What Are We For?
We had no intention of intervening at all.
'What kind of mess is this.'
At first, I thought there was no reason to fuss over it. They weren't evil. Just their faith had gone astray.
But the next moment, they made a mistake.
With their misguided faith, they tried to intimidate Anne.
They even dared to call my flames evil.
That alone was already unpleasant enough.
From there, they crossed the line.
They went beyond mere intimidation and tried to harm Anne.
There are things to endure and things not to endure.
I was certain that the latter was what we were facing now.
Anne. Listen to me carefully from now on.
There is only one way to resolve this situation.
I have to show them my existence and make them understand.
I immediately conveyed my intention to Anne.
Don't hide it anymore. Tell them about me.
Also, let them meet me.
At that, Anne hesitated instead.
She asked if it was really necessary.
She might become dangerous right away.
The girl was putting me above herself.
I was grateful. So I couldn't pretend not to notice.
Since she was under my wing, she was under my protection.
As long as that child didn't do anything first,
Anne would be under my wings forever.
Don't worry. Bring them to me.
To the lakeside where you and I first met.
I conveyed my intention to Anne and waited.
Compared to the time I've spent so far, it was a moment.
But that moment couldn't last long.
The next day, at dawn, Anne appeared at the lake.
Accompanied by twelve priests.
Those were the ones who had intimidated Anne yesterday.
I thought they might be disguised villains, but no.
Surprisingly, they were truly following the gods.
However, their actions were anything but holy.
If I delayed any longer, those guys would do whatever they wanted with Anne again.
I didn't want to see that sight, so I had them brought here.
From now on, it's entirely my time.
'Even though they came all the way up to me, they didn't notice at all.'
They had a great presence, thinking I was a special human.
But now I see they're worse than Anne. My interest is fading.
That feeling mixed in and came out in words.
They came looking for me.
I wondered what questions they would ask.
Since they were servants of the gods, maybe they'd be a bit better.
Other people would be terrified when they saw me...
"Brothers and sisters!"
Upon the priest's words, the others all stepped forward.
Clearly, their intention was to attack.
In their eyes was fear, as expected.
I shouldn't have expected anything else.
It only deepened the betrayal.
"Evil thing!"
One priest on the left shouted.
The moment I saw him, several scenes flashed before my eyes.
A person in pain. Screaming that they were unjust.
A person confessing without any fault.
It was someone's memory. Someone's nightmare.
And that person was the beginning and the culprit of all that.
'You are not to be tolerated.'
Not evil, but more evil than anyone else.
I didn't care what others thought; that person had to be punished.
The tears and blood they sowed with their hands were too much.
"I will purify you right away... k, kuaaa!"
Since they weren't complete evil, I couldn't purify them.
I would just lightly warn them with heat like this.
The heat from my wing left a mark.
Punishing those who are sinners but not sinners.
If they cause pain to innocent people in the future,
I swear they will suffer double the pain.
'Hm?'
I turned my head at the gaze looking at me.
A strange person was staring at me.
No black in their eyes. Only white.
They didn't look away, as if trying to confirm something.
'It's not seeing the surface.'
I understand. That person can see the inside.
I don't know how it's possible, but I feel it.
But unfortunately, I picked the wrong opponent.
There are things to see and things not to see.
That person chose the latter and paid the price.
"Huh...!"
"How dare you...!"
Another priest showed hostility.
White light lingered in his hand.
Soon it became a long spear pointing at me.
"Same as today! The gods are with us!"
Tsk. I clicked my tongue and lightly flapped my wings.
Then the spear turned to ashes and scattered in the wind.
Light was meant to illuminate the darkness.
I wasn't that kind of person. It didn't affect me at all.
It looked like they had done enough, so I descended to the priests.
I tried to reason with them kindly.
"Helica sister! Please! An existence beyond our capacity! Your power. We need the gods' help!"
The gods' help?
"Oh! Oh gods! Come before us!"
"Come before us!"
"Descend to this land and defeat your enemies, your servants!"
"Defeat!"
The priests chanted the prayer with resounding voices.
I wondered what they were doing, so I watched quietly for a moment.
The world suddenly turned completely white.
At the same time, everything stopped completely.
The priests. Anne. Birds, insects.
Sunlight. Clouds. Wind on the lake.
[Who dares to touch my gods?!]
[Let me see the face of that evil thing.]
In that stopped world, only one thing was moving.
The woman the priests called Helica. No.
The being that was not human now was her true form.
I felt an aura similar to Blue Sky.
But it wasn't Blue Sky who came.
'You are another god like that one.'
The first thing that came to mind was the unpleasant meeting.
Blue Sky, who broke the nest I had used for over a hundred years.
When that memory came to mind, disgust welled up.
Without realizing, my expression twisted.
