Field Trip (6)

"Hold on a second! Um, excuse me—"

"Give me a minute, you perverted face-con fox. I need to change clothes."

There was no way I could keep walking around in a bunny girl outfit!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I've gotten used to putting on my armor by now, so it wouldn't even take me that long. And if you're really in such a hurry, I'll just head out in light clothing instead—so let me change, please!

"Hoh. So your friend lies trapped in slumber, and yet you place your own shame above her?"

At my outburst, the face-con fox asked that with a deliberately dignified expression.

At a glance it looked like she was scolding me, but she wasn't. This perverted fox simply wanted to ogle my bunny girl outfit a little longer. The corners of her mouth kept twitching upward even as she spoke, so of course I could tell.

It's not like stalling for a bit would cause any problems anyway! Did she think I didn't know Phoebe could stay trapped in sleep for a week without any harm coming to her?!

"Look. Your other companion is fraught with worry, is she not?"

I slid my gaze sideways and found Joy fidgeting nervously, avoiding my eyes.

"I'm fine, Lady Aln. Go ahead."

For all her claims of being fine, her face had gone deathly pale. Joy didn't know Phoebe's exact condition. When your close friend's life hangs in the balance, how could anyone possibly stay calm?

...Haah. Whatever. Everyone's already seen me like this anyway. Would changing now really make any difference?

The bunny girl outfit wasn't actually that bad. There was nothing weighing on my body, so it was incredibly easy to move in. The breeze on my skin was kind of refreshing, too. Right, it's fine. Either way, it's fine.

"Go on, then."

"Let's go, you face-con fox."

"You are not changing?"

"I'm fine."

"As long as there's no creepy fox creeping over my skin with those disgusting eyes, I'll be fine."

"Mmm. That is a difficult plight indeed. Even when one tries not to look, the eyes are drawn all on their own."

"Please just die."

"You're disgusting, seriously. Drop dead. Apologize to every living thing in the forest you rule while you're at it."

I prayed with genuinely desperate sincerity, but the face-con fox ultimately failed at keeping a straight face and just grinned anyway.

Someday. One day. When I've grown strong enough to take down this face-con fox with my own two hands, I'm coming straight back to this forest and I'm going to smash her skull in. I'll administer the disciplinary lesson she so richly deserves. Physical education, that is.

The room where Phoebe lay trapped in slumber was a mere five steps from where I stood. When I pushed the door open, I saw her breathing peacefully atop the bed.

The happy smile on her face—was she having a pleasant dream, then? What kind of dream would Phoebe be having? Since she tied everything back to the Heojeop Chief God, maybe she was gazing upon His image even inside the dream.

Phoebe really needed to learn just what a degenerate the Chief God actually was. That god was nothing like the noble, benevolent deity in the scriptures. He was a masochist, a sadist, and a lolicon pervert. And on top of that, even more incompetent than Agra!

Lately he'd at least been doing his duty as Chief God and offering plenty of help, but back in the day it was bad! Really bad! No matter how deep Phoebe's faith ran, once she knew all of this, there was no way she'd still believe in Armadi... right?

If the day ever came when I could proudly declare myself the Apostle of Armadi, I'd have to tell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her then.

"Knowest thou the surest way to draw a soul out of an illusion?"

The face-con fox brushed past us, approached Phoebe, and rested a hand upon her forehead.

"One must cause the dreamer herself to deny the illusion. For this child, I suspect that shall prove easy enough."

When it came to anything touching on the mind, no character in existence rivaled this face-con fox, so she really should have felt reassuring—so why did I trust her so little?

Was it because I'd heard the way she panted and begged for me to hit her harder at my feet?

"It has been hard upon you, has it not."

Outside the orphanage. On a bench so decrepit the children used to place bets on when it would finally collapse, Phoebe was smiling as she received Armadi's hand, gently stroking her hair.

"No, I'm quite alright. Thanks to you, the Lord God Himself has come to meet me."

I'm happy. Happier than in any single moment of the life I've lived until now.

Armadi has seen everything I have done, comforted me, forgiven me, praised me. How could I not be happy, when every part of my life has received its recognition from the One I believe in and follow?

Wrapped in warm sunlight and that gentle touch, Phoebe closed her eyes with a smile—and in that very moment, Armadi spoke again.

"My Saintess. Might I entrust thee with a task?"

At those words, Phoebe's eyes flew open and she turned toward Armadi. His face was still too bright for her eyes to bear, but that did not matter.

The only thing that mattered to Phoebe right now was the fact that Armadi needed her.

"Yes. Of course, O Great and Mighty God."

What could Armadi want of me? For Him to assign a task directly, it must surely be something perilous and difficult.

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Phoebe was not afraid. With the Great One Himself standing guard behind her, what was there to fear?

"Among thy companions, there is a child of foul tongue, is there not?"

"...Yes. There is."

At the mention of Lucy's name, Phoebe's words caught in her throat for an instant, but she pressed down hard on the knot in her chest and forced her voice out.

It can't be helped. Lady Aln is a beloved child of the Lord.

"Couldst thou demean Me as that child does?"

