In a village on the outskirts of Volantis.
By the time Leya returned to the village, it was already nearly nine o’clock.
Unlike the pleasant breakfast scene she had imagined, Leya had missed the earlier events.
Upon her return, she was met with villagers who seemed even more despondent and adventurers who appeared visibly agitated.
Grabbing a random person, she asked what had happened.
Only then did she learn that three villagers had died recently, and their deaths were rather peculiar.
‘Well… in Leya’s opinion, such a reason was truly comical, ha ha ha…’
After making several inquiries, Leya also discovered that Thorne seemed to be withdrawing from the mission.
Yet, to Leya, this was still no big deal.
‘She wasn’t here to accompany them for this, was she?’
‘The Wolf King had been slain. If not for yesterday’s sudden attack, theoretically, she should have been able to leave for home yesterday.’
As these thoughts crossed her mind, Leya began making her way towards the main hall of the church.
She had heard from the villagers that Angela was reportedly still there, tending to some injured residents.
****
“Miss Leya, where did you run off to so early this morning?”
However, the moment she stepped into the main hall, Leya was caught red-handed by the sharp-eyed Angela.
She was immediately met with a torrent of complaints.
“Ah… I just went for a bit of morning exercise. Seeing that you were all still asleep, I went out on my own.”
“Honestly… you should have at least said something! Everyone was so worried about you.
Just a moment ago, Captain Thorne and Gilbert were still searching for you.”
Angela pouted, her cheeks puffed out in exasperation.
Seeing this, Leya could only shrug helplessly.
‘How was she supposed to know such a major incident would occur in the village so soon after she left?’
“Are Captain Thorne and the others looking for me because we’re preparing to return to the city?”
“Oh? Miss Leya, you already know?” Angela exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise.
“Of course. The entire village knows by now. Everyone is talking about it; it would be difficult not to know…”
“Uh… that’s true…”
Hearing this, Angela nodded in profound agreement.
Just then, a voice suddenly drifted from behind the two of them.
“Ah, perfect, perfect. Miss Angela and Miss Leya are both here.
It saves this old man from making several trips, heh heh heh…”
“Elder Ingmar!—”
Leya: ‘…………’
‘She truly couldn’t understand it.’
‘Why did both the villagers and Angela show such respect for this old man? He was just an old charlatan, tsk—’
‘Oh, but perhaps that wasn’t quite right…’
Leya’s expression suddenly shifted as she thought, ‘Theoretically, there should be gods in this world, right? Like herself!’
‘If that were the case, wouldn’t this old man actually possess some genuine abilities?’
‘After all, he was an Elder, regardless of his standing! Perhaps he truly could contact the so-called gods?’
‘Of course, that was assuming there were other gods besides herself.’
“Hmm? Miss Leya, is there something on this old man’s face?”
Ingmar asked with a touch of curiosity, seeing Leya stare fixedly at him for a long time without moving.
“Uh… nothing really. I was just curious which gods are worshipped in this church.”
“Pfft!—”
The sound, seemingly coming from nowhere, was like someone had just taken a sip of water and then spat it out in shock.
This made Leya look around, bewildered.
What she found was that everyone around her, from the villagers to the scattered adventurers, was staring at her as if she were a monster…
“Miss Leya…”
Even Angela hurriedly tugged at Leya’s sleeve, speaking with an air of panic.
‘Just because Leya didn’t know, didn’t mean Angela was ignorant!’
‘The primary deity worshipped in every temple was already established: the great and supreme God of Light!’
‘Only after that came the secondary gods worshipped in each region, such as the Goddess of Harvest, the Goddess of the Moon, the God of War, and many other strange deities.’
‘Yet, Leya had asked such a widely known, common-sense question, one even a three-year-old would know, with a perfectly straight face…’
‘Even more unacceptable was that Leya had actually equated the God of Light with other secondary deities…’
‘Such words and actions were, without a doubt, a grave disrespect to the gods! To call it heresy would be an understatement; it was outright blasphemy, unforgivable in the extreme!’
‘Surely, if the Inquisition Tribunal were present, they would immediately seize Leya and burn her at the stake!’
‘Of course, all of this was merely theoretical.’
‘In reality, not everyone in this world worshipped the gods, and most believers were commoners.’
