Truth - New Power?

"So this is the renowned headquarters of Beddhism?"

Aidi, who hadn't even known of the "Bed" in Beddhism prior to coming here, was looking around with a proud look on her face.

Which is why Aidi came to the Beddhist Church under the guise of her studying abroad in Golen.

After spending her days doing this and that with Rokuko and sparring with Niku, Aidi had suddenly remembered her reason for coming to Golen.

"Isn't this a comfortable place to take a nap?"

"So where's the church arena at?"

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

Aidi tilted her head in confusion and I couldn't help but wonder what she was going on about.

"Churches aren't places to nap though?"

"Why would a church have an arena?"

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Aidi tilted her head to the other side, but I think I understood what she was getting at.

"Ah, so it's a difference in culture."

"… Are you trying to tell me that, in the Empire, churches are places to sleep?"

"Yep. Least they are in Beddhism."

I mean what was Aidi hearing about our church? Probably just various tidbits from Rokuko or something.

"Do churches in the Demonlands have arenas?"

"Of course they do. Getting healed right away if you get hurt is a big advantage to it."

"I get that's a good point?"

Just what you'd expect from a country of battle junkies like the Demonlands. If I went there, I'd probably be asked to fight every time I took a step… Right. Let's hope that going as an ambassador will help to mitigate that.

"… Wait, are you saying that the place where we've been doing mock battles is the arena?"

"Never thought about that really."

Moreover, we have myself, Rokuko, Niku, Ichika, and the three Monster Girls capable of using healing magic for a total of seven people. There were a few [Healing] skill scrolls that Rokuko got from gacha, so that's how we have it.

In addition to that, the Sister-in-Charge of the Church, Suira, was also able to use recovery magic. There were also, apparently, some other succubi that could use healing magic well enough to deal with small bruises and cuts.

"Looking at it like that, our Beddhist church is pretty church-y even for you, huh?"

"Churches without arenas in the Demonlands just don't happen."

"We're in the Empire though. That said… I suppose we have a game room in the inn instead of an arena."

Does Aidi even hear a difference between words like games and competitions?… probably not. I haven't told her about the arena in the dungeon either, so I'll keep that a secret.

She'd stay there all the time if she ever found out about it.

"Game room?"

"Yeah. There's rat racing… something you can bet on. There's also tables for dice and card games. Have you not gone there with Rokuko yet?"

"Not yet no. I can just go to Rokuko's room if I want to play dice or card games… What's rat racing?"

"It's a game where you line up a few rats… well, grey rats, and bet on which one will reach the goal first."

"I see, so it's the rat version of slave racinghuman racing."

I guess the Demonlands have similar gambling games too. From the wording, it seemed they raced slaves.

"Anyway, those things piling all over the shelves back there… are they books?"

"Yeah, they're books."

"Rokuko's room was also full of books, but books really are cheap here, aren't they?"

Aidi took a book from the shelf and flipped through it while saying that.

"Mmm. I don't really understand it, but is this the holy book?"

"Nah. Our scriptures aren't allowed out of the church, they're only read during mass."

"… Right, so this book, why does it just have farming stuff written in it?"

While saying that, Aidi took another book and flipped through it.

"Are you using a speed reading skill?"

"Sorry, just skimming through them for now. I'll read them later."

Ah, right. Aidi was a Dungeon Core, too, so she had the ability to record what she saw in her mind as a video… Which means she was taking pictures of the books with her speed reading skill. Come on.

"If you're going to read all our books you could at least join Beddhism."

"Sorry, but I'm a Demologist."

"Demologist? First time I've heard the term."

"You'd probably get it best by me calling Demology the Demonlands' version of the White Goddess Faith. It's basically the same thing with a few differences."

… I see, so it's a religion that has the Demon King as its apex. Yeah, yeah, I understand.

"But our Beddhism is a religion that you can worship as a sub-religion even if you're a member of the White Goddess Faith. In fact, there are people who worship the Food God, the White Goddess, the Blacksmith God, and the Dice God while also being Beddhists."

"… Sub-religion? First time I've heard of that concept. Wouldn't the gods get mad if you did that?"

"Ah, no need to worry about that. There are no gods in Beddhism."

"Come to think of it, I think Rokuko said something like that. I didn't understand what she was saying, so I just let it go… So Rokuko isn't the god of Beddhism?"

What a novel interpretation. Why would Rokuko be the god of Beddhism?

"… I thought you were collecting GP with Beddhism though?"

"… GP?"

"Wait, you started Beddhism without knowing about GP?"

Aidi's eyes widened in surprise.

Wait, what? GP? Is that a thing?

"GP are points that you offer up to the gods—to Father. According to Jiji-sama, in return for that, he'll give you DP."

"Hoooh?"

"It's not in the DP catalog, but it can also be used to ask for favors. From what I've heard, Haku-sama used them to get permission to hunt other Dungeon Cores."

So that happened? Father Points are amazing… I suppose the G in GP stands for God, then.

… Man, I'd definitely like to get some of those. I might need them if something happens. Maybe I can get some by collecting faith? I wonder if that's how you get GP.

At that thought, a sudden "Pirorin~♪" sound came from the menu, and it opened on its own.

"…"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, just a message… one sec."

It was a message from [Father].

… It said [I'll get Haku to officially recognize the relationship between Kehma and Rokuko for 100 GP.] What, did you hear our conversation? Are you eavesdropping?

Immediately, I replied [I think eavesdropping is bad. How about you pay me 100 GP as recompense.] — The reply came back one second later.

[Ahahaha, it was just a coincidence that I was listening in. I'll make it so you can check your GP in the menu as recompense. Also, you have to earn GP yourself, otherwise it won't mean anything.]

Yep. When I looked at the menu again, a new display saying [GP: 25] had been added below the DP display.

"Ah, right. GP just appeared."

"Oh, that's wonderful. Not even I have been able to see it yet… I'm trying hard to earn it as an apostle of Demology, but I can't see it until I've accumulated a certain amount."

So apostles are a thing that exist too?

In that case, I must be earning GP as Beddhist's founder, resulting in this 25 GP.

"Well, as an apostle of Demology, I can't believe in other religions, even if Beddhism doesn't have a god. I'll stop reading."

"That so… Anyways, I want to check out the things I just unlocked, so how about we stop here for the day?"

"That's fine with me. If you find out anything, please let me know about it."

"… I can't promise that, but if you want to learn about Beddhism, ask a sister."

"Alright. I'll look around on my own for a little before heading back."

Like that, I left Aidi and headed back to the village chief's manor.

I immediately checked out more about GP.

—Is what I wanted to do, but when I actually looked it up, there were only two free input fields other than an item saying [Exchange 1 GP for 100,000 DP].

[Dedicate GP: (Free Point Input)]

And—

[Request: (Free Input)]

—That's all.

Moreover, they were distinctly separate. After dedicating GP, it would depend on [Father]'s mood on whether or not the request would go through. So I guess the name of the game is to get him into a good mood before asking your request?

… Seeing that it was much too open-ended, I just closed the menu in resignation.