Chapter 13. Discomfort (2)
Ludwig intuitively sensed something.
‘The air has changed.’
It is not a feeling of being cold or heavy.
It was different from any sense of alienation Ludwig had ever experienced.
Even when he witnessed the fighting spirit of the Sword Master directly in front of his eyes, or when he faced a monster that seemed impossible to defeat, he had never felt this kind of feeling.
Turbuck. Turbuck.
Approaching the altar, Emilia bowed respectfully, took something out of the small pouch she had been carrying around her waist, and placed it on a silver platter on top of the altar.
Is it some kind of sacrifice? Ludwig tried to deduce its identity.
“The descendants of the Bayemurn family meet the goddess Hypresia.”
Emilia respectfully put her hands together and bowed to the invisible god.
As if in response, the light of the lamps that lit up both sides of the statue brightened and quickly returned to its original state.
‘Looking at a scene like this, it must be hard not to believe in the existence of God.’
Since it was said that only those who encountered God’s message could hear it, he had no way of knowing whether Emilia was really talking to Goddess Hypresia.
However, it seemed that it would not be easy to deny the existence of God just by looking at the mysterious air that filled this space and the strange phenomena that had just occurred.
No, in a world like this, it might be more appropriate to exist.
‘yes?’
Ludwig, who watched the series of processes from a distance, passed something whitish in his field of vision.
‘What was it?’
I couldn’t see it exactly.
However, from what I saw at first glance, it seemed that something like a faint sphere was entering Emilia’s body.
The heavy silence continued for a long time before Emilia opened her eyes.
Ludwig wondered if the scene he had just witnessed had caused her a separation, but fortunately she was as usual.
“It’s over, Ludwig. Did you wait long?”
“Fine. What did Goddess Hypresia say?”
“You didn’t say anything. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to hear the message every time you come.”
“ah… … .”
I thought I was hearing an oracle because I stayed with my eyes closed for a long time, but it seems that it is not the case.
If business is over, there is no reason to stay longer, so all you have to do is return to Lutentia.
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Just like that, Ludwig was about to take her step with a smile of relief and lead her by the hand.
“Emilia?”
Emilia’s thin hand suddenly slipped through his hand.
Ludwig widened his eyes, stopped, stopped, and turned his head.
“… … .”
Without even replying, Emilia stared blankly at him with her pupils dilated.
Then, like a puppet being manipulated by a thread, she turned around weakly, trudged over to the altar, and stretched out her hand.
At the end of it was the mysterious object that Emilia had just offered as a sacrifice.
Looking closely, it looked like beef jerky, but it seemed like some kind of food, at least it was a sacrifice that seemed quite insufficient to be placed on the altar of Goddess Hypresia.
‘Why is that?’
Is it okay for believers to take away the offerings made at the altar?
I wondered if it was different depending on the rules, but it was an act that made Ludwig, at least an outsider in doctrine, dumbfounded.
As if aware of Ludwig’s worries, Emilia carefully brought the jerky to her chest and eventually… … .
Well well.
“uh?”
Began to eat.
‘What did I just see?’
Ludwig couldn’t keep up with the current situation, so he just watched it blankly with both eyes open.
As the unknown food gradually disappeared, life returned to Emilia’s eyes before she knew it.
And soon,
“Delicious. It’s a good tribute.”
“Emile… Leah?”
He talked to himself and praised the food he had cleaned up, then nodded his head in satisfaction.
Inadvertently, Ludwig called her name, but even he could tell that the presence in front of him was no longer Emilia, unless the eyes were decorations.
“What are you looking at so intently? Did you know that gods don’t eat food?”
A frivolous figure munching on food and scratching my head.
Not a single image of Emilia could be seen there.
Something in the form of Emilia, who called herself a god. Ludwig deduced its true identity and cautiously opened his mouth.
“… Are you the goddess Hypresia by any chance?”
“yes. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”
It was after the unknown energy that had been pressuring his body disappeared before he knew it.
Maybe this goddess intentionally shed energy to show off her existence.
You won’t know unless you ask them directly.
“These days, they bring things that don’t fill their stomachs as offerings. Others say they are precious things and bring them, but… Tztz. It’s been a while since I pulled the meat, but it turned out well.”
“… … .”
It is the first face-to-face with the God who is really light.
Emilia, no, Hypresia, who cleaned up the leftovers while complaining about side dishes that even grown children do not.
Is the existence in front of me really a goddess who is said to be a symbol of peace? Ludwig felt a strong sense of alienation.
“Why is your expression like that? Doesn’t this kind of girly girl look like a goddess of peace?”
“… Could it be that?”
“Arthur. Even if you don’t read my mind, a guy like you shows it all on his face.”
Ludwig felt sorry for himself and groped his face.
Could that be why Emilia was so easily aware of her inner thoughts?
They said they were managing their facial expressions, but it seemed that everything was clearly revealed.
“First, I should introduce myself. My name is Ludwig Eifretz. It is an honor to meet Goddess Hypresia.”
“Oh, what an unusual child. You never ask why you took your lover’s body.”
The eyes of Hypresia, who occupied Emilia’s body, fluttered lightly.
He didn’t show proof that he was a god, and even though he was talking to my lover in the body, he was quite calm and trusted his words.
