CHAPTER 4
Questioning Justice
Kaguya turned and treated Eren to her signature thinly veiled insults.
“Oh? Who’s this god again? I’m sorry, you’re just so forgettable I can’t seem to place you.”
They were in the south of the city. Lyu was just on early evening patrol with Kaguya and Lyra.
“Ain’t this the weirdo Alize told me about? The one who almost lost his entire life savings?” asked Lyra. By now, all of Astrea Familia had heard the tale of the “444-Valis God.”
“Gah!” cried Eren. “You girls seriously don’t mince words! I thought you’d show a little more compassion to a deity!”
There was an odd sort of enthusiasm to his voice. It seemed like he was used to being a hopeless god.
“You are followers of Lady Astrea, aren’t you?” Eren inquired. “As virtuous as Lady Artemis, and twice as gentle? That Astrea? You girls ought to follow her example!”
“Oh, you know our goddess, do you?” Kaguya shot back.
“Of course! She’s a kind and loving soul! A paragon of purity among the disappointing philanderers of our pantheon!” Eren’s speech quickened, until before anyone knew it, he was practically shouting her virtues from the rooftops. “Filled with love and affection! A goddess among goddesses! Top of the list of ladies whose lap I’d like to lay down my head on!! Oh, if only she would be my mother, all my problems would be solved!!”
““Disgusting,”” replied Kaguya and Lyra as one.
“Ouch! Say how you really feel, why don’t you?!”
This god was starting to give the girls the creeps. They struggled to think of a punishment harsh enough for his apparent obsession with their beloved leader.
Lyu looked at the pitiful, teary-eyed god, unsure whether to be bothered by his presence or amazed by his persistence.
“I don’t know where to begin,” she said, “but I guess I’ll start by asking…why are you talking to us?”
“No reason. I just happened to see my old friends while out for a stroll and figured I’d strike up a chat. Is there anything wrong with that?”
“There’s nothing more bothersome than a god with too much time on his hands,” said Kaguya. Eren simply threw his hands up in defeat and gave a muddled grin, saying nothing in his defense.
“I’m sorry,” said Lyu, “but we’re on patrol at the moment. You’ll have to excuse us.”
But just as the girl turned to leave, Eren called out to her.
“So, these patrols. How long are you going to do them for?”
Lyu stopped in her tracks and turned.
“…What do you mean?” she asked, looking back at the god’s hopeless smile.
“Well, you girls are working so hard for the sake of the city. When will it stop?”
“When evil is destroyed, of course,” replied Lyu. “Our jobs will become unnecessary once Orario knows true peace.”
“Don’t you mean, when your sense of justice withers?”
The god smiled the same dopey smile. But Lyu felt that sense of unease again, more strongly this time. Her eyes grew sharper.
“…What are you implying?” she demanded.
The god replied as though missing the pointedness in her tone completely. “Well, it can’t be easy working such a thankless job, and without pay to boot. I don’t think it’s healthy. In fact, I’m worried about you,” he added, as if voicing his concerns to a reckless child. “You’re all gung ho about it now, but what happens after you burn out? Would you still say the same?”
“Do you find fault with our work, my Lord?” asked Kaguya, in as cold a voice as the steel of her blade.
“Not at all. I think it’s amazing. You guys do what I could never, and you do it with pride.”
There was no lie in the strange god’s words.
“When I think of how you’ll look when this world leaves you tattered and broken, why…I just think it’s so sad…and a little exciting, if I’m honest.”
The man was being honest. A little too honest, as far as Lyu and the others were concerned. From his lofty position, it was as though he could see how it would all play out, and he wasn’t shy about letting Astrea Familia know how futile it seemed to him.
“I think you’ve said too much, my Lord,” said Lyra. “I might be willin’ to sit and listen to this, but these two girls are on short leashes, so how about you leave before you get bitten, yeah?”
“Hmm, interesting,” said Eren, peering into Lyra’s cold eyes. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? I’m glad they have someone level-headed on their side.”
Lyra turned and made to leave without listening to a word more.
“Let’s go, you two,” she said to Lyu and Kaguya. “We’re just wastin’ time here. No sense in givin’ this guy the attention he so desperately craves.”
“Sorry, sorry,” replied Eren, rushing around to cut Lyra off. “I’ll make this question the last, then. One more, then this big bad bully will disappear. I promise.”
Lyu sighed and, hoping it would at least get rid of him for good, asked:
“…What’s your question?”
