Judicial State
Satou here. Even countries that have a reputation for bad-tasting food are sure to have plenty of delicious dishes. Sometimes, you might think something tastes gross at first, until your tongue gets used to it and it comes around to tasting good by the end of your stay.
“Are you sure it was all right to leave without saying a word?”
“Aye. Gods shalt not be swayed by the circumstances of man.”
We set forth from the City-State of Kalisork along with Goddess Karion, taking a sea route around the coast of the peninsula toward Sherifardo State.
Two days after we visited Paradise Island, Karion awoke; she promptly silenced the priests with her divine commands and left the kingdom entirely. At my request, she used another command to tell them not to say a word about me and my companions joining her to anyone, which meant we had nothing to worry about.
Just to be safe, we borrowed some priest robes and cloaks from Karion Central Temple to wear when we were hanging around on the deck of the ship.
“I would’ve liked to spend a little more time on the forbidden shelves and the great library.”
“Mm. Disappointing.”
“We can always come back again.”
In the time between our return from Paradise Island and Karion’s awakening, I’d thoroughly photographed plenty of the books that intrigued us in the library shelves, so I could read a good third of the collection anytime.
We were so busy in Kalisork that we didn’t have a chance to eat the famous gelatin dessert “holy font of knowledge, lava style, flower garden flavor” during our stay. Next time we visited, I would have to make sure we all got to eat it together.
“Master, when will we start treating the chimeras?”
“We’d better do some animal testing first.”
I was scared to jump right to the real thing.
“Mew!”
Tama’s ears stood up straight.
“A dragon! The red dragon is coming!”
A lookout shouted from atop the main mast.
Just a moment later, I saw the red dragon approaching rapidly on my radar.
It passed by the high-speed boat in a flash, then circled around in the distance to stare at us.
“Wh-what’s goin’ on?! Why would the red dragon attack us?!”
“I never heard of the guardian of the inland sea going after a ship!”
The captain and merchants trembled and shouted in terror.
“Maybe it’s because of Pochi’s egg?”
“Could be.”
Pochi’s egg was a White Dragon’s Egg, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the fact that it was a dragon egg was enough to attract a different dragon’s attention.
If we weren’t in full view of other people, I could use “Skyrunning” to fly up and talk to the red dragon myself…
“Oh no, sir!”
“Emergencyyyy?”
Startled by Arisa’s statement, Pochi curled up around the egg to protect it. Tama drew out a Buckler from her Fairy Pack and equipped it, standing over Pochi defensively.
It was clear that they were both determined to protect the egg no matter what.
“Here it comes!”
The red dragon sped closer.
I started to step forward, figuring I could use Phalanx to defend the ship if it came to that, when someone stopped me.
Goddess Karion.
She stepped in front of me, a crimson aura blazing around her.
“Such insolence. Thou shalt withdraw at once.”
She didn’t shout it, nor did she say it as a firm command. She simply stated it as a matter of fact.
“GYZABBBBSZZZZZZZZZZ.”
The red dragon howled as it flew away.
“What did it say?”
“That wasn’t dragon language. It was just a scream.”
The red dragon circled a few times at a slight distance, then took off far away into the sky.
I guess even dragons back down from the authority of gods?
“I can see a shore. Is that the tip of the peninsula?”
“Yeah, it’s the tip of the Twin Peninsula that comes down from the north coast. You can see land on the other side, too, right? That one’s the Heroic Peninsula that comes down from the south coast.”
The day after our close encounter with the red dragon, we were approaching one of the rough spots in the inlet between the two peninsulas.
“This is a rough spot?”
As soon as Arisa spoke, the ship rocked violently.
“Eek!”
“Mrr.”
Lulu and Mia stumbled, and I quickly caught them.
“Kyaaa, the shiiiip…”
Arisa gave a deeply unconvincing shriek and clung to me.
Okay, that was clearly on purpose, but I figured I’d let her stay like that until the ship settled.
“That was an unnatural movement, I declare.”
“Could there be a monster under the ship?”
“Meeew?”
“There’s nothing down there, sir.”
Nana and the beastfolk girls peered down into the sea.
Since Pochi couldn’t climb onto the railing because of her egg belt, she got Liza to lift her up.
“No need to worry. It was just a big wave.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be so sure. The young lady with the scales might be right.”
A sailor who was adjusting the sail called down to correct a nearby merchant.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s an old seafaring legend. They say there’s a big, giant monster called a leviathan below the depths, so large that it covers the entire bottom of the inlet sea from one end to the other.”
The merchant laughed this off as a superstition.
“Très bieeen?”
“If it’s that big, we’d never be able to eat it all, sir!”
Both the sailor and the merchant grinned at Tama and Pochi and their awakened appetites.
“Goddess Karion, do you know whether the leviathan is real?”
Evidently uninterested in my attempt at starting a conversation, Karion only responded with a muttered “hmm.”
Despite her curious nature, she could be remarkably dry when it came to topics that didn’t pique her interest.
“Hey! Quit yer chatterin’ or the leviathan’ll swallow ya whole! Focus up!”
“Yessir! Can’t have us running aground ’cause of a rookie mistake.”
The scolded sailor shouted out a local version of “aye-aye, sir” and got back to work.
From what I gathered, this area had several reefs as well as sudden waves, like the one we just experienced, making it dangerous to let one’s guard down.
And on top of that…
“Pirates! We got pirates!”
We ran into pirates in the slim island-dotted sea route between peninsulas. They charged at us with an alarmingly fast galley.
“Master, it is time for pirate hunting, I declare.”
Nana’s eyes glinted.
Beyond her, I saw the captain turning pale.
