novelraw Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Asking the Black Sea, Four Questions (2)
Hoo, it went.
Eleanor blew out a breath.
Her soft breath scattered the match flame. After breaking the charred matchstick, Eleanor grabbed the old oil lamp. The ember that had just transferred to the wick held the smell of petroleum. Jjeojeok, it went. As the glass chimney made a groaning sound,
“Everyone.”
Eleanor looked back.
With a smile spreading in her gently curved eyes.
“Please follow me.”
To offer a tour of the village at this hour, is she sane?
Monika thought, pulling her fur robe tighter. When she looked up at the night sky, the moonlight was faint. It was because dark clouds were clustered and rampant. Just as the black seawater was constantly rushing in, a heavy sea of clouds was blocking the sky above Portsmouth.
The smell of the sea.
The smell of the sea pierced her nose.
Monika knew. The fact that the unique smell that spreads from the coast is the smell of death. It was different from the fishy smell of fish. The smell of the sea was caused by the death of seaweed. Seabirds, drawn by this smell of death, would often circle above the water, but,
‘There are none.’
She couldn't see any.
The nature of Portsmouth was completely destroyed.
She heard it was once a fishing village. Now, it was just barely self-sufficient. Fishing boats moored on the coast were faintly visible. Had they been catching and eating fish from the blackened sea? She couldn't believe it. The vast, dark sea held no sign of life.
“Monika unni.”
Suddenly, Roberta pulled on Monika's collar.
Roberta's hair, tied in two pigtails, fluttered in the sea breeze.
“Look over there.”
Roberta gestured towards the coast.
“It's Professor Argento.”
“……Yeah.”
Is he really crazy?
Monika thought, making a visor with her hand.
She could see Abel. It seemed he was talking with Lizer. Abel was steadfast, sitting with a round table and chair among the corpses that were decaying as they were repeatedly soaked by the low tide. He felt more pitiful than strong. Dressed in a dark formal robe, he looked like a rotten tree branch.
“Monika unni, you know Professor Argento well, right?”
Roberta asked, blowing warm air on her hands.
“You're often with Professor Argento.”
“That's true, but……”
Do I know Abel-sensei well?
Monika tilted her head. From Roberta's question, she felt that she should know him better.
She could list a few facts. That he's the Sword Saint, and seems a little broken. No, he seems very warped. He barely eats. He also barely sleeps. He seems emotionally dull, but has a warmth of his own. They were all information focused on the present.
‘What was Sensei's past like?’
I don't know. Why don't I know?
It should inevitably come up in conversation.
The past should be like that.
“Sensei doesn't talk about himself much.”
“He doesn't?”
Roberta smiled brightly.
“Then I'll tell you. Professor Argento is an orphan.”
“……What?”
“He grew up in a place called Lateranzo Orphanage. Then he left for the Papacy when he was about ten. It seems he proved his talent at a young age.”
“How do you know that?”
“I heard it from Joshua oppa.”
“Joshua Readmore?”
“Yeah. Marco oppa asked Joshua oppa.”
“Who's Marco?”
“Ah……”
At Monika's question, Roberta was silent for a moment.
After thinking for a very brief moment, she whispered.
“Monika unni, do you want to join too? Our group.”
“A group?”
‘The Wounded Gunshot’. Is she talking about them?
Ernst thought with narrowed eyes. A group made up of commoner students and young laborers of CIAR. A society of boys and girls who claim to explore anti-war principles. Though Roberta introduced ‘The Wounded Gunshot’ to Monika as if it were a social club, Ernst's thoughts were different.
‘He’s too big for that.’
The de facto leader of ‘The Wounded Gunshot’,
Marco da Materazzi was too extraordinary.
His family, his grades, and his talent were all ordinary, but that was why Marco was a big shot. For he was expanding the influence of ‘The Wounded Gunshot’ solely through his eloquence. In the future, Marco da Materazzi, and ‘The Wounded Gunshot’, would become even bigger.
‘He was born in the right era.’
As faith and magic represent the privileged class, and as the anger towards the aristocracy grows stronger, ‘The Wounded Gunshot’ will gain power. Not all leaders of all eras could be extraordinary. This is not because the existence of heroes is rare. Some eras needed an ordinary leader. A person who possessed clear power, was clearly not ordinary, but in the end was described as ordinary. There were also eras that demanded such a leader.
‘To think that not only Joshua Readmore, but also Marco da Materazzi had caught the scent.’
Was there a connection between Professor Argento and Marco?
I don't know. In any case, you've gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble, Professor.
As Ernst was thinking so and adjusting his glasses,
“Are you sick, Er.”
Demian looked back at Ernst.
“Your complexion is pale. You look just like a mackerel.”
“Watch your mouth, you punk. I was just thinking for a moment.”
Ernst let out a sigh, brushing his bangs.
He lifted his head and stared at Demian's face. Demian and Eleanor were walking ahead.
“Did the meal not suit your taste?”
Eleanor asked Ernst,
“Ah, no……”
Ernst shook his head.
“It was a gracious meal, O Goddess of the Black Sea. It was as diverse as the seashells that adorn your body. Of course, most of it was the canned food we provided. In any case, I, Ernst von Tresckow, am at peace in my stomach. I shall make this village as peaceful as the inside of my stomach.”
