Blessing Of Yuri Goddess-Chapter 400 - 108 - Side Story: In Destroyed Town Center (2)
"Holy war, do you know where the term holy war originated, which gave birth to this tradition of a war season between nobles?" asked the old man as he savored every drop of the fruit juice that quenched his thirst.
"Isn’t it from the followers of the Goddess Aurora who always participate as a third party in the war seasons between the nobles?"
"Your understanding of this holy war comes from that part, yes, it’s not wrong, but it’s not right either," with an ambiguous answer, the old man tried to find the root of the problem that could answer the question of the young man sitting beside him.
"Stop answering my questions with such ambiguous answers, old man."
"I didn’t mean to answer it like that. That’s exactly the answer you need right now, an ambiguous answer that questions your morals and ethics as a human being controlled by the rules of the nobles. Do you know... why this holy war is always related to the season of war between nobles?" Again and again, the old man gave ambiguous questions that the young man didn’t want to hear.
The lunch hour that had just begun was filled with various ambiguous questions that were difficult for the young man to answer. His limited life experience and lack of knowledge had become the main weapon for the old man to trigger his curiosity.
"Isn’t it because a third party from the Aurora Goddess Followers is always involved in this war season between nobles?"
"That’s the answer I just said, isn’t it?"
Srruukk...
Srruukkk...
The young man scratched his head, as if he didn’t understand the other meaning of the old man, who had given a small hint that could be thought about further.
The old man chuckled after seeing the confused look on the young man’s face as he scratched his head, like a toddler trying to solve a small problem regarding a toy that was upside down in front of his eyes.
The young man was thinking so hard that he ignored his lunch ration, which was dripping with fresh fruit juice, and continued to be lost in his own thoughts.
His lips kept moving as if he were muttering about the possibilities that could happen if a third party, like the Aurora Goddess Followers, got involved in the war between the nobles.
"Does this have something to do with the divinity of a Saintess in the Aurora Kingdom?" the young man muttered after some deep thought and came up with an answer that brought a smile to the old man’s face.
"Almost right," replied the old man as he ate the fresh fruit that was almost finished in his hand.
"A-Almost right? Then... it has something to do with the divinity of a Saintess, right?" the young man asked, glancing at the old man to see his expression.
From a close distance, the young man could see the answer he was waiting for in the old man’s expression. The slight smile on his face had been the answer he had been searching for all lunch.
"That’s true, if you’ve lived as long as I have. You’d probably be suspicious about something strange happening at the Aurora Goddess Followers," the old man said to confirm the answer the young man wanted.
"Something strange about the Aurora Followers?" the young man muttered as he ate a fresh fruit that nearly fell out of his hand.
"As far as you know, how many Saintesses are there in the Aurora Goddess Shrines?" The old man asked a serious question in a gentle tone, as he glanced around the room to make sure no one was around.
"..." the young man fell silent as he thought about the question and remembered Lily’s figure.
A girl who claims to be a Saintess appointed by the Goddess of Nature, a true Saintess who possesses divine powers far greater than the Saintesses he knew in the Royal Capital of Aurora.
Realizing this strange thing, the young man glanced around the room to make sure no one heard them.
"Is it possible... that they are all fake Saintesses who lack the blessings and divinity of the Goddess Aurora?" the young man asked in a low whisper.
"Your words are truly impolite. Of course, they have the blessings and divinity of the Goddess Aurora. But not as great as Lily-sama. In my eyes, Lily-sama has clearly become a Saintess. Moreover..." the old man raised the fruit he was holding and squeezed it tightly.
Spllaasshh...
With his strong grip, the fruit he was squeezing was crushed until it dripped with fresh fruit juice.
Teeesss...
Tessss...
The fresh drops of juice stained the floor, witnessing another miracle from the blessings of the Goddess of Nature. The drops of juice, which should have dropped and become sticky, slowly disappeared, leaving no puddles of juice on the floor. They simply vanished without a trace.
"With a miracle like this, we shouldn’t have been able to attack Marquess Rommel’s family, who had helped us. The fatal mistake was on our part was... part of our military unit that suddenly attacked Marquess Rommel’s territory, and they only do counterattacked until we became like this," the old man continued while drinking the remaining juice that clung to its fruit seeds.
Slurppp...
Slurp...
By biting into the fruit’s seed, who filled with sweet, fibrous flesh, was enough to replenish his lost stamina. The miracle of a single, fresh fruit made the old man grateful to be alive.
"I know what I said sounded rude, but it’s true, isn’t it?" the young man said in a low voice.
