A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 4, Chapter 66: The Alliance of Gods

“…God was only one when the world was united as one.”

That’s right, the lips of Saint Matia opened to profess those words. She spoke with a gentle manner as if she was telling a book story to children.

「The ancient gods have many appearances, but they are essentially just one God. There are many qualities, such as fertility, wisdom, enlightenment, and fate, but all of these aspects belong to the same God.」

A clear voice echoed on the first floor of a tavern inside of the walls of Garoua Maria.

Matia’s eyes slowly closed as she spoke. But still, the smoothness of her words wasn’t lost. Every single word seemed to dissolve within her.

「You could call it a collective way of combining consciousness and qualities into several forms. But, the almighty can only be described in one word, despite his variety of personas. He is the absolute God.」

In fact, in a previous era those ideals often clashed. When a civilization flourished because of the progression of humankind, classes were born. Thus, emerging large-scale societies. Because of these events, the two consciousness of God began to dispute with one another.

At first, it was a simple matter. When a society became more complex, people became more anxious as well and most cried out for help. Looking at them, one of God’s unnamed consciousness said…

“…What a pitiful and sorrowful life to live in. I shall save you from this suffering.”

God’s other consciousness suppressed the feelings of the first consciousness for wanting to help these pitiful humans.

“…What are you saying? It’s great to see them live. Their wisdom allows them to make a decision, even if those decisions end up agonizing and painful. But, that means that they have free will. Therefore, when there’s life, there’s conflict and choices. Helping them will only deprive them of living their life.”

Without listening to the voices of other conscious bodies, these two consciousness’s spoke with themselves as if they were separated from one another.

“…They are unhappy people. The more we give them wisdom, the more they will suffer and mourn. It would be better for them to not to have such a thing. No worries, no obstacles, no walls in front of them. This way they will embrace their happiness, and their wishes will come true.”

“…I see. If you agree to proceed with that, we won’t be in unison anymore. You can take wisdom from them. But, I will give them more wisdom if necessary.”

“…Oh, merciful me. My one spirit. What will become of us if we separate from each other?”

For a long time, they were trying to separate themselves from each other because of their small differences. That happened because of their insistence to never yield.

They just needed to take each other’s hand, it didn’t matter which one tried to reconcile first. All that mattered was the final agreement. Yet, if they tried to forsake each other, that would bring a very different consequence. If that happened, they wouldn’t remain as the same existence anymore.

“…Let’s give each other a name. Eventually, the humans will blame you for the sweet salvation that gave them a boring life, Altius!”

“…You’re a fool. Humans aren’t meant to carry just wisdom and free will. Eventually, humans will seek me in order to give them my salvation, Offal!”

From that day on, God was separated from world of men. This resulted in the creation of a large range of nations, religions and civilizations on planet earth, all of which began to conflict with one another. The world was no longer peaceful under the rule of one God. The world had opened its mouth wide to spew words of struggle, hate and suffering.

—

「…This is the story of the God Offal, the emblem of the Heraldic Order, and Altius, the worship of the Great Holy Church. This tale is often handed down from generation to generation. At the moment, I’m trying to make this story available to children in orphanages.」

Saint Matia spoke with everything she had, her throat managed to not stutter any of those words. She must be quite used to speaking in public. Nobody felt any nervousness nor frustration in her words or actions.

That said, the audience was applauding to Saint Matia’s words. Among those who were excited, stood Wood and his sister Sereal. Caria was touching her silvery hair with little interest. She was a liberal after all, and never really understood the essence of religion per se. On the other hand, Filaret La Volgograd, and of course, the heraldic Largud Ann had knowledge and interest about what was being said.

However, the crowd wasn’t large since a few selected people were summoned for this meeting. Saint Matia tried to shake the hearts of her listeners. Yet, not everyone was satisfied.

「Unfortunately, I’m still a Gharast native. I’m not interested in that kind of story. Therefore, I’m not the one who needs to hear it…」

Caria’s sighed as she spoke with a boring tone. Then, after she spoke those words…

「…But, Lugis needs to hear it. Well, he can’t hear it now for obvious reasons. So, I’m…going to be the one to tell him later since I’m hearing this story from the beginning to the end unlike someone I know.」

Filaret devoured Caria’s words with her sarcasm.

The dazzling silvery eyes and the shimmering black eyes stared fiercely at one another. Even each other’s gaze was constant and brutal. In spite of the fact that it was only for a short time, their fierce exchange made the air heavier.

