At the time when Jin was settling one of the grievances in his chest.
There was one student moving with determination in this last free time.
The young man that has a connection with the church.
He has a big build but by no means gives off the impression of being intimidating, and just as his face expresses, he has a meek and gentle personality.
On top of that, because of the impression of his parents, he is thought of as an experienced Goddess believer, so, in other words, he has an incredibly good impression among adults.
However, the reality is that he is obedient and easy to sway. It is not like he has a particularly strong religious faith.
Even now in Tsige, he is heading to the church, not because of piety, but because he is easy to get caught in the flow.
Or more like, he didn’t have any noteworthy dreams as he lived his life.
He didn’t have any dreams that would make him want to ponder about this and that of his future, so he would let himself be carried by the flow because that was the easy way, entered the academy because that was the easy way, and thought of working at the church as his parents told him because it was the easy way.
“…”
He has arrived.
Considering the liveliness, scale, and momentum of the city, what was in front of Misura was a modest church.
He has changed.
The present him has a dream.
It is not like something highly illuminating has happened to him. It is simply that he met Yuno.
And he is going out with her.
A simple boy meets girl.
Well, his partner is the daughter of the prominent merchant of Tsige, Rembrandt. Yuno herself was an upstart and high up lady, giving the impression of a sheltered girl, so she was a woman very far apart from him.
So that’s exactly why Misura held a simple wish like wanting to do his best in Tsige together with Yuno.
He has already parted with the church internally.
Even when he came here like this today, his heart wasn’t swayed.
His last confirmation is done.
Misura turned around and walked a few steps, but he must have had something in mind, he faced the church once more, and then entered as usual.
There really are only a few who are coming and going from here.
(This place most likely only has few people who would pray to have their wishes come true.) (Misura)
At first, Misura was surprised by how there were a lot fewer people than he thought.
But after watching this city…no, this country every day while being inside of it, he understood it.
He learned that there aren’t many people here who rely on a god.
His parents suddenly popped in his mind.
People that place the Goddess as their support, and live for the devotion of their god as their pride.
They also declare that they survived the variant incident thanks to the Goddess.
That might have been the time when Misura began to hold clear doubts about the church and their believers.
At that time, Misura had fought the Variants together with Jin and the others.
Who knows what would have happened if their ability was lacking.
Even if the general situation wouldn’t have changed, he is sure that the amount of people that died from it has changed because of it.
There were countless situations like that.
However, for the experienced Goddess believers, it would mean that the Goddess sent them to that location.
He felt that was off.
It is okay to pray or make your faith the support for your heart.
However, is it really correct to assert that even the things you worked to your utmost effort were thanks to the command of the Goddess?
If you are in trouble, you should first do your very best with your own power.
Do everything you can, and if that’s not enough, you can pray to the Goddess.
But Misura’s parents laughed at that thought of his.
‘You still don’t understand how sublime the Goddess-sama is’, is what they said.
Basically, everything in this world was made by the Goddess, and the war currently happening must be something the Goddess set with some idea in mind.
‘That’s why, see? She gave the kingdom and the empire the heroes, right?’, they said.
(Then why did Elysion, that was the location of the head church, destroyed by the demons?) (Misura)
Misura thought any more would be a pointless battle, so he didn’t say anything, but that’s what he thought internally.
Depending on the region, there would be many different kinds of Goddess statues. In this land, it would be the form of a pure girl. Misura went on his knees in front of that statue, put both hands together, and offered a prayer.
A prayer of parting.
And yet, even though Misura has been praying a decent amount compared to others for more than a decade, and he is doing a prayer of parting here, the Goddess wasn’t even answering.
(Sensei said before: omnipotent gods are beings that can’t do anything. But the Goddess-sama seems to be moving for a lot of things, so she is not omnipotent. That’s why I thought that maybe…) (Misura)
It must mean that the change of heart of just one individual like him is nothing for her.
Then, it may not be a god, but he has the teachings of ‘them’ which is not that different for him, so he decided to live as he wishes, and that made his emotions brighter.
“Oh? If I remember correctly…you are the boy from the Academy Town. Your parents are pious believers.”
“!”
“Misura-kun, right?”
“B-Bishop-sama?!” (Misura)
“Fufu, it has been a while since I have been called Bishop. Former. I have already left the church.”
The one who spoke to Misura after coming out of the church was a woman with a scar on her face.
For Misura, that’s a familiar face in the Rotsgard Academy.
The highest post in the church of the aforementioned place, the Bishop.
Her languid atmosphere leaves a strong impression, but right now she is walking around the city under the light of the sun without a veil on.
“Shima-sama, you quit the church and came to Tsige?!” (Misura)
“Hm, yeah. To be more precise, it is easier to go to my workplace from here. Right now…I am doing a job called a bathkeeper.” (Shima)
“Bath…keeper?” (Misura)
Hearing the name of a job he is not familiar with, Misura tilts his head.
