Chapter 573 An Oracle from Ninril-sama
Gumihou: It was a little draggy… made it less draggy~~
I announced my presence at the door of Ninril-sama’s church and a kindly-looking elderly priest with greying hair came out.
“Yes, may I help you?”
His kind smile turned a little stiff at the sight of Fer and Grandpa Gon.
Well, that’s a pretty normal reaction. I quickly introduced myself, “Hello, I am Adventurer Mukouda and I am on a pilgrimage. I am visiting all churches in the capital to make donations.”
As expected, the words ‘pilgrimage’ and more importantly, ‘donations’ caused an immediate change in his countenance. The stiff expression warmed into a grin and he said, “Goodness, how wonderful!”
“Um, does this place have an orphanage attached to it?”
“Yes, the Royal Capital is the centre of the country, so we have orphans come from all over the place. Children are the treasure of the future, so we must do our best to support them in their early years. We do try to accept as many children as possible.”
[1] Hmm, looks like even Ninril-sama’s tiny church has an orphanage. Wait, just how many orphanages have I encountered already? Moreover, all of them were ‘full’? Just what the heck is wrong with this world?!
“Goodness, are there really that many orphans? Isn’t this world a little dangerous for adults to simply die and… wait, how did the children get here?!”
[1] “Ah,” the priest looked a little awkward. “Well, as you know, not all children are born into families that could properly support them, but, well, parents will do their best to send children they could not afford to bring up to orphanages at the Royal Capital, since they would have the best opportunity here…”
“I- I see, erk-!”
I was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected pressure on my head.
“Oi!”
“…Fer-san, could you please get your paw off of my head?”
“I have just received an oracle from Ninril-sama.”
“What the heck-? Could you at least say ‘excuse me’ instead of stepping on my head like this?”
“”An oracle from a goddess~?! Wow, Fer received that!?”” Dora-chan was fluttering around Fer, being all excited. “”Why do you get to receive an oracle?””
“Mu, that’s because I am a disciple of Ninril-sama. Therefore, I can receive oracles from her.”
“Goodness~ a real oracle from a goddess~”
Even Grandpa Gon sounded impressed. Personally, since I talk to the gods and goddesses all the time, I was not at all impressed by this ‘oracle’.
No comment from Sui since she was still napping on Grandpa Gon’s head.
“Ninril-sama orders me to heal that child’s eyes,” Fer gestured at a child who was hiding just behind the priest. She was clinging to the priest’s white robes and had been so quiet that I had not noticed her at all.
““Do goddesses give divine oracles just to heal a single person?”” asked Dora-chan.
“Hmm, can’t say, I have never experienced this,” said Grandpa Gon.
[2] “Excuse me,” said the Priest. “Um, I could not help overhearing this, but… did Fenrir-sama receive an oracle from… Ninril-sama?”
“Looks like it,” I said as I leaned down to have a closer look at the child. “Priest-sama, this child’s eyes…”
“Oh yes, this is Anabelle. She just turned five this year. Her village was attacked by monsters and her parents died at that time.”
“Ah, I see,” I was starting to get a glimmer of why there were so many orphans and orphanages. These children were born to ordinary people living in ordinary villages, trampled by monster attacks… surely this is some kind of social issue in this world? Why is nothing being done about this?
“…a survivor from the same village brought her here about three months ago. Fortunately, the village was mostly intact, but they did not have the resources to support a blind little girl…”
Which was why she was sent here.
How pitiful…
“Hey, didn’t I already say that Ninril-sama had just sent down an oracle to me? Her disciple?”
“Oh, oh my, Fenrirs-sama is the disciple of the great Ninril-sama! The Great Goddess of the Wind!” the Priest had this worshipful look on his face that I had to struggle not to smile at.
“Umu,” Fer nodded regally, accepting the praise as though it was perfectly natural for him to be worshipped.
Tch.
“I received an oracle from Ninril-sama to heal this child’s eyes.”
“Oh, oh, an oracle from the Great Ninril-sama~”
“That’s right, as the vassal of Ninril-sama, I sometimes received oracles from the Great Goddess of Wind herself.”
