Chapter 37
Divinity (2)
“……”
“……”
A terrifying silence filled the hut, built in the traditional style of the Tribal Alliance.
He had heard that they would be returning to the Great Plains soon after leaving the Empire, and considering the horrific impression left just before the departure, the silence was understandable.
Even for me, it was an eerie stillness that made cold sweat run down my back...
‘…That damn guy.’
The first thought that popped into my head was, of course, resentment toward Meyer, who had put me in this situation.
He had been the one to push me into this, saying that only by holding hands tightly while sleeping together could we enter the Mental World at the same time.
“If you just want to introduce me to the spirit, you didn’t need to go that far.”
If Rania hadn’t said that in a deflated voice, I might have kept stewing in that resentment.
“…Pardon?”
When I responded with confusion, Rania, with her long-stemmed pipe in her mouth again, pointed at the bracelet fastened around my wrist.
“The spirit’s in there. You meet in the Mental World every night. Isn’t that right?”
“……”
Her pinpoint observation left me speechless.
While I stood there blinking blankly, Rania chuckled and tapped the uncovered side of her face near her eye.
“I’m a shaman. Of course I can see spirits.”
Well, there was that.
Come to think of it, she had been the one who first discovered Meyer and brought him in thanks to her abilities.
As I nodded slowly, Rania packed the tobacco into her pipe and continued speaking.
“Give it here. I should at least hear what this is all about.”
There wasn’t any particular reason to refuse, so I handed her the bracelet. As she took it, she frowned and stared into it.
“…This is the Knight of Dawn.”
“…Right?”
“You’re handling someone way too extraordinary.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah. That’s someone you were never supposed to cross paths with in your entire life.”
“……”
It should have felt somehow unpleasant, but it didn’t. It just felt like she was stating the obvious.
In truth, even though we hadn’t known each other long, that was the general impression I got from her.
Iron, stone. Her demeanor and tone were so straightforward and level that such descriptions fit her well. She only ever spoke the truth, never with the intention of belittling anyone.
“To be honest, it’s a foolish thing to be worried about.”
Maybe that’s why I wasn’t offended when she said that after staring at the bracelet for a moment.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Your ability isn’t the kind that helps someone get stronger.”
“…?”
“How much do you know about the Celestial Pantheon?”
As I tilted my head at the puzzling question, that inquiry dropped out of nowhere.
“I’m not particularly interested in theology. I only know it as the place where the gods reside... I think?”
“To be precise, it’s the place where the ‘recognized’ gods reside.”
“…Excuse me?”
There was something ominous in her tone, and I asked back instinctively. Rania continued her explanation calmly.
“A god’s power is determined by the size and influence of their following. Only those whose ‘divinity’ has been verified are allowed into the Pantheon. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Just as believers need gods, gods also need believers.”
The vows believers offer to gods—Qi consecration, Sacred Flame vows, chants of Mana Arts—were all forms of proof of that mutual relationship.
Believers offer the virtues governed by the gods, and the gods, in return, bestow their powers upon the believers.
However—
“There are quite a lot of gods. For every supernatural ability that’s ever existed in the continent’s long history, there’s a divine entity.”
In other words—
“Not every god is able to prove their divinity.”
Naturally, some gods existed ‘outside’ the Pantheon.
Forgotten gods. Those dwelling in the darker corners of the heavens.
Some of them had simply faded due to lack of influence over believers, but there were also others who were outside the Pantheon for very different reasons.
“There’s a certain group among those heavenly outlaws that’s the absolute worst.”
“…What kind?”
“Divinities who were ‘sealed’ by other gods.”
Foreign gods—beings referred to as Outsiders.
Thick smoke curled up from Rania’s pipe.
“Sealed… you say?”
“They were gods whose names and powers were forcibly ‘stripped away’ by their own believers. Even if they were worthy of remaining in the Pantheon, they were expelled by force.”
“What could make that happen?”
“If they’re deemed a threat to the very existence of the Pantheon. The god once worshiped by the demons is a classic example.”
Rania gave a brief, wry smile as she explained.
The god once worshiped by the demons—Wornil, the God of Devouring. A mad god who tried to strengthen himself by devouring even his own kind.
His greed and hunger knew no end. It was said that if left unchecked, he would’ve led the entire Pantheon to ruin.
As the quintessential case of a sealed god, that myth alone suggested a great deal.
“Do you know why I’m telling you all this right now?”
I silently looked at Rania.
After hearing all this, it wasn’t hard to guess where this conversation was heading.
“What’s clinging to you right now is one of those. Not one of those ‘ordinary’ gods that forms symbiotic relationships with their believers.”
“……”
“One that exists alone and entirely on its own. A god that doesn’t get chosen by believers, but chooses believers instead.”
Too foreign to simply call a god. Incomprehensible. Unknown.
At this point—
Back then, when Rania had told me something “horrible” was clinging to me, it all made sense now.
“What’s attached to you is one of those. An Outsider. Something whose purpose, power, and origin are all unknowable.”
“……”
“That’s probably why the gods are giving you their powers so freely. I still don’t know why it’s going that far, though.”
While I stared blankly at Rania, lost for words, she shrugged her shoulders and added,
“Well, don’t be too down about it.”
…She had just unloaded an earth-shattering revelation, and yet her closing remark was so absurdly simple.
“Even if it’s an Outsider whose domain and true name we don’t know, that doesn’t automatically make it evil. More accurately, at this stage, we just know absolutely nothing.”
“…I see.”
I responded calmly.
It felt strange to say this to someone trying to comfort me, but in truth, I wasn’t all that upset.
