32 Chapter 6 11 : Audience, part 2 (1/2)
Chapter 6 (11): Audience, part 2
”The lies of a demon, even - no, especially - one such as the Demon Lord, shouldn't be trusted. The God of Light Lars has decreed that the demons are a blight upon the land and must be exterminated, and thus cannot be trusted to speak the truth. Do not listen to this foul being one moment lon-” (Priest)
”Lars, you say? That's what I was going to talk about next. This church that follows the teachings of the God of Light called Lars has been around for, what, six hundred years? The demon general called Lars has been around for fifteen times as long, and that's only the most recent one. The house of Lars has been a prominent family of demons for several hundred thousand years, and they haven't had any divine punishment from the God who supposedly hates demons, and who shares his name. Furthermore, among the ten original Gods, none rule over any element, nor are any of them named Lars. In fact, none have formal names” (Ryuu)
”The ten original Gods, you say? How would an unholy being such as a demon know anything of the holiest of beings, the Gods, or their realm? And what do you mean by 'ten original' Gods? There are only seven Gods, ruling over the seven main elements, and they have existed since the beginning of ti-” (Priest)
”Because demons aren't unholy beings, they too receive the love of the Gods. Think about it. If the Gods control all of the elements, and Lars, who is in control of light, hates demons and the Demon Lord, why would there be demons that can use light magic? Why can I use it, and every other element?” (Ryuu)
As I spoke, I created a small ball of light above the palm of my outstretched hand.
”It's because one or more of those assumptions is wrong. Either none of the Gods hate demons and the Demon Lords, or those that do don't have enough power over any given element to make demons unable to use that element” (Ryuu)
”But most demons don't have the ability to use light magic. Lars has forsaken them, though some, like yourself may use it through some unholy means” (Priest)
”In that case, elves are forsaken by the Gods of fire and dark, and dwarves have been forsaken by the Gods of light, water, and wind, no? In fact, one could say that, if there were a God controlling the number of elements a person has, humans would have been forsaken by that God, as they tend to have fewer elements than other races. Explaining that kind of thing with the phrase 'forsaken by a God' is a double-edged sword” (Ryuu)
”Enough! This is not the time or place to be debating theology. Considering that Ryuu has been in these lands for more than two months, and she hasn't caused any problems for us, I see no reason to think that she is evil. Furthermore, in that time, no, since the previous Demon Lord died, the church has not said anything about there being another Demon Lord or any demon in these lands. I think that serves to show that there isn't a God named Lars who sees Ryuu as a threat. As such, I wish for the church to not interfere with the state in regards to this matter. Besides, I myself feel that the invasion was a mistake. The demon lands hadn't done anything to us that we had proof of, and they didn't invade us in return even until the end. The only deaths on our side were soldiers, but more than half of theirs were ordinary noncombatant citizens. They poisoned our water and food, yes, but that was after we assassinated their leaders. If they had wanted to, they could have taken my head, I'm sure of it, based on what I can see of Ryuu. In fact, Ryuu on her own could probably fight anyone and everyone here and come out unscathed. Am I wrong?” (King)
”Of course that can't be true! We have-” (Priest)