“S’no use. The magic furnace ain’t workin’ right. We’ll never get the barrier up in time.”
If that was the case, the Magic Cannons for defending the ship probably wouldn’t work, either.
Since the sailors seemed desperate, we decided to lend a hand.
“Satou.”
“Mia and Arisa, use magic to keep the pirate ship from getting too close. Lulu, take out the drummer who’s setting the rhythm for the rowers. Liza, Pochi, Tama, be ready to fight back in case we get boarded. Nana, you and I will defend against attacks on the ship.”
At my orders, the group jumped into action.
Lulu’s sniping destroyed the drum, ruining their rhythm and slowing their speed, while close hits from Arisa and Mia’s magic accidentally capsized the ship.
Just as the sailors started to cheer, they were interrupted by the lookout on the main mast shouting out a new threat.
“Wyverns! It’s a flock of wyverns!”
First pirates, now a flock of wyverns?
They weren’t kidding when they called this a rough spot.
“Not to worry. The wyverns are after the pirates in the water, not us.”
Just as the captain said, the wyverns dove toward the pirates.
I used my Magic Bow to shoot a wyvern right through the eyes just before it could grab a pirate with the talons of its hind legs.
“No way, how the hell’d he hit that from here?”
“Damn, that’s crazy, even if it was just a lucky shot!”
While the sailors exclaimed in surprise, I shot down a second and third wyvern.
“The hell are you thinking?! What if the wyverns come after us instead?!”
“Yeah! It’s just vermin who infest the route devouring each other. Leave ’em to it!”
The captain and one of the merchants turned on me.
Karion looked like she couldn’t care less.
“It’d be setting a bad example for the children.”
With that, I shot several more wyvern heads in succession.
Eventually, they learned their lesson and switched their approach to diving at high speed into the water to grab pirates with their beaks, instead of slowing down to use their talons.
When a few tried to fly my way, Liza and company’s “Spellblade” and Lulu’s “Sniping” shot them down, and Arisa set off a huge Fire Magic spell in the air to scare them away.
The captain decided to overlook my disobedience, probably because it ended without any casualties.
“I didn’t know you were such an impressive mage, little lady.”
“Hee-hee, you could say that.”
Arisa’s big finale spell left a big impression, prompting the captain and the merchants to shower her in praise.
As I collected the wyvern corpses floating on the water nearby, a battleship appeared on the horizon.
“Captain! That’s a Sherifardo battleship!”
“Guess we’ll let them deal with the pirates, then.”
The captain relayed the information to the battleship using signal flags, and we continued onward.
“It’s meat, sir!”
“Wyvern meat ain’t hardly worth eatin’, kiddo.”
“That’s not truuue?”
“Yes, wyvern meat does have an unusual flavor, but the chewy mouthfeel is wonderfully satisfying.”
“Y-yeah? Maybe we’ll join ye for some once we land, then.”
The beastfolk girls’ wyvern discussion caught the captain’s interest.
“Intriguing. Thou shalt provide the unknown morsels.”
“I can’t say I recommend it much…”
Now even Karion was eager for a taste.
“The morsels.”
“Oh, all right.”
I couldn’t say no when her face was so full of hidden determination.
Somehow, it felt almost as if my kids were influencing her and bringing out even more of her gluttonous tendencies.
We gazed at the distant Heroic Peninsula as we crossed the island belt, then traveled alongside the coast of the Twin Peninsula until we reached Sherifardo State.
“So this is Sherifardo State…”
Lulu looked around at the people in the harbor.
It gave a similar impression to Parion Province. Although the style here was closer to ancient Greece than the Middle East, most people were still clad in simple, undyed cloth. Even the soldiers and higher-ups wore clothes in plain colors, giving the impression of an ash-gray kingdom.
According to my map information, humans made up more than 80 percent of the population, with the likes of beastfolk and birdfolk filling out the rest. There were more people here with the Urion-granted gift “Eye of Judgment” than in most places, which might be because Urion Central Temple was here.
“Damn, that’s tough. My normal butcher knife can’t make a single scratch on it.”
“Should I bring a broadsword or an ax to cut it?”
“Don’t even joke about that. We’ll never see such perfectly intact wyvern corpses again. I’m gonna buy ’em up no matter how many gold coins it takes!”
The merchants were gathered around the unloaded wyvern corpses. Wyvern hide does make for good armor, after all.
“Lulu, would you break those down for them?”
“That scrawny little girl could never—”
The fisherman shut his mouth abruptly when he saw the huge tuna knife Lulu produced from her Pack.
Of course, it was a specially made true–steel alloy knife that looked like ordinary iron at a glance, not the golden orichalcum one.
“Hi-ya…!”
With a cute little cry, Lulu easily sliced up the wyverns.
Watching the scene unfold made me think that Lulu might be able to handle close combat pretty well, after all.
“Will this do?”
“Erm, y-yes, that’s perfect. Thank you very much, ma’am. Madam. Mademoiselle.”
Witnessing Lulu’s expert knifework up close left the fisherman with no idea how to address her.
I felt a tug on my sleeve and turned around, expecting one of my younger kids, only to find Karion instead.
“The tasty morsels. Thou shalt offer them at once.”
Apparently she still wanted to eat that wyvern.
With no other choice, I got the merchants to share some of the perfectly sliced wyvern meat and wound up borrowing a stove from the intrigued fisherman to cook it up.
“Would you mind helping me, Lulu?”
“You can count on me!”
Lulu flexed her skinny arms, which was adorable.
I decided to start with two dishes: simple meat skewers and a tomato stew that might mask the taste.
Since wyvern meat was sinewy with a gamy taste, I cut the meat across the grain and massaged herbs into it to help with the flavor, then let it rest for a bit.
