Volume 2 – The World Sneered
Calaria and Ami immediately equipped their weapons.
“Who the hell are you people!?”
“Leave sis alone!”
The young girls were very surprised after being faced with such strong hostility.
“Eeeek!?”
“W-Wait, we’re not shady people!”
The two frantically tried to explain themselves.
But they still did not let go of Mary’s arms.
“That’s right, we’re just tourist guides!”
“We help the important customers who visit ‘Mitis’, the village where a Goddess was born.”
“It’s our job to be polite and hospitable!”
“I’m the older sister, Erini Huperione. And the silver-haired one is-”
“Erio Huperione, pleased to make your acquaintance!”
The two young girls put their hands over their chests and excitedly introduced themselves.
They had the same personality and looked the same – they were probably twins.
Mary spoke while seeming a little fed up while getting pinched between the two girls.
“We’re not tourists.”
“Huuh? Then why did you come to a shitty rural village like this?”
“It makes no sense, no sense at all. There’s nothing to do here other than sightseeing!”
They seemed to be locals, but spoke very harshly.
Indeed, the village was probably boring for the girls.
“I apologize, but we just want to go to an inn for now.”
“Inn! We’ll take you there, then. Come come, this way!”
“We can still guide you even if you aren’t tourists. Come on, follow us, all of you!”
Mary was led away.
Calaria and Ami watched this with worry.
“……We have to go with them.”
“Are you okay, Cutie?”
“I’m not ill, I can walk fine.”
Cutie’s face was pale like a sick person’s as she said this.
◇◇◇
Erini and Erio guided Mary and the others to the inn, and quickly left.
They seemingly talked to the inn’s owner already, so two rooms were quickly provided.
Cutie entered one of them, told the others to leave her alone for a while, and closed the door.
Mary and the others were worried about her, but decided to go into the neighboring room for now.
They all took relaxed positions and rested.
The atmosphere filling the room was heavier than usual.
“Cutie’s shutting herself in her room, huh?”
“I wanted to be with her.”
“I understand why she wants to be alone for a while. Everyone has their own way of facing their pain.”
Especially when it was the sadness of losing one’s parent.
Cutie was not losing her temper or acting violently, as she was quite intelligent.
“This really is the worst. How can people do such mean things?”
Ami spat these words out while laying her head on Mary’s lap.
Sitting on a chair, Calaria put her elbows on the desk, and spoke with a stern expression on her face while putting her hands on her cheeks.
“He treats the lives of people like trash, just like he did with Elastis.”
“If
World
is not acting out of the practitioner’s will, but of the will of the arcana itself, the lives in this world must be worthless to them.”
“That’s so mean after creating it themselves!”
“I owe Noted a debt of gratitude too. I have to repay him.”
Cutie was not the only one grieving Noted’s death.
He was a benefactor for Mary and the others as well.
That was precisely why they felt despair in the face of
World
, something even he could not get away from.
They wanted to repay him.
However, the more they thought about whether that was possible or not, the more their worries expanded.
They naturally started talking less and less, and even Ami fell silent.
It would be misleading to say it was because she could not endure this any longer, but Mary abruptly told Ami to get up, and stood up from the bed.
“I’m going to call Miss. Philias.”
“What are you going to use?”
“There should be a comms device in the village elder’s house. I’ll go alone, so please stay here and make sure Miss. Cutie does not leave.”
Cutie was calm for now, but there was no telling when her emotions could explode.
It was unclear in what shape her hatred and self-loathing would manifest themselves.
She could even give in to self abandonment…… so someone had to stay by her side.
“……Yeah, Cutie takes precedence right now.”
“I wanna go with you, but you’re right. See you soon, sis.”
“Yes. I’ll be back, you two.”
Mary left the room after saying that.
◇◇◇
Mary ran into Erini and Erio after leaving the inn.
The two rushed over to Mary and stared at her face from various angles.
“Hey, lady, now that I got a better look at you……”
“Could it be that you’re Princess Mary? You’re certainly Princess Mary, right?”
“……You’re right.”
“I knew it! Awesome, awesome!”
“The Goddess summoned a princess here! Even a shitty rural village like this is worth something, isn’t it!?”
The twins giggled and made merry.
Their shrill voices were a little too loud for Mary’s uncertain heart right now.
She did her best to stop herself from wrinkling her brows.
“Was there really…… a Goddess in his town?”
“We’re not sure, rather, we don’t remember.”
“They say she really lived here until 16 years ago!”
16 – Mary had a big reaction to that number.
“It can’t be…… Do you know her name!?”
“Of course!”
“Why wouldn’t we!?”
The twins looked at each other and spoke at the same time.
“Luno Applix!”
Somewhere in her heart, Mary wanted them to be wrong.
