Book 17: Chapter 10


    Son, do you have any clues?


    I would say that its clear as day now. The water came from elven waters. Its the result of an ident. Someone produced elven mana and inadvertently spilt it into their river. As a result, the mana in the water drifted to humanity. In fact, it came from Troy City.


    Will there be any impact as a result?


    To be honest, Ill need to ask M-, Queen Vyvyan; after all, Im not the expert on mana. However, I think the mana should be fine The effects are only the equivalent of ordinary mana. It can boost the mana in magical creatures but is definitely ineffective for humans. Its mana that can heal humans wounds. Hence, in my opinion, we shouldnt need to worry. Its just fake mana water.


    I see.


    Mommy Elizabeth nodded. She knew less than I did about mana. That said, she was able to feel at ease because I said that. While Mom didnt care about the religions issues on the surface, she did pay attention to the strange water. The mana water happened to be meaningless, though. That was all it was capable of, after all.


    I will still need to go to Troy City after all of this. The people here only used a portion of the water that flowed here and treated it as a miracle. We can safely infer the new churchs main camp must be at Troy City. Since theyve organised a religion that I dont even know about in my city, I have some business to sort out. I may not necessarily run it into the ground, but I, at least, need to ensure they arent harbouring any ulterior motives for my city. My people at Troy City cannot be met with misfortune. Thats a city named after me. I must ensure they dont forget me.


    Just send a letter, and itll be solved.


    That wont work. I didnt leave anyone there. All the people I trust most are in the North, which is why I dont know who to address the letter to. Am I supposed to address it to the maids in the pce or something? Theyre not my people; hence, I dont trust them whatsoever. I have to make a trip, myself. Its fine, though, Mom. Ill do it on the way back to the North.


    I knew Mom was worried about whether or not Id leave beforehand to investigate the matter, but I decided against it out of consideration for Mom. Further, I wanted to spend some more time with her. The new church may have used the water, but nheless, it didnt seem as though they were crazed cult followers trying to mislead the people and then start a revolt. I, therefore, didnt perceive them preaching at Troy City as something negative. It took three days to go between Hilles City and Troy City. If the two religions could get along amicably, they could amicably control the humans in the South and North. Even if they couldnt get along harmoniously, staying in their ownnes would be fine, too.


    I didnt want to interfere with it for the aforementioned reasons. Until then, the new churchs aim appeared to be peaceful. Plus, they were respectful to the royal family. I didnt n to take any action against a religion that wasnt causing trouble, and I was also unwilling to get involved with their conflict with the old church. For that reason, I didnt prioritise the matter.


    What was of utmost importance to me at the moment was Daisys baptism. I spoke about it with the new church. Their pope indicated that, although they were disappointed we didnt opt for them, they recognised the importance of Daisys baptism and wouldnt drag Daisy into their conflict with the old church. Put another way, there shouldnt be anyone who would interfere with Daisys baptism. Despite that, I still didntpletely trust him. Mommy Elizabeth shared the same view. As a consequence, Mom sent another five Valkyries to guard the venue.


    While the pope left me with a positive impression, I already had my fair share of people who left me with a good impression sticking a knife in me.


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    Current time at some ce in Hilles City  the temporary gathering spot for the new church.


    How was it? Did Her Majesty and His Majesty ept us? Or did you get along cordially with them? Has their attitude changed?


    I guess you could say that. Actually, I would say that were friendly with each other. However, we didnt take a step forward from a practical standpoint. His Majesty just spoke with us about the holy water. He didnt mention what we wanted. I would say that His Majesty doesnt believe in gods; in fact, Id go as far as to say that he even belittles gods to an extent.


    God protects all the people, though. His Majesty just hasnt seen how noble and great God is. That would exin why hes somewhat confused. Im sure hell be one of us down the road. Among us, there used to be non-believers, but theyre our good brothers now.


    Put that sort of distant-future thinking aside for now. Whats important now is the elimination of the old church in this operation. We didnt take a step forward from a practical perspective, but we left them with a good impression. Thus, we definitely cant act at the baptism ceremony, got it? We absolutely must not. Inform all of our brothers. We mustnt do anything. I repeat: we mustnt do anything. We are not to take any drastic actions even if the old church defames us. Bear with it. We arent attacking the royal family. Were just after the fraudulent believers, those who dont believe in God and dont serve God. Theyre just after the power that God offers, and theyre hypocrites who use God for money. Brothers, our aim this time is the old churchs high-ranking finance vassal and him alone, understood? Him <em>alone</em>!


    We all understand.


    Henceforth, what we will do is provoke the enemy. What we need to do next is aggravate them. Her Majesty will side with us. She definitely will. We will suffer losses, we will face challenges, but those are the treasures God has bestowed us with. We must hold hands and stand side by side. Once we get through this, we will enter our era! Brothers, Sisters, our era!


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    Current time at the chapel.


    <strong>*Sigh*</strong>


    Your Excellency, you should rest now.


    The young boy gently pinched his forehead and gently set down the Holy Scripture in his hands. The Holy Scripture apanied him through his most painful and helpless days. He couldnt fall asleep. As a matter of fact, he didnt want to leave the holy water in front of him. He didnt know what the new church was nning. Only by guarding the ce and by watching over the holy water could he feel at ease.


    The baptism was his churchsst hope. The royal familys support was his final weapon. If he slipped up, he wouldnt be able to face his god who rescued him when he was in a pinch. He stood up. He then looked at the young girls guarding the holy water with their arms folded. Voice quiet, he said, Valkyries.


    He sounded as if he aged prematurely that didnt belong to him. The young girls turned their heads around gave him a nod.


    May god bless us.


    Only Her Majesty will bless us. The Valkyries turned back to face ahead and stopped speaking.


    Yes Yes Yes, indeed Only Her Majesty will bless us Only Her Majesty, only Her Majesty