“Thou shalt remove miasma.”
Karion glowed with crimson light, and with a wave of her hand the miasma that remained in the wyvern meat was instantly gone. It was even more dramatically fast than when I used my spirit light at full throttle.
“The soup is ready to start.”
“Okay, then use these for it, please.”
I handed Lulu the parts that might work best in a stew, while I turned my attention to the skewers.
I decided to offer two different kinds: thick chunks and rolls of thin-sliced meat. The former was meant to highlight the chewiness, while the latter should be easier to eat.
When the first round of skewers was done, I handed them out to Karion and the girls.
“Meat is the strongest ever, sir.”
“Tough and yummyyyy.”
“The chewiness of wyvern meat is such a joy.”
The beastfolk girls were delighted by the wyvern meat as always.
“…So-so.”
Karion took a bite with an eager expression, which quickly turned to the face of a child who’s been made to take bitter medicine. Yeah, I expected as much.
When I offered the wyvern skewers to the curious harbor crowd at their request, most of them reacted similarly to Karion, with a few exceptions. I think the thin-sliced meat was better received, if not by much.
“Master, could you finish this off, please?”
At Lulu’s prompting, I checked on the seasoning of the tomato stew. I barely needed to make any changes, aside from adding a little more salt to pull it all together. Taste testing the meat, I found it was perfectly edible and lacked the gamy taste.
“The meat still has a lovely mouthfeel, and the acidity of the tomato complements the flavor nicely.”
“Yummyyyy?”
“Wyvern tomato stew is super-yummy, too, sir.”
The beastfolk girls reacted as I expected.
“Huh, not bad.”
“Yes, Arisa. It no longer tastes like wyvern meat, I report.”
Arisa and Nana liked this version better, too.
Mia made an X in front of her lips with her fingers, so I offered the last helping of tomato stew to Karion.
“Here, this one is a lot tastier.”
“…’Tis better without the meat.” Karion paused, then added, “Thou shalt be praised for thy improvements,” and ate the rest of her dish.
Maybe she was actually trying to encourage me?
“Even the buildings are gray.”
Entrusting the auctioning of the broken-down wyvern corpses to the harbor staff, we followed Karion’s lead down the main street toward Urion Central Temple.
“It must just be the color of the building material.”
“No, I think they started out as white stone.”
The houses currently being built were still white as snow.
It must be something about the climate that turned them ash gray over time.
“There is little in the way of entertainment, I declare.”
“Grumpy.”
All of the stores on the main street were focused solely on practical products, and as Mia pointed out, the people walking around and shopping all looked rather surly.
“You’re right,” Arisa agreed. “This place could use some smiles.”
Most of the passersby reminded me of Japanese people bustling to work during rush hour.
“I don’t see a lot of seasoning or sauces, but there are plenty of vegetables I’ve never seen before.”
“Mushrooms.”
Lulu giggled. “Yes, there are a lot of different kinds of mushrooms, too. We should buy plenty of them.”
Even though Sherifardo State was on the other side of the harsh mountain range that bordered Kalisork on the same peninsula, there was no sign of the cassava-like squirreltail yams that were a staple food there. Instead, their primary crops were skinny tubers called Sherifa yams and dark-brown beans called Lifa beans.
“Master, what do you think they’re doing over there?”
There was a gathering of people in a park alongside the road having some kind of meeting.
At the center of the circle of people were a few important-looking figures, a handful of guards, and a man in shabby-looking clothes.
“We hereby sentence Bagga, the accused, to three years of hard labor. The charges…”
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up on this declaration.
“Sounds like it’s a trial.”
“Like an analyst arbitration?”
“No, not quite.”
According to my map information, there was no analyst here. Most of the city’s analysts were working in the central justice hall, the majority with the “Exhaustion” condition.
“Well, are they using ‘Eye of Judgment’?”
“No, not that either, apparently.”
There was no one here with the “Eye of Judgment” skill, a gift from Urion.
“I guess it’s just a normal trial, then. Do you think they shout ‘OBJECTION!’ and everything?”
That didn’t seem likely to me, but I guess Arisa also knew about a certain court game famous for its turnabouts and ace attorneys.
“Outdoor trial.”
“Master, another trial sighted, I report.”
As we strolled down the main street, we spotted several more court hearings being held at crossroads and parks.
“Maybe they’re all fond of trials, and that’s why it’s called the ‘judicial state’?”
I wouldn’t want to live in a land of lawsuits like this.
We should just do some quick sightseeing and move on to the next nation.
“Ha-ha-ha, it’s because this is the domain of Goddess Urion.”
A passing gentleman explained to us that Urion was the goddess of “judgment and justice.”
The main street led to a lush green park, beyond which we could see a building like the cut-off tip of a pyramid.
“Mew-mew?”
“Mr. Ruins spotted, sir!”
Tama and Pochi’s surprise was probably due to the building in question.
According to my AR display, it was called the central justice hall. My Ministry of Tourism notes explained that it was the political heart of the judicial state, as well as the headquarters of their justice administration department.
“Is that our destination?”
“Nay. Urion’s temple lies hence.”
On the left-hand side was a solemn-looking building.
Ignoring the outdoor trials that were taking place throughout the park as well, we headed toward the temple.
When we emerged from the park, we arrived directly in front of the temple. Now that our view wasn’t blocked by the trees, I could see that there were strange angular decorations sticking out of the buildings, giving it a rather avant-garde appearance.
Above the large gate was a statue of Urion made out of red stone, confirming that this was indeed the Urion Central Temple.
“The inside is just a normal chapel, huh?”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Arisa.”
