Chapter 571
With the chaos caused by the Council of Saints, the acquisition of a blank check for the reconstruction of the temple, and Tannian’s sudden pilgrimage to holy sites—
Various events erupted in succession, but there was nothing more for me to worry about. The chaos would calm down over time, the reconstruction of the temple would be handled by the staff down below, and Tannian’s pilgrimage was still taking place in the eastern part of the continent.
Thus, the imperial worker Carl returned to being the laid-back, family-man version of himself, enjoying his newlywed-parenting leave.
“Ta-da, look, Pedi!”
Along with a bunch of plush animal gifts for Pedi.
“Auu!”
Pedi, sprawled out using Titi’s belly as a pillow, sparkled his eyes at the mass gift attack and rolled onto his four little legs.
Such a delightful reaction. Our Pedi undoubtedly loves animals.
‘Totally worth the effort.’
Watching Pedi scuttle over, I began to place the stuffed toys I had stuffed into a bag onto the floor one by one.
Unlike the minister, who only prepared a single lion, I had prepared everything. From endangered tigers you’d only find in a zoo to polar bears spotted at the northeast corner of the continent, to giraffes frolicking in the grasslands of western Yuben, and elephants who eat treats with their trunk.
And finally, a panda that doesn’t even exist on this continent.
‘Perfect.’
I prepared everything a baby would be interested in. If not a single one of them catches Pedi’s fancy, then it must mean he hates animals, or he inherited a lion’s heart.
“Aabu!”
Scooting over quickly, Pedi turned his head and playfully tapped the nearest tiger plushie with his hand, smiling brightly.
Out of all the animals, the tiger. Now that’s a strong choice.
‘He’s going to grow into a strong warrior.’
With a warm heart, I gently squeezed Pedi’s cheeks. Naturally choosing strong animals shows that our Pedi carries the brave blood of Krasius.
For a moment, let’s forget that the strongest land animal is actually the elephant.
“Carl? What’s all this?”
Soon after, Mar returned from checking the household supplies, unable to hide her confusion at the sight of an entire zoo made of plush toys. This surprise opening of the zoo had been kept a secret from everyone.
“It’s a gift for our Pedi. Cute, right?”
“…It is cute.”
Seeing Pedi laughing while holding plushies in both hands melted Mar’s expression.
“But isn’t it a bit too much?”
“Well, if it’s a zoo, it should be this big.”
If you can count it on one hand, is that even a zoo? At least 50 or 60 should be the bare minimum to call it a zoo.
‘Next time, I should buy even more.’
Resolving to make that promise while wrapping my arms around Mar, who wore a faint smile out of inevitability.
Phase one goal—100 plushies; phase two goal—bringing every kind of animal that exists on this continent. The ultimate goal is to fill Pedi’s room to the brim with plushies.
Even if Pedi gets tired of them, it doesn’t matter. We still have the triplets and the cherry blossoms, and the sea.
As for the eternal blue sky’s temple, it’s being built meticulously in the northern style, thanks to Shati’s knowledge.
– I wish the new faith would stay like this forever.
Thanks to that, the faith towards the eternal blue sky has grown even larger.
The deity officially recognized by the Dawn Sect, the temple proudly being rebuilt at each major territory, and the northern culture being actively pushed from the imperial center. With such big news hitting one after another, it’d be odd if the faith didn’t strengthen.
‘So does this mean we’re relocating from the World Tree to the North now?’
– Well, I’m still considering that.
Strange. I’m clearly holding a conversation in a way where a voice resonates in my head, yet I can see the eternal blue sky sprawled out in front of the TV, scratching his belly. Is this what they call auditory visualization or something?
– My own temple would be nice, but it’s hard to find a place as comfortable as the World Tree. Which would you prefer, a newly rebuilt temple or the World Tree that’s been around in continental history?
‘Wasn’t the World Tree resurrected last year—’
– Anyway!
As his reason was rebutted by mine, the eternal blue sky quickly diverted the topic. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s just stalling because he doesn’t want to move.
– Also, I’ve gained strength lately, so I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot more. The continent has become quite noisy.
Feeling that this topic shift seems desperate, I played along.
If I poke at the overly cheerful eternal blue sky, it could shift back to those dreary clouds. That would wear me out, and I don’t want to hassle Konstantina either. Such catastrophes should be avoided.
– Because of that commotion, the energy of Enen spreading across the continent has become a bit faint.
…?
‘Excuse me?’
Unexpectedly, a serious topic sprang up.
Isn’t that a big deal? If the divine presence governing the continent weakens, genuine heretics might pop up to exploit that gap, or the opposing faction that says the council is wrong might become more aggressive.
– Ah, don’t worry too much, it’s just a temporary phenomenon. It’s like suddenly needing to adjust your posture because there are two more people sitting at a table alone, so it’s nothing drastic.
