"Well, I'm currently investigating the principles of sacred magic and others. The Magic Academy hadn't done much in this area. Partly because of the Church's interference. That's why I like to take this opportunity and conduct a thorough inspection."
"Specifically?"
"The difference between regular magic and sacred magic, the specific working principles of prayer-triggered miracles...... and the God behind sacred magic."
God. Yes, God. A being that is supposed to be immortal, indestructible, and eternal. In short, my senior who has already reached the utopia I longed for. I wanted to learn more about them.
"God? Who are they?"
Drei spoke with bated breath.
If God were an omnipresent being, how did they become one? Why do they give miracles to believers and have the believers worship themselves? How do they govern heaven and hell...... the afterlife? Or, was it like how I felt as I faced the end of my previous life and the beginning of my new life, where the afterlife was a void and the existence of God a lie?
The more I thought about it, the more things I wanted to know. For someone like me, who aspired to gain immortality, there was no subject more interesting than God.
"There is no harm in learning more about the mechanisms of sacred magic. Our immediate enemy is Marquis Lavallee. He has been encouraging closer ties with the Omnian Empire. That religious nation. Depending on how things go, we may even come into conflict with that country. We need to be prepared for that."
"Know thyself, know thy enemy, and thou shalt not be in danger in a hundred battles. That's one of Master's teachings."
Uni said. It was the knowledge from my previous life that I taught her. Well, I'm sure there were similar sayings in this world. After all, this was a world where people fought not only with their own kind, but also with different kinds of monsters and subspecies. It would be no surprise to find proverbs related to war.
"In that sense, there is no more troublesome opponent than Omnia. They are secretive and use doctrine as their shield. On the other hand, they have a lot of holy relics and secrets hidden...... In all seriousness, I wouldn't want to make an enemy of them if I could help it. This is why we will be using adventurer priests, who are considered a cut above even the churches over there."
"Though if word spreads about your deeds, even if it was just a small part of it, I have no doubt that more enemies would appear."
"Cause we’re artificially cultivating monsters here, huh. We humans use materials from monsters in our day to day life. I don't see what's wrong with raising them like sheep."
It's really irrational. This is why nobody should fixate themselves on fixed ideas like religion.
"Getting back to the matter at hand. That's why I've been experimenting with the adventurer priests we captured from the dungeon. Can they use sacred magic after their brains are modified, with their beliefs on religion no longer present? Or if I don’t change their beliefs but control their bodies to break their commandments in some way? ......The problem is that the supply of samples we have is limited, so I can’t really explore large changes in the experiments though."
"That was one heck of an experiment! The other day, I replaced the object of my faith with a random imaginary god, and had him chant sacred magic with it. And then the priest said, ......buhaha, ‘You devilish heretic, you will be judged by my God, Hondaramanewsa!’ Can you imagine! Just thinking about it. Bufufuhaha!"
Seis burst out laughing, holding her stomach. Of course, after saying that, sacred magic failed to activate. If it did, it would be problematic. In the sense that I wouldn’t know how to react to that.
"Uh-huh. So the masters are operating normally......" (TL: I assume Charl is referring to Gods when he says masters here?)
"If you don't stop, you'll really be punished one day, okay?"
"Hmm, that would be a problem—"
I shrugged my shoulders at the negative reactions from the men's side. I thought that Charl would enjoy this kind of thing, even if Due was rather sensible. I'm not doing this for fun either, I'm doing this to investigate God, possibly an unknown threat against this world, and if Gods do exist, I would uncover the secrets behind their immortality and make it my own.
Hence.
"—So, I'm going to try my best to find a way to deal with God before I get punished."
I said, as I left the workshop with my assistants.
So that I could perform the all important research without delay.
※ ※ ※
He was really lucky.
He succeeded in escaping from the Temple of the Sun, an extremely dangerous place, and while carrying with him a ‘treasure trove’, pieces of mithril, with him. By applying a magic trace remover on his body and by hiding any presence he had, he somehow managed to get close to the base camp without encountering any monsters.
A few more steps, just a few more steps, and he would reach the base camp where the other adventurers were waiting. With such hope in his heart, the two remaining members of the Four-Headed Dragon ran through the night forest.
"Stop slowing down. Do you want to be left behind?"
The leader of the group slowed down to match his remaining member. It was not out of consideration for his comrades. It was simply because he had given his men half of the treasures from the Mithril Golem. It was easily worth a fortune. Of course, life is most important, but he wanted to pick up as much money as possible. If the potential reward was a huge amount of money, then it was even more so important.
"I'm s-sorry......."
The subordinate who was told off reflexively bowed his head.
Was that the right response? He was already running in an unsteady position while carrying his luggage. The slightest of bow caused him to lose his balance and he fell.
"Gah!?"
"Damn it......, what are you doing, you idiot?"
Since they were in the middle of an area where monsters roamed, his cursing naturally had to be more subdued. The leader of the Four-Headed Dragon quickly picked up the fallen items in the bushes, and reached down to lend him a hand.
"Come on, get up. You're no use to me as a baggage handler, you piece of shit......"
"I'm so sorry, Leader......"
He grasped the leader’s hand tightly with his left hand.
"Really...I’m sorry."
With his sword, which he quickly drew with his right hand, he poked the leader in the chest.
"...........................ah?"
Caught off guard, the leader stared at the sword in his chest with his mouth hanging open. The suddenness of the attack seemed to have caught up with him. Even though the blade had pierced his back, he was more bewildered than in pain.
"Heh, heh, heh...... I did it. Who's the shit, huh? The fucking leader, huh?"
He hurled a twisted sneer at his leader who was dumbfounded. He made a smile that was mixed with contempt and glee, a smile that an upstart would make upon victory against his superiors.
Being shown that face, the leader frowned in anger and pain.
"Did you...... betray..... .me?"
"Betray? How dare you say that to someone you don't even have a shred of faith in. The Four-Headed Dragon uses and abandons its party members in order to survive and gain for itself. That's what I did, and I followed it to the letter."
In fact, he had seen many times when members were abandoned by this ruthless leader. Used as a pawn against powerful monsters, or as meat shields. Sometimes he would even cut off the arms of dissenters.
There was no reason to show loyalty to a man like that. If there was, it was because of the fear of being killed if one disobeyed him.
However, the power to suppress his anger, his sword, was not on the leader's waist. It had been shattered by the golem during battle at the ruins, and was still there.
He was really lucky.
The others had been wiped out, leaving him alone with his defenseless and powerless target. On top of that, he would now have the mithril all to himself. There were not many men who have been blessed by such good fortune.
"Don’t think… you can… get away… with this..."
"Of course I will get away with this. Battles between adventurers are just considered natural deaths. Well… it might not be overlooked since we are doing a direct guild commission, but luckily for me, we are in the Trees of Darkness. Nobody saw this. I’m sure you’ll just become fodder for some monster so no evidence would be left. Hehehe, lady luck is truly looking my way."
"You… piece...of....shit..."
The curtain of life of the leader of the B-ranked party "Four-headed Dragons" closed while being looked down upon by a prideful smile. And this was the moment when the expedition alliance to explore the Trees of Darkness was destroyed.
"Goodbye, leader. Stay there and become monster poop."
He was the last one left alive, and he walked through the forest in great spirits.
He'll need help to carry the mithril. It would be nice if he could get help from the people guarding the base camp, but they would almost certainly want a share. He wasn’t sure how to handle that.
