ch45

Frigos, reading the contents written on the parchment, let out a hollow laugh.

“Wow, the priest is quite popular, isn’t he? There are even copycats.”

Ignoring Duber, who already knew from looking at the parchment but pretended not to know and teased him, Frigos pondered for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Surprisingly, it’s not bad. If this Muktuk guy has unified the entire south, it means we only need to break him.”

The territory of the giant race, Titan, stretched from the north to the northwest, centered around Pohelnia.

The west was the Elven Road, the forest of the Elf.

The east was the vast sea between the East Continent.

In the south, beyond the Takla Desert, were groups of humans not belonging to Pohelnia.

There might be human territories in small village units throughout the unconfirmed West Continent, but if they subjugated the humans beyond the Takla Desert, virtually all the large human clusters in the West Continent would fall under Pohelnia.

“There are rumors of witches with strange talents under Muktuk.”

At this part, both I and Frigos looked at Aliya.

Without saying anything, Aliya shook her head in denial.

“We are the only succubi who came from the East Continent. I think there are hardly any succubi left in the East Continent.”

In a world where land gods and Loa actually exist for humans, rather ambiguous superstitions are rampant.

In fact, the existence of an evil witch who uses magic, eats children, and maintains youth, as told by the merchant Kyle, was only rumored and did not actually exist in Pohelnia.

‘…Actually, after seeing me fly on a broom, all sorts of rumors spread.’

As the story of a witch riding a broom in Poheln spread among the people, there was an outpouring of victims of all kinds of witches.

Meanwhile, I, the person at the center of the rumors, was being treated as a VIP in the royal palace.

Whenever a problem arose, it was blamed on witches for a while, and even adulterous women or thieves who stole things would excuse themselves by saying they were under the witch’s magic.

Thanks to that, I became the cause of all sorts of sins I didn’t even commit.

It was truly absurd, but rumors in this era were often like that.

However, this only applied to the common people.

The witches under Muktuk seemed to be quite famous enough for rumors to spread, so they likely showed something in front of people that would allow such rumors to spread.

“Either they’re scammers, or they’re not human at all.”

Because I thought it was the latter, I and Frigos looked at Aliya.

If you were to name the existence that best fits the conditions of a witch in the eyes of humans, it would be a succubus.

Beautiful, lewd, with an aura that feels evil, and using shadow and illusion magic.

In Lamia’s case, she even contracted with an ominous dark spirit.

She could be seen as a sufficiently evil being, and she had the power to easily defeat humans without much training.

“It’s unlikely, but they might be self-awakened.”

But this possibility was really low.

In this world, men were basically physically stronger than women, and it wasn’t easy to become stronger than men with just the accumulated amount of Qi without realizing it, like some humans like Duber who had talent.

Only by accumulating Qi in the body, refining it, and knowing how to use it could one become a Martial artist or something similar.

If there were humans capable of that without my help at this point, they would have clearly stood out among humans before Frigos.

“This is not really my story. You guys take care of the humans’ affairs.”

The Titan giant itself was a species belonging to the Elder Loa and did not exist in nature, and it was a dangerous race that could have a very destructive impact on the balance of nature.

About 20 individuals wouldn’t be a big problem right away, but if they continued to increase, I would have to find out the cause and solve it.

This was a job as a Regulator.

Destroyed nature does not recover easily, so we couldn’t follow the same path as the East Continent.

But the story of the southern humans was separate.

It was ultimately a struggle for territory among humans.

For 7 years, Frigos and some humans were taught Qi (氣), which is conceptually called Mana here, Internal energyMental cultivation method, and martial arts.

But that was the end.

The establishment of the Iju Shin-gyo religion was a political reason that could benefit both the Elf and humans in the future, but beyond that, I did not interfere with humans.

All seven expeditions that Frigos undertook were carried out by him, his soldiers, and the succubi.

“I’m not that shameless.”

“Six Harmony Swordsmen, an army trained in martial arts, and you, my direct disciple. You know that you already have more power than humans in this era should have, right?”

I turned and walked away, saying.

“I don’t know what the identity of the witch is, but if you can’t achieve it even with that much power, it means you don’t deserve to be king and unite the humans.”

I returned to the throne, sat down, and fiddled with the lump of tin, ordering everyone to leave.

“I think the story is mostly over. I’m tired, everyone get out.”

◈ ◈ ◈

Frigos, Aliya, Duber, and the six Harmony Swordsmen left Araya’s World Room at her dismissal.

As soon as Frigos and Duber left the World Room, they were freed from the immense pressure that weighed down on their bodies and minds.

“…It’s really a ridiculous place.”

Frigos agreed with Duber’s mutter in silence.

7 years of learning under Araya.

The two had entered the realm that Araya called second-rate.

They thought they had entered the realm of superhumans who transcended humans, but in that room, the immense presences felt from all directions made them feel like small beings.

If they were like this, what would happen if other humans entered that place?

