Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Editor: Thors Stone

I headed for the church under the guidance of Iris. Come to think of it, this would be my first time visiting a church on this planet huh.

The main chapel of the church was open to the public, and everyone could enter to pray. First, let me check out the statue of the famous goddess, Ruminas.

The church was significantly larger than most of the buildings in the royal capital and sported two tall towers. Its walls were also adorned in fancy-looking decorations and looked very, uh, church-y.

It resembled the churches found in most human-inhabited planets under the empire. Do humans instinctively find such designs solemn, I wonder? How interesting.

After entering the chapel, the first thing that garnered my attention was the statue of the goddess. It was fairly large. It was probably about eight meters or so, I think. Its form was that of a very beautiful young woman in her twenties whose hands were folded in prayer.

A large eagle-like bird was perched on one of her shoulders. So I suppose that would be her apostle, Yzak, huh.

So the drones were mistaken for this kind of bird?

I mixed with the throng of believers who were offering their prayers sincerely and scanned the place for church officials. Oh, there they are. I saw two women wearing black dresses of similar design talking among themselves.

(Iris, are those people related to the church?)

That is correct. They are female church officials called Sisters.

Lets get to business then.

Excuse me. I would like to meet with Bishop Gertner if possible. Is he available?

Bishop Gertner?

Both of the sisters looked toward me when I mentioned Bishop Gertners name. Oops, I forgot the most important part.

I would like to ask for a consultation and make a donation to the church as well.

After saying so, I took out the ten gold coins I prepared for this occasion last night and showed the coins to them. In this country, it was actually customary to put the donations in inconspicuous leather pouches, but I showed it to them intentionally.

Shelling out a hundred thousand Guineas just to meet with the good bishop seemed like an exorbitant expense, but by doing so, I would be nearly guaranteed an audience.

P-Please wait a moment, good sir. I shall confirm it with His Excellency.

It looks like I managed to successfully clear the first hurdle. After a short while, the sister came back.

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Bishop Gertner has agreed to meet with you, sir. Please come with me.

I was led inside the inner chambers of the large church building until we reached a large and ornate door. The sister stopped in front, gave the door a few knocks, and opened it afterward.

I have brought you the layman who wanted to consult you, Your Excellency.

Please enter.

The room was fairly large, with an equally large bookshelf and a luxurious-looking lounge suite, yet it radiated an elegant charm that seemed quite suitable for a high-ranking member of the clergy.

Good day, Your Excellency. I am Alan, the leader of the Shining Star Clan.

After introducing myself, I showed the good bishop my guild I.D.

Hou. So you are the person who managed to subjugate a dragon, are you not?

That is correct.

Was it just my imagination, or did the light within the bishops eyes suddenly change? Anyway, I better hand over the donation before I forget.

First, please receive this, Your Excellency. Ive had something bothering me lately, and the first thing that came to my mind when we reached the royal capital was to make a donation to the church.

The sister approached me with a small tray in hand, so I placed the gold coins on top of it.

The Goddess will surely answer your sincere prayers.

After saying a rather priestly line, the bishop nodded toward the sister.

Please, have a seat.

After being prompted by the bishop, I sat on the sofa while another sister made some tea for me. I guess the donation really did the trick.

The sisters left the room, and the bishop sat on a sofa opposite mine so we could talk face to face.

I was told you wanted to consult me with something?

Thats correct. Actually, Ive been having the same dream repeatedly.

Hou. What sort of dream?

Its a dream about the apostle, Yzak.

Oh, there are many people who experience something like that. Perhaps Yzak-sama is blessing you due to your devout and earnest prayers. That is most likely the case.

At first, I also thought the same. However, strange things began happening lately.

Hou. What sort of things?

I often dream of the apostle appearing, and later on, he does appear in the exact same situation and manner I saw in my dreams.

The bishops expression subtly changed. It might be just my imagination, but he seemed a bit apprehensive.

Ah, maybe hes actually doubting my sanity?

What do you mean by that?

During the evening three days ago, I dreamt of the apostle appearing once again. In my dream, the sun was just about to set. Then, in the evening of the next day, just before the sun began to set, the apostle really appeared.

I see. Perhaps the apostle was especially giving you his blessings. It would be good if you continue to treasure your faith and do your best according to the teachings. Now then, I should be going.

I also had a similar dream last night.

The good bishop seems to have decided I was a no-good fellow and tried to wrap the consultation up. Since that was the case, I immediately cut to the chase.

I had a dream that the apostle will appear after the clock strikes twelve.

The bell signaling it was 12 oclock in the afternoon began to ring in the distance. The timing was perfect.

(D-1, cancel Stealth Mode.)

Roger.

Then are you saying that the apostle will appear by the time the bell stops ringing?

Thats what I believe.

There was an awkward silence in the room.

That may be the case. As I said earlier, continue to treasure your faith and devotion to the Goddess.

And then, we heard frantic knocking sounds, followed by a sister hurriedly entering the room.

Your Excellency! Im sorry for barging in while you were in the middle of consultation! But the apostle has made his appearance in the skies of the royal capital once more after his last visit half a year ago!

What did you say!? Is that true?

The bishop started running outside, so I got up and followed after him. The outer church grounds were now filled with people looking up at the sky. Some people were even kneeling in prayer.

Ugh. It really seems like Im trampling the faith of these people by pulling this stunt, and its making me feel quite guilty.

But it was necessary for me to build friendly relations with influential church officials no matter what for the sake of our future plans.

(D-1, raise your altitude and turn on Stealth Mode again after thirty seconds.)

Roger.

How fast!

Ooh! He is already flying so high up in the sky!

And so, the apostle disappeared once more. After pulling his gaze away from the sky, the bishop turned to me with a bewildered look. I kept silent and simply nodded.

Alan-dono. Let us return to the room and continue our conversation.

Understood.

When we returned to the room, the bishop asked me more about the details of my dreams with a completely changed attitude. He asked questions like how often, under what circumstances, and how many times Ive had my dreams to date, as well as their contents and if they always came true the day after.

Like I said earlier Your Excellency, I do not know when I would be having a dream and when they would come true. There were times when they came true after a day just like earlier, and there were times when they came true five days later. I really have no idea how it works. Can I consult with you again the next time I have such a dream?

But of course! Please feel free to come to the church anytime. I shall inform the person in charge to welcome you always. Ah, and since we received a large donation from you this time, we will not be needing any further donations from you for the time being. Surely, Goddess Ruminas would not want to place such a burden on the shoulders of a devout believer such as yourself.

I see. I understand.

Alan-dono, please be sure to visit us whenever you have such dreams, alright?

Yes, I shall make sure to do so.

I guess this should be enough. Its best not to overdo it.

I finally left the church with the bishop seeing me off. Now then, lets have lunch somewhere and go back to the inn.

After returning to the inn, Dalshim called out to me. It seems one of the barons attendants visited the inn earlier to deliver a message.

The baron said he will accompany me to visit the castle tomorrow, and told me to prepare the dragon fangs as well.

The audience will be held at ten in the morning, but since he wanted to discuss something with me, the baron will be coming to the inn at 9 oclock.

Finally huh. I wonder how it will go.