Chapter 246: Saintesses of a New Era - Part 2

◆ Priest of the God of Knowledge ◆

“Ugh, why did it come to this…”

Blown into the sky by the storm that erupted from the jewel, I lamented the misfortune that had fallen upon my own body.

Before entering the town closest to the holy land, one of my colleagues was attacked by a monster and suffered severe injuries.

The wounds were deep, so we decided to leave her behind at the town’s church.

During this pilgrimage, monster attacks have been frequent, and we wanted to avoid expending our magic power on treating someone who had suffered such massive injuries.

Furthermore, feeling that her inexperience would make her a burden, she herself chose to remain behind.

At that time, I was entrusted with a certain jewel from the departing colleague.

She claimed it was a magic item recovered from ruins that possessed the power to create storms.

She explained that if we used it, we could attack only our enemies with a storm while ensuring our own safety as the users.

However, in reality, it was a completely defective product that swallowed us up in the storm alongside them.

“If only I had the time to inspect the jewel myself…”

I never anticipated that she wouldn’t have performed safety checks on an item brought on the pilgrimage.

“No, thinking about it now, was she truly injured?”

Could it be that she dropped out on purpose?

So as not to be caught in that jewel’s rampage, did she actually know it was defective?

“But if that’s the case, for what purpose?”

The only conceivable reason is that she aimed for our downfall by making us fail.

However, this pilgrimage is a battle to seize the initiative from the Temple of the Chief God.

If she interfered with that, she should know that it wouldn’t just be our downfall; her own life would be in danger.

Ah, there’s no end to these thoughts, but unfortunately, my time was limited.

Specifically, having been blown high into the sky, we had begun our descent to the ground.

“Fufu, I suppose I should at least be glad to know the feelings of the first human in the world to dance in the sky…”

The only regret is that I won’t be able to pass on this experience…

“No, there’s no need to give up so tragically. Also, you aren’t the first person in the world to fly in the sky.”

“Heh!?”

Searching for the voice that suddenly came from nearby, I found the figure of an unfamiliar young girl right beside me.

Ah, no, I know her. She is the young girl who participated as a helper for the Temple of the Chief God.

“Why are you here!? …No, could it be you were also blown away by this tornado!?”

“Ah, no, we were—”

“I-I’m sorry… I never intended to involve a child.”

How could this be! To think I involved such a young girl!?

Even though I am someone who tolerates fighting political enemies, I still feel guilt over dragging a child into this.

“I’m not a child. I’m already an adult.”

I see, so she is a young woman who has just recently come of age…

Either way, from my perspective, she is still very much a child.

“Haha, I’m sorry…”

I’d like to save her somehow, but unfortunately, since I can only use Recovery Magic, there’s nothing I can do.

The only thing I can do is pray to the gods that this young girl’s soul is called to the heavens after her death.

“…That’s why there’s no need to give up. First, we descend to the ground.”

Goodness me. To think this young girl hasn’t given up on surviving even in this desperate situation.

“More like falling rather than descending, though.”

But sadly, without the ability to fly, no matter how we struggle, we cannot be saved.

“It’s fine, we’ll go down slowly. STREAM CONTROL!”

It was then.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew from below, and the falling speed of my colleagues and me, who had been blown away nearby, decreased.

“Th-This is!?”

What is it? The influence of the storm created by the jewel?

But the storm was still raging all around, and the wind blowing up from below clearly had a different feel to it.

Furthermore, as if carried by someone, my colleagues gathered beside me.

The wind blowing from below grew even stronger, and our falling speed dropped further as we slowly descended toward the ground.

In the end, our falling speed was no different from a walking pace, and we landed softly on the ground without a single shock.

“Nn, with this, everyone’s rescue is complete.”

N-No way, did this young girl create that wind just now?

But how? Was it magic? I know of no such magic!?

“Good work, leave the rest to me.”

Another young girl appeared, praising the first one’s efforts.

This girl should also be a helper for the Temple of the Chief God.

“Here I go! TYPHOON BURST!!”

When the young girl activated her magic, a storm was born around us.

A magic that creates a storm!? Yet another magic I know nothing about!?

The storm was quite strong, sending powerful gusts pushing against us, but unlike the storm born from the jewel, it didn’t blow us away.

It makes me think that if the jewel’s power had been as explained, this is what it might have been like.

Then, the storm created by the young girl swelled up and violently clashed with the storm created by the jewel.

