Chapter 9 (2/2)
”s.h.i.+ek, please check her condition and give her some medicine.”
s.h.i.+ek rushed over to Tiel-chan and took a look at the girl. He pulled out some medicine from his pack and gave it to Tiel-chan.
”Hmm, this medicine looks good, let’s give it a go~”
s.h.i.+ek, you little t.u.r.d, think about your patient's anxiety when you talk! Tiel-chan stared at the medicine she was given. As I thought, she must be doubtful.
”Don't worry. s.h.i.+ek talks like that, but when it comes to herbal medicine, he knows what he's doing.”
”What do you mean, 'talks like that'~”
”Whatever, shut up!”
s.h.i.+ek looked at me with a huffy expression. I was just being a good wingman, cut me some slack!
”Excuse me, but I already took it.”
During our little comedic routine she had already taken the medicine.
”......And?”
”Let's see, my body does feel a bit more relaxed.”
”All right~ Then keep taking these medicines for a while, mm'kay~”
s.h.i.+ek gave her a plethora of medicines, and instructed her on when and how much to take. It just meant her illness wasn't something that could be cured with a single dose.
”But you sure were lucky~. Since you were away when the bandits attacked~”
It's true, no matter how far her home was from the village proper, it wouldn't have been odd for her to be attacked as well.
”I believe you're mistaken. It's not that I have good luck. The village's Guardian Diety-sama protected me.”
Tiel-chan completely changed, her eyes s.h.i.+ning and her voice strong. I had thought she was a composed intellectual, but maybe she was more of an eccentric girl?
”Guardian Deity?”
It sounded completely bogus to me. Did they actually have things like that in this world? And even if they did, in a tiny mountain village like this?
”I heard about it from my dearly departed grandmother. A long time ago, when the village was attacked by bandits, the Guardian Deity protected them. And just the other day, I was personally protected by Guardian Deity-sama!”
Tiel-chan looked absolutely enthralled as she regaled us with the tale. Talking like that, we were feeling pulled into her story.
The village had a Guardian Deity legend, and that Guardian Deity protected Tiel-chan......Nope, I really didn't get it after all.
”So what exactly happened when you were 'protected'?”
I had a feeling that something fishy was going on in that story, and it bothered me enough that I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
”I, too, am curious about that.”
”Me too~”
”...I understand. I shall tell you.”
And so, to summarize, what we were told was this:
After hearing the legend from her grandmother, every day, without fail, Tiel-chan would take offerings to the Guardian Deity.
In her grandmother's day it was a common practice, but nowadays Tiel-chan was the only one who continued to do so.
On the day the bandits came, she was taking offerings to the Guardian Deity, but on her way home a sudden wave of drowsiness took her. When she finally came to, she found that she was nestled against the Guardian Deity as she slept, and that was how she escaped the struggle with the bandits.
”Captain~ That sudden wave of drowsiness, could it have been a Dark type magic?”
There was such a spell, the Dark Magic 《Nightmare Sleep》. But that spell not only put the enemy to sleep, it was also supposed to induce nightmares to torment the target.
”...Youki-san. I feel a bit suspicious of this village's Guardian Deity.”
”That's not true! Guardian Deity-sama is not suspicious at all!”
As Cecilia began to doubt the Guardian Deity, Tiel-chan retaliated. She seemed to be completely devoted to her Guardian Deity.
”So, where can we find your precious Guardian Deity-sama?”
The best thing to do now was see the real thing for ourselves. Then we might be able to figure out ‘Guardian Deity-sama's real intentions.
”Guardian Deity-sama's shrine is nearby. If you doubt him to that extent, I'll take you there myself. Please, follow me.”
Maybe it was the work of the medicine she took earlier, but she set out at a brisk pace.
The three of us followed after Tiel-chan and eventually came upon a worn down shrine. The door was half-broken, and the roof was falling apart. Even so, there wasn't a speck of dust or trash to be found. My guess was that the frequent cleaning was Tiel-chan's handiwork.
”Guardian Deity-sama is inside the shrine.”
I wondered if there was something like a G.o.d doll or statue inside. To make sure it was safe, I carefully opened the door so it wouldn't break further, and found...
”Huh?!”
”Eh?!”
”What the?!”
The object inside was a stone statue. But, no matter how you looked at it, I could only think it must be...
”A Demon Statue?”
I couldn't see anything else inside.
It had a demonic face and two horns growing out of its head. On its body were claws and fangs, and even wings.
There was no way this thing was the Guardian Deity.
The three of us stood there stunned, while Tiel-chan held up her hands in a prayer by the side of the statue.
”This is the Guardian Deity-sama that protected me.”
”Actually, I'm getting the feeling this Guardian Deity isn’t...”
”I won't stand for any slander against Guardian Deity-sa...ahum, ahum”
Tiel-chan fell into a sudden coughing fit. Even though she took s.h.i.+ek's medicine, her illness wasn't healed yet. In order to not aggravate her condition further, Cecilia took the girl under her care, and headed back to Tiel-chan's home.
On their way, Cecilia lent the girl her shoulder, and Tiel-chan glared at me. It was a glare that said she wouldn't forgive me if I did anything to the Guardian Deity.
It's not like I was gonna break him, so I wished she'd relax a bit more. I watched the girls until they were out of sight, then the two of us resumed investigating the statue.
”Hey s.h.i.+ek, I’m not the only one who thinks this thing doesn’t really look like some kind of Guardian Deity, right?”
”Ahaha~ Isn't it obvious~? Rather than a G.o.d, it'd be more fitting to call it a Demon.”
”It really does look like a demon.”
”Doesn't it~? If they really made it for the villagers to give thanks to, you would think they would have taken its appearance into account~”
What s.h.i.+ek said made sense. If you really thought about it, the legend itself sounded strange. If the villagers built this thing to give thanks to their protector, then...
”Could it be that something that looked like this really saved the village? I find that hard to believe.”
I couldn't see it as anything but a monster. I had no idea what would cause a monster to protect a village. My case was a pretty unique one. Or maybe some human other than me was also reincarnated a long time ago?
”Captain~ Now that I think about it, I think I've seen a guy like this before~”
”What was that?!”
”There was a trap monster, a Gargoyle, in the Demon Castle that looked like this guy~”
”...Now that you mention it...”
I almost forgot about the days I was confined to the Demon Castle.
Gargoyles were monsters that imitated statues in order to attack. There were a lot of adventurers and bandits who fell victim to these guys in the old ruins they inhabited. So why on earth was something that looked like a Gargoyle revered as a G.o.d?
”...Is this thing really just a statue? Could it be, it's a real Gargoyle?”
As I thought that out loud, the statue looked even more suspicious. s.h.i.+ek held his dagger at the ready, and I prepared to cast my spells. We were ready to enter battle.
We carefully drew closer, then suddenly its eyes flared to life, and the statue jumped out of the shrine.
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