The typical mount often easily surpasses a human’s legs, but that’s only the norm.
The exceptions are overflowing across the continent, and most of these exceptions belong to the elite who use mounts, yet, despite this, the fact that mounts are still intact in this world is because the mere act of riding one has become a symbol of authority. Sometimes, the shabby appearance of the mounts themselves hides their true worth.
For instance, it’s hard to imagine the Pope of the Creator’s Church and one of the continent’s strongest knights riding in a carriage pulled by a low-quality horse, indistinguishable from a pony, with a body made of rotting wood.
Normally, Lasha would never ride such a slow thing, but this time, it was an exception.
No matter who the other person was, even Lasha, who maintained an impolite attitude, found the creature smiling happily while looking out the window at the greenery to be an awkward presence.
"Hey, old man, haven’t you been wandering around too much lately?" Lasha growled, her dissatisfaction with the way she had been used showing, but the Pope merely shrugged his shoulders with a relaxed smile.
"That just means a lot is happening on this land. It’s a joyful thing. If this old body hadn’t been able to witness so many things until my last breath, I would’ve been buried in silence."
What nonsense. If nothing happened, it’d be the worst kind of troublemaker causing chaos. Lasha, who had faced the Pope before and seen his true nature, couldn’t help but click her tongue.
"Haha. Don’t be like that. Thanks to working by my side, haven’t you had the chance to face many strong ones easily?"
"Don’t talk nonsense. I’m hoping for a struggle that will make my soul shudder. Not to take the necks of worn-out, useless animals who don’t want to admit they’ve been abandoned."
If someone asked Lasha whether the people she had dealt with under the Pope were strong or weak, she would willingly say they were strong.
Those individuals were definitely capable of making a name for themselves across the continent, but only if they were at their best.
"After all this, we finally get to meet strong people, and now, after continuous battles, they’re collapsing in exhaustion! What’s going on! Thanks to that, only the old man had fun!"
"Well, yes. It was fun, to be sure. Seeing a god blooming on this land... I’ve seen many things over my long life, but few were as fun as that. Especially since this new god, if made from Erginus, a genius, is even better."
"...I’ve been wondering this since we entered that damn forest. What do you mean by ‘vessel’?"
While Lasha was nearly a master of moving her body, her knowledge of magic was only as much as she needed, and what she didn’t understand, she didn’t care to know. If it was something talked about by demons from different schools of magic, she didn’t even want to understand it.
So, normally, she wouldn’t have asked this question, but the sight she had seen in the forest was so marvelous, it made her feel like a girl again at her age.
"You’ve heard of the great mage Erginus, the genius who made history, right?"
"Of course. The tales of the heroes who saved the mythic era are endlessly sung by minstrels. As you wander, even if you don’t want to hear it, you learn it."
"To be exact, calling him a genius is just a limitation in describing his greatness. Even after hundreds of years, no one has surpassed his wisdom, and how can we call someone who overpowered the god of magic in a human body just a genius?"
Lasha’s jaw dropped at hearing the Pope’s words. A human overpowering a god in the god's own domain?
Is that even possible?
Though they didn’t have the best relationship, Lasha, being an apostle of the evil god, understood. Gods are tangible concepts that exist in this world. If what the Pope said is true, then Erginus must have known more about magic itself than the magic gods did.
"When the new god of magic bloomed on this land, digging into one field until the end of their life, could there be anything they couldn’t accomplish?"
"Stop asking complicated things and just speak."
"The answer is ‘nothing.’ The great mage Erginus, after long research, found a way to save his love, and he also found a way to sever the legacy that would continue on to future generations."
Erasing a god from this world. Replacing the position a god once held with someone else.
"Theoretically, this is entirely correct, but achieving it is difficult. After all, the evil gods twisted because the power that makes them was wished for by them."
Darkness wants the world to become darker. Emptiness desires endless stillness. The world wishes to light an eternal fire on the land. Destruction desires not only the land but also itself to be destroyed.
"A person with an ordinary mind who gains divinity will only give birth to another evil god."
The ancient era’s norms easily toppled their opponents and forced their will onto them.
To resist this, someone with an extraordinary mind is required. Someone who can stand proudly before the divine, surpassing the life of the earthly realm.
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For example, someone like Erginus himself, a hero.
By this point, even someone like Lasha, who despised using her brain, couldn’t help but start to understand.
"So, the Erginus inside that cocoon..."
"A vessel capable of holding divinity. A being who possessed the spirit, wisdom, and regret of a hero and, without even realizing it, was preparing to become a god."
