Chapter 234: Interlude, Soliloquy of a Saintess

◆Foka◆

Ever since Rex-kun and his party arrived in the Holy Capital, there hasn’t been a day without a commotion.

The sudden renovation of the Temple of the Chief God, the subjugation of dangerous monsters appearing in the suburbs, the disappearance of the War God’s priest dubbed as divine punishment—days lacking no topics of conversation.

Just as I planned.

Consequently, my superior has been noisy.

“We must investigate the Temple of the Chief God immediately!!”

He says such things, but it’s obvious he has already sent an investigation.

Furthermore, just by looking at his face bulging with veins, it’s clear at a glance that they’ve likely already failed, just like the other temples.

Because of that, sitting next to him is unbearably noisy for me.

“But what will you do? Your hand-picked spies were captured, and apparently thrown onto the roadside with a sign saying ‘These people are robbers who sneaked into the temple late at night,’ were they not?”

“Indeed, with that, activities in the Holy Capital—no, even in neighboring countries—will likely be impossible. Unless they go to some remote region at the edge of the world, that is.”

The ones making sarcastic remarks to such a superior were the high priests of other departments, his political rivals.

Since arguments around here are a regular occurrence, I decide to let them slide.

Unlike them, I have to participate in the pilgrimage, so I don’t want to exhaust my physical strength and energy listening to meaningless arguments.

“Fumu… Saintess Foka, what do you think?”

Just as I was thinking that, the topic was suddenly directed at me, and my heart skipped a beat.

Eh!? Don’t tell me it’s been exposed that I incited Rex-kun and his party!?

I had them properly hide their faces when they left the guild, though!?

“The pilgrimage will center around you and your comrades. I want to hear the opinion of you who travels to various regions.”

Ah, so that’s what it is. Scared me…

“Let’s see. I am certainly curious about the matter of the Temple of the Chief God, but I believe it would be better to intentionally not intervene and leave them alone.”

“What did you say!?”

Perhaps thinking he was betrayed by me, his subordinate, my superior glares at me with a terrifying face.

No, no, this is a meeting where high priests are gathered together, so please hide your emotions better.

This is why you can’t get promoted.

“The Temple of the Chief God moved too flashily. Because of that, their every move is currently being intensely scrutinized by the other temples. Moreover, it seems they are being meddled with almost every night, so you can hardly say they are on good terms with the other temples.”

“In other words, you want the Temple of the Chief God to stand out intentionally, and have them skillfully hide our activities.”

“Yes. In a pilgrimage, it is only natural for our temple to be wary of the other temples. However, there is no need to add wariness towards the Temple of the Chief God, which has gained an incomprehensible power, to that. Let us not intervene, play the role of a harmless entity, and have the other temples focus on the Temple of the Chief God. If they whittle away each other’s strength, there is nothing more to ask for.”

To speak the truth, I also wanted to stop my superior’s rash actions, but if I actually stopped him, I would be suspected, so I endured it.

Fortunately, since I am connected with Rex-kun and his party, they should recognize the Temple of the Earth Mother Goddess, or rather me personally, as an ally.

After that, I just have to lose skillfully without the higher-ups noticing.

“Well, what Foka-chan says is also true.”

It was then. A voice that felt sharp echoed through the conference room.

Despite not being a particularly loud voice, the moment that voice was heard, the air in the conference room felt as if it had chilled over.

“Temple Head…”

Yes, the owner of the voice was the highest authority of our Temple of the Earth Mother Goddess, the Temple Head.

“Certainly, going out of our way to meddle with an incomprehensible opponent is a poor plan. We will observe the other temples fail from the outside and gauge the true strength of the Temple of the Chief God.”

” ” ” ” “Yes!!” ” ” ” “

Although only my superior looked dissatisfied, no one can defy the Temple Head’s decision.

And so, it was decided in the meeting that we would not intervene with the Temple of the Chief God and would concentrate on the pilgrimage.

While it’s not guaranteed that everyone, like my superior, will obey the order, it should still be of some help to Rex-kun and his party.

“Oh right, Foka-chan.”

As the meeting ended and everyone was leaving the room, for some reason the Temple Head spoke to me.

Hmm, I have a bad feeling about this.

I can’t imagine this person saying something that won’t result in any profit…

Also, I’d like her to stop calling me Foka-chan already.

I’m at a good age too… ah, no, I’m not at that age yet!

“Yes, what is it?”

“Well, I thought I hadn’t offered you any encouragement as you head to the pilgrimage.”

“Haa.”

The Temple Head stared intently into my eyes and declared this:

“Seeking peace is a good thing since it aligns with our doctrine, but I won’t forgive you if you lose on purpose!”

“Hah!? Eh!? What does that!?”

“That’s all from me. Do your best, Foka-chan.”

Saying only that, the Temple Head left the conference room.

◆

“…I wonder how much she understood?”

Recalling the events in the conference room, I inadvertently muttered to myself.

Did she realize about Rex-kun and his party, or even if she didn’t realize that much, did she see through the fact that I was going to pull my punches considering the balance between temples…

“Either way, I can’t pull my punches anymore.”

Since the Temple Head saw through me, if I pulled my punches here, I have no idea what kind of punishment awaits me later.

It’s involuntary, but it seems I have no choice but to challenge it seriously.

“That’s fine and all, but how long do we have to stay in these outfits?”

Towards me, who was renewing my resolve, a thick voice spoke up.

Looking back, there was the figure of a burly woman carrying two large swords on her back.

“Until the pilgrimage is over, Risou.”

In response to the woman’s question, I answered by calling the name of a certain adventurer I know well.

“Don’t call me by that name right now.”

The woman whose name was called complained with a face as if she had bitten into a bitter bug.