The Academy Town has a high population despite its size, and there’s a number of unique jobs that have been born to match the students, but he has no recollection of hearing about a bathkeeper.
“The surprising thing is that I am being paid more than when I was a Bishop, and getting a mountain of tips. A bathkeeper is…right, a job that watches over the health and aesthetics of the guests, I would say.” (Shima)
Shima had climbed all the way to Bishop, grew to dislike the church, and is currently working as a hot spring manager trainee at the Kuzunoha Company.
When she heard the word bathkeeper from Makoto, she liked it more than hot spring manager trainee, so she has proactively called herself bathkeeper instead.
It is not like she has been told to keep silent about it, but Shima has given herself the duty to keep silent about the guests coming to the hot spring, and so she won’t tell even Misura about the details.
Shima came here to find ingredients for her make-up products, came close to her old origins, and was seen by Misura.
“…Lingering regrets towards the church?” (Misura)
Misura muttered this while he was walking away from the church with Shima.
That had everything included in what Misura wanted to ask Shima.
“None. However, I won’t go as far as denying the religion. The heart of belief itself can save you and become your strength.” (Shima)
“I see.” (Misura)
In the eyes of Misura, Shima has followed the teachings and beliefs of the church far more than that of your average person, and should understand it more.
That’s why he asked this question.
And the response that came back was almost exactly as what he thought.
“Oops.” (Shima)
“?”
“It would trouble me if you were to take my words as an indulgence. I am currently just a poor bathkeeper.” (Shima)
“Yeah, I know.” (Misura)
“…I see, that’s a relief then.” (Shima)
“I am sure…the adventurer priests who are studying daily with their lives on the line are the ones who truly understand what faith is.” (Misura)
“Desiring an absolute form for belief is the entrance to the death of the church, you know, young boy.” (Shima)
“…! I will be careful.” (Misura)
“Hmm, right. You guys are in the middle of a school trip, right?” (Shima)
“Ah, yeah. Looks like you also know our circumstances pretty well too, Shima-sama…” (Misura)
“Of course. Lisa-sama and Grount-sama have been speaking about you people the whole time recently after all.” (Shima)
“I see, Lisa-san and Grount…-san, huh.” (Misura)
Misura had a flashback of the worst and most painful moment in the school trip.
The nailed bat lady that introduced herself as Gloria at the beginning easily revealed her true name being Grount after a while.
Misura didn’t have to suffer anything from Tomoe directly in the school trip, but instead, Grount took good care of him along with the other two.
The three of them including Misura won’t be able to forget the trial that Grount gave them -named Sandpaper Dome?- for the rest of their life.
Their vision was stolen by sand, and if they were to get hit and sent off 10 meters up, there would be rasps waiting for them.
(Aah, there’s no way anyone would be able to understand no matter what I say when they don’t know about that nightmare.) (Misura)
If Daena and Izumo weren’t there, just what kind of unreasonableness would he have faced? Misura couldn’t help but tremble.
Even though her appearance is truly that of a lovely lady, she was a drill sergeant not that different from Tomoe.
The attack power of the nail bat, being sent flying, cornered, had their meat scraped off by the ends of the dome; that fear, there’s no way they would be able to forget it even if they tried to.
When she looked at him and said ‘what a truly splendid sandbag’, Misura recollects just how much fear he felt at that time.
“Aah, I hope you are properly going out with the daughter of Lisa-sama, Yuno. Also, you had Grount-san look after your training, right?” (Shima)
“Ah, y-yeah.” (Misura)
“Right. We managed to reunite here, so I invite you to the hot spring, Misura-kun.” (Shima)
“Eh, hot spring?” (Misura)
“You still don’t have plans for what to do after, right?” (Shima)
“Ah, no, I don’t.” (Misura)
“…So it ended unexpectedly easily, huh.” (Shima)
“!”
“Judging from your expression, I noticed immediately that you were the same as me.” (Shima)
Same.
It meant separation from the church.
Finally Misura went ‘I understand now’.
The reason why Shima spoke to him.
She must have been worried about him.
She had seen through him since the very beginning.
“You are the man that might become a future executive of the Rembrandt Company, so it might not be bad to make you feel indebted to me. I am a calculative woman.” (Shima)
“…If you had been a Bishop at Rotsgard from way back before, I might not have had a change of heart. Thank you very much.” (Misura)
“Oya, is the one there Gro…Gloria-sama? Obviously, I can’t go as far as allowing mixed bathing, but I shall speak to her.” (Shima)
“…Eh?” (Misura)
“Gloria-sama! Are you shopping?!” (Shima)
Leaving aside Misura who was faltering at the name and figure of Grount, Shima ran off with far more liveliness than the time when he met her as a Bishop.
“…”
Misura felt as if his back had been changed.
Today, even if it was easy, he had been reborn.
Misura had decided that, after graduation, he would definitely come back here again. And then chased after Shima.