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“The world in which everyone lives in peace is on the brink of destruction every day! All because the Demon King exists in this world!”The voice of the man in the white robe resonated loudly, but most of those present frowned in displeasure. Some tried to continue their work, ignoring him, but it was impossible to concentrate with such a commotion.
“Therefore! To protect the world, we must find the existence of a hero as soon as possible! A strong one, a wise one, and above all, a courageous one! Those who believe they are the one should knock on the doors of the Holy Radiance Church! We are always looking for those who are righteous and walk with God!”
After delivering his one-sided speech, the man in the white robe glanced around the guild’s interior briefly before heading outside. The noise inside the guild returned to normal, and I decided to ask about the man.
“So, what was that all about?”
“That’s the Holy Radiance Church. They come by occasionally, spouting things that don’t make much sense and gathering followers. Well, they’re just a bit noisy, but they don’t really cause any harm, so it’s best to just ignore them.”
With that, the kind man peeled off a request from the board and walked away. After watching him leave, I pondered seriously.
“Hey, Ed. That just now…”
“Yeah, it’s concerning.”
In this world, the existence of the Demon King… Mao is not recognized. Moreover, I don’t know anything about those guys. I didn’t encounter them in my first loop, and claiming to be associated with God feels somewhat suspicious… Hmm?
“Thinking about it won’t solve anything. Maybe we should ask around.”
After waiting a bit for the counter to be free, I approached Alma. As expected, Alma greeted me with a business smile.
“Ed-san, did you find a good request?”
“No, I have something else I want to ask… What’s the deal with the ‘Holy Radiance Church’ that was causing a commotion earlier?”
“Huh? Ed-san, are you interested in the Holy Radiance Church?”
“It’s more like caution than interest. I saw them for the first time today, so I don’t know how to deal with them.”
“You don’t know about the Holy Radiance Church!? I thought it was a fairly well-known organization.”
“Ah… well, that’s because I never heard of it in the countryside where I’m from…”
I tilted my head slightly, playing the “I’m from the countryside so I don’t know” card, which usually works for almost anything. It’s been about four months since I came to this world, and if I haven’t encountered them until now, it’s unlikely that everyone in the world would naturally know about them as common sense… right?
“Is that so? Well, indeed, while they have a wide range of activities, they are a small organization. Alright. Would you like a brief overview?”
“Yeah, please.”
It seems my bet paid off. Both Tia and I nodded, and Alma cleared his throat before beginning the explanation.
“Alright then… The Holy Radiance Church is a sect that branched off from the Balmore religion, which worships the creation god Balmore, the largest religion in this world. Its establishment is said to be about a hundred years ago.
Although small, they have bases all over the world, and according to the church’s announcement, they have about ten thousand followers. Their main activities include giving speeches like the one earlier to recruit new followers and using the gathered people to undertake monster extermination in remote villages.
However, since they operate in relatively large groups, their position is closer to an army than to an adventurers’ guild. So, the guild doesn’t really think much of them, but they do get scrutinized by the nations.”
“They’re a small organization that gets scrutinized by nations but still manages to exist?”
Tia’s simple question was met with a nod from Alma, who answered.
“Yes, that’s correct. National armies have a duty to protect their citizens, but there are various restrictions, such as needing complicated procedures to mobilize or being cautious about moving along the border, right?
But they don’t care about any of that and send extermination squads directly to towns or villages attacked by monsters. So, there are quite a few people who have been saved thanks to them, especially in small villages where the army wouldn’t mobilize. So…”
“I guess that makes it hard to openly suppress them.”
Essentially, they’re a group that can quickly move to places where the too-large force of a nation can’t reach. It’s understandable that their popularity among the people would rise, making it difficult to carelessly crush them. However, this also brings a sense of discomfort.
“But for such a group, they don’t have many followers, do they?”
“Yes. It seems that their… doctrines are not well received by the public.”
“Heroes and Demon Kings, huh… Just to confirm, there really aren’t any, right?”
“At least, the Adventurers’ Guild has not confirmed the existence of such beings. While we can’t deny the possibility that powerful monsters that could be called ‘Demon Kings’ exist in remote areas beyond human reach, being told to cooperate to defeat something that may or may not exist because it threatens the world is quite troubling.”
With a wry smile and a troubled expression, Alma trailed off. Logically, it’s difficult to cooperate with a call to arms against a threat that hasn’t caused any harm or damage, especially when the existence of the threat itself was uncertain.
However, Tia and I were the only ones here who knew that the “Demon King” truly exists. So, after thanking Alma for the information, I left the guild, ignoring the innkeeper’s subtle gaze, and returned to my room at the inn. Sitting on the bed with Tia, we looked at each other.
“What does this mean? Does the Holy Radiance Church really have something to do with the power of God?”
“Hmm, it’s a bit tricky.”
The concepts of Demon Kings and heroes were quite common. It’s not unusual for locals to call a strong monster a Demon King, and then those who confront or defeat it are hailed as heroes or champions.
So, calling for the defeat of a Demon King and searching for a hero, and claiming the existence of a “Demon King” knowing about Mao’s power, were not necessarily the same thing. If it’s the latter, we can’t ignore it, but if it’s the former, getting involved could lead to unnecessary trouble, so we need to be cautious.
“Can’t we check with your power? You know, the usual searching thing.”
“Ah, the [Akashic Compass]? No, that won’t work. It can’t detect [Fragments of God].”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You know, the world is basically created by God, right? So, the world is filled with God’s power. Searching for a [Fragment of God] in such a place is like… trying to find a drop of fresh water in seawater?”
Especially these hundred worlds we’re trapped in, was like being sealed inside a box by the super powerful force of a god. When the power we’re supposed to be searching for is so intensely raining down from all around us, even my [Banishment Skills] can’t distinguish it.
“Eh…? But, you were able to search for the [Winged] before, weren’t you?”
“Yeah. If I’ve met someone once and recognized them, I can search for them based on subtle differences. For example, if I try to search for you, Tia, I can find you if I’ve met you before, but I can’t do anything with just ‘an elf woman.’ It’s that kind of difference.”
“I see, that’s how it was. I’d always wonder why you never tried to search for it before.”
“That’s the reason. Plus, even if I could search for it, there’s also the problem that we can’t just drag a hero to the fragment of god for our convenience.”
If it were a fragment of god from who are trying to destroy the world, it would have naturally become a target for the hero’s subjugation. But now… and the fragments of god that used to mess with me now…and in the past often aren’t considered evil from a hero’s perspective.
In that case, we can’t just take a hero and go defeat it, and I, who can’t leave the hero’s party, can’t go and defeat it alone. So, even if I could search for it, we can’t do anything until it make contact with us.
“So, what do we do this time?”
“Well, if that thing is not going to do anything, it might be okay to just watch and wait…”
I put my hand on my chin and pondered for a while. We have at least two months until we are exiled from this world. It seems like if we just stay quiet, everything might end without incident…
“How about we show our faces at this branch or whatever?”
Once we leave, we won’t be able to do anything. So, rather than leaving it alone and hoping it doesn’t get worse, it feels like making contact and controlling the situation might align more with our hopes.
I flopped back onto the bed where I was sitting and began to think of a plan in my head.