Chapter 340 (1/2)

Chapter 340: 340

The security facility is located south of my mansion, next to where buildings like the armory are centralized .

However, they are not going to the normal destination, so I don’t know where the ones being held prisoner are kept .

「Where’s the pretty girl? Where is she?」

「P-put me down! It’s embarra.s.sing!」

Oops, I was still carrying Celia under my arm .

I guess that’s why people were laughing when I pa.s.sed by .

「Ah, feudal lord-sama!」

A member of the security unit stands upright when he sees me .

Let’s ask this guy .

「Hey, do you know where the beauty is?」

「Beauty……? My coworker Tomil is beautiful……」

「Did you summon me? Eh, feudal lord-sama!?」

The security unit member who appeared behind him in her late twenties is definitely attractive .

The one I’m looking for should be restrained though . It’s probably not her .

「Nn . 」

「Umnu!」

I kiss Tomil anyways . While fl.u.s.tered, she doesn’t resist and rests her hand on my shoulder .

「Fuu, thanks for your lips . But you’re not the girl I’m looking for . 」

I gently separate from the blus.h.i.+ng girl, then ask one more time .

So they don’t know who I’m talking about if I refer to beauty? I have to explain that she’s a two-person group with another young girl .

「Aah, the one who pointed a knife at the patrol officer―― in that case they’re being questioned in the third interrogation room . 」

I pull the hand of the pouting Celia and walk off .

The girl I kissed puts a hand to her lips and stares blankly .

Judging by that reaction, my chances of taking her to bed later with a simple invitation are decent .

I’ll remember her name .

「Enough! If you continue spilling your meaningless garbage, you’ll be thrown in the dungeon!」

「Nothing you say will change the truth . Foolish people like you who know not of G.o.d will not be enlightened――」

I found the girl in the investigation room like I was told .

One of them is a woman in her prime age dressed in strange clothes, but definitely pretty .

The other is a young girl…… I think, since she has a white cloth covering her head and I can’t really see clearly .

The woman is talking back to the interrogating officer .

「I’m asking you why you pointed a knife at the patrol officer! Are you trying to cause a disturbance in Rafen!?」

「G.o.d reigns over the entirety of this land so anything that happens is by G.o.d’s will . 」

They’re going off about two separate things .

Rather, what the woman is saying doesn’t make sense .

「Oh, poor non-believers . Pray for good fortune in the presence of the gracious G.o.d . 」

「Hey now……」

Even the interrogator is baffled .

He is used to people keeping silent or resisting, but probably not used to this kind of person .

「……this one’s a lost cause . There’s no point trying to question her anymore . Just throw her in the dungeon and be done with it . 」

When the interrogating officer gives up, the woman is picked up under the arms by security officers .

「Insolent! Touching me, the shrine maiden, so casually, do you not fear divine punishment!? Let go, lowly fools!」

The woman doesn’t seem to be particularly strong and gets dragged away despite her struggling .

「Ah……」

And then the girl covered with the cloth lets out a soft gasp and extends a hand outward .

That hand was terrifyingly white―― not to be confused with fair skin, but actually pure white .

「Let go! Her Grace is calling me!」

The woman’s struggling intensifies .

「Know your place . This girl will be in a separate cell . 」

After saying that, the interrogating officer grabs the little girl’s arm .

「Au…… au . 」

The moment some incoherent mumbles leak out from the girl’s mouth, the woman’s struggling goes out of control .

「Stooop! Don’t touch Her Grace! AAahhhh!!」

She flails like a madwoman, scratching, biting and headb.u.t.ting the security officers trying to hold her down .

She doesn’t care that her clothes are torn and runs toward the girl after squirming free .

Seeing such crazed behavior, the interrogating officer releases the girl’s arm and steps back .

「Huu, huu……」

The woman stands in front of the girl protectively…… her own clothes ripped so much her underwear can be seen, and blood dripping above her eye probably from getting cut during her wild thras.h.i.+ng .

