Ch.76Blood-Soaked City. Fernheim (3)

Although we might easily be misled by the harmonious divine couple of the Sun and Moon above our heads, the relationship among the Four Major Gods was not particularly good.

For example, the Blood God Karil despises the Wisdom God Logos, reasoning that if one’s head is blown off, wisdom becomes useless, so why put on airs about wisdom and intellect?

Conversely, Logos also growls at Karil, claiming that human society is in such a sorry state because Karil always tries to solve everything with brute force.

For similar but different reasons, the relationship between Medina, Goddess of Sexuality, and Moneta, Goddess of Abundance, is also poor. Apart from both being goddesses, they could be considered perfect opposites.

Moneta is the goddess of abundance and prosperity, and naturally favors humans who work diligently and earnestly.

But when the Sexuality Goddess Medina tempts humans by saying, “Wouldn’t rolling around in bed with your wife feel better than tending the fields?” and corrupts humans with laziness and indolence, how could Moneta possibly approve?

Of course, from Medina’s perspective, Moneta is detestable for preaching diligence like a madwoman and trying to reduce people to mere working machines.

Fortunately, the relationships between Karil and Moneta, and between Medina and Logos, were quite good.

This wasn’t due to romantic attraction between these divine beings, but because their domains were closely interconnected.

Prosperity required blood and sweat, and military might was needed to protect that abundance.

Pleasure required defining what pleasure is, and happiness needed philosophical contemplation about what brings happiness.

Therefore, it was perfectly natural for Logos’s priests to visit brothels to cool their heads with carnal pleasures after heated philosophical debates, or for Moneta’s clergy to willingly donate substantial sums to soldiers and police each year.

“For that reason… one can find temples of different gods here in Fernheim as well.”

Simon explained with a hint of pride, while Raisha blinked her eyes with an expression that said, “Ah~ I understand perfectly.”

I already knew all this, having been famous as a bookworm at Parcival’s public library, but for Raisha, who came from a poor family, this was practically high-level knowledge.

“So, that’s why we’re going to Moneta’s temple?”

“That’s right. As long as we have something we desire, we should properly pay our respects to her.”

“What about offerings to Karil, who helps achieve that purpose?”

“We’ve already shed blood. Isn’t that enough?”

“Hmm. I suppose you’re right.”

There is no temple dedicated to Karil in Fernheim.

It’s not that they don’t worship Karil; rather, the entire city is one massive temple to him.

With dozens of people dying daily in the Colosseum, demanding more blood would make Karil seem too greedy.

Anyway, we entered Moneta’s temple in Fernheim to pray for good fortune in wealth—to help us get what we wanted.

*

“It’s packed in here.”

“Well, no one bearing weapons comes without wanting something.”

The temple interior was quite spacious, but it was filled with people.

That alone would have been fine, but since everyone was armed, it was hard to tell whether this was Moneta’s temple or a gathering place for a resistance group preparing for their final battle.

“So how are we supposed to pray here?”

“Here! Over here!”

Just as I was starting to lose focus, I heard Simon’s voice, and we moved toward its source.

“This is the line. If you want to receive a blessing, you need to queue properly.”

“Is this really the temple of the Abundance Goddess…”

How should I put it? I expected a somewhat sacred atmosphere, but it was no different from a slightly cleaner marketplace.

While I had never really visited temples before, the image of “sacred halls of the gods” that existed somewhere in my mind was being shattered completely.

We awkwardly joined the line and waited endlessly for the people ahead of us to disappear. Finally, our turn came.

“What do you wish to obtain?”

A priest with a blank expression asked me.

Judging by the dark circles under his eyes, he seemed very tired, but seeing the silver and copper gleaming from his pockets, I didn’t feel particularly sympathetic.

I took out one silver coin from my spatial storage and handed it to him while saying:

“I wish to obtain the prize from an upcoming competition.”

The priest took the money I gave him, dipped his finger in holy water, and drew a W on my face, then added two horizontal lines to make a ₩, blessing me with good fortune in wealth.

I quickly stepped out of the line for the next person, and we hastily escaped from this stuffy, cramped space of prosperity.

As we exited the temple, fresh, cold air began to fill our lungs, and I instinctively opened my mouth.

“Fresh air…”

*Inhale deeply… exhale*

One thing was certain: there was something in that temple.

Something thick and heavy that couldn’t be explained by the crowd alone.

“The air wasn’t particularly stale, but strangely, I felt suffocated.”

“I physically couldn’t breathe because my chest felt compressed…”

“Oh dear… tsk tsk…”

As I took a deep breath, Raisha and Simon also exhaled deeply.

Seeing nearby people doing the same, it seemed we weren’t the only ones feeling this way.

“Now that we’ve prayed for fortune, we should go register for the competition.”

“Indeed. Follow me. I’ve memorized the geography.”

“As expected of a sage.”

“Well, it’s a bit much to call me a sage just for that…”

*

We rode our horses following Simon toward the Colosseum.

Looking closely, I noticed that the colosseums in this city were decorated with large cloths dyed in different colors to distinguish them from one another. The arena where we fought today was decorated with yellow cloth.

We passed by colosseums adorned in all colors of the rainbow, and eventually entered one decorated with purple cloth in the distance.

“This is the place mentioned in the flyer.”

“Hmm. It doesn’t look any different from the other colosseums…”

“The structure of colosseums hasn’t changed much in hundreds of thousands of years. Only their purposes differ slightly.”

“I see…”

Exchanging brief observations, we entered the colosseum, where we saw other three-person parties who had come for the same purpose as us.

Among them were parties with ominous auras—those who seemed capable of using Aura. To prevent extreme differences in combat ability, the reception desk was separately processing registrations for those below Metal rank.

“Um… but Simon is Bronze rank, right?”

“So where should we go?”

“There must be many parties like ours…”

Typically, parties consisted of mixed ranks.

The most common arrangement was one strong fighter accompanied by several weaker ones, or low-ranked dealers or tanks supported by higher-ranked healers or supporters.

We belonged to the latter category and were awkwardly wasting time in the lobby, not knowing where to go.

“Do you need assistance?”

At that moment, a lobby staff member approached us, and we explained our situation with relieved expressions.

The staff member nodded slightly and asked about Simon’s profession.

“What is your profession?”

“I’m a sage. You might better understand if I say supporter.”

“Then you should go to the ‘Below Metal Rank’ section.”

Apparently having internal classification rules, he checked a notebook briefly before guiding us to the “Below Metal Rank” reception counter.

There, we registered for participation under the name “Iron Walker Party,” and our request was accepted.

“Welcome to the competition. The matches begin at 10 AM the day after tomorrow. Please don’t be late.”

After receiving instructions from the receptionist, we left the purple colosseum.

The receptionist gave us a tournament bracket. Unlike the previous competition, this one was organized as a tournament, and we were placed in group 3 out of 16 groups.

“A round of 16 tournament…”

“Does that mean we have to fight 16 times?”

“Raisha, that’s not what a tournament means.”

Simon explained the details of tournament structure to Raisha, who finally nodded in understanding.

However, even if it wasn’t 16 fights, the fact remained that we would have to fight four battles (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals), so without thorough preparation, we would ultimately face defeat.

“Alright. Let’s go back to the inn and strategize.”

I said as I mounted my horse, and Raisha and Simon nodded and mounted theirs as well.