Chapter 530: Prayer
The next day, we were back at the temple. We didn’t want to leave too much time open for people to distrust us. If we wanted to escape, we could, but after that, it would be difficult to interfere in the interior of the country and even more difficult from the outside, thanks to the dragon’s protection. Considering the chance to create a stir in this country, running away is still not an option. There was also the idea of hunting more monsters and leaving them with more meat, but it would soon be summer and the meat would not last long.
“Rather than that, shouldn’t we take action quickly? ……If we connect with the outside world and change the system, the number of starving and execution victims should be reduced significantly”
Neia herself suggested.
“Action, though. What do we do now?”
“If we are to completely hunt down the king, a sample survey in one place is far from enough, isn’t it?”
She folded her arms with Tetes.
“But if we have to investigate everything and go to……I don’t know how many years it will take”
Apple looks annoyed. That’s true. So how far should we go with…….
“May I interject from the side?”
Emma was the one who entered the conversation. Ray is on guard outside, but she is the only one following us.
“You have decided to join forces with Rainer-dono to defeat the king, haven’t you?”
“……Eh”
“Ah……are you saying that’s what’s going to happen? Are you saying that there’s no other way to do it?”
Now that she mentions it, it was a question of which side to take, but it has already been decided that it will be about fighting King Jeddha. Even if I had joined the King Jeddha, I would not have had the strength to defeat Rainer. The king’s rule happened to be at fault and as a result, we were inclined to fight King Jeddha, but Rainer may have foreseen this from the beginning. If I run away, I will never be able to enter again. There was only one possible opponent for us to fight, considering our strength.
“I was successfully played by Rainer……or should I say that it was a straight road from the beginning?”
“As it stands, this is the only way. After that, we’ll have to see what Rainer Exeliza will do……
“If it doesn’t end up making the people suffer even more than King Jeddha……I guess we’ll just have to meditate on it to some extent”
“I hope that’s all it takes”
“?”
“The king’s fault was denounced. The other heroes defend the king, Rainer sympathizes 『In the form of riding on our logic』 and the usurpation of the throne……is probably ironclad so far. By letting us carry the cause, he himself can counteract the blame for what he has not done so far. But I’m afraid that after he eliminates the king, he will come back to eliminate us with difficulty”
“……You mean that he’ll get rid of the useless?”
“Yes. I hope we can escape……but just in case, let’s make sure that Apple-san and Master’s exit is perfect. I think if we team up, at the very least me and Neia-san won’t be killed”
Rainer has probably calculated everything and is waiting for this to happen. If the gimmick called us works, then the rest of the country’s throne is his without any effort. I feel bad……that I have no choice but to cooperate with them. And more than that, the stipulated line that if we come here, we will defeat King Jedha is frivolous. We visit here, we automatically kill people. I can’t help but hate the fact that such a calculation has been established.
“……Huu”
“Master?”
“Sorry, could you leave me alone for a minute?”
“……I see. You’re not used to this kind of thing, are you?”
Tetes smiled, looking a little troubled. This girl was born in a country where conspiracies and violence swirl around and she has lived alongside it as a matter of course. To Tetes, I was born in the lukewarm Polka and lived under the protection of Dianne-san in Basson, where I had no serious enemies, so it would seem that I was not used to malice and cold choices, and in fact, that’s right. It wasn’t cool to have a girl 10 years younger look at me like that……but still, I had to slowly adjust my sensibilities to the current situation.
Leaving Tetes and the others in the room, I gaze out at the cliff valley alone. The sun’s rays illuminate the winding valley floor for only a short time. The top of the cliff and the sky are bathed in light, but my location is dark. The structure of the valley makes you feel as if you are an insect crawling on the ground. People for whom this valley is everything in the world. People who live like insects in this valley, cannibalizing each other to preserve their own species. I strongly sympathize with Neia’s desire to let them live like Trot people, or at least like Renfangas. They should at least want that. People may not be born equal, but they should be allowed to be in a world where they can strive. ……It may be laughable for me to think such a political or ideological idea with a straight face, but it is a laughable idea. I’m not educated, I don’t have the physical strength, I can’t even use magic unless I’m good with words and my family background is just an ordinary person from the countryside, so I’m attracted to the amazing people around me, and no matter how cool I think I am, it’s just a joke.
