Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Estacia (3)
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In a certain mansion located in the city.
Yutenia stared blankly at a book, with Peter and Loan conversing before her.
Evan, who would normally have been with them, had already entered the inner castle with the Count's eldest son.
Thus, only Yutenia and these two men remained in the mansion.
Archbishop Loan, who was in front of Yutenia, looked at Peter and Yutenia and quietly spoke.
"I intend to kill the Count when I see an opening."
"Kill the Count?"
Kill Count Maier, the lord of this very city.
Peter, aghast at Loan's words, questioned him.
Attempting to kill a noble was a tremendous crime.
Moreover, if the target was a Count who ruled a territory, the situation was likely to escalate dramatically.
For Peter, who had spent his entire life looking up to nobles as if they were the heavens, it was an incomprehensible act.
Of course, Loan, who had lived his whole life as a warlock, had a thought process that was the complete opposite of Peter's.
"It's the fastest way to replace the Count."
"But if we get caught..."
"If we just take care of the Count, Sir Evan's movements become an internal affair of the Count's family. Once that happens..."
To Peter, who was worried about the punishment for getting caught, Loan kindly explained his plan.
They would eliminate the Count and bring the family's succession issue to the forefront.
The moment things progressed that way, Evan's actions, attached to Rex Maier, would become a family matter for the Count's household.
And just as he was about to explain the rest of the plan.
Yutenia cut off their conversation and interjected.
"An oracle has been delivered."
Yutenia closed the book she had open and spoke to Loan.
While the two men were talking, her master had secretly delivered an instruction.
At Yutenia's words that an oracle had arrived, Loan's and Peter's attention focused on her.
A story passed down from a celestial god to a human was something anyone living on the surface would be curious about.
Loan, his face full of anticipation, asked Yutenia.
"Has an oracle truly descended from the Great One?"
"It seems I'll have to be away for a while. He has entrusted a task to me."
"It appears you will be leaving the city."
Yutenia nodded at Loan's words.
The oracle given to Yutenia was something that could not be fulfilled in this city.
To obey the words of the great being, she needed to pack her things and leave the city.
After all, working for her master was the only reason for Yutenia's existence.
"He says I must go toward the southwestern part of the Empire."
"The southwest of the Empire... Is there something there?"
"An angel has descended from the heavens."
"An, an angel...!"
Peter was aghast upon hearing the word angel.
He looked even more shocked than when he had heard the talk of killing the Count.
The group Peter was involved with was a faction of a cult that worshiped an evil god.
The descent of an angel delivering the will of the heavens meant it wouldn't be strange at all if they were to harm it.
Picturing the angel in his mind, Peter immediately felt a sense of pity.
'So the apostles of an evil god are finally going to kill an angel.'
The apostle of an evil god must have brought up the angel with the intent to dispose of it.
The moment Peter, having reached that conclusion, looked at Yutenia.
Words completely opposite to Peter's expectations flowed from Yutenia's lips.
"Thanks to the angel sent down by the Great One, the number of the Order's followers has greatly increased. That is why He has decided to send me."
"Hoh. So the Great One's grace has spread that far without my knowledge."
"....?"
The feeling of shock soon turned to bewilderment.
Peter glanced back and forth between Yutenia and Loan with an expression of incomprehension.
Why on earth would an evil god send down an angel?
An evil god should, by all rights, send down a demon.
He could have understood if it were a fallen angel, not just a regular angel.
But for an angel sent by an evil god to be creating followers for the Order...
It was a situation that completely contradicted Peter's common sense.
"I plan to appoint a new bishop of the Order in the southwest. It would be good if you, Archbishop Loan, could write the letter of appointment."
"A new bishop... I understand. Once this is done, the Order will have transformed into something even greater."
Of course, regardless of Peter's confusion, the Order's conversation proceeded steadily.
Hearing Yutenia's words, Loan began to contemplate the letter of appointment for the new bishop.
Before long, when Yutenia arrived in the southwest, a new bishop would be born there.
Neither Loan nor Yutenia doubted the angel's appearance.
Was he the only one with these strange thoughts?
As Peter looked at Loan with a puzzled face, Yutenia, who was beside him, spoke to him.
"Peter. Get ready to move soon."
"Ye-yes?"
"You have to drive the carriage, don't you? Loan will speak to the Count's family and prepare a map."
She was telling him to prepare for the journey, as they had to depart soon.
It was a journey to meet an angel.
At Yutenia's words that he would be accompanying her, Peter reflexively asked.
"Am I... going too?"
"If you're not there, who will drive the carriage?"
"Ah..."
Yutenia entrusted the driving of the carriage to Peter as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Peter, who had at some point become a servant in the truest sense, let out a sigh.
Back when he spoke with Evan, it had felt like he was just playing a part, but at some point, that role had become undeniably real.
If things continued like this, wouldn't he remain Yutenia's servant forever?
Yutenia spoke again to Peter, who was filled with worries about the future.
"Peter?"
"...I will prepare."
At Yutenia's continued prompting, Peter had no choice but to accept her demand.
If Yutenia had decided so, Peter was left with no choice but to follow.
And so, Peter began to prepare for Yutenia's journey, the many questions in his heart left unanswered.
A week had already passed since Estacia descended to the surface.
Many changes had occurred around her during that time, but the biggest of all was that the cave had become magnificent.
