Volume 14 Side Story 4, The Temple of Mixen

Laurelle, the Temple Head of the Elisa Meir Temple in Mixen, was currently being visited by the Temple Heads of the other two Temples.

By inception, there was no hierarchical relationship between the Elisa Meir Temple and the other Temples.

But no matter how big the three Goddesses were, there was a clear difference in the number of their followers.

Of course, compared to the other Gods, the Three Great Goddesses had a larger number of followers than most.

However, among them, Elisa Meir, the Sun Goddess, had more followers than any other.

For a Temple, the number of followers signified their difference in power.

Even though there was no difference between the top and bottom, it all goes down to the number of believers that would determine the power relationship of the Temples.

For serious matters, the Temple of Elisa Meir was the place to go.

But this time, the visit of the Temple Heads of the two Temples was different from the usual.

“…What do you mean?”

Laurelle tilted her head at the offer of the two Temple Heads.

“It is, as I said earlier. We, the two Temples, have decided to officially recognize Lord Kosuke, the ruler of Amamiya Tower, as a living god.”

“Well, it makes little sense since the oracle is already known to the public and the Temple that worships him as a God is located in the Tower.”

Hill, Temple Head of the Spica Temple, and Guile, Temple Head of the Jamil Temple, spoke up in turn.

“…You know what you two are saying, don’t you?”

“”Of course we do.””

They nodded at Laurelle, who pointed it out to them.

“We are a Temple below the throne of a Tower ruled by God. There’s nothing strange about worshiping that same God, is there?”

“Even within the rules of the Temple inside the Tower, which is considered as their main shrine, there’s no rule that states worshiping him in other Temples is forbidden.”

Actually, there was already a movement among some adventurers to honor Kosuke as the God of Adventurers.

However, even if they tried to pray to that God, the only place where he was worshiped at the moment was in the Temple inside the Tower.

Not many adventurers, no matter how adventurous they may be, would go there every time they wanted to pray using the transfer gate, which costs a certain amount.

Well, as adventurers, they don’t pray that earnestly, so they don’t have any complaints until now.

Therefore, Laurelle felt a bit uncomfortable that the two of them were making this offer now.

“…What do you have in mind?”

“Oh…. Don’t you understand, Laurelle?”

Laurelle stared at Guile, but could not tell if it was a provocation or not.

She let out a single sigh and honestly raised the white flag.

“…I don’t understand. Why now, at this point in time?”

“Because of this timing, I guess.”

When Laurelle was told that the timing was right now, what came to mind was the official announcement yesterday that the Six Marquises of Kennelsen would be joining Crown.

She was unable to grasp any of the movements on the surface as well as those under the surface.

That’s how quickly and secretly it was carried out.

And that’s why the impact on the Central Continent was so great.

The Six Marquises joined Amamiya Tower.

The meaning of this was too easy to understand.

“…Are you guys… No, are you serious?”

Laurelle couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

“Oh, what are you talking about? As I said before, isn’t it natural to worship a God in a Temple? And this time, we have an oracle. I have no reason to complain.”

Hill’s reply was an indirect answer to Laurelle’s question.

Guile, listening next to her, also laughed.

Laurelle let out a sigh.

“Are you ready to make the internal adjustments?”

“”Of course.””

Laurelle was surprised by their answer.

[Honestly, when did this happen?]

She had never seen any sign of it.

This thought was directly expressed on her face, and Guile, seeing this, laughed and told her.

“In the first place, even though we are ones who are worshiping the Three Great Goddesses, we have an underlying structure that makes it easy for us to accept other Gods. There will be no resistance if we carry things out this way, right?”

“…Did you also properly inform the people involved of the significance of announcing it now, at this time?”

“Of course. And that is the conclusion we reached.”

“Mister Laurelle… To put it bluntly, for us, the summoning of the Three Great Goddesses was a big deal.”

At Hill’s words, Laurelle gently closed both of her eyes.

Even now, she could easily recall that moment.

It could even be said that the dreams of all clergy had come true at that very moment.

The Three Great Goddesses had manifested together right in front of them.

“Yes, well…”

“I’ll leave it to you to decide what you want to do.”

“Whatever the Temple of Elisa Meir does, we will make it known.”

No matter what Laurelle had to say to them, it would be useless.

Rather, she knew that exercising her power would only lead to a backlash.

“…How long do I have to wait for the time limit?”

At Laurelle’s reply, they looked at each other and laughed.

“Until whenever you want… is what I’d like to say, but unfortunately, if it’s too late, there’s no point. As soon as you can, please.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Satisfied with Laurelle’s answer, they both stood up at the same time.

[I guess they are done with their business.]

After all, they were both the heads of their respective Temples.

Unless there was something special going on, they would not be able to leave their Temple for very long.

After the two Temple Heads left, Laurelle remained there alone, and for a while she was lost in thought.

♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

Sylvia was making a rare visit to the 5th floor of the administrative office.

It was not often, but when Crown or the executive branch has business with members of the Administration Floor, it was handled by the Defrayer clan, who have been granted a blood contract.

This was because only trustworthy people were allowed in the Administration Floor.

“…How can I help you?”

“I’ve come across something I can’t handle, so I thought I’d ask you for advice.”

Sylvia asked Alec as soon as she arrived, and he quickly presented her with a piece of paper.

With a questioning expression on her face, Sylvia took the document and looked it over.

“This is…”

“To put it bluntly, I thought it would be better to talk to you, a [Shrine Maiden] first, than to make the decision.”

Thinking for a moment, Sylvia let out a sigh and replied.

“…I think they should be allowed to do as they please.”

“You don’t mind?”

“I don’t have the authority to stop them in the first place. If it’s something that directly inconveniences us, though. That’s another matter.”

“…Hmm. What about the churches on the other continents?”

“There’s nothing we can do about them. We have no direct authority to stop the three Temples in Mixen than what we do here.”

In the first place, it was up to each Temple to decide which God to worship.

It was not that uncommon for the Gods worshiped to change depending on the beliefs of the local community.

“Well, I understand your concern, Alec-san, but I don’t think it will be too serious, do you?”

“Why not?”

“Because if they were to make a bad move, they would incur the wrath of the Gods.”

Sylvia was not referring to Kosuke here.

She was talking about the Three Great Goddesses and the other Gods.

In the previous discussion Sylvia had held, they have been threatened a lot in that regard.

She could only hope that they would not act foolishly.

Alec could only chuckle at Sylvia’s words.

“If that’s the case, then I’ll officially accept. it.”

“Yeah. Or rather, I’ll take care of the processing. It’ll be more effective that way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

Alec didn’t want to go to the Administration Floor.

Sylvia was sent here because the Main Office was not the one in charge of this, and it was the wrong department to approach.

When Sylvia said that she would take care of it, he gladly presented the document to her.

With a quick glance at the documents, Sylvia signed it smoothly and then handed it back to Alec.

“Thanks for the help.”

“No, not at all. If there’s any more church related information, please bring it to my attention if you can.”

“Oh. I will.”

Alec was inwardly relieved by Sylvia’s offer, as the current God related matters would be too much for him to handle.

In the end, as a result of this day’s exchange, the three Temples of Mixen would be worshiping the living god Kousuke.