✦ ✦ ✦
We left Serena behind and rode down the narrow path with Zesta at the reins. So far, things were going pretty smoothly. Without a certain someone to cause trouble, everything was going great. Except…
“Hey, Gramps. It’s great that you’re driving us and everything, but you’ve been breathing pretty heavily for a while now, and it’s beyond uncomfortable.”
Yeah. Everything except the relentless panting from beside me.
“Fret not. It’s merely a biological phenomenon.”
“My ass! It never stops with you, does it? Hang on… What’s that?” I was drawing away from Zesta, wondering what I would do about the old fart, when I noticed a dark shadow ahead of the carriage. It was still a ways off, but when I used my Second Sight skill to get a good look at it…
“Ugh, it’s a manticore. Let’s take a detour, Gramps. I know there was a side street on the way here. Let’s go around that way.”
Ahead of us stood a manticore, a creature that had left me with substantial trauma once. It was a powerful beast with a poison stinger in its tail, and it would try to stab you in the butt with it. This monster, which you might call a natural enemy of mine, gazed at us from a distance. Was it already too late to run away…?
I was desperately trying to think of a way out of this, but Zesta said, “No, we’ll go straight ahead.”
“Are you nuts? That thing is the worst kind of bad news. I don’t know how strong you are, Gramps, but…”
Zesta didn’t so much as slow down. In fact, he picked up speed, clattering straight toward the manticore. “Now, you shall witness the power of an Axis disciple. A manticore is hardly worth a second glance.” Okay, he talked a big game, but…
“Huh? Look, do you understand the most dangerous thing about a manticore? It’s gonna try to stab you with that stinger. One of those things almost made me an adult.”
For some reason, Zesta’s eyes started to shine like a child’s. “Ah, divine consummation! Surely this is the will of the gods!”
“Excuse me, what? Darkness is the only pervert we need around here.”
“J-just a second, Kazuma… Something about the way you said that makes me feel…a certain type of way.” Darkness must have had some sense that she was a pervert, because she was looking at Zesta with a conflicted expression, and her voice wouldn’t rise above a mumble.
“It’s all right, Kazuma. This man’s humanity may be one matter, but his abilities as an Arch-priest are unquestionable. I can vouch for them.”
“Really…? Well, if you say so, I guess I’ll trust him…”
As we got close enough that we could make out the manticore without any special skills, the monster’s eyes met Zesta’s for just an instant.
“……Gulp.”
“?!”
When the manticore saw how Zesta swallowed heavily as their eyes met, it got a look of severe distress on its face and flew off.
“Oh! It ran away!” Zesta exclaimed.
“What the hell?! Why would a manticore flee?!”
Zesta watched the monster go with a look of grief. “The Axis Church permits any kind of love, so long as it’s not with a demon or an undead. As the most important person in the Axis Church, I am an evangelist of love. I give love to all equally, including even magical creatures. Of late, though, they all seem to run away the moment our eyes meet…”
“They always run away?! Just how hated are you? Nothing’s off the table for you, huh, Gramps?!”
Even the Demon King avoided Axis believers. Now I thought I knew why.
While I was busy being shocked, I heard what sounded like a very out-of-place conversation behind me.
“Look, Darkness, there are Blue Crabs over there engaging in mating activity. I believe the way they grab each other with their pincers is an expression of affection.”
“G-gosh, really? But, um, Megumin, why bring that up now?”
I looked back to find Megumin gazing out the window, a distant look in her eyes. “Hey, you can’t throw me off that easily! You said you vouched for this old fart! Go back to Arcanletia and get us someone different right now!”
“I said I vouched for his abilities as an Arch-priest; I specifically disavowed any comment on his humanity! And I would be just as happy for a replacement as you, if I thought we could get one!”
“If both of you feel you must continue to argue, then I have an idea. It would be a simple matter for me to stay the mouths of a young man and woman with my own lips.”
Zesta’s threat got us to shut up immediately.
He actually looked a little deflated and mumbled, “As an Axis disciple, I hope and pray constantly…that one day, peace may come to this world…and then every distinction, including between tribes and even between men and women, might disappear…”
“Yeah, that sounds great. I might even agree…if it wasn’t you saying it!”
Were all Axis believers like this?! When we caught up with their leader, I was gonna give her a piece of my mind!