The cave where Estacia stayed was now adorned with numerous decorations.
It had become a completely different sight from the bleak cave she had seen on the first day.
It was all gifts from the followers who had flocked to see Estacia.
Looking at the cave that had become splendid before she knew it, Estacia smiled and stepped outside.
"Ahem."
As Estacia emerged from the cave with a clear of her throat, the followers waiting outside swarmed toward her.
In the hands of the followers who came to see Estacia, there was a basket each.
Estacia, seated at a table, examined the baskets held in the followers' hands one by one.
All sorts of baskets were filled with a colorful variety of fruits.
The first to rush to Estacia was a follower holding a basket of strawberries.
"Angel. Here are the strawberries you requested last time."
"Well done."
Estacia accepted the basket and popped a strawberry into her mouth.
The sweetness of the strawberry filled her mouth.
Perhaps because it had just been picked, the strawberry was bursting with freshness.
The strawberry tasted so good that she felt like stuffing her mouth full of them.
Shoving a handful of strawberries into her mouth, Estacia set the basket down on the ground.
As Estacia mumbled with her mouth full of strawberries, another basket was presented before her.
"Angel! I'm the one whose leg you healed last time! I found some plump grapes and brought them for you!"
"Mm. They look delicious."
The one who came with the grapes was the human she had encountered on the first day.
He had come with a large bunch of plump grapes and offered them to Estacia.
Accepting the basket, Estacia placed a grape in her mouth and rolled it around.
A sweetness no less than the strawberry's lingered in her mouth.
After stuffing her mouth with a handful of grapes as well, another basket came before Estacia.
"I've picked some apples."
Apples. Strawberries. Grapes. Oranges.
All kinds of fruits were lined up, waiting for her attention.
Estacia sequentially accepted the fruits, tasted them one by one, and set them down on the table.
It was enough fruit to last her all day, with some to spare.
Every day when she opened her eyes, this much fruit was given to Estacia.
People would bring countless fruits for Estacia, even if she just sat still.
For Estacia, who hated working, it was truly a dream-like situation.
"I like apples, too."
Moved by the taste of the apple, Estacia moved her wings.
Flap.
Estacia's wings spread wide, and a halo appeared above her head.
At the sight of Estacia with her halo and wings revealed, the people around her cheered in awe.
Every one of them was a follower who served Estacia and her master.
They came to the front of the cave every day to meet Estacia.
"The angel has spread her wings!"
"So this is the sacred light..."
"Ahem! Everyone, be quiet!"
The village chief, who had somehow become the representative of the people visiting the cave, spoke up.
The number of people coming to see Estacia had increased significantly, but everyone still tacitly accepted the chief as their leader.
Establishing the various rules for meeting the angel was also the chief's achievement.
After calming the people, the chief knelt and began to offer a prayer to the angel.
At the sight of the chief praying piously, the followers around him also joined in the prayer.
Watching the followers pray before her, Estacia muttered with a satisfied expression.
"The surface... is a better place than I thought."
She had heard much about the surface's infamy from the other angels.
That humans with wicked hearts swarmed the surface.
That among humans, there were those who enslaved their own kind.
That sometimes, you could even find monsters of the abyss that appeared to bewitch humans.
They were all stories about the horrors of humans and monsters.
However, the surface Estacia actually experienced was different from the rumors.
"Even if I don't work, the fruit just keeps coming."
The humans of the surface were extremely kind to Estacia, an angel.
If she wanted fruit, they would bring her whatever she desired.
If it was a hard-to-find fruit, they would show that they were trying their best, even if they couldn't get it right away.
Here, she could taste plenty of fruits that were difficult to obtain in the heavens.
"The jewels keep coming, too."
Moreover, they brought not only fruit but also expensive jewels to Estacia.
Sparkling jewels collected by the followers were rolling around in Estacia's cave.
Those who owned jewels had brought their precious items to her as offerings.
Even to Estacia, who knew little about jewels, they looked expensive.
It seemed that if a problem arose later, she could sell the jewels to buy fruit.
Of course, for now, they were nothing more than toys for Estacia to throw around when she was bored.
"This is what heaven is..."
Not the place where angels lived, but this right here was Estacia's heaven.
What existed on the surface was a paradise that could be found nowhere else.
Estacia, who did nothing but laze around in her cave every day, had been feeling happy lately.
Now was the time to offer a heartfelt prayer of thanks.
"."
As Estacia smiled and clasped her hands, her halo shone brightly.
The angel's halo functioned properly, connecting the sounds of the heavens and the surface.
Having connected her halo, Estacia began to pray to the god who would be listening to her voice.
"Please grant me delicious fruit tomorrow and the day after..."
- "Estacia! Where are you and what are you doing!"
"Huh...?"
However, the voice that reached Estacia's ears was that of an angel she used to live with.
It seemed the halo had connected incorrectly.
Estacia immediately severed the halo's connection.
Flash.
As the halo's light died down, the voice that had been ringing in Estacia's ears also disappeared.
Once the voice was gone, Estacia let out a sigh of relief and muttered.
"Phew... If I wasn't careful, they almost found out that there's lots of fruit on the surface."
All the fruit here had to be Estacia's alone.
It was unlikely due to the mana issue, but it would be troublesome if other angels were to come to the surface.
Startled by the unexpected situation, Estacia began to readjust the halo's connection.
It was a moment where things could have gone terribly wrong.