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THE sound of knocking on the door jolted me awake.
“Holy Woman! Holy Woman! My apologies for approaching you so early! And…good morning!”
“Wha…?” I groggily responded.
The lady knocking on my door was Muje—she was in charge of cleaning the third floor. She had an interest in medicinal herbs and helped me with tending to my garden. She was especially passionate about cooking herbs and occasionally tried to make variations of my recipes.
What’s got her so worked up? I don’t think I overslept that much. If I did, Jiril and Mirage would have woken me up…
“I’ll be right out!” I called. “Did something happen?”
“Well, you see…! The worshippers from De Marl are here and they’re now forcefully trying to convert us to their faith… Some people have already been hurt!”
“Seriously?!”
How did that happen?!
I hurriedly changed out of my sleeping gown and did my hair. Once I confirmed my long ears were hidden, I opened the door, where I found Muje standing there with a pale expression.
“Oh, Holy Woman! The knights are trying to fight back, but it’s awful!” she cried.
“I can’t sort that out by myself!” I responded. “Let’s stop by the dining hall and have Jiril and Mirage come with us!”
“Understood!”
We found Mirage and Jiril having leisurely morning tea and had them follow us. It was all happening in the plaza in front of the gate. The same believers that’d argued with Air the other day were back and grappling with the De Marl knights.
Wait… Why are De Marl believers fighting knights from their own country? I was confused.
Knights from other countries were trying to tear the believers off the De Marl knights. But these grown men were thrashing around like outraged children, their faces even contorted in tears and snot.
Just looking at them is painful!
“For now, let’s separate them, yeeees?” Mirage suggested.
“Yes! Please!” I nodded.
Jiril and Mirage moved in to help the knights. When Mirage restrained them and asked why they were doing this, they shouted that it was to make the creator deity Air acknowledge the Gods of De Marl.
“But Air wouldn’t acknowledge them even if you do thissssss,” Mirage said. “All other gods but him aren’t real anywayyyy.”
“Shut up! The Gods of De Marl are real, and we can prove it! We’ll have the creator deity acknowledge them! And even if they aren’t real, our faith in them will make them real!”
You’re talking crazy!
I looked up to the sky in exasperation. What if Air heard them?
“See, it’s just like I said.” I suddenly heard Air’s voice in my head.
“Ah?!”
To be precise, I didn’t hear it coming from my head. But rather from the Spherit Stone in my forehead, which contained the Stella.
“Faith is a troublesome thing,” Air continued. “Once humans drown in it, they become willing to cast their lives away for it. At that point, you can’t even call them human anymore.”
“Air, what are you say—”
Air was clearly displeased. But there was a hint of amusement in his voice, too. Then I started getting a bad feeling and I saw the believers start to turn black and not just their skin. Their blood vessels stuck out with a black sheen, and it looked like they were turning to rubber.
This is the moment…when people turn into monsters!
“Let go of theeeem!” Mirage cried. “They’re turning into monsteeeeers!”
“Eeek!” a knight cried.
“But why?!” shouted another. “The Holy Woman is right there!”
The Stella and I were right next to them, but they weren’t being purified. They were turning into monsters. How can that be?!
The black matter that was growing over their skin in bumps was Camilla. Their faith had made the Kathra within them evolve into Camilla, turning them into monsters.
I realized then what had happened. The creator deity, Air, had set a new rule. He’d designated the Gods of De Marl as evil. I understood why he did that. But even so, the thought of people right in front of me becoming monsters was something I couldn’t accept! I didn’t know if Air was going to forgive these people, but I wasn’t going to stand by and let them turn into monsters.
“A-Air, the one, true creator of this world! Show your mercy upon these lives!”
I brought my hands together in prayer. Since I’d met Air in the flesh the other day, I had a clear image of who I was praying to. And maybe that made all the difference, because the light that now shone from inside me was stronger than usual.
“Ah, uuugh, aaghhh… Ghaaaaa!” The half-transformed humans screamed as their transformations began to reverse.
“W-Wow…they’re healing…”
“Oooh! The Holy Woman saved them!”
They returned to human form, gasping for breath. I suddenly realized what Air’s true intentions were. He’d done this to clearly show his rejection of the Gods of De Marl, making those men feel his will on their very flesh. He’d also done this knowing that I would save them and that they—and all others assembled—would turn their faith towards…me.
