Chapter 155 - Mountain is Mountain But Wrong Mountain
“Translator: Anargya”
“Editor: GhostApe”
The end of hell came abruptly.
The ball finally shattered into pieces because it could no longer withstand the load of rolling at tremendous speed.
「Aaaaahhhh!?」
I was thrown into the air, but just before hitting the ground, I managed to change the black claws into a cushion and mitigated most of the fall damage.
「It hurts… Err, this place is…?」
While trembling with joy for finally touching the ground, I slump on the ground and try to confirm my current situation.
There is a fountain in front of me. And beyond that, is a towering cathedral.
This is the square in front of the cathedral where I met Ria.
「Ah, I see. In short, the place where the church people reside, right?」
When I looked around, armed magicians and the city residents had surrounded me.
However, it doesn’t seem to be the end of the volume.
Their faces are uniformingly colored in confusion. When I listened carefully, some of the people were saying things like: 「Why is he riding a ball?」, 「I don’t understand what he is trying to do.」and 「Is he crying?」.
When I tried to move a step toward them, everyone’s wariness went up a notch at once. However, they didn’t attack me suddenly.
Although they still seem to fear me, the impression of the horror has changed from “Evil Evil Dragon” to “Unintelligible Evil Dragon”. I myself would be scared if I see someone screaming while riding a ball though.
『Can you hear that Rēvendia…… Everyone has enjoyed your art…』
「I think what they are feeling is different from enjoying something though.」
『Well then, call me again if you are in trouble. The power of the ball is so great that I am a bit tired. Good luck to you.』
「Ah wait! Don’t leave me alone in this place!」
『Fufu. You are not alone Rēvendia… I am always, always in your heart.』
The voice cut off there.
That last line is a little disturbing, but I won’t think about it at this moment.
Then, a man appeared from the crowds of people. A slender young man with a monocle— the cardinal that I met earlier.
「Come quietly Rēvendia! You are already surrounded! No, even if you are not surrounded, your defeat has already been decided when you come in front of me, the extraordinary genius Cardinal!」
「Ah! Dragon-san is over there! Oiiiiii!」
At that time, a terrible song rang out following Ria’s voice calling me.
Of course, everyone looked at the source of the sound. A strange spectacle is happening there.
—The beasts are marching in a row like a parade. Leading it is Ria, riding on the back of a wolf. And beside Ria is Rēko, waving her hands like a conductor while an uselessly magnificent music plays.
Their entry, which has far more impact than the cardinal’s entrance, attracted all the public’s eyes.
There is no musical instrument anywhere, so the source of the song is probably the acoustic magic that Rēko learned from Sheina.
Nobody(including me) said anything when they appeared, but when their whole show finished, the Cardinal let out a long sigh.
「Haha! You are willing to return the Shrine Maiden in response to my call, after all? That is a wise decision. Even if you are the enemy, I’ll have to say that that is praiseworthy.」
「You have amazing positive thinking.」
In a sense, the Cardinal is a person that has Rēko-class level thinking.
Ria descended from the wolf’s back that was laying on the ground, and immediately rushed to my side.
「Everyone! This Dragon-san is not a bad dragon! Kami-sama said so too!」
She spread out her hands to protect me and raised out a voice of protest.
However, many people are still confused. No wonder that happened though. It is probably because only a small number of people in the church, including the Cardinal, actually know that Ria is the Shrine Maiden that successfully called Kami-sama down.
The general public still thinks that a Shrine Maiden will be selected at the festival, so at the moment they think Ria is just a Shrine Maiden candidate. However, there is also a fact that she appeared alongside the Holy Beasts. People will be at a loss on what to believe or not.
Rēko, who came after her, stood beside Ria and tapped her shoulder.
「Looks like you are still lacking in trust. It can’t be helped. Whether it is a hit or miss, try calling down the real god here.」
「I understand!」
「Wait, Rēko. What should we do if that Dark Goat comes again?」
「We will prevent that from happening.」
「You said we, but what should we do exactly?」
「Yes」, Rēko nods mysteriously.
「Call the god with Evil Dragon-sama’s powerful telepathy. If someone as powerful as Evil Dragon-sama calls him directly, he should wake up.」
「But I can’t use telepathy.」
「I will act as an amplifier. Now, please.」
The tip of Rēko’s hair became pointed and began to rotate round and round. She may be going to send telepathy with that antenna like hair.
「E, err… he is a volcano god, right? Then he is probably in the mountains…」
I vaguely imagined a mountain and prayed 「Please come out」.
Then, Rēko’s hair began to move violently before being fixed in one direction.
「There was a reply. I caught it.」
「Eh? Really?」
「Yes. I will connect it to the Shrine Maiden now.」
After saying that, Rēko touched Ria’s shoulder. Immediately, the hair color of Ria who was praying changed.
However, it is not the same orange color when Kami-sama possessed her. Although similar, it is a golden color similar to gold.
『You have called the mountain.』
Another person came due to it being the wrong mountain.
This extremely dry and objective tone… it’s the spirit of the gold mountain who was with us that time.
「Ah, it’s my mistake Spirit-san! I was thinking of another mountain, I didn’t mean to call you…!」
『Going back to the mountain.』
「Ah, thank you for your speedy understanding.」
It’s a good thing that Spirit-san responded and acted quickly before getting confused.
Ria, who regained her consciousness from the possession, raised her hands into the sky, and shouted confidently.
「Come, everyone! That is Kami-sama’s word! Now you know that Dragon-san is kind!」
「I think it requires a more unesoteric explanation.」
Surely enough, the people of the capital are staring at us from a distance as they couldn’t make the decision. It can’t be helped, I’ll have to try and call Kami-sama again.
「Thank you for your words, I have certainly heard.」
I suddenly heard a voice in front of me and jumped in surprise a little. Before I knew it, the Cardinal had approached us silently and knelt down.
「If that is what our God says, I will listen to it faithfully.」
「U, um Cardinal-san? I’m happy that you said that, but that just now is a different god or rather spirit you know? Or rather, all she said is “you called” and “returning” in the first place.」
「It is impossible for me, the Cardinal, to misunderstand our God’s words.」
So he is the same kind of person as Rēko.
I thought about that, but when I saw the Cardinal’s eyes when he was standing up, my impression changed a little. The light of believing in God in a positive way is vigorous, but an endless madness like Rēko can’t be seen.
Does he have any reason to believe in Ria’s words?
—Anyway,
「If that’s the case, will you get along with us?」
「It is still difficult to make that decision, considering that the people of the capital have not wiped out their fears yet. For now, can we have a little talk in the church?」
「Of course.」
At least the Cardinal, a great man in this country, trusts me.
I can now meet with Yoro-san, too.
「For the time being, your other companion…please tell me the location of that powerful armored demon. He just disappeared from the prison.」