At the Southern Cathedral of Navre, in a dedicated worship room for high-ranking clergy, the Saintess was receiving a divine prophecy.
[You fool. You should’ve been more careful! You went to capture someone as dangerous as Ishmael, and you only brought three holy knights? Were you trying to get yourself killed?]
“…..I’m sorry, Goddess.”
[Well, you should be sorry. If you had died there, I would’ve been in a serious situation.]
The sacred moment when the Saintess directly hears the will of the deity.
In such a solemn atmosphere, one would expect a serious conversation, but the tone of the exchange was far from that.
Rather, it felt more like one-sided scolding and venting.
No, it was probably the right approach.
From the moment the Goddess began getting upset, the Saintess had been listening to all of it.
If anyone were to see this, they might be shocked at how frivolous the deity seemed.
‘Last time, you couldn’t even deliver a few lines properly, but now you’re full of divine power?’
When they went to search for Laemis—or rather, Ishmael—before, the conversation had barely lasted.
But now, they had been talking for several minutes without interruption.
Had the Goddess found a source of divine power somehow?
Or perhaps she was drawing power from maintaining the divine realm?
The Saintess only guessed, but her guess was almost correct.
In fact, the Goddess had brought divine power specifically to maintain the divine realm.
As faith dwindled, the Goddess had to find ways to reduce consumption, so she gave up on many things.
For example, the divine power used for daily living and maintaining her dignity.
Shrinking the divine realm was part of this, too.
Thanks to this, she had managed to gather just enough energy to allow for long conversations.
Although, it seemed pointless to use the precious energy and time to just vent her frustration.
[You should be ashamed of yourself. If it were the previous generation, they wouldn’t have made such a sloppy mistake.]
“……”
[Are you listening? You should answer when I speak.]
“…..I’m sorry. I was foolish.”
Anyway, the Saintess found herself getting slightly irritated by having to respond to these pointless complaints.
The world was in such chaos, and there was so much to do just to ensure the survival of the Church.
To be stuck listening to this kind of nonsense was maddening.
‘Does she not understand? I’m not her punching bag.’
She couldn’t help but think this, even though it was something she, as a Saintess, should never think.
What could she do, though?
The Goddess was furious that she couldn’t catch Ishmael, and that was something even the Saintess couldn’t control.
The Academy was neither part of the Goddess’s Church nor under state protection; it was an international institution.
‘If we sent a whole squad to arrest them, people would curse us for sure.’
To preserve the Church’s reputation, it was best to quietly abduct Ishmael with a small group.
In the end, it was a failure, but it was hard to take any more drastic actions than that.
If she were truly a goddess, she should have been able to understand this much by just thinking for a moment.
It was difficult to come up with any good ideas when the one who should be ruling over the faithful as the leader of the Church was acting like a reckless child.
[I’ll tell you Ishmael’s location again. Don’t fail this time. I don’t have much room to spare either.]
“I understand.”
[It looks like he joined some strange organization, and its scale is pretty big, so it’s better to be well-prepared. At the very least, you’ll need two squads of holy knights.]
“Where is the location?”
[The southern part of the Kingdom of Allein’s capital.]
See?
It’s the same again.
The Church’s elite holy knights are to lead a military operation in a foreign capital?
Does she have no idea what kind of repercussions that could cause?
That would be a blatant violation of sovereignty.
If they’re not careful, they might provoke the wrath of the Kingdom of Allein and lose all the influence they have left.
‘Should I seek cooperation from the upper echelons?’
If she contacts the higher-ups and asks for their cooperation in advance, perhaps the discord will disappear.
But in exchange, they might have to give up some personnel.
Recently, there have been several factions trying to gain control over Ishmael’s knowledge and writing abilities.
‘Why are they so obsessed with him?’
This was starting to raise doubts.
What could possibly make the Goddess so fixated on Ishmael?
If she didn’t like the ideas he was spreading, she could simply kill him.
Instead, the Goddess, despite giving multiple prophecies, was obsessed with capturing him.
Meanwhile, Ishmael despises the Goddess and the Church to the point of hatred.
It’s clear from his words in the lecture and the books he has spread.
His anti-divine tendencies are so strong it’s hard to believe he was born and raised in this world.
Why?
Is there some deep-seated grudge between them?
“Now that I think about it…..”
[What is it?]
“Uhm, Goddess.”
As she was thinking, a memory suddenly came to her.
