Chapter 40 : N, Me Too! Chi, I Have Friends!

A cathedral in ruins.

Under the dark night sky, a nun gazes up at the gaping hole in the cathedral’s ceiling, desperately calling out the name of the departed god.

Beside her, a young girl who had been praying with her tugs at the nun’s sleeve.

“…Sister… I’m cold.”

“Come here.”

Hearing the child’s plea, the nun warmly opened her arms.

At those words, the girl’s wolf ears trembled slightly.

In response, the nun’s fox ears twitched, and her fox tail swayed gently.

To keep the child warm, the nun embraced her tightly and wrapped her tail around her once more.

“Are you warm now?”

“…Yes, I’m okay.”

The child smiled within her arms.

“…Sister, I can’t sleep anymore…”

“Really? Then shall I tell you a fun story?”

“Yes, I’d love that.”

The girl perked up her folded ears, ready to listen.

The nun smiled at her and then began speaking.

“I will tell you a story of the gods.”

“…The gods?”

“There are twenty gods in this world.”

“I will tell you about some of the primordial ones.”

“There are many deities besides the Sun God we serve.”

“I see…”

“Are you ready to listen?”

“…Yes.”

A long time ago—

When the moon had yet to receive the light of the sun and remained asleep.

When the earth had yet to form and lay submerged.

When the sea had yet to flow and remained still.

When the wind did not blow, the trees did not breathe, life slumbered in silence, and desires revealed nothing.

In that time, a great being opened its eyes.

In the days to come, people would call it the Sun.

The Sun embraced all things around it and announced the arrival of dawn.

The earth then rose to support the world, the still waters began to flow into rivers, and the rivers became seas.

Startled, the wind began to stir and rush forth, allowing trees to breathe and bear new life.

With the birth of life, desires began to surface, and thus, this world was created.

Therefore, those born under the mercy of the Sun—

Fear it.

Worship it.

Bow your heads and plead endlessly for its grace.

For then, your great parent shall personally deliver you.

Bow your heads before the omnipotent one.

The Father of All Things shall guide you to the truth.

The nun finished her story.

As she listened, the girl felt her eyelids grow heavy, yet she murmured softly,

“…It’s a little scary.”

“Is that so?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s alright. The gods embrace us all.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

As she spoke, the nun felt a sharp ache in her heart.

The Sun God had already departed.

No longer did He bestow mercy upon the weak or pass judgment upon the wicked.

Was He merely watching from afar, or had He vanished completely?

‘How blasphemous… To think that a god could disappear…’

The nun tried to deny reality, but nothing changed.

She did not know about the other gods, but at least the Sun God had forsaken this land.

No one knew this better than Ria, the Sun’s apostle and nun.

‘I’m comforting people with lies.’

This land, once the domain of the beastkin, had already been turned to ruin.

All because of the one who arrived here just yesterday.

-Bang!!!!!

[“Kuhahahaha!! This is fun!!”]

A voice rang out from behind, belonging to the one who had obliterated half of the beastkin’s territory.

The sound reached Ria’s sensitive ears.

“Father of all things, please forgive me.”

The Apostle of the Sun whispered those words before gently laying the lifeless child onto the ground.

‘…I’m sorry, little one.’

The child, who had suffered grave injuries, had finally succumbed to death.

Though she cursed herself for running away after failing to protect anyone, the fox dashed toward the border.

The neutral zone—if she could make it there…

If she could flee even further, to the land of the neutral dragons, she might be able to survive.

“…Forgive me.”

And so, the Apostle of the Sun abandoned her homeland.

Emila had been taken in as Father’s adopted daughter.

Mother didn’t oppose it, so our family suddenly had one more member.

“Emila, wasn’t your hair originally gray?”

“I don’t know. It just turned like this.”

“…Hmm, I see.”

Father didn’t press further.

Perhaps he already knew enough from investigating before bringing her home.

Apparently, Emila had found her way to us on her own, just before they had set out to rescue her.

A strange coincidence.

With that thought in mind, we headed to the dining room.

“Ah, it’s delicious! And warm!”

It had been a long time since the whole family had gathered for a meal.

Smiles spread across our faces as we ate together.

Emila, stuffing her cheeks full of food, her eyes sparkling with delight.

Though her comments about how the food was warm and how it didn’t smell rotten were shocking, her sheer enthusiasm made it easy to brush aside.

-Munch munch.-

“Mmm~! This is tasty too! Yawn!“

“…Mmph… Ugh…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

But it wasn’t all just heartwarming.

To be honest, it was a little… painful.

“…I-I’m full…”

“Already? Oh no, there’s still so much left.”