“So,
Death God
…… was in this village, after all……”
It was a coincidence that they arrived in Mitis.
They were supposed to go to a location unrelated to Majoram or Pupa.
The fact that they still could not get away from the fight made Mary feel a little dizzy.
◇◇◇
Mary was guided to the village elder’s house by Erini and Erio.
To borrow the comms device.
Before that, however, she had to do something else.
The village elder was a man past his middle ages.
He was surprised by the princess’s visit, and Mary quickly asked him a question after she entered the house.
“Do you know Luno Applix?”
“Yes, of course. There is no one in this village who does not know her.”
“If it’s alright with you, could you tell me about her?”
“About Lady Luno? Of course, I would gladly do anything you request. Ah, this is delightful. I am so happy that a young woman like you is interested in the Goddess.”
The village elder happily showed Mary to the living room.
Apparently, the young people these days were not showing much interest in Gods or faith.
Mary understood that well when she looked at Erini and Erio.
They seemed to be close with the village elder, as they easily entered his house.
Mary and the village elder sat down face to face around a table in the living room, while the twins laid on a couch and started playing with each other.
“Please excuse them, they’re my daughters.”
“Oh…… I see.”
Mary thought they were acting too relaxed in a stranger’s house, but it made sense if they were the village elder’s daughters.
With this out-of-place feeling out of the way, the man started to speak.
“Lady Luno lived in this village for a very long time. She was revered as a God at certain periods, and grew accustomed to the village as a normal villager at others. In our time, she was living by herself on the outskirts of the village.”
“Is there a reason she chose this village?”
“I don’t know why she chose this place. But Lady Luno is the one who built this village.”
“Then she came up with the name Mitis as well.”
“Yes, I remember that she took it from a friend.”
A friend – Mary remembered
World
after hearing that remark.
In the ruins Digi and Mary were lost in together, the person who was the foundation for the arcana of
Emperor
, Manny Claudi, had said that name.
The pronunciation was a little different, and she probably called
World
‘Mytis’.
(Mytis and Luno were friends…… But Luno, as
Death God
, sealed her friend Mytis……)
16 years ago, however, Luno collaborated with World Destruction, and tried to destroy her friend, Mytis.
Mary did not know why Luno did that.
However, there had to be big emotions involved there.
Over tens of millions, or even hundreds, a love and hatred had piled up and gotten stagnant like a bottomless swamp.
Mary felt that way.
“It is said that Lady Luno had sealed an evil god who possessed great power. She was beautiful not only in appearance, but also personality. I think it would be faster if you read this book about how she became a Goddess.”
The village elder stood up after saying that, and offered Mary a book from the bookshelf behind him.
Mary reflexively raised her voice when she saw a familiar cover.
“This beautiful world…… Isn’t this Miss. Stella’s book!?”
It was the book written by Stella,
For the Sake of This Beautiful World
.
The village elder happily nodded.
“Yes, Stella was born in this village.”
“Then this book was……”
“Written by her based on the legends of this village. I’m very happy that the young people are reading it too. I hope this also increases the number of tourists we get, of course……”
The village elder looked off into the distance.
Currently, it did not seem to be attracting tourists.
But that was not important for Mary.
(Miss. Stella was able to enter the royal castle, despite only being a commoner. She also knew my father. Maybe she was involved with
Death God
……?)
People with no apparent links were connected by thin threads.
Mary hastily asked the village elder:
“Is there any connection between Miss. Luno and Miss. Stella?”
“No…… not that I can think of. Lady Luno lived quietly in a corner of the village.”
“Oh, I see……”
A thread that was just connected got quickly cut.
In order to meet Luno, Henry probably visited this village as well.
Maybe that was when he got acquainted with Stella.
But would that be enough to invite her to the royal castle and introduce her to Mary?
“Umm, it may be strange to ask a question like this, but…… Do I look like Miss. Luno?”
Luno and Mary resembled each other according to Yueri.
But Mary herself was not sure how much her words could be trusted.
The village elder stared at Mary’s face for a while, and, for some reason, laughed for just a moment before answering.
“You don’t, not even a little.”
“……I see. I wish I did.”
“Hahaha, you are very beautiful, my princess. Not any less so than Lady Luno.”
The transparent flattery did not even reach Mary’s ears.
“Could you show me photos and such, if that’s alright?”
“Unfortunately, Lady Luno hated such things. If you’re curious about her face, please view the statue at the center of the village.”
“Thank you. I will look at it later, then.”
For a place that was marketed as a tourist attraction in such a big way – though there did not seem to be many tourists – there were no traces of the person in question.
No, if Luno was against photos, perhaps it was by her own will that no traces remained.
Later on, Mary called Philias and returned to the inn after looking at the statue in the square.
She took as much time as possible while looking at it, but it did not resemble her in any way.