Yes, her true identity is none other than the renowned S-rank adventurer, Twin Great Fangs Risou.

“My apologies, Ririka-chan.”

I called Risou by her temporary name once again.

Fufu, it’s a cute name, isn’t it.

“…Just stop calling me by name after all.”

However, perhaps disliking that too, Risou sullenly told me not to call her by name.

How selfish.

“But hey, couldn’t we return to normal at least inside the tent? Most of the participants are men anyway, right?”

The nervous-looking woman who said that is also an S-rank adventurer I know well.

Her name is the Heavenly Mage, Lamies.

“We can’t do that, Lamies. It would be bad if evidence surfaces that men were participating.”

“But man, I can’t let my acquaintances see this. Especially the women I love.”

And the last one to join the conversation was, as expected, an S-rank adventurer like myself, Rody.

“Is that so? I think they might actually be pleased, Rody.”

“Give me a break…”

Yes, I had requested cooperation from all the S-rank adventurers I had formed acquaintances with.

The ostensible purpose was to reinforce the combat power of the temple I belong to, but the true purpose was to have Rex-kun become a helper for the Temple of the Chief God.

If I only called out to Rex-kun, it would result in the unnatural situation of issuing a request to an S-rank adventurer only to send him back without having him do anything.

With that, when a mysterious helper appears at the Temple of the Chief God, his true identity might be exposed.

If that happens, my purpose for calling him out would also be exposed.

However, if Risou and the others are also there, I can create a non-unnatural rationale: I requested cooperation from all the S-rank adventurers I know, but since only Rex-kun refused, he simply went back.

Of course, wanting to request cooperation from Risou and the others was also my true feeling.

After all, the other temples will likely use any means necessary to kick down their rivals in order to win the pilgrimage.

Our Temple of the Earth Mother Goddess is probably devising some sort of plan as well.

And right now, they had become women.

In order to participate in the pilgrimage, I had them drink the sex-change magic potion just like Rex-kun.

…Unfortunately, they didn’t gain cuteness like those children did, though.

“Kuh, if only permission to enter the hidden grounds managed by the church wasn’t the compensation!”

“If only rare magical documents weren’t dangled in front of me!”

Risou and the others muttered the same complaints for the umpteenth time.

In order to get them to accept the job, I had to use several highly valuable cards.

Honestly, it resulted in a considerable expense and I owe them a favor, but thanks to that, they promised me their cooperation.

“Haa~, if only I hadn’t carelessly hit on the granddaughter of the Temple Head of the Earth Mother Goddess!”

” “No, that’s your own fault.” “

Only Rody alone was made to accept the job to cover up the fact that he hit on the Temple Head’s granddaughter.

If I recall correctly, it started when that girl, who was aspiring to be an adventurer, happened to meet Rody.

After all, to a rookie adventurer, an S-rank is a hero above the clouds.

If that happens to be someone of the opposite sex, you can’t help but admire them, I suppose.

“N-No~, hahaha.”

The problem is that she was hit on by that hero.

Of course a young girl would be overjoyed to be hit on by someone she admires.

Moreover, due to her lack of interpersonal experience, she took his social pleasantries seriously, and things got complicated…

Rody, this debt is truly expensive, you know. I’ll have you work hard!

“Now, don’t just complain forever, work, work. If we don’t finish preparing the camp quickly, we’ll never get to sleep.”

” ” “Tohoho~” ” “

We were currently preparing to camp along with the other participants.

The circulation of monster warding potions is significant, as it allowed us to use time for movement right up until the limits of our stamina.

Furthermore, as a secondary effect, it’s nice that the safety level of camping has increased.

Just as we were pitching our tent by the roadside, feeling grateful for the newly developed convenient tool…

It appeared.

WOOSH!!

“Eh?”

Suddenly, thinking a gust of wind had blown, something passed by beside us.

“Wh-What!?”

“Are you okay, Foka!”

“Y-Yes.”

At the sudden abnormal situation, Risou and the others immediately readied their weapons and went on high alert.

However, it was already nowhere to be found.

It had disappeared from our sight in an instant.

“A monster attack!?”

“All hands on high alert!”

Perhaps sensing the abnormality, the other participants also interrupted their camp preparations and began to be wary of their surroundings.

“Just now, it felt like something passed by at an incredible speed, but…”

“Yeah, and there were multiple of them.”

As expected of Rody, I couldn’t tell that much.

“…I used Search Magic, but there’s no monster reaction nearby. It seems those guys from just now are already outside my detection range.”

Lamies was also keeping a lookout around us with magic, but she shook her head and reported that she couldn’t capture the mysterious entities.

She looked a bit frustrated.

“What should we do? Should we change locations to camp?”

I shook my head negatively at Rody’s proposal.

“No, there is no need for that. I don’t want to waste effort, and we’ll camp here as planned.”

“Are you sure? There’s a danger those guys from just now might come back, you know?”

I can understand that thinking that way is only natural as an adventurer.

However, my adventurer’s intuition told me there was no need to worry about that.

“It’s probably… I don’t think the somethings that just passed by will come back… or rather,”

Looking in the direction the mysterious entities probably disappeared to, namely the direction of the next town, I told Risou and the others.

“I have a feeling those were entities we know very well.”

I didn’t see their figures. But in this commotion, I felt the same atmosphere as the commotions he causes.

Above all, the gust of wind just now didn’t attack us.

If those were truly monsters, we would have suffered some sort of injury by now.

” ” “…” ” “

Perhaps thinking the same thing, Risou and the others looked at each other’s faces, nodded slightly, returned their gazes to me, and said one thing:

” ” “Certainly.” ” “

Yeah, if the other S-rank adventurers think so too, there’s no mistake.

“I’m starting to feel like we might lose even if we go all out against this.”