Volume 9, Chapter 31 – Interlude

“Mary, don’t run too far!”

“Don’t worry, leave it to me!”

Responding to Yisi’s warning, Tiffany, who had run ahead with Mary, turned around and patted her chest as if guaranteeing it.

A week had passed since the Hero’s collapse. Although Lin had fainted because of Yisi, which initially made Yisi anxious about how to wake her up, when she went to Atwood intending to take responsibility, Atwood simply waved his hand with a kind smile and said it was fine.

Indeed, over the past week, the Divine Religion hadn’t sent anyone to monitor Yisi and her group, acting as if nothing had happened. Not a single person came seeking accountability. It was worth noting that on the second day after the incident, Yisi had gone to visit Lin and was astonished to find that in just one day, Lin’s level had risen from 51 to 53. The speed was baffling. The reason Atwood hadn’t held her accountable was probably because she had unintentionally triggered something—that was Yisi’s thought. Perhaps only when Lin woke up would she know what exactly had happened.

Furthermore, Yisi had another line of thought: if this was a replicable leveling method, she had to consider using it on her companions. While learning magic alongside leveling up was important, that applied when levels were insufficient. If her companions’ levels all exceeded 100, even without learning powerful magic, few people in this world could threaten them. This was much more convenient than deliberately slowing down their leveling speed to learn magic slowly.

And so, during this waiting period, Yisi, with nothing else to do, had been taking her companions back and forth between the dead city and the Ducal Capital of Chloe. In just one week, they had cleared out over forty percent of the low-level undead in the dead city. Most of this damage was dealt by Camilla. Undead had extremely high resistance to ice elements but were quite vulnerable to fire. Each of Camilla’s area-of-effect spells could easily destroy the bodies of a dozen undead. It would take at least half a year for these low-level undead to regenerate.

Now, it was a long-awaited time for rest. Yisi and her companions were enjoying themselves in the most prosperous area of the Ducal Capital of Chloe.

“I thought the Duchy of Chloe was a hopelessly poor country, but I didn’t expect there to be such a lively place.”

“The expressions of the people here are completely different from those on the King’s Avenue.”

“Very lively. Doesn’t feel dead at all.”

Edith, Refina, and Laxy each gave their impressions.

Although this plaza still wasn’t paved with bricks, the ground being just compacted yellow earth and looking quite ordinary, the variety of people on it added color. This wasn’t a bustling market selling various goods, but a place purely for entertainment. Bards and acrobats performed various arts in the plaza, while stalls selling small pets and food occupied the corners. Surrounding them were various shops whose names Yisi didn’t recognize. Nobles and commoners mingled together in a bustling crowd. The cheers of the people and the aroma of spices grilling over charcoal blended together, creating an extremely lively scene.

A hint of envy and regret flickered in Edith’s azure-purple eyes. She shook her head and sighed almost imperceptibly.

“When will the Pescia territory have such a lively place?”

“Doesn’t it?”

Yisi tilted her head. When she was in the Pescia territory before, she had been following Pepe to reclaim her identity and hadn’t had a chance to properly appreciate the local customs.

Refina, walking behind them, answered instead. As usual, Refina appeared in the streets in her maid outfit with her hair tied in a side ponytail. Since it was a sunny day, Refina, being an intermediate vampire, held an umbrella.

“Due to the lack of food sources, it’s difficult for the Pescia territory to have such vibrant places. Only in the royal capital of Alvier and the food-rich granary of the Astrid territory are there conditions for so many people to gather.”

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“Once the slime blood is widely adopted, the Pescia territory won’t be troubled by food anymore, right? Then the lower-class vampires will have more energy to spend on things other than searching for blood. When the territory becomes prosperous, Pepe can build a plaza like this,” Yisi said. Then, she suddenly remembered something she had overlooked all along. “Ah, speaking of which, does this wor—no, do human countries have major festivals? I know the Blood Clan has the yearly Original Sin Festival, but I’ve never heard of any for humans.”