When Ishmael spared her life after she returned to the Academy, his final words were:
When you receive a prophecy later, answer this: It’s because you ruined an innocent person’s life that the world turned out like this.
At the time, she dismissed it as nonsense… but what if it was true?
What if he was revealing his true feelings to Joanne?
“By any chance, did you ever make an enemy of Ishmael?”
[…..What?]
A brief silence followed.
Then, the Goddess responded in a slightly changed tone.
[That’s not the case. Do you think I would torment innocent people for fun?]
A god cannot lie.
So, that statement is likely the truth.
However, the truth does not always align with reality.
There are often grudges or unconscious wrongdoings that one is not even aware of.
“When I met Ishmael, he was resentful of you, Goddess. Can a person hate someone without any reason or history?”
Sigh… Damn it.
That bastard tricked even you, huh?
What a hassle.
The Goddess muttered a crude curse, speaking as if it was nothing of importance.
Ignore it, it’s just nonsense.
Don’t pay attention to the slanders of someone who disregarded the mission I gave him.
“Mission?”
Doesn’t that imply there was some direct interaction?
That bastard wasn’t from this world.
“…What?”
Faith was declining, so I summoned him from another world to solve it.
But he dared to ignore my words and act on his own.
“Another world?”
So, you should keep Ishmael close.
The Goddess did not finish her sentence.
The saint, who had lost all sense of reason, questioned her with an accusing tone, disregarding any semblance of politeness.
“Are you joking right now?”
*****
It felt like all sense had vanished.
A person from another world?
That meant Ishmael was someone summoned, like the great hero Adolphus Hitler.
He had no connections to this world and was simply dragged here as a victim for convenience.
To think that Ishmael was in such a situation.
“Why didn’t you tell me this? I’m supposed to be your earthly representative, and yet you didn’t share such an important piece of information with me?”
It wasn’t necessary since he was going to operate independently from the Church.
Besides, he’s more suited for society over there.
“Then, were you planning to make a person who doesn’t know the language or customs of this world struggle on the streets? Do you think that makes any sense!!”
According to old records, Hero Hitler received full support from the Church from the start.
Thanks to that, he quickly learned the language and writing and grew powerful enough to defeat Demon King Stalin.
Afterward, he spread anti-demon thoughts to humanity and even established his own nation.
None of this would have been possible if he hadn’t received assistance from the beginning.
“What do you think could be possible for someone dragged here with nothing? If you throw someone who doesn’t even know you onto the streets and make them work, who would comply?”
Yet, Ishmael received completely the opposite treatment.
No protection, no linguistic support, no provisions for food, clothing, or shelter.
From how the Goddess handled things, it was clear what he had been through.
She probably just tossed him somewhere and told him the goal.
With no status, no knowledge, no wealth, the environment was entirely meaningless.
He must have suffered terribly.
He likely struggled to survive at the bottom of society, starving, freezing, and being exploited.
Living in constant fear and despair, never knowing when he might die.
“Now I understand why Ishmael said that to me. Anyone who goes through something like that would have no choice but to resent you, Goddess! If it were me, I would have wanted to hate you too!!”
[…..Watch your mouth. Even as a saint, there’s a line you must not cross.]
“The line was crossed by you first, Goddess!”
Despite everything, Ishmael managed to secure a position as an academy instructor, a remarkable achievement that could truly be called a victory of human perseverance.
Of course, the Goddess had called him because he had the ability, but getting the opportunity to prove that ability was no easy task.
“After all this, you still claim to be a god? How can you act so irresponsibly?!”
The saint, whose patience had completely worn thin, continued to hurl insults.
She knew full well that she was violating the etiquette and duties of someone who served the Goddess, but it didn’t stop her.
“If the believers knew this, they would completely lose their minds. To think their creator is actually a terrible kidnapper—ugh, ughh.”
[Didn’t I tell you to hold back?!]
Finally, the enraged Goddess used telekinesis to squeeze her throat, silencing her tirade.
[You’ve served me well, so I’ll forgive you this time. But there won’t be a next time.]
“Ugh…”
[If you understand, go capture Ishmael. You should be able to find his hideout near the shopping district in the capital.]
And with that, the divine communication was abruptly cut off.
Just like when it started, it ended without warning.
Grabbing her swollen neck, the saint collapsed to the floor and sobbed uncontrollably.
“Have we… have we really been serving something like that all this time? A fool with no reason?”
No one could answer that question.
At least, not within the Church.
*****
The final showdown between the Demon King and the Hero (concept art).
