CH 84

A middle-aged man with a priest’s robe walks in.

“Thank you. I will deal with the rest, so you can go back to your duties.”

“But…”

“It’s all right. This boy is an acquaintance of my daughter. There is no need to worry about me.”

He says calmly to a member of the church. His expression seems kind.

Who’s this guy? Hikari is also looking at him with a puzzled look on her face.

The devotee leaves with a bow, and when the middle-aged man turns around, his smile is gone, he has a wrinkle between his eyebrows, and he’s back to the same moody expression as always.

“So, what do you want?”

Is that a split personality!? The contrast is so striking that I almost blurt that out.

“Fine, but before that, is this room soundproof?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if I don’t have to worry about someone listening in.”

“…I don’t think so.”

“But you don’t know… All Right… Silence!”

It’s a way to use Spatial Magic, kind of an original of mine. Or maybe it already existed and I just didn’t know about it.

“This should be fine. So, this is actually serious.”

“All right, I’ll give you some of my time, but this better be important.”

I ask him if that building has anything to do with the church.

“I don’t know. What about that building?”

“The person that attacked Mia was coming in and out of it. Also, I felt something… Magical about it.”

“Really!? The ruffian that attacked Miss Mia…”

“Yes.”

“But why do you think that building has anything to do with the church?”

Oh… So it’s not for nothing that he’s a cardinal. His head moves fast.

“I saw one of the attendants that was with Mia when I first met her going into that building.”

He realizes what this could mean, and crosses his arms and starts thinking.

Maybe the church isn’t one united monolith. There could be some sort of power struggle going on.

“And you are keeping Mia in your mansion too… Is there something going on?”

I don’t like mystery novels, especially ones with those detectives that already know the answer but put on airs and drag things out as they corner the criminal. If you know the answer, just say it.

So I don’t ask things in a roundabout way, I’d rather ask things directly.

Then again, it’s pretty hypocritical for someone keeping so many things a secret to feel that way.

“I see. How much do you know about the oracle?”

“Oracle?”

“Yes. About three years ago, the goddess granted us an oracle, and warned us of the birth of the demon king. It was Miss Mia who first received this message. At first, she was seen as a miracle child who could perform holy magic without having been taught, but then she received this message, and became a saint. Or rather, I should say that further investigations after she received this divine message showed she is a saint.”

He takes a deep breath and continues, giving me the impression that he feels nostalgic for that time.

“No one believed her at first, and thought it was all nonsense. The demon king? Revived? That’s just a legend to us, like a fairy-tale, so no one believed her.

But a month later, many people saw this divine message, and from that point forward, no one doubted it. There was also the incident where many monsters flooded out of the dark forest, which gave it even more credibility.”

The Borsheil Empire was the first place to be attacked, and from then on, Mia’s position changed.

“Yes. Everyone revered her as a saint and asked for her salvation. I don’t mean that they were telling her to go defeat the demon king, they looked to her as a spiritual support of sorts. In the end, for people like us who live far from the dark forest, the revival of the demon king feels like a far away country’s business. No one is too troubled about it as long as we maintain our peaceful lives.”

“Is that why people fight among themselves?”

“Yes. The demon king’s revival didn’t affect our lives much. All that changed was Mia’s position and the ceasefire agreement. But some resent her for this. These people are the reason why she wasn’t officially accepted as a saint by the church.

But now she is being acknowledged as a saint in a very public manner. This is going to grow her position, and threaten the positions of others. It’s a foolish thing, but it’s not easy to stop the people who have these concerns.”

“Aren’t you going to set that straight?”

“I don’t know exactly who it is. Is it one person? Two? More? It’s like catching a criminal. Everyone will just start to feel like a suspect.”

“But since we know that this one attendant was acting suspiciously, are you going to investigate?”

“I will do what I can, but I don’t know what will come of it. But thank you for the information.”

Dan bows deeply, and disappears into the back of the church. I think that area is off-limits for unauthorized personnel. I see people that look like guards there.

“Master, what are you going to do?”

“While we’re here, we might as well pray. How about it?”

“Boring.”

“I see. I’m not a fervent believer or anything either. Oh well.”

In the end, this issue isn’t solved. I see on Map the reaction of that attendant coming out of the building, but even though I keep an eye on Map for the whole day until I go to sleep, the attacker’s reaction doesn’t appear again.