Chapter 299: The New God's Trouble (Patreon)

After a week in the Church of the New God's Holy City, Nanoda and Übel had played their way through the entire place.

Word of the Acting Bishop's great deed in defeating the monster lurking in the forest outside the city had spread among the believers. Nanoda now had to go out in disguise, or else she'd be mobbed by followers begging for autographs. It was like being a celebrity.

Where the monster tree had fallen, the exposed soil was full of broken bones of every kind. White, translucent ore, rich in Mana, grew everywhere among them.

In theory, ore like this appeared mostly in mountainous regions. Ore sprouting from flat ground like radishes was practically unheard of.

Nanoda's guess was that the ore was the monster's handiwork. It had devoured a lot of humans, and judging from the magic staffs unearthed there, quite a few of them had been Mages.

Perhaps to store Mana for later use, the monster had fused part of its own body with Mana and grown these ores. After all, under certain conditions even wood can mineralize.

Nanoda asked Schwenk for a batch of the mined ore, which was packed into an exquisite little hand-carried case.

She planned to take some back for Qual to study. It would also make a nice souvenir.

In the Holy City, Nanoda also witnessed a rather amusing scene: the former Demon Hunter Rolwen was dodging his former colleague, a woman named Tutesi.

Drunk, Rolwen ranted wildly about how terrifying Tutesi was:

"Stalker."

"What do you mean, 'I believed in God too, so I joined the church'?"

"Cursed fate."

It opened little Übel's eyes, and Nanoda had to fight back laughter.

For the journey home, Schwenk had arranged carriages and an escort.

There were two pure-white carriages bearing the seal of the Church of the New God, with golden wave-patterned trim along the bodies. Even the four horses were fine white steeds.

Six warriors from the Order of Heretic Inquisition Knights and two believers serving as coachmen made up the party. The moment they saw Nanoda, every one of them shook her hand with fervor.

One warrior even begged her to carve her autograph into his armor.

Nanoda was left speechless. What on earth had Schwenk been teaching these believers?

On the road, a carriage like this made most passersby step aside and detour out of respect for the Church, and ordinary bandits didn't dare come near.

Nanoda had assumed Übel would want more time to travel and explore, and would turn the carriage down.

Instead, Übel said she'd had her fill. With a free carriage, there was no need to sleep rough and scrape by on meager supplies all the way back.

A journey that should have taken two or three months was cut to half a month.

One night on the way back, Übel slept as usual on the bench seat inside the carriage cabin, wrapped from head to toe in a smaller cotton sleeping bag.

The coachmen had settled all the horses and were resting with the guards in the other carriage. The guards took turns on watch, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Nanoda didn't rest. As usual, she opened the Holy Scripture in her hands.

She wanted to see whether the "New God" would bring her any news today.

As if it had sensed the Scripture being opened, a line of small golden characters appeared at once on the blank page.

【We meet again】

"We're only communicating through text, you know," Nanoda grumbled.

【This time, I'd like to ask you a question. I've run into some trouble lately】

"Even God runs into trouble?"

Through the text, Nanoda had always sensed that this New God was a cheerful, giggling being who liked to look down on everything from above. It always acted as though it truly knew everything, offering its believers, and her, a measure of guidance.

Could someone that formidable really run into trouble?

【I've suffered a small betrayal, though the effects have brought more benefit than harm】

"?"

Nanoda didn't quite follow. It didn't sound entirely bad.

【Here is my question: if killing one person would advance the development of hundreds of millions, would you kill them?】

What was this, the trolley problem? No, it wasn't quite the same thing.

"From my old viewpoint as an assassin, if that person's value truly justified the survival of hundreds of millions, I... no, my superior would order me to kill them."

Nanoda had no superior now. Still, if killing one person could solve everything, she might well do it when necessary. The condition was that she wasn't close to that person.

In the past, she hadn't needed to consider that condition, since she'd never had anyone close to her.

So she added a question.

"What's your relationship with that person? It's not the traitor you mentioned, is it?"

Surely this "New God" wasn't about to fight a war of gods against the Goddess's Order? Was the traitor one of its own believers, then? A problem within the Church of the New God?

【Not that】

Another line followed immediately: 【That being is connected to me, but not directly】

Nanoda was more confused than ever. "What happens if that being isn't killed? Do those hundreds of millions die?"

【Nothing will happen. It only concerns the development of hundreds of millions】

"Are you speaking in riddles with me?"

She blamed the riddle-speaker in it. After all that rambling, what was the point of killing him?

In the past, Nanoda wouldn't have weighed any of this. She'd have simply obeyed orders.

Now, in order to live a steadier life, she was cutting back on unnecessary killing. That didn't mean she'd hold back at a critical moment for the sake of so-called benevolence.

Honestly, her former self had been more like a member of the Demon Race. These days she leaned toward being human.

"Honestly, I think the question is meaningless."

It was advice given from a human standpoint. She didn't know how to choose either, not unless the facts were set before her and she could weigh them herself.

【So I really shouldn't rush. It's an unnecessary sacrifice. I understand】

"???"

Nanoda drew several more question marks on the Scripture in a row. What had it figured out?

【Oh my, it's nothing. Consider it talking to myself】

Its tone dropped the heaviness all at once and went back to its usual breezy liveliness.

"Are you hiding something about me?"

【This time, I'd like to hear from you what the Grand Bishop told me, about how you dealt with the monster in the forest】

Its question had been flatly ignored. Nanoda sighed helplessly at the "New God's" occasional act of playing dumb. She was getting used to it.

Even after all these exchanges through the Scripture, she still knew nothing about the New God's true identity.

Perhaps this was what they called "the secrets of Heaven must not be revealed"? It was even more annoying than "to be continued."