Somehow, Wood didn’t like that heavy atmosphere because he felt that the air entering his lungs had turned into a heavy clump of soil. He hardened his face. Then…

「Eh, well…how is our hero Lugis? Still unconscious? 」

Ann’s lips opened as if she could no longer withstand the heavy atmosphere. She forcibly threw some words into the air. Wood picked up her words so that her effort wouldn’t go to waste.

「Lugis bro is still sleeping on the second floor. I don’t know until when he’ll keep on sleeping. Anyway, I’m glad that his life is not in danger.」

Wood spoke gentle words while trying to avoid stimulating the surrounding heavy atmosphere. Sereal’s hand held Wood’s hand.

However, it was very difficult to suppress the flowers whose thorns were exposed.

「If he is sleeping in his bed now, it means that he is like the waterfowls who take their naps in order to restore their energy.」

Filaret’s black hair shook at the same time her tongue penetrated in the air.

「What made you say such weird statement? He’s not taking a nap, he’s unconscious because of what he endured in the battle. We’ll see who’s right and who’s wrong.」

Once again, these women’s eyes collided with each other and intertwined in hate.

It felt as if the air had lost its temperature. The tavern’s floor felt colder than usual. It cracked as if it were frozen.

「…There’s nothing meaningful in a conversation about someone who isn’t here. Ann, get to the main point.」

Matia’s strong words finally broke the bad wind that crawled through the tavern.

Both Caria and Filaret felt a little ashamed for their exchange of words, but they didn’t open their lips.

Both of them had innate intelligence and wisdom from the very start. Nevertheless, their previous conversation wasn’t that constructive or astute.

With that in mind, both girls felt needles of irritation pierced on their chest because their wild emotions were exposed.

Prompted by Matia, Ann slowly opened her mouth in front of everyone. Her voice was different from Matia, meaning that her tone was easy and calm to listen to. Her voice had no vibrating sound. She had a clear and harmless tone.

「First, we must assess the flow of the recent events. We have successfully reclaimed Garoua Maria back into the hands of the Heraldic Order. This victorious achievement was thanks to the work of our Saint Matia, and her faithful collaborator, Lugis.」

Ann replied. Her eyes stared at the window of the tavern. The outside felt like a sanctuary full of Heraldic soldiers and believers. Even though most of them were injured, that didn’t diminish the beauty of their souls after they conquered the city-state. How much were they willing to go for the sake of their own faith?

「But, here’s the problem. To be honest, we are just a few now. Many of our soldiers are currently injured. We won’t be able to protect our current stronghold. We can neither attack nor expand our power. We have to think of a solution…Maybe we’ll have to rely on the outside. It means that we have to form an alliance.」

Indeed, an alliance. But where? And with whom?

Caria and Filaret’s eyes were griping as they asked that question to themselves.

Certainly, no one could say that Monarchs or other meaningful powers were emotionally attached to the Heraldic Order. They were outcasts and rebels after all.

Besides, their current achievements weren’t formidable enough to transform the Heraldic Order into a powerful state.

Speaking of this rebellion, the Heraldic Order had only gained one city. Even if it was the legendary and prestigious Garoua Maria, that fact remained unchanged.

Rather, under the name of the defeated, few would appear in order to form an alliance with the Heraldic people. The Lords of the fallen provinces had large ties with several realms. Even if they lost, their ties didn’t disappear. Many people and entities wouldn’t forsake those ties, since they could gain something from them even though most Lords had fallen.

In addition, most of the surrounding border of Garoua Maria was with the Gharast Kingdom, which had a large influence of the Cathedral, the main power of the Great Holy Church.

「Of course, we have already sent letters to request alliances and assistance from various powers. But, honestly, it would be too optimistic for us to actually expect a reply from them. Having said that…There’s only one option available. We have an ancient link with one particular institution. So, we want to get close to this legendary power that once formed an alliance with the Heraldic Order.」

Ann’s finger moved up. It looked like her throat was slightly dry. She could only swallow a little before speaking the following words. Caria, who rounded her silvery eyes, asked what kind of power she was talking about. Ann narrowed her eyes, whom contained a dubious color.

「That power is the nation of people who hide in the forests and mountains…Elves. I want you to visit the hanging gardens of Ghazalia, their kingdom.」