Liars
The next day was the worship service held once every ten days.
Yet this particular service had one difference from the usual. Elbridge and his companions stood behind Tibo, the village mayor and self-proclaimed archbishop.
Just the day before, after a long discussion, Elbridge’s party had reached two conclusions.
First, as nothing more than travelers who had suffered no harm at the mayor’s hands, it would be presumptuous for them to punish Tibo themselves.
Second, the villagers still needed to know the truth.
Therefore, rather than exposing his sins before the crowd, they had given Tibo the chance to confess them himself.
Roughly twenty people sat packed inside Tibo’s house today. These, no doubt, were the most devout believers in the village.
Every gaze rested on Tibo.
He drew a tense breath, then spoke as though sighing.
“I have something to tell all of you.”
A brief hesitation.
But Tibo seemed to steel himself and continued.
“Everyone. The God of the Eternal Voyage does not exist in the lofty heavens.”
A deep silence descended.
“I am only a mage who needed followers to ascend to godhood. I fashioned a deity with lies and appointed myself archbishop. I deceived you by pretending to receive oracles. You have been fooled by me all this time.”
The suffocating atmosphere felt like the weight of their stares closing around his throat.
Yet Tibo kept pouring out his sins in a rush.
“…That is all there is to it. There will be no coming destruction, no salvation. There is no village above the heavens. Everything was fiction spun from my cunning tongue. I am not a noble priest but a con artist. I am simply a liar who remained here because he could not bring himself to leave. My long deception ends in this place, right now.”
This short speech would likely seal his death, yet Tibo made no attempt to reverse the situation. He simply confessed his crimes with quiet honesty.
Elbridge recalled the fates of those who had impersonated clergy.
They were beaten half to death by the faithful, then stoned until their last breath left them.
Their corpses neither rose as smoke to the sky nor found peace beneath the earth.
Instead they were cast into deep waters in tatters or thrown from high cliffs to become food for wild beasts.
A suppressed worry began to rise inside Elbridge’s chest.
Was it truly right to witness such a scene again here?
I’ve already decided.
Elbridge thought in the silence.
Even if the villagers killed Tibo, he would at least prevent them from desecrating the body.
“Mayor.”
At last one of the villagers spoke.
It was a kind-faced middle-aged woman. Deep wrinkles marked her face here and there, and white hairs were heavily mixed among her brown locks. She appeared to be around the same age as Tibo.
Yet her words were nothing like what Elbridge had expected.
“We already knew.”
The sudden statement made Elbridge’s gaze sweep across the crowd.
There were surprised faces, but not a single one burned with anger.
Tibo asked back, stunned.
“You knew?”
“Yes. At first I was uncertain. But I realized it soon enough. In truth, it was difficult not to know. Your sermons contradicted many of the heavenly stories I already knew. So either every religious order was wrong, or you alone were telling a false tale. It had to be one or the other.”
“…”
While Tibo stood there dazed, the woman gave a small laugh.
“Mayor. We are not learned people. But neither were we born as slash-and-burn farmers. How many of us never visited a temple or two in our youth? We know roughly what the temples teach.”
The middle-aged woman’s words flowed without pause.
It was as if she had long imagined this moment would arrive.
“Besides, the decisive clue was that pottery… Huh? Where did that pottery go? Anyway, it was the pottery that used to be displayed over there. Do you remember? That piece once belonged to my grandmother’s house.”
A few people let out quiet chuckles, as though they had known the truth all along.
“After Grandmother passed, when we sorted her belongings, my mother sold it to a merchant. I had completely forgotten about it, but one day it appeared on display as a holy relic. With the order’s emblem engraved on it… That was the day I became certain.”
Someone in the crowd asked a question.
“I had no idea it was that sort of item. Hasn’t that pottery been here a long time?”
“It must be twenty-five or six years now. It was around the time I first settled here.”
Tibo had prepared himself for anything, yet this situation was completely unforeseen.
Confusion and bewilderment now filled his face completely.
“Why didn’t you say anything? If you had told me then, all my lies would have…”
“Because I knew you would leave if I spoke.”
The middle-aged woman smiled gently.
“Of course, at first I felt betrayed. I agonized for days over whether I should tell the others. But the more I thought about it, the more another question arose. Did my life become painful or difficult just because I had served a false god for a few years? Because I had been deceived by your lies? No. Not at all.”
The listeners slowly nodded.
Their reaction planted certainty in Elbridge. They had all known about Tibo’s deception for a long time.
“My life—my family’s life—has always been hard and exhausting. But after coming to this village, things became much better. They kept improving even after we settled. Not long ago my granddaughter was born. You remember, don’t you?”
“Yes. I remember. She looked just like your daughter.”
The woman’s smile, which had been blooming little by little, finally spread across her entire face.
“Today’s me is happier than yesterday’s me. It has been that way for the past twenty years. Tomorrow’s me will surely be happier than today’s. What does a few lies matter? I do not resent you.”
