The Selfish Savior - Hunting with the New Rabbit
Where should we head first? Heh heh… ding-dong-dong, buddy!
After deciding to go to one of the most distant temples in Gerka’s temple district, I picked the one belonging to the Goddess of Earth and Abundance, Demia. Too close and we’d just stir up trouble, right? Land disputes or whatever. Classic method, the farthest candidates, and that’s how we ended up here. Classic!
“Haa, look at this temple. How grand!”
Our Gerka temple is still all rundown and ancient ruins. This place? It’s perfect. High roof, beautiful pillars, pure white marble everywhere. Blindingly beautiful. So much so that it hurts my eyes. How are we supposed to get supplies here? A barley-and-violetbarb scroll door? It’s ridiculous. Gerka must’ve blessed it with endless prosperity. This goddess of the earth really knows how to spoil you. I grabbed the scroll door and knocked three times with the rhythm of a proud knight. No one answered. I knocked again. Still nothing. Finally, a young priest about twelve years old appeared, tilting his head curiously at me. He looked at me with gentle eyes, then smiled brightly and pressed his right hand to his left chest in greeting.
“Welcome, traveler. What brings you to the arms of the Goddess of Earth?”
Er…
I was momentarily stunned by that beautiful line. At first, when we met Pythia, she had literally said, “Who are you?” But now this fancy speech? From Demia’s temple, no less. If she uses it here, she’d use it at Gerka’s temple too. Great. The part where I thought I’d easily snagged supplies from Jean Corche and Damien Hamilcar felt like it had dropped by three percent. Sigh. “Eternal glory be upon the Lord of the Earth. I am a disciple of Gerka’s daughter. May I enter and present my request?”
As soon as he heard my words, suspicion flickered in the priest’s eyes. “Has Gerka, who has reached the truth of heaven and earth, especially loved his daughter so that we could become her help?”
From his tone, I could sense two things. First, Pythia had already eaten this temple dry. That was why it reacted with caution the moment her name was mentioned. Second, Pythia wasn’t just a temple raider. She was also a “saintess” who could speak directly to the gods. That alone made her an unforgivable heretic. No wonder this young priest’s face hardened instantly when he heard the word Gerka. That meant… “You’re refusing me?”
He blinked. Ah, if only I could shed one tear right now. But I wasn’t a proper actress, and that wasn’t happening. I had no choice but to bite my tongue until it bled. My eyes were barely holding back tears. “Even the saintess… her tragedy… I’m sorry. No, the Goddess of Earth’s arms are wide, but she cannot embrace Gerka’s saintess. Everyone would understand. Please, do not worry.”
Hic. After I sniffed loudly, the priest’s mouth fell open. “W-why would anyone…?”
“But the High Priestess of Pythia’s temple, as you know, is the only saintess… King Guillaume’s sister, no less. Her tragedy will surely be investigated thoroughly, and then… still, please don’t worry. I respect the judgment of the Lord of the Earth. I will follow that will.”
“You’ve gone mad.”
The priest spat it out without any filter. He’d either forgotten to put one on in shock or gotten angry and thrown the one he had on. One of the two. “You look a lot like the High Priestess.”
This guy is cursing me out. “Thank you. It’s an honor to be compared to him.”
I wrapped one hand around my cheek and grinned widely. The priest had said I resembled Pythia’s shamelessness, but I was pretending to be flattered by praise for my own beauty. With that one word, he realized my combat power was beyond what he could handle. He let out a sigh that shook the very ground and pushed the door open a little wider. “…Please, come in.”
His face twisted into a thoroughly disgusted expression as he spoke, and “Thank you,” I smiled brightly and brushed past him into Demia’s temple. Wow, money-making temples really are different!
The moment I stepped inside, there was a garden. Statues everywhere. Whoa… Gerka’s pitiful little statue in comparison. Why was he so unlucky? He picked the king’s daughter as his saintess, and this is the result? What in the world did Gerka have to do to make this temple flourish?
{Poor thing, little one. Your talent shines too brightly to be bound to a powerless existence.}
Is this Demia’s voice? It must be aimed at me. So “powerless existence” refers to Gerka? Hey, Gerka. What’s wrong with you? You gave me the Status Window ability, so you’re definitely a capable being. How can a farmer god call you powerless? The light of truth, huh?
{My dear, please stop listening.}
I glanced back at the priest walking ahead and whispered with a barely moving mouth. He startled. {Do you hear me? Good grief, you’re our daughter! Oh my, how long has it been since we’ve seen our own grandchildren?}
{I am Gerka’s daughter. I am a proper disciple of the Gerka temple. What are you saying?}
{Then why are you listening to my voice instead of Gerka’s? Since our frequencies match, that means I am your mother. Indeed, the blood of Madeline flows in you.}
{Who is Madeline?}
I asked, even though I felt like I’d heard the name somewhere before. I glanced up at the giant statue in the garden. {Your deceased grandmother’s face was one that should have jumped out of the grave.}
Embarrassed, I let out a bashful laugh. {Grandmother can’t come. She’s sleeping in District 88.}
{Madeline wanted to go somewhere she didn’t know herself.}
“Why?”
I thought he’d heard me. When I turned, the priest was staring at me with a puzzled look. “Ah, the statue is beautiful.”
{Compared to these poor temples, I’m far better. Even your mother Louise would understand.}
“Still, please continue. We must first see the High Priestess.”
“Yes, yes.”
The priest started walking again, and I followed. As we walked, I muttered once more. {She says she understands?}
{Of course.}
{What if she doesn’t understand? All that the gods speak is sacred. If they give wrong revelations, we must correct them. How will you correct them?}
Suddenly, no answer. Whether it was because I’d entered the building or because he simply didn’t want to answer, I couldn’t tell. I’d go with the latter. The priest led me down a winding path. Is he trying to take me somewhere weird?
Worried for no reason, I tried to check his Status Window. {Tell me about the priest’s body and soul, life and fate… no.}
Wait, what if I give a more detailed order? Only the detailed things come out?
{About things that do not wish to be told to others.}
And then a bright cluster of text floated up. I… lost my words.
-[damage] HP