Lulu pointed at a group of people in judge’s robes, the same kind we’d seen at the outdoor trials, all walking through an iron door at the back of the temple.
“Hmm, wonder what’s going on in there?”
While Arisa looked at it curiously, Karion wandered forward, playing by her own rules as usual. She was headed straight for the door that Arisa and Lulu were looking at.
“Stop right there. Only participants in the divine trial and spectators who made reservations to attend in advance are permitted beyond this point. If you are a spectator, we’ll need your reservation slip.”
The priests on guard in front of the iron door stepped forward to block Karion’s way.
“Such insolence. Let it be known that thou shalt be punished for disrupting a goddess’s hallowed path.”
Karion’s words sent the priests to their hands and knees at once. Apparently her divine commands worked just as well on priests of the Urion faith.
I glanced around and saw that while my kids looked meek, they weren’t prostrating themselves despite the divine command. Everyone else who was within hearing range of Karion’s voice was on the floor.
The Lugo’s Bracelets Rei gave us must be working well, then.
We walked past the prostrated priests and through the iron door.
“Aww, man, it’s just a regular old courtroom.”
Despite what Arisa said, there was nothing normal about the size of the courtroom.
It was on a far larger scale than any courtroom I’d ever seen—big enough to hold a parliament meeting.
Karion looked a little disgruntled; maybe this wasn’t where she wanted to go.
“Above.”
“Master, something is floating, I declare.”
“What do you think that is, Master? It sort of looks like a scale…”
Mia, Nana, and Lulu were looking up at a golden balance scale encased in a transparent sphere. While it appeared to be floating in midair, my AR told me it was actually supported by four nearly invisible structures.
The ruby-like gems decorating the scale were an unfamiliar variety called “scarlet law stones.”
“Is this your first divine trial? What you’re looking at is Goddess Urion’s Sacred Treasure: the ‘Scale that Weighs Sins’ Urirulave.”
A gentleman, whose short mustache suited him perfectly, approached behind us to explain. His occupation column read “spectator critic,” while his titles included “Pro Spectator.” I was surprised that his job was “spectator critic” and not “trial critic”… I guess there are all kinds of jobs in a parallel world.
“Golden scales—like Libra, the old master… Although these days there might be a younger version or a female version or something.”
Arisa muttered nonsense to herself.
I recognized the saintly source material she was referring to, but come on, have a little self-respect.
“If it’s a divine trial, does that mean they’ll use that scale for the trial?”
Come to think of it, there was something in my Ministry of Tourism documents about the “judicial state” Sherifardo having an unusual method of judgment.
“Precisely. The Divine Treasure can judge sins that even an analyst’s ‘Perceive’ skill or the gift ‘Eye of Judgment’ cannot.”
The critic crossed his arms and nodded sagely, as if to indicate that this concluded his explanation. I was kind of hoping he would get into a little more detail.
“That’s impressive.”
I gave an equally vague response.
As far as I could understand, the scale was probably used for difficult trials in cases where “Perceive” couldn’t see through a lie or “Eye of Judgment” couldn’t accurately determine whether an act was evil or not.
I decided to get more information from the temple priests later once we finished whatever business Karion had here.
“The head priestess?”
“I’ve never heard of a head priestess participating in a divine trial.”
“I wonder if something happened?”
The crowd began murmuring amongst themselves.
I followed their gaze to see a line of priestesses and shrine maidens arriving.
Leading the way was a woman in her forties with the icy air of a winter morning. She must be the Urion Central Temple head priestess.
The procession of priestesses stopped in front of Karion and dropped to their knees before the goddess even said a word.
“O exalted one,” said the priestess. “Goddess Urion calls for thee. Would you do us the great honor of proceeding to the temple sanctuary?”
“Aye. Thou shalt guide me at once.”
Completely ignoring the chaos that filled the courtroom crowd, Karion walked in the priestess’s stead.
“The rest of you, wait here, please.”
A beautiful temple knight stopped us at the entrance.
What a shame. Evidently we couldn’t enter Urion’s sanctuary.
“Nay. Thou art necessary.”
“As the exalted one wishes. Come along, then.”
In deference to Karion’s words, the high priestess beckoned us through.
It was similar to the sanctuary in the holy woman’s shrine in Parion Province.
“We will now begin the consecration ceremony. Wait here a moment, please.”
“No need. I shall perform the purification myself.”
Karion glowed with vermillion light and waved her hand, and a veil of light appeared and poured down on the priestesses.
Even after the sparkling light vanished, the priestesses still retained a faint white glow.
“O goddess, we who worship thee and thy justice…”
The head priestess looked to the sky and began the ceremony.
When her lengthy invocation concluded, red light rained down from the sky.
It was a vivid crimson, darker in color than Karion’s holy light.
{Query} {Karion} {Manifestation}
A strange sensation formed, a message with multiple meanings that went deeper than words.
“A vessel. I can manifest at a low cost.”
Karion looked up at the red light and responded with a smug smile.
{Request} {Vessel} {Manifestation}
“Aye. Thou shalt prepare a vessel.”
“You mean like the statue I made of you, Goddess Karion?”
Karion nodded at my question.
“Very well. I can make that if you give me a little time.”
I got enough World Tree branches from Bolenan Forest to make a whole fleet of arcs, and I’d already cut down plenty of statue-sized pieces. I could probably make plenty more vessels like the one I inadvertently sculpted for Karion.
{Anticipation} {Vessel} {Manifestation}
With that statement, Urion’s red light vanished back into the sky.
Apparently that was the end of our contact with the goddess for now.
“Is there somewhere I can work, or…”
“Thou shalt work here.”