Although Augustin had ruined the Original Sin Festival, preventing her from seeing the grand annual celebration of the autumn harvest, just seeing Andrea dressed in her ceremonial attire and strolling through the crowded Astrid territory had been satisfying enough. What mattered most about festivals was the atmosphere and the people you spent them with.

But she had been in this world for two years now and had never seen a nationwide celebration in the human world. For a world with so few entertainment options, there should be festivals similar to summer festivals, Christmas, or the Spring Festival.

“Do you know, Camilla?”

Camilla, dressed in a white formal gown and holding a parasol, placed a hand under her chin, her eyebrows knitted together in thought.

“Hmm… Human countries generally have the Lustration Ritual, but besides that… I’m not very clear about the Norta Empire, but the Hels Kingdom only has the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.”

“Coming-of-Age Ceremony? Does everyone of the right age participate nationwide?”

In her impression, a coming-of-Age ceremony was something held on a child’s eighteenth birthday. But from Camilla’s tone, it seemed like a festival celebrated by the entire country together.

“Yes. Every year before the end of summer, the King of the Hels Kingdom, based on dates provided by astrologers, selects a time in autumn. That time is when the Coming-of-Age Ceremony is held that year. Children who have just turned five, accompanied by their families, go expectantly to the city lord’s mansion. There, magic casters sent by the king will check the children’s magical aptitude. If talents with high magical potential are discovered, they will be taken to the Royal Academy to be educated as candidates for court magic casters. As long as a child is chosen, that family receives a stipend from the kingdom. Because they receive a large sum of gold coins every year, benefiting the whole family, it’s considered the simplest and most direct path for advancement.”

So that’s what it means…

She had thought the Coming-of-Age Ceremony was a festival for fifteen-year-old boys and girls.

Additionally, according to Camilla, there used to be a peculiar practice in the Hels Kingdom. Back when the laws weren’t mature, any newborn, regardless of age, could participate in the ceremony. To ensure they had food and shelter without working, groups of adults specialized in constantly having children, then sending them to the magic casters to test their aptitude. If just one child passed, the annual stipend of twenty gold coins was enough to lift their entire family out of poverty.

However, those born with magical aptitude were pitifully few—three out of a thousand was considered very good, and two of those three might be short-lived bearers of the Fallen Mark. Consequently, during that period, the kingdom was filled with homeless, abandoned orphans, and the crime rate was appallingly high. This led the kingdom to enact numerous laws, such as ordering commoners not to exploit loopholes under penalty of punishment, or simply reducing the stipend for newborns. But these measures had little effect; the populace continued their practice enthusiastically. Driven to desperation, the kingdom could only raise the minimum age for the ceremony from 0 to 5, increasing the cost of raising children, which finally curbed those hoping to get lucky.

This other world is too crazy.

Complaining silently, Yisi shifted her focus to the Lustration Ritual.

“What about the Lustration Ritual? Camilla just said that all human countries hold this ceremony.”

“That is a festival decreed by the Goddess.”

Before Camilla could answer, Laxy, who had been walking ahead of Yisi watching over Mary, turned around. Her gem-like blue hair reflected a faint light under the sun. Combined with her equally dazzling white wings, she became the most conspicuous presence in Yisi’s group. Because of Laxy, the number of passersby turning their heads had increased severalfold.

“Eh, it’s actually a festival passed down from the Goddess’s era?”

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“Yes. Back then, there were many monsters on the continent, most of them extremely ferocious and difficult for humans to deal with. Every year during the heavy snow at the beginning of the year, the Goddess would come to a very famous hot spring on the continent for lustration. To prevent the Goddess from being disturbed by monsters during the process, we angels of the Kingdom of God would travel to the human lands at the beginning of each year to clear the continent of ferocious monsters. Since clearing the monsters was also beneficial to humans, for mutual benefit, our Kingdom of God made a pact with humanity. Angels would indiscriminately clear monsters across the continent, while humans would gather soldiers to drive away monsters in villages the angels couldn’t reach. For humans, it reduced the danger from monsters. For us angels, it minimized the chances of the Goddess encountering unclean things. That is the origin of the Lustration Ritual. I remember Lady Trino saying it was called the Sun Festival. Unfortunately, after such a long time, humans have forgotten the Sun Festival and only remember the lustration.”

