Chapter 148

The next day.

“Thank you for cooperating with me late into the night yesterday.” [Guard]

“Thank you too for letting me spend the night here.” [Ryouma]

“It’s fine, don’t mention it. Here. The reward for those five bandits.” [Guard]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

After getting a small jute bag from the female guard, I walked away from the guard office at Kereban.

It was still early, so there were only a few people out in the street. The morning wind’s caress was a gentle chill on my body.

“Ha…” [Ryouma]

I kind of feel exhausted.

I had to go here and there last night… But thanks to that, I was able to find Pedro-san. I left him to the guards as soon as I got to Kereban, but his wounds were a lot less severe than I’d thought, and his life was no longer in danger when morning came. I’ve heard of the beast tribe’s strong vitality, but it’s a lot stronger than I’d expected.

That being said, he does need to rest for the time being, and it will take some time for the pain on his hips to go away… Still, as long as he’s alive, he can start over again. Or at least that’s what I heard from someone who happened to be present there.

As for me, I’m just glad that we were able to avoid the worst case scenario. He’ll probably struggle, but he has an acquaintance who would go out of his way to submit a search request, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.

“Oops…” [Ryouma]

I dropped the jute bag I had with me. As I grasped the fist-sized bag, the sound of silver coins resounded from inside.

If you capture bandits alive and hand them over, the monetary reward is 2,000 suits per person. Part of the reason why the reward is so high is because it’s dangerous work, but more than that, the bigger reason is to encourage adventurers to actively seek out bandits.

Speaking of which, the bandits will be made to undergo penal servitude and penal labor, so this reward is actually paid off by them. In other words, those guys I caught will be taken somewhere and made to live that sort of lifestyle.

They might have regretted their actions after finding out that Pedro-san is alive and is currently unable to move, thoug. Since they were awfully docile at the end there… I pray they’ll bee able to serve their prison term and make a successful return to society.

“…Hmm?” [Ryouma]

As I walked aimlessly, I passed by a building that resembled a church. It was about as big as the church in Gimuru, but it had a magnificent gate and had many decorations, such as curtains. Inside the lot was an old man dressed in clergy clothing. He was accompanied by five younger people who also seemed to be a part of the clergy. They were sweeping the premises. Yeah, this is probably a church.

…Come to think of it, the first time I came here, the guards told me that there’s a World-Creation Denomination and a God-of-Light Denomination here. Two different churches that worship the same gods.

I never paid much attention to it, but the church I went to in Gimuru was really simple. That church is probably a part of the World-Creation Denomination whose doctrines revolve around honorable poverty.

“Hey, you. Are you a lost child?” [Old Priest]

Oops.

Because I stared too long at the building, the old man started approaching me.

“Sorry, I’m not a lost child… Is this a church?” [Ryouma]

“Exactly. A church of the God-of-Light Denomination.” [Old Priest]

“Really? It’s my first time seeing such a spectacular church, so I was a bit taken aback.” [Ryouma]

“I see. I see. A church like this is strange, huh? …I know, if you don’t mind, why don’t you visit the chapel?” [Old Priest]

“The chapel?　But I’m a believer of the World-Creation Denomination.” [Ryouma]

“We both worship the same gods. The difference between sects is a trifle thing. The gods love us without distinction. You should pray if you have the time.” [Old Priest]

“…In that case, I’ll take you up on your offer then.” [Ryouma]

I don’t have anything urgent going on, and it’d be rude to refuse so firmly, so I decided to follow the guy.

We walked up the impressive stone stairs and toward a building with deep crimson carpet.

The church people we passed by greeted me with a smile.

“This is the chapel. Come, enter.” [Old Priest]

The door was opened. Polished brass candle-stands lined up in a row toward the altar of gods where their statues were. On either side of the path were long bench seats with unobtrusive coloring. That’s probably where the believers that come to visit the chapel are meant to sit.

But there’s no one here just yet.

“Come now. There’s no need to hold back. You may approach the altar.” [Old Priest]

I did as I was told and offered a prayer to a statue from the place nearest to it.

“…” [Ryouma]

Oh, it works even here?

It seems being a different denomination really didn’t matter.

As soon as I offered a prayer, I felt light covering me. But I’m so used to it now that it just makes me feel at ease…

“Welcome!” [Rurutia]

“Uoo!?” [Ryouma]

When I got to the divine realm, Rurutia immediately welcomed me. Moreover, the atmosphere suggested that they were expecting me. What’s going on? …To be honest, I just can’t keep up with the mood.

“Look, you two! A special guest has arrived!” [Rurutia]

“Two?” [Ryouma]

I turned to the direction Rurutia called out to. There, were 2 goddesses I didn’t know.

One was refined like a noble, a seemingly gentle middle-aged woman, while the other gave a sense of beauty, and yet at the same time, a sense of wildness. These two goddesses that gave completely different impressions from each other were seated around a table drinking tea.

