CH 103

Chapter 103 – ☆(・ω<)

The next day.

I don’t know if it was because I had secretly drank Poizo’s antidote or if it was because I had stayed in the cathedral, which is a sanctuary, or if it was simply because the natural healing process had progressed, but my physical condition had improved considerably.

When I checked the status window, I saw that the “poisonous (chronic)” status was changed to “weak (healing in progress).” My physical strength and stamina gauge had recovered to their maximum levels, and I felt like I could move as usual as long as I didn’t overdo it.

“Your complexion is looking much better.”

“It’s all thanks to you.”

I bowed my head in gratitude to Amalie-san, who had brought me my meals since this morning. Although Ellen often came to see me when she had free time, it was Amalie-san who stayed by my side and took care of me. She was like a goddess, taking care of me without a single displeased look.

“But that thing is a basilisk poison. I think it’s better to wait and see.”

“Yes.”

At the moment, the natural healing ability seems to outweigh the damage caused by the poison, but who knows what will happen when I leave the cathedral. If it starts to diminish slowly, I might die, so it’s better to stay quiet until the status abnormality disappears.

However, this environment is very boring. I can’t do any crafting, and I can’t mess with my inventory. It was mentally very hard just to eat, sleep, and rest.

Amalie-san had brought something to mend and was tinkering with it, but of course, I didn’t have anything like that. I can operate the crafting menu with just my eyes, or rather, with my eyes closed if I want to, but I’ve done all the crafting I can do without a workbench, and I’ve come to the city. There’s nothing to do. The only thing I can do is look at the status window.

There are no more achievements. I have a feeling that it might be unlocked once the poisoning is cured, but at this point, nothing has been added.

It’s bad enough that I’m interrupting Amalie-san, so I think about the future on my own.

I told Ellen to come with me, but she’ll have to make some preparations even if she does. If Ellen were to suddenly start denouncing the current Adel religion on her own, not many people would follow her, so she would need to do a lot of groundwork. Even if she wanted to start a new denomination, she wouldn’t be able to lead her followers if she didn’t have a clear idea of what she wanted to do.

Besides, I don’t have any information about Ellen’s superior who sent her here, the cardinal who is said to be the rival of the white pig bishop. Is there any way that he could be on Ellen’s side? I would like to know what kind of person he is.

Besides, I don’t know what kind of framework the organizations of the Adel religion and the Holy Kingdom operate within. Ellen talked about the Pope and the Cardinals, but it is unclear what the power relationship is between the Holy King of the Holy Kingdom and the Pope and the Cardinals. I believe she said that the Pope and the Holy King did not seem to be the same person, but I would have to check.

Then there is the difficulty of the goal of a major shift in faith. For those who believe in the Adel religion, the common sense that sub-humans are beneath them, that they deserve to be slaves, is a kind of entitlement. I don’t know if it’s possible to spread teaching that would make people abandon that… It seems to me that it would be very difficult.

However, the Merinard Kingdom is a country where humans and subhumans have lived together for a long time.

It’s been twenty years since the old Merinard Kingdom was made into a vassal state. There are probably still many people who still have the values of the old Merinard Kingdom. At least in the Merinard Kingdom, there must be a certain amount of groundwork to accept the new religion.

There would be many adjustments that would need to be made, but I don’t think it would be a completely absurd idea.

If that’s the case, I need to get in touch with the Liberation Army… before the battle between the Liberation Army and the Holy Kingdom Army stationed in the Merinard Kingdom begins on a full scale.

With the Liberation Army’s equipment, it would be possible to crush the Holy Kingdom Army head-on, but if so, the damage to both sides would be great, and the land would certainly be ruined. I think even Sylphy and the others have the feeling that they don’t want to do that if at all possible.

While I was thinking about this, there was a knock on the door, and Amalie-san stopped her mending and went to the door. The person who came into the room was, as I thought, Ellen.

“Please let us talk for a moment.”

Ellen said as soon as she came in and asked Amalie-san and Berta-san to leave the room. Then she sat down on the chair beside my bed and stared at my face.

“I’ve thought about it all night.”

“Oh.”

“I think it will be difficult. It’s a thorny path. Do you still want to do it?”

“Yes. Because I think it’s the best thing to do.”

“If I do it, I’m risking my life. It means fighting head-on against the very foundation of the Adel religion itself. There will be assassins of a level where the previous assassin was just like a mere child. And yet you still want to?”

“Yeah.”

I looked back at Ellen’s gaze from the front and nodded.