Despite the priestesses’ consternation, they couldn’t argue with a goddess and reluctantly nodded.
Still, I felt bad, so I insisted that it wasn’t a convenient location for sculpting and requested a different room for the task.
There were about three hours until lunchtime. I figured I could finish the sculpture by then.
“So I guess I’ll be working here for a bit. What do you all want to do?”
“We wouldn’t want to get in your way. We can wander around near Urion Central Temple.”
“Tama will sculpt, tooooo?”
Pochi hesitated for a bit, ultimately giving in to Arisa’s promise that they would find someplace selling snacks.
For a while, Tama and I chiseled away at our sculptures.
I used the same basic design as the first one, which made the process simple enough.
In all of the myths I’d read in picture books, Urion’s name always came up before Karion’s, so I tried making this one look a little bit like an older sister to the one Karion used as her vessel. While the facial features were largely the same, I redesigned the body to have a slightly more grown-up figure.
“That ought to do it, I think?”
I gave the mostly finished statue a once-over.
Since she was worshiped in a judicial state, I decided to go for a serious expression.
Next to me, Tama was muttering “mew-mew-mew” as she carved her statue. It came out very charming, with an almost unbelievably lifelike sense of movement, possibly due to the attribute stone ninjutsu she incorporated in her process.
The statue was holding a dish that overflowed with light… No, wait, that was actually yakisoba. There were even pieces of cabbage and meat leaping from the dish. Which meant what I took for a short staff in her other hand was actually…chopsticks?!
A maiden dancing while eating yakisoba—now that was a daring subject for a statue indeed.
“Hrm, so these are the limitations of humans. Fascinating.”
I heard a voice and turned to see that the statue I made had turned into a moving, flesh-and-blood girl.
“Goddess Urion, I take it?”
“Aye.”
Urion touched her hair with a glow of red around her hand, and a length of it was cut away, turning it into a bob.
The pure white hair that fell to the floor stayed as hair instead of turning back into wood.
If an Urion Central Temple priest saw that, they might start worshiping it as a relic. I used my Magic Hand to put it away in Storage for now, figuring I could give it to them as a present later.
“Thou shalt become my apostle. Karion says so, too.”
“I did not. Thou art delusional, Urion.”
Karion teleported into the room in time to disagree with Urion.
A moment later, Arisa told me via Telephone that Karion had disappeared; I let her know that the goddess was here now.
“He is best suited to being my apostle. Thou shalt desist, Urion.”
“Nay. We shall both make him an apostle. Thus the matter is settled.”
It turns out even gods can bicker like children.
Since the models they were both based on were so similar, they really looked like twins, especially while arguing like this.
“I’m really not worthy of being any goddess’s apostle anyw—”
Apparently my protests were too late.
> Title Acquired: Karion’s Apostle
> Title Acquired: Urion’s Apostle
Please don’t give me titles like it’s a competition.
“Thou shalt state thy name. Karion says so, too.”
“I did not. But I concur, Urion.”
“I am Viscount Satou Pendragon, Vice-Minister of Tourism of the Shiga Kingdom.”
I’m pretty sure I introduced myself to Karion before, but I went ahead and did it again anyway.
“What is that?”
Once we met up with the rest of my group, we walked around Sherifardo State to satisfy the newly manifested Goddess Urion’s curiosity.
“The outdoor trial, you mean? Sounds like it’s about…wow, a panty thief.”
“’Tis well to expose misdeeds and hand down justice.”
Urion nodded, her face serious.
I guess they don’t call her the goddess of “judgment and justice” for nothing.
“I sense tasty morsels.”
“The smell’s coming from that way, sir!”
Pochi reacted to Karion’s words and led everyone toward a food stand.
She seemed to have gotten into the habit recently of holding the egg belt against her stomach before she started running.
“Right here, sir!”
The food stall Pochi stopped at was selling Lifa beans.
“It’s like edamame stewed and served right in the pod, huh?”
“The pod has salt content, so it’s cheaper to cook them all together.”
Wow, pre-salted plants? Parallel worlds really are wild.
“They’re one shemil per sprig.”
“Shemil…?”
“A copper coin. They’re called ‘shemil coppers’ here. And silver coins are ‘emil silvers.’”
“I didn’t know that. Thank you.”
I used some of the copper coins I exchanged at the harbor to buy a few.
One sprig had plenty of bunches of pods, so buying a sprig per person would leave us with a lot of leftovers.
Since apparently you weren’t supposed to eat while walking around the street in this nation, we went to sit behind the street stalls to eat the beans together.
“These are delicious. It’s just the right amount of salt.”
Yeah, they really were good. It made me wish I had an ice-cold beer.
We watched the passersby on the street as we snacked.
“So this is taste. Very intriguing.”
“This is a tasty morsel. Thou shalt learn the proper expressions, Urion.”
The goddess girls seemed to like the beans, too.
Feeling eyes on us, I turned to see some hungry children watching from a small distance away, so I shared the extra sprigs with them.
Evidently begging was also against the law in this state; if a guard spotted a beggar, they’d be sentenced to labor without even a trial.
“Mew!”
Tama, who was chewing on a pod, suddenly looked up at the street.
“Please stay back, Master.”
Liza stepped in front of me, holding a sprig of Lifa bean pods in place of her spear.
In front of her were two figures in cloaks, one small and one large. Their hoods were pulled low over their faces, though the fanged mouths that protruded from them suggested lizardfolk. The large man was carrying a battle-ax wrapped in cloth.
“ARE THESE THEY?”
As soon as the large man spoke, I learned a new skill.
> Skill Acquired: “Dragu Language”
I was able to understand it somewhat even before getting the skill because it sounded similar to the Inland Sea Common Language.