“Oh my, a new guest? Welcome. We’ll have to serve more tea and sweets then.” [Refined Goddess]

“Ho… I heard the rumors, but I guess it is true that if you call him, he’ll appear.” [Wild Goddess]

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Ryouma Takebayashi.” [Ryouma]

“So, I have heard. You’re the person who came from Earth some time ago, yes?　I am Willieris. The Goddess of Land and Harvest. Thank you for cooperating with us to protect the people of this world. Also, please do be at ease.　I see that you’re relaxed around Rurutia. I would be saddened if you couldn’t see us in the same light.” [Willieris]

“R-Right… If you put it that way, then… I’ll do my best.” [Ryouma]

I feel like she’s the most formal of the gods I’ve met. That aside, could this other goddess be…

“I am Kirillel the Goddess of War and Judgment. It’s nice to meet you.” [Kirillel]

“The pleasure is mine.” [Ryouma]

So she really is the God of War.

“Ryouma, you’re too stiff.” [Rurutia]

“I may be used to you, but you can’t possibly expect me to be so relaxed with goddesses I’m meeting for the first time, can you? Besides, meeting two goddesses at the same time? …I’d appreciate it if you gave me some time to get used to their presence. But enough of that, what’s going on, Rurutia?” [Ryouma]

They had a welcoming mood on them right from the start.

“We tried out that Girls-Only Gathering from Earth, but we just couldn’t find a good topic to get things going.” [Rurutia]

“Oh, right. I heard about that from Gayn and the others…” [Ryouma]

Wait a moment.　Didn’t I hear about that yesterday? But, no. I pulled an all nighter searching for Pedro-san, so I guess that makes it two days ago.

“If you keep it up for so long, of course you’d run out of topics.” [Ryouma]

“She even dragged me out for that. I tried getting the conversation going, but…” [Kirillel]

Kirillel-sama glared reproachfully at Rurutia.

“But your topics are all too bloodthirsty… How are regional conflicts a suitable topic for a girls-only gathering!?” [Rurutia]

“You’re the one who said we should talk about the recent happenings in the world!” [Kirillel]

The goddesses started quarrelling.

“Sorry about this. You didn’t get a proper explanation and now the two of them are like this. Please do treat yourself to some tea and sweets.” [Willieris]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

Willieris-sama just carried on at her own pace. I got a cup of tea and some sweets from her.

“By the way, why are you at the church today?　Did you need something from someone?” [Willieris]

“Oh, there’s no particular reason. I just happened to be passing in front of the church when a man of the clergy invited me inside… Did Rurutia do something?” [Ryouma]

“?　Wait a moment.” [Willieris]

As she said that, she closed her eyes. Gayn and the others do this a lot when they want to find something out.

“Alright, I’ve got it. That child didn’t do anything in particular. The man just decided no his own to invite you after you appeared in front of the church. He seems to be planning on persuading you to join his denomination.” [Willieris]

“So he wants to convert me.” [Ryouma]

“That appears to be the case. Oh, but he’s not a bad person. He doesn’t have any intentions of soliciting donations from a child like you. He just wants to spread his faith.

And besides, while it is true that the God-of-Light Denomination is proactive in gathering donations, that in turn allows them to have the monetary power to provide food in times of crisis and watch over orphans. There are many among them who are genuinely thinking about others, so please don’t misunderstand.” [Willieris]

As expected, Willieris-sama is a peaceful person. She made sure to cover up for the man when she realized that I found him suspicious. Although he’s trying to convert me, it’s rude to be so suspicious. At the very least, I shouldn’t be so suspicious toward that person.

“I understand. Thank you.” [Ryouma]

“It’s fine. After all, the sort of clergymen that you’re so wary of do exist. Caution is important. Especially, since you received a divine protection not just from Rurutia, but also from Gayn and Kufo.” [Willieris]

“Yes. In fact, I got one from Tekun too.” [Ryouma]

“I see… Although there have been previous cases of a person receiving multiple divine protections. If word were to get out that you possess four divine protections, the people of the church will surely call out to you.

Especially, since those of the God-of-Light Denomination see the possessors of the divine protections as ‘saints’. They see them as an object of worship similar to us. If word were to get out, the situation will probably develop in a direction you do not wish. Even I would not wish to see such a situation, so please do be careful.” [Willieris]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

“Can’t you give it a rest already? There’s no end to this…” [Kirillel]

“Well, that’s true… Oh, my. What were the two of you talking about?” [Rurutia]

Looks like the two goddesses finally stopped arguing.

