Chapter 185 - Episode Twelve - Live Fogg (2)
It was the second day of their journey with the Three Levi followers of Augen, Sophia, and Kamla to find Live Fogg.
They were already approaching the mountain range, and the steep mountain roads continued.
It seemed that they were already getting very close to the territory on the side of the Riveras Nation.
Although the three of them do not have anything suspicious about them, but I still can’t afford to let my guard down.
I’m not sure about the internal power relations of the Levi Church or the connections between the followers, but it’s still Marias’ group that drove Lark to the point of hanging.
When I was on my way to the Pargas Village, I had no idea that I would be joining forces with the Levi Church and going on a frog-hunting trip in harmony with them.
On the surface, you can let your guard down, but you must not neglect to check to see if there are any people among these three who have come for the purpose of invading Palgas Village.
You can’t show you’re weakness carelessly.
“…………”
Yes, even if your legs are rattling, they must never know.
It’s okay. The harder it was, the more muscle strength it should be.
I’ve been moving around a lot since I came from the village, and I can’t help but feel that my sustained distance has increased quite a bit.
Mea made a small motion of her hand to signal me, then she whispered in my ear.
“That…… Abel. You look very pale. Isn’t it about time you took another break?”
“No…… but it’s already the third time today that we’ve stopped because of me, and…… It’s kind of, you know, i feel bad to everyone…… Because Nelgliffe-san praised me so high, it seems like everyone thinks highly of me…… And I don’t feel like I can show them how pathetic I am……”
After all, we humans want to live up to their expectations when we are praised.
I want to look good, too.
Besides, I remember being yelled at by one of the private army members for the same reason when I attached myself to Lark’s private army and went to defeat the magic beasts.
It wasn’t so much a trauma, but it stuck with me.
“B, but ……”
“I, It’s fine already…… because I can still go……”
“………… Yeah, yeah, but”
Suspicious of our whispering, the large man, Augen, approached us.
“What’s up, brother? What’s the matter with you?”
“Oh, excuse me, Augen-san! Um, I think my legs are getting a little tired, so I’m going to take a little break …… Mugu!”
I couldn’t help but seal Mea’s mouth with my hand.
If my followers cut me off at this point in time, that would be embarrassing, as if I was being sheltered.
I’m sure they’ll find out.
“It’s nothing, nothing! Don’t worry!”
“Re-, really……?”
It’s okay …… my feet should still be able to walk ……
In the worst-case scenario, I could use a demon or Ortem as a vehicle.
I don’t want to use it carelessly because it’s a bit embarrassing to be the only person using a vehicle, and because the demon belongs to Marias and could be suspected, but I don’t want to use it badly.
“Everyone, isn’t it time to take a break? Look…… It’s been a while since our last break, and ……”
Sophia suggested, with a slightly drawn-out smile.
“Pause, vacant ……? Ah, no …… ohhhh, that’s right too! Hey, Kamla, don’t you think so too?”
“………… Right.”
Both Augen and Kamla agreed with Sophia’s suggestion.
We’re being cared for with all their might.
I’m not sure if Augen is trying to mend the situation, but Kamla is either annoyed at being dragged into the situation or disgusted with me, and has a boring look in his eyes.
It’s called kindness just for not putting it into words.
“Um…… Can I ask you a few questions about that Nelgliffe-san?”
During the break, I thought that if I could ask about the inner workings of the Levi Church, I would want to ask them as well, and so I did.
Except for Nelgliffe, there were many tight-lipped members of the church, so it was difficult to gather information about this area, but I have a feeling that the three of them will be able to tell us what they know.
If Kamla is also prone to expressing his emotions to this extent, there is a high possibility that he is not an actor like Marias, but a pure Levi follower.
“Neloglife-sama is truly an amazing man! Not to mention the fact that as the High Priest, he was instrumental in uniting the country’s Church…… because he’s famous for being one of the most famous personalities in Levi Church!”
Sophia told me this as she blushed excitedly.
“The Riveras Nation was a country that was in constant conflict until Satelia-sama came to the papacy. …… There were many children who were very unattached. In such a situation, Nelgliffe-sama has been preaching the necessity of raising orphans in the church. Since Levi-sama’s vision, we have been driven into conflict for about five years…… But recently we have resumed our campaign to call on the country to take in as many orphans as possible in the church hall.”
Sophia wound up talking fast.
She has a haunting look in her eyes, and I’m beginning to feel like this is dangerous.
“I, I see. ……”
For now, as far as I’m concerned, I’ll just have to phase in the right way.
If I touch it poorly, I feel like I’m going to be buried in a land mine.
“Oh…… Then, um, Chloe-san is?. You know, the little girl next to Nelgliffe-san.”