Tch, look at that big pile of fur puffing out his chest like that.
[3]
“And? How are you going to heal the child?” I asked. I was genuinely curious since I had never seen Fer heal anyone or anything before.
“U-umu…”
“Fenrir-sama…” the Priest was staring at Fer with sparkling eyes.
I folded my arms and waited expectantly.
Suddenly a voice screeched in my mind.
““H-hey! Why are you not doing anything?! Just look at how pitiful that child is! You need to heal her immediately!””
My head throbbed as though I had been hit on the head. “What the…”
“”What are you messing around for? Just use one of your Slime’s elixirs! You have loads of them, right? Just use it, just use it!!””
What. The. Hell.
[3a] Wait, this voice… are you trying to score worship points through me?! This Deplorable Goddess, so this is your true intention…
“”O-of course not! As the goddess of this church, it is my duty to take care of my people. As the one I have granted Blessing (small) upon, it is your duty to assist me in dispensing aid to my people!””
Tch. What a great talker.
Even so, I have nothing against helping a child in need, even though I am low on Sui’s special elixir since most of it had been used up to make [Divine Medicine-Hair Power], I still have some with me.
There was really no reason for me to be stingy since I had loads of ingredients to make more, such as the blood and liver of Earth Dragon, the blood of Red Dragon, liver of Ice Dragon, not to mention the stuff from the Leviathan…
[3]
Hahh… that’s right, there’s no reason to withhold aid just because I was annoyed by the Deplorable Goddess.
I would rather live with the hypocrisy of doing a good deed from being coerced than of not doing good just to prove a point.
“”Hey! Who is coercing you?!””
Ignoring the voice in my head, I looked at the Priest again. He looked like the trustworthy sort, but one could never know…
I knelt in front of Annabelle and called her name, “Annabelle-chan?”
She turned to face in my direction, her cloudy eyes moving slightly, searching in the eternal darkness that had befallen her after the monster attack
“My name is Mukouda. I am an Adventurer. I have a medicine that could cure your eyes. The Goddess of Wind found out about this and asked me to heal your eyes with it.”
[3a] “”Oi! What’s with the ‘found out about it’?!””
“Goddess… of the Wind?”
A small voice whispered.
The Priest looked startled. “Goodness, this is the first time Annabelle has spoken since she came here…”
It looks like the shock of losing her parents and sight must have been too great for her. Well, we can’t bring Annabelle’s parents back, but we can at least restore her eyes.
“Will I… see again?”
“Yes, once you drink this medicine, you will see again,” I said, pressing the little bottle into her hand. I had bought some small bottles from this world to store Sui’s precious elixirs. It felt blasphemous to keep such valuable things in ordinary plastic bottles.
“Mukouda-sama, I fear that there is no hope for a cure. Not even Advanced Potions could cure this kind of blindness…”
“Oh, well, this is not an Advanced Potion, it’s… um, an Elixir,” I said sheepishly.
“Eh?”
“Umu, that’s right, this is an Elixir. So, take it without worries,” said Fer smugly. As though he had anything to do with the making of the Elixir.
The Priest looked stunned.
“A-a-an elixir?!”
“Wait, Master has an elixir?” Grandpa Gon was similarly as shocked as the Priest.
“”Oh, yeah, you wouldn’t have known this before, but Sui could make these medicine things called ‘Elixirs’,”” said Dora-chan smugly.
““Ahem, let’s keep all talk of elixirs under telepathy, everyone.”” I said a little nervously. “”But yes, we found a bunch of healing mushrooms a while back and Sui created all kinds of potions and elixirs with them. Sui is an exceptional, Slime.””
That’s right, Sui is not just strong. She is a miraculous Slime who could also create elixirs.
“Sir, if I drink this, I can see?” asked a quiet voice.
“Ah, yes. Hold on, let me open it for you first.” I said as I removed the stopper and helped guide the lip of the elixir to her mouth.
Anabelle swallowed the elixir with an audible gulp. A little while later, her entire body started to glow white.
Then…
“How do you feel, Anabelle?”
“I- I can see uncle’s face!”
Gah!
