Extra - Selene (1): The Goddess's Capricious Decree
I realized I was an orphan at the age of two, the moment my memories from my previous life came flooding back.
So I really am parentless in this life too, just like before.
The absurdity of it made me laugh out loud. Still, there was one bright side. This life was far better than my previous one, where I had run away from home and survived on cold streets. Here they gave me proper meals, decent clothes, and a warm place to sleep.
Well, it is a fantasy world, I suppose.
Even in the middle of such a ridiculous situation, I found myself smiling. I especially loved the warm bedding. If someone were to write my current life as a novel, it would probably open like this:
Reincarnated into a warm fantasy world.
Time passed far more quickly than I expected. Two years after my previous memories returned, I was already four years old. Old enough to walk, run, and speak without any trouble.
The only real problem was that I had been born a girl. …Well, there was nothing I could do about it. No one could have predicted a man from his previous life would be reborn as a little girl. Still, it felt awkward. Especially bathrooms. Yeah. Bathrooms and stuff….
“No running in the hallway, Lene!”
The place I lived was a monastery belonging to the Iia Order. From what I had heard, this world was ruled by a male god named Teht and a goddess named Iia.
…Not that it was any of my business. No matter how much this was a fantasy world, there was no way actual gods existed. From this world’s perspective, Earth would probably look like the fantasy one anyway. A world where you could learn everything happening across the planet from a single small rectangular box, where you could fly through the sky without any magic. If that wasn’t fantasy, what was?
In other words, Earth was a fantasy world from this side’s point of view, and since it had no gods, it only made sense that this so-called fantasy world had none either. Everything the church said was a lie, obviously just a trick to squeeze money out of people.
“Then let us all pray to the Goddess together.”
At Sister Lily’s words, I quietly closed my eyes and thought, If a real god exists, could you at least talk to me?
Another year flew by. I turned five. On my fifth birthday, someone came looking for me.
“I was told there is a child named Selene in this monastery.”
He introduced himself as a Holy Knight serving in the Iia Church’s papal court. The moment he spoke, every nun’s face turned deathly pale.
…Was there some kind of problem?
“Where is the child named Selene?”
“That’s me?”
“Lene!”
“Shh. I came to speak with this child, so I would appreciate it if the rest of you did not interfere.”
He waved his hand, dismissing the others, then slowly looked me over.
“Silver-white hair. Crimson eyes. Just as I was told. Quite the distinctive appearance.”
I quietly clenched my teeth. I already knew my looks stood out. It was exactly why the other children my age avoided me and I was always alone.
“An oracle has descended. I have been ordered to bring you to the papal court.”
“Pfft…!”
I burst out laughing. An oracle? An oracle…! This old man had lived all these years and still believed in such nonsense? It was obviously just a pointless errand. What a fool. I had no idea why the errand involved me of all people, but there was no way an oracle actually existed.
“What do you find so amusing?”
“It’s funny that a grown man believes in something as ridiculous as an oracle.”
“…That remark could be judged as heresy, so I suggest you be more careful.”
“Does heresy mean I die?”
“It is possible.”
“I’ll be careful then.”
“…Good.”
With that final exchange, the self-proclaimed Holy Knight lifted me into his arms and started walking.
“I’ll follow on my own feet. Can you put me down?”
“I cannot. There is no telling when you might try to run.”
In the end I remained in the self-proclaimed Holy Knight’s arms all the way to the papal court.
Upon arriving at the papal court, I was led to a certain door.
“Where are we?”
“This is the room where the Saint carries out her daily duties. From here, I cannot accompany you further.”
“Pfft…!”
This time it was a Saint. A Saint, he said…!
“Did you not say you would be careful?”
“Ah, yes.”
I didn’t want to die, so I held my tongue. After parting with the self-proclaimed Holy Knight, I suppressed my laughter and slowly opened the door.
A long corridor stretched ahead. After walking for about five minutes, another door appeared. This one shone brilliantly in gold. Was I supposed to go inside?
With that thought, I gently pushed the door open.