It turned out to be an exceedingly simple one.
“What is justice?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” said Lyu.
“Well, I’m just wondering,” explained Eren. “What’s this justice that all you mortals seem to go crazy for? I mean, I’m a god, and even I wouldn’t be comfortable trying to judge everybody fairly. Maybe that’s just because I’m not a very good god.”
It was a simple question, but one that even a deity claimed to struggle with finding a satisfactory answer to.
“So,” he went on, “I figured I’d ask you guys. After all, your goddess is all about justice, isn’t she? Surely, you must know what it is, then.”
“Ignore him, Leon,” Lyra advised. “He’s just messin’ with you.”
“Do you not have an answer?” Eren pressed her. “Does that mean you don’t know? You don’t know what it is you’re fighting for?”
“Grr! All right, fine,” said Lyu. “The answer to your little question couldn’t be any clearer in my mind!”
“Idiot…” muttered Kaguya, but Lyu had already taken the strange god’s obvious bait.
“Okay, then, tell me,” replied Eren. “What is justice?”
“Justice is virtuous deeds done without promise of a reward. It’s upholding that value at all times…And it’s striking down evil wherever it rears its ugly head.”
A silence lingered, broken only by a chill gust of wind that blew between the pair. Eren seemed to turn Lyu’s words over in his mind for a second, occasionally nodding or tapping the side of his head.
“Hmm…I see. So the people down here are guided by what they call virtue. Whatever comprises this virtue must be upheld, while anything that crosses it must be destroyed.”
Then Eren’s lips curled up into a smile.
“With violence if necessary. A sort of Justice by force, if you will.”
Lyu exploded at him. “That is not what I’m saying! Without us, evil would reign supreme! If we didn’t use force, people would be hurt or killed!”
“Whoa! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. There’s some truth to what you’re saying. And I think the world needs people with a more simplistic outlook. Not everyone wants to engage with philosophy, after all.”
Despite his apologetic words, however, the god was still grinning. Lyu wasn’t sure whether it was just her imagination, but it felt as though he was mocking her.
“It’s just…” he went on. “Well, your logic could apply just as well to evil as it does to good. I wonder what would happen if the roles were reversed?”
The god smiled as though he were a poet listening to a pleasing melody. Then he turned his pity-filled eyes upon Kaguya, Lyra, and Lyu.
“Well, I, for one, can suffer this fool no longer,” said the far-eastern girl.
“I’m sorry about that,” Eren replied. “My fine ladies, your souls are as beautiful as your faces. I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your time, but it was very worthwhile, for me at least. Thank you.”
“We’re done entertainin’ you,” said Lyra. “Next time you wanna talk philosophy, take your creepy smile somewhere else.”
The two girls left without another word. Lyu, meanwhile, seemed fazed by what she had heard, like there was a knot in her throat that wouldn’t go away. But she turned to follow her friends, and that was when Eren called out to her.
“Leon,” he said. “You really are the purest of the lot. It has to be you.”
The others were already out of earshot. Neither of them heard his voice or saw the look in his eyes that Lyu saw. His face was cast in darkness by the setting sun, leaving only a dazzling smile. The shadows seemed darker, somehow. Darker and longer than should have even been possible, and they lingered right up until the man was swallowed by the crowd.
“…I didn’t sense any hostility at all. If anything, he almost seemed fond of us,” muttered Lyu. “But…”
Whatever she thought next, she didn’t say it. She could only stare, her sky-blue eyes trained intently on the empty spot where the god once stood.
“Who is he anyway…?”
Dusk fell, and the curtain of night descended on the city. In district seven, to the northwest, there was nary a single light, and a pair of adventurers peered through a window in one of the buildings, both holding their breaths.
“Are you sure this is the place?” whispered one.
“Yes,” replied the other. “We’ve seen some shady types going in and out, all using some kind of item to cloak their scent so even animal people noses can’t track them.”
The two girls crouching by the window were none other than Shakti and Ardee, the Varma sisters. The building under their surveillance was a dusty old church that nobody used for worship anymore. Above the front doors, which now lay closed, was a stone portrait of a goddess, half of which had been worn away or destroyed.
“Looks like we’ve finally found where the smugglers are storing their goods before selling them on the black market,” said Ardee, fists clenched. “It wasn’t in the trade district at all!”
“Away from prying eyes, I assume,” said Shakti. “They’ve eluded us for this long, but that ends tonight.”
Soon, the two girls were joined by another from their team.
