“Aren’t you neglecting me too much?”
“Right now, I’m just eating, sleeping, and… doing my business?”
“My life has gotten more leisurely because I’m living quite regularly. Seriously, if you just feed the wild animals, I can handle the rest.”
“Fortunately, it hasn’t been boring.”
“It’s because there are three more people to see: Wide, Isla, and Tisah.”
“As soon as Hieronymus parted from me, he took the kids to a training area. Through long corridors and wide spaces, they went.”
“He called it an area because it’s not just an open field. This place with the Future Hope Church is divided into various zones.”
“I’ve made roughly one-third of a map through the memories of six people.”
“First, there’s the space where I was summoned, deep underground. From there, rooms and corridors spread out like an ant tunnel.”
“Moreover, perhaps to make sure a stranger would get lost, there are excessively winding paths.”
“And within, there’s a huge sanctuary, and perhaps as a precaution for humans to live in, there are residential areas inside. Almost every area underground has been visited by Joanna.”
“But I know almost nothing about the areas above ground.”
“That’s because the only village I’ve gone out to for groceries was the one outside. Before that, I was in another village.”
“What worries me is that the underground is far too large. Even in a world of magic, could one really create such a massive underground lair in just about ten years?”
“It’s strange.”
“Maybe looking more closely at the altar later might reveal something. It wouldn’t be odd if they were using a space that was already there. After all, there were places like catacombs and Petra in the world before.”
“Thinking about that, it’s not unusual for there to be an underground city.”
“Only the speed of the changes is too fast.”
“However, finding other traces might be difficult. Because when one deity’s temple is conquered by another, the previous deity’s traces are thoroughly destroyed.”
“Like in Egypt, where they’re so large that they might cut off noses or cover them with soot from fires.”
“The reason I think about this is simple.”
“There’s even a possibility that there are places Joanna and Hieronymus don’t know about.”
“I have to consider various possibilities so that I can make different choices when the time comes. If I don’t think about anything, sometimes there’s only one choice available at that crucial moment.”
“If there’s plenty of time, there’s time to ponder.”
“And while I ponder, I observe how the Future Hope Church moves with the children.”
“They took a very long walk. In other words, they walked far enough to escape this underground lair.”
“After passing through a complexly winding place, they emerged into a cave entrance that overlooked a village in the distance.”
“It looked like a place camouflaged like a beast’s den.”
“This is the first time I’m looking outside with my own eyes, not through someone else’s memory. It’s daytime, so I can see my surroundings clearly. Looking around through the three pairs of eyes, it’s even more desolate than what I saw in memories.”
“There are trees, but they’re very sparse, and they resemble cacti in nature.”
“It’s like a desolate place often seen in western movies from America.”
“Wide and Isla admire the outside scenery, while Tisah looks around, his body drooping.”
“Oh?”
“Did he perhaps think he could escape?”
“Indeed, he had an unusually strong instinct against it. This is something innate. A personality that rejects what they deem unjust.”
“People’s personalities are varied, and most can be corrected through physical bullying called education.”
“But there are exceptions.”
“In such cases, they usually die.”
“But Tisah lived until he gained the wisdom to fit himself into the surrounding strangeness. That’s why he survived.”
“This place is quite interesting.”
“In any case, Hieronymus took them into the village.”
“And as soon as they entered the village, a man named Witga came out to greet them. He’s the highest among the instructors.”
“And he said that since they received blessings, they are chosen beings, boosting their self-esteem.”
“It’s hard to hold back laughter here because neither Witga nor Hieronymus truly thinks that.”
“You could see it clearly—the clueless expressions on Wide, Isla, and Tisah. Tisah seems to dislike merely being chosen.”
“Yet he still doesn’t seem aware of others’ coolness. Perhaps he sees them as objects rather than people?”
“Or maybe he has never seen anything else.”
“With such a gaze, Witga led them somewhere.”
“There were several large men there. One was the same person who brought the boy Isitur to La Planza before.”
“In other words, he’s from the warrior class.”
“Witga took the kids before them and shouted loudly.”
“He first bestowed the power on the child. Therefore, there’s a reason you received the blessing late.”
“That’s how he went on.”
