by Okina Baba
It’s not Ohts that’s trying to defeat Sariella?
“So the Word of God, not Ohts, was behind the invasion of Sariella. Is that what you mean to say?”
Merazophis breaks his silence for the first time, looking from Ariel to the pontiff.
Thus far, we’d thought Ohts was the main instigator behind the attack on Sariella. But what Ariel just said makes it sound like the Word of God religion is the one that compelled Ohts to attack.
It might seem like the same thing, but there’s a very big difference.
If that’s true, then our enemy isn’t the small country of Ohts but the Word of God, the biggest religion in the world.
Sariella might have been able to defeat Ohts, but if the real one behind the war is the Word of God religion, our home nation doesn’t stand a chance.
“Yeah, of course. Why would a tiny nation that could be knocked over by a strong breeze charge into battle on its own? It didn’t seem at all suspicious to you that Ohts started a war just like that?”
Ariel, not the pontiff, responds to Merazophis’s query, revealing that the Word of God religion is the mastermind behind the attack of Sariella, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
The pontiff neither confirms nor denies it, but the fact that he’s remaining silent seems like confirmation to me.
“Do Word of God believers hate the followers of the Goddess that much?!”
Merazophis gnashes his teeth.
The relationship between Sariella’s Goddess religion and the Word of God has apparently always been volatile.
With this war, they must be planning to settle the score once and for all.
“I hate to break it to you, but this guy’s motives aren’t that simple. He’s not really that devout to begin with, see. In fact, it’s more like he’s picking a fight with the gods.”
It takes me a moment to process Ariel’s words.
How could the man who leads the biggest religion in the word be picking a fight with gods?
If that’s a joke, it doesn’t seem very funny.
But Ariel’s expression is dead serious. In fact, she’s glaring at the pontiff accusingly.
Huh? So it’s the truth?
Do gods even exist in this world?
I mean, I guess since we all hear that “Word of God” voice, it wouldn’t be that surprising if whoever’s speaking it really is a god.
But considering how mechanical that voice is, I personally find it a little hard to believe.
“My ideology is irrelevant at the moment. After all, one person’s expectations are all but meaningless in the face of real results. That’s exactly why I am in this chair now. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I’m guessing that by “this chair,” he means the position of pontiff, not literally the chair he’s sitting in right now in this restaurant.
But overall, I’m still finding it hard to grasp everything the pontiff and Ariel are talking about.
Given his expression of deep thought, Merazophis seems to be in the same boat.
However, I think their conversation requires knowledge of a certain something we aren’t aware of yet.
As long as we’re in the dark about that something, I don’t think we’ll be able to keep up.
“Are you quite certain the system is operating normally?”
And I think that “something” might be the “system” they keep talking about.
But until we know exactly what this “system” thing is, that doesn’t help me at all.
“I guarantee it. The system is in perfect working order. In fact, this might be the most stable it’s ever been.”
“Is that right? In spite of the sudden decrease in MA energy?”
“Yep. I don’t think that was exactly part of the plan, but there’s no problem with the system. Not with its operation anyway.”
“In other words, while it may be operating normally, there is still a fundamental problem?”
“You could put it that way. Everything it’s been building up over all those years has suddenly gone to waste. If that’s not a problem, what else would you call it?”
“This is true. A very grave problem indeed.”
Both Ariel and the pontiff sigh despondently.
It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing two mortal enemies would do.
“But let’s put that aside for now. It’s not exactly the kind of problem we can solve with a few simple actions anyway. Your biggest concern right now is Sariella, isn’t it?”
With that, Ariel closes her eyes for a moment.
Then she opens them again and speaks.
“Let’s start with your three main points. Number one, as far as my actions from here on out are concerned, it’s just like I said before. Right now, I’m planning on bringing these kids to the capital of Sariella. After that, what they do is up to them, but either way, I’m not planning on staying in this country. I’m not planning on doing anything to aid Sariella, even if these guys decide to stay here. As long as nobody does anything to change my mind, that is. Once I’ve left this country, you’re free to start a war or whatever you want.”
I can’t help but be a little shocked by Ariel’s words. It sounds like she’s washing her hands of us.
I know she doesn’t really intend to do that. Still, hearing her talk about this country like she doesn’t care in the least does hurt.
Especially since it sounds like she doesn’t care whether we stay here or not, either.
Considering how much she’s looked out for us so far, I think she must care about us at least a little.
But just as she said, if we stay here and get caught up in a war again, she’s almost certainly not going to save us this time.
That reality makes the path ahead of us look dark.
“Number two, the elves. I don’t know much about that myself, actually. But I do know they’re targeting point number three, this girl, as well as other people like her. Potimas himself even showed up, or at least one of his usual puppet things, so they must be pretty serious about it.”
As she talks about the elves, especially Potimas, Ariel’s expression is one of unconcealed contempt.
