episode_0186

First of all, the priority was to find the goddess, the woman with the face of the Pope for now.

To be honest, I know clearly where it is. If we followed the same route we passed yesterday and passed the procession, we could quickly infer that the person standing at the front was probably the Pope.

However, if asked what to do after finding it, I would say I don’t know.

If there was a fight there right away, the crowd in the procession would turn into enemies, and I didn’t think I could handle that, so it only created a subtle sense of anxiety.

In the end, I just hesitated and sighed deeply.

I was moving forward diligently, following the traces of the crowd, but the problem was that I had no idea what to do or how to do when I reached there.

No matter how much I thought about it, the answer did not come easily.

Nevertheless, I spent some time following the procession.

Kylon walked ahead and glanced at the others.

Probably, it felt refreshing to see other people crowding around wearing clothes rather than armed weapons.

I also felt a greater sense of wonder now.

There was no Agnes’ suit, no Linda’s bandaged body, no Flora’s robe.

Even Kailon had removed his heavy full-body armor and was wearing the clothes of an ordinary villager, so anyone would have seen him as just a passerby.

As time passed after lunch, and as I walked the whole way until evening, I quickly realized what kind of road this was.

The procession is visible in the distance. And the end of the street that the procession was trying to reach would be the eighth village.

Are you really going to head to the royal capital of the Holy Kingdom like this? As he thought about this, Kailon sighed deeply.

“… If we don’t stop at the eighth village, I think the procession will get longer.”

“By emphasizing that the Pope died and came back to life, he plans to establish himself as the legitimate representative of God and lead the procession to the Holy Kingdom.”

It was Flora who answered Kylon’s lament.

With her head spinning quickly and her mouth muttering, Agnes looked back at the village we had started from.

It took such a long time to finally get here, but now that I was here, I had a very strange feeling about having to return to the Holy Kingdom capital to stop the Pope, let alone the Demon King.

“… What should I do?”

As I muttered nervously, Agnes, who was ahead of me, opened her mouth.

“If things go on like this, who will be the devil?”

What everyone was worried about, no matter what anyone said, was the choice between being the devil or the goddess.

Honestly, no matter which side I chose, I vaguely expected that the uneven side would come across as a threat.

It was a problem because the goddess who had been sent to the Holy Kingdom first might be able to use the position of the Pope to increase her power and lead the army, and it was also problematic to leave the Demon King alone.

While everyone was lost in thought, Kailon took a deep breath and then resumed his steps.

“That’s it. The moment the demon king is killed, the goddess will be able to strengthen her position. So you can do the Demon King later. It is more problematic to just let the power grow like this.”

Kylon seemed to have already made up his mind.

On the way back to the eighth village. Instead of going to the tenth village, he seemed to think that it would be easier if he passed the procession heading to the capital of the Holy Kingdom, overtook it, and eliminated the goddess in front of him who was pretending to be the Pope.

Honestly, there was no one who opposed that opinion. However, no one was positive.

I couldn’t deny or agree, I just thought about the pros and cons of the two options.

The advantages of making this choice are as follows, but the disadvantages are as follows. He continued without being able to erase his mixed feelings.

*

Perhaps it is natural that there is a clear difference in the speed of a small number of people walking quickly compared to a large number of people rushing around in a procession. At this moment, the distance did not feel that far.

I was left with the thought that the distance could be shortened after just one more day, and I also had the feeling that it was going to be quick.

What happens if you catch the goddess?

What would happen to this world if we drove out the goddess who had the body of the Pope and tried to control the world by pretending to be the Pope?

That worry kept lingering in my head and wouldn’t leave.

At the earliest, we would face each other just before reaching the eighth village, and at the latest, at the eighth village, but the worry was still not erased, so there was no need to hesitate whenever we took action.

“… Haha.”

Darkness was falling everywhere, and Kailon was fastening the tent he had taken out of his inventory to the ground in preparation for camping.

