episode_0064

Navarre Southern Cathedral.

In the private chapel made for high-ranking clergy, the Saintess was receiving a divine message.

[You idiot. You should have been more careful! Going to catch a dangerous guy like Ishmael with only three holy knights? Were you dying to get killed?]

“…I’m sorry, Goddess.”

[Yeah, you should be sorry. If you had died there, how seriously troubled I would have been.]

A sacred moment to directly hear the will of the god she serves.

A solemn atmosphere and serious conversation should be taking place, but the tone of the conversation was far from that.

Rather, it was closer to a one-sided scolding and venting.

No, that’s exactly what it was.

The Saintess had been listening to the Goddess’s tantrums since a while ago.

If others saw it, they might be shocked, wondering if the god was such a frivolous being.

‘Last time, she couldn’t even properly convey a few sentences. Does she have divine power to spare now?’

Before, when going to find Laemis, or rather, Ishmael, she couldn’t even manage a short conversation.

Now, the conversation has been going on for almost several minutes without interruption.

Did she acquire a large amount of divine power from somewhere?

Or did she take the power needed to maintain the Divine Realm?

The Saintess was merely speculating, but in fact, her thoughts were almost correct. She actually brought divine power for maintaining the Divine Realm.

As the amount of faith being collected decreased, the Goddess gave up on various things to reduce consumption.

For example, divine power used for maintaining her usual standard of living or dignity.

The shrinking of the Divine Realm was also part of that.

Thanks to that, she had a little spare power, so this long-term conversation was possible.

Well, it seems pointless since she’s just venting her anger with the little spare power and time she secured.

[You should be ashamed. The previous Saintess wouldn’t have done such a sloppy thing.]

“……”

[Are you listening? You should answer when I speak?]

“…I’m sorry. I was foolish.”

Anyway.

From the Saintess’s perspective, who had to respond to the empty grumbling, it was just slightly annoying.

The world is so chaotic and messed up right now.

She should be running around for the sake of the Order’s survival, but instead, she has to listen to this nonsense.

‘Does this person not have any thoughts? I’m not just a punching bag.’

She even had such thoughts.

It was an idea that a Saintess should never have, but what could she do?

The Goddess was just unreasonably angry that she couldn’t catch Ishmael.

It was something she couldn’t help.

The Academy is not under the Goddess Order, but an international institution protected by the state.

‘If we sent a large group of arresting forces there, everyone would curse us.’

To avoid tarnishing the Order’s reputation, it was best to quietly kidnap him with only a small number of people.

In conclusion, it was a failure, but it was difficult to take any more drastic action than that.

If she were a god worthy of the name, she could understand this much if she thought about it a little.

The one who should be ruling the believers as the master of the Order was acting like a clueless child, so she couldn’t think well of her.

[I’ll tell you Ishmael’s location again. Don’t fail this time. I don’t have much leeway either.]

“I understand.”

[He seems to have joined some strange organization, and it’s quite large, so you should prepare thoroughly. At least two units of holy knights.]

“Where is his location?”

[The southern part of the capital of the Elaine Kingdom.]

See? It’s the same this time too.

Lead the Order’s elite troops, the holy knights, and carry out a military operation in the capital of another country? Does she not even think about what kind of aftermath that would cause?

That is clearly an act of infringing on sovereignty.

If she does it wrong, she might incur the wrath of the Elaine Kingdom and lose all remaining influence.

‘Should I seek cooperation from the upper echelons?’

If she contacts their leaders and seeks cooperation in advance, the discord might disappear. But instead, she might have to hand over the prisoner.

These days, there are more than one or two forces aiming for Ishmael’s knowledge and writing ability.

‘Why are you so obsessed with that person?’

As things have come to this, she was starting to wonder.

What made the Goddess pour endless attention on Ishmael?

If she doesn’t like him spreading ideologies, she can just kill him, but the Goddess sends divine messages several times, obsessing over his capture.

On the other hand, Ishmael hates the Goddess and is hostile to the Order, to the point of abhorrence.

What he said in the lecture, and the books he has spread so far.

His anti-Goddess tendencies are so prevalent that it’s hard to believe he was born and raised in this world.

Why? Is there some kind of bad blood between them?

“Come to think of it…”

[What is it?]

“Um, Goddess.”

While thinking, she suddenly remembered.

The last words Ishmael said when he saved her after she returned to the Academy.