Tibo’s previously calm expression twisted strangely.
Whether he wanted to cry or laugh, even he probably did not know.
“And… I was not the first to notice your lies. At least three people realized before I did. Old Hans, who has since passed. The hunter Bill. And Mila, sitting right over there.”
All eyes turned toward the woman seated at the very back—Mila.
She shyly pulled her headscarf lower and bowed her head. Yet the glimpse of her face showed no trace of anger.
“Can you forgive me, knowing all that?”
“Tibo. I may be uneducated, but I can do simple math. I know very well that a mage who always watches over me is far more precious than a god who might glance my way once if I’m lucky.”
“…”
“And you need not feel sorry for me. I attended every single service, but after learning you were a liar, I also prayed to the god I originally believed in. I kept faith in both—the heavenly god and you here on the ground.”
The woman hugged Mayor Tibo tightly, then left the house with a playful, girlish smile.
“Tibo. Our dear archbishop. See you at the next service!”
Next, a stern-faced old man rose from his seat. He placed a hand on Tibo’s shoulder.
“Same for me. I attended every service, but my prayers were always offered to the God of the Golden Platter. I prayed our village would become even a little more prosperous… Ah, I’m not good with fancy words like hers. Anyway, I have only one thing to say. See you in ten days.”
The old man walked out as if nothing unusual had happened.
The old woman who approached next also embraced Tibo tightly.
With a toothless, mumbled voice she said, “I prayed every day to the God of the Brass Cup. I wished for our village to remain harmonious. And our village was peaceful. Did my prayers reach the God of the Brass Cup? Probably not. A god wouldn’t listen to the prayers of someone as insignificant as me. Did the God of the Eternal Voyage answer them, then? That seems unlikely too. But today, after hearing your story, I finally understood something.”
“…What did you understand?”
“Tibo. You said you wanted to become a god. While listening to your confession, I imagined you ascending to the high heavens and becoming one. I hope all the prayers I have offered until now reach you in the distant future—you, looking down on the earth from those lofty heights.”
With reddened eyes, Tibo nodded.
“Yes… yes…”
It was the strangest sight Elbridge had ever witnessed.
Not a service where a priest delivered a sermon, but one where a priest listened to the congregation.
A liar. And surrounding that liar, even more liars.
They had deceived one another and somehow formed a strange balance.
What was more astonishing was that the balance did not seem likely to collapse even if the lies vanished.
For nearly thirty years, something stronger and stickier than faith had bound them together.
Stoning was for the wicked.
The people believed it did not suit someone a little foolish yet kind—someone who had unknowingly buried the malice in their own heart.
Therefore, no one threw stones at Tibo.
Every person kissed his forehead, held his hand, or embraced him once before leaving the house.
Each of them told Tibo a different story.
Yet every single one ended with the same farewell: see you in ten days, at the next service.
Now only four people remained inside Tibo’s house.
Elbridge, Rombel, Marcus, and Tibo.
At last Tibo burst into tears like a child.
The God of the Eternal Voyage did not exist.
Yet the liars of this nameless village would gather again at the liar’s house ten days from now.
And they would hold another service filled with lies.
Just as they had always done.
*
A new sun rose today as well. As always, the village was peaceful.
The only changes were Tibo’s swollen eyes and the crowd gathered at the village entrance to see Elbridge’s party off.
With a far more relaxed expression, Tibo approached them.
“Thank you. I will wait for the day I can repay this kindness.”
“There is no need to thank us. The forgiveness you received belongs to you and the villagers alone.”
“But that moment would never have come without someone to give me a push. I am truly grateful.”
Tibo stepped back after speaking.
Then the middle-aged woman who had spoken the most during last night’s service approached and placed a lunchbox wrapped in broad leaves into Elbridge’s hands. A savory, pleasant aroma rose from it.
“Eat the warm parts first. They might spoil by tomorrow.”
Elbridge bowed his head.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“May the eyes of the gods turn toward the brave and thoughtful.”
The moment he heard those words, a small question rose in Elbridge’s chest.
It was truly a trivial doubt.
Therefore he asked in a quiet voice.
“Ma’am. There is something I’m curious about.”
“Yes?”
“Yesterday you said that the moment you realized Mayor Tibo’s lies, you began praying again to the god you originally believed in, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“The others spoke of which gods they serve, but you never mentioned yours. If I may ask, which god do you worship?”
The middle-aged woman answered.
“I worship the God of Unexpected Fortune, the God of Fox Rain.”
She smiled with easy grace.
“And my cooking is rather good. A lunchbox of this quality should bring you quite a nice bit of fortune. Have a peaceful journey.”
The instant he heard her answer, Elbridge understood everything. Laughter slipped out on its own.
“Haha!”
Rombel and Marcus reacted the same way. All three of them burst into laughter.
After all, what the God of Fox Rain had arranged for this village had never been the lunchbox.