However, this was a possible response because Ludwig had his own thoughts.
“I heard the story. They say that only those who have entered through a specific procedure can hear the voice of the god through a ritual.”
“right.”
“If it is a rule set by God himself, then he cannot break it either. So, why didn’t you use Emilia’s body to talk to me?”
It is a kind of bias.
Since it was a question whether that was really possible, Ludwig was just guessing, but it seemed that Hypresia’s smile was getting thicker, so it wasn’t a wrong answer.
“That is correct. I’d like to give it a blessing, but unfortunately it’s impossible.”
Gahora.
Of course, it is interesting because it is unknown. How nice it would be if it could only make you stronger.
But it was not wishful thinking. It’s good if you just have it, and it’s okay if you don’t.
Ludwig replied indifferently.
“I do not wish for Gaho. I just want to ask why you dared to appear in front of me in the body of my lover.”
Unless you have something to say to him, you don’t have to go through such an inconvenient process.
Even if the reason Ludwig and the others came to this place was a kind of coincidence, it was difficult to dismiss it as a coincidence that Hypresia herself borrowed Emilia’s body to appear.
At his question, Hypresia raised one corner of her mouth and smiled strangely.
“I thought you were a bright kid, but it seems that you are not like that. I thought you would expect it.”
Hypresia looked somewhat disappointed.
But Ludwig didn’t care and continued what he wanted to say.
“There are very few guesses. However, I want to hear it directly from my own mouth.”
“is it. Well, given what you’ve been through, it’s not impossible to guess.”
Probably the only one in this world. Of course, there might be a few more cases like him, but Ludwig’s hypothesis was like that.
And what is the message that the omnipotent being who suddenly appeared in front of such a man wants to convey?
Ludwig’s eyes sank.
“Did you bring me here?”
“That’s how it is.”
“… What is God?”
“That is a fundamental question. The simple answer is that it is one and only existence.”
be the only one
Ludwig pondered over the meaning of those words.
This world is not originally a world that exists somewhere. It is nothing more than a virtual world created by an artist’s hand.
Nevertheless, this virtual being, Hypresia, was able to bring her. That’s what it means to say that there is only one God.
“It means that you are the only being that everyone calls God.”
“Yes, you understand correctly.”
If so, I’m just curious.
In the world he lived in, if there was only one being called God, who was called by different names, and the existence of Hypresia was just one of them.
Why did this god bring himself to this world?
“You don’t seem to be dissatisfied.”
“I’d be lying if I said there weren’t many, but I found a new world to live in, and I met a woman I would dedicate my life to to love. Denying it now would be disrespectful to them.”
It’s not like I’m talking nonsense about asking to go back to the original world now.
I was just curious.
why you were Why was this world
“Unfortunately, the time I can manifest here today is very short. So it must be difficult to convey everything.”
“Anything is fine.”
It’s not a position where you can say let go of the ship.
It’s not even a serious matter that needs to be investigated right away in the first place.
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Just curious for now. Because it was just that level.
“I will liken it to a puzzle of the world you lived in so that it is easy to understand.”
The shape of a familiar puzzle appeared before Ludwig’s eyes.
Did Hypresia use magic? It might be something other than God or magic, but that wasn’t what was important to Ludwig.
“What would happen if there were forty-one pieces on a puzzle board made up of forty puzzles?”
“I wonder if one will be thrown away.”
“yes. But what if that remaining piece of the puzzle was just what the other piece of the puzzle lacked?”
“Take that puzzle piece as it is and put it on the puzzle board on the other side… ah.”
There was a short conversation, but Ludwig was able to understand at once what Hypresia was trying to say.
smile. Hypresia in the body of a smiling Emilia.
After making eye contact, Ludwig quietly opened his mouth to confirm his reasoning.
“Are you saying I was a piece of it?”
“yes. You expressed that you were abandoned, but that is not the case with the bridle of the world.”
If there is iron ore in a village that needs trees, is that existence wrong?
no. It was just a different place to be.
That’s why Hypresia brought about Ludwig’s existence.
It wasn’t because he wasn’t needed in that world.
I only brought it because it was a puzzle necessary for this world.
Finally, Ludwig wanted to ask.
Why did you need yourself in this world?
What is in everything the goddess wanted to convey?
“Then why did I… ah.”
“Gee, it looks like time is up.”
However, before she could even open her mouth, Emilia’s body was enveloped in pure white light.
God is not free from everything. On the contrary, since she is a god, there are times when even stronger restraints imprison her.
Now was just such a case.
Hypresia, who had lost her appetite as if regretting it, had one last word to reassure him.
“If you want to ask me something, visit this place again on the day of the new moon. On that day, it would be a long time to stay here.”
“Yes, please.”
Ludwig suddenly recalled the story he had heard from Emilia.
There is a superstition here that on the night of the old moon, the boundary between life and death becomes blurred and the gap between gods and humans narrows.
For this reason, it is said that there are many cases in which the day when the old moon rises is chosen when holding a large sacrifice to the god or honoring the dead.
Maybe it was the truth, not a myth people made up.
Ludwig supported her leaning body and carried her on his back.
It was a day when I had a lot of thoughts, but it was also a day when I felt relieved.
Tonight, I feel like I want to drink alone with the one I love. I thought so involuntarily.