Still, the accent was a lot harder to understand than most of the locals’. I added some skill points and activated it just to be safe.
“<Yes, Warrior Taran. One of these people has it.>”
According to my AR display, they were from a northern land called Dragu Kingdom. My Ministry of Tourism documents said that it was one of three nations on the other side of a long and treacherous mountain range that stretched so far to the east and west it was visible from here. It was famous for being protected by a green dragon.
A green dragon, huh?
We really seemed to be dealing with dragons a lot lately.
“<Hey, you there.>”
The large man shook out his battle-ax so that the cloth around it dropped to the ground, stepping closer to us.
“<Give back what you stole, and I’ll make your deaths painless.>”
Yikes, that got violent fast.
“<Nice to meet you, Warrior Taran.>”
“<I have no business with cowards who hide behind women.>”
The man’s rude remarks sparked a murderous flame in Liza’s eyes.
I forgot that the others could also understand them thanks to the elf-made translation rings.
“<I like that look in your eye.>”
The large man was level 42, high enough to back up his swagger.
He didn’t stand a chance of beating Liza, of course, but we couldn’t very well start a fight in the middle of the street.
I stepped up next to Liza. “<We haven’t stolen anything. Could I ask what it is you’re looking for?>”
“<You’re really gonna play dumb now?>” The man sneered viciously.
In the blink of his eye, he swung down his ax.
“…Too slow.”
Liza dodged the ax and smacked him upside the head with the sprig.
“Guh!” The large man tried to pull back his ax, but that was easier said than done. His huge swing had buried it deep in the ground, and I was stepping on it so that it couldn’t be budged.
“<That’s enough. If you insist on attacking us any further, I’ll show no mercy.>”
Liza produced her Magic Cricket Spear from her Fairy Pack and pointed it at the man’s throat.
“Communication through both words and violence is inefficient. Karion says so, too.”
“I did not. But I agree. Satou, thou shalt inform them that thou dost not have the Green Dragon’s Egg at once.”
The goddesses, who were munching away on Lifa beans without a care in the world, offered a few words of assistance.
Pochi covered the White Dragon’s Egg in her egg belt protectively, and Tama stepped in front of her as a shield.
“<It’s got nothing to do with your egg,>” Arisa reassured them.
I tried searching my map but didn’t find the Green Dragon’s Egg in any area I’d visited.
The bean stall owner and some nearby rubberneckers started muttering curiously about “a dragon egg?” so I used the Wind Magic spell Secret Field to block any more sound from reaching them. For some reason, the words of the goddesses seemed to reach people no matter what language they spoke.
“<Aha, the truth comes out! If you’re not the thieves, then how would you know we’re looking for a Green Dragon’s Egg, huh?!>”
The large man crowed triumphantly.
Great. This time, the fact that everyone can understand the goddess’s words majorly worked against us.
“Thou art insolent. Let it be known that those who call a goddess a thief shall not go unpunished. Karion is mad, too.”
“It is as Urion says. Thou must atone for thy sins.”
At Karion’s words, the two lizardfolk dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the ground through no will of their own.
The large man couldn’t even speak, though the shock was clear on his face.
“Forgive my intrusion, goddesses, but could I please question them before you proceed with the punishment?”
“Very well. If you must.”
Urion granted her permission despite looking obviously annoyed. I decided to address the smaller lizardfolk, not the large man. This one was a woman, apparently a priestess of the Green Dragon Temple.
“<As you may have heard a moment ago, we do not have the Green Dragon Egg that you seek. May I ask why you thought that we were the culprits?>”
“The woman has a magic item called a dragon dowser. I am not here to translate thy thoughts. Thou shalt answer Satou’s questions at once.”
Karion revealed the answer when the dragon priestess wouldn’t speak to me.
“<Is a dragon dowser an item that locates dragon eggs?>”
“<…I-it locates…dragon…parts.>”
Unable to resist the goddess’s divine command, the woman reluctantly responded with an anguished expression.
“<This must be what you were detecting, then.>”
I reached into my breast pocket and produced a black dragon scale from Storage.
Most likely, what they actually detected was the White Dragon’s Egg. Showing them that just seemed like asking for more trouble, though, so I figured I’d cover our tracks with a different item instead. Help me out here, “Fabrication” skill.
“<Oh no…>”
“<A grown dragon’s scale? That would explain the dragon dowser’s reaction…>”
The two lizardfolk looked frustrated.
“<Do you have any idea who stole the egg?>”
If they knew any names or affiliation, I could locate the thieves with my map search and share that information with them.
“<No. They were wearing all black. There was a man who used flashy magic and a woman who went on a rampage with a magic whip that looked like it came from a labyrinth. While they were causing chaos, some other black-clad bastard stole the Green Dragon’s Egg from our shrine.>”
Black-clad, huh…
Maybe it was the same apprentices of Sorijeyro the Sage that Pippin and Serena were chasing after?
Still, a White Dragon’s Egg and a Green Dragon’s Egg… Based on how the red dragon was behaving, I wonder if a Red Dragon’s Egg was stolen, too.
“What would they steal dragon eggs for anyway?”
“Tasty morsels?”
Yeah, I seriously doubt that.
Who would anger a grown dragon just for gourmet purposes?
“Maybe they’re planning to hatch the eggs and have the dragons imprint on them like baby chicks so they get dragon servants?”
“That’s a possibility.”
An individual apprentice of the sage might not be able to do much, but having a pet dragon would definitely increase their mobility and firepower.
“<Do you two have any idea what their purpose might be?>”
“<Arrogant though it may be, I believe that girl is right.>”
The large man jerked his head toward Arisa, and the priestess gave a small nod as well.
