While staying at the Orias Church with Barnabas, a church member approached and asked, “Apostle, why do you cling to the crown of suffering and the clothing of a handmaiden?” Paula replied, “This crown is a penance for the sins I committed during my unawareness, and this clothing is a mark of my service to the Lord.” The church member pressed further, “Hasn’t the Lord forgiven the Apostle’s sins?” Paula answered, “The benevolent Lord has forgiven all sins. However, the reason I insist on this crown and robe is…”
“Thank you, Lord. You have saved me from ‘Chaos’ by the power of the Holy Spirit. To think you would save me even though I dared to harm you. How gracious you are.”
Holy Spirit? What’s that? Scary.
Why does it awaken on its own?
“Lord, I am but Your servant. Please give me orders. I will follow all of them.”
“Orders?”
What orders?
Are you saying you’ll follow what I say?
“Yes, that’s right, Lord.”
Even so…
I didn’t show her all the memories through the ‘Memorial Music Box.’
In fact, I withheld more memories than I revealed, especially one scene that had strongly, no—permanently embedded itself in the minds of all [Deus Ex Machina] gamers.
That scene where Saula destroyed Atzoatl, the God of Madness, one of the three evil gods of ‘Chaos.’
In the final chapter of Part 1 of [Deus Ex Machina], Saula was reborn as the strongest being on the continent through the tempering of the gods of ‘Chaos.’
And the three evil gods, confident that she wouldn’t escape their control, bestowed part of their powers to Saula.
So that she could bring down the continent and fulfill their desires.
However, during the ‘tempering,’ Saula realized she was being manipulated by the evil gods of ‘Chaos’ and waited for the right moment while hiding the fact that she had figured it out from that ‘Chaos.’
She had escaped ‘Chaos’s control, but she had already fallen too far and didn’t ‘awaken’ like she did now.
In fact, because of that, ‘Chaos’ was deceived by her.
Having received the bestowed powers, Saula judged it was time and ambushed Atzoatl, who had descended to the ground, from behind and shattered Atzoatl’s divinity.
It was a shocking scene where Saula, who had lived her life being controlled by the evil gods, annihilated one of the evil gods.
Back then, [Deus Ex Machina] was so popular that Saula even trended in real-time internet searches… I miss those days.
Anyway, Saula, who deceived and killed even one of the final bosses of ‘Chaos,’ how will she accept me later?
The scenes I showed Saula were solely to make her aware of the fact that she was being manipulated by the evil gods of ‘Chaos’ without realizing it.
There wasn’t a single scene to make her think kindly of me.
And yet, she declared she would follow me, serve me.
…Why?
Could it be because of the recent awakening?
In truth, she awakened by breaking free from ‘Chaos’s control, but did she misunderstand it as being due to me and start to think favorably of me?
…If that’s the case, it’s not necessarily a good thing.
Though she said she would serve me, if she realizes that I’m not the one who ‘awakened’ her, there’s no guarantee I won’t end up like Atzoatl, pierced through the heart and annihilated.
Instead, I, who am not nearly as strong as a deity, would soon be killed in one stroke.
It’s dangerous.
I need to find a way to keep her away from me.
But how?
I need a justification.
If I use a flimsy justification and she realizes I’m trying to distance myself, she might catch on, and that could tip off the fact that I didn’t ‘awaken’ her.
What could it be?
A definite way to get her to stay far away from me….
…Ugh.
I can’t think of a good method.
If I keep silent, she’ll find it strange.
“Will you truly follow what I say, Saula?”
“Yes, Lord. If it’s your command, I will go to the ends of this continent.”
…To the ends of the continent?
Yes. That’ll work.
“Good. Then, Saula, go to Orias.”
“Are you referring to Orias? The capital of the Nova Empire?”
The Nova Empire, far from the Calandra Empire.
The capital of that empire.
Even for Saula, it would take a long time to get there.
“Yes, Saula. When you arrive in Orias, someone will be waiting there for you.”
And by the time she arrives there, a long time will have passed.