–Later, when you receive a divine message, answer like this. The world is like this because you ruined the life of an innocent person.

At the time, she dismissed it as mere nonsense… but what if it was true? What if he revealed his true feelings to Joan?

“By any chance, have you ever earned Ishmael’s resentment?”

[…What?]

A moment of silence flows.

The Goddess answers in a slightly changed tone.

[I don’t think so? Do you see me as someone who torments innocent people for fun?]

Gods cannot lie.

So those words are probably true.

However, truth is not always consistent with fact.

There are grudges that one is not aware of, or unwitting misdeeds.

“When I met Ishmael, he was resenting the Goddess. Can a person hate someone without any reason?”

[Haa… damn it. That bastard was trying to deceive even you with his tricks. How annoying.]

The Goddess, who uttered vulgar curses, said as if it were nothing.

[Just ignore it, it’s just nonsense. Don’t pay attention to the rumors of a guy who ignored the mission I gave him.]

“Mission?”

In the end, doesn’t that mean there was direct interaction?

[That bastard isn’t from this world.]

“……Pardon?”

[As people’s faith was decreasing, I summoned him from another world to solve it. But he dared to ignore my words and act as he pleased.]

“A, another world?”

[So you need to catch Ishm–]

The Goddess couldn’t finish her words. The Saintess, who had lost her mind, questioned her with a tone that abandoned all etiquette.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

* * * * *

She felt like her mind was disappearing.

A person from another world. It meant that he was a summoned being like the great warrior Adolphus Hitler.

A victim who had no connection to this world and was dragged here just for convenience. Ishmael was in such a situation.

“Why didn’t you tell me that? I’m supposed to be the agent of the earth, was there a reason not to share such important news?”

[I was planning to have him work independently from the Order, so there was no need. It seemed better for him to be in socie–]

“So you were planning to make someone who doesn’t know the language or writing here suffer on the streets? Do you think that makes sense?!”

According to old records, the warrior Hitler received extreme support from the Order from the beginning.

Thanks to that, he quickly learned the language and writing and gained strength to defeat the Demon King Stalin.

Spreading the ideology of demonophobia to humanity after the war, and establishing his own country.

It would have been impossible if he hadn’t received help from the beginning.

“What do you think someone who was dragged here without anything can do? If you suddenly throw someone who doesn’t even know the Goddess on the street and tell them to work, who would comply!”

However, Ishmael received completely the opposite treatment.

He did not enjoy safe protection, linguistic support, or the supply of food, clothing, and shelter at all.

Judging from the Goddess’s handling of things, it was obvious what he had gone through. She probably just threw him anywhere and told him the goal.

Since existing status, knowledge, and wealth are completely meaningless in this environment, he must have suffered quite a bit.

He must have desperately struggled to survive at the bottom of society.

Starving, unclothed, and exploited.

Engulfed in the fear and despair of not knowing when he would die.

“I see why Ishmael said those words to me. Anyone would resent the Goddess if they were treated like that! Even if it were me, I would have wanted to hate you!!”

[…Watch your mouth. Even if you’re a Saintess, there’s a line you need to keep.]

“You crossed the line first, Goddess!”

Even so, the fact that he managed to get a position as an instructor at the Academy was an achievement worthy of being called a human victory.

The Goddess summoned him because he originally had the ability to do so. But getting the opportunity to prove his ability is quite a difficult thing.

“After doing this, this kind of thing. Do you still call yourself a god? Why are you being so irresponsible!!”

The Saintess, who had lost her temper, continued to spew venom. Even though she knew it was a violation of etiquette and duty as someone who serves the Goddess.

“The believers would go crazy if they knew this fact. That their creator is actually a terrible kidnapper–cough, cough hek.”

[I told you to be moderate!]

In the end, it was only after the enraged Goddess strangled her neck with telekinesis that Joan’s abusive language stopped.

[I’ll forgive you once because of your service to me so far. But there won’t be a next time.]

“Kheuueuk…”

[If you understand, go and catch Ishmael. You can find his hideout by searching near the shopping district in the capital.]

And the divine message was cut off.

Just like when it came on its own accord, it ended on its own accord.

The Saintess, clutching her red and swollen neck, sat down on the floor and wept.

“I… we, have we been serving that kind of thing all this time? Such a reckless idiot?”

There was no one who could answer that question.

At least not within the Order.

* * * * *

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