“Captain, everyone is in position and ready to begin on your mark.”
“All right. Let’s make this a clean operation, people.”
Members of Ganesha Familia were hidden all around the church. They awaited only Shakti’s signal. She took a deep breath, then yelled:
“All units, chaaarge!”
A battle cry erupted as every last adventurer hopped out of cover and descended on the church. After they kicked down the door, Ardee, the fleetest of the group, led the others inside.
“This is the watch!” she declared. “We have the place surrounded! Come out with your hands…up?”
However, Ardee soon discovered that her speech was not warranted. For every last person within the church’s walls had already been completely incapacitated.
“…Uh…Ah…”
Men and women. Humans and dwarves and animal people. They lay broken, atop cracked tiles, as though crushed by some incredible force. There was no blood, and all were still breathing, but they had been reduced to such a distressing state, it was a wonder they were still alive.
“There are merchants…and Evils, too!” said Ardee in wonder.
It was then that Shakti entered, right after her sister “They’ve all been wiped out? Who did this? And how did they get here before us?”
Gripped by an inexpressible feeling of shock, the familia members began investigating the scene, when all of a sudden, a voice reverberated around the room.
“It’s become so noisy again.”
““?!””
At first, no one noticed to whom the gloomy voice belonged. Outside, the clouds allowed a moonbeam to shine on one of the stained-glass windows, illuminating a corner of the church and bringing into stark relief the silhouette of a woman wearing a thick robe.
The hood was up, her face obscured, but ash-gray hair fell down her shoulders, and coupled with the unholy image of the church at night, she looked almost like a witch. Shakti and Ardee both wheeled around at the sound and were struck dumb by the sight of her.
“The distractions never end,” the stranger said, her grieving voice echoing off the walls. “Orario now is the same as it ever was. I can’t even sleep in peace. Ahhh, now I remember why I hate this land.”
The members of Ganesha Familia all stopped and stared, as though trying to work out what the displeased woman was doing here.
Who is she? An adventurer?
Ardee was perturbed. The woman was only standing in place, yet she gave off a pressure unlike any the girl had ever felt.
Shakti, meanwhile, shuddered with fright.
Where did she come from? Or, no—How long has she been standing there?!
The Ganesha Familia captain had failed to notice her. Her voice, her presence, her very being…they were all so faint that, if Shakti wasn’t looking straight at her now, she would struggle to say whether the woman was still in the room at all.
“…Did you do this?” Shakti asked.
“Who else could it have been?” the mysterious woman replied.
As Shakti opened her mouth to inquire further, Ardee butted in.
“Why?” she asked.
“They were annoying me. That’s all,” was the woman’s reply, completely aloof.
“What? What do you mean?”
“This rabble ravaged the elven forest far too much and damaged the sacred trees. They even tainted this holy place. I simply gave them their just deserts.”
The woman spared not even a glance for the fallen Evils around her, and the disdain in her voice was enough to suggest why. That single fragment of hate in the sea of tranquility put Ardee on edge.
“This place…you mean, this church?”
“Yes,” the woman replied. “My sister loved this place.”
It was impossible to see what she saw, her eyes hidden beneath her cowl, but the emotion in her voice as she spoke those last words was obvious.
“H-help…” one man groaned on the floor. “Help me…!”
“I ought to kill the lot of them, that they might never again taint this place with their vulgar words,” said the woman, her voice as icy cold as the shards of moonlight streaming in through the window, “but to soil this holy ground with their blood would be even worse. I’ll let you clean up this mess.”
Then she turned to leave.
“You think we’re just going to let you go?” Shakti shouted after her.
“Catch me if you can, child,” the woman said without a shred of care.
“Sh-she called big sis a child?!” said Ardee, shuddering.
“This isn’t a joke, Ardee!” yelled Shakti. “All troops, capture her!”
“Wroaaaaaaaaah!!”
On one side of the church, the combined might of Shakti’s forces, numbering over twenty and including multiple Level 3 adventurers. On the other, the woman single-handedly responsible for the collapse of Orario’s black market trade.
It was she who whispered the single word that ended the battle in an instant.
“Gospel.”
Her spell produced a wall of noise that radiated out and scattered the group. It was an utterly destructive sound, like a thunderclap, an earthquake, and an explosion all rolled into one. It flung the combatants off their feet and rattled every eardrum like the tolling of church bells. Even Shakti and Ardee were dashed against the back wall alongside splintered wooden pews and a cloud of dust.