“Enough questioning. Time for punishment.”
Urion waved a glowing red hand, and a blade of light appeared over the pair’s necks like a guillotine.
The passersby and the stall owner who were watching from the sidelines all flinched and stepped back.
“Wait a moment, please, Goddess.” Arisa gently stopped Urion. “It would be a waste to use your precious divine power on these buffoons.”
Urion nodded for her to continue, looking curious. It looked like she could tell that Arisa was trying to spare their lives in a roundabout way.
“Why not have them pray and give thanks to the goddesses instead? Every time a bell rings, perhaps?”
“That is no punishment. ’Tis a necessary duty for anyone living in the mortal realm.”
“What about punishing them with labor, then? Have them preach of the gods’ greatness and encourage other people to pray.”
“That is the noble duty of priests and priestesses. ’Tis no role for criminals.”
“Then maybe, um…”
“What about assigning them a quest?”
Since Arisa was running out of ideas, I offered a helping hand.
“A quest?”
“Yes, you could give them a quest… A holy trial, you might say. Give them a mission and let that be their atonement.”
“A trial…,” Urion repeated, frowning slightly.
Maybe giving them a trial seemed like too much of an honor?
“Thou shalt decide quickly, Urion. The tasty morsels await.”
“…Tasty morsels. Yes, that is important.”
The two goddess girls nodded at each other gravely, then turned a cold stare on the lizardfolk.
“I shall give thee a trial. Thou shalt expose misdeeds and hand down justice.”
With that declaration, Urion vanished the guillotine.
Then, as if this concluded the matter, both goddesses started strolling away.
As I stood there wondering what to do, they turned around and declared “Tasty morsels!” in unison.
“<O great Goddess! What kind of misdeeds are we to expose?>”
“I have already given thee thy quest. Thou shalt find it on thy own.”
Urion brushed off the man’s rather desperate-sounding plea.
Feeling rather bad for the man, I used “Ventriloquism” to whisper in his ear, “<It seems some villains are plotting evil deeds with dragon eggs. Perhaps you could expose them?>” This way, they could complete their trial and search for the Green Dragon’s Egg they were after at the same time.
“The tasty morsels!”
Both goddesses snapped at me impatiently, so I hurried after them.
“Thou shalt disperse at once,” Urion ordered the crowd of rubberneckers, sending them all packing immediately.
We toured the city’s sightseeing spots as we gathered information about the best restaurants from the locals.
Once the pair from Dragu Kingdom were out of sight, Pochi finally let out a sigh of relief. She’d been covering her egg with her hand the whole time.
“’Tis dry. The moisture in my mouth is being sapped away. Is this truly a tasty morsel?”
“I bet that potato dish would go better with the bean stew.”
“’Tis too salty. The flavor lacks depth. The chef here ought to learn from thee and improve at once.”
We were at a long-standing fancy restaurant with a large gate. However, the people of Sherifardo State must not have much interest in cuisine, because the food was poorly seasoned and not especially good.
Come to think of it, when the cardinal of Parion Province treated me to a full course of dishes from around the inland sea, the only part that came from Sherifardo State was a kind of alcohol called “God’s Mercy.”
“Next,” Urion declared, and promptly stood up and trotted out. We paid our bill and followed after her. Reluctant to leave any food behind, the beastfolk girls devoured the rest of it in short order.
After that, we stopped at several more restaurants and dining halls, but none of the food was to the goddess girls’ liking.
“The cuisine of this nation disappoints me.”
“The beans were yummy, sir…!”
Pochi quickly defended the food.
“Agreed. But the rest was terrible.” Urion shook her head grimly. “We must depart for another nation to find tasty morsels. Karion says so, too.”
“I did not. But I concur, Urion. Satou, thou shalt prepare a ship.”
The goddess girls seemed fed up.
“All right. Are you sure you don’t want to visit the central temple, though? I imagine the priests are preparing a festival to celebrate your arrival…”
“Nay. Thou must learn that gods shalt not be swayed by the circumstances of man.”
She was more determined than I expected. I guess she really hated the food.
“You know, when there’s a festival, people usually make special dishes and perform offering dances and such.”
Arisa threw in a helpful comment at just the right time.
“…I shall give them a chance. Let it be known that this is to be the last.”
“I’ll be sure to tell the chefs at the temple.”
Thank goodness. I’d checked with the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance earlier and saw that the priests and priestesses were frantically running around getting a festival ready.
Just to be safe, I told the higher-up priests via Telephone about Urion’s declaration and what happened in the restaurants. I couldn’t help but say something—the lineup of food they were preparing in the kitchen looked exactly like all the dishes Urion had rejected earlier.
“It’ll probably take until evening for the festival to be ready. Why don’t we wander around the city until then and see some of the famous sights?”
The goddess girls accepted my proposal, and we went around to some of the sightseeing spots while looking for Sherifardo State souvenirs in the market.
While we were shopping, I bought up tons of the dry Sherifa yams and the filling Lifa beans.
I looked for the “God’s Mercy” liquor that I’d drank before, too, but there were barely any shops that sold alcohol, and even the ones that did had no “God’s Mercy” available whatsoever. I eventually learned that it was made in the Urion Central Temple distillery; maybe I could get them to share some during the festival.
“Most of these books seem very…dense.”
The bookstore we entered primarily carried heavy law and history books, so I just bought some of the more popular titles.
Pochi and company found a few picture books, but the contents were far too difficult to be aimed at children, so they didn’t buy any. According to Pochi, “that wouldn’t be good for Mister Egg’s eggucation, sir.”
“No spellbooks.”