What uncle?!
Please call me elder brother instead!!
““Ahem, child of mine, can you hear my voice?””
“C-c-could this be, the Great Goddess of Wind, Ninril-sama!?”
“G-goddess of the Wind!!”
Oh, it looks like I’m not the only one hearing Deplorable-sama’s voice now.
““Indeed, tis I.””
“G-goddess!!”
The priest fell to his knees with his hands folded together. Anabelle also did the same.
“”Listen well, o child of mine. I have watched your work from the heavens above and seen your pain. Thus, I have decided to bestow mercy upon you through my Fenrir, who just happens to cross this path.””
“We thank you for your benevolence!”
“We thank you!”
“”The Adventurer Mukouda is also under this goddess’ protection. Know you what would happen should you breathe even a word how you happen upon the elixir?””
“We will never tell!”
“Never!”
Haha… just what kind of comedy show is happening here?
A priest is prostrating and calling out to the heavens, and a little girl imitating his every word and action…
“”As for you!””
Wait, me?
“”That is correct. What happened to the monthly offerings?!””
Ah. I have forgotten.
That said, if my calculations are correct, I’m only late by a day or two…
“”Even so, it is too late! This is a serious matter! Make the offering right away!!””
Geez, stop yelling at me.
“”Tsk, this person has clearly forgotten all about my sweets. Hear me, o mortal! Receive my oracle! It is a sin to forget about this great goddess’ desserts!””
Woah, Ninril-sama is really angry.
Wait, was this oracle a roundabout way to remind me to give you sweets?
“”H-how can it be?! It is a ploy to increase my number of followers! I am merely using you and your elixirs to create miracles so that I have more followers!! Anyway, hurry up or you will receive oracles from the other gods and goddesses!””
Goodness, she went with that lame excuse to cover up her greed. How deplorable.
“”Sh-shut up! What’s so bad about wanting to increase my followers? Anyway, hurry up and give us our offerings or oracles from the others will come!””
[4] Hmm, I wonder what Creation God-sama would say if you guys kept pushing me like this…
[4] Ah, what’s with this conspicuous silence?
[4] As expected, it was worth paying the weekly protection fee- I mean, weekly offerings to Demiurgos-sama.
Still, it was about time for me to hear out their requests. They would probably all complain about me being late, so maybe I could give them a little extra something. As for Demiurgos-sama… he was kind enough to let me set the offering times without bothering me, which is much appreciated.
Speaking of offerings, the priest and Annabelle were still kneeling and looking into the sky with dreamy eyes. I swear, his eyes became even more sparkly after I handed him a small sack containing 8 platinum coins.
While the man was still in a daze, I took the opportunity to slip away. As I was closing the door, Annabelle’s cute voice said, “Thank you so much, uncle.”
Little girl, I am not an uncle, okay?
Haah…
“Shall we return to the house?”
“Umu,”
“Yes, I’m getting hungry… what is for dinner tonight?”
“”Food!””
“Right, right, so what do you want for dinner?”
“MEAT!!”
“”Meat~?”” Sui wobbled and seemed to grow more energetic as she woke up from her little nap on Grandpa Gon’s head. “”Eat~?””
“Yes, Sui. We’ll go home and eat meat tonight.”
“”Yay~~””
[Gumihou: Rearranged the ending]
[1] Let’s have Mukouda question the ‘general practice’ of this world
[2] Issue of telepathic talk and non-telepathic talk as well as coordinating the scenes to make them less repetitive.
[3] Author missed out on the timing for this very excellent comedic point, but that’s okay, Gumi is here to support you!
The original was Mukouda being pushed around by Fer and Ninril, which is kind of unlikely since Mukouda would not allow himself to be pushed around by someone he called ‘Deplorable-sama’ to her face (figuratively speaking)
[3a] Give Deplorable-sama a reason for this sudden ‘oracle’ instead of just as a ‘side quest thingy’
[4] Change the whimpy yes-man attitude to something more ‘hmm, I wonder what Demiurgos-sama would say…’ after all, this guy had been paying protection fee in the form of weekly saké, so it makes sense to invoke his name at this critical point
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