Was I still uncomfortable with being worshipped? Absolutely! But I reckoned it was better than people worshipping nonexistent gods and turning into monsters as a result.
“W-We were…about to become…monsters…?” one of the men asked, gasping. “But why?!”
“The great Air passed down his verdict and deemed your faith in the Gods of De Marl blasphemy, mmm,” Jiril said.
“You must understaaaaand nowwww. There are no gods but Air himselffffff,” Mirage hissed.
“Ngh, th-that’s not… It can’t be— Gha?!” the man stammered, trying to cling to his faith despite everything, only for his skin to suddenly start turning black again.
“No! Stop!” I shouted.
I brought my hands together and prayed to Air again. Bright light issued from me, purifying the believer. But then something strange happened. Normally, the light only came from the Spherit stone on my forehead. But this time, the believer himself started…glowing.
What’s going on? This has never happened before!
“Ugh, aah… Huh? Aaah… I… I’m… Aaah!! Aaaaaaah?!” the man started screaming.
“What’s wrong?!” another man asked him, alarmed.
“Holy Woman, what’s happening to him?!” Jiril asked.
“I don’t know!” I said.
The believer shined like he’d just been directly hit with the Stella and fell to the ground, cradling his head. His skin changed back to its regular color. He looks like he’s back to normal…so why is he acting like this?
Two figures suddenly came towards us—Renge and Lord Revireus.
“Good morning, Tina. What’s with all the ruckus?” Renge asked.
“Hey! I sensed some monsters. Did something happen?” Revireus looked around suspiciously.
“Renge! Lord Revireus! Good timing!” I called out.
Honestly, I wish you’d gotten here sooner!
I quickly explained the situation to Renge, who looked both perplexed and annoyed.
“Air must’ve done this…” he realized. “He has a shorter temper than you’d think.”
“Yes…but something’s weird with my Stella… What are we going to do? Is this man acting like this because of me?”
“Well…” Renge said simply, “the Stella isn’t something people are meant to be exposed to in such rapid succession. Tina, you have to remember it was a power that Air gave Akari because he found her worthy. But normally, its purifying powers are too great for any human or demi-human psyche. The only reason you can contain and use its power is due to the Spherit stone in your forehead serving as its vessel.”
“O-Oh…” I responded lamely.
Yes, I remember that now…
“So if you keep showering a human with the Stella’s power, of course, it’ll affect their defenseless psyche. Why did you use it on him so much?”
“Well… They all started turning into monsters right in front of me and I…I panicked…” I said weakly, clenching my trembling fists.
“This is their fault. We told them over and over again that worshipping false gods can lead to them becoming monsters,” Renge said.
“Their faith was still strong enough to indirectly repel the Stella’s influence. I can see why the great Air was mad at them…” Revireus said pensively.
Both of them agreed I wasn’t responsible. Yet I still felt guilty for forgetting the Stella’s inherent danger and using it so recklessly. I never realized this could happen. The believer crouching in agony couldn’t even remember his own name now.
“Tina, don’t let it bother you.” Renge comforted me. “If you hadn’t used the Stella, they’d have become monsters and harmed people.”
“B-But…”
“Maybe…” he said soothingly, “it would’ve been better to let them become monsters and let the Stella purify them gradually? Try that next time, then. I’m sure you’ll meet others refusing to discard their faith…even if it means becoming a monster.”
Saying this, Renge looked at the other two believers, holding the one believer who was still squatting in agony. The two of them gulped audibly, then prostrated themselves before me, tears running down their cheeks.
“W-We’re s-sorry! We were so stubborn, we…”
“We-we apologize for ignoring your suggestion about the mascot characters, Holy Woman. Please let our Gods of De Marl persist in the world as mascots!”
“I don’t mind, of course,” I said with some relief. “You’re free to do that if you wish. If anything, I’m sorry for overusing the Stella’s power.”
“N-No, you don’t have to… What I’m trying to say is…please forgive us!”
The two men were now bowing so low, their foreheads were touching the ground.
Why are they doing this? Do they think I’m going to do something to them? You’ve all got the wrong idea!
“Your piety isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. But surely, you see now that the gods you’re worshipping aren’t worth angering Air over,” Renge said, kneeling in front of the distraught men. “If you must worship someone, let it be Air. He can be…relatively forgiving to those who worship him.”