The Sleeping Pointy-Eared Princess of the Forest (4)
Yohan stood up and brushed the dirt off his knees and shins. Just when he thought he had finally grasped a clue to solving the problem, an even bigger obstacle had reared its head. He bit his lip in frustration. He tried to keep his face neutral, but his facial muscles refused to cooperate.
"Yohan..." the Goddess murmured, her expression complex as she looked at his face.
"You look like you just heard the most ridiculous load of crap," the Guardian Deity sneered. She spoke with an easy confidence, as if she had fully expected this reaction. Yohan didn't even bother to deny it.
"Hmm." The Guardian Deity hummed, floating up into the air to meet Yohan's gaze. "Well, I completely understand." She drifted past Yohan, scanning the rest of the group—Billy, Falco, and the Goddess. "You came all this way to a place you never expected to visit, just to save a dying friend. And now, the condition for saving her is that you have to part ways. Sounds absolutely absurd, doesn't it?"
While everyone else remained silent, the Guardian Deity continued with an indifferent face. "But I have my reasons too. And..." She circled around the group before landing right in front of Yohan again. "From what I can see, you already know what that reason is. Don't you?"
She was spot on. Yohan let out a quiet sigh and nodded. "Because she's the last believer you have left in this world." He finally broke his silence. To the Guardian Deity, Falco's value was absolute. The moment she lost her sole remaining believer, she would fade into nothingness. It was the exact same relationship Yohan shared with his own Goddess.
"Almost correct. Strictly speaking, that child left me ages ago, so she can't really be considered a believer right now." As the Guardian Deity spoke, a chillingly deep sorrow washed over her face. She had been grinning ear to ear just moments ago, but this raw emotion was undoubtedly her true self. Her smug, almost irritatingly casual attitude had been nothing but a mask.
"An apostate... then."
"My, you know quite a lot for how you look," the Guardian Deity remarked, her eyes widening at Yohan's muttering. She seemed almost relieved that she didn't have to waste her breath explaining. "Yes. She's an apostate."
Long ago, Falco had abandoned her status as the chief's daughter and fled the Great Forest. From the Guardian Deity's perspective, this was nothing short of a believer turning her back on her god. Divine entities in this world despised apostasy. Yohan had already confirmed this through the Goddess. Yet, the irony of why the Guardian Deity wasn't furious was simple: the apostate, Falco, was now her only lifeline for survival.
"Whew." Yohan exhaled slowly. Their current situation was uncannily similar to what he and the Goddess had faced in the beginning. Normally, every single member of the Dawn Dew Tribe would have lived worshiping her as their Guardian Deity, but they were all gone now. All except one person: Falco.
"Peony. My last child. If she returns to me, I can keep living too." The Guardian Deity turned her head, locking eyes with the Goddess. "Just like our grand senior over here." Even though no one had explained their circumstances, the Guardian Deity seemed to have already figured out the relationship between Yohan and the Goddess.
"Well... I'm not demanding an answer right this second. It's not something you can decide after a brief thought, after all."
Whoosh.
"So, think it over carefully." With those final words, the Guardian Deity vanished, sucked back into the shrine. Only the echo of her voice lingered in the air. Yohan stared blankly at the spot where she had been. After a moment, Billy, who had been keeping his distance, approached him.
"W-what should we do now?"
"Sigh." Yohan let out a long, heavy sigh at Billy's question. "Let's head back for now. If she goes through the Dimensional Portal, she'll probably just collapse again anyway." He pointed at Falco, who was slumped over her horse. Falco nodded weakly, silently agreeing with Yohan's assessment.
"Indeed. We must first secure a comfortable place for her to rest. Let us return." The Goddess agreed, turning into her spiritual form and vanishing from sight.
"Hey."
"Welcome—damn it, it's you again. You still haven't left?" Having teleported back to the campsite, Yohan approached the Elf Staff Member he had briefly spoken to earlier.
"Cut the crap. We want to camp here too."
The Elf Staff Member's face scowled the moment he saw Yohan, but his expression quickly softened at the mention of business. "Oh, if that's the case... But did you bring your own camping gear?"
"Nope. Just include the rental fees for everything." Yohan had originally come here expecting to leave immediately once Falco's condition was cured.
"That's a bit difficult. We only rent out the camping spots; we don't sell or rent out tents." The Elf Staff Member crossed his arms and tilted his head. After a brief pause, as if remembering something, he uncrossed his arms. "Well, it's not camping, but we do have a cabin experience program. It's a wooden house built in the forest elf style..."
"Then give us that."
"Excellent. However, since it's not the official program season, we're literally only renting you the room. No activities."
"Whatever. Do what you want."
The elf's attitude was clear: do as little work as possible while raking in as much cash as he could. Yohan couldn't help but click his tongue at this elf, who had become more of a greedy snob than most humans. Still, thanks to him, they had managed to secure a roof over their heads to shield them from the wind and rain.
"Great. The rate per night is..."
Before the Elf Staff Member could even finish his sentence, Yohan pulled out a gold coin of the Empire and shoved it forward. "Keep the change. Just show us the way, fast."
"R-r-right away, esteemed guest!"