‘The truly powerful and astute ambitious individuals instead used the gods as a more effective means of control.’
‘Whether they themselves were true believers was another matter entirely…’
‘Therefore, considering all of the above, this awkward situation had arisen.’
‘Angela knew Leya was likely a noble, and a super-noble at that, one who was at odds with the Holy Lan Papacy.’
‘But even so… even so, she couldn’t openly challenge things in public! This was playing with fire; one wrong move and something truly terrible could happen!’
“Heh heh… Miss Leya certainly has a way with words…”
As expected, Ingmar, who had maintained a cheerful smile from beginning to end, now found his grin somewhat frozen.
He spoke dryly, “The deities worshipped in this temple, besides that great and supreme being, are the Goddess of Earth and the Goddess of Wisdom…”
“Um… Miss Leya, the being he mentioned refers to the God of Light…”
As if fearing Leya would continue her antics, Angela quickly added, interjecting.
Only then did the latter nod in sudden understanding.
“Oh? Is that so…”
As she spoke, Leya’s gaze slowly drifted to the center of the temple, resting on the two goddess statues.
However, no third statue was to be seen.
Just as she was about to ask another question, she suddenly heard the system’s voice, one she hadn’t heard in a long time!
It spoke with a mix of extreme helplessness and admiration: [Host, please calm down for a moment and let me explain… It seems that humans in this world generally believe that as the King of All Gods, the God of Light does not permit any image of himself to appear.
They believe it would tarnish his image, for in their eyes, the God of Light is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient…]
Leya: ‘…………’
‘Had she done something wrong?’
‘Why was everyone, one after another, expressing such embarrassment? Honestly, Leya truly found it difficult to comprehend…’
‘She had finally encountered her own kind and merely wanted to inquire about their situation. Was there anything wrong with that?’
‘Well… after the system’s explanation, it seemed the authenticity of this world’s gods was truly questionable…’
‘No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like something humans had deliberately fabricated, didn’t it…’
“So, Miss Leya, is there anything else you wish to know about this temple? Heh heh…”
“Uh…”
‘Of course there was, such as wanting to discuss with him whether the gods he worshipped truly existed.’
‘Or, could he contact these so-called ‘gods’ he spoke of? If so, could she speak with them too?’
‘After all, the system had said that the Divine Race should have long been extinct in this world.’
‘If that were the case, where did the gods he worshipped come from? Heh heh heh…’
However, for some reason, after glancing at Ingmar’s ambiguous smile, Angela, who was shaking her head like a rattle drum, and the stunned villagers all around…
‘She felt the atmosphere was somehow off, eerily unsettling…’
After a moment’s thought, Leya ultimately couldn’t stand the oppressive atmosphere any longer.
She let out a breath and said:
“Alright, nothing for now. Thank you, Elder Grandpa.”
“Heh heh, that’s good… that’s good…”
Ingmar still spoke with a cheerful, squinting smile, making it impossible to discern his true emotions.
“In that case, perhaps the two young ladies would care to follow this old man for a moment.
I imagine your Captain Thorne must be growing anxious after all this time…”
“Captain… Oh! Does Captain Thorne need us for something?” Angela asked anxiously, finally snapping back to reality.
“Hmm, I shouldn’t say too much about the specifics.
In any case, when you meet your captain, he will explain everything thoroughly.”
“I see. In that case, Miss Leya, shall we… Miss Leya?”
Angela looked at Leya, puzzled.
‘How had Leya’s gaze drifted back to those two statues again in a single moment of inattention?’
‘Please, just spare her, Miss Leya…’
However, unexpectedly, Leya quickly turned back, explaining, “I was merely a little interested in the statues, so I took another look.
Alright! Let’s go find Captain Thorne and the others.”
Angela: ‘…………’
Ingmar: ‘…………’
‘Interested… What in the world did ‘interested’ even mean?’
‘Please, this was a temple, after all. Was it really okay to openly show such disrespect to the gods?’
‘It was fortunate that this was a small, rural branch of the Holy Lan Papacy, and Ingmar seemed relatively easy to talk to.’
‘Otherwise, if this had happened in any even slightly larger church…’
‘This incident would almost certainly not have ended so peacefully…’