“I’m scared. I don’t want to die. Even if people call me a saint, I’m still just a weak little girl. I don’t know if I can withstand the constant threats to my life from assassins.”

“It’s easy to assert that I’ll definitely protect you… But that’s not possible. I’m neither a god nor an absolutely invincible hero. But I will do everything in my power to protect you.”

“I see… One last question. Can you make me your number one woman?”

“I can’t do that. I have only one beloved.”

I answered immediately and shook my head. This is non-negotiable. My beloved is Sylphy, no matter what.

“So, am I a mistress, a concubine, or a woman of convenience?”

“Eh?”

“From what you’ve said, there’s someone else, isn’t there? There is a woman who would risk her life for you. And the kind of woman you would want to protect even at the cost of your life.”

“Uh… yes.”

“Can I say something harsh?”

Ellen grinned at me. I raised my hands in total surrender.

“Please spare me.”

“No, I won’t.”

“No way.”

But the saint showed no mercy.

“If you can only save the life of one of us, me or that woman… then feel free to save her life.”

“Yes…”

“I may not be the best for you, but for me, you will be the best. I want you to be happy. That is what it means to be close and alive, I believe.”

“Y-yeah…”

How can I say this? It’s so heavy.

“So, I will gladly give my life to you then. You won’t have to worry about me.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“You must. It has to be. That is the path you are walking. You must be prepared for it.”

Ellen returned to her expressionless face and said so plainly. The red jade eyes were very calm, and I could sense that she was saying this from the bottom of her heart.

“It’s what it means to make an enemy of the Adel religion. You should always be prepared for that.”

“I won’t say you’re exaggerating… Just by disqualifying the bishop of this place legitimately, they send out an assassin.”

“That’s what it is.”

Ellen nodded profoundly. I feel really sorry for thinking that she is a serious woman or something. Ellen urged me to be prepared… Hmm?

“Ellen will cooperate with me, is that correct?”

“Yes, I will. I still can’t believe that the oracle was a mistake on my part. In addition, there are many points in which I agree with you that the upper echelons of the current Adel religion are betraying God.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The denomination I belong to is called the so-called nostalgia denomination.”

“Nostalgia?”

“It’s a denomination that studies and practices the original teachings of the Adel religion.”

“Huh… Oh, you mean that. As time goes by, the interpretation of God’s words and the scriptures that contain them have become distorted?”

Ellen nodded at my words with a blank expression on her face. It was a rather wild guess, but it turned out to be right.

“We believe that an unnatural falsification of the doctrine took place during the period from about three hundred years before the fall of the Omit Kingdom to about two hundred years before the establishment of the Merinard Kingdom. It is highly likely that the current mainstream school is post-falsification teaching.”

“I see. What exactly has been tampered with?”

“There is a strong suspicion that it has been tampered with in order to discriminate against subhumans.”

“What?”

In other words, I wonder if my suggestion is actually a good one for the denomination to which Ellen belongs. That may be the reason why Ellen easily nodded to my proposal.

“I don’t know why such a falsification took place. It is thought that it might be related to the destruction of the Omit Kingdom, but there are few details about the reason for the destruction of the Omit Kingdom. It seems that the kingdom was destroyed in an uncommonly short period, and since the site has been turned into the Great Omit Wilderness, there has been no progress in the investigation.”

“A-ah… the reason for the destruction, huh? Hmmm, I’m not really sure about that.”

I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this. This may be the result of the power of the Omit Kingdom, which was destroyed by a large number of spirit stones after a quarrel with the elves, and the upper echelons of the Adel religion at that time, and the feeling of resentment in their hearts, they have been steadily lobbying for anti-subhumans.

No-no. It’s too early to jump to conclusions. It’s just my imagination, hahaha.

“You’re lying.”

“Ahhhhhhhh, the saint of truth, aaaaaaahhhh!”

I held my head with my hands as she saw through my lie in one look.

“No, I don’t need to use my powers to see that.”

“Right! But I can’t be sure, so no comment! Let’s talk about the future!”

“…Fine. I’ll have you talk about it soon.”

“Y-yes, I promise you that.”

In fact, it’s going to be a disaster if Sylphy and the others find out that the downfall of the Merinard Kingdom was caused by the Elven elders’ mischievous behavior hundreds of years ago.

I think I had a vision of the elders laughing embarrassedly while sticking their tongues out at me. I’d like to think it was my imagination.

Author Note:

( ☆(・ω<)☆(・ω<)☆(・ω<)☆(・ω<) )o。(゜д゜;)

It’s not our fault.

The other party came to fight with us first.

We’re sorry we couldn’t finish them off.

And other things.