A Righteous Doctrine Fosters Devotion (4)
"Goddammit, it's just a High Potion?!"
A string of crude curses burst from the mouth of the mage, who had maintained a solemn and dignified tone up until now.
"Holy shit," Yohan muttered, his reaction not much different.
—Why are you so surprised? It is a healing potion made from herbs infused with the divine authorities of two deities, after all.
The Goddess's nagging echoed in his mind, but Yohan promptly ignored her. A moment later—
"Aaaagh! Gross!"
Yohan suddenly realized he was still holding the mage's severed arm. Letting out a bizarre shriek, he flung it onto the floor.
"My arm!"
Even the old mage, who must have witnessed all sorts of gruesome sights during his long tenure at the Magic Tower, gasped in shock, momentarily forgetting that a brand-new arm had just sprouted from his shoulder.
"Pant... pant..."
After the brief commotion subsided, the self-proclaimed apothecary and the old mage finally regained their composure and straightened themselves up.
"Ahem, cough. As you have just witnessed, the healing potion you made... is surprisingly on par with, or perhaps even superior to, the High Potions we sell."
"Y-yeah, looks like it. Well, since we've confirmed it..."
Now that it had been verified by an expert, the matter was settled. The villagers would now be able to treat patients perfectly fine even when Yohan and the Goddess were away.
Yohan gave the mage a quick nod and prepared to leave the room immediately.
"Wait just a moment."
But the old mage wasn't finished with him yet.
"Would you be interested in signing a contract with our Magic Tower for that potion?"
Indeed, the mage had mentioned earlier that High Potions were currently in short supply. The conversation had only been interrupted because a new arm had suddenly popped out of his stump, causing a bit of a scene.
"A contract?"
"Think about it, young apothecary. There is no mages' guild in Westania larger than ours."
He wasn't wrong. If Yohan were an ordinary apothecary, he would have accepted the offer on the spot and started negotiating the details. Why wouldn't he? He had created something equal in quality to a potion the mages had spent years of painstaking research to develop. He would be rolling in gold in no time.
Hmm... Sounds like a pain, though.
But Yohan wasn't in a position to do that. The only reason this potion performed on the level of a High Potion was because of the combined power of two deities—the Goddess and the Guardian Deity. While receiving the blessings of both gods directly would be a lethal poison to a mortal, diluting their power into a potion like this made it a miracle cure.
"Give it some serious thought. You clearly have raw talent. With the Magic Tower's backing, you could scale up production, make a fortune, and vastly improve your skills."
"No thanks. I only came to see how well the stuff actually works. Hey, let's go."
"Ah, yes, sir!"
Yohan called out to Billy, who had been completely mesmerized by the various magical devices filling the room.
"At-at least tell me your name before you go!" the mage shouted after them as Yohan and Billy headed for the door.
A name... Since he was pretending to be an apothecary, he couldn't just give his real name.
"Hmm..." Yohan pondered for a brief second.
"Martin. It's Martin."
He blurted out the first name that came to mind and quickly slipped out of the mage's room.
"Sigh... What a shame."
Left alone in the room, the old mage smacked his lips in disappointment before quietly bending down to pick up his old severed arm from the floor.
Stepping outside the Magic Tower, the biting midwinter wind immediately blasted them from all directions.
The cold was so brutal that Yohan wanted nothing more than to ask the Goddess to teleport them straight back to the village. However, he still had errands to run, so he held back.
"Let's see, what do we need to buy..."
"Other than the meat Falco asked us to get, there's nothing else. Or, since we're already here, should we buy some winter clothes for the villagers?"
"Good idea. Let's grab a bite to eat while we're out, buy the meat and clothes, and head back."
"Yes, sir."
Since they had traveled all this way, they might as well fill their stomachs before returning. Yohan wandered around the vicinity of the Magic Tower, looking for a decent place to eat.
But the moment he found a promising restaurant and stepped inside, Yohan froze, nearly jumping out of his skin.
—Those people are...
The Goddess was equally startled. Inside the restaurant sat Heresy Inquisitors from the Holy Kingdom. And not just one, but two of them.
"Man, I'm starving. Let's order quick."
"Y-yes."
Fortunately, the Inquisitors seemed entirely focused on their food and didn't notice their entrance. Yohan and Billy maintained their composure, acting as natural as possible as they walked over to an empty table and sat down.
If they turned around and walked out now, it would only draw the Inquisitors' suspicion.
"Are you ready to order?"
"Yes. We'll have..."
Yohan ordered their food with a calm, indifferent face, but his entire focus was locked onto the two Inquisitors sitting a short distance away. Ever since heeding the Goddess's advice, he had kept his divine power suppressed at all times. As long as he didn't do anything reckless, those Inquisitors had no way of discovering his identity.
Still, it was absurd to run into Inquisitors twice in a place so far from the Holy Kingdom. He recalled running into Annie in a restaurant before, too...
After placing their order, Yohan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, but he couldn't shake his unease.
"..."
Well, since they were here, he might as well find out what brought them all the way to the capital of Westania. He had a rough idea, of course. They were likely still scouring the continent for the stolen Original Scriptures.
Yohan closed his eyes and focused his senses on the surrounding sounds. Hearing was ultimately a physical capability, meaning he could easily achieve hearing that would make an elf jealous by channeling his Apostle's Authority.
"...It's honestly absurd. It's been months, and far from recovering the item, we haven't found a single trace of the culprit."
"Tell me about it. They call it a search, but the scope is the entire continent. How do they expect a few hundred Inquisitors to find anything?"
