episode_0107

Through the Kubele Adventurer Guild, recent information from the kingdom’s capital, Piphnel, had reached me.

There was news of an earthquake during the regular meeting to select a new saint at the Central Church, resulting in the destruction of the church building and the suspension of the saint selection.

As someone who was searching for the saint to activate the Goddess’s crystal, this was quite shocking news to me.

Furthermore, after that incident, rumors of an unfavorable nature began to spread around the capital.

These rumors suggested that the Goddess had abandoned the kingdom and that the Central Church no longer had the ability to find heroes.

Of course, there were still many people who believed in and relied on the Central Church, waiting for the appearance of a hero.

But if such stories were reaching the information network of the Kubele Adventurer Guild, it was not a situation to be completely ignored.

People may not realize that these conspiracy-like stories were closer to the truth.

Subsequently, it was easy to see among the adventurers coming and going to the guild that discussions related to the incident at the Central Church were a hot topic.

The atmosphere of the entire kingdom was starting to feel a bit unsettled.

Amidst all this, I saw it as an opportunity.

I was well aware that the next hero would not appear anytime soon.

Knowing that the kingdom was heading towards its doom, whatever the Central Church did would be in vain.

Unless the entire kingdom suddenly fell into chaos by discovering the truth, a certain amount of confusion could help with what I wanted to achieve.

So far, everyone had been confident in the appearance of the next hero.

But with the incident at the Central Church, that belief had been shaken.

Preparing for the potential failure of the Central Church, my suggestion to find a separate solution gained strength.

Of course, there were still few who believed in the ominous rumors, and I had yet to gain the support of the majority.

But at least I could get acquaintances like Algot, Mileia, Sylphy, Tina, and Meluru to cooperate with what I was doing.

For now, that was enough, I thought.

As I listened to the adventurers discussing the Central Church incident inside the guild, I took the opportunity of a lull in activity to approach Tina and speak to her.

“Tina, if it’s okay, could you spare some time after work today?”

“What? What’s all of a sudden…”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Uh… I guess it’s fine.”

“Then could you come to my room after work today?”

“What?!”

“Stupid Yunoa didn’t even realize what he was talking about. He was so absorbed in asking Tina something that he forgot to consider how he was calling her to his room to talk about something after work. Asking an adult woman to come to his room without a second thought. He was truly speechless.”

Along with Tina’s bewildered reaction, the narration’s criticism poured out.

Wait, no… that wasn’t my intention at all.

My mind was so full of thoughts about the saint that I ended up saying something strange.

Yeah, I admit it.

I, who was not delicate, was in the wrong.

“I… I have some advice to ask you about your previous job.”

In the end, I said to Tina to clear up the misunderstanding.

Tina listened to my words, made a subtle expression, and after a moment of thought, she said, “Ah… I see. Alright.”

The look in Tina’s eyes as she said that somehow felt like she was glaring at me.

Well, I made a slip of the tongue, so there was nothing I could do about it.

I’ll have to be more careful from now on…

* * *

Late at night, Tina came to my house.

I opened the door and invited her in, and she entered with a somewhat nervous demeanor.

I never thought I would call Tina to my house at this hour, but it was an inevitable choice because discussing her time as a Sister required a thoroughly personal space.

“I’m sorry. It’s a matter that needs to be discussed.”

“No, I understand.”

“Then, please have a seat comfortably.”

Come to think of it, Tina’s appearance has changed a lot compared to when she was a Sister.

Originally, she had long pink hair that was impressive, giving off a pure and innocent impression.

Now, after working as a receptionist for a long time, she had cut her hair short and had a more blunt impression.

“Tina, do you know about the power called Sanctity?”

The reason I called Tina was, of course, to ask about the Sister and Sanctity.

I was curious.

Are people with strong Sanctity selected as Sisters?

Or do people who become Sisters become stronger in Sanctity?

When a Sister resigns, do they lose all their Sanctity, or does some remain?

Lastly, if Tina still has Sanctity, can she activate the Goddess’s Crystal?

“I know.”

Tina answered my question without hesitation.

“When you become a Sister, you receive education from the Central Church. Everyone in the church has Sanctity, but when you are selected as a Sister and receive baptism, your Sanctity greatly increases. I’m not sure why that is.”

“Then, Tina, who has resigned as a Sister for quite some time, do you still have Sanctity now?”

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

“Hmm?”

