Resolution and Role

 

Dimly lit room. On the other side of the light source, the tip of one’s outstretched hand is only dimly visible. The light is very minimal.

Two shadows face each other, sitting on a sofa across a table with such a small amount of light. There are signs of some people lurking in the surrounding darkness, but they cannot be seen.

“… You have successfully made contact with the angel through the messenger, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I didn’t think that Al-dono himself was an ‘apostle’, though. I thought he would know something, but I never felt any goddess power. Still, it was definitely Al-dono who brought the angel.”

Daryl. The ‘Divine Son’ and one of the main characters, ‘A Hero’.

“I see. I don’t know much about the angel or that Lord Al, but I’m sure things went according to the ‘oracle’ that said. “The angel will give you power. Right?”

“… I would like to know more about this. What exactly is this oracle? Although I am not an ardent believer in the Goddess, I still have faith in her. I do intend to follow the Divine Goddess Elinora’s revelations. I just don’t intend to become a ‘Yes man’ to the Kingdom and the Church and die. Or going to sacrifice Cecily….”

Daryl found out.

That he is being treated as a puppet. Not only from the kingdom and the church. But also by the goddess.

The ‘hunches’ he has had up to now. They are not strictly good or bad. They are merely a compass for the oracle. Daryl’s own safety is taken into account, but his ‘personal wishes and happiness’ are not included.

“Hm… Daryl. I feel the same way.”

The shadow facing him.

Ariel Dunstable, Marquise of Dunstable.

Fiancée of His Highness Prince Adam. One who made the acquaintance of The Oracle’s Divine Child at an early age.

And the one who searching for the way to free the Divine Child from the God’s, Kingdom and the Church’s Clutches.

She also knew. She knew what would happen to The Divine child’s. And, Ariel’s answer is ‘No’.

“And So? Daryl. What did you receive from the angel?”

Another voice comes from the darkness, away from the light source.

A monster lurking in the darkness, a monster beyond mankind.

Daryl and Ariel do not even glance towards the voice spoken to them, as if it were a matter of course.

Do not look at its true form.

“…not me. The angel dwelled in Cecily. She told me to ‘keep refining my power as it is’. Also, ‘To balance the power of the Divine Child’. She seemed to have decided that Cecily needed help at the moment. Cecily was oblivious, but…”

Daryl could clearly see the angel. He spoke with her in a kind of telepathic communication.

Eventually, she herself disappeared into Cecily, and after that he couldn’t feel any sign of her at all, and that was the end of it.

The only thing that is certain is that Daryl made contact with the angel through the Apostle Al.

“The balance of power of the Divine Child, you say! No, it’s not! The power of the Goddess itself is stronger in women. Perhaps there is another intention. Hm. The minions of the cunning goddess.!”

Claire of Sloth. A non-human imitation of an elf.

Only its red eyes float dimly in the darkness.

Daryl and the others do not see her. They must not see her. Only ‘contractors’ can see her now and be safe.

“Claire-sama. There is a time limit…”

Victor, the contractor, stands by Claire’s side. Also, a non-human follower.

“Huh. Even after all this year’s, you’re still the same boring as a day 1, Victor. Oh, well. Listen, Daryl the Divine Child. The oracle itself is one thing, but what concerns you is rather what comes afterwards. I’ll tell you what you want to hear.

As it is, after you and the woman have fulfilled your mission as stated in the oracle, you’ll either be kept by the kingdom or the church for nothing, or you’ll be dealt with. Hmm. Well, it can be said that those are also the price for the games of the goddess and the god of the netherworld.

If you want to avoid that, obey. I’ll make sure that the kingdom and the church won’t be able to touch you.

Uh, don’t ask questions of me now. Don’t disobey. Don’t look. I’m sorry, but I can’t have a contract with you (divine child). You don’t have to believe me, but I am also bound by the ‘oracle’ to the gods. I cannot lie as the price for exercising my “contract”. And because I need a price when I wield my power, I can’t move directly on rare occasions. Victor. You deal with the rest.”