“…………”
“Hey”
While I was lost in thought, High Priest Duke called out to me from behind.
“……I heard a little of what you just said”
“Ah……about King Jeddha”
“Defeat him or what?”
I didn’t use audio barrier because it wasn’t anything that I would have had trouble hearing with the silver dragon’s super-hearing. By the way, this guy is a former hero.
“Do you want to stop us……?”
“No. I won’t”
The high priest stood next to me, looking out over the valley.
“I was only asked to look after your lodgings. It is not my job to protect the king. No, it is no longer my job to fight”
“Did you say in your own words that you no longer have the strength to fight?”
“Yes. In fact, the current Herman and Brian are probably no match. I’m getting old”
I can’t tell from the profile of this 40-year-old priest what he’s thinking. The sound of the river flowing below and the chirping of a bird like a black kite from somewhere far away. Listening to that, I hesitated for a while whether to open my mouth or not.
“……I’m a little lost”
“……About defeating the king?”
“No. ……I’m just going to go forward as Rainer wants. We have no choice but to go on
“You don’t like it?”
“We’re not here to kill anyone”
I hesitate to say more and remain silent. The high priest waits patiently without turning his eyes toward me. Then he took a breath through his teeth, shook his body, looked up to the heavens and began to speak.
“Do you believe in God? In a God who diligently works out such nonsensical things as fate?”
“……Eh?”
Suddenly he began to talk like a priest. Or perhaps I should say, not like a priest.
The next words were even less priestly.
“I don’t believe in him. If there is such a person, the current situation in this country is too much. If God loves his followers without distinction, how can the world be this stupid?”
“……?”
“Everything is unreasonable. Who loves what, and this is what happens. ……I read the scriptures because they make me eat, but that’s basically it. Still, I think it’s a terrible hypocrisy to call religious activity that preaches salvation after the fact”
“…………”
“But there is one thing I do trust in the name of religion. Prayer”
High Priest Duke, who had wandered a few paces back and forth, turned to me.
“Pray. It will make you stronger”
“……To your God?”
“No. Pray for each and every thing you hold dear. Your ancestors, your past, your future self”
High Priest Duke stared into my eyes and spun the words.
“Show your wishes to the other person in your heart, without hiding them. Carefully interact with that person in your heart to see if he or she will tell you you are right”
“……You mean I should repent?”
“Prayer is the purification of a wish”
The high priest looks up at the thin sky.
“Dear God, please give me the good fortune to survive. Or even better, let the person I love live happily. ……If something important inside of you endorses it as right, it will erase your hesitation and tell you what to do for the sake of your wish. Lost is still lost, no matter how much you keep on wandering. Prayer turns your hesitation into power to create reality. If the presence of someone important in your heart washes away your wish, you will naturally see what you need to aim straight for”
“…………”
“If you are lost, pray. Ask something important to you, something big enough to punish you, about the rightness of your wish. If they nod in your mind, you can do anything. A hundred times the power of arms or a handy spell won’t conveniently spring up, though”
“I see……”
The high priest nodded his head in satisfaction and patted me on the shoulder.
“I can’t even imagine fighting the king. I can’t even imagine what would change afterwards. That is the way of the people of Kalwin……”
“Ah……”
That is the best the high priest can do to support the people. There are positions. There are ideologies. He cannot say anything irresponsibly. But he can tell me to pray. He is a priest.
“Thank you very much……”
I said this to the high priest and thought of the faces of my loved ones in the sky. ……I was much more, but I felt that I could turn my hesitation into resolve if I thought of it as a way to not be ashamed of them.