They knew the truth about the creation of Iju Shin-gyo, but if humans who had faith instilled through religious propaganda were exposed to the immense presence inside.

If they believed in the existence of God.

“It would be easy to create a fanatic.”

“Watch your words, Duber.”

“Isn’t it true? Actually, this scam-“

“This is not my personal feeling, but a story told considering the safety of you, the chief disciple of Araya.”

Unlike when they were arguing a moment ago, her tone was calm.

Because of Aliya’s attitude, Duber didn’t bring up words that would normally irritate her and closed his mouth.

“Among the relationships between master and disciple in martial arts that Araya mentioned, there is a great sin called ‘deceiving the master and destroying the ancestor.’ It means deceiving and despising the master and ancestors.”

“What did I…”

“One of the main gods of Iju Shin-gyo. El-Prigion, who created Araya, actually exists. He resides in Elven Road.”

“…Wasn’t it a made-up story? That ridiculous story about being born from a tree.”

“El-Prigion is an Elder Loa. He is an existence that cannot be judged by the shallow common sense of a frivolous human like you.”

“I actually saw it myself. On the seventh expedition to the west this time.”

Frigos, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, opened his mouth.

“You saw it yourself? The World Tree.”

“I met him alone outside the forest, guided by Pallas, my master’s brother.”

“…What was he like?”

“He was big, warm, and a good person.”

“…That sounds really weird.”

Aliya, who was listening to their conversation, looked at Duber and continued to explain.

“Duber. Your denial of Iju Shin-gyo means you are denying Araya’s mother, the World Tree El-Prigion, who sits on the seat of the Earth Mother in Iju Shin-gyo, which means you are despising the ancestor, which means you are questioning the legitimacy of the messenger of God, and it is also a disrespectful remark towards Araya.”

“…Does it become like that?”

At that moment, Aliya said with a triumphant expression.

“Just so you know, my father, the Sky God Ul-Kanadiel, is the husband of the Earth Mother, El-Prigion.”

“…Huh?”

“I am Araya’s stepsister and have the same rank. Duber.”

“…Huh?”

“I was flustered by your rude attitude earlier and couldn’t say anything, but I need to teach you some manners towards your elders, you who act like a rootless, reckless person.”

“…Hahaha.”

Duber, sweating coldly at Aliya’s rising aura, rolled his eyes and immediately used his light footwork to escape.

“I’m busy with work at the Thieves’ Guild, so I’ll be going!”

“Get him!”

Aliya and the Harmony Swordsmen were about to run out of the Great Temple to chase Duber when they were stopped by Frigos.

“Let him go.”

“…Your Majesty.”

“What Duber said a little while ago wasn’t wrong either. If he gets hurt for no reason and the Thieves’ Guild’s control becomes a problem, the damage will be borne entirely by those below. Even though his methods are different from ours, he is helping people in his own way.”

“…But”

Aliya made a dissatisfied expression as she looked at Frigos.

Frigos put his hand on Aliya’s head and gently stroked it, smiling.

“Aliya loses her composure unlike usual when she gets involved with Duber.”

“…Do you dislike it?”

“Hmm…I might dislike it.”

Frigos stroked his chin and continued.

“I don’t feel good about you showing your emotions to another man other than me like that.”

At the same time as Aliya’s face turned red, Lamia and the Harmony Swordsmen began to whisper quietly among themselves.

Frigos couldn’t hear them, but Aliya glared at the Harmony Swordsmen as if she could hear their words, but the Harmony Swordsmen only smiled like foxes with their eyes curved.

Frigos looked at the clothes he had brought to give to Araya in Aliya’s hand.

“I went to the trouble of preparing it, but it’s become useless. Are you more comfortable with the clothes you have now? They seemed too big and uncomfortable.”

“Ah… that’s”

“Do you have any idea?”

Aliya said with a slightly troubled expression.

“…5 years ago, after completing the coming-of-age ceremony for the first time, Araya had a growth spurt for a while.”

“…A growth spurt?”

“Yes, she was very happy, saying it was the first growth spurt she had ever had.”

Come to think of it, Araya was said to be 10 years old when I first met her?

Because of her old-mannish words and her presence and power, it didn’t feel like that at all.

“Indeed, but what does that have to do with it?”

“Araya was happy and sent someone to Elven Road to get new clothes. She said she would continue to grow and got clothes that were a generous size.”

“Is that a problem?”

“It’s not uncommon to make clothes for a growing child bigger. The problem is that the growth spurt that came for a while stopped soon after, and the material of Araya’s clothes was so precious even to the Elf that they unraveled the threads of the clothes she used to wear and made them again.”

“……”

“It’s a bit difficult to say… but it seems like she’s still wearing the clothes she’s wearing now because she was embarrassed to ask her siblings on the Elven Road side again.”

“…I’ll send someone to the Elven Road side separately later.”

“…Yes.”