“… Huh. I understand”

With those words, the presence lurking in the darkness can be felt to recede. Not just one or two. All the writhing darkness has withdrawn at once.

Thanks to the loss of the presence of the enormous outlaws, even the darkness, which should have been unlighted, seems to have lost its colour. That is how Daryl felt.

Those who remained in the darkness. The representatives of those who left.

Footsteps approaching the light source from the darkness. An elderly man appeared as if ripping open a black curtain. Victor, the squire. His eyes are red and bewitching.

“Lord Daryl and Marquise Ariel Dunstable. I tell you both once again, Claire-sama’s words do not lie. In other words, if things go on as the oracle, the priest (Cecily)will die an unfortunate death. It is not as an oracle, but by the will of the Kingdom and the Church.

Lady Clare was said to be the price for the play of the goddesses, but that part remains unclear. That was not a lie, but Lady Clare is also prejudiced. Don’t let it drag on too much.

Anyway, Claire-sama does not approve of proceeding with things according to the intentions and oracles of the goddesses and the god of the netherworld. In that respect, I think we see a conflict of interest, don’t we?”

Daryl doesn’t know it in the first place, but right now Victor is not like he usually is. The atmosphere and mana he exudes are clearly non-human. He is Claire’s servant.

“I don’t want Cecily to die. If that’s the case, I’ll cooperate with what Claire-dono and the others call “breaking free from the rule of the gods”. You, too, need the cooperation of the god’s side, don’t you?”

Daryl.

He is willing to sacrifice himself in times of need for the greater good or for his friends and loved ones. However, he would never allow Cecily to be sacrificed at his expense. Even if she accepts it, he won’t.

A straight-up idiot. His very nature remains the same.

“Sir Victor. I am more prepared than ever before. I will not let Cecily die. I will take her life back from the goddesses. And I will remove the kingdom’s plague (Nobles) and corruption.

Already my father, the Marquis of Dunstable, is also working on this. Several noble families, including Lord Olcott, and cooperation has also been sought from a faction of the demon clans that lurk in the East. If the kingdom and the church adhere to the oracle, we will take its courses and thrust our swords into the pusillanimous monster that is McBryne…!”

Ariel Dunstable, Marquess of Dunstable.

Her life was saved by Cecily when she was a child. That is, by the power of the divine child.

At first, it was just a longing. It was a honour and a privilege to be in the presence of the Divine Child.

But over time, Ariel learns more and more about the Divine Child of the Oracle. The kingdom and the church’s schemes. What will become of Cecily and Daryl.

A thousand years of prosperity? Forcing sacrifices on the Divine Child? And with the kingdom as it is now?

There is no way she can tolerate such a thing.

She may be a metropolitan noble, but she is a person who has the true spirit of nobility in her veins. She cannot pardon the “current state” of the kingdom, which allows the barbarism of the aristocracy to go unchecked. She who desires the peace of her people.

However, Victor only nodded emotionlessly, as if he had expected such a situation from the two of them.

“… Yes, sir. Now let’s talk about the future. And, before that, Lord Darryl. It’s about Apostle Albert. It seems that Claire-sama is still somewhat fixated on him, but he is not important to our future movements. But just in case, he is a piece to be left for the divine child Cecily-dono. I ask you to keep your distance from him because of the uncertainty.”

“…to leave him for Cecily?”

“I’ll tell you all about it at later, Lord Daryl.”

The other side of the capital. It is not only the aristocracy of the capital who are friends of the Dark Sedition. There, outsiders lurk and stir.

Daryl and Ariel take a step towards the goal they both hold in their hearts, a step that cannot be taken back to a time when they were separated from each other.

However, the non-human monsters do not know the “reality” of the goddesses’ intentions and positions. They just think they know how this world works.

Even the elf-like leader of the group has made a definite mistake about the meaning of the “oracle” and what it is intended to do.

It is not only Daryl and Ariel. The wriggling outsiders are after all just puppets in a box.

The goddesses even expect them to move so as well.