Chapter 7

◇◇◇◇

After completing the naming ceremony for Ruria, the archbishop left the duke's mansion and proceeded in a carriage.

"How detestable. A mere spare, not even the next king, and yet that young man—"

The archbishop vented his dissatisfaction with Graf, Ruria's father, who was not much younger than himself.

"Just a second prince! And yet, after losing the struggle for the throne and being given the title of duke, he's practically a subject now!"

"…To look down on the church like that."

That second prince was supposed to be neutral towards the church.

Yet, today, what did he do?

To protect a child with such terrifying red eyes and red hair! Such a child is a blasphemy against God by its very existence.

That's why I kindly offered to take in the ill-omened red-eyed, red-haired girl.

"But he… he had the audacity to glare at me!"

I won't let this go. I will use the full power of the Church of the One God to bring down that spare.

"To defy the church. You will regret it, you mere second prince—"

As the archbishop ranted alone in the luxurious carriage, it suddenly stopped. The four horses pulling the carriage were neighing.

"What's going on! Don't stop! Move!"

The archbishop shouted at the driver.

"Your Grace… there's something in front…"

The driver's voice was trembling.

"What? What is it?"

The archbishop peered out the window.

"What… what is that…?"

In front of the carriage was a black cow. It looked like an ordinary cow, but its size was extraordinary. It was at least twice the size of a horse.

"Try to go around it."

"The horses… the horses won't listen!"

"Isn't it your job to handle this—"

At that moment, a powerful shockwave hit the carriage. The carriage shattered as if defying the laws of physics.

The archbishop, who was inside, was thrown out of the shattered carriage and tumbled awkwardly. The movement was physically impossible, and it was clear that magic had been used.

But the confused archbishop did not think of magic.

"……What… what is this…?"

How long had he been unconscious?

When the archbishop opened his eyes,

"Buwooo…"

"Ah, aaaaah!"

In front of him was a gigantic boar, as large as a small hill.

The boar's impressive tusks had caught the carriage wheel. It seemed the boar had destroyed the carriage.

"I'll be eaten! Ah, God. God, please help me!"

The archbishop, acting like a proper clergyman, prayed to God while crawling on the ground to escape.

"Quack," "Hohoh," "Piiii—"

A large number of birds attacked the crawling archbishop. They grabbed his robes with their claws and lifted him to about his own height. The robes tore, and the archbishop was thrown to the ground.

"Bu… why, the birds, aaaaah!"

It wasn't just once. The birds repeatedly grabbed the archbishop's robes and lifted him, tearing the robes each time and throwing him to the ground.

"…God, …God…"

For the first time in his life, the archbishop truly prayed. After being lifted and thrown to the ground about fifteen times, the archbishop was finally completely naked.

This was also physically impossible. The robes should not have torn with just a little lifting.

It was clear that the birds were using magic.

But the terrified and confused archbishop did not think of magic.

Now, the archbishop had nothing to cover himself except his shoes. His body was covered in bruises from being thrown to the ground multiple times, his face was swollen, and his skin was torn, with several broken bones.

"God, God… please help this poor lamb."

The archbishop couldn't understand. Why the cow? The boar? The birds? He didn't understand the animals' purpose or why he was suffering like this.

While crawling away, naked and covered in blood, with his arms and legs bent in impossible directions,

"Ah?"

He bumped into a huge front leg with hooves.

"Ah!"

When the archbishop looked up,

"……"

There was a golden goat.

A giant goat, about three times the size of a horse.

Larger than the cow and boar he had just seen. Its twisted horns were about the height of a person, and its beard was about half the height of a person.

The goat slowly approached the archbishop, looking into his eyes.

In fact, this goat was a guardian beast. A guardian beast is a spirit that has a physical body. While the magic power of spirits is incomparably stronger, guardian beasts have physical strength and can influence the world with their own will, making them more powerful as individual combatants. In a way, the guardian beast was somewhat similar to Ruria, though Ruria possessed even more magic power than a spirit.

Incidentally, the cow, the boar, and the birds were also guardian beasts.

Staring into the eyes of this spiritual being,

"Ah!"

The archbishop, trembling with fear, could not look away from the goat.

His eyes were already swollen, and his vision was blurry, but he could see the goat clearly.

"……"

The majestic and enormous goat stared silently at the archbishop. At that moment, the archbishop received a divine revelation. Or at least, he thought it was a divine revelation.

"……Is this… the will of God?"

The archbishop felt he understood God's will through the goat.

The archbishop, in his early thirties, had the talent to become an archbishop. This talent was his affinity with spirits.

God exists but has no influence on this world. Therefore, almost all mystical phenomena in this world, including miracles, are caused by spirits. Ironically, the upper echelons of the Church of the One God were often filled with people who had a high affinity with spirits.

"The will of God… I understand, you wretched slave."

The guardian beasts were enraged when they heard from the spirits that the archbishop had insulted Ruria.

But the goat, an older and wiser guardian beast, calmly and gently admonished the archbishop.

"Do not mistreat Ruria." "Protect Ruria." "This is your duty and your destiny."

"…Yes. I will engrave the words of God in my heart."

While not comparable to Ruria, the archbishop had a high affinity with spirits. Therefore, he could vaguely understand the will of the goat, a guardian beast.

The will was not a clear, verbal message but a vague, ambiguous one. However, the archbishop, believing it to be a divine revelation in his fear and confusion, desperately tried to interpret it.

"Yes, yes. I will follow the will of God and not harm Lady Ruria. I will protect her with my life."

"……"

"…Thank you for giving me this revelation, even to a sinner like me."

The naked archbishop prostrated himself and kissed the goat's hoof.

◇

The next day, the archbishop, who had been severely injured in the forest, was found. From then on, people said he had changed. He became compassionate, kind to the people, and thoughtful. He no longer demanded bribes.

He began to claim that spirits were messengers sent by God.

And he secretly started to protect Ruria.

◇◇◇◇