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CHAPTER 3 – PRAYER AND BETRAYAL
PART 02
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If I’d stayed any longer in that room, the girls would probably have forced me to decide on who I wanted to sleep with.
Either way, it’d be best if I went for a walk. Maybe I’d even find a good spot to sleep.
“I think you should be more honest with your feelings, Rekka-san,” R sighed as she flapped her arms, swimming after me. “How about all three of you sleeping together?”
“Never.”
“Please. At least try next time, or my mission will never be successful.”
“Like I keep telling you, it’s not as easy as…Hmm?”
Chatting with R, I’d unknowingly reached a large room in a corner of the temple.
Entering the room, I found Tetra within.
“Tetra.”
“Oh, Rekka-san. What’s wrong? Can’t fall asleep?”
“No, it’s just that a problem has arisen that needs to be settled.”
“……?”
Tetra tilted her head to the side in confusion. She probably didn’t get it. In fact, neither did I.
I made my way towards the centre of the room.
“So, what is that?”
Standing next to Tetra, I pointed to the thing which she’d been gazing at when I entered the room.
Enshrined right in the middle of the room…was a statue of a goddess and a box.
The box was oblong, and resembled a casket without a lid. Decorated with ornaments and bolted to the floor, it seemed like it had been here since the beginning of this village. The statue of the goddess was holding a sword directly over it.
Since this was a temple, the presence of the statue felt normal…but the casket and sword made the monument slightly odd.
“This is another thing left to us by the gods. When we need to, we put food and clothes into this casket and pray, and the things within will multiply.”
“Really? That’s awesome.”
That definitely felt like a miracle worthy of the gods, together with the light that enveloped the underground village.
“Can I use it as well?”
“No. This was created by the gods for the use of the guardians, so it won’t work for anyone aside from Tetra and her people.”
That was just too bad. If only I could increase the amount of sweets and tea in my possession, maybe I wouldn’t be as exhausted as I’d felt these past few days.
Tetra continued to tell me more about the casket.
About how the people had competitions, seeing how fast they could coax the casket to multiply their things.
About how the casket had no limit, and as long as a person kept praying, the things inside would continue to multiply.
How Tetra’s ancestors had always guarded over the casket.
It seemed like she had gleaned all of these information from documents she’d read during her research.
“Once every seven days, all the villagers will gather in the temple and pray for the multiplication of essential items like food, water and clothes. It’s easy when there are lots of people praying together, and we can distribute the goods fairly.”
I guess it was different from the past, when anyone could just come and pray to gain goods for themselves.
Besides, it made waiting for a chance to pray to the goddess less of a hassle, and there was a lower possibility that they would run out of rations. As such, Tetra had come up with the rule that all villagers would meet regularly to pray for essential items and get their fair share.
“I guess it’s hard, being a village chief’s daughter,” I commented.
It was supposed to be a compliment, but Tetra cast her eyes down.
“If only the villagers can be more lively… When Tetra set the rule for everyone to come together regularly to pray, she’d hoped that it would foster a sense of community among everyone. However, it didn’t work as she’d hoped.”
Tetra sighed as she traced the edge of the casket with a finger.
“Tetra and her people are able to live well, thanks to this casket. Yet at the same time, it had stolen everyone’s will to strive hard, because everything we need, from food to clothes, are simply given to us with no effort.”
“…Isn’t there anyone in the village who can help you with this?”
Tetra shook her head.
“The village feels like it’s been steeped in billions of years of fatigue. It is no more than a village of living corpses. Even with the recent disturbance, aside from Tetra and a few of the younger villagers, nobody even paid it any attention. All the adults…even Tetra’s father, the village chief, saw no need for action.”
Tetra explained as she let out a soft sigh.
I wondered if Tetra had given up on getting the help of the villagers. Unable to garner any support, always striving alone… She must be so tired.
Then, feeling exhausted and alone, she must have wondered if the village would ever come to life again. She might have even given up…yet…
Wishing to save her beloved home, she had traveled above ground to seek our help.
Just then, a sudden thought came to me.
Was “Tetra’s story” really about defeating the “Monster of Haishin”? Well, if the “monster” was revived, it would destroy the village, and that was definitely not what Tetra wanted, but…
What Tetra really wanted was to save Ziz village, right?
Of course, that was just my own deduction. Tetra had said no such thing herself…but could it be that she couldn’t? Assailed by feelings of exhaustion and thoughts of giving up, maybe she just couldn’t bring herself to speak of hope any more… Maybe she’d unknowingly sealed away her own wish to be rescued?
And wasn’t it my duty to help rescue her from that?
Not that I knew how to.
But.
“Tetra’s really been striving so hard.”
“Rekka-san…But Tetra is still-”
“So I’ll help you out.”
“Huh?”
Tetra looked up at me, surprised.
That’s right, Tetra was tiny, and had to tilt her head up when speaking to me. Her calm demeanor and actions might resemble an adult’s, but Tetra was still just an ordinary girl.
Even so, she was doing things for the village she was born in. Alone.
Just through our conversation, I could tell how much she’d been striving, yet I felt that she was just trying too hard.
So wasn’t it alright for her to rely on someone else…just for the slightest bit?
Someone like me.
“Well, we’ll surely have to exterminate the ‘monster’ first thing tomorrow. If Tetra’s ‘story’ is not resolved by that, then I won’t leave. I still don’t know how we can save Ziz village…but I’ll never abandon you, Tetra. Let’s try to work something out together, alright?”
I might be stupid and unable to render much help…but I still said it with a smile. Slowly, Tetra’s expression changed as well.
From surprise, into a quiet smile.
“…Thank you, Rekka-san.”