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Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!

Another chapter!

DISCLAIMER: There is no

guarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I was

wrong.

Author:

Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)

Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

Editor:

Online Grammar

Editor

Enlightenment Arc

Chapter 5 As a Person B

「…… that’s

why I am going to hold an audience with the Lunaria Orthodoxy State’s Holy

Maiden tomorrow.」(Souma)

『I see……』(Maria)

In the display on the quasi-receiver

of the Royal Voice Broadcast, the beautiful visage of the Empress of the Gran

Chaos Empire, Maria Euphoria, started to show sorrow. Even for the Empire, the

strongest nation of the Humanity, the Orthodoxy State’s Holy Maiden would be

still a troublesome opponent.

This place was the 『Royal

Voice Room』 in Parnam Castle. It had been several days after I

was informed that the Orthodoxy State’s Holy Maiden had entered our country and

yesterday, there was a request for an audience from that Holy Maiden. And

tomorrow, I would be scheduled to hold an audience with that Holy Maiden. In

response to this situation, I asked Hakuya to inform Maria-dono’s imouto Jeanne-dono,

in order to established this emergency leader summit with Maria-dono.

I didn’t think that the Holy

Maiden would visit just for mere small talks. I didn’t know yet what her

purpose, but it was certainly not a something that will benefit the Empire, which

they viewed as an enemy country. This is the reason why I wanted to reinforce our

cooperation as the leaders of the secret alliance. I didn’t want them to have any

distrust when one day they know that I met with that Holy Maiden. I then asked Maria.

「Even

for the Empire’s “Holy Maiden”-dono, you have difficulty in dealing with the

other Holy Maiden?」(Souma)

『……

Please don’t call me Holy Maiden. Oh, “Great King” of Friedonia.』(Maria)

「Ugh…」(Souma)

What a superb counter. Well, for

the one who didn’t desire any praise, the people who praise them would be

annoying…… I am neither Ika[1]

nor a Giant Isopod[2] nor

Dedede[3].

When I was thinking about this matter, Maria sighed in a coquettish manner.

『I

couldn’t say much about Orthodoxy State’s Holy Maiden-sama since I never met

her personally…… But I am troubled since when the citizens called me Holy

Maiden on their own accord, she laid complains at me.』(Maria)

「…… Was

there no inquiry from the Orthodoxy State? If I was someone from the Orthodoxy State,

if Maria-dono donated has acquired a fame so high that you are referred as a Holy

Maiden, rather than pus.h.i.+ng someone from my side to become Holy Maiden, wouldn’t

it be faster to just officially ordinate Maria-dono as a Holy Maiden?」(Souma)

『Ah……

Which reminds me, there was a talk about that, wasn’t it? But, I refused it.』(Maria)

Maria-dono replied as if that

talk had nothing to do with her at all.

「Did

you refuse?」(Souma)

『If,

in reverse, you are the one being asked, will Souma-dono accept it?』(Maria)

「I

absolutely refuse.」(Souma)

『See?』(Maria)

Maria had a soft but slightly wistful

smile.

『What

do I need to do if I become a Holy Maiden? Just to whom, what kind of order I

need to give? The Orthodox State touted justification, saying to protect the

weak, while driving people into conflict. I don’t want to become a glorified banner

of such thing.』(Maria)

「Maria-dono……」(Souma)

『Although

my station is that of an Empress who govern over the Empire, in the end, I am just

a human. Rather than being wors.h.i.+ped as a Holy Maiden, I want to be loved by other

people, as a human, as a person.』(Maria)

―――I want to be loved by other

people, as a human, as a person.

I inscribed her words deeply into

my heart.

◇　◇　◇

『Lunaria Orthodoxy State』.

This country, the headquarters of

the Lunaria Orthodoxy, is governed by the Pope of Lunaria Orthodoxy. It is a

religious state whose history is about as long as Elfrieden Kingdom. It was said

that during the Continent’s Chaotic Era, in contrast to Elfrieden Kingdom, where

its Founder King, a Hero, brought together many races and unite them into one

nation, Lunaria Orthodoxy State was united by the religious force. It’s doctrine

『Save

the Weak』 , seemed to be

codified based on its experience of that era.