I don’t like them, either, since they targeted my life and all, but my feelings are closer to fear than hatred.
That man indifferently tried to take my and Merazophis’s lives. I can’t forget those cold eyes, which looked at us like we were nothing more than garbage to be disposed of.
To me, the man called Potimas is like the specter of death itself.
Just remembering him makes me want to shake with fear.
If we part ways with Ariel, that man might attack us again.
If the Word of God religion attacks Sariella, that will certainly be a problem, but I think Potimas might be an even bigger threat to Merazophis and me.
“Hmm. I suspected they might make some sort of move, so I have been on my guard. And if he is moving so freely, it is even worse than I feared. If you had not taken care of him, Lady Ariel, I know not what might have occurred.”
“Feel free to thank me.”
“Indeed, I thank you very much. Although I would be even more grateful if you had erased all traces of the battle, not just the bodies.”
“Ahhh. I guess he was using a gun and stuff, huh? Right, right. I didn’t think about those little details.”
“It’s quite all right. We took care of the rest, so there is nothing for you to worry about.”
The pontiff is talking as if he did Ariel a favor, which she more or less ignores.
So if guns are used in this world, you have to cover up any evidence.
White took care of the bodies, but I wasn’t really worried about things like that at the time.
I certainly wasn’t in any state to think about bullet holes or anything like that.
But if even those traces have to be hidden, what exactly was that machine body Potimas was using?
I thought this was some kind of fantasy world that was less developed than Earth, with stra
nge things like skills and stats.
But Potimas’s machine was easily more advanced than any technology I’ve ever seen on Earth.
There’s something very strange about this world.
And Ariel and the pontiff clearly know the truth behind it.
Is the “system” they keep mentioning the source of this world’s strangeness?
I’m not sure, but it’s clear that Ariel and the pontiff don’t want the world at large to know about machine technology.
“At any rate, it seems that our information has been leaked somehow. Ohts’s surprise attack on the capital has been compromised.”
“So you lost the information war, huh?”
The pontiff nods meekly at Ariel’s rude remark.
“Yes, indeed. We put a great deal of importance on secrecy, and I thought that our intelligence organization gave us the advantage, but the results speak for themselves. We simply cannot keep up with the elves’ information network.”
Seeing the pontiff’s serious expression, Ariel’s face turns grave as well.
“Isn’t there anything you can do?”
“We have been doing our utmost, yet our efforts are to no avail.” The pontiff shakes his head glumly. “The elves’ circle of devotees is growing. And since they are unaware themselves that they are passing information along to the elves, there is little we can do to stop them. They are good people who believe in the elves’ public-facing banner of true world peace, so it is difficult for us to intervene.”
True world peace? In a place where monsters are everywhere and humans still fight among themselves?
What a sketchy claim. Who would buy into that?
“Most devious of all is the fact that there are those even among the elves who truly believe in that ideal. As a result, there is no way of knowing whether any given elf is directly connected to Potimas, so if we make a careless attempt to finish things, we may find the tables turned on us instead. With the amount of power he has now, he could even manipulate public sentiment to turn people against the Word of God.”
“You should probably be taking care of the elves before you take care of the Goddess religion, then.”
“Indeed. However, by the time I first founded the Word of God religion, the elves had already built themselves a rock-solid position. No matter what I do, they are always one step ahead.”
Ariel and the pontiff sigh in unison again.
At this point, it’s not at all clear whether they’re enemies or allies.
Initially, Ariel’s reaction made me think they were enemies, but it doesn’t really seem that way when they look to be on the same page in a lot of ways.
“Well, even I can’t tell what the elves are up to, but I do know it can’t be anything good. This is Potimas we’re talking about.”
“Well said. That man always brings an ill wind.”
…Maybe they’re actually friends after all?
“Anyway, as far as your third point goes, I don’t think I wanna tell you that.”
Or maybe not. It seems like Ariel is pretty leery of the pontiff after all.
“Even if the elves are involved and we might be able to be of some assistance in that regard?”
“Even then. Letting the elves use her would be the worst-case scenario, but how do I know the Word of God wouldn’t do the same thing? I’m not gonna show my hand to someone I can’t trust.”
Okay, I give up. I can’t tell whether they’re friends or enemies.
I think it might be too complicated to sum up in such simple terms, to be honest.
“But that means you might well intend to use her yourself, does it not?”
“If I can, I probably will. But I intend to prioritize her own wishes above all that.”
That she’s saying this right in front of me just proves that she’s sincere, I think.
“I see. Then there is more to her than the fact that she has memories of a previous life.”
I’m impressed the pontiff was able to guess that much from what little information he was given, but I doubt he’ll figure out anything else.
I mean, who would ever imagine that someone might be reborn from another world?
Although, if he was able to figure out that I have memories of a previous life, does that mean such a thing is relatively common in this world?