‘Ah, okay…’
I didn’t quite understand the feeling but went along with it since that’s what the deity said.
Moreover, while the eternal blue sky often showed a waning spirit, he’s still a long-established deity who came into the world before Enen. Experience’s on his side.
– But back in the day, it wouldn’t have been a big issue if I temporarily lost some power. It was normal for gods’ strength to fluctuate when many of them were around.
The eternal blue sky fell silent for some time after saying that. As if he was contemplating how to frame the next words.
That felt ominous. Just a moment ago, he himself said it was a temporary phenomenon and not to worry, yet here he is causing anxiety with his actions.
– So… have you ever read the Dawn Sect scriptures?
‘Yeah, well, I’ve skimmed through them.’
With that, I nodded at the eternal blue sky, who broke the silence with his words.
Though I’m not a devout believer, I understand the basics. Being a noble and having no knowledge of the doctrine or scripture would lead to misunderstandings as a heretic.
– There’s that part at the end where it says the evil spirits are sealed in the frozen land, and the sun always watches over them. You know that part, right?
As the eternal blue sky spoke with strange fluency about someone else’s sect scripture, I put my thinking cap on for a second.
The last page of the Dawn Sect scripture feels similar to the Book of Revelation. It carries a vibe contrary to the previous scripture while being oddly familiar, yet few truly know its contents.
– Isn’t that what’s in there?
I recalled that and responded right away, but as I did, cold sweat trickled down my back.
‘…No way?’
Thus, I firmly denied reality for now. That can’t be what I think it is. The idea that evil spirits are a simple metaphor.
– Evil spirits are real. They’re actually the gods who made a ruckus during the religious wars, and Enen collected them and sealed them up.
‘…….’
– However, Enen’s power, which maintained that seal, has diminished a bit… so if things go south, they might break free…
I didn’t want to hear any more.
The idea that evil spirits aren’t metaphorical but real, and to find out that they aren’t merely evil spirits but evil gods, was too much to digest.
Damn it.
The frozen land where Enen sealed away the evil gods was a place I was quite familiar with.
It’s north of where the nomads live, in a region that features weather so nasty it’d make Siberia seem pleasant, so much so that even nomads would spit and run away. That’s where they’re sealed.
‘So that’s why.’
The riddle clicked together. It always seemed odd that the nomadic gods deeply understood the evil gods after stepping back from the religious war; it turns out they’re just sealed right in their backyard. If evil gods are crawling around their backyard, it’s hard not to know.
…
‘Why there though?’
Finally, a fundamental question arose. Out of all the vast continent, why exactly there?
On the positive side, it’s a place devoid of intelligent life forms like humans, so it serves as a safe sealing location. But on the flip side, if the seal breaks, isn’t that the first place that will be affected? Is the eternal blue sky complicit in sealing them there?
Could it be that he was a pushover from the start?
‘…No way.’
I quickly erased that unholy thought from my mind.
If he truly let evil gods get sealed away like a fool, the eternal blue sky would have been sulking and complaining about it. Seeing he wasn’t, it must mean proper procedures were followed to select the sealing site.
I want to believe that. The eternal blue sky’s waning mood is already at rock bottom. There’s nowhere lower it can drop.
“Your Grace.”
During my tumultuous thoughts about the dignified stance of the eternal blue sky, the mages from the Krasius family flocked towards me.
“Oh, you’ve arrived?”
Nodding at the ten or so mages, I figured this many would be enough for teleporting to the seal and casting warmth-ensuring spells to protect ourselves in the bitter cold.
To be honest, having just Trixie with me would be more reassuring than a hundred mages, but it wouldn’t be smart to take Trixie, who’s busy taking care of the triplets, all the way up north. Better to bring along several mages from the family.
“This may turn out to be somewhat dangerous. As mentioned previously, I’ll make sure to provide proper compensation. However, if you’ve changed your mind, feel free to say so now since it would be hard to turn back mid-journey.”
“As long as we can accompany Your Grace, we would be happy to go anywhere.”
The mage standing in front of everyone made me chuckle.
“Well then, let’s go. Please be mindful of mana distribution.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
As I watched the mages bow, I put on a fur coat, thinking even if magic exists, I should dress warmly for going to a place that feels like Siberia.
‘What a life I lead.’
Feeling the fluffy, out-of-place texture suited for the weather, I forced a smile. Now I’ve even been tasked with checking if the seal of the evil gods is intact. It’s astonishing how much work I’ve been handed.
Of course, I’m human too, and I don’t want to take on this job,
‘But I can’t ignore it up north.’
Checking if the sealing of the evil gods is intact vs ignoring it and later getting invaded by them—what a dreadful dilemma that’s enough to push even the most relaxed of heads of households into action.
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