Chapter 88: New creation
Dawn the next day. The day after arriving at Avery Village.
Last night there wasn’t a welcome banquet for Niel’s homecoming in the square.
(It is a convention for reincarnation stories in another world for such celebrations ... but I guess it’s not the norm ...)
Ryo was the only one feeling dispirited.
It wasn’t as though Ryo liked alcohol or banquets.
He purely just expected it as a story convention.
Ryo was a man like that.
When the four went to the square, the village chief, Boulan, was talking to an old woman.
“Oh, you’re here. Etho, Amon, and Ryo. I’d like to introduce you. This is Nasu-sama, our village adviser. So-called Baba-sama.”
The moment Boulan said that, the cane held by Nasu-sama, or Baba-sama, was swung toward Boulan. Boulan twisted his upper body and avoided it with a sway.
“Why would anyone explain to guests that I’m addressed as Baba-sama? Fool. My apologies, guests. Including this Boulan and Niels, this village lacks etiquette.”
“Why me too ...”
Niels was included for some reason.
“Well, let’s conduct the goblin survey for the time being.”
Boulan quickly chimed in.
Boulan may be an excellent village mayor, as he easily dismissed the elder’s rebuke.
The place was a 15-minute walk from the outer edge of the village.
“It’s pretty close to the village”
Niels said, looking in the direction of the village.
“Yeah, children sometimes come to play around here. I mean, I banned them from approaching after encountering goblins ... but there are children who break the rules everywhere...”
The village mayor, Boulan, looked at Niels and commented.
“No, well, I used to do such things in the past ... it’s possible ... maybe ... I don’t really recall ...”
“You definitely did.”
Boulan nailed down Niels who was trying to gloss over the claim.
“I knew it, Niels, from young ...”
Ryo folded his arms in front of his chest and muttered with a nod ... no, it was louder than a mutter.
As if he intended the person to hear it.
“What do you mean you knew it? And you make it sound like I’m still the same even now.”
Etho sniggered when he heard that, and Amon smiled wryly.
Nobody could claim that ‘That’s not the case right now’.
In actual fact, Niels rarely broke the rules now, but he gave off that image after all.
The place village mayor Boulan encountered them was after about another 15 minutes walk.
There, they suddenly found more footprints that seemed to belong to goblins.
“This is ... no way.”
Etho thought of the worst assumption.
That assumption was held by not only Etho but also Niels.
“A goblin nest ... or maybe a village has been created.”
Adventurers commonly divide goblin settlements into 『nests』, when about 20 gather to live in a place, and 『villages』, when they congregate on a larger scale.
When Niels was speaking, Ryo suddenly looked up.
“What’s wrong, Ryo.”
“Niels ... more than ten goblins are heading here. We’ll encounter them in five minutes.”
Then Ryo pointed to the south.
“That a great detection ability. Then ... we’ll leave one and hunt all the others.”
Niels gave instructions immediately.
“Follow the one kept alive, find the nest, and hit it.”ed.
“Yeah, I think it would have been better to investigate and gather people ... but if they’re coming, we no longer have that option.”
“Hey Niels, there’s ten. Will you guys be okay?”
There was no problem with one or two, but numbers was power.
When double the number of the five people present was approaching, Boulan was a little worried.
“It’s okay because Ryo is here. Ryo, please stop them. I’ll leave the method to you.”
“Roger that.”
(I’ll try my new creation here ... Kukuku)
Ryo floated an evil smile in his heart.
“Ryo-san ...”
“That’s the smile when he’s planning something.”
Ryo intended to only smile in his heart, but it also showed on his face.
Seeing that, Amon and Etho muttered quietly.
He can’t keep secrets ...
Five minutes later, ten goblins came out from the depths of the forest.
When all ten of them appeared in a slightly more open space, Ryo made a mental image and chanted in his heart.
(<Ice bind>)
“We have safely wiped out the goblins.”
“Oh~!”
When the village mayor Boulan announced that, they cheered.
“Wow!
“You guys did a good job too.”
“Here, it’s fried wild boar meat, eat it.”
After the cheers subsided, the villagers gathered around the four and tapped their shoulders to thank them and gave them food.
