Chapter 51 – Shrine of the overseer


    Once Maya finished her killing spree inside the forest the group was walking through, leaving behind many corpses, they took a break for lunch. Sophia decided to skip it because the wolf and cat had decided to barbecue one of the <em>baers</em> she killed. As the meat was supposedly very strong tasting, she wasn''t overly interested. After smelling the meat while it was being grilled, Sophia was sure she made the right decision because its odor was very <em>pungent, </em>to say the least. But, the two carnivores of her group enjoyed it. Fen more than Maya, though. She also found it a tiny bit too much on the strong side, after all. While of feline origins, she wasn''t a pure carnivore in the end.


    Afterward, the group finally left the forest for good and continued their way towards the sea.


    "Hmm, I still can''t see any water, but the smell of salt has gotten stronger again." While looking around, Sophia was sniffing the air again.


    "Yeah, I kinda forgot how it actually was around here... Ah, but look at that!" Maya pointed at a weathered-down cobblestone road that stretched down the in they entered after the forest. "If we follow that, we''ll reach the sea in no time. The road doesn''t look like it''s used very much, so we shouldn''t run into anyone." She nced at the oversized wolf while saying so.


    "Is that so? Okay!" Raising her fist, Sophia energetically walked towards the road.


    "Ah! Wait for me!" Maya ran after her and grabbed the girl''s hand before the two walked together, hand in hand next to each other. It was already starting to be a habit.


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    The group, Fen slightly behind the girls, followed the street for a while. Eventually, they came across a roadside bulletin board at a fork on the path.


    "Let''s see~." Sophia looked at the messages posted on the board with interest. "Looking for kow meat... generous reward... only the most experienced hunters- That''s a human bulletin-board, is it not?" Her interest instantly died down once she had read the joke of a request.


    "Seems like it. Humans sure are helpless."


    "Idiots." Maya, and even more so, Fen, had their very own opinions on the topic.


    "There has to be something interesting... Slime hunting, yeah- no. Spyder extermination... hard nope! Can they even kill those things, or is it just to get rid of <em>unwanted</em> people? I can''t imagine a human winning against walking nightmares. Spyders, I mean. Oh, wanted posters, that sounds fun." Sophia looked at them, various murderers, theft, rape, and many other heinous crimes in an abundant amount. "Humans are something else..." She didn''t add ''<em>in this world''</em> for various reasons. Hiding that bit of information from Maya was just one of them. "Hmm?" The girl''s attention fell on a rtively new and fresh-looking poster that had no portrait on it. "Wanted for multiple attempts of murder and disturbing the peace in the beautiful metropolis of Benva- What, or where the heck''s <em>Benva</em>?" She never heard that name before.


    "That''s a human city a little east of my home ce, Raumont. You know, where we met."


    "Hmm... Then, isn''t that the ce we tried to enter, Fen?"


    "Most likely."


    "That sure was no metropolis." She remembered the sorry excuse of a city. "What a scary ce. Good thing didn''t visit it, huh? Let''s see what happened there exact- A-Ah!" Sophia continued to read the wanted poster but suddenly froze up. "F-Fen, this sounds strangely familiar... Unknown female person... blonde hair, normal-to-slightly-short height. About 14 to 16 years... apanied by a lowly wolf-beast- ording to several witnesses, they attacked two city guards for no reason, almost killing them, and severely handicapped them for the rest of their lives." She looked at the wolf and then back at the poster a couple of times. "T-That''s us, isn''t it?"


    "Lowly beast, huh? They really never learn." Fen seemed <em>slightly</em> angry.


    "Wanted... dead or alive." Maya nced at it, as well. "Handsome reward, exact sum yet to be determined. Not bad." She looked slightly impressed. "You went all out there."


    "Ahaha... I''m wanted now? Well, that''s, uhh, something." She wasn''t sure how to react. "Sure, whatever, let them try their luck." Thanks to her previous experiences, and Fen''s propaganda, Sophia wasn''t the least bit scared.


    "You sure took this revtion lightly. Not that I can me you, it''s not really a threat." The cat-girl had a simr opinion on the matter.