“Well, that’s all I wanted to say. Do you have anything to add?” Ariel addresses Merazophis.
No, not just Merazophis. She’s looking at me, too.
Does that mean it’s all right for me to speak?
The pontiff looks at me and Merazophis, too.
I gaze up at Merazophis and send him a telepathic message only he can hear.
“Merazophis, if there’s something you want to say, you can say it.”
I have nothing to say myself.
I mean, there are lots of things I’d like to say, but I don’t think I could really gather my thoughts together well enough to express them sensibly.
This man, the pontiff, is almost certainly my enemy.
I know that, but honestly, it doesn’t really feel that way.
I mean, I don’t know much about the Word of God religion.
All I know is that it’s the biggest religion in the world, and that it’s opposed to the Goddess religion worshipped in Sariella.
Which means I basically know nothing at all.
I’m sure there’s some deep-seated grudge between the Word of God and the Goddess followers, but I don’t have a clue what that might be.
And although I know he’s behind the war, that doesn’t mean I can suddenly view him as my enemy.
What happened in Keren County still doesn’t quite feel real to me.
It was destroyed before I could form a deep attachment to the place, after all.
I do feel sad and angry, but it’s like I’m viewing those emotions through a pane of frosted glass.
But I’m sure Merazophis feels very differently.
He spent much of his life in Keren County, and lost things that can never be replaced.
So I think it would be better for him to speak than someone like me.
And yet, Merazophis shakes his head.
“There is nothing I wish to say.”
Ariel, myself, and even the pontiff look surprised.
“You sure? Don’t you wanna make an angry declaration or two? I mean, you could even kill this guy right now and no one would complain about it.”
Ariel’s comment seems dangerous to me, but I’m guessing she’s saying it because it’s a very real possibility.
The pontiff said himself that he came alone knowing he might be killed.
Based on Ariel’s confirmation, I think that was the truth, and that he really would accept it.
“No. I have a feeling that killing him here would be pointless. I’m sure it would not stop the flow of the times. Besides, his death would not cause him to regret his actions. At best, it would only serve to briefly ease my resentment. Such an act could never make up for the loss of my master, my mistress, and all of Keren County. Your life is trivial by comparison.”
Merazophis’s words are dismissive, but there’s a swell of dark feelings behind them that he can’t entirely keep out of his voice.
I’m sure there’s plenty he wants to say.
And yet, he chooses to hold his tongue.
“I am the young mistress’s servant. If she chooses not to speak, there is no reason for me to do so. Everything I do, I do to serve her.”
So that’s why he’s keeping his emotions at bay.
I thought it would be better to let him speak, but he’s saying that if I’m not going to say anything, he won’t, either.
We each hold the other in such high regard that it’s almost like a strange stalemate.
But I think I’m all right with that.
“Pfft! Heh-heh-heh. He said your life is trivial.”
For some reason, Ariel is snickering.
“Indeed. I was fully prepared to be killed
, but I did not expect to be told such a thing.”
The pontiff’s voice is as calm as ever.
But, although it might be my imagination, he suddenly looks incredibly frail. Like a plant that’s on the verge of withering.
“Trivial, is it? Yes, I suppose you are right. My life is quite trivial indeed. I feel I must apologize for attempting to offer up this life of mine in return for the pain I have caused you. I am sincerely sorry.”
Then he bows his head deeply.
The leader of the biggest religion in the world, bowing to us.
“And yet, I cannot stop. I must not, no matter what.”
I feel a shiver run through Merazophis’s body, as well as my own.
Because we both sense it: the overwhelming weight of the resolve this withered old man carries within him.
He says his life is trivial, yet he holds on to some unshakable conviction.
I don’t get it.
What could be that much more important than your own life?
“We’ve both taken on difficult roles,” Ariel mutters quietly, then speaks up. “Well, then. There’s nothing else to talk about, right? We’re gonna take off now. Oh, but if you wanna apologize, you can grab the bill for us here. Shall we?”
Ariel stands up.
Merazophis follows suit with me in his arms, and we head for the door.
All the while, the pontiff keeps his head bowed.
Merazophis acts as if he doesn’t notice, but I keep my eyes on the pontiff the whole time.
“Oh right. It’s all well and good that you’re so focused on Sariella, but shouldn’t you be a little more worried about the demons, too?”
Just before we leave, Ariel addresses the pontiff again.
“The new Demon Lord for this generation is me, after all.”
Her remark, which she states quite casually, evokes a dramatic reaction from the pontiff, whose head shoots back up from its bowed position.
But before he can say anything, the door shuts, closing us off from him.
“Are you certain it was wise to reveal yourself as the Demon Lord?”
Merazophis speaks up for the first time since we returned to our room at the inn.
“Yeah, it’s fiiine. Him knowing that isn’t gonna change anything. It’s just like the Word of God religion attacking the Goddess religion. Nothing anybody does will stop that from happening eventually.”