“There aren’t any cookbooks, either.”
While there were mountains of legal casebooks, there were virtually no books of any practical use for daily life.
The shop owner explained why there weren’t any spellbooks.
“You need permission and reservations from the central justice hall to purchase spellbooks.”
This was supposedly to prevent crime; only mages registered with the state could get permission.
While there certainly wasn’t much crime, the owner said that the city didn’t even have enough Everyday Magic users to go around.
With all those restrictions on spellbooks, the magic scrolls that could be used by anyone weren’t for sale anywhere in the city.
“Tasty morsels.”
“Those are dried potato slices soaked in honey.”
Though they were very expensive, I was glad the goddesses finally found food they liked.
We came across several more outdoor trials while we were touring the city. In one case where a woman was suing against a stalker, Arisa agreed with her so passionately that she joined in to advocate for her; in a case of workplace bullying that caused a beastfolk employee to fall into a trap, we helped resolve the unfair dismissal and wage fraud; at one point, Urion even uncovered collusion between a judge and a plaintiff.
“It looks like the festival is just about ready.”
A priestess approached us from the other side of the street with a palanquin at the ready.
She had a great deal of priests and temple knights in tow.
The rest of us pulled our hoods down over our faces and blended in to join the procession.
“Tasty morsels. Provide more tasty morsels.”
“Thou shalt watch the dance, too, Urion.”
The festival in the cathedral to celebrate Urion’s arrival (as well as Karion’s visit) was in a delighted uproar at the sight of the pleased-looking goddesses.
I was relieved that the food seemed to have pleased Urion, after all. It was totally worth sticking my nose in their business via Telephone.
“Please partake of a cup as well, good Apostle.”
An old bishop handed me a cup of liquor.
I recognized the sweet-smelling golden liquid right away.
“This is ‘God’s Mercy,’ is it not?”
“You know of it? Very impressive. No drink is better suited to celebrate a goddess visitation.”
I agreed with the bishop wholeheartedly and took a sip of the first-rate mead.
“Something smells sweet. Karion says so, too.”
“I did not. But the flavor does intrigue me.”
While the priestesses and bishops were warmly welcoming Urion and Karion, they suddenly teleported in front of me.
“Would you like a drink as well?”
They didn’t look old enough to drink, but being gods and all, it was probably fine.
Just in case, I chose cups no bigger than shot glasses for them.
“Aye. Provide the tasty morsels at once.”
I held out the small glasses, and Urion and Karion took them and drained them immediately.
“Tasty. The brewers art worthy of praise. Karion says so, too.”
“I concur, Urion… ’Tis strange, though. I feel light and fuzzy. This is my first experience of intoxication.”
The little goddesses turned bright red and swayed unsteadily.
Despite the low alcohol content of mead, a tiny cup was evidently enough to get them drunk.
“How pleasant. So this is intoxication. This is the sensation known as ‘fun.’ Karion is having fun, too.”
“Agreed. I find myself smiling whether I will it or not. Drunkenness is fascinating indeed.”
The goddesses kept drinking.
Every time they finished their cups, the shrine maidens sensed their wishes and poured them more mead, getting them drunker by the minute.
“All of thee, drink. Thou shalt enjoy the intoxication. Karion says so, too.”
“No, I do not. Thou art delusional, Urion. My body feels light; I wish to dance.”
Urion’s divine command made the nearby priests drink large amounts of mead, while other priests, priestesses, and shrine maidens started dancing to follow Karion’s lead.
“Spinny spiiin?”
“Pochi is an all-luring dancer, sir.”
Pochi and Tama danced along with Karion, and Mia started playing a lively tune. Arisa and Nana convinced Lulu to join in shyly. Pochi had transferred the egg belt to her head, which made for a comical dance.
Liza was quietly eating by herself, but her tail tapped along happily to the rhythm.
Maybe divine commands aren’t so bad if you use them like this?
But just as that thought crossed my mind—
“’Tis hot. These constraints hinder me.”
“G-Goddess Urion?!”
Uh-oh. Urion suddenly took off her outerwear.
“Thou shalt all remove thy clothes. The outside air feels good on warm skin.”
“Thou shalt all dance as well. Dancing increases the sensation of intoxication.”
Karion took off her clothes, too, swinging them around in the air and grinning.
Their divine commands compelled the priests and priestesses to take their clothes off and dance as well. It was like a witches’ sabbath.
Luckily, my kids were fine—they were dancing, too, but kept their clothes on. Pochi, Tama, and Nana started to strip down when they noticed other people doing it, but luckily the other girls stopped them.
I used “Warp” to approach the goddesses, who were flying around the site of drunken revelry with teleportation.
“Goddess Urion, Goddess Karion, I brought you tasty morsels.”
I gave the goddess girls a honey-flavored magic potion to sober them up.
The duo drained their potions in one gulp.
Once it looked like their drunkenness had faded, I gave the girls jackets from Storage.
“Such shameful behavior we displayed. Thou shalt all forget everything you just saw. Karion says so, too.”
“Aye. Thou shalt erase thy memories of our drunken display.”
The crowd’s faces went blank at their divine commands.
“Goddesses. Please put the men to sleep and order the women to put on clothes, okay?”
Urion complied with the request. Once the women got dressed and left, they awoke the men to have them dress as well. Of course, out of consideration for the unconscious men, I covered up their most crucial parts with clothes using my Magic Hand.
As it turns out, even goddesses feel shame; we left Sherifardo State early the next morning.
Luckily, since they thought I was Urion’s Apostle, I was able to buy up big casks of “God’s Mercy” even though it wasn’t normally sold to the public.
I guess things worked out pretty well, despite that last part being exhausting.
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