“So it’s related to the Goddess.”

If she remembered correctly, ‘lustration’ involved bathing and gathering flowers.

She feels more and more like just an ordinary person.

Of course, “ordinary” was relative to unattainable beings like God. What she meant was that gods also had emotions. She seemed less like a god and more like a human with unimaginable power.

If that’s the case, could I possibly meet the Goddess too?

Yisi subconsciously asked, “Does the Goddess come to this continent every year?”

“Yes, at least that’s what Lady Trino told me. As for where exactly, I don’t know either. There should only be the continent of Alexia in the world. I was too young back then and didn’t understand what Lady Trino meant by ‘this continent.’ Looking back now, if I had asked Lady Trino back then if another continent existed, perhaps the Kingdom of God would be there now.”

“The Kingdom of God…”

Lin’s words came to mind.

Although Laxy always seemed fine, as the one chosen by the Gospel, was she really alright now after failing her mission?

Yisi slowed her pace slightly.

“Laxy, I have a question for you.”

“Hoh.”

Edith, beside her, let out a soft sound of interest but didn’t interrupt, simply watching the master and servant.

“As a God-Forged Angel, Laxyphinia will surely tell you everything she knows.”

“How does Laxy feel about being sealed in the labyrinth?”

Although it was overly direct, regarding matters Laxy kept bottled up, she would never know the answer unless she asked.

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“The labyrinth?” Laxy blushed for a moment, then lowered her head in shame, clenching her teeth as if deeply humiliated. “That is my disgrace. Not only did I fail to defeat the Demon Lord, but I was also manipulated by them…”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I wanted to ask how Laxy feels about the mission the Gospel gave you.”

“Mission?” Laxy looked puzzled. “My Lord means…”

At this point, I just have to lay it all out. Although Yisi felt this would touch Laxy’s wound.

Putting herself in Laxy’s shoes: she was supposed to find the savior to deal with the Demon Lord, but before finding the savior, she was sealed away by the Demon Lord. Upon waking up, she found everyone around her gone, even the Kingdom of God vanished. If she were Laxy, she would surely blame herself. Her failure led to the destruction of the Kingdom of God. Pointing this out directly now was tantamount to rubbing salt in Laxy’s wound.

However, if she didn’t know Laxy’s true thoughts, the wound would remain a wound forever. As her master, she should provide warmth when Laxy felt cold. That was how she should be.

Choosing her words carefully, Yisi quietly observed the changes in Laxy’s expression.

“What I mean is, does Laxy feel like she failed her mission…? The task the Gospel gave Laxy back then was to find the savior and save the Kingdom of God from disaster, but Laxy was sealed by the Demon Lord…”

Contrary to her expectation that Laxy would look sad and self-reproachful, Laxy merely pondered, then looked up with an expression of sudden realization.

“I see. My Lord wishes to show concern for me.”

“Huh—Ah? I-I didn’t mean that at all!”

It would be fine if they were alone, but now, on a crowded street, being called out like this by Laxy was just too embarrassing. Yisi tilted her chin up slightly, closed her eyes, and put on a haughty facade.

Beside her, Edith showed a playful, toothy grin and reached out to pinch Yisi’s cheek.

“Hoh, you’re blushing.”

“I am not!”

“Thank you for your concern, My Lord, but I do not harbor the thoughts you mentioned. The mission the Gospel entrusted to me has not failed. You are the savior spoken of by the Gospel, and I have found you now. Therefore, my duty continues. Although I was sealed by the Demon Lord for over a thousand years—a disgrace that can only be washed away by slaying the Demon Lord—perhaps it was precisely because of this that I was able to meet you. The reason the Gospel sent me to the human world back then, instead of choosing angels whose thinking was closer to humans and who were better at adapting, was likely because it foresaw this outcome. It had to be me.