“Unlike the magic used by adventurers, Sanctity is a power that you don’t really realize how much you have. Sisters are sacred beings where the Sanctity of the seven churches is united into one, so they are the most sacred and can directly communicate with the Goddess… that’s all.”

Unlike magic, it’s a power that you don’t clearly perceive, so how do you use Sanctity when you want to.

Anyway, I had to try it at least once.

“Tina, can you use this Crystal?”

“What? What is that?”

“I found this item by chance when I used Mariel’s magic tool a while ago. After looking into it, it seems to be activated using Sanctity… I’m actually looking for someone who can use it.”

I handed Tina the Goddess’s Crystal while explaining.

The possibility is low, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

“I, who rejected being a Sister, probably don’t have any Sanctity left.”

Tina received the Goddess’s Crystal.

And she made efforts in various ways to activate the Crystal with me, but still, there was no response.

As expected.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

“No, you’ve helped enough.”

So, I had no choice but to wait for a new Sister to be appointed.

But even if a Sister is chosen, it wouldn’t be easy to ask that Sister to activate this Crystal…

『As of now, the only person who could activate the Goddess’s Crystal was the Sister.

But waiting for a new Sister to be appointed was not a good idea.

Just as a new hero couldn’t appear after the death of a hero, a new Sister couldn’t appear either.』

At that moment, the narration revealed a fatal fact to me.

Not only were there no new heroes, but there were also no new Sisters?

Then how could the Goddess’s Crystal be activated…

『But there was still a Sister.

No one had the authority to strip the Sister of her position, even though she had been expelled from the church. She was still the only Sister in this world, the last Sister.』

So, the dead hero may have been called trash, but he was a true hero.

If a hero couldn’t be found, a Sister could be replaced, but once a hero was found, the Sister couldn’t be changed.

Even if the church announced the hero as a fake, the fact remained that the dead hero was the real one.

Then, even if a new saint were to be chosen from the church, there was a possibility that she would lack power.

The saint who was expelled from the central church for choosing a fake hero…

That saint was the key.

* * *

The task was set.

Find the saint who was expelled from the church and bring her here to activate the goddess’s crystal.

Summon the goddess in this way and change the fate of the kingdom heading towards destruction by any means necessary.

To do so, it was difficult with just my own power.

First, I had to find out where the expelled saint had gone.

With the kingdom in a precarious situation, it was now the right time to talk about what I wanted to do.

I explained to her what I wanted to do, borrowing the power of Algot’s connections and information.

The current situation of the kingdom is not good.

There is a possibility that the central church may not be able to find the ‘real hero’ they speak of.

I am preparing for the worst-case scenario and have something I want to do.

There is a remarkable item that I happened to find with the magic tool given by Mariel.

After investigating, it was said that this goddess’s crystal, which can be activated by the power of the saint, is an item that can communicate directly with the goddess.

Mixing the information I obtained through narration and the actual information, I spoke.

Algot sat in front of the desk in the study, listening seriously to what I was saying.

“I see. Considering the current situation of the central church, it is not possible to ignore that possibility.”

“In a situation where there is no hero, and the kingdom is facing destruction by the demon king, I don’t think we can entrust our fate to such a central church.”

“A crystal that can communicate directly with the goddess… Is it really possible?”

“Since I found out that the crystal works with strong divine power through Mariel, I think it is necessary to try.”

Algot stared at me with thoughtful eyes for a moment.

Is he pondering?

“Yunoa, if you could directly ask the goddess for a favor, what would you ask for?”

She asked me.

Even if we successfully find the saint, bring her here, and successfully summon the goddess, it was still unknown how the goddess would react.

Assuming that the goddess will unconditionally grant our request, what should we ask for?

The resurrection of the hero?

The subjugation of the demon king?

No, I didn’t think like that.

” I won’t ask for the resurrection of the hero or the subjugation of the demon king.”

“Then what?”

“Algot, you know, right? What kind of person the hero who died this time was. Even if we somehow create a new hero to subjugate the demon king as before… as long as the demon king and hero continue to appear in this world, problems will arise again. The reason why humans and demons must fight in the first place is because of the existence of the demon king and hero in this world.”

As I expressed my thoughts to Algot, I felt more and more confident in my purpose.

Everything I had seen and heard in this world so far, the fundamental problem of this world felt somehow wrong.

The center of that problem was none other than the existence of the demon king and hero.

“If I were to ask the goddess for one thing, I would ask her to erase the existence of the demon king and hero that continue to appear in this world.”

I said to Algot with conviction.

* * *