"...I'm sorry?"

Phoebe, who had been quietly berating herself for the jealousy festering in her heart, instinctively threw the question back at Him.

She had no other choice. Those words could never have come from the mouth of the Great One.

"I ask whether thou couldst insult Me, as Lucy does."

But she had not misheard. The One who stood at the center of all gods wished for Phoebe to degrade Him.

Why? Phoebe forcibly smothered the question that threatened to burst from her lips. Questioning the will of a god was blasphemy of the deepest kind.

"Thou canst not understand it, I know. But it is a necessary thing."

Right. There must be a reason the Great One would say such a thing. How could a lowly human possibly comprehend His divine intent?

Phoebe. What's so hard about saying a few words? You just spit them out. You can do it.

"Ah... Armadi, my Lord?"

But the person I have to say them to is the One I believe in, the One I follow, the One I lean on?! What do I do? What do I do?!

"It is alright, my Saintess. Am I not the one who is asking this of thee?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Eyes squeezed shut, Phoebe took deep, steadying breath after deep, steadying breath, replaying Lucy's usual tirades in her head.

What would Lady Aln say right now, in my place? What would Lady Aln say? Chewing on her lip, she settled on her words in her mind and let out a scream.

"H-H-Heojeop Chief God! To think You'd want to hear me insult You! You pervert!"

Then, timidly cracking her eyes back open, Phoebe discovered that the light which had veiled Armadi's face until that very moment was gone.

What...? Still blinking, both eyes now wide, what she beheld bore an uncanny resemblance to the lecherous gaze of some man who had once, long ago, run his eyes over her body through the fabric of her saintess habit—

"KYAAAAAAA!"

Phoebe's eyes flew open with a shriek, and she clutched her face in her small hands, fighting to steady her ragged breathing.

A dream. It was a dream. Yes. Of course it was. The Great Lord God would never wear such a... such a perverted expression while listening to vulgar words.

Stupid Phoebe! First everything else, and now you're insulting the Lord God even inside your own dreams?! Idiot. Fool. And...

"Phoebe? Are you alright?"

At the voice beside her, Phoebe lifted her head to find Joy gazing down at her with worried eyes.

"Joy? Why do you look like that?"

"Phoebe! Thank goodness, oh thank goodness!"

Joy, who normally restrained her emotions because of her standing as a Duchess's daughter, threw her arms around Phoebe, who blinked in bewilderment. What on earth is going on?

"I thought you'd never wake up!"

Only after Joy finished, her voice half-choked with tears, did Phoebe remember her own circumstances.

I was undergoing the trial of Saithil Forest. And what I saw there was the scenery I longed for most in all the world.

...

That's right. I came face to face with the Lord God's countenance, just as I had prayed for every single day. And because I couldn't bear to admit it was an illusion, I ignored every last sign that something was wrong.

How pathetic I am. Just like Lady Aln always says.

"I'm so sorry for worrying you, Joy. And thank you."

"Hate to cut the reunion short, child, but there is one more person you owe your thanks to."

Phoebe, who had been patting Joy's back in apology, lifted her head at the voice that interjected.

"...Huh?"

Only then did her eyes register the two figures standing beyond Joy. Rina looked no different than she had before Phoebe collapsed—but the person standing beside her was not.

Lucy Aln. The one beloved by the Great Lord God, the divinity blessed with the greatest talent on the continent.

The person who had taught Phoebe, who had never known a dark emotion in her life, the word jealousy. She stood there wearing an outfit that could barely be called clothing.

What on earth IS that? Her arms, her shoulders, her legs—her skin is just... out?! Am I still drifting in some illusion? Is my dark, ugly heart wishing that Lady Aln would wear something shameful?! Is that what this is?!/

"Haah. What a real nuisance you are, Heojeop Saintess."

"Oh. Um. I'm sorry?"

"I'm going to change clothes, so wait in the reception room."

Not a dream... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this time?

Maybe if I die, I can reload back to the past?

Who knows? Maybe the moment my head leaves my shoulders, the game loads a previous save? You never find out unless you test it. Of course, I lack the courage to die, so actually running the experiment is off the table.

Haah. Damn it all. Having returned to the room where I'd shed my armor, I shut the door, stuffed Grandpa into my inventory, and flung the bunny girl outfit onto the floor.

I am seriously going to lose my mind! The look on Phoebe's face when our eyes met—it won't leave my head! She thinks I'm a lunatic, doesn't she?! Doesn't she?!/

HAAAAAAH! Heojeop Chief God! Look, I'm sorry, but couldn't You tell me what punishment You were planning to dish out after I cleared the quest?! If that nameless humiliation is worse than parading around in a bunny girl outfit in front of everyone, it might actually be some comfort! Come on! Please!

There's no way a voyeur pervert like You isn't watching me right now! Answer me already!

- Ding.

I'd half-shouted it on a whim, and it turned out to be true. I could feel what little faith I had left crashing through the floor.

What is this? Severance pay? "You worked hard, now eat this and get lost"? Better than nothing, I guess, but the mood is a little weird here!