Since I couldn’t do anything to help, I just watched, but even then, I couldn’t stop sighing.

Honestly, I know it doesn’t make sense to sigh about not doing anything in front of someone who is working so hard to prepare, but I wanted you to know that there’s nothing you can do when you worry this much.

Does that also mean that it is a selfish mind?

The other heroines were checking to see if anyone around them had noticed this place, going to prepare firewood, or leaving for a while to run errands, when Kylon asked a question.

“Why are you sighing like that?”

He seemed to be a little concerned about my sighing.

“No, I think I’ll catch up tomorrow… I was wondering if I could do it well. I’m no help.”

“… are you okay. You don’t have to do anything.”

“It’s the last time.”

“… … .”

There was only one thing I could do in this fight.

I always resented myself for being incompetent and incompetent, but I believed that the only ability I had left could help them at this moment.

As I gave Kailon a determined look and gently told him I couldn’t do it, his expression hardened.

Rather than looking at me with a straight face, I can see it as someone looking at me seriously and thinking carefully.

last.

It’s always the last.

It is a world where you cannot return if you die, and where reset is impossible.

Because I had always lived that kind of life, I was not unaware of that feeling.

Although an unrealistic sensation passes through my fingertips for a moment, I wouldn’t be so foolish as to get drunk on it and leave myself and the people I love alone.

I was left with a desperate feeling that this might be the last time.

The fight with the goddess, in fact, if imagination were to materialize, there would be nothing that could easily win it.

We were betting on the fact that the human body would become unable to withstand the power of the gods and would gradually break down, and soon the connection with the goddess would be lost.

It was no different from gambling.

If all five people, including Kylon and I, died before my body was destroyed, it would have been a failure and I would have been left alone and live a cursed life, or my mind would have been broken and I would have to give my body to God again.

“Kylon.”

So I tried to persuade him.

I wanted to show them that doing something like that right now to avoid seeing their suffering is ultimately the same as throwing everyone’s lives into a pit.

So I said his name as if to make him aware of it.

I just hoped that he would understand what I meant.

In fact, it would be difficult to fight without one, but if you don’t have the power of the holy sword or the prayer for healing, how on earth will you be able to get through that large crowd and kill the goddess?

Yes, it was going to be needed.

When you’re hurt and exhausted and feel like you’re about to die, shouldn’t you be able to get back on track and start over?

How unfair it would be if everything ended with one failure.

“… I like Kylon.”

I didn’t know what Kylon wanted to say.

He always wanted me to smile and not be hurt.

He might have thought that crying on the bed was enough.

That’s why I smiled bitterly as I pictured that future.

“I like it, I love it, so please close your eyes. When fighting a goddess, even if you have the strength of other allies, you will end up getting hurt.”

Even if he borrowed Linda’s fist, Agnes’ sword, and Flora’s magic, there would eventually come a time when he would be outnumbered and overwhelmed.

That’s why I hoped.

“Even if the goddess goes, what if it becomes dangerous because of the devil?”

Kylon needed help. Although his body was strong at the moment, he eventually lost the power of the holy sword he borrowed from God, so he was no more or less than a strong young man holding a great sword.

If people start to stick to it when there is an opening after swinging it, Flora will also feel the limitations of using magic and will only sweep around the area.

“How about it?”

“… I wish you weren’t sick, but in the end, I’m indebted to you like this until the very end.”

Kailon approached me with a sad voice and gently held my hand.

“I can’t even say please. How could I ask you to do something like that?”

“So, let me ask you a favor, you don’t have to give permission. Just close your eyes.”

“But that doesn’t mean you’re not sick.”

“Close your eyes, think about what you and I would do in the original world, and cheer up.”

“… … .”

It was obvious that I would regret it if I didn’t do this anyway.

I smiled at Kylon and extended my hand, wondering if I should at least have less regrets while fighting for my life.

He looked at it and made a blank expression.

A knife and a bottle.

All I had to do was gather the supplies.