“No, wait, they can’t drink. There are still skeletons at night.”
“Ahh......”
Boulan quickly stopped the villagers who rushed in and brought sake.
Although it was atypical, everyone had lunch in the open space.
“Boulan.”
“Oh, Baba-sama. The goblins have been subdued.”
“Umu, I heard. Good job. If so, it would be better to take those four to the guardian beast early in the afternoon. The guardian beast wanted to talk, right?”
“That’s right ... I’ll tell the four. Let’s go after lunch.”
Such a conversation was heard by Ryo.
(Audience event with the guardian beast! There is a possibility that it will be a battle with a corrupted guardian beast ...)
Ryo was unconsciously smiling.
The two who saw it ...
“Ryo is planning something disturbing again ...”
“Ryo-san, feels evil.”
Niels commented with a terribly disgusted face while Amon smiled as usual as he said looking at Ryo.
At that time, Etho was looking at Baba-sama.
To be precise, at the decorative string and accessory that Baba-sama attached to her staff.
(That is ... the Earth Mother Goddess if I’m not mistaken ...)
Etho thought while exploring his memory.
The guardian beast was located about an hour’s walk after entering the eastern forest.
“In this eastern forest, villagers are not allowed to enter the depths. However, Niels, who was a mischievous kid, went in many times and was scolded by me and Baba-sama.”
“I knew it!”
“What do you mean you knew it!”
Ryo was convinced by the explanation from the village mayor Boulan.
And Niels was not convinced.
“Baba ... no, Nasu-sama, that accessory is ...”
After hesitating many times, Etho finally decided to talk to Baba-sama.
“You can call me Baba. Only the guardian beast calls me Nasu now. Accessory ... oh, the accessory attached to this staff? You should be able to tell since you are a Priest of the light?”
Baba-sama raised her staff a little to make it easier for Etho to see the stone carving of about 5 cm in diameter.
“Yes. Isn’t that the crest of the Earth Mother Goddess?”
“Umu, you studied hard. So the Temple of Light still teaches it ...”
“Earth Mother Goddess?”
The question that Ryo muttered questioningly seemed to be heard by both Etho and Baba-sam.
“That’s right. Now there’s almost nobody left ... but the elders of this village worshiped the Earth Mother Goddess.”
“The Goddess of Light and the Earth Mother Goddess, which we believe in, are gods who were enshrined as one of the seven gods. However, many things that happened over a long time......”
“Now, when you say 『temple』 or 『priest』, it is unconditionally the 『Temple of the Goddess of Light』 or the 『Priest of the Goddess of Light』. The other six gods have fallen.”
Baba-sama said with a bit of self-deprecation but also a little loneliness.
There was no atmosphere of regret or sadness. Rather it seemed to Ryo that it was closer to having given up.
“Faith is not something that is imposed on people. If it disappears, that is the reason of this world.”
Clear ... that was the word that fit nicely with how Baba-sama was feeling at the moment.
Then, Ryo suddenly had a question.
“Baba-sama ... In other words, can those who believe in the Earth Mother Goddess use the magic of light attribute?”
Yes, the light attribute magic ... In other words, the magic of the recovery system that is the proprietary patent of 『Priests』, but is it only 『Priests of the Goddess of Light』 or can it be used by priests of other gods? That was the question he had.
“Magic of light attribute?”
“Yes, wound healing or something like that.”
“Umu, they can. But it’s different from what the priests of light use. Etho, right? Do the Priests of light chant?”
“Yes? Yes, of course.”
Etho, who received the unexpected question from Baba-sam, answered with surprise.
“Those who serve the Earth Mother Goddess do not chant. Rather, there was no such thing as chanting in the first place. From some time ago, chanting and the like began to spread as a matter of course.”
“... Yes? ... Eh?”
Eto is more surprised than the previous question.
Rather, he was frozen in shock.
The sight of Etho freezing in shock was a very interesting event for Ryo, as it was rare except for when Rihya was around.
With Etho, who kept walking with his expression frozen, the party finally arrived at the cave in the depths of the forest where the guardian beast lived.