CH 139

If the Goddess had contacted the Pope-impersonating demon through the Alam Karla, then I couldn’t ignore that.

As she was about to tell me more, her stomach rumbled.

[I-I’m sorry. I know we’re in the middle of an important conversation.] (Alam Karla)

She clutched her own stomach in embarrassment.

[Let’s have a quick meal before we talk. I’ll cook something. Is there any food you don’t like?] (Lugh)

This was gonna be a long discussion, so it was better to have a meal first.

Hearing her out was important, but gaining her trust was also necessary. I didn’t want to force her.

If I did, her mind would accept it because of the situation, but frustration would still build up in her heart. And the heart was an illogical thing.

[Please don’t. I wouldn’t want to impose on you.] (Alam Karla)

[I’m feeling hungry myself. Don’t let it bother you.] (Lugh)

[Is that so. Then, it would be a pleasure.] (Alam Karla)

[Sure. Also, I prepared that room over there for you. There’s a change of clothes in it. You can’t relax dressed like that, can you? Feel free to get changed and rest until we’re ready to eat.] (Lugh)

When I said that, the Alam Karla took a look at her own clothes.

She was dressed in the white, skin-tight outfit that she used for performing the purification ritual in the great bathroom. It wasn’t the sort of outfit one would show to a man.

[I-In that case, I will be waiting…! …On that note, I am not fond of fish.] (Alam Karla)

She nodded and went to the back room.

After about 30 mins, the food was ready, and I called her in.

It seemed she was taking a nap, and her complexion had gotten much better.

She changed into loose-fitting loungewear. She had removed her makeup and wig, and her appearance had changed drastically as a result.

[Come on, eat up.] (Lugh)

The food I put on the table was pancakes and hot chocolate.

[I shall help myself without reserve, then. This black drink is amazingly tasty. It warms me up.] (Alam Karla)

[It’s called hot chocolate. A highly valued drink.] (Lugh)

[I’ve never tasted it before. I could get addicted to this.] (Alam Karla)

[Then I’ll get plenty of it for you. And I’d like you to hide in here for a few days.] (Lugh)

Chocolate had a soothing effect on the soul, and it was highly nutritious.

It was the perfect drink for her right now.

[Can I truly use this house?] (Alam Karla)

[This is the safest house around. Reliable supplies will be provided to you on a regular basis. You shouldn’t be inconvenienced in any way.] (Lugh)

She still has work to do in the Holy Land. And it was extremely risky to leave, or to break in again after leaving.

Taking the next course of action into account, sheltering her in this safehouse was the option with the lowest risk.

When I explained this to her over our meal, she acquiesced.

[I must thank you for everything. Oh! These pancakes are also delightful. So light and fluffy. It makes me question the bread I have been eating until now.] (Alam Karla)

[There’s a little trick to it.] (Lugh)

The baking powder that made bread and cake puff up didn’t exist in this world, but it was newly developed at Orna.

The pancakes were made with a mixture of baking powder and yogurt, but with small quantities of oil.

The baking powder caused a chemical reaction in yogurt that released a large amount of carbon dioxide gas, which made the dough puff up even more than if I had used baking powder alone.

The result was a fluffy batter with plenty of air.

Even someone with a weak body could enjoy fluffy pancakes.

In fact, she ate up both her hot chocolate and pancakes completely.

[Thank you for the treat. I never thought I could have such a delicious meal while on the run. You make a great cook, Lugh-sama.] (Alam Karla)

[It’s a hobby of mine. Yep, you look much better. …Now, do you mind if we go back to our topic? What did the godde- I mean, the great goddess discuss with that demon when she possessed your body?] (Lugh)

[To tell you the truth, even though I remember their conversation, I didn’t really understand what the great goddess meant by it.] (Alam Karla)

She looked down apologetically.

[As long as you remember, it’s all right. Just tell me what you heard.] (Lugh)

If anything, it would just get confusing if she included some strange personal interpretations in it.

Knowing the original content was preferable, since they may have intentionally used some strange expressions to communicate.

[Very well. Then, here’s what I heard. The great goddess said: “I won’t interfere with your business, so don’t interfere with mine either.” ; “The promised day we’ve both been waiting for is just around the corner.” ; “The fact that the Hero of this generation hasn’t been used up at this point is a problem.” …And that was all.] (Alam Karla)

[And what did the demon say?] (Lugh)

[He said he would accept the great goddess’s proposal, and that he would take measures regarding the Hero. …Also, he asked her to remain neutral.] (Alam Karla)

[Neutral, huh. Now this is an interesting expression. So that’s how the demons see the great goddess. Neither friend nor foe, just a bystander.] (Lugh)

There were many words I was curious about.

What did the Goddess mean by “interference”? It didn’t sound like she was referring to an attack on me, her valuable pawn.

I also wondered about that promised day she mentioned. Taking it from the demon’s perspective, I had to assume that it could be the day the Demon King would be resurrected, but I couldn’t figure out why the Goddess would wait for it.

Lastly, there was what she said about the Hero not being used up. This was probably due to me playing an active role so that Epona wouldn’t fight the demons. But on the other hand, it sounded as if Heroes were expendable. This was another thing I could be blamed for.

There was no reason why such power wouldn’t come at a price. It would be interesting to see what happens when it’s used up.

I will have to keep gathering as much detailed information as possible.

[Thanks, this was really helpful.] (Lugh)

[I’m glad I could help.] (Alam Karla)

[But there’s one more thing I don’t understand. What made you convinced that your life was in danger? From what the great goddess and the demon said, nothing indicated that you were in danger.] (Lugh)

Indeed, there was no mention of the Alam Karla in what I heard today.