    "So, anything else?" As the topic was done, the girl looked for other things on the bulletin board. "Oho, directions! Exactly what I was looking for! Hmm, Sea, 4.5 Kilometers on the right path. It really isn''t far anymore. Oh, what''s that? <em>Shrine of Canir</em>? 1.7 kilometers on the left path. Canir...?" She paused for a moment. "Where have I heard that name before? Ah, wasn''t that the bored idiot who build that joke of a dungeon we explored a while back?! Why does he have a shrine dedicated to himself?!"


    "Aaaahhh~" Maya suddenly eximed in a cheery voice, seemingly having remembered something. "That''s why I thought the name sounded familiar back then. Canir is the highest god for most races on this continent! I kinda forgot because I''m not, well, very invested in religious things. Or politics, while we''re at it."


    "The idiot who created that dungeon... a god? The highest one, even...? Is this ce alright? Like, seriously?" She began to doubt the sanity of this world if they worship such a <em>god</em>. "Okay, I have to see this." With an unhealthy mix of disgust and curiosity, the girl entered the left path, leading to the shrine.


    "Uh-oh..." Fen had a terrible feeling about the situation and what''s going to happen soon.


    "What''s wrong?" Maya was walking next to the wolf while the two followed Sophia.


    "A storm ising up..." He''d gotten very cryptic all of a sudden. "A big one."


    "Eh? The weather seems fine to me, though?" The cat-girl looked at the perfectly blue and cloudless sky, not understanding what Fen was talking about.


    "I don''t know how to exin. All I <em>do</em> know is that I''m about to develop a massive headache." He was not looking forward to Sophia reaching the shrine.


    "Okay?" She naturally was confused about his reaction.


    "Aaand there we are~." A little whileter, the group with Sophia in front had reached the entrance to the shrine. The only thing she could see right now was a massive wooden gate with brick-stairs behind, though. It led up a hill, and a small but fancy sign stood next to the entrance.


    <hr>


    <table style="width:100%;border-copse:copse" border="5">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width:100%">


    <em>Shrine dedicated to the</em>


    <strong><em>High god of life, Canir</em></strong>


    <em>Overseer of the world, giver of many blessings</em>


    <em>May the benevolent Canir watch over us supreme ones forever</em>


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <hr>


    "Supreme ones… human shrine, huh?" Sophia had a simr reaction to earlier. "That sure is a fancy description for a bored piece of tra- WAIT!" She suddenly froze in ce when she reread a specific part of the sign.


    "Oh no." Fen knew what was going to happen now.


    <em>"Overseer...</em> of the world..." Sophia''s eyes had lost all of their shine, looking dead. "Canir is... <em>that</em> guy?! That can''t be right, can it?" Without waiting for the other two, she sped up the stairs leading to the actual shrine.


    There, she spotted a couple of older-looking buildings and a huge statue of the god Canir. The person was male and seemed to be in histe twenties. He had very sophisticated features, styled hair, and wore something resembling a high-quality suit while overlooking the ce with a serious expression.


    "..." She had seen that person before. It was the very same guy the slob of a god had turned into for a moment when he was talking with Sophia before she came to this world. Forgetting even to breathe, the girl only stared at the statue, her expression slowly turning dark.


    "S-Sophia...?" The bad feeling the wolf was having for a while already, had finally reached Maya. She didn''t know what was going on, but she could tell that the girl was angry about something.


    "Ahaha!" She snapped. "So that''s how it is. Now that I think of it, the sign in the dungeon kinda gave off his feeling. That guy actually was that… <em>idiot,</em> huh?!" She wanted to use a different word. "Giver of many blessings, huh?!" She remembered the description on the sign. "Sure, that''s one way to put it. <em>Blessing</em>''s really a very broad term. May he watch over us forever, it said... Yeah, that creep had such a hobby! Benevolent, my ass!" She snapped.


    Losing her temper altogether, Sophia formed a fist and punched the statue with all her might to get the rising anger out of her system. The figure exploded into thousands of pieces on making contact, and the entire shrine area was suddenly bathed in a blindingly white light.


    "Eh?! U-Uhh...? W-What is going on?!" Holding her arms in front of her face to protect her eyes, Maya couldn''tprehend what was happening.


    "Okay, that''s a turn of events I did not seeing." Even the wolf was surprised about the turn of events.


    "H-Huh?!" A few moments passed before the light disappeared. Once the cat-girl could open her eyes again to look around, she realized a huge issue. "W-Where''s Sophia?!" Fen and Maya were the only ones left at the shrine. Any signs of the other girl were gone, almost as if she had never been there in the first ce.