Originally Lunaria Orthodoxy is a

religion believed by a tribe, the Moon People: 『Lunarian』. The

so-called 『Lunarian』 was a tribe that not originally reside on this Continent, but came from

outside. Whether the outside that they referred to was some islands like the Nine-Headed

Dragon Archipelago or they came from a different world just like me, I don’t know.

However, in the legend, they came from the moon on the sky, hence their name.

The object of the 『Lunarian』

faith is their old home, the 『Moon』, that they wors.h.i.+pped as the Moon G.o.ddess: 『Lunaria-sama』. Since

『Lunaria-sama』 is s.h.i.+ning high in the sky as the 『Moon』, it

is prohibited to make idol statue of her. Furthermore, in the Capital City of

the inner sanctuary of the Lunaria Orthodoxy’s Central Church, there was the

so-called Moon Epitaph: 『Lunaris』 where the Moon Oracle was engraved.

Initially, it was only believed

by the Lunarian, but in that Continent’s Chaotic Era, it penetrated even to the

other Nations and Races as their mental support, that the number of believers increased.

Thereafter, there was a sectarian conflict within the same faith, there were

also disputes about which was accepted belief and which was heretical, but when

the dust settled, the current 『Lunaria Orthodoxy』 had

took form, a major religion that was believed by one-half of the Humanity in

the Continent together with the 『Mother Dragon Faith』.

As for the doctrine, they touted 『Save

the Weak』 and 『Mutual Aid』. “When there is trouble, everyone will help each

other”, perhaps this simple doctrine was the reason why gain new believers. Just

like its doctrine, the believers will do acts like fund-raising for impoverished

people or distribute food for poor people. It would be easy to comprehend that Lunaria

Orthodoxy and its believers were harmless. However, when it comes to 『Orthodoxy

State』, something stinks.

It was said that they used the believers

living in each country to intervene in the politics of that country or to

encourage rebellion. I say this once more, the believers itself is harmless, there

are people who are truly dedicated to saving the weak. We mustn’t control them

by treating all the believers as one same ent.i.ty, and in the first place, the

more you suppress a religion, the more it blazes up. No matter how powerful the

military power a country has, if the soldiers believe in Lunaria Orthodoxy, then

the national stability will deteriorated as soon as that country becomes

hostile to the Orthodoxy State. That’s why, a religion that is so intertwined with

political power to such degree like that is troublesome.

Then a Holy Maiden from that

troublesome country, 『Lunaria Orthodoxy State』,

was currently, stood before me. Right now, there were only a few people in the

Parnam Castle’s 『Audience Room』. It was because the Orthodoxy State’s side hoped for an

audience with a small number of people. From the Orthodoxy State’s side, only the

Holy Maiden alone requested for the audience. That’s why, on both sides of my

throne, there was the First Queen Consort Candidate, Liscia, and the Second

Queen Consort Candidate, Aisha, who also acted as my bodyguard and was armed. Then,

the Prime Minister, Hakuya, was the only person who stood between the Holy

Maiden and me.

Well, even if this girl was an

a.s.sa.s.sin who pretending to be a Holy Maiden, since Aisha was her, it would be

fine. But…… looking at the girl standing on the carpet few steps below the

throne, that worry is undue. When I saw her appearance, I thought:

(…… I see. Certainly, she is the Holy Maiden…… )

Well, perhaps there was no word

better to describe the girl, other than 『Holy Maiden』. Her age is about 18 years old. She has a beautiful

face and alluring dark eyes. Her silver hair was braided into two. She was a bishoujo(pretty girl) who even made Aisha spoke out her admiration

unintentionally. Her figure, clad in a priestess habit, could be said as the exact

depiction of a Holy Maiden itself. If I hadn’t built my resistance, thanks to

Liscia and others, I would be overwhelmed just by meeting her eyes.

…… But, I wonder why. In contrast

to her high spec appearance, I didn’t feel any charm from her for some reason. On

the contrary, I felt a strange sense of discomfort when I saw her. Though, I thought

she is a cute girl……. Something was bothering me. While concealing this sense

of discomfort inside my heart, I addressed the Holy Maiden.

「Welcome.

