A Man Called Iefuda

With my companions, our group was three, and that made things surprisingly easier mentally.

After all, when I was alone, I'd been walking through this castle while cowering from monsters and darkness.

I was astonished at how much having someone beside me provided comfort.

Unlike Azu and the others, these weren't people I could trust from the bottom of my heart, but they probably wouldn't use me as a decoy. Right?

"Still, it's impressive you survived alone. That torch is pretty well made for something improvised."

"I didn't come here alone by choice. I've sold plenty of torches through work."

"That's right, you were a tool shop owner."

"Yeah. The one whose hired kid you nearly had stealing for you."

Iefuda stared at me with a straight face, then burst out laughing.

He seemed to find it hilarious, slapping his knee.

"Hey, hey. I didn't order that. I just taught them a way to make some money and took a cut."

"Teaching kids who don't know right from wrong to do that makes you the bad guy."

"Don't know right from wrong? Do you really think that? That Azu girl you took in isn't much different in age, but do you think she doesn't know right from wrong?"

"That's…"

Azu was a bright child.

When I bought her as a slave and first met her, she was well-behaved and followed instructions properly.

I shouldn't underestimate children just because they're young.

"Humans are selfish and cunning creatures. So just a little push from the side is all it takes for them to stray from the path."

This guy… That's the logic that says the deceived are at fault.

Sure, those who were tricked might have weak hearts that listened to his words, but the deceiver is definitely the one who's wrong.

I thought again that he was someone I couldn't get along with.

As for Jill, she was in good spirits, humming while dragging her greatsword with one hand at the front.

Between her humming and Iefuda's earlier loud laugh, they clearly had no intention of staying quiet to avoid attention.

They must be that confident in themselves.

Soon I heard footsteps.

What appeared was a terrifying creature like the one from the kitchen.

I couldn't tell if it was the same one, but it seemed equally hostile.

The moment it saw us, it attacked.

Jill showed no agitation whatsoever. She gripped her greatsword with both hands and swung it in a single arc.

Perhaps the greatsword wasn't very sharp, as it dug into the creature's body only slightly before slamming it to the ground.

… It looked like a squashed frog.

Having killed it in one blow, Jill started walking again as if nothing had happened.

With this strength, the monster that had seemed like the end of the world to me was nothing to fear.

It was believable that she'd gotten stronger.

According to them, this dead creature was once human.

I prayed that its soul might find peace in death.

"Here's our destination."

When we reached a hall with a map of the castle, Iefuda pointed at the throne.

The most important place in a castle would be there, after all.

"Be grateful. We cleared the way by walking all over the place."

"Yeah, be grateful."

"So you were here before me. But I can't imagine you helping people, even for work."

"That's harsh, but not wrong. There are plenty of easier ways to make money than this. But even I have a mission, you know?"

"What's that?"

"I can't stand gods. The Creator King lost to the foreign Sun God because of its weakness and let order fall apart. So I thought I'd put my faith in the Sun God instead, but it turned out to be nothing but an invader. You know what they say our 'eternal salvation' really means?"

"No, not in detail… but I can imagine it's not literal."

I'd seen the Church of the Sun God's schemes with my own eyes, and most who got involved didn't end well.

The bronze statue modeled after the Sun God, the giants of the Church of the Sun God, and so on.

There were also signs they were running child trafficking through orphanages.

"We're kindling, apparently."

"Kindling? Like what I was burning earlier?"

"Exactly. We're fuel to light the Sun God's fire. They call becoming part of the Sun God 'eternity.' If I'm a fraud, then the Sun God is a swindler."

"… And this doctrine has covered the entire continent?"

The Church of the Sun God had been the most flourishing religion on this continent for ages.

It had been banned in the Kingdom after incidents occurred, but it still thrived in the Empire and other nations.

If the contents of that religion were corrupt, how much damage had been caused?

Or perhaps damage was occurring at this very moment.

"I've been thinking of ways to kill a god. Got found out by the Church of the Sun God and expelled, so I've been making money on the side. Then I met Jill. She has the same quality as your Azu."

"The same quality?"

"The Apostle's Vessel. The potential for a human body to transcend humanity. Though Jill doesn't work well with elementals. So instead, she converts other things into power."

… That was quite the grandiose story.

But with Iefuda, I wondered how much of it was genuine.

He might be feeding me a plausible tale just to confuse me.

"You look like this doesn't concern you, but you're not uninvolved. As long as that priestess, Elza, is in your hands, a clash with the Church of the Sun God is inevitable. It's fate."

"Sure, Elza has her issues with the Church of the Sun God, but we're just a group of merchants and adventurers. We've got nothing to do with such grand matters."

"If you think so, then I guess so. But fate has a way of not going as planned. Right?"

After that, we proceeded without talking.

There were signs of destruction throughout the castle.

Apparently the result of Jill smashing through blocked paths or fighting battles.

The Bat Men were no match for Jill either.

Then we arrived at the great hall leading to the throne room.