“Uwoooooh!?”

As the two storms generated a tremendous repulsion, fierce winds raged through the surroundings like shockwaves.

It seemed the fierce battle between two storms of the same scale would last forever, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

The storm produced by the young girl began to crush the jewel’s storm as if bearing down upon it.

Once that happened, the contest was decided in the blink of an eye.

The jewel’s storm grew thinner as if being devoured by the young girl’s storm, and completely vanished in no time.

And having finished its role, the young girl’s storm also dissipated on its own.

Afterwards, as if nothing had ever happened, only a space enveloped in silence and us were left behind.

“Alright, it’s settled. Are you guys hurt?”

When the storm vanished, the young girl worried about our injuries as if nothing had happened.

However, there was one thing I absolutely couldn’t understand.

“Why…? Why did you save us?”

Though we ended up getting caught in it ourselves as a result, we whipped up that storm to sabotage you guys, you know!?

“Hm? Ah, it’s nothing major. Our softies just said they’d feel bad if they abandoned you.”

“Hah? That’s… it?”

No, no, no matter how you look at it, such a simple… There must be a reason like making us owe you a debt, or forcing us to swallow some demand…

“That’s it. What you were thinking when you used that thing has nothing to do with those guys. Just, as a result, there were people in trouble, so they moved to help. That’s why we helped too. It really is just that.”

What is that!? That just makes you a bunch of softies, doesn’t it!?

There’s no way there are idiots who would do such a do-gooder thing…

“I don’t know about you guys, but there really are softies like that in the world.”

As if reading my mind, the young girl replied.

“Well then, we’re taking off.”

“W-Where to?”

Even I thought I asked a strange question.

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re still in the middle of a trial right now, right? Then our destination is obviously the goal!”

The young girl announced this with a look that said, “Why are you asking the obvious?”

When I heard those words, I understood everything.

To the point where I felt a refreshing sensation, just like when gaining a desired piece of knowledge from a book.

“Ah, you really have been on a pilgrimage.”

Just like the youths of the past, you have simply continued to save those in need.

And that we, too, were merely targets to be saved, is that what you are saying…

◆

Over there, the suddenly appearing golem was rampaging.

“S-Stop! I command you to stop!”

Near the golem, a Priest of the God of Commerce was desperately commanding it to stop, but the seemingly out-of-control golem refused to obey.

On the contrary, the escort adventurers, who appeared to have been taken out by the golem, were collapsed near the priest.

“Why won’t it listen to me!? Wasn’t it supposed to obey the command of the one holding this jewel!?”

However, without responding to the summoner’s question, the golem raised its fist.

“U-Uwaaaah!?”

“I won’t let you!”

I swung my sword, imbued with magic power through Body Enhancement Magic, and lopped off the golem’s arm.

“Wait, huh?”

I fully expected the golem’s anti-magic defense mechanism to activate, but there was no sign of that whatsoever; the golem’s arm flew off with barely any resistance.

While confused by the unexpected lack of feedback, I observed the golem, which lost its balance after losing an arm.

Looking closely, the golem was broken here and there, and it looked far from being in perfect condition.

“Ah, looks like the device for receiving commands is broken on this thing. And the other mechanisms aren’t moving properly either.”

I’m rather amazed they thought to use it in this condition.

If they had at least performed some maintenance, it would have been slightly better.

That being said, I can’t just leave this rampaging golem alone.

“Umm.”

“Y-Yes!?”

When I called out, the dumbfounded Priest of the God of Commerce snapped back to her senses.

“This golem belongs to you guys, right? It seems to be out of control, so is it okay if I destroy it?”

“Eh, a-ah. I don’t mind.”

Alright, I got permission, so I won’t be billed for repair costs later!

“Well then…”

I was about to swiftly defeat the golem, but I suddenly noticed a strange movement of magic power within it.

“This is…”

Concentrating my consciousness and looking at the golem, magic power was unnaturally concentrated in one part of its body.

Or rather, isn’t that the location of the Magic Storage Stone meant to stockpile magic power…

“Ah, could it be that because the State Preservation Magic is incomplete, the parts have aged and the magic power is on the verge of exploding!?”

This is bad! The Magic Storage Stone used in that golem was probably either made before State Preservation Magic was invented, or it’s an inferior good made by a shady shop to scam customers!

This is bad. I can’t afford to agitate it any further.