Foam escapes from the corners of her mouth and still she doesn’t seem to mind one bit . Her imposing stance gives off an incredible force .

「……so talking won’t work . There’s no choice . 」

The security officers finally draw their swords .

Not good, any further and she’ll really be cut .

This is where I come in .

「Wait, I heard what was said . ……nu, it won’t open . 」

I was going to make a gallant entrance, but the door of the interrogation room is locked .

My voice doesn’t reach them because of the tense atmosphere .

Argh, it can’t be helped .

「Uoooh! I heard the conversation!」

I kick down the door and burst into the room .

「What the!? An intruder!?」

「How nefarious to attack the security unit!」

「It’s an enemy attack! Everyoneー!」

I was able to save the woman from being cut, however I was arrested instead .

「Gosh, I really don’t know what to say……」

I’m being reproached after Celia’s explanation and Myla’s appearance helped to clear the misunderstanding .

「What else could I do? That’s all I could think of at the time . 」

Celia, Myla, me and the two girls are the only ones left in the interrogation room .

The woman is glaring at me while s.h.i.+elding the young girl .

「Come now, you don’t have to look at me like that . I’m not going to do anything to you or that kid . 」

「Addressing Her Grace as ‘kid’ is rude when Her Grace is the head of all living things and all people, including you, are her children . 」

We’re not on the same page as expected, but things can’t move forward if I worry about that, so let’s ignore it .

「Sure, whatever . Anyways, who are you two? Where did you come from?」

「Her Grace is the reincarnation of G.o.d, who was thrown out of the land of fools possessed by evil . May that land be cursed forever . 」

My head hurts .

I stop Myla from yelling in anger, which would just result in a repeat of the earlier sequence of events .

I focus my attention on the underwear peeking out from the woman’s torn clothes to distract myself .

「So where is this cursed land you speak of?」

「That cursed land is in the south, without G.o.d and without a name, for they are one and the same . 」

South, huh…… I’ve been hearing lots of things going on down there lately .

「So what’s the name of your G.o.d?」

「Know that ignorance is also a sin . Our G.o.d is the one and only Altair . 」

Myla and Celia look at each other .

They have a general idea what is going on in Altair .

After all, they know about the political upheaval .

「Are you two running from Altair?」

「That name was given to a land of G.o.d . Now that the nation has fallen in darkness, it has no name . 」

Aargh, so annoying .

I glance at her underwear again . Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s look pretty big .

「So you two ran away from former Altair, what were you doing before that?」

This is the important part .

Were they chased out of the country due to the political change because they had a relatively high standing, or was it simply because they were insane?

「Her Grace has no need to do anything . Only to exist there . 」

So in other words, unemployed…… that means they were chased for being deranged?

However, the woman continues after a short moment .

「The G.o.d Altair has descended to the present world and reincarnated in Her Grace, and as G.o.d, Her Grace only needs to display authority and be wors.h.i.+pped . 」

Myla whispers to me .

「If I recall, ‘Grace’ is the t.i.tle of honor which only the Pope in Altair uses . 」

「What?」

I look at the girl who is simply sitting beside the woman .

Cloth is draped over her head so I can see nothing except her toes .

「So you’re the Pope of Altair?」

The girl tugs on the woman’s sleeve .

After bringing her ear close to the girl, the woman declares loudly .

「I am the Pope of Altair, the one and only reincarnation of G.o.d, now and forever!」

It all started from wanting to save a pretty lady, now things are complicated .

We move to the mansion .

I need to get Leopolt and the others to determine if she’s the real Pope or not .

「If you are truly the Pope like you say, present proof of it . 」

「To doubt G.o.d is a sin, however you will be forgiven by Her Grace’s infinite mercy――」

The annoying conversation goes on .

It’s rare for Leopolt to use keigo .

Although I’m sure he doesn’t actually respect them, and is doing so only to move things along .

Once he achieves his objective, I’m sure he’ll change his att.i.tude and talk more crudely . That’s the kind of guy he is .