It’ll provide enough time to train the main characters of [Deus Ex Machina] to deal with her.
“I understand, Lord. I shall follow your command.”
Saula, kneeling before me, bows her head.
…Isn’t it a bit unsettling to deceive her like this?
Saula, who couldn’t lead a normal life due to ‘Chaos.’
Abandoned by her parents, losing her newly gained parents, becoming a fugitive on the continent, imprisoned for centuries.
Even though she finally escaped that ‘Chaos,’ the fact that she still seeks to be subservient to someone shows how unconventional she is.
And here I am trying to deceive her and send her far away…
I feel very guilty about this.
…Alright. This too.
“Saula.”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Take this.”
“Huh? What is this…?”
I pulled an artifact from my spatial pocket and handed it to her.
“There will be many trials ahead of you.”
There’s no way she, who has lived an abnormal life, can adapt properly to the world. She will surely face difficulties.
“I’m prepared, Lord.”
“…Good. …Now, go.”
Saula, who couldn’t find happiness even after Part 1 of [Deus Ex Machina] ended.
I hope she can attain the peace I never could.
*
Years ago, I awakened my ‘Gift.’
When I first realized I had obtained this ‘Gift,’ I was literally over the moon.
Someone completely devoid of talent in martial arts or magic, obtained a ‘Gift!’
Now I can finally be alongside the main characters of [Deus Ex Machina]!
But soon enough, I realized something was off with the ‘Gift.’
The phrase engraved in my mind the moment I received the ‘Gift’ was, “A savior who performs miracles based on the gathered divinity.”
No matter how extraordinary the ‘Gifts’ of the characters in [Deus Ex Machina] are, I had never heard of one like this.
Gathered divinity?
It’s not uncommon for ‘Gifts’ to have specific conditions. In fact, such conditional ones are more prevalent.
But divinity…
It’s a resource of faith that only divine beings can handle.
There’s no way such a thing could gather in me.
Of course, I liked the part that came after.
“Miracle.”
In the world of [Deus Ex Machina], miracles can only be performed by transcendent beings.
It refers to actions that no mortal can achieve.
A ‘Gift’ that allows me to perform miracles.
If only that were possible.
But I didn’t even possess a pinch of mana, let alone divinity.
However, after months of research, I realized I could manifest the ‘Gift.’
“Young master… what on earth just happened…”
“Hans… don’t tell anyone about this.”
I performed a miracle.
Not just any miracle, but one that completely healed an injured knight, suffering from permanent disabilities after trying to save me.
Afterwards, I could use it multiple times if I wanted.
Although, the miracle does not always manifest in the direction I want.
So I formulated a hypothesis.
I might not have divinity in my body, but I can still manifest the ‘Gift.’
Could it be that the divinity born from the faith of the Christos from the book I read is also subject to this ‘Gift’?
If that’s the case, this ‘Gift’ might be more amazing than I thought.
However, since the cost of ‘Gift’ is ‘gathered divinity,’ there would be limitations to its usage. Additionally, per the conditions of the ‘Gift,’ the power of miracles scales with it.
I couldn’t afford to misuse this ‘Gift’ in anticipation of uncertain times.
Furthermore, this miracle acts spontaneously, and I can’t control it in the way I desire.
Thus, I felt that with just this ‘Gift,’ it was insufficient to dive into the main narrative of [Deus Ex Machina].
So, I accumulated artifacts and fortunes scattered throughout the continent, just as I did before obtaining the ‘Gift.’
This was practically my primary focus.
However, before arriving at the Academy, I had already deviated from the original story by encountering Saula and using the ‘Gift’ and some artifacts.
Moreover, I had to expend recovery artifacts to save the knights and soldiers.
It’s a situation where I need to revise a considerable number of plans.
Though I didn’t expect everything to go according to plan from the start…
This plan has gone completely awry.
Now, I even have to care about Saula.
…Is this going to be okay?
I hope the future doesn’t suddenly change drastically due to a butterfly effect!
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