Sleeping Beauty of the Elven Forest (3)
Inside the Junk Town sheriff's office, Wilhelm and Agnes sat in a long, heavy silence. Neither of their expressions could be called pleasant, even as a polite lie. Agnes, in particular, looked ready to explode and smash everything in sight.
There might still be low-level devils wandering around the town. If Yohan hadn't been lying, there was no telling when the devils would raid the town and run amok again.
"First, I'll go scout around the town," Agnes said, breaking the silence. She barely managed to suppress her rising anger.
"Will you be alright? From what your superiors said, this seems well beyond your jurisdiction now," Wilhelm asked.
She shrugged lightly at his question. "I know. But I still have some time before my scheduled return."
In short, she meant to stay in Junk Town and prepare for any potential raids by low-level devils until she absolutely had to return to the Holy Kingdom after completing her investigation.
"So keep that rosary with you for a while. If Yohan's words are anything to go by, you're the strongest fighter in this town, aren't you?"
"Hmph."
With that, Agnes stood up and walked out of the office.
The Lord of Balifield had refused to dispatch troops. And the Church's stance wouldn't be much different.
"Dammit."
Stepping out of the town and into the wasteland, Agnes spat out a quiet curse, fueled by a sudden surge of irritation. Even if this was a place where shady outcasts gathered, how could they just abandon it when they knew damn well that demons were eyeing it? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
Was this truly the way of a Church that claimed justice as its highest virtue? Agnes questioned this deep in her heart.
If anything, that guy traveling with an elf and a troll was much closer to true justice. She, at least, was nominally a Heresy Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom, bound by duty to fight heresy and evil wherever she encountered them. But Yohan was just a wanderer roaming the wasteland, with no such obligation or reason. Yet, he had risked his life to defeat the demon threatening the town, and in the process, his precious companion had fallen gravely ill.
"O Primary God..."
Agnes called out to her deity in a barely audible whisper. Then, she suddenly knelt on the dirt ground, clasped her hands together, and bowed her head.
"I have traveled from the Holy City to this distant frontier and found the traces left by a demon."
Agnes closed her eyes tightly.
"Yet, the Lord and the Church have declared they have no intention of purging this demon immediately."
And a demon of Pandemonium, no less. Simply because it posed no immediate threat to the city.
"If there is even a shred of mercy left for me, please, let me hear Your voice."
Agnes prayed with all her heart. One minute. Ten minutes. An hour. But once again, the god she believed in offered no answer.
Right. As if this was the first time.
Agnes stood up with a bitter smile. Regardless, she had to stay in the town and prepare for the worst until her return date. She quickened her pace. For the next few hours, she patrolled the wasteland surrounding Junk Town.
"..."
Before long, her eyes caught sight of craters of various sizes in the middle of the wasteland. The surface of the barren land, where no one usually set foot, was torn apart in a chaotic mess. It looked as though a fierce battle had taken place here.
A fierce battle...
Agnes immediately realized that Yohan's party had fought a demon here. Sure enough, the corpses of low-level devils—identical to the ones that had raided the town—lay scattered around the craters.
But... something was off.
As Agnes examined the area around the craters, she noticed several suspicious details. It was true that Yohan had encountered a demon. However, the number of low-level devil corpses scattered around was far too high. Moreover, it was impossible for mere low-level devils to devastate the terrain to this extent. Agnes investigated the craters more closely.
"This is..."
Before long, she discovered a crucial piece of evidence. Crystals of sand vitrified by extreme heat. It was a form highly similar to what she had found near the hole in the ceiling of the Balifield Undercity.
"You... No, You are..."
Yohan immediately realized the identity of the girl who had appeared before them. Billy also wore a tense expression. Falco, on the other hand, didn't seem particularly surprised; if anything, she looked as though she had expected this all along.
"Do you know who I am?"
"The Guardian Deity of the Dawn Dew Tribe..."
Yohan nodded in response to the girl's question. At his answer, the girl—no, the Guardian Deity—clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
"That's right! But what brings you to a place where nothing is left?"
The Guardian Deity spoke in a playful voice. She then looked up to examine Yohan and Billy. Even though she was physically looking up at him, Yohan felt an eerie sensation, as if a colossal entity from on high was peering deep into his very soul.
"Well, actually, I already know."
The Guardian Deity continued casually. She glided past Yohan and Billy, heading straight toward Falco, who was lying weakly on the horse.
"The last child of my tribe has returned."
"..."
Falco remained silent at the Guardian Deity's words. Yohan worried that the deity might take this as an insult, but fortunately, she didn't seem like the type to fuss over such trivial matters.
"It's been so long. I thought I'd never see you again, so I'm truly glad to see you."
In fact, she seemed far more friendly toward mortals than the Goddess Yohan served.
"And you've brought friends who harbor other gods, too."
However, she clearly possessed the insight of a divine being. Her eyes curved into crescents as she looked at the other two. It wasn't surprising, considering Yohan had felt her peering into his soul from the very first moment.
Flash!