After a range of questioning, Tristan and Leopolt gathers around me .

「I think there is a high possibility of her being the Pope of Altair . 」

Fumu, is that so?

「There are no inconsistencies between the information they have and the information we have . Aside from her clothing being torn, they are not made from your ordinary material or skill . It probably took multiple craftsmen a few months to sew and is not something you can procure on a whim . 」

「The political change toppled the religion of Altair . I heard the Pope was executed…… well, if the Pope ran away, they could just have a subst.i.tute stand in and declare that she was executed . 」

If that is what they’ve concluded though, let’s treat her as the former Pope .

「So why have you come to Rafen?」

「We were going to deliver the truth to the King of Goldonia . However Her Grace suffered an injury on the way, so we decided to stop and rest . 」

Oh, now that I look, her leg seems to be in pain .

So a reincarnation of G.o.d can get hurt too .

「As long as G.o.d resides in this world, he is also restricted by human rules . Be that as it may, G.o.d――」

Yeah yeah, I get it . Just show me the injury .

The woman slowly takes off the girl’s shoe, which causes her to wince in pain .

「Ah, a blister . 」

I was worried when I heard it was a leg injury, but it’s just a blister .

Nevertheless, it is quite apparent her pure white legs are not used to walking so much and the blood oozing from the many blisters look painful .

I can understand why they stopped travelling .

「You could have ridden on a carriage . 」

「The non-believing people will want compensation . 」

Aah, they don’t have money .

I’m impressed they made it this far from Altair without a single coin .

I would have thought a beauty like her sleeping outside would quickly lead to being kidnapped by bandits and turned into a plaything .

Perhaps their G.o.d had something to do with their good luck?

「Take it easy until it heals then . 」

I don’t care about her being the Pope of Altair or whatever, however I’m not heartless enough to chase away an injured girl .

Besides, the woman―― the shrine maiden is definitely beautiful . It’s true I can’t keep up with her in certain areas, but her ample bosom and a.s.s can do no wrong .

「It is a natural occurrence as a child of G.o.d, but your devotion to Her Grace will eventually be for your benefit too . 」

The shrine maiden pats her chest to comfort herself .

The small Pope whose face is hidden also lets out an audible sigh . I’m sure she was hurting a lot .

「Then can I get your names? You should be fine with giving us that, right?」

The two of them look at each other .

「My name is Remia Doistaton Nuphyris, the shrine maiden who serves the G.o.d of Altair . 」

「So long, which is the family name and which is the first――」

「There is no family or first name . All of it was given to me by G.o.d . 」

I can’t remember it all . Let’s go with Remia .

「And you?」

Remia answers the question I direct at the little girl .

「Her Grace is the reincarnation of G.o.d Altair . Thus she needs no human name . 」

Then let’s call her Altair .

「I hope we can get along . 」

I extend my hand towards them and neither respond . It’s a little depressing .

「I guess I’ll prepare a place for you to stay . 」

Fumu, let’s get them a room in an inn or something .

Maybe Andrei’s place is good enough .

And then Altair whispers something to Remia .

「Her Grace requests this mansion to be her temporary residence . Also, she demands a temple be built immediately . 」

「What does this person think she’s saying?」

Celia expresses her astonishment .

I feel the same way . It’s presumptuous to ask for an entire mansion to be vacated .

But before I could reject, Remia goes on .

「Also, she requires 50 young girls to attend to her and 50 young boys to do physical labor . 」

「……」

Is she telling me to give her slaves?

Now that makes me angry . No matter how pretty Remia is, I’m not going to hand over slave girls .

「I can’t do that . I can let you live in a proper inn, but I can’t give you this mansion, let alone slaves . 」

My tone was harsher than normal .

When Altair’s shoulders tremble, Remia’s face becomes dyed in anger .

「So they’re the top of the infamous fanatics of Altair…… I’m sure they were acting outrageously until now . 」

Tristan sighs .