Just as Yohan suspected, the Inquisitors had come here in search of the missing scriptures. However, given how much time had passed since the incident, neither of them seemed particularly enthusiastic about their mission.
"It literally vanished without a trace. Just between us... there are rumors it was an inside job by some subversive elements."
"Hush, now. That's going too far. If another brother were to hear..."
Not a brother, but I'm listening, Yohan thought, snorting inwardly as he eavesdropped on their conversation.
The two Inquisitors continued to chat for another ten minutes.
"Here is your food."
As Yohan quietly spied on them, their freshly prepared, steaming hot dishes arrived. Yohan's stomach rumbled. Looking at the mouth-watering food, the hunger he had forgotten while focusing on his eavesdropping came rushing back.
Without a word, Yohan and Billy began devouring the food in front of them. Meanwhile, the two Inquisitors finished their conversation, stood up, and left the restaurant. True to their titles, they cast a sharp, sweeping glance over the other patrons as they walked out.
Their eyes lingered on Yohan and Billy for a brief moment, but they didn't say anything and simply went on their way.
After finishing their meal, Yohan and Billy headed straight to the market. They purchased the meat Falco had requested and winter clothes for the villagers before finally returning to the village.
"They're back."
"Oh, you're back."
As they entered the village, Annie, who was in the middle of training several village youths outside, greeted them. Since the knights had semi-permanently settled in the village, Yohan had been looking for ways to develop the community in various aspects. Arming the healthy young men was one of those plans.
Previously, the villagers hadn't even been allowed to hold weapons due to the threat of the man-eating trolls. But now that the trolls were gone, those restrictions were lifted. And Annie, who was the most skilled weapon-wielder among them, had taken on the role of training them.
To be honest, Yohan had secretly hoped Falco would teach the villagers archery like a proper elf. Unfortunately, Falco preferred stabbing enemies between the ribs with a dagger over shooting arrows from a distance.
"Geez, you're going to catch a cold if you keep that up."
"Don't worry. I know my own body better than anyone," Annie replied with a shrug.
Despite the freezing winter weather, she was swinging her mace in light clothing. Meanwhile, the village youths were struggling beside her, flailing around with wooden swords. It wasn't proper training; they were literally just flailing.
"Pant... pant..."
"Ugh..."
The youths looked like they were on the verge of collapsing. It was obvious they had overexerted themselves trying to keep up with Annie's brutal pace.
"Your stances are slipping!"
"Aaaagh!"
Annie understood the importance of her duty better than anyone, which was why she was giving her absolute all to train them.
"What did I tell you?!"
"A healthy mind in a healthy body!"
"A righteous doctrine fosters devotion!"
The youths screamed their answers in desperate, strained voices. Yohan and Billy could only shake their heads at the sight.
"Indeed! We build bodies healthy enough to present to the Goddess without shame! Understood?!"
"Aaaagh!"
—Ohohoho. Very good. Splendid.
The problem was that the Goddess, in her spiritual form, thoroughly approved of this high-spirited, intense training.
"Cut the chatter and follow me. Two of your old friends are in the capital," Yohan told Annie.
"Other Inquisitors have come this far?"
"Yeah. I only eavesdropped from a distance, but I picked up some interesting intel."
"Understood. Let's go then."
Yohan, Billy, and Annie headed toward Billy's log cabin.
"Hey, wake up. We need to talk."
Upon entering the cabin, they found Falco snoring softly, leaning back in a chair in front of the fireplace. Yohan immediately pulled off the blanket covering her and tapped her shoulder.
At the same time, the Goddess materialized, and everyone gathered around the table near the fireplace.
"First of all, the effects of the potion Billy made have been verified. The mage at the Magic Tower said it's on par with, or even superior to, a High Potion. And..."
Yohan explained how they had spotted the Inquisitors in the capital's restaurant and shared the information he had gathered from their conversation.
"I see. So even within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, voices of discontent are starting to rise."
"*Yawn...* I'd be pissed too. They're being told to scour the entire continent for something that vanished without a single trace," Annie and Falco commented in turn.
"That's not all. The overall atmosphere inside the Holy Kingdom seems incredibly chaotic right now."
While Yohan's group had been living quietly in the village, the Holy Kingdom had apparently been thrown into utter chaos by the unprecedented theft of the scriptures. On top of that, although it wasn't public knowledge yet, the awakening of the Main God Justia must have made the atmosphere even more turbulent.
While the initial unrest caused by the rumors Yohan had spread in the Holy City had quickly subsided, the impact of the Main God Justia waking from her long slumber couldn't be suppressed forever.
"What do you mean by chaotic, exactly?"
"The Pope has started acting like he's on drugs. He abandoned his office in the Papal Palace and moved to a different location."
At Yohan's answer, Annie's face contorted in rare, genuine shock.
"The Papal Palace is no ordinary place. It is the official sovereign palace where His Holiness... no, where the Pope resides."
"Exactly."
Yet the Pope had abandoned the Papal Palace to live elsewhere. The implication was simple.
"Has my other half occupied the Papal Palace and driven the Pope out?" the Goddess, who had been listening quietly, chimed in.
The others shared her thoughts.
"But they didn't mention anything about the Goddess actually doing anything after waking up."
"The very fact that they're still dragging out this fruitless investigation means the Main God is keeping silent while the followers run around like headless chickens."
In any case, it meant the current situation remained highly favorable for the Goddess Knights.
The Holy Kingdom was fully occupied chasing the ghost of the missing scriptures, and internally, they were shaken by the Pope's bizarre behavior.
"So, we proceed as planned and finish compiling the scriptures for the Goddess's church."
There was no change in plans. At Yohan's words, everyone nodded in agreement.