With every bite Emila took, she kept giving me food as well—every dish that looked delicious.

It was torture.

My stomach was stuffed, my cheeks puffed out.

My expanding cheeks were becoming almost terrifying.

“…P-please… have mercy…”

But as I struggled, my sister, my mother, and my father all smiled at the sight.

An older sister who cared for her younger sibling and ate heartily—

How adorable that must have seemed.

But for me, it was absolute misery.

…Save me.

Time in that hellish meal crawled by ever so slowly.

“Mi-Minho…!”

“…My stomach… is going to burst…!!”

“…Mi-Minho?!”

In the end, I got indigestion.

You might think, Couldn’t you have just stopped eating?

But every time I even paused, Emila would give me the saddest look imaginable.

How was I supposed to refuse? I had to eat.

So yeah, I overate a little.

“…Emila, let’s go to the Elder’s Chamber…”

“U-uh, okay!”

“…Sis, you come too…”

“Alright~”

We needed to get Emila treated.

Earlier, Grandma Baal had wanted to heal her, but since Emila was in such a malnourished state, healing magic could have done more harm than good.

That’s why we made her eat first.

And now I needed help for my own indigestion.

Might as well get my sister treated too—her unstable mana was still leaking a little.

Three patients in total.

And all three of us were princesses.

A kingdom full of sick royalty—what a strange place.

The thought made me chuckle.

And as if reacting to my laughter, my sister and Emila laughed too.

Holding hands, the three of us made our way to the Elder’s Chamber, beaming.

“Aww, look who it is! Our little princesses!”

“Ah, hello…”

Grandma Baal greeted us warmly.

Emila hesitated for a moment before bowing shyly.

Seeing this, Grandma Baal pulled her into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, child.”

“…It hurts…”

“I’m sorry!”

Startled, Grandma Baal quickly regained her composure and began casting healing magic.

After hearing my and my sister’s situation, she promptly healed us as well.

“Thank you.”

“Aww, our youngest is the cutest.”

“Hehe.”

As I bowed my head in greeting, Grandma Baal quickly patted my head.

Even though Mom had carefully brushed my hair, and now it was a mess, I didn’t mind.

-Whoosh!-

“Wow!”

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

Grandma Baal used the wind to restore my hair to its original state.

“…Oh dear, I spoke informally again.”

“It’s okay!”

The elderly people in the palace were making a great effort to speak formally to me.

But honestly, I didn’t really care.

-Flap flap flap.-

My tail wagged rapidly.

“R-really? Then, would it be okay if I just spoke informally from now on?”

“Of course, Grandma!”

“Oh my.”

Grandma Baal smiled in satisfaction.

It was a smile filled with a strange sense of superiority.

But that smile wasn’t directed at me.

It was aimed at Grandma Lavender, who had been quietly watching us from the side.

“…Heh.”

“W-what?”

“Nothing! It’s nothing at all!”

“Your Highness, I believe it’s time for you to leave now.”

Grandma Lavender’s aura suddenly became intense.

If my sister, Emila, and I left the room now, something big would definitely happen.

That sounded fun.

I giggled mischievously, grabbed my sister and Emila’s hands, and dashed out of the room.

And the moment we left—

-Boom!!!!-

The castle shook violently.

“…I’m sorry!!”

“Run!!”

We sprinted back to our room at full speed.

“Hehe, that was fun.”

“Mi-no? Don’t do that again. You can’t just make grandmas fight each other.”

“But it’s fun, right, Emila?”

Ignoring my sister’s nagging, I turned to Emila with a big grin.

She had been expressionless, but when she saw me smiling, she smiled back.

“See!”

“See what?! Emila just follows whatever you do!”

“…Minho, I like you.”

“I like Minho too! But wrong is wrong.”

“…Yeah, Minho, Yuli’s right.”

Betrayal.

I never expected this.

I was frozen in shock.

Meanwhile, my sister and Emila laughed together.

[Golden Sister]

“Cheer up! The King and the GM are on your side!”

That’s right—I have two gods backing me up.

“Emila!”

“…Yuli.”

“Hehehe.”

“Hehe.”

“…I… have… f-friends…”

I tried to hold back, but a single tear escaped.

My eyes stung.

I held on as best as I could—

“…Sniff.”

“Minho?!”

“…Minho…!!”

Only after my tears began to fall did their teasing finally stop.

But now that they were worried about me, I suddenly felt even more emotional.

I lost control.

“…Huh?”

I don’t care anymore. I’ll just cry.

“Bwaaaah!”

“I’m sorry!”

“We’re sorry!”

“…Don’t cry.”

It took them 20 whole minutes to calm me down.