The Vegan Troll's Cabin, Part 19
Truth be told, if he wanted to fulfill his duties as an Apostle, the right thing to do was to introduce the Unnamed Goddess to these villagers. However, doing so would mean forcing a faith upon them that would bring down the iron hammer of the Holy Kingdom if they were ever caught. No matter how much gathering believers was his job, Yohan had no desire to force his religion on people who didn't want it. Faith, after all, wasn't something that could be coerced. Yohan believed that without a shadow of a doubt.
—Well, I knew you would say as much.
Fortunately, the Goddess let it slide, speaking as if it were no big deal. Yohan silently thanked her in his heart.
"But say, Mr. Apostle," one of the villagers spoke up.
"What now?" Yohan replied curtly, wondering what kind of nonsense they were going to spout this time.
"Can't we... you know, believe in that 'Arise Goddess Church' or whatever it is?"
Yohan's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected question.
"It's the Church of the Unnamed Goddess," Falco interjected, having stood silently by Yohan's side until now. She curled the corners of her lips upward, seemingly pleased with the villager's response.
"Ah, right. I'll definitely remember it now."
"Wait a minute. You want to believe in the Goddess?" Yohan asked, his face still a mask of sheer disbelief.
At his question, every single villager gathered there nodded. Did these people actually understand what I just explained? he wondered in all seriousness. Believing in this religion was illegal, to put it mildly. To put it bluntly, they would face severe torture and suffering the moment they caught the eye of the Holy Kingdom. Yet, these backwater villagers were casually asking if they could join.
—Whether they possess great mettle from surviving such a harsh environment, or they simply do not know of the Holy Kingdom you dread so much... even I cannot tell.
Even the Goddess, the very object of their potential worship, seemed quite taken aback by the villagers' reaction.
"Excuse me, let me through."
While Yohan stood there dumbfounded, the elderly man who had accompanied him to Billy's cabin the previous night suddenly squeezed through the crowd. Naturally, Yohan and the other villagers turned their attention to him.
"Look here, Mr. Apostle."
"What is it?"
"You could have easily just passed through as a mere traveler, yet you went out of your way to fight those trolls for our sake, did you not?"
"I did," Yohan replied, nodding.
"Then, why did you risk your life for people you didn't even know?"
"That's..." Yohan trailed off at the follow-up question.
"No matter what you might be thinking, from our perspective, it is no different than a messenger of God descending from the heavens."
"..."
He had only been looking at things from his own perspective. Yohan finally realized why the villagers' attitude had shifted so drastically.
"As you know, not all the residents of this village were born and raised here," the old man said, casting a brief glance toward Jack's house. "I am one of them. Before I was captured by those trolls while passing through this area, I traveled all over the continent."
This meant that at least some of the villagers weren't completely ignorant of the outside world.
"This world is vast, is it not?"
"It is."
"In this wide world, with so many people in it, you are the only one who saved us from this hell."
At the old man's words, the other villagers nodded in agreement or murmured their assent. These people were moved far more deeply than Yohan had anticipated. He could feel it clearly.
Neither the lord who nominally ruled this territory nor the king above him had done a single thing to save these villagers. A few adventurers overflowing with a sense of justice had occasionally attempted a rescue, but their efforts only ended with their remains joining the piles of bones scattered throughout the Troll Village.
Looking at the villagers' solemn eyes, Yohan felt a strange surge of emotion swelling in his chest. This village had undoubtedly left the worst first impression on him, but now, the people standing before him...
Neigh—!
Just as Yohan was about to open his mouth to speak, the sudden whinny of a horse echoed from the entrance of the village.
"Damn it, just behave and follow me!"
At the same time, someone's voice could be heard shouting at the beast. Yohan swallowed his words and turned his gaze toward the source of the noise.
The young man who had previously turned Yohan away when he first arrived at the village was now leading two of the horses that had been pulling Yohan's carriage. His entire body was covered in minor cuts and scratches. His pale, exhausted complexion made it obvious that he had spent the entire night roaming the mountains to find Yohan's horses.
Soon, his eyes met Yohan's. Wearing an awkward, embarrassed expression, the youth silently led the horses toward Yohan. The villagers surrounding Yohan naturally parted to make a path for him. Silence hung over the village as the young man approached.
Thrust.
The young man handed the reins over to Yohan. Yohan accepted them with a dazed expression.
"I found one of them wandering near the village. So, just in case, I went looking to see if the others were around too," the youth muttered, sounding strangely defensive. He then glanced around at the surrounding crowd. "So, what are you all gathered here for so early in the morning anyway?"
"That gentleman said he had something to tell us," another villager replied.
The young man nodded, slipped into the crowd, and simply stared at Yohan.
"Hmm..."
How was he supposed to react to this? Yohan stroked the necks of the two horses, who were nudging him affectionately, while keeping an eye on the villagers who were still staring at him expectantly.
"Yohan. Leave this to me."
As if sensing his dilemma, Falco, who had been standing quietly, suddenly stepped forward.
"S-Sure."
Yohan stepped aside, wondering what on earth this pointy-eared elf was planning to do now. Falco wore a smug, confident expression, as if savoring the villagers' undivided attention. After a brief pause, she suddenly thrust one hand straight up toward the sky.
"Goddess! Please appear!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs.
"You crazy bitch!"
Has this elf completely lost her mind? Shocked out of his wits, Yohan reflexively spat out a curse.
"I mean, she's not the kind of person who would just show up because you called her like—"
Flash!