Now that I think about it, our Falco is actually a remarkably decent elf, the Goddess remarked internally, seemingly appalled by the display of pure greed.
"This way, please."
Guided by the Elf Staff Member, Yohan's party headed toward a log cabin situated in a corner of the campsite. There were several other identical log cabins nearby, each bearing a numbered plaque. It was clear that these cabins were a major source of revenue for the campsite.
"Please let me know if you need anything else. We will take care of your two horses."
"Sure."
The Elf Staff Member handed Yohan the key to the front door and quickly scurried back to his post.
Click.
Yohan inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. The moment Yohan, Billy, and Falco—who was still piggybacked on Billy—stepped inside the log cabin...
"That little piece of shit!"
"Eek!"
Yohan suddenly roared, letting loose a barrage of profanity. Billy shrieked in surprise, but Falco, resting on his back, merely blinked, her face saying she had fully expected this outburst.
Flash!
"That miserable little brat! How dare she mock me so openly!" It wasn't just Yohan. The Goddess materialized instantly, spitting out curses like a rapid-fire machine gun. "That bitch was playing us from the very beginning!"
"And that is not all! Had I not accompanied you, Falco would have been snatched away the very moment you arrived at the shrine."
"Ha! I knew it! I should have just cracked that pint-sized brat's skull open..."
Yohan and the Goddess spent a good while venting their unfiltered rage, hurling insults at the Guardian Deity.
"Oh." Realizing he was still carrying Falco, Billy hurriedly and gently laid her down on the bed before pulling up a chair nearby. "Things have gotten... much more complicated than we thought."
He spoke to the two, who looked ready to explode—or rather, had already detonated. Although a mortal and a god were currently venting their uncontrollable rage with incredibly colorful language, beneath the stream of profanity lay a cold, hard analysis of their current predicament.
"But it's not like there's absolutely no solution," Falco, who had been quiet the whole time, chimed in.
Yohan clicked his tongue. "If by 'solution' you mean leaving you here and us getting the hell out of here, then sure."
"Yes."
The Guardian Deity, along with the Goddess, would withdraw the rampaging Blessing from Falco's body, which would completely cure her illness. But in exchange, she would never be able to leave the Great Forest again.
"To present a condition under the guise of granting a favor was nothing short of a trap from the start," the Goddess spat. It was framed as a choice, but it was really just a roundabout way of screwing them over. Yet, it wasn't as if the Guardian Deity was acting out of pure desperation. In terms of sheer desperation, her situation was far more critical.
"Ugh, this is driving me crazy," Yohan groaned from the bottom of his heart. "Seriously, if she were just an outright villain, I could have beaten her into submission."
This was the biggest headache. If the Guardian Deity who had placed the Blessing on Falco were an evil god or a demon, they could have simply exorcised her in the name of the Unnamed Goddess. But she was merely demanding a fair price for her own survival.
"..."
Silence fell over the room after Yohan's words. After a long, awkward silence, Yohan broke the ice.
"Alright. Let's offer that Guardian Deity something else—something she'd find satisfying enough to let Falco go."
"And how do you propose we do that?" the Goddess immediately questioned.
"Why is she throwing a tantrum to keep her here? To make her a believer, right?"
"Indeed."
"So, if we can secure new believers for her, the problem is solved." Yohan exchanged looks with the Goddess before turning his gaze to Falco.
"Ah, I see. Instead of keeping Falco here, we spread the Guardian Deity's name while Falco roams free."
"Yeah. But there's a catch. She isn't a god that just anyone can worship, unlike you." A Guardian Deity was, by definition, localized. She was essentially a household god worshiped exclusively by the elves of the Dawn Dew Tribe.
"If that's the case... it's not entirely impossible," Falco, who had been quietly listening to Yohan's explanation, interjected. "A significant number of elves wandering outside the Great Forest, including myself, have severed ties with their families."
To cut ties with one's family and tribe meant abandoning the faith of that tribe's Guardian Deity as well.
"Sometimes, entire tribes or clans venture outside, but that's extremely rare."
"Under what circumstances?" Yohan asked casually. But instead of answering, Falco suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth as if she had made a slip of the tongue.
"To wage war, most likely," the Goddess answered in Falco's stead. Yohan immediately understood why Falco had panicked. Right after confirming Falco was an elf, the Goddess had thrown a massive fit, raging about how those 'pointy-ears' had trampled her temple in the past.
"Well... it's a relief that it's so rare, then," Yohan said awkwardly.
"Yeah," Falco replied in a tiny, fading voice.
"Anyway, the point is that persuading her isn't completely out of the question."
"Right. Not all elves wandering the continent left their homes by choice." If they had been forced out against their will, being welcomed into the Dawn Dew Tribe and returning to the Great Forest might actually be a form of salvation for them.
"Your words ring true. Though Falco has devoted herself to the Church of the Unnamed Goddess, it is not as if we are entirely without options."
The group nodded in agreement as the Goddess laid out her plan.
"Alright. Then first thing tomorrow morning, we go back and settle this. Any objections?"
When Yohan asked, everyone except him nodded in silence.
Yeah. This is the final compromise I can offer, Yohan thought to himself.