Chapter 7: Chapter 7 - The Birth of a Religion
Chapter 7 — The Birth of a Religion
By morning, Erald had completely lost its mind.
People bowed every time I walked past.
Children followed me around like I was some celebrity.
Someone even placed flowers outside the room I slept in.
Honestly?
Humanity really hadn’t changed across worlds.
Give people one dramatic miracle and suddenly they start building religions.
Which was... unfortunately accurate in this case.
I sat near the window of the small guest room while staring at my phone battery.
7%.
Terrifying.
My greatest divine artifact was approaching death.
Fantastic.
I needed electricity.
Immediately.
Minor problem:
this world was medieval.
No outlets.
No generators.
No civilization.
I rubbed my forehead tiredly.
The adrenaline from last night had finally faded, leaving only exhaustion behind.
Everything still felt unreal.
Gods.
Faith.
Divine authority.
Corruption.
Saintesses.
Another world.
And somehow, in the middle of all that chaos...
I had become part of the system.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Kaiser?"
Elena’s voice.
Interesting.
Yesterday she called me "divine one."
Progress.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly.
Morning light illuminated her silver-white robes softly.
Without the chaos and tension from last night, she looked different.
Calmer.
Still beautiful enough to destroy concentration, unfortunately.
Her blue eyes studied me quietly.
"You look tired."
I laughed softly.
"I fought a corrupted monster yesterday."
"You barely fought."
Rude.
Technically accurate.
But rude.
I leaned back in my chair.
"You came here just to insult me?"
A tiny smile appeared on her face.
Very small.
Gone almost instantly.
But real.
Interesting.
"I came to talk."
Now that sounded dangerous.
Elena stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
The atmosphere immediately felt more serious.
She walked toward the window slowly.
"The shrine remained active all night."
I nodded slightly.
"Good."
She looked directly at me.
"No. Strange."
Ah.
Back to suspicion.
Of course.
"Lady Seraphine has been weakening for years," Elena continued quietly.
"But after your arrival..."
She hesitated slightly.
"...her divine presence stabilized."
Interesting.
So the effect was stronger than expected.
I folded my arms thoughtfully.
"Perhaps hope itself has power."
Elena stared at me carefully.
"You say things that sound simple until people think about them."
That might’ve been the nicest insult I’ve ever received.
I smiled faintly.
"Occupational hazard."
"Godhood is an occupation?"
Oh no.
Accidental joke detected.
I coughed lightly.
"This era is different from the past."
Nice recovery.
Probably.
Elena sat across from me quietly.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then she asked softly—
"What are you really?"
Direct hit.
Honestly?
I respected her persistence.
Most people here saw miracles and instantly stopped questioning everything.
But Elena kept looking deeper.
Dangerous girl.
I considered lying again.
Then stopped.
Complete lies were risky.
Partial truths were safer.
"I’m someone who came from very far away," I answered honestly.
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"The upper divine realms?"
"...Something like that."
Not technically false.
Again.
Elena sighed softly.
"You avoid questions beautifully."
"Thank you."
"That wasn’t praise."
"Still accepting it."
To my surprise, she laughed quietly.
A soft genuine laugh.
And suddenly the atmosphere changed completely.
Less interrogation.
More normal conversation.
Interesting.
Very dangerous development for my heart.
Elena looked out the window afterward.
"The villagers already started praying to you this morning."
Ah.
Right.
Religion speedrun.
"How many?" I asked.
"All of them."
I blinked.
"...All?"
She nodded.
"Even the hunters spread stories during the night."
Of course they did.
My torch attack was probably already becoming: "Holy celestial fire descended from the heavens while divine battle music shook the earth."
Honestly?
The music part was still funny.
I sighed deeply.
"This escalated quickly."
Elena looked genuinely confused.
"You saved them twice."
"By accident."
She stared at me silently.
"...You purified corruption accidentally?"
Okay fair point.
That did sound suspicious.
Before I could answer, loud chanting suddenly echoed outside.
Both of us froze.
Then came another voice.
"Praise the God of Technology!"
Oh no.
No no no.
Absolutely not.
I rushed toward the window immediately.
And nearly died from secondhand embarrassment.
Villagers had gathered around the central shrine.
