea about my abilities. I worked with my master to find out what I was capable of… Let’s go back to the story. While I was in the forest, something happened, and I had the chance to talk to the Elven elders.”

“A talk?”

“Yes. Whenever the elves are in danger, a marebito will appear from the spirit world and save the forest elves. The marebito would appear at the border of the forest, or so they say.”

“The border of the forest… It matches your situation, right?”

I nodded to Ellen’s words and continued talking.

“Yeah. I thought so too when I heard that story. However, I was not directly told what to do by this God. I didn’t even believe in the existence of God in my original world.”

“You shouldn’t be so faithless. God is always watching over us.”

Mumumu, Ellen raises her eyebrows and glares lightly at me. Yeah, she’s probably scolding me, but she’s so adorable that I don’t feel like she’s scolding me.

“Maybe that’s really the case in this world. That’s probably why I was sent to this world.”

“…What does that mean?”

“When I met Ellen, I listened to your story and thought about it. If it was destiny or God’s intention for me and Ellen to meet, then what was the purpose of our meeting? I belong to the Liberation Army. I can’t turn to the Holy Kingdom now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, definitely.”

At my declaration, Ellen’s expression darkened, and she lowered her head. It’s practically a declaration of hostility.

“But God told Ellen to live by my side. In other words, it is telling Ellen to betray the current Holy Kingdom and the current Adel religion. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”

“That kind of thing… God would never command me to do such a thing.”

Blood drained from Ellen’s pale skin. For a devout believer of God, what I said would be unacceptable.

“Yeah, I think so too.”

As I easily admitted Ellen’s statement, Ellen’s eyes fluttered, and she showed a dumbfounded expression. Her expressionless mask seemed to have fallen off.

“So I reversed my thinking. I thought that the ones betraying God are the Holy Kingdom and Adel religion now. You know, Ellen. From your eyes, do the upper echelons of the Holy Kingdom, and the upper echelons of Adel religion seem like people who are in line with God’s will?”

“That’s…”

“Are they not drowning in wealth and authority, interpreting God’s will in their own way and using it to their own advantage? To put it more directly, aren’t they corrupt? Like the bishop who ruled this city of Merinesburg.”

“…..”

Ellen looked down again and fell silent. She herself cursed the Holy King and the cardinals with foul language, so I suppose what I’m saying is not entirely wrong.

“I will reclaim the Merinard Kingdom together with the Liberation Army and overthrow the Holy Kingdom. I’ll have to kill a lot of people, the people of the Holy Kingdom. I’ve prepared for that, and my hands are already covered in that blood.”

I held out my hand to Ellen to show her my palm and stared at her. This is the hand that killed thousands of soldiers of the Holy Kingdom with a large number of explosive blocks. It wasn’t exactly tangible, but it was an undeniable fact.

“But if Ellen is willing to help me, we might be able to reduce the amount of blood that will be spilled.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Ellen… No, Saint Eleonora. You can come with me, an apostle of God, to the Liberation Army. And you will create a new religion, a new denomination.”

“Wha…”

At my words, Ellen opened her eyes wide and gasped. The wooden cup of milk in her hand spilled out of her hand and bounced on the floor, making a damp sound.

“The content of the doctrine should be, well… let’s all help each other and get along or something. There is no discrimination, the priests are sincere in their prayers, and they take advice from everyone, but they don’t get involved in politics. Well, I guess we can talk about it together.”

“Wait a minute. Do you think that is possible?”

“It doesn’t matter if we can or can’t; we have to do it. We’re going to do it, me, Ellen, and everyone else. If things continue as they are, an all-out confrontation between the Liberation Army and the Holy Kingdom is inevitable. But if Ellen and I can work together to cut down the Adel religion, we should be able to reduce the amount of blood that is spilled in any way.”

I stare into the eyes of the flustered Ellen. Ellen’s crimson eyes shook as if my gaze shook her.

“I can do the things that God’s apostles do, to a certain extent. But still. You can trust me on that. So, let’s do it. Come with me.”

I could make food and medicine out of nothing or heal badly broken, sprained, or bent bones with plain bandages and splinters. I can build a strong wall overnight or grow crops in just three days. I think I’m good enough to be feted as an apostle or even a messiah.

“…By all means?”

“By all means.”

“Do you really need me?”

“I need Ellen. If I don’t go with Ellen, I’ll be stuck.”

“What if I don’t go with you?”

“I’ll be in trouble.”

“You’d be in trouble?”

“Yeah, I’d be in so much trouble.”

“Because it would mean killing me?”

Ellen looked at me straight in the eyes. I looked straight back at her and nodded.

“Yeah. I don’t like it because it might happen. I don’t want Ellen to die.”

“Because you don’t want to get hurt, do you?”

“Yeah, I’m a selfish person.”

“So you’re creating a new denomination because you don’t want to get hurt?”

“Yeah, it might reduce the number of deaths and protect my soul. Sounds like a good idea, right?”

“Isn’t that too much to ask?”

“It’s no use lying to Ellen, you know. Besides, ever since I came to this world, my motto has been to be honest with myself about my desires.”

“You are one heck of an apostle of God, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess so. That’s exactly right.”

Silence again. Our breathing sounded strangely loud.

“Please, let me think about it.”

“…Yeah, sure, do that. But I don’t want to wait too long.”

“I understand. I’ll make a decision tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

I nodded, and Ellen got up and left the room.

I felt like cursing myself for not being able to speak a little better. I think I did the best I could, but I’m not very good at this kind of talk, or rather, persuasion. In case of an emergency, it might be better to kidnap Ellen… and run away.

Ah, a good-looking man who is good at seducing women would probably do a little better. It’s a shame.

As I was lying around on my bed, Amalie-san came into the room.

“…Could it be that you were rejected?”

“No.”

“I see… Don’t worry, Eleonora-sama likes you.”

“As I said, it’s not like that.”

“Yes, yes.”

Amalie-san chuckled and began to clean up the cup that Ellen had dropped. Ah, no, the existence of milk is exposed.

“Ara?”

Amalie looked at me strangely, but I decided to ignore her. It was a night full of regrets for my poor communication and ineptitude.