“The royal capital is surely regretting the loss of such a talented yet insufferably poor conversationalist.”
“Ha ha ha, they don’t have it nearly as bad as the Frontier Alliance having a brat like you managing it, so don’t worry too much.” We laughed and exchanged our usual jabs at one another. Okay, this is the real Father Folke. Unfortunately, it really was him.
“Ah, no, really, why are you here, Father Folke? Is your head okay?” I asked.
“Hey, hey, don’t start being actually worried about me now.”
I mean, you went to the royal capital to pursue your dreams. Why are you back here? If you don’t follow your dreams, you’ll die. You’re a defective organism—you have to go back. Gill-breathing organisms can’t survive on land. You must quickly return to the depths of the ocean!
“Well, I mean, there’s a lot to it...” Father Folke responded.
“Oh, something like the royal capital being destroyed in a freak natural disaster?”
“Obviously not...” The disgruntled priest grumbled something about how the Temple could not be destroyed that easily.
“I see. So there seems to be a pressing issue at hand,” I responded. Father Folke looked at me with a serious expression.
“I asked you about nanobots before, right?”
“Yes, one of the technologies from the early civilization.”
“Well, about that...” Father Folke lowered his voice and continued. “The three gods that the Church bases their teachings on...are man-made micromachines,” Father Folke said. Although defective, he had given many years to the Church.
I paused for a moment. “What?”
“The manuscripts I had from the early civilization were actually blueprints from many, many years ago. You’re aware that archeologists, historians, researchers, and many others have been saying for years that the late ancient civilization was destroyed by demons and the early ancient civilization was wiped out from overpopulation and famine, right?” In other words, civilization collapsed because overpopulation depleted their resources. I knew that. A lot of teachings within the Church discouraged greed.
“From those plans, it seems they were trying to restore their resources. I’m unable to follow the more minute details, but it seems that they spent hundreds of years trying to bring back the atmosphere, metals, and other materials with nanobots.”
“I see. With nanobots, that should have been possible.” It depended on the type of nanobot, but they were able to manipulate atoms and molecules directly. Therefore, they should have been able to restore their resources if they built nanobots specifically for that purpose.
“Fenrir was in charge of restoring metals, Yggdrasil was in charge of the atmosphere and the condition of the soil, and Phoenix was in charge of leading mankind—those three Gods were in fact once machines.” Father Folke outlined the results of his research. If this were true, the Church would fall into chaos. The organization would probably dissolve and become powerless.
“They are certainly dangerous findings...however, they have yet to be proven, right? The wolf god and the monkey god are one and the same, however, there is no mention of the dragon god, which points to the possibility that it was an entirely different being.”
“That could be the case. Even if I look further into that, I won’t be able to discuss my findings without first announcing them. If I come out and say, ‘By the way, the gods are actually man-made items just like wheat and pens,’ the Church will descend into chaos. There’s no way I can discuss it.”
Father Folke had no intention of continuing to research it on his own. Although, if he were on his own, he would probably be able to delve quite deeply into his research. As I was about to point that out, Father Folke snorted and puffed out his chest.
“I believe in my findings. In fact, if it weren’t for these new ancient texts that I wouldn’t even find in the Temple, I can’t imagine how long it would have taken me to uncover this.”
“I see. These findings are not just from one text, but from a variety of sources.”
“You know, I’m still a priest at heart. I’m not so easily convinced that I would just simply believe that the gods we worship are actually man-made creations.” Father Folke was hinting that he was not like me. What a horrible way of saying it. While he was ridiculing me, he looked up at the Sacula sky—a sight he had not seen for many years—with an invigorated expression. “Well, as a result, in order to stop my results from getting out, the head priest sealed them away, saying that the Church, and the people of this world, were not yet ready to learn about it. As a result, I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands.”
“You often have a lot of free time on your hands, Father Folke.”
If I were to take on his research, I would become a husk of my former self, just roaming the world blindly. That’s how Father Folke was back in Noscula, at least.
“Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I agreed with the head priest’s decision.” It seemed like the beloved idiotic researcher himself was becoming self-aware. It was a sage decision. He was indeed particularly skilled at managing the orphanage, but if that meant becoming the zombie priest all over again, it was for the best that he left. He had earned the right to breathe again.
“Well, in that case, we have plenty of orphans among the refugees. You should have plenty of work to do, but...would that be okay?” I asked. He looked refreshed, but I could not help feeling that by tomorrow morning, he would look like a corpse again. Father Folke nodded, putting my worries at ease.