kscans

Chapter 67 - The Defense of Nieren, and the Night Before

We all followed them to the room we were told to go to. The room was larger than the one we were staying in, and it was furnished with luxurious items. There was a large bed. It felt like a room for a noble or a wealthy merchant.

"Mash-sama, thank you for coming all this way."

Kalpana and two handmaidens were there. She was wearing the same hood that covered her face as last night. Hyakka was surprised by her attire.

"Yeah, well, let's get straight to it. I want to introduce you to the otherworlders I mentioned last night. This is Chihiro, and this is Hyakka."

I deliberately introduced Chihiro first.

"I'm Chihiro, an adventurer."

He gave a slight bow.

"I'm Hyakka."

She flashed a V-sign. Kalpana nodded and removed her hood.

"I am Kalpana, granddaughter of the chief of the nomads."

Kalpana bowed in response to the two of them. Then she guided us to a spot with a rug and gestured for us to sit down. It was embroidered with a complex pattern. It might have been something they brought with them, rather than a fixture of the room. We sat down in a circle. A handmaiden brought us drinks. I was hoping for ayran again, but it was chai.

"I hear you're cooperating with the town's defense."

"Yes. Last night, Mash-sama said that we must protect the town from the Big Hoppers. We will also contribute what little we can."

"That's a huge help. But why're you callin' Mash '-sama'?"

Hyakka answered in my place. Come to think of it, I hadn't told Kalpana to stop using the honorific.

"Kalpana, you don't need to call me '-sama.'"

"Mash-sama is, after all, Mash-sama."

She was the same type as Famu.

"Alright. I'll call you Kalpana-sama, then."

Kalpana frowned and stared at me. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it. She glanced at her handmaidens as if seeking help. She seemed to be in quite a bind.

"...Mash-sama is fine."

She let out a sigh of relief at my words. Was it really that big of a deal?

"Mash-sama, Laciel-sama told me to search for the word of God. Do you have any clues?"

"Kalpana, do you know what the Ark is? A holy relic brought here during the war of the gods."

"Yes. It is said to have been brought by the fifty gods, excluding the God of the End and the five goddesses."

She nodded. So that was the term for it, the Fifty Gods.

"Myra here is from the church, and she says that inside that Ark were a jar, a staff, and a mirror."

"I am aware of that as well."

Kalpana nodded.

"There's a similar story in the world we lived in. I don't think this is a coincidence. The items that were in our world were lost over time. I believe the Ark in this world was brought from ours."

I looked at Myra.

"You've said the same thing before,"

she said. I nodded at her. Since there was no denial, I decided to continue.

"But in the world we were in, what was placed in the Ark was not a mirror, but a stone tablet."

"Is that so..."

Kalpana seemed to be deep in thought. She might have sensed something.

"It is said that the word of God was inscribed on that stone tablet."

"I see. So we should be looking for that mirror?"

She nodded.

"Kalpana. Talking with Mizuki made me think that Laciel is trying to make us do something, but it's not for our sake. Be careful."

"Is that what you say as her lover?"

Kalpana said, sounding surprised.

"Lover, you say?"

Hyakka cut in.

"All the girls here are. So you'd better be careful with Mash,"

Mizuki said.

"Wait, Kalpana isn't!"

I frantically denied it. This was bad in front of Hyakka and Chihiro.

"It's practically the same thing!"

"Mizuki, Kalpana-san is different,"

Famu chimed in to support me.

The conversation had gone off on a strange tangent. We returned to the original topic of the town's defense.

"Before that, I will have dinner brought to you."

At Kalpana's words, a handmaiden left and returned with food. It was mostly the same as what we had eaten two days ago.

"I apologize for the lack of variety."

"No, it's delicious, so I don't mind."

I replied while drinking the ayran that was served with the meal. The unique saltiness was addictive. Famu was drinking it beside me. I glanced at Hyakka and saw her grimacing. It seemed she didn't care for it.

"I am pleased that you enjoy our food,"

Kalpana said.

"Are the nomads strong?"

"My profession is Sun Priestess, but we have about eighty people in combat-related professions who are level thirty or higher."

They were a group of twenty wagons. I hadn't asked about their composition, but assuming six people per wagon, that would be a total of one hundred and twenty people.

"Eighty people... To be honest, in our party, the only one who's reached that level is Myra."

"Well, it's only been a month since you came to this world, so that can't be helped. We couldn't do it either,"

Hyakka said. Was she trying to comfort me?

"What about you guys?"

"Me and Chihiro are Paladins. We're both level 25."
Neither of them looked like a Paladin. In the first place, they shouldn't have any faith in the god who summoned them. So calling themselves 'Holy' Knights, who were they trying to make laugh?

"Hm? You're thinkin' somethin' rude, aren't'cha?"

"No, but why do you have the same profession?"

"I dunno. Ronron decided it on her own."

I see. Just like Mizuki and I were adventurers, it was the recommended profession from the summoning god.