[What? Is it a fallen Vermilion Bird or something?]
A god who borrowed a human body looked at me.
At first, a rather bold look was visible.
[...Eh?]
But soon, when our eyes met, I let out a sigh.
It's a bit embarrassing for that god, but he's a bit foolish.
Are you the god of those humans?
If the child is wrong, the adult apologizes.
If the believer is wrong, the god apologizes.
I believe that's right and don't doubt it.
I spread my wings wide and approached the god.
[Wait a minute. That one. Ah, no. You. No way?]
It wasn't the solemn voice from just before.
It was a lively voice full of girlish sensibility.
What do you think about the things those humans did in the name of your will.
[Was what Blue Sky said true?!]
I didn't care if I spoke or not.
I was too busy talking to myself.
My mood was already bad anyway.
Ignoring what I said made it even worse.
Hey. Didn't you hear me?
[This can't be done. I have so much more to learn...]
I couldn't understand what he was muttering to himself.
His appearance was like a baby bird that had just come into the world.
[I will come back later!]
What? Hey. What the hell...
--Plop!
The body that had descended the god collapsed weakly.
The god's aura disappeared as if it had never been there.
At the same time, the stopped world resumed.
Sunlight. Clouds. Wind. Birds, insects.
All the priests Anne had brought.
So, the god fled without looking back.
"...Ah?"
"Eh, eh?"
The priests' faces became dazed.
The god disappeared and the female priest fell.
It seemed that was their last resort.
"This, this is not possible. Why..."
"The god's aura disappeared. It disappeared!"
"Lord of Light! Are you ignoring your servants!"
He shouted to the sky and bowed his head to the ground.
He repeated this many times. Blood flowed from his forehead.
At first, I remembered that there was more anger.
But as I watched that sight, a sigh only grew longer.
If they were complete evil, I would have purified them long ago.
Since they weren't, it was awkward to bring down the flames.
'...This happened. I should have educated them myself.'
The person who had to take responsibility ran away.
Then I could do as I pleased.
I folded my wings and landed on the ground.
The priests were terrified and stepped back.
The flames that had burned just before all disappeared.
Now, they were all just one human.
The reason your god doesn't answer is simple.
Because you walked the wrong path.
"T, what kind of words are those."
The one who had thrown a spear at me opened his mouth.
I didn't care about other things, but his mental strength was amazing.
I looked through their memories.
There was no understanding or mercy in them.
"We. We are... carrying out the will of the gods to the end."
Is that really the will of the gods?
If I let them go like this, nothing will change.
Rather, there is a possibility that it will become even more distorted.
"We! We have exterminated evil beings! We have been the most faithful!"
"We have prevented the pain they would suffer!"
It wasn't a lie. They were clearly trying.
It was like humans defeating the demonic dragon.
The priests killed evil things and contributed to peace.
But what good is it if there are innocent people.
Look. How much of the flame you extinguished.
Repent. How many lives you trampled.
I spread my wings and scattered my flames, showing them.
Theirs, their own past they hadn't seen.
The gazes of innocent people I hadn't noticed.
"...Ah. Aaaaa!"
"I, I did this..."
They grabbed their faces and pulled their hair.
It didn't take long.
*
To eradicate evil and exterminate it to protect and do good.
Ada had that much conviction.
There were a few things that bothered me.
There was a time when it was too extreme. When good and evil were ambiguous.
Still, I believed this was right and went forward.
But it was a misunderstanding. Arrogance.
I thought everything I saw with my eyes was all.
Extremely narrow-minded behavior.
Daring to judge humans like that.
"Ah..."
The more cursed thing was that I knew.
At some point, the church had become corrupted.
In the past, it was truly pure for the sake of good.
Now, it had become a mixture of all kinds of gains and calculations.
In the process, good was distorted and evil was created.
What was the reason I didn't resist?
Because I believed that if the church fell, evil would flourish?
To maintain the path of good in this way?
'Wrong. From the beginning, this shouldn't have been the case.'
When I saw them going the wrong path, I should have stopped it.
Not watching, but not being silent.
At that moment, I should have become a true servant of the gods and shouted.
'What am I for, after all.'
This is not right. This is not good.
This can never be called the church.
Why did we only see the church.
The church is just a tool, it shouldn't become the purpose.
'We are, after all, what for.'
We were wrong. We must reflect.
We must go to a better path, a right path.
The glory of the church is not important.
The peace of the world. Only that is everything.
Even if we exterminate a hundred evils, if there is one innocence,
How can that be the path of light.
I barely raised my body with a calm voice.
The most dignified person in the world was in front of me.
I asked.
Will you make us the torch that illuminates you?
Or will you make us the fire that burns you?
Ada slowly lowered her head.
Since the god asked, the servant had to answer.