With a sudden burst of light, the Unnamed Goddess manifested on the ground. In the middle of the Great Forest, two deities stood face-to-face.
"I don't recognize your face at all. You're certainly not from around here, are you?" the Guardian Deity said to the Goddess.
Yohan immediately understood that the "face" she referred to wasn't literal. The two divine beings were undoubtedly peering into each other's true essence. Although both took the form of young children, these were merely avatars woven from divine power to communicate directly with mortals.
"On top of that, your power is incredibly faint. It's almost as if..."
"I believe we are both in a state of near-extinction, so there is little room for comparison," the Goddess spoke for the first time, interrupting the Guardian Deity. Her tone was uncharacteristically cold.
The Guardian Deity's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but she quickly broke into a broad smile.
"Furthermore, I am not a low-ranking entity as you seem to think. In truth, I have lived at least several times longer than you."
Though for someone who's lived so long, our little dummy is still shorter, Yohan thought, scratching his head as he watched the high-level divine banter.
However, despite looking like a petty squabble between children, the Goddess's words held truth. Since the Unnamed Goddess had been sealed in that underground shrine for thousands of years, her actual lifespan had to be far greater. Moreover, Yohan could sense that the Guardian Deity before them was relatively young for a divine being—not based on her appearance or behavior, but her age as a spiritual entity tethered to this world and the next.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say, grand senior."
"Indeed. As long as you understand."
A goddess whose faith had spread so widely that sacred relics were still found today, versus a local deity worshipped only by a single elven tribe in this forest. The difference in their original status was bound to be astronomical.
"Alright, alright, let's wrap this up. We didn't come all the way to this pointy-ear forest to chat, you know?"
Deciding to cut the tangent short, Yohan grabbed the Goddess by her waist and lifted her up.
"Whoa! You insolent fool! Let go of me this instant!"
The flustered Goddess flailed her arms and legs in resistance, but Yohan completely ignored her.
"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, you call me all sorts of names, yet you're speaking so politely to a god you've never even met before. Huh?"
"Uh... well, that's true."
It certainly was, but now was not the time for that discussion. Yohan set the Goddess down behind him. She glared at him with a pouty face, then crossed her arms and snorted in annoyance.
"Ahem. Anyway, we came all this way to see you."
"Yes. Actually, I was curious about you too. I can tell what kind of person you are, but I can't read your thoughts," the Guardian Deity replied, choosing to get straight to the point.
Yohan turned his head and briefly exchanged glances with Falco.
"That pointy-ear over there, the one lying on the horse. She's sick right now."
"Sick? The last child of my tribe?"
The Guardian Deity looked genuinely surprised when Yohan revealed their purpose. She floated up and drifted straight over to Falco.
"Ah, indeed she is. I was so distracted by you and our grand senior that I didn't check on my child's condition."
After examining Falco's pale face, the Guardian Deity floated back to her original spot. She looked up at Yohan, humming thoughtfully as if evaluating him.
"The blessings of two deities have been bestowed upon a single vessel. Naturally, a conflict has erupted within her."
"Yes. She recovered a bit after we entered the forest, but before we got here, she was literally on the verge of death."
At Yohan's complaint, the Guardian Deity wore an enigmatic smile.
"With the blessings of two deities intertwined, unilaterally removing just one would shatter the vessel. That is why you came to find me—to lift both blessings simultaneously."
"Bingo. So please, do us a favor. Save my friend. I'll do whatever is within my power."
Yohan spoke with absolute sincerity. He even dropped to one knee, lowering his gaze below the Guardian Deity's level. At his plea, which bordered on begging, not only the Goddess but even Falco looked utterly shocked.
"Yo... Yohan," Falco called out his name with difficulty.
But Yohan forced himself to ignore her.
Yeah, I know.
Since being dragged into this godforsaken fantasy world, when had he ever pleaded with someone so earnestly? Even becoming the Apostle of the Unnamed Goddess had been a result of her persuasion; he had never asked for it. He was internally surprised at his own submissive posture. Yet, he understood the reason immediately. The only reason he was kneeling before a deity he had just met was to save his companion's life, not his own.
"..."
The Goddess, who had been throwing a tantrum just moments ago, could only gaze at Yohan with a complex, heavy expression.
Meanwhile, the Guardian Deity looked down at Yohan, remaining silent for a long time. After a tense silence, she finally spoke.
"Very well. Since she is the last child of my tribe, I will save her."
At her answer, Yohan's face instantly brightened.
"On one condition."
"Name it."
The Guardian Deity suddenly glanced past Yohan at Falco. Then, she locked eyes with Yohan once more.
"Hand that child over to me."
"Sure, that's easy... Wait, what?"
Yohan's eyes widened in shock at her request. Not just him, but everyone else present froze instantly.
"I will lift the blessing that is making Peony, the last child of my tribe, ill. In exchange, return her to me."
Thud!
The Guardian Deity spoke in a low, quiet voice. But the moment her words echoed, Yohan felt the surrounding air grow incredibly heavy. This deity... she wasn't joking. She was truly demanding that they leave Falco behind as her condition.