In all the chaos, the mysterious woman vanished like a phantom in the night.
“M-magic?!” cried Ardee, staggering to her feet. “She’s gone!”
Shakti lifted herself off the ground, using her spear for support. She was wearing a deeply sour look. The spell must have produced some kind of vacuum wave, she reasoned. The force, enough to crack the flagstones underfoot, had left her ears ringing and her balance unsteady.
“What do we do, sis?” Ardee asked.
Though she wanted nothing more than to give chase and redeem her failure, Shakti shook her head. “…Leave her,” she replied. “We need to secure the church first.”
The black market was the priority. That was the mission that brought them here. “Though I fear that job has already been done for us…” she added, in a voice so quiet nobody else could hear.
A little while later, Ganesha Familia were busy attending to their initially planned duty. Anyone hurt by the earlier mishap was quickly attended to by the group’s healers, and afterward, everyone got to work rounding up the suspects and investigating the church.
“All Evils members and black market traders accounted for!” reported one soldier.
“Good work,” replied Shakti. “The goods must be hidden somewhere in the church. Split up and begin searching.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Shakti wasted no time in giving her next orders. While the Evils soldiers were being carried out of the building, Ardee came over. She had just finished taking down names and descriptions, and she had a question for her elder sister.
“Sis…Who was that woman, do you think? She took out the Evils, so does that make her our ally?”
“It’s hard to see it that way,” Shakti replied. “All I can say for sure is that she doesn’t obey orders…and she’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Still frowning, Shakti took a look at the enemy soldiers who were being removed from the church.
“Some of those she incapacitated were high-ranking Evils. Rudra Familia and other Level Threes.”
Ardee gasped. “You mean she took out a room full of second-tier adventurers, just like that?”
“Yes. Not even Loki Familia have anyone so strong. Where could she have come from…?”
The woman’s skill put her on par with a first-tier adventurer, at least. Even Ardee could tell that, though her sister had undoubtedly deduced even more. All this was clear from the deep furrows across her brow. Ardee put her brain to work as well, but she didn’t get very far before one of her subordinates emerged from a back door, calling Shakti’s name.
“Captain! We’ve located a stockpile of stolen goods! We’ve identified several items that were smuggled in!”
“Oh! Sorry, could I take a look?” said Ardee, reacting to the soldier’s words. He showed her what he had found, which turned out to be a hole in the floorboards concealing a single wooden box. Ardee crouched and quickly but carefully rummaged through it.
“Here they are!” she cried at last. “The holy tree branches!”
Ardee pulled out a bundle wrapped in cloth. All in all, it was about as thick as a woman’s arm.
“So those are what were stolen from Lyu’s village?” asked Shakti, walking over. “I would have thought they’d all have been turned into weapons and staffs by now.”
“Well, it’s a good thing they weren’t!” said Ardee cheerily. “Because I promised Leon I’d get them back!”
She beamed. Then her face fell as she suddenly realized something.
“I don’t know which of these are Leon’s! There’s so many, and they all look the same!”
She picked up two of the branches, looking from one to the other, and back again, before giving up in defeat. Shakti gave a despairing sigh and smiled at her mercurial sister.
“We’ll ask some of our elf friends to help us,” she said. “They’ve often said that the holy trees have different auras. I’m sure they can tell the difference.”
“Sis…You’re right! Thanks!”
Ardee leaped to her feet, all smiles again, then all of a sudden looked quite timid.
“Also…Can I ask one more selfish thing?”
“What is it, Ardee?”
“Well…if any of these turn out to be from Lyumilua Forest, where Lyu is from, do you think I could be the one to give them back to her?”
Shakti had deduced what her little sister’s question would be before it even left her lips. Thus, she didn’t take long to respond. However, as the leader of the city watch, she still needed to choose her words carefully.
“This is not our property,” she said. “It’s not for us to hand out as we please.”
“Ugh…”
“…Having said that, I have heard the elves of Lyumilua Forest are the most prideful of all. They are unlikely to accept the branches from us.”
“S-so that means…!”
“Yes. I see no problem in entrusting them to someone who originally hails from their village instead. But only after we’ve inspected them thoroughly, understood?”
“Of course! Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!”
Shakti smiled as her sister jumped for joy. Ardee picked up one of the branches, not even knowing if it belonged to Lyu or not, and muttered, “I’m so glad…I hope this’ll cheer her up…”
The pale light of the moon shone in through the stained glass, bathing the child in a soft glow.
Six days until the Great Conflict…
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