The Lunaria Orthodoxy State’s Holy Maiden-dono. I am, Soma Kazuya, the one who

has been asked to govern over this country.」(Souma)

「Greeting

and good tidings, Your Majesty Great King of Friedonia. My name Mary Valenti. Today

I visit as an envoy from the Lunaria Orthodoxy State. Despite the sudden request,

to be granted an approval for this audience, in behalf of the Pope-sama, let me

offer my grat.i.tude to Your Majesty from the bottom of my heart.」(Mary)

The Holy Maiden Mary bowed in a

gracious manner as she spoke this. Mary…… The p.r.o.nunciation of her name is

similar to Maria-dono.  Since she was

t.i.tled Holy Maiden, I thought that she would say, 「You

must believe in our G.o.d」 in a condescending manner. Well…… As expected, it

wouldn’t do to take a lofty att.i.tude like that for the first meeting with a

King of a country.  Mary raised her face,

and then looked straight at my eyes before she spoke up.

「The

tales of Your Majesty's accomplishment had even reached Lunaria Orthodoxy State.

In less than a year after being summoned as the Hero, Your Majesty had rebuilt

the Elfrieden Kingdom, defeated Amidonia Dukedom and then annexed its

territory. Truly a feat of a Hero.」(Mary)

「You

are regarding too highly of me. I had not done any Hero-like deeds. That I

could rebuild this Kingdom, it was all because I am blessed with good

subordinates. I had repulsed Amidonia, but annexing it was just how the course

of event flowed.」(Souma)

「How

the events flow is a fate beyond human comprehension. Your Majesty might have

the G.o.d’s Blessing.」(Mary)

G.o.d’s blessing, huh? …… What a

religious-like opinion. I couldn’t agree with her, though.

「No,

this course of event, in the end, had been orchestrated by one person. The person

who you should extol is not me, but the Amidonia Princess who made that once in

a lifetime decision.」(Souma)

「Roroa

Amidonia-dono, is it? Though she still young, she was able to draw out greatest

benefit for the citizen by bringing the two nations into negotiations. As

fellow women, I truly admired her.」(Mary)

「………」(Souma)

But I believe Roroa will dislike

you. When Roroa’s elder brother, Julius was still the Duke of Amidonia, the

Orthodoxy roused the believers in the Dukedom and caused a rebellion. Although

Julius had suppressed the rebellion, Roroa was angry that her fellow citizen was

spilling each other blood. Actually, as the Third Queen Consort Candidate, I

wanted Roroa, who manages this country’s finance, to be here in this place. However,

considering her animosity towards the Orthodoxy State, I had her to wait with

Juna-san and others in the Office Room. Even if she isn’t a girl who will let

her feeling showed on her face…… I don’t want her to endure this needlessly.

However, just how much truth in

this girl’s words? Her tone was flat, so it was hard to read any particular

emotion from her. She didn’t seem to be playing any tricks. If she could speak

like this after knowing what her country had done, she would be a hypocrite

liar, but there was also a possibility that she was just “pretty flower” who

didn’t know anything…… No, if either of these is true, then her emotion should be

more apparent. If the former is true, then as a liar, she would give more ‘I am

sincere’ appeal to deceive her opponent. If the latter, then she should have a more

enthusiastic feeling, as if she came here with righteousness on her side.

However, this girl was too flat.

It was as if to say that her visit was normal and natural. This might be how a

country’s envoy act in the first place, but in this girl’s case, I felt that

this was too extreme…… The discomfort inside me became bigger.

「Then,

Mary-dono, what brings you here today?」(Souma)

I tried asked straightforwardly

so that I wouldn’t let that sense of discomfort showed in my expression. Then,

without losing any of her placidity, Mary slightly bowed her head.

「Ara,

that’s right. As a Holy Maiden of Lunaria Orthodoxy, today I have a request to

your Majesty.」(Mary)

「Request?」(Souma)

I asked while having a bad

feeling about this, and Mary replied with a completely non-malicious smile.

「I

would like to ask for Lunaria Orthodoxy to be the state religion of Elfrieden

Kingdom.」(Mary)

☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽

Religion is always a sensitive political matter.

Next chapter will be as fast as I could

translate!

Also, if you spot a mistake, mention it and

I will immediately fix it (at least in one month time :D)