"Mash-sama. Would you please reconsider letting me join your party? I believe I could protect you,"

Kalpana said.

"Like I said before, I can't do that."

I replied while looking at Cecily. She had a cool expression on her face as she wrapped some naan around her curry and ate it.

"How were the places where the monster fluids were scattered?"

I asked Famu.

"The areas with stalls and shops, and the Guild, had a particularly strong smell. It seems to have been scattered in the residential district and on the government office buildings as well."

"Where was it not found?"

"Uninhabited places, like parks. And the palace, the church... yes. We purified the Mateo Trading Company, our inn, and the area where the nomad wagons are staying. The other areas were too large to handle."

This time, Myra answered. If they had purified the fluids at the Mateo Trading Company, then Claire should be fine too. Avea was with her as well.

"Can I assume the palace is the residence of this town's ruler?"

"Yeah. The consuls live there."

Hyakka nodded at my question.

"Master, it has also been scattered in the area where the nobles live,"

Famu added as a supplement.

"With the exception of the consuls' palace, you mean?"

"Yes."

Famu nodded.

"Hyakka, is it possible that the person behind this incident is someone from this town's ruling class or the church?"

"That's... impossible!"

Myra shouted.

"Now, now, let's hear Mash out, shall we?"

Hyakka said, trying to calm Myra down.

"Yesterday, I was thinking about what Hyakka said about the culprit possibly still being in town. If it were simply someone with a grudge against this town, they wouldn't need the monster's corpse. They could just scatter the fluids and leave. But by placing the monster's corpse in the town, they gave the townspeople a chance to take countermeasures."

"Ah... so you're sayin' they're tryin' to draw the residents' attention to the monster so they can loot the place in the chaos, is that it?"

I nodded. But I didn't know what their objective was, so I couldn't think any further. Politics, religion, robbery—anything was possible.

"Is the position of consul a rotating one? Is this town a democracy?"

A sudden question popped into my head. What kind of political system did this town have?

"Nah, it's hereditary, so it's practically a monarchy. But the fact that the fluids weren't scattered only at the palace and the church... wouldn't they notice that right away?"

"They haven't noticed, have they? I'll bet this town is discriminatory against non-humans too, isn't it? The decision-making is all done by humans."

Famu had to pretend to have a Slave Mark. In the previous town, there was an inn that didn't allow non-humans to stay.

"Well, there's that. Our Morse and Corne get some dirty looks sometimes too. But back to the topic, if the target is also somewhere they don't want to be attacked by monsters, then it's gotta be the palace or the church. But even if we don't know now, it'll be obvious later. They can't hide it, can they?"

Morse and Corne were, if I recall, a cow-man and a rhino-man.

"I think so too. That's why I don't think the mastermind is from this town. Their interests aligned with someone here, and they're being hidden by one of them now."

"Not the church... It's true that those who serve the church are just people. There's no difference between them and anyone else. I admit that there are some who act unjustly. I admit that there are people who demand a little extra in donations. I am one of those fools. Last night, I was of no help to you, Mash. But for us, as an organization, to do something that would harm the people of the town... For you, of all people, the one sent by Laciel-sama, to say that..."
Myra said. Her voice had lost its earlier strength. But her clenched fists were trembling slightly. I felt bad for Myra, but I didn't worship Laciel as a god in the first place. I looked at Mizuki. She had an indescribable expression on her face too. We had just been talking about how Laciel couldn't be trusted.

"Maybe so. The consul's side is the one stationing soldiers and managing the town's comings and goings. Even with reduced guards, the consul's palace will still have fifty soldiers remaining,"

I said to Myra, trying to comfort her, but I didn't know if my words reached her. She hung her head and fell silent.

"I'm in on that. We'll keep a close eye on the consul's residence. You guys can protect the church. I'll let the Guild know, just in case,"

Hyakka said, snapping her fingers.

"Wait, I have no intention of guarding such a dangerous place. We're F-rank adventurers. If what we're imagining happens, I'm confident we'll be taken out just as we imagined."

"Mash-sama, let us take on that duty,"

Kalpana interjected.

"No way. The town's short on guards as it is. If the nomads pull out, it'll be a catastrophe."

We were on our way back from Kalpana's lodgings. It was already night. We had parted ways with Hyakka and the others, and now there were six of us. The situation had become terrible. I had tried to create an escape route, and now I found myself guarding the very place where I was most likely to encounter the most terrifying enemy. Come to think of it, with the Big Hoppers, at least I knew what they looked like and how they attacked. But how was I supposed to fight a group of people who could snatch a pink Big Hopper from a swarm said to be capable of destroying towns, bring it into a city unnoticed, and drive stakes into its corpse? To make matters worse, I had deeply hurt Myra's feelings. That was the hardest part. She had been silent since our earlier conversation. She wouldn't even meet my eyes. I should have spoken with her beforehand, before starting that conversation. If we had talked just the two of us, she wouldn't have let her emotions get the better of her. I wanted to apologize to her, but there was nothing I could apologize for. I could call Laciel and the other gods she worshipped 'gods,' but I couldn't share her faith. I hoped all of this was just my baseless anxiety. I hoped the culprit had already fled.

