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“Traveller, great to see you here.”
Having arrived at the Earth Church’s headquarters, the Grand Crimson Palace, I was guided by a member of the church to the inside of it.
There, the person waiting for me was a man of around 50 years old.
From what I heard, this man is the Founder of the Earth Church.
I couldn’t hold back my agitation from being so easily allowed to meet such an important person.
“Don’t worry, even if I am the Founder, I don’t have much to do in such a countryside as a leader. I always welcome guests that can alleviate my boredom.”
He has a slender face and looks like he is skinny, but his limbs have proper tough muscles, and the more I see it, the more I could tell that he is muscular.
How to say, should I call it an ideal musculature? If you were to train arbitrarily, you wouldn’t be able to get these kind of muscles. It is a figure that can only be obtained by people that continue working everyday and strengthens your body in kind.
His tanned skin also tells me about what kind of lifestyle this person leads.
“A countryside church? No way. The Earth Church is one of the five Great Churches that lead this world, isn’t it. Also, in the way here, I saw the big farm that extended further than the eye can see. Such a big agricultural land, no other churches possess something like that.” (Haine)
“All of it is the blessing of the Mother Earth Goddess-sama.”
I offered some lip service as a greeting of sorts, but the Earth Founder took it modestly.
Even so, calling the big farm that spreads at the surroundings of Ishtar Blaze as the biggest one of all might not be too far from the truth. I was indeed overwhelmed by its magnificence after all.
“Mother Earth Mantle-sama is the Goddess of good harvest. The crops that sprout from the earth and bear fruit, everything is thanks to Mantle-sama. And if us, who worship Mantle-sama, are to waste the blessing of the earth, that in itself would be a blasphemy.”
“That’s splendid!” (Haine)
I feel like I have met the first Founder that’s acting like an actual Founder.
With a cool gesture, the said Founder takes a tobacco from a tobacco box that was at his side, and lights it up.
Every movement he did felt like that of a millionaire.
“But, in this Ishtar Blaze, there’s a lot of things different compared to that of the other church headquarters. Specially that…” (Haine)
“The Golems? It is true that the outsiders that come here for the first time all get surprised by it.”
So it really was the case.
The Founder puffed out smoke of the tobacco from his mouth.
“For us, that’s something pretty natural. Since before we were born, Great Pillar-sama was there, and we grew alongside those Golems that Great Pillar-sama gave birth to. The Golems are our friends, and they are also our benefactors that help us in our daily life.”
“Uhm…this may sound rude but…I still find it hard to accept.” (Haine)
Because monsters are the enemies of humans by nature.
“I understand the confusion from the outside. When I was young and awakened my need to learn more in order to become an appropriate Earth Founder, I travelled to other countries to obtain experiences. By doing that, I learned this for the first time; about how abnormal our relationship with the Golems is.”
“Then…”
“Yes, I have seen it. In the other water, fire, wind, and light churches, they fight against these things called monsters, and suffer. Our Earth Church also uses divine power, and because of it, we can tell with our trained senses…that monsters are the same thing as Golems.”
It is more accurate to say that Golems are a type of monsters.
“Of course, monsters also appear in the surroundings of Ishtar Blaze. Fire, water, and wind element monsters, that is. Our Earth Church also sees them as a threat and doesn’t neglect on preparations. Our military force, the Scorched Earth Annihilation corps, and the assigned earth hero are doing their best.”
“Ah, so there really is an earth hero.” (Haine)
Well, obviously.
“She is currently in a mission so she is away from the Grand Crimson Palace, but if you are going to be staying long as a guest, you can meet her once she returns, and I would like it if you were to tell her stories of the outside. She is also a person that carries the church on her back. I want her to widen her view as much as possible.”
The conversation deviated a bit.
The Founder plays around with the tobacco inside his hand for a bit, and then, returns the conversation back to the original topic.
“And in the fights against the evil monsters, the Golems also work as strong allies.”
“Must be. With that big frame and power, it would be able to deal with normal monsters plenty enough.” (Haine)
That means the Golems are helping out the humans in many aspects.
I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it before coming here. To think it would be possible to create such a harmonious world by having humans and monsters cooperate…
I now understand why Yorishiro warned me not to bring any ethereal devices as best as I can.
And in reality, I have seen almost no ethereal device since entering this city.
Because there’s no need for it.
The plowing of the big agricultural land, building houses, repairing them, and moving around, even the fighting that has ethereal strictly forbidden, Golems are able to participate in it.
If I were to untactfully bring ethereal devices here, the people here would instantly notice that I am an outsider and I would stand out in a bad way.
“Guest-san, as the Earth Founder, and also as one of the humans living in Ishtar Blaze, I have thought of it for a long time; what are Golems for us? There’s a saying that states monsters are the punishment of the Gods towards humans for forgetting their respect. If that’s really the case…”
The Golems who help out humans even though they are the same monsters are…
“…Might be the blessing of Mother Earth Mantle-sama for the humans that venerate her.”
That’s indeed a way that can be taken.
Even when they are the same monsters, compared to the other elements, only the earth monsters are acting differently towards the humans.
And among the five Churches, this place was able to develop in a way that is different from the others, but at the same time, in a way that doesn’t fall behind the others.
Proof of that is without doubt the big farm.
“…Oya, no good no good. Now that I notice, we have been talking about myself all this time.”
As if relieving his throat, the Earth Founder smokes his tobacco.
“Even though I had you come all the way here, it was rude to have you hear about stories of this old man all this time. Now, I want you to tell this country bumpkin about your stories. Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard you name yet. Really, it is embarrassing how bad of a reception I’m providing.”
“No, it is true that I was late to introducing myself. I am sorry about that. My name’s Kuromiya Haine.” (Haine)
*Karan*
A dull sound reverberated in the Grand Crimson Palace’s floor.
The Earth Founder had dropped the tobacco he had in his hand.
“?!”
It feels like the expression of the Founder changed.
The narrowed eyes of the good natured old man were now wide open and staring right at me.
“…Uhm, is there something wrong?” (Haine)
“N-No no no no! It is nothing, it is nothing! I probably just smoked a bit too much and the strength in my hand went away!”
Saying this, the Founder hurriedly picks up his tobacco, and once again drops it by mistake.
This suspicious behaviour was indeed weird, but I can’t just try to inquire about something that’s clearly a landmine.
As long as the other party doesn’t state the reason of it, I will just have to feign as if I didn’t notice. After some harmless conversation, the talk with the Earth Founder ended.