“Huh? So, it sounds as if they willingly wanted to receive the blessing? But given the situation that well-trained warriors could fly away at any moment, it looks like they pushed the kids in as an excuse.”
“That’s how it seems.”
“But lying is bad. They should have given me a heads-up before telling them. Otherwise, it’s a lie that might be exposed someday.”
“Of course, they could strictly control a simple believer’s meeting with me.”
“But how long can such control last in a sect where the subjectivity of faith is shaken?”
“I’ll let that seed be planted a bit longer and first observe the scene with the three kids being tested.”
“Of course, they say it’s to show how strong the blessings are, but in reality, it’s an experiment.”
“I’m curious too, and the results.”
“I was quite surprised.”
“Tisah really got beaten badly and fell down, but Isla and Wide were different. First, Isla.”
“She defeated more than five opponents on her own. Later, when two came at her simultaneously, perhaps that was too much, and she got hit and toppled.”
“The most changed was Wide.”
“He conjured purple flames around his hands. Instantly, everyone’s attention shifted, and one of the warriors ignited in flames.”
“And then the next warrior caught fire, and finally, a warrior capable of magic came forward. He clad his sword in light and levitated an ice mass in midair.”
“But when the purple flames enveloped Wide, none of them could touch him and burned away.”
“And when the enemies vanished, the purple fire disappeared.”
“That’s a flame that doesn’t burn itself but ignites others.”
“And Wide boasted loudly about it—saying it was the power given by Rebecca. He said he alone was chosen and not the other two.”
“Well, I didn’t really distinguish who got what.”
“It was conducted through a completely identical procedure.”
“The only difference was that this side had both light and warmth abundantly. But Isla was the same.”
“Rather, Tisah had particularly less warmth compared to the light of the same size.”
“Anyway, using the purple flames as a benchmark, Wide reinforced his legitimacy, especially in terms of faith.”
“He said that since he believed the hardest, he received such a gift.”
“The only ones watching this with scowls were two people.”
“Hieronymus and Witga.”
“Others prayed as they looked at the flame, as if it were the answer to the faith they believed in.”
“They kept chanting a name that sounded like a curse, Cruxshibal.”
“It’s a name rather ill-suited for a place called the Future Hope Church.”
“And in the meantime, there’s something amusing. Isla, looking up at Wide with a jealous expression, is currently in total agony.”
“She got hit a lot when she fought two to one. Her whole body aches, and even more than feeling that pain, she’s angry. That anger is directed at the opponent in front of her. And dimly, there’s despair about why she wasn’t chosen.”
“She was grasping the dirt on the ground as she said that.”
“But this girl isn’t the interesting one.”
“The interesting one is the boy named Tisah.”
“He’s the only one among them who didn’t grow taller and whose skin color hasn’t changed. Only his hair color has changed.”
“But he gained abilities. Because nothing aches anywhere in his body. I don’t know to what extent, but during the fight, he got hit hard enough to genuinely break something, yet he doesn’t feel pain anywhere.”
“After being knocked down, he lies still on the ground, but he isn’t unconscious. He’s holding his breath and quietly observing the situation.”
“And just before Wide’s speech concludes, he gets up quickly and goes behind Isla to bow down.”
“Why go there?”
“But soon I understood the reason. Wide began comparing.”
“He pointed to Tisah, who received blessings yet gained no power and mocked him.”
“Then immediately looked at Isla, pleadingly saying he was above her.”
“Hmm. My predictions twisted a bit. I thought Wide would pick a fight with Tisah since they had similar abilities, but that’s now difficult.”
“Instead, Isla harbors resentment toward Wide. And it seems she faintly feels a sense of defeat.”
“Though their skills are said to be similar, in reality, Isla was slightly above. But now it’s been flipped.”
“I like Wide too. Wow. He got warmth for five people! Isla hasn’t killed anyone. Tisah got beaten by the first opponent.”
“The harvesting period is showing its performance!”
“Hehe.”
“Warmth seeps in. It’s like being in a cold place, shivering, while a warm breeze sweeps over my entire body.”
“I was able to gain warmth while figuring out just how much those who gave me their warmth changed.”
“Today is a good day.”