"Myra."

"...Yes."

"Let's hold hands on the way back to the inn."

Myra squeezed my hand. There were so many things I wanted to say. The reason I couldn't put them into words was because I didn't know the path to reconciliation. But when I squeezed her hand, she squeezed back. We walked side by side in silence through the night streets. Then, Famu took my other hand.

"Master, about the mirror from earlier,"

Famu said.

"Do you know something?"

"Could it be something in here?"

Famu showed me the list of special skills she had received from Laciel. It was dark and hard to see, so I let go of their hands and borrowed a lantern to check. The section of the list that was open had some blacked-out entries, but there was one I could read.

"Pretty Body, Pretty Smile, Pretty Medical... What the heck is this?"

Who would acquire skills with such stupid names? Hyakka, maybe? No, as a Kansai native, she would prioritize practical benefits over such names.

"A little further down, Master."

"Yata no Kagami..."

I took a sharp breath.

"I don't think that's it, is it? Isn't that one of the Three Sacred Treasures of the imperial family in our country? The Ark of the Covenant is a Middle Eastern story, so it shouldn't be related, right?"

Mizuki interjected.

"There's a theory that the lost Ark of the Covenant was taken out by a clan when their kingdom fell and brought to our country. One piece of evidence is that the portable shrines are said to be modeled after that Ark. Also, someone who saw the Yata no Kagami about a hundred years ago said that it was inscribed with characters in a Middle Eastern language."

"You actually believe that story?"

Mizuki asked.

"Mizuki, do you think that because our home was an island nation, the only cultural influences that flowed in were from neighboring countries, and that we had a mostly closed, unique culture?"

"What do you mean?"

"Our culture is a mixture of a much wider range of cultures, customs, and religions than you might imagine. For example, there's a myth about a divine couple creating the world with a spear, but similar myths exist in surrounding island nations as well."

"So you're saying it's not strange for the story of the Ark of the Covenant to be mixed in with our country's mythology?"

I nodded. But Mizuki didn't seem convinced. I had thought so too.

"At this point, we don't know anything for sure, but we're pursuing one possibility."

"I'd like to hear it,"

Mizuki said.

"Could it be that the otherworlders are either prophets or descendants of a king from a fallen kingdom?"

"The blood flowing in our veins reacts with the Ark, and, questionable as it may be, it's a mechanism that grants wishes. Based on that, the theory that the Ark of the Covenant was brought to our country is correct. And we are descendants of the ones who brought it."

"Exactly."

I nodded.

"But if that's the case, then the Ark of the Covenant wasn't lost, and it's somewhere in our country in the original world. That would make it a separate thing from the Ark in this world."

"The timelines of the two worlds aren't synchronized. We don't know at what point it was brought here. It could be something that happens in the future."

"Hmm... If you put it that way, it just seems like you're forcing it. Anything goes, then."

"It's a prediction, so it can't be helped."

I understood Mizuki's sentiment, but I had a strange conviction that I was getting closer to the truth.

"According to you, Mash, me, you, Hyakka, Chihiro, Emma... and Yuuki. We thought we were complete strangers, but we're connected by our ancestors, huh..."

Mizuki looked up at the night sky.

"If that's the case, does that mean Kalpana and the others don't have to look for the mirror anymore?"

"No, according to legend, there are three mirrors."

"Three..."

A shadow crossed her eyes. Mizuki's expression changed to one that clearly said she found this to be a pain.

"If the Yata no Kagami is the correct one, then there's only one more to find. The first one had a revelation directly inscribed on it by a god and was given to a prophet, but the prophet smashed it."

"What is with that story..."

Mizuki's question was perfectly reasonable. But explaining it would send the conversation in a strange direction.

"No, a lot of things happened. Next, they inscribed the revelation on two stone tablets."

"So that's why there are two left. I get it, but how do you know all this?"

"Same as you, Mizuki. I thought it was a weird story, so I got interested,"

I replied.

"Master, I think I will acquire this special skill,"

Famu said.

"Reconsider. If you acquire that skill, there's no going back."

If possible, I didn't want her to take a special skill that would become a key item. The Jar of Holy Oil, which was also said to have been in the Ark, was a super-powered item that, when destroyed, spread its contents and allowed everyone in the world to use magic. It was better to assume that the Yata no Kagami had a similar level of power. In an emergency, I wouldn't be able to get her to safety.

"It's too late for that. I am with you, Master."

It was the usual Famu.

"We're together even if you don't acquire that skill."

"Liar! I'm acquiring this special skill. We will be together, absolutely!"

Famu shouted and ran off towards the inn by herself. I couldn't make the stupid joke about how we weren't together right now. First Myra, and now I had hurt her too.