“You have arrived, Miss Selene.”
Inside the room stood a young woman with blue hair. She sat modestly on a floor covered in luxurious silk, offering a gentle smile.
This was the Saint’s room, so she must be the self-proclaimed Saint.
“Hello, Saint Pff… Ma’am….”
“You really are as unusual as I heard. Did you learn why I summoned you?”
“…I was told it had something to do with an oracle or whatever.”
“Correct. The one who has business with you is not….”
The Saint’s aura changed completely. The atmosphere was now impossible to reconcile with the person I had been speaking to moments ago. If the Saint I had just conversed with gave off a gentle impression, the woman before me now radiated playful mischief.
“That fool. To make such a mistake. What an idiot. Don’t you think so too?”
“Ah, um… What are you…?”
“What am I talking about? The mistake of shoving the world you were meant to be born into onto me. And the mistake of having a boy born as a girl, of course.”
My mind went completely blank. How could she possibly know that? I had never once spoken about Earth or my previous life to anyone. So how did the person in front of me…?
“The answer is something you already know, isn’t it?”
She told me she was the Goddess Iia. She spoke the truth I had denied until now and would continue to deny as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Still can’t believe it? Then… very well. Watch closely.”
The Saint smiled brightly as she spoke. At the same time—
The Saint’s head exploded.
It exploded. It exploded. It exploded. Her head exploded.
Scarlet blood. The sticky scent rising from it. It sprayed everywhere.
“…Huh?”
My legs gave out and I collapsed. There was no answer.
Of course there wasn’t. What stood before me was a corpse. A corpse whose head had burst open and died.
“What the….”
“How about that?”
In the brief instant I closed my eyes and opened them again, the Saint had returned to normal. She smiled at me as if nothing had happened.
“…Huh?”
Was the scene I just witnessed a hallucination? It couldn’t have been. Blood still spattered the room in every direction, and the thick metallic scent of blood hung in the air. Above all, her right hand was drenched in it.
“Healing magic cannot bring back the dead. But if it’s me, I can do it by paying a price. This child and this room are rather special, after all.”
She slowly approached me.
“This child is scolding me not to do such things… but it can’t be helped, can it? You wouldn’t have acknowledged my existence otherwise. I wanted you to recognize me. You are even more special than this child… No. Far more special than this child.”
With my legs useless beneath me, I could only watch helplessly as she drew closer.
“Well? Can you acknowledge who I am now? Can you believe?”
“There’s no way I….”
“My, my. Lying is a bad thing, you know? Especially in front of me, of all people.”
She tilted her head, then gently stroked my lips with her blood-soaked right hand. It was like applying lipstick.
“Ha… hahaha….”
“Oh?”
“…So they really exist.”
Gods were real. They truly existed.
The parents from my previous life were idiots. No, calling them parents was too generous. They were irredeemable fools. A real god existed. She was standing right here.
“Pffhehe….”
The cultists who blindly believed in obvious scams and false gods ended up ruined. Meanwhile, I—who never believed in any of it—got to meet a real goddess first.
“So? Can you believe me now?”
I quietly nodded at her question.
I appoint this child as a Priest. That is the oracle that has descended this time.
“That’s absurd! A child who has only just turned five, appointed as a full Priest?!”
“The law of this Order is mine to decide. So says the Goddess….”
“That may be true, but….”
After my encounter with the Saint—no, with Goddess Iia—I somehow became a Priest. There was no separate appointment ceremony. The matter was settled after a conversation in a large room filled with many old men.
From today, Lene shall serve as an Inquisitor. That is the oracle that has descended this time.
“What?!”
“Lene is only a five-year-old child! That is far too…!”
“My, my. Since when was age a requirement for becoming an Inquisitor? So says the Goddess….”
“That may be true, but….”
I had gone from an ordinary Priest to an Inquisitor. …Was this a promotion? The question crossed my mind for a moment, but I didn’t really care.
Still, one thing became perfectly clear from all this. The way this world’s goddess handled her work was an absolute mess.