Chapter 49: A Tale of Two Gods

Of course, that was to be expected.

Belmias had lived through long ages, and during that time, she had been summoned several times and experienced different eras.

Sometimes, the period between falling asleep and being summoned again was so short that she had even experienced summoners of the same era multiple times.

But for a while, no one had called upon Bel’s existence.

For a long, long time, an incalculable amount of time had passed.

She had barely awakened in this era.

And it was almost the first time that a god of a single name was so dominant.

“The summoner… is probably from that side.”

Perhaps, in the story that was about to unfold, she could catch a glimpse of the truth of this era.

“Skahvan.”

A country that was once branded heretical by Lucilonia and purged.

For a religion that was so widespread throughout the world, Luxlon did not have a very long history.

But even if its history was not long, there was a reason why it could rise to a position respected by so many people.

A saint who was said to hear the voice of Luxlon directly had been living for hundreds of years, and he had personally set an example of the doctrine, saving countless people from poverty and starvation with the special abilities of a clergyman.

“Apostles live long?”

The words that a saint had been living for hundreds of years caught her ear.

When Bel asked that, Lema answered.

“Yes, Master. Some of them don’t even age. In Lucilonia, they say it’s a blessing of divinity…”

When Lema gave him a look to explain, Guildmaster shrugged.

“We call it reaching the realm of magic.”

“…I see.”

When Bel nodded and told him to continue the story, Guildmaster cleared his throat with a cough.

“So, this is a story from before that. The doctrine of Lucilonia, even if you take away all the complicated stuff, is in any case focused on for the sake of humanity. So naturally, it had to clash with other religions that practiced human sacrifice.”

Lucilonia, while advocating Luxlon, the god of light and justice, disparaged the opposing forces as heretics and heinous demons that threatened humanity.

And that was the first and largest-scale purge.

Although they now refrain from mass slaughter, at that time, Lucilonia had committed that act.

It was a common method for a faction to gain power.

To create a common enemy to strengthen unity.

It must have been an even more effective method for a religion.

What’s more, the pretext seemed to have been quite good.

The fact that the act of human sacrifice had stimulated people’s fear.

But, only if that was true.

“…Was it a false accusation?”

“No, it was not a false accusation. They really did practice human sacrifice there. However, it was not a large number of sacrifices as is known, but they chose one victim from the entire country. The king.”

“They offered the king as a sacrifice?”

“Yes. It’s about quality over quantity, I suppose. Haha.”

Guildmaster trembled as he explained, as if he were recalling the scene.

It seemed horrifying just to imagine it.

“But it seems that Lucilonia had a hard time back then. At that time, Lucilonia was not as powerful as it is now. What’s more, just as Luxlon has apostles, they had them too. And they were said to be stronger and more numerous. Later, people who realized how cruel an enemy of humanity they were joined in, and the Lucilonia side became more dominant.”

Having succeeded in that propaganda, Luxlon succeeded in erasing the other god from this world.

And after that, all the folk beliefs from all over the world were absorbed into Lucilonia.

As another name for Luxlon.

“Until then, things that were called incantations, magic, miracles… were actually the grace of Luxlon… that’s how far it went. The great shamans, mages, and the saints of different names in various places that existed before… even if they didn’t know the existence of the god, or knew it by a different name, it was said that Luxlon responded to the goodness and righteousness of the individual and bestowed grace! That’s what it is.”

But people had no choice but to believe.

Even if the name of the god was false, even if they had known the name of the god incorrectly, the existence of the apostles was real and even powerful.

What’s more, ordinary humans who converted to believe in Luxlon in earnest after that also began to awaken the power of an apostle in sequence.

They were the good and righteous people that Lucilonia called virtues.

It was useless to covet only the power that the apostles enjoyed, or to have a false belief for other purposes, or to pretend to be a devout believer to gain something else.

Because the truly good and righteous, altruistic humans who set an example for others eventually awakened the power of an apostle.

With a much more overwhelming frequency and accuracy than before.

It meant that it was much faster if you believed in and trained in the doctrine of doing good and righteous acts for the sake of humanity and its god, Luxlon.

“But that’s why there is an inevitable contradiction. People like us can’t believe it because of that.” Guildmaster sighed.

“If all those transcendent phenomena were the grace of Luxlon, is there any guarantee that the religion they uprooted from this world was not? If Luxlon exists at all times, in all places, and if the identity of all those gods was in fact Luxlon, what if the god that has already disappeared from this world was in fact a piece of Luxlon?”

He had a point.

There was no way to refute it even if someone claimed so.

Like being caught in one’s own logic.

What’s more, anyone who was interested in the history of that time would know.

That place was where more powerful and more numerous apostles were produced, and it was also a place that was described as a representative trial during the most difficult period of Lucilonia.

“That’s why they can’t tolerate the act of human sacrifice at all now. It’s their tradition, isn’t it? If you do that, you’re unconditionally a heretic.”

“I see.”

“But in fact, that’s a contradiction that any human with good intuition, or who thinks a little logically, can easily grasp. However, the majority of people don’t feel the need to go that far and argue with them. They’re not guys who use Luxlon to do bad things, and they’re the ones who stand up to the truly strong and help the weak. What’s more, they don’t even get very angry even if you say that to their face.”

Guildmaster shrugged as if he were deflated.

Through that reaction, it was possible to know that he had a history of provoking them.

It seemed that Guildmaster, who said so, was the very person who would go out of his way to argue with them.

“They’re just really good people. All they do is pray, be abstinent, heal the sick, and mediate when a war is about to break out… What’s wrong with them being in charge of the welfare of the whole world?”

Saying so, Guildmaster was taken aback and covered his mouth with one hand.

Because a clear victim was present next to him when he said they were just good people.

“Oh my, was I rude to you?”

“…”

Lema had been silent since before and did not answer.

Instead, Bel asked.

“The name of the forgotten old god?”

“The White Darkness God.”

“Oho.”

It was the second time she had heard that word in this era.

Although it was used with a different meaning.

She couldn’t yet judge whether it was the opposite of the word that had come out earlier, or if it meant the same thing.

“So, the summoner is presumed to be an apostle of the White Darkness God. As I said before, apostles live for a really long time if the conditions are right, don’t they? It’s more plausible to assume that they’ve been alive since then, rather than that a crazy person who suddenly excavated that dead god in this era, and who sincerely believes in it and practices human sacrifice, was born.”

Guildmaster, as if he had finished his preliminary explanation, now told them what the Bel party was curious about.

“And the fanatic with a bounty from the Holy Empire. That might also be the same person.”

“How can that be?”

“That crazy person goes around torturing people, saying he’s looking for a sacrifice to offer to his lord. It’s exactly the old Skahvan way of thinking.”

And Guildmaster added a word about why that fanatic was called a fanatic rather than a heretic.

“But he doesn’t kill them.”