“Ah, yes……”
Eleanor's brow twitched.
“Does he always speak like that?”
“Sorry, it's a bit disgusting, isn't it?”
To Eleanor's question, Demian replied with a shrug.
“Er is afraid of commoners.”
“I'm not afraid. I just find them difficult to deal with.”
“His words may be sharp, but his heart is warm. It's just that he doesn't know how to talk to those in distress.”
“You know, I'm being perfectly polite right now.”
“By the way, Eleanor, I have something I want to ask.”
Hey, are you ignoring me!
Ernst shouted from behind,
but Demian pretended not to hear and opened his mouth.
“Did you say you were a miko? One who serves the sea god……”
“That is correct.”
Eleanor smiled at Demian.
“The residents of Portsmouth serve the sea god, Cthanid-nim. Since a very long time ago. Of course, this kind of folk religion is ultimately……”
“Yes.”
Demian nodded.
“They are all results of branching off from the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy.”
All faiths lead to the main gods of the Pantheon.
This was an immutable principle. Even if the gods worshipped by each race, nation, and region were different, it was all derived from the Pantheon, with only differences in worldview and religious view.
In the first place, the direction of worship could not change. It was just that the society and culture of the created beings had differences. They were just perceiving the main gods designated by the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy through different myths. Therefore, the sea god Cthanid must also be one of the main gods of the Pantheon.
“Demian-nim, you are a student of the Department of Divinity, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how to use divine magic?”
I want to see it, she said.
As Eleanor whispered in a cautious tone,
Demian chanted.
A ball of light welled up in his palm.
“……Wow.”
Eleanor clasped her hands together.
She admired the ‘Lantern of the Battlefield’ with wide eyes, then looked up at Demian.
“Is the chant originally this simple? It feels a little rude.”
“No, it's usually long and polite.”
I just modified it in Professor Argento's way.
Demian whispered so.
“It's so unfamiliar. I can only convey Cthanid-nim's revelations. So this is the divine magic I've only heard about……”
“If you can convey revelations, you must have divine power too. It might even be at a higher level than mine.”
You can do it.
If you just receive training……, he said.
Demian muttered with a somber expression.
“That will be difficult. As a miko, I must protect this village.”
Saying so, Eleanor smiled,
“We've arrived, everyone.”
She looked back at everyone and took a step.
“This is Cthanid-nim's temple.”
As Eleanor said, there was a temple of the sea god.
It was different from the cathedrals of the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy. It was a building designed in a completely different style. If the cathedrals of the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy overused curves, the temple of the sea god was shaped like it was surrounded by pointed pillars.
“The residents are waiting here.”
──Creak, it went.
The moment Eleanor opened the entrance to the temple,
“Welcome, everyone.”
A burst of applause.
The village chief, Robert, greeted the students,
Ooooh──!
The roars of the villagers surrounded the temple, and,
‘That's…….’
Monika looked up vaguely.
In the center of the temple, a huge statue was erected.
Something decorated with crystals and pearls. That was all she could perceive. Is that the sea god that the people here worship? The head resembled an octopus, and the limbs seemed to be modeled after an intelligent species, with a bipedal structure. The curves attached to its face were like tentacles. In the gaps of the wings that wrapped around its body, the eyes of the sea god, decorated with pure gold, were barely divine.
‘……Is it really a god.’
That was why Monika questioned it.
For she had seen a god directly.
The broken boy. The being whose insides were made of cogs, who had prayed together with her to revive Fleur. There were no common points between the outer god Monika had seen and the sea god Cthanid.
‘It's different.’
It was also different from the body of the God of Oblivion ‘Fichte’ that she had glimpsed in the Lost Library. The body of the God of Oblivion seemed closer to a phenomenon. If the appearance of the outer god was too human, and the body of the main god was too nonexistent……,
‘……It looks like a monster.’
The sea god Cthanid looked like a monster.
The sea god with the appearance of a monster was magnificent.
***
The next morning, the reception room of the Portsmouth village chief's house.
As Monika was dozing off, overcome with sleepiness,
“Why does everyone look so glum?”
──Thud, it went.
A metallic sound that wrinkled the tabletop.
“Everyone, wake up.”
It was Abel.
The students, sitting around the table, opened their eyes wide. They had been lounging around after finishing lunch. Their bodies ached from traveling all day the previous day to reach Portsmouth, and even wandering the village late at night. Even so, they couldn't complain. It was because Abel was too sturdy. Even though he must have stood guard on the coast all night.
“Since it seems you've finished your meal, I'll begin the announcement.”
Above all, it was unusual.
Abel's demeanor, as if he had been soaked in seawater.
“Today will be another busy day.”
And also, the iron cage Abel had placed on the table.
The iron cage, wrapped in a black veil, was shaking.
“Before we take any serious action, I will explain to you all.”
Sreuk, it went.
Abel removed the veil.
And so it was revealed to everyone.
“This is the monster we will be fighting.”
Eight blackened, melted wings.
Though it was as small as an infant, its features burned with murderous intent, revealing its layered teeth.
Towards the monster with the appearance of a decayed fairy, the moment Abel called out its name,
“It's a Banshee.”
Kigigigigik, it went.
The banshee wailed, shedding tears.