Furthermore, Lady Trino said that the Gospel is not omnipotent. Rather than thinking of it as the Book of Fate, it is more appropriate to understand it as the Book of Wisdom, offering answers and clearing doubts. We angels do not act according to the Gospel’s will; we merely regard it as a trustworthy tool. Only the Goddess can determine our will, and the Gospel is clearly just an inanimate object. The meaning of a tool is decided by its user, so the Gospel should not, in turn, decide the user’s will. Lady Trino often taught me to be adaptable, likely meaning I shouldn’t let the Gospel sway my own will. A thousand years, to an angel, is but a drop in the ocean. Therefore, I do not consider myself to have failed.

Also, I do not believe the Kingdom of God would perish just like that. I have thought about it for a long time. The reason I cannot contact the core crystal must be because I am too far away from it. While it’s possible the core crystal was destroyed, if the Kingdom of God was truly destroyed by the Demon Lord, then ruins and legends should remain. To kill all angels, the aftershocks from the magical clash alone would be enough to change the continent’s topography. Yet, a thousand years have passed, and the continent of Alexia is still the same Alexia. There aren’t even any legends of the Kingdom of God left in the human world.

Therefore, I believe Lady Trino must have led our God-Forged Angels elsewhere, perhaps to the other side of the Sea of Thunderstorms, or maybe deep beneath the sea or underground. Information related to angels must have been ordered destroyed by the human monarchs at the command of the angels back then. Only this can explain why I cannot find any documents related to the Kingdom of God.”

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Have I been wrong from the start?

Laxy’s words made Yisi find herself amusing.

Influenced by Lin, she had unconsciously started treating the Gospel as the premise for everything. Yet Laxy, the one commanded by the Gospel, turned out to be the one who saw things most clearly.

I’ve been overthinking.

At this point, Laxy stopped, knelt on one knee facing Yisi, a faint smile appearing on her usually serious face. Spreading her wings, she brought the back of Yisi’s hand to her lips.

“Although it was My Lord’s over-concern, as your servant, Laxyphinia is deeply honored. Please rest assured, My Lord. After the matter of the Mana Source, I will no longer hide anything from you. So please do not waste time on things that will not happen. Let us focus more on the future. If I am fortunate enough to witness the Kingdom of God alongside My Lord, that would be something I would be eternally proud of. For Laxyphinia to meet such a benevolent and powerful master as you is a treasure that other angels could only envy.”

Lowering her head, Laxy placed a light kiss on the back of Yisi’s hand, then released it. Standing up as if nothing had happened, she continued walking forward.

But this action had little effect other than making Yisi blush furiously. The rapidly warming blood spread from her neck to her earlobes, and her cheeks instantly turned bright red.

“L-Laxy, what are you doing?!”

This was a busy street! Because of Laxy’s actions just now, everyone in the plaza was staring at her strangely, whispering and pointing.

“Hoh~ hoh~ hoh~. Being treated like a princess.”

Edith, beside her, offered an unreadable smile. Then, while Yisi wasn’t paying attention, she took the hand Laxy had kissed and, on the exact spot, kissed it again.

“Refina, let’s go.”

Then she left, her back gradually receding into the distance.

“Hey, even Pepe—Camilla!?”

“Ngh… Onee-sama should be covered by my mark.”

Why does that sound like how beasts mark their territory with scent…

With a sulking expression, Camilla, as if trying to rub the skin off, took a handkerchief and vigorously wiped the back of Yisi’s hand. Then she used [Cleanse] magic on it, and only then, looking satisfied, left her own mark. However, unlike the previous two, Camilla firmly grasped Yisi’s hand, stood shoulder-to-shoulder beside her, tilted her head, and offered a heartwarming smile radiant enough to make flowers ashamed.

“This means I win.”