[Even before I realized he was a demon, the Pope threatened me. He told me to pass on his words as the words of the goddess… and that if I disobeyed him, he would kill me and find a new Alam Karla who would listen to him… I’ve been refusing his orders for so long. I prayed to the great goddess for help, but all she did was tell me what to convey, and she never helped me… Even back when she used me to talk to the demon, she didn’t say anything about me… Then I came to realize that the great goddess wouldn’t help me… Just yesterday, the demon killed my attendant, and threatened to kill me next… So, I gave in… and passed on the demon’s words as the words of the great goddess this morning…!] (Alam Karla)

She cried as she said all this.

One step… I was just one step too late.

[So what did you announce?] (Lugh)

[I told everyone… that the great goddess… had never spoken with Lugh-sama…! I was afraid… Afraid to die- No, more than that… I was afraid to go back to my former life… to be a living piece of garbage again… I’m sorry..! I’m sorry…!] (Alam Karla)

With tears streaming down her face, the Alam Karla entwined her arms around herself. She tightened her fingers so hard that she peeled off the white paint she didn’t remove.

[You did great putting up with it for this long.] (Lugh)

[Aren’t you… angry with me…? Don’t you realize the predicament I’ve put you in just for my own interests?] (Alam Karla)

That was a fact.

The timing the Alamism religion chose to summon me, the revelation that I had never heard the voice of the Goddess, all this was clearly done in order to set me up.

I had already gone from hero of the nation to scum of the earth who abused the name of the Goddess.

As soon as I formally arrived in the Holy Land, the inquisition would begin.

[This is not your fault, it’s all because of that demon who drove you into this mess.] (Lugh)

[Even so… I…!] (Alam Karla)

[If you feel guilty about it, then lend me your support. …I intend to walk into his trap on purpose, and undergo the inquisition.] (Lugh)

And then, I’ll foil that trap head-on. 

[You can’t…! This is suicide! They may call it a trial, but all they really do is label and condemn! They don’t have the slightest intention of listening to what you have to say!] (Alam Karla)

Yeah, I knew that.

That’s how religion was.

Powerful people only looked out for their own self-respect. That was especially true for religious figures.

They would never admit that they were wrong, and they couldn’t either.

That didn’t only apply to the Pope, everyone involved in this inquisition was of the same mind.

If I faced them without a plan, I’d have no chance of winning this.

[Normally, yeah. And that’s why I won’t handle this normally. With your power, the one that only the proxy of the Goddess possesses, I can win this. I won’t sugarcoat it, the Pope has already found a replacement for you long ago. You’re no longer the Alam Karla. Those guys won’t take you back, they’ll just send assassins after you.] (Lugh)

When a pawn was hard to exploit, getting rid of it and replacing it with a new one was more practical than trying to use it.

Because as far as they were concerned, whether the pawn could hear the voice of the Goddess or not didn’t matter one bit.

[I… This can’t be…] (Alam Karla)

It seemed she didn’t consider that when she ran away.

She didn’t doubt her own worth. She overestimated what it meant to be able to hear the voice of the Goddess.

If she had known this was gonna happen, she might’ve shaken my hand off.

It was on purpose that I told her something that would make her feel cornered.

As we talked, I realized that the Alam Karla was a fairly strong woman.

She apologized for the trouble she had caused me. But until that moment, she hadn’t expressed any guilt towards me.

If she had been a truly kind-hearted woman, she would’ve felt guilty from the moment she first saw me, and apologized to me.

She did what she did so I would forgive her out of sympathy.

After all, I would’ve eventually found out what she did sooner than later. So a fault confessed would be half-redressed.

It wasn’t for my sake that she refused to spread a false oracle despite the demon’s threats. It was so she wouldn’t undermine her own worth as the Goddess’s mouthpiece. She instinctively knew that every lie she said would lower the value of the Alam Karla, and she was afraid of offending the Goddess by doing that.

Telling a lie was easy, but it was obvious that doing so would reduce the value of the Alam Karla’s role to something that anyone could do.

In other words, she’s a calculating individual.

What I needed to do to handle her wasn’t to appeal to her emotions, but to show her the benefits of helping me. Namely, telling her that I would create an environment where the Pope, who was preventing her from performing her duties as the Alam Karla, would be out of the picture, and where she would go back to being the Alam Karla, as she had always been.

That’s why I told her that.

People like her were easier to handle that way.

[Even if you’re no longer the Alam Karla, I will guarantee your safety, and provide you with daily support. …But if you want to get your life back as the Alam Karla, you’ll have to help me bring the Pope and his impostor into submission when they show up during the inquisition. I’ve got the scenario and preparations to do so ready.] (Lugh)

The fact that I had already been framed by means of the Alam Karla was a hard blow. But that was nothing more than one of the scenarios I had anticipated.

I had the means to fight it, and the groundwork necessary to turn things over was already in place.

[I understand. I will fight. For atonement, and for myself. …In the end, I still want to be the Alam Karla. I don’t want to go back to that awful life ever again!] (Alam Karla)

Well that’s a surprise. Didn’t think she’d choose now to speak her mind.

I smiled gently, and put my hand on her shoulder.

[Glad that you’ve made up your mind. Let’s do our best.] (Lugh)

[Yes!] (Alam Karla)

Even for me, it would’ve been madness to challenge the inquisition without the real Alam Karla as one of my assets.

But here she was.

Once I had her with me, my available options increased immediately.

The first step was to strongly spread the rumor that the Goddess had invited her to her realm. While giving the impression that her attendants were the source of it.

The message we left on the wall with her lipstick was our lifeline.

Without it, I would’ve probably been accused of murdering the Alam Karla.

Here’s hoping Nevan is doing the job I asked her to do. Leave it to Romalung to sneak one of their operatives into the cathedral.

In a way, this was also a battle. And I would fight it like an all-out war.