...Or so he thought, but apparently, she was exactly that kind of person. In an instant, a brilliant light flashed before Yohan's eyes, and the Goddess materialized—not in her usual child form, but in her majestic adult form.
"My faithful believer, Falco, I have answered your plea."
The Goddess spoke with absolute divine majesty, completely discarding her usual clumsy persona that cried and sniveled at the slightest provocation. Her immense presence, which was enough to overwhelm any mortal just by looking at her, froze the entire crowd in place.
Yet, her presence did not suffocate them. While overwhelming, it simultaneously possessed a power that brought a profound sense of peace to everyone around. Even Yohan was momentarily struck with awe.
Right. She really is a god. And a benevolent one at that. She might act like a fool, but this is her true essence.
"This idiot..."
But that awe lasted only a fraction of a second. Yohan quickly noticed the corner of the Goddess's mouth twitching. This blockhead was barely holding herself back from jumping up and down with joy. Falco was also struggling to contain her excitement; Yohan could clearly see her legs trembling.
"W-What is that?!"
"A person just appeared out of nowhere!"
Meanwhile, the villagers began to murmur in shock at the Goddess's sudden descent.
"You fools, that's no ordinary person! It's the Goddess!"
"She's so beautiful!"
"He wasn't just an Apostle in name only!"
Within moments, the villagers grasped the situation and erupted into cheers.
"Sigh..."
Yohan looked around at the instant pandemonium and let out a deep, heartfelt sigh. Falco had caused a scene, and the Goddess had happily played along. But that was only how Yohan saw it.
A hero claiming to be the Apostle of the Goddess, who had liberated a village that had suffered for decades. And the Goddess herself, descending in person before that very hero.
There was a simple word to describe such a sight.
A miracle.
Well, nothing can be done about it now. Since it's come to this, I have to step up as the Apostle.
Yohan shrugged and prepared to speak. He would calm the excited crowd first, then formally accept them as followers of the Church of the Unnamed Goddess. The villagers already seemed to be overflowing with faith toward the Goddess anyway... and it wasn't like he had forced it on them.
"Do you believe, you bastards?!" Falco roared, having absolutely no intention of handing the spotlight over to him. Wearing a confident smirk, she bellowed at the crowd once more.
"We believe!" the villagers screamed back, refusing to be outdone.
Yohan felt a sudden wave of dizziness at this shocking exchange.
"You crazy..."
Yohan cursed at Falco once again. But instead of talking back, Falco simply flashed him a smug thumbs-up.
Even though it was a reckless stunt pulled by Falco, the Goddess's personal descent in her true form had a profound impact on the villagers. Some fell straight to their knees in prayer, while others burst into tears, overwhelmed by emotion. Without any prompting, everyone expressed their newfound faith in their own way.
"Sniff..."
Even Billy was shedding fat tears as he clapped his hands.
"Now, my Apostle Yohan. I shall leave the rest to you!"
"Hey, wait—!"
Having blown the situation completely out of proportion, the Goddess lightly patted Yohan on the shoulder and vanished into thin air. With her departure, the overwhelming wave of emotion that had swept through the crowd began to gradually subside.
"Ugh... Right... Anyway. You all saw that, right? I'm not some cult leader serving a non-existent god."
He finally spoke to the villagers, who had finally calmed down. The crowd nodded in unison.
"Now that you've decided to believe in our Goddess, there are certain things you must follow as her believers."
Yohan looked up at the sky, gesturing to hear the Goddess's input.
—It is simple. Act with justice.
The Goddess answered his silent call.
"The rules are simple. You don't need to grab random passersby and tell them to believe in our Goddess. Just believe in her and act with justice."
"With justice?" a few villagers echoed.
"Yeah. To put it more simply... just be good people."
He made it sound like a trivial thing, but in reality, this world was an incredibly difficult place to live a good life. Yohan himself had chosen to be a grave robber just to make a living. That was why he secretly worried that the villagers might find this hard to accept.
"That's simple enough."
"Is there no need to pray every day or offer sacrifices?"
"Nope, none."
The Goddess had never imposed complex rules on her believers to begin with. She had only given specific duties to Yohan, her sole Apostle.
"Of course, as I mentioned earlier, make sure to watch out for the Holy Kingdom's Inquisitors if you ever go outside."
With that, the discussion was over. Yohan shrugged to signal he had nothing left to say.
"What are you all still standing around for? We're done here, so go back to your business. Or go check out the outside world if you want."
The villagers exchanged glances at Yohan's suggestion.
"To be honest, I feel like leaving would just mean more suffering."
"My knees ache if I walk for too long, so I can't go."
It seemed quite a few of them had no intention of leaving. While a handful seriously contemplated setting off, the vast majority chose to remain in the village now that the threat of the man-eating trolls was gone.
"Well, we'll be on our way then."
Yohan patted the neck of the horse the young man had brought back. Although the carriage was ruined and half of his horses were dead, having these two return safely meant their journey wouldn't be too difficult. Now, it was time to say goodbye to Billy and the villagers. Yohan turned to look at Billy.
"Um... Yohan."
For some reason, Billy was hesitantly reading Yohan's expression.
"So, you're leaving right away? Just the two of you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Mhm," Falco chimed in.
Billy continued to hesitate, prompting both Yohan and Falco to tilt their heads in confusion. After agonizing over his words for a long moment, Billy finally spoke up.
"I-I want to go with you. Please take me along."