Or rather, thank goodness I didn’t slice its torso in half on the first strike, truly.

Ah, I see. The Priests of the God of Commerce might have understood that, which is why they couldn’t attack it carelessly and ended up caught off guard.

“In that case, I need an attack that doesn’t carelessly apply an impact or inject magic power…”

Dodging the golem’s attacks, I formulated a plan to neutralize it.

However, if I defeat it too cleanly, the Priests of the God of Commerce might come back later to collect the remaining wreckage for reuse.

They absolutely despise taking a loss to an extreme degree. If it can be reused, they’d probably collect even a single scrap of metal.

But that poses its own danger, as they might agitate the Magic Storage Stone during collection.

“Alright, let’s annihilate it!”

In order to avoid dealing any more damage and also dispose of it cleanly, I decided to annihilate the golem using spatial magic.

“DIMENSION ERASER!!”

When the magic activated, the space distorted to wrap around the golem, dividing the inside from the outside.

“COMPRESSION!!”

And the instant I chanted the keyword for compression, the space wrapping the golem began to shrink with a creaking sound.

The space grew smaller and smaller, and the golem’s main body was crushed.

Naturally, taking such a stimulus, there was no way it wouldn’t affect the Magic Storage Stone that was on the verge of accidental discharge.

As a result, the out-of-control Magic Storage Stone blew the golem up from the inside. Moreover, the flying pieces of iron accompanied an even more brutal force.

However, the space wrapping the golem completely contained them, and no effect whatsoever reached the outside.

Rather, it continued to compress the space along with the raging energy, ultimately becoming smaller than dust before vanishing.

In its wake, a sub-space dyed in mysterious colors was formed, but it reverted to the original scenery as if being painted over by the surrounding space.

And when the sub-space was completely overwritten by the original space, only the figure of the golem that was supposed to be there had cleanly vanished.

This is the spatial division magic, Dimension Eraser.

It’s a magic that isolates the target along with the surrounding space and annihilates it by performing super-compression.

The convenient part of this magic is, without a doubt, that it can defeat only the target without negatively affecting the outside, just like now.

By the way, the system of this magic is the same as a magic bag.

The only difference is whether you store and preserve it in a sub-space, or annihilate it.

“Alright, golem disposal complete. I’m finished.”

Having defeated the golem, I informed the Priest of the God of Commerce that it was safe now.

“…Huh?”

However, perhaps unable to grasp the situation, the Priest of the God of Commerce was still dumbfounded.

“I’ll go ahead and treat your comrades while I’m at it. HIGH AREA HEAL.”

Just in case, I should treat the injured priests with Area-of-Effect Recovery Magic.

“U-Ugh…”

Fortunately, it seems there were no severe injuries, and the wounded quickly regained consciousness and began to sit up.

This seems to be thanks to the golem itself being a defective product, which kept the damage they received small.

“Well then, I’ll be off. Let’s both do our best!”

“Eh? A-Ah, yes.”

Having confirmed everyone’s safety, I returned to everyone to resume the trial.

◆ Priests of the Other Temples ◆

We were looking at a miracle.

That miracle showed its back to us, its enemies, without any caution.

No, they never thought of us as enemies from the start.

Because to them, we are believers who place our faith in the same gods…

“There’s no doubt, they are the emissaries—the Saintesses—sent by the gods…”

Ah, how foolish we have been.

I am ashamed of my own foolishness, having devoted all my energy solely to power struggles and satisfying my own desires.

“But it wasn’t like that from the beginning…”

Yes, it was definitely different at first.

On that day when I swore to serve the gods, I certainly intended to spread the gods’ teachings to the world and save the people.

Despite that, I ended up leaving those feelings behind somewhere.

“Ah, where did I go wrong…”

At this rate, the gods are sure to be angry…

“But the gods have not completely abandoned us. Because they sent those girls to us.”

She said it: the pilgrimage is not over yet, so do not give up until the end.

In other words, now is the time to show our faith.

In that case, we have no choice but to stand up.

As ones who serve the gods, this time we must fight fair and square!

“Nnngh!”

Shaking off the feelings of regret and repentance, I stood up.

And alongside my comrades, I took a step forward.

” ” ” ” ” Eh? ” ” ” ” “

The moment we thought an ominous sound rang out, we were blown into the air by a pillar that sprang out from right beside us.

” ” ” ” ” Gwaaaah!! ” ” ” ” “

I completely forgot about this (the trial)…