Did the heroes of the past achieve what they had to do after hundreds of years? Wow. If such a monster exists, I definitely want to fight it.
"Of course, it wasn’t done by his efforts alone. The great god of creation must have blessed him, or Erginus would not have reached the miracle."
"Are you talking about your help?"
To Lasha, the inside of the cocoon seemed to be in a precarious state. In many ways, she was turning into the evil god she had been offering prayers to.
Without the Pope’s help, the being that emerged from that cocoon wouldn’t have been the reborn fairy, but a new evil.
"Hm? No, it’s not like that. What I did was merely the final touch."
It seemed like the Pope was saying it was nothing special, but in truth, what came back was a shock. He was truly downplaying his role in this.
"So, what exactly is this blessing of the god?"
"It’s about something more fundamental. It’s the reason why divinity could only collapse under human hands."
The Pope shuddered as he mentioned the light of purification. There was nothing more distasteful than the joy radiating from that old man’s face, and Lasha clicked her tongue, turning her head away.
...I can’t say I don’t understand. That light that rose in the center of the forest was amazing. If that wasn’t the light of a god, what else could be called a miracle?
"Just to clarify, that miracle was not the work of the saint."
"Ah. So... what?"
"The saint receives the love of the god with her purity. But she can’t create miracles with wandering steps."
"Wait, does that mean she’s not the saint?"
"You know it. After all, you’ve faced her before, so you must know."
"...You knew?"
"Of course. How could I not recognize the apostle of a god?"
The Pope’s tone, filled with childlike excitement, was a stark contrast to his usual solemn demeanor.
Having learned the approximate situation from Erginus, I understood why those who had stayed here were so downcast.
No matter how hard the fight had been, those gathered here were not ordinary. If they had been unable to do anything but watch the Pope’s work and couldn’t even stop them from leaving, feelings of self-loathing would naturally rise.
Personally, I thought it was unavoidable, so I tried to move on. It wasn’t just Lasha; even the Pope himself was quite a monster.
If you put someone who could face Benedict head-on and a priest who could heal anything as long as they didn’t die, there was no answer to it.
And besides, the outcome is good, right? Let’s just leave the past behind.
<You’re not very surprised that the Pope helped these people, huh?>
‘Well, he’s the Pope, right? He’d welcome the disappearance of the evil god with open arms.’
<Since you’ve so strongly disliked the Pope, I thought he might be connected to the evil gods.>
‘No. Separating personal likes and dislikes, the Pope’s faith is genuine.’
Though I never imagined I’d say something like this, it’s true.
His faith is real.
Though the church and the world may have changed over time, this truth remains unchanged.
‘Even if his faith is real, that doesn’t mean he’s a normal human, does it?’
<Ah, that’s true. I’ve seen it enough during my lifetime.>
That makes sense. It was the era of myths. Since gods were still close to humans back then, there must have been a lot of crazy people.
As I understood the anger in Grandpa’s voice, I thought about the Pope who had arrived here.
It wasn’t strange that he had dragged his heavy body here.
After all, we had been cooperating with the church. If information had flowed to them, it was only natural that the Pope would pay attention.
It’s only natural, but...
That lunatic went and saw the miracle and then left without even meeting the Fairy Queen? He must know about me.
Damn.
"Anyway, no matter the situation, it’s true that my divinity was stabilized with his help. I’m still clumsy at handling divine power, but I’ll soon adjust. Compared to my research in magic, this is nothing."
It’s a story that sounds like something to be shared with the perverted crow, but this is the truth. Just look at the message he just sent me.
Even when he was human, he had approached a god through magic. Now that he’s a god, he must have no problem handling divine power.
"By the way, the pathetic loser... what about the queen?"
"As for the queen, she went to meet the kingdom's leader. After all, they collaborated with many interests in mind. If we are to discuss the issue of the forest, it’s better for her to go in person."
What!? The airhead went to meet the First Queen!?
Are you crazy!? What if the Fairy Queen gets something taken from her by the First Queen!?
"Though I understand what you’re worried about, it’s okay. As the god himself said to me earlier, the Queen is no longer pure."
It’s something I sent on purpose, Erginus said, but I couldn’t shake off the anxiety.
Is... is it really okay?
Caria, who was forced to act as the Fairy Queen’s guide because she felt strangely attracted to a scent she never wanted to smell again and a scent she had enjoyed so much yesterday, broke out in a cold sweat when she saw the two women smiling at each other.
First Queen That human has always been like that, so let’s leave that aside.
Why is the Fairy Queen so dark inside!?