“Chloe-sama was …… originally an orphan who was picked up by Nelgliffe-sama’s church hall. While Nelgliffe-sama was sent out into the conflict of conversion, he built up a track record as a priest and …… recently ran for the position he is in now by running for the position of assistant to Nelgliffe-sama. She may seem a bit sharp at first, but she’s a tremendously kind girl at heart.”
…… So there was a five-year period during which Chloe could have been subjected to a different ideology than that of Nelgliffe while she was away from him.
If you went up from the church hall and stayed with Nelgliffe as a Levi follower, I felt it was odd that the direction of the church was so visibly different.
At any rate, what I thought after listening to the story was that Nelgliffe was too popular and scary.
I was thinking that if he was neglecting Chloe, he might be a little too blunt, but by the looks of it, he could be naive, thinking that she was his student.
As for me, I want to hand over the main culprit, Chloe, to Lark, but that’s where I’m getting scared whether Nelgliffe might fight against me or not.
I’m sure he has quite a bit of skill in magic as well, around seeing through my magic skills at a glance.
Just like Marias, I’m sure he has a summoning crest to borrow magic power from Levi-sama or something.
To be honest, I don’t have much of a desire to lose a fight, but it would be difficult to hold the scene unscathed.
If you fall behind, you risk being caught by surprise.
“What’s the matter with you, brother, thinking so much like that.”
Augen laughs and slaps me on the back.
Damn, I shouldn’t take the pretense of being too suspicious.
“N-, no, I’ve been wondering about because we don’t get much information about the Riveras Nation, even though it’s a neighboring country…… It was a terribly interesting story.”
“Abel-san, are you interested in Levi Church! Would you like to take this opportunity to join the Levi Church? Not that anyone would discriminate against you just because you’re from another country! The people in this village have all joined the Levi Church…… Some of them were attracted not to Levi-sama but to Nelgliffe-sama, though…… Even so, It’s no problem. Okay?”
Sophia moved her face closer, squeezed my hand tightly and enthusiastically.
She stared at me from point-blank range with her big, wide-open eyes, and I couldn’t help but look away.
“Hmm…… uh…… it’s not that It’s impossible…… but I guess it’s okay for now……”
Oh …… I tried to fool her somehow, but I may have accidentally stepped on a land mine.
“Levi-sama is the only god among the five great gods to live in the modern world, you know! He has returned to this world to correct the current state of religion, which has been conveniently bent by the powers that be, and to do the sincere good of the world! Aren’t you interested…… In what real goodness is what it should be and what to do about it!”
“…… Well, I would say that I might not want to think about that right now because I want to focus on looking for the Live Fogg?”
Sophia followed my averted eyes and leaned forward strongly, forcing me to make eye contact with her.
“Abel-san is…… helping us to save the people of this village that just happened to stop by, right? It’s not something you can do very often, which I think is very great thing to do! I would say I’m in the same position…… but if I hadn’t been led by Neroglyph-sama, I might not have come here even if I had known about the village’s predicament…… That’s why I have so much respect for Abel-san! So that …… is one of the aspects of my candidacy as its coterie this time. I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but …… it would be great to be able to pray to Levi-sama with such an Abel-san, and I think it would be a great thing, I, I……”
Oh no, this girl, she’s super scary.
What, I’m gonna sit with this girl the whole time until we complete the objective?
I think it would be easier to just enter the Levi Church and run away later.
“Calm down, Sophia! So-, sorry …… this girl is a bit of a, you know! Really sorry!”
Kamla grabs Sophia’s shoulder and pulls her off me.
“Why are you interrupting me, Kamla-san! I was just explaining to Abel-san how wonderful Levi’ Church is……!”
“Can’t we talk about this another time? Okay? Right now, as brother says, we should focus on finding Live Fogg. Okay?”
“Even Augen-san……! That’s why I just wanted to tell Abel-san how wonderful Levi Church is! I’m not forcing him to do anything……!”
G-, good, I’m glad these two have proper common sense.
If they were Sophia types too, I would have been swept away and turned into a Levi follower for sure.
Kamla, I’m sorry that I thought you were a bit of a jerk.
Thank you for taking the initiative to stop her.
Sophia’s arm, which is being held by Kamla, reaches out to me.
I managed to avoid it thanks to Mea holding my arm from the side and shifting my body slightly to the side.
The Marrens are spirit-worshipping and at best pray to their ancestors, so please don’t talk about that.
“A, Abel isn’t interested in that sort of thing! Please stop!”
Mea intimidates Sophia.
Sorry Mea, I’m really sorry I’m the type of person who can’t say no clearly.
“…… Abel …… you definitely can’t trust that girl. There’s no doubt that she’s part of Chloe’s group.”
Mea comes over and whispers this as she glares at Sophia.
…… Just because the dedicated followers aren’t necessarily Chloe’s faction doesn’t mean that they are ……
It’s hard to say what it is now that we can barely see the overall picture of the internal factions of Levi Church in the first place.