“We were talking about the person that invited me to the chapel before I came here.” [Ryouma]

“Oh, that person.” [Rurutia]

“It was pretty coincidental, so I thought you might have done something. Rurutia?” [Ryouma]

“Hmm~ I wouldn’t go that far, you know?” [Rurutia]

“Yeah, she told me so too.” [Ryouma]

For some reason, Rurutia has a troublesome atmosphere about her today. It almost feels as if she’s intentionally trying to create an atmosphere suitable for a Girls-Only Gathering.

“By the way, Ryouma, hasn’t anything been happening lately?” [Rurutia]

“You sure are quick to change the topic… Well, just a few hours ago, I was running around the mountains looking for a missing person for a job I picked up.” [Ryouma]

I explained what I did last night.

“That must’ve been difficult.” [Rurutia]

“It wasn’t all of my monsters working, though… It was mostly the slimes and the rimel birds who I relied on…” [Ryouma]

No, actually, isn’t that usually the case? Relatively-speaking… But I am properly doing my job too, aren’t I?

“Didn’t they get information from the bandits?” [Kirillel]

“Wouldn’t it be more apt to say that everyone worked together?” [Rurutia]

“You should give them a treat when you get back.　They worked hard, after all.” [Kirillel]

“Of course.” [Ryouma]

Just as Kirillel-sama says, the rimel birds spent a lot of time flying to find Pedro-san. They were also the ones who found the bandits. I’ll treat them to a feast when we get back to Gimuru.

As I said that, Kirillel-sama smiled a smile free of worries.

…Come to think of it, I feel like someone once said something about the God of War hating otherworlders. But I don’t feel that from her at all. If anything she strikes me as a person with a good temperament and is easy to get along with.

“Hmm?　What’s the matter?　Is there something on my face?” [Kirillel]

For a moment, I was about to say that it was nothing, but there isn’t much of a point in lying to gods. As such, I just honestly told her what was on my mind.

“That’s the first time a human has called me friendly… Anyway, I’m supposed to hate otherworlders?　Who would say something like that? The one who hates otherworlders is Fernoberia (God of Magic).” [Kirillel]

So she doesn’t know who said it either.

“Unfortunately, I don’t remember either. It should be one of the gods, though.” [Ryouma]

“Maybe it’s about compatibility. After all, the earthlings have a different common sense compared to those from this world.” [Willieris]

“!” [Kirillel]

She seemed to have understood something based after what Willieris-sama said.

“There’s a lot of people who can’t get along with otherworlders personality-wise.” [Kirillel]

Well, it’s not impossible, but the way I see it, they’re talking with me perfectly fine.

“Please remember. You are the first person from the otherworld that we are able to talk with like this.” [Willieris]

“Until now, we’ve only been able to watch the otherworlders that came here from our side. They never really got to interact with us.” [Kirillel]

“I see. So since you can’t talk for a long time, there’s no way to get along.” [Ryouma]

“Another reason might be because of Kirillel’s duty and the standards used to pick out otherworlders.” [Rurutia]

After they explained it to me…

I found out that the earth god prepares a list of candidates that can be summoned to this world.

From that list, Rurutia and the others will pick out the person that will become an otherworlder.

People that obviously cannot adapt to the present time of this world.

People who possess dangerous thoughts.

People who are too violent.

They try to avoid picking such people.

“That’s why we tend to pick out otherworlders that aren’t connected with fighting or conflicts. But Kirillel is the Goddess of War. Bullying the weak and killing needlessly may be prohibited, but hunting to survive or fighting to protect others are okay in your book, am I right?” [Willieris]

After Willieris-sama said that, Kirillel-sama continued.

“Yes, because I would never deny someone who uses all of his power to live. That’s true whether it’s a bug, an animal, a monster beast, or a human. If it’s in order to live, I won’t deny them picking up a weapon to fight. In the words of your hometown, it would be what you refer to as ‘the survival of the fittest’.

But of course, if the problem can be solved with just talking, then that’s also good. Unfortunately, as long as people are alive, there are times when it still can’t be helped.　Still, there are people that I don’t like. Those who willfully push for wars, those who think of fanning the flames… There are even those who treat me as an evil god. I can’t stand people like those…” [Kirillel]

I could feel some anger coming from her too… But it makes sense. I’m sure anyone would be mad if they were treated that way. All the more so if there’s no way to clear up the misunderstanding.

“On that point, Ryouma adapted right from the start.” [Rurutia]

“I lived at the forest for three years right after coming here, after all.” [Ryouma]

“You can hunt and you can easily subjugate bandits. I don’t have a reason to hate you. Moreover, it seems you were originally strong.” [Kirillel]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

It seems Kirillel-sama has a rather favorable impression of me.

It feels pretty good to have my martial arts praised by the God of War herself.

“I know! Since you’re here, why don’t we fight? You and me.” [Kirillel]

“…………………Excuse me?” [Ryouma]

I feel like I just heard a really weird proposal all of the sudden.

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