‘Honestly, I’m not so much upset as…’
It was just such an overwhelming story that I felt more stunned than anything else.
Naturally, I had questions too.
“…By the way, Shaman.”
“Yes?”
“If that terrifying being is such a big deal, why would it choose someone like me?”
In fact, that was my biggest question.
What reason could such a colossal entity possibly have to notice a completely ordinary human like me?
“……”
At those words, Rania fell silent for a moment, then let out a small chuckle.
“Because it likes you.”
“…Pardon?”
“That’s what it feels like to me. At the very least, I don’t sense any intent to harm you.”
“……”
“Don’t know the reason, but it seems to really, really like you.”
“……”
…Rather than resolving my doubts, they only deepened.
“Anyway, let’s get back to the original topic.”
Rania rested her chin on the table as she continued.
“Given the nature of your ability’s origin, strengthening it directly isn’t an option. Not even someone else could help you do that.”
“…Is that so?”
“Exactly. So if you want to get a powerful attack ability quickly, you’d be better off looking for the best possible ‘material’ to work with.”
“Material?”
“I’m talking about the Knight of Dawn’s abilities—raw materials you can refine into something you want.”
“……”
“I don’t know what domain that Outsider connected to you governs, but wouldn’t it be better to take advantage of it?”
…Ah.
She was telling me to stick to the basics.
‘…So I should just raise Affection Level and squeeze out a Skill Copy Ticket, huh?’
I gave a wry smile to myself. After all, that was the one thing I could confidently say was within my grasp.
It felt like coming full circle, but learning the origin behind all this was still a meaningful gain.
Because—
‘If it’s a mighty Outsider or whatever…’
…Then it means I could steal Skill Copy Tickets from anyone, no matter who they were.
If I could raise their Affection Level, then there’d be no restrictions.
It felt like I’d just been handed a license to go after anyone I wanted, no matter who they were...
“……”
As I chewed on that thought, a strange feeling crept in, but regardless—
It was best to focus on the most urgent matter for now.
Let’s see, then.
The first thing I needed to consider was...
“Is there anyone around who’s absurdly amazing when it comes to Holy Flame?”
“Absurdly amazing?”
“I mean someone who’s reached a sublime level in using Holy Flame. If I could somehow get close to them, that’d be ideal.”
After all, if my opponent was a spiritual being, then Holy Flame-related abilities would be the top priority.
Katya was nearby, yes, but I had already drained every last Skill Copy Ticket from her a long time ago.
And trying to raise her Affection Level again from here... honestly, I had no idea how I’d even begin.
So it’d be better to find someone new.
Just then, Rania, who had been quietly listening, exhaled a puff of smoke and spoke.
“Been hearing a lot of chatter. Apparently, people from the Holy Crown Kingdom are coming.”
“Pardon?”
“A delegation, I mean. Isn’t that related to you?”
—Ah.
My eyes narrowed.
I’d heard about this before. A diplomatic mission was supposedly being dispatched to investigate how I, someone not of royal blood, was wielding a Holy Flame only royals should command.
‘…They’re the kind of people I’ve got a few things to settle with.’
I didn’t have particularly fond feelings toward them.
Nearly every memory I had associated with them was unpleasant.
Which meant—
…I probably wouldn’t feel much guilt no matter what I ended up doing.
“You’ve got that look like you’re thinking something bad.”
When Rania grinned and said that, I couldn’t help but give a similar smile in return.
“Thank you for your help, Shaman.”
“Call me Rania. No thanks needed. Just consider the debt already repaid in advance.”
“Sorry?”
“Something tells me we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.”
She waved her hand lazily as she replied in a drowsy voice.
“See you again, Aiden Kellermain. Next time, let’s grab some of those Far Eastern noodles you like.”
“……”
She really was a curious person.
Even though she called herself a shaman, her presence felt less like mystical and more... uncanny.
Even as we exchanged farewells and parted, I kept chewing over those thoughts.
She said we should get noodles sometime, so I guess she wasn’t a bad person...
‘Wait.’
…But had I ever told her what kind of food I liked?
“……”
Feeling a shiver crawl up my arm, I stepped out of the hut.
▣
The Kellermain family dinners were always modest and simple.
With just Kenneth Kellermain and Sisela Kellermain in their small house, not much really ever happened.
“Dad—I’m home—”
Sisela Kellermain opened the front door with her tiny hands.
Though it was always late by the time she returned from school, the house still felt far too quiet—even accounting for that.
“……”
Pouting slightly, she trudged her way inside.
Kenneth always worked late, so there was no helping that, but it didn’t stop the loneliness from creeping in.
‘…My brother used to greet me when I came home.’
Even though he had a job that kept him busier than anyone, he always made time to greet her when she got back from school. She missed that.
‘I haven’t seen him in forever…’
Dad said something had come up and her brother had to leave for a bit, but couldn’t he at least have said goodbye?
With a sullen face, she set her bag down and trudged toward the kitchen.
She was heading there to make something for herself, but—
The moment she flipped on the kitchen light, she saw something she never could have imagined.
“…Ah, are you Mr. Aiden’s younger sister?”
A woman said that.
Kenneth lay unconscious right in front of her.
And the woman was holding onto his body with both hands—
“……”
Sisela’s pupils shook violently.
“Y-You! What are you doing to my dad!”
“…I know how this looks, but I swear. I’m just trying to help, he collapsed so suddenly—”
“W-We haven’t done anything wrong! Let go of him!”
“…It’s not like I did anything to make him faint, he just heard my name and suddenly—”
“I said let go of my dad—!”
“……”
…This isn’t how it was supposed to go.
Noel thought blankly to herself.