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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Zebeline, who had been visiting the villa as if it were her own home, had been completely out of contact.
I heard a cardinal had been dispatched from the Holy Kingdom.
It seemed she was busy entertaining the high-ranking priest who had come from afar.
What reason could have prompted the cardinal, a figure of authority in the Holy Kingdom, to make such a move?
I lay sprawled on the sofa, speculating on the reason for the cardinal’s visit to the Valtarian Empire.
“Hum, hum, hum…”
A child’s humming reached my ears.
The girl with flowing light green hair was lying on the fluffy carpet, engrossed in coloring.
She diligently filled the blank canvas with a variety of colorful crayons, making it increasingly vibrant.
What on earth was she drawing?
It was difficult to decipher, given Rue’s terrible drawing skills.
“What are you drawing?”
“Max!”
Ah.
So she was deliberately drawing it poorly.
She had truly captured the essence of Maximilian’s inner psyche.
I nodded at Rue’s answer and admired the masterpiece created with crayons.
“Edanant!”
Bang.
The door swung open violently, as if it were about to fall off its hinges.
The unexpected guest was the princess who had generously provided the villa to the country bumpkin from the Hohenberc family.
“What brings you here…?”
“The Earth Mother has delivered an oracle!”
“……”
“I-It’s true!”
That was as unbelievable as hearing that Ludmilla was actually a seventeen-year-old beautiful girl.
An oracle?
The Earth Mother delivered an oracle?
It was truly absurd.
It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t even laugh.
Who on earth could have spread such fake news?
If the Earth Mother’s priests, who were practically fanatics, had heard this, they would have surely resorted to physical punishment.
“Cardinal Hordamet, who delivered the Pope’s personal letter, informed Father!”
“…She really delivered an oracle?”
Surely the cardinal, representing the Holy Kingdom’s envoy, wouldn’t have lied to the Emperor of the Empire.
The oracle might be true.
I gasped in shock and abruptly sat up from the comfortable sofa.
“W-What was the content?”
“I don’t know yet. I only received news that the Earth Mother delivered an oracle.”
The Gael Holy Kingdom had requested Emperor Barbarossa to hold an Alliance Council meeting, using the Earth Mother’s oracle as justification.
Would the Emperor accept the request?
He would most likely accept it.
The Valtarian Empire was a devout nation that worshiped the Earth Mother Gael, just like the Holy Kingdom.
“The last time the council was held… was three years ago, right?”
“That’s right. All the kings of the continent gathered in the Imperial Capital to declare the Third Racial War.”
The Earth Mother’s oracle would surely have a greater impact than the declaration of the Racial War.
This was terrible.
It was a truly dreadful situation.
“Edan!”
As I was pondering how to deal with this,
The silver-haired girl, dressed in pure white robes, barged in.
It seemed she had rushed over to deliver the urgent news, just like Ludmilla.
I nodded at Zebeline, indicating that I had already heard about the oracle.
“Saintess, what oracle did the Earth Mother deliver?”
“I don’t know. I just heard about it.”
The Earth Mother’s oracle had been announced so abruptly that even the First Saintess was unaware of its content.
Was it to prevent leaks?
Or was it a calculated move to maximize its impact by using a private meeting with the Emperor?
Only Pope Boern would know the content of the oracle delivered by the Earth Mother.
The cardinal dispatched to the Valtarian Empire was merely a messenger delivering the personal letter.
“Nothing will happen.”
I said, lifting Rue, who had approached with crayons and drawing paper, into my arms.
Nothing would happen.
I gave an optimistic answer, fearing that my anxieties might be transferred to Rue.
“It could be an oracle related to Edanant. Perhaps…”
“……”
To the omnipotent and omniscient god, the Warmonger was nothing more than a mere insect.
She would surely know his true identity.
The Earth Mother might use the oracle to expose the Warmonger’s identity.
Zebeline’s speculation was quite plausible.
“It’s not a matter to be judged hastily. We don’t know anything yet, do we?”
Either face it head-on,
Or run away like someone else.
It wouldn’t be too late to decide after the Earth Mother’s oracle was revealed.
‘Damn it, why did the Earth Mother deliver an oracle right after the incident in the Boemon Kingdom…? Could it be an oracle related to the Saintess Party? Please, no.’
I had too many secrets that could become fatal flaws.
The apostle serving the Disaster God of War.
And the Saintess Party attempting to resurrect the Disaster God of Death.
If either of these were to be revealed, it would lead to unimaginable repercussions.
The future would be determined by the Earth Mother’s divine will.