"I don’t know, I don’t really care if they’re real or fake. It’s already a political game for the royal family to maintain their good name in the civilian society. If news of the fake Saintess gets out, there will definitely be great chaos in the Aurora Kingdom."
"With the people and civilians believing in the existence of the Goddess Aurora, of course, they would be angry if they had been fooled by a fake Saintess."
The lunch they were having was almost over, but that still didn’t answer the young man’s curiosity, who wanted to know the correlation between the noble war season and the holy war in which the Followers of the Goddess Aurora was involved as a third party.
While enjoying the remains of their lunch, sucking the sweet fruit seeds dry, the young man suddenly got a strange answer that entered his head.
"Hey, old man, this isn’t what I think, is it?" the young man asked, giving the old man an ambiguous question.
"What are you thinking?"
"I think the rules of war in the war season between nobles are strange."
"What’s so strange?"
"Ugh, what’s strange is... there’s no rule against killing, right?"
"That’s true, if there are rules like prohibiting killing. That’s not war, it’s just military sparring."
"That means... this strange tradition that has become a holy war is just a ruse of the previous Kings who were fed up with the noble families who practiced corruption and nepotism?" said the young man, uncertainly.
"Oh, what a unique thought. I never even thought of something like that, young man."
"Think of it this way, in the past, this kind of corruption and nepotism was too dangerous for the royal family. The only rough way to go was to incite the noble families to war against each other. A momentary selfishness that triggered a tradition of eliminating weak noble families and managing the noble families who were struggling in the aftermath of the war. That’s the most logical thing I can think of at this point."
"You’re thinking too far ahead. The reason this terrible tradition still exists is only one... forcing the noble families to form two factions, the faction that supports the noble family and the opposition noble faction that opposes the noble family."
"If that’s the case, why isn’t the royal family involved? It’s just like watching two factions fight each other for entertainment."
"Shusshhh..." The old man tried to calm the young man sitting beside him so that he wouldn’t think too much.
"If you can understand this, then you should know why the war season between nobles is a pretext for a holy war filled with nonsense," the old man continued as he stood up after eating his lunch ration.
The fresh fruit he got only left the hard, clean, shiny seeds.
"Aaahhh... once again, a delicious lunch. Thank you, Lily-sama and the Goddess of Nature," said the old man while praying to the fruit seed that had been blessed by the Goddess of Nature.
Kirrraaa...
Kiirraaa...
The shiny seed shone brightly, as if answering the old man’s prayer, before disappearing. Another miracle performed by the Goddess of Nature upon a grateful soul.
The young man finished his lunch in a hurry and prayed to the seeds of the fruit whose flesh he had eaten.
"T-Thank you, O Goddess of Nature, for the deliciousness of this fruit that you have blessed..."
"A-Also thanks to Lily-sama, who has helped us with our limited food consumption at this time..." said the young man while reciting the same prayer as the old man.
Kiirraaa...
Kiirraa...
The seeds of the fruit he ate shone brightly and disappeared like beads of light, so beautiful that the young man said a small prayer for a safe and peaceful future.
Even though the young man felt that it was impossible, he still prayed in his heart.
After the seeds of the fruit disappeared like broken grains of light, the young man and the old man got back up to continue their hard work of separating the rubble of the collapsed building to safety area. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"Time to get back to work, old man."
"Yes, time to get back to work."
--- --- --- --- ---
On the other hand, Lily was sneezing for the umpteenth time inside the central command tent.
"H-Hatchiiii!!
"Ugh, my body’s been feeling weird lately. I’m not sick, am I?" Lily muttered, reviewing one of her military officers reports regarding the remaining new food supplies that would be available for use in the next few months.
"Lily-sama, should I heated chair for Lily-sama to sit in... to keep it warm?" asked Madam Estelle, who had served as Lily’s personal military aide.
"I don’t think Lily-sama needs that kind of thing, Madam Estelle. If it’s a matter of keeping Lily-sama warm, I can hug her all day to keep her warm," Mio replied with a sharp, cynical look at Madam Estelle.
"E-Eeehh?" Madam Estelle, who was not used to the unique relationship between women, only smiled in confusion.
She still needed to adjust to mingling with the all women who were close to Lily.
"Lily-sama, would you like to sit on my lap?" Mio asked with a wide smile on her face, expecting a positive answer from Lily.
"Mio, I didn’t sneeze because I was cold. It happened suddenly. Am I allergic to something I don’t know about?"
"I don’t think that’s possible... In the first place, can Lily-sama get sick?"
With Mio’s answer, Lily just smiled wryly.