Somebody had painted a symbol onto cloth banners.
A terrible symbol.
It looked like someone tried drawing a circuit board from memory after severe head trauma.
Children carried small wooden torches while chanting enthusiastically.
"The God of Technology protects Erald!"
Chief Rowan stood nearby trying and failing to control the situation.
My religion had spawned overnight.
Fantastic.
Absolutely fantastic.
Elena walked beside me quietly.
Then—
to my horror—
she started smiling.
Actually smiling.
"You find this amusing?!" I whispered.
"A little."
Traitor.
The villagers suddenly noticed me at the window.
Chaos erupted instantly.
"Lord Kaiser!"
"The divine one appeared!"
People started kneeling again.
I closed the curtains immediately.
"Nope."
Elena laughed again softly.
God, that sound was dangerous.
I pointed accusingly at her.
"This is your fault somehow."
"How?"
"I don’t know yet."
"That seems unfair."
"Probably."
For the first time since arriving in this world...
the situation almost felt normal.
Almost.
Then the warmth inside my chest pulsed again.
Stronger than yesterday.
I frowned slightly.
The divine authority within me was growing continuously now.
And unlike before...
I could actually feel information flowing into my mind.
Instincts.
Understanding.
Concepts connected to my authority.
Technology.
Innovation.
Knowledge.
Communication.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
It was like my divine core was naturally evolving based on belief.
And because the villagers barely understood technology...
their imagination filled the gaps.
Which made my authority broader.
Potentially much broader.
That was both exciting and horrifying.
A sudden knock interrupted us again.
Chief Rowan entered nervously.
"Forgive the interruption, Lord Kaiser."
His eyes moved awkwardly between me and Elena.
Oh no.
No misunderstandings please.
I already had enough problems.
"The villagers request permission to build a shrine in your honor."
I stared at him.
"...A what?"
"A shrine."
No.
Absolutely not.
Way too fast.
I had only existed here for like two days.
At least wait a week before starting organized religion.
Chief Rowan continued nervously.
"They insist your miracles saved Erald."
Elena crossed her arms quietly.
Watching my reaction carefully.
Smart.
She wanted to see whether I enjoyed worship too much.
Unfortunately...
part of me did.
That realization bothered me more than anything else.
Because every time people believed in me...
I became stronger.
Faith literally rewarded manipulation here.
A dangerous system.
Very dangerous.
I looked toward Rowan carefully.
"If they wish to pray..."
The warmth inside my chest increased immediately.
"...then let them pray for hope."
Nice answer.
Wise answer.
Emotionally safe answer.
Honestly I impressed myself sometimes.
Chief Rowan looked deeply moved.
"Such compassion..."
Please stop making me sound holy.
I’m improvising.
The chief hurried outside afterward.
Almost immediately, cheering erupted again.
Elena looked toward me thoughtfully.
"You’re careful."
"I’m surviving."
"That too."
She walked toward the door slowly before pausing.
Then quietly asked—
"Do gods ever feel lonely?"
The question surprised me.
A lot.
Elena kept her back toward me.
Her voice sounded softer now.
More vulnerable.
"People worship gods," she continued quietly.
"But they rarely understand them."
Ah.
This conversation wasn’t about me.
It was about her.
About Lady Seraphine.
About watching her goddess weaken while everyone slowly abandoned their faith.
I answered honestly.
"I think power probably isolates people."
Elena remained silent.
So I continued.
"But I also think being worshipped isn’t the same as being understood."
The room became quiet.
After several seconds, Elena looked back toward me.
Something warm existed in her expression now.
Not devotion.
Not suspicion.
Connection.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Then suddenly—
the silver symbol on her hand flashed brightly.
Elena’s eyes widened.
"What happened?" I asked immediately.
She looked toward the shrine outside.
"Lady Seraphine..."
Her voice sounded shocked.
"...she wants to meet you."
Silence.
I blinked slowly.
"...Excuse me?"
Elena looked just as stunned.
"Gods normally never request meetings directly."
Oh.
Wonderful.
Perfect.
Exactly what I needed.
Because pretending to be divine around villagers was one thing.
Pretending around an actual goddess?
That sounded like an excellent way to die horribly.