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The only saintesses known to the public were the First Saintess, Zebeline, and the Second Saintess, Beatrice.
However, there were countless saintesses in the Holy Kingdom.
Prospective saintesses.
The girls living in the women-only sanctuary were called prospective saintesses.
The girls selected from all over the continent were so beautiful and lovely that it made one wonder if beauty was the sole criterion for becoming a saintess.
The beautiful girls, like exquisitely crafted dolls, cherished their purity and faith while awaiting the day they would make their debut in the world.
“Sigh… This is truly a headache.”
The girl with flowing purple hair muttered.
Surprisingly, the girl was seated on a throne adorned with the finest velvet, as soft as feathers.
She was merely a prospective saintess,
How could she be seated on a throne fit for the leader of the Holy Kingdom?
If an outsider were to witness this scene in the sanctuary, they would surely question it.
“E-Earth Mother…!”
“It’s an honor to meet you.”
Over fifty prospective saintesses prostrated themselves on the floor, offering their worship.
The girl seated on the throne casually waved her hand, her legs crossed.
“Skip the formalities. Just call me ‘sister.'”
Her casual and cheerful voice reminded one of a tomboy you might encounter in any neighborhood.
There was no trace of dignity.
The prospective saintesses were speechless at her overly familiar demeanor.
The dark-skinned man watching the scene sighed and rubbed his face.
The only person allowed to enter the women-only sanctuary was Pope Boern, the leader of the Holy Kingdom.
“Suddenly delivering an oracle, and now possessing the body of a prospective saintess… It’s difficult to comprehend the will of the holy one.”
“It’s only natural for a mere human to struggle to understand the mind of the one true god.”
For a decision made by the great and only god, everything seemed too impulsive.
Her actions resembled those of a young maiden.
In other words, her mental age seemed to be around twenty years old.
If the deities who had been unjustly stripped of their divine thrones had witnessed this, they would surely have sighed in lament.
The Earth Mother Gael was far more emotional than other deities.
“Are you alright?”
“She was quite a beauty… but I can’t hold on any longer.”
Gael extended her hand.
Her delicate, white hand trembled slightly.
The prospective saintess’s body couldn’t handle the immense divine power of the one true god.
Gael smiled bitterly as the trembling in her hand intensified.
“It seems I need to move to another body.”
She could endure for about a day if she pushed the body to its limits.
But Gael deeply cherished the devout prospective saintess who worshiped her.
It didn’t matter if she gave up.
There were plenty of bodies she could possess.
The Holy Kingdom had been raising prospective saintesses in the sanctuary in preparation for the day the Earth Mother might descend upon the mortal realm.
Thanks to the fanatics’ loyalty, Gael was able to satisfy her personal desires by possessing the bodies of beautiful prospective saintesses one after another.
“Wow! This girl is incredibly beautiful too! I especially love her snow-white skin!”
“……”
Gael, who had possessed the body of a prospective saintess from a noble family, exclaimed, tapping her own cheeks.
It was as if she were a child playing with dolls…
Boern broke out in a cold sweat at the Earth Mother’s peculiar hobby.
“I heard the Disaster Gods have been swarming like maggots lately, right? They keep popping up even after we’ve thoroughly eradicated them.”
“The Valtarian Empire has eliminated most of the remnants, so you needn’t worry.”
“I’m not worried. I’ve already dealt with the biggest pests.”
“…You’re referring to Tyranny and Famine.”
The Earth Mother Gael was an infinitely benevolent god to her devout followers.
Social status and lineage didn’t matter.
She loved all her followers equally and bestowed her grace upon them.
That’s why Gael never tolerated those who threatened her beloved followers.
She had even proven her boundless love for her followers by eliminating the innocent calamities that would one day end humanity’s existence.
“When the Immortal Demon King manifested as the Disaster God of Death… countless children, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, were swept away. The surrounding area was completely devastated as Death’s divine power amplified.”
“It was truly a tragic incident.”
She had intended to neutralize the Disaster God of Death and turn him into a puppet, just like Tyranny and Famine.
But she had failed.
The Saintess Party, tasked with eliminating him, had betrayed her.
They had stolen the Demon King’s core, which contained Death’s divine power, and fled.
Gael, whose plans had been disrupted, was forced to quickly devise an alternative.
“Originally, I was going to use that filthy maggot, the one born in the mortal realm with a tainted soul… But why did my beloved Beatrice choose to sacrifice herself to save him?”
I don’t know.
I really don’t know.
Gael repeated the phrase, as if it were her trademark.
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