“Execution, you say…….”
No matter how many times I read it, the message from Jan was chilling to the bone.
Meaning.
The fact that the usually gentle and thoughtful Jan was using such extreme words was no small matter.
On top of that, Jeanne d’Arc is not the type to make empty threats, especially not toward me.
In other words, this was 100% sincere.
I tossed aside Mutube, email, everything, and reached toward the fortress icon.
Paaaah!
My vision warped in an instant, and soon the world of the fortress unfolded before me.
“……Don’t tell me I’m too late?”
I hurriedly looked in the direction of the Sanctuary.
The first thing that caught my eye were the many carriages lined up at the village entrance.
Standing in front of them was a middle-aged man, looking to be in his early to mid-40s, standing with perfect posture.
His hairstyle and clothing were neat and stylish.
Just by appearance, he seemed meticulous and calculating.
‘This must be the Shylock Jeanne d’Arc mentioned. But…….’
Something was definitely off about the atmosphere.
Militia Captain Hans and the entire Militia had their weapons drawn.
Especially Jeanne d’Arc, who wore a face cold as ice.
Meanwhile, Shylock’s Guards also had their swords drawn.
It was a hair-trigger situation, a fight could break out at any moment.
Then, Jeanne d’Arc’s voice rang out.
「……Stop wasting time and leave immediately. Your rudeness is pushing my patience to its limit.」
「I agree that we shouldn’t waste time. As I said before, I want to speak with the representative of this place. ‘God,’ or ‘Erlkönig,’ or perhaps ‘High Priest.’ Anyone will do. Bring them out, please.」
「To insult God to my face again…!」
Srring-!
Jeanne d’Arc glared at the other with frosty eyes and drew her sword.
At that, Shylock’s Guards raised their weapons as well.
Ah, there was no time to watch any longer.
I shouted quickly.
“Wait! Everyone, stop fighting!”
…Cease the violence!
Soon, my booming voice echoed through the Sanctuary.
At once, the Believers of the Sanctuary breathed sighs of relief and smiled.
Shylock’s Guards scanned the area nervously, faces tense.
In contrast, Shylock wore an expression of interest as he spoke up.
「You must be the famed ‘God.’ That truly is an amazing spell. To amplify your voice so it rings across these wide plains.」
Then Shylock offered a polite greeting.
「My name is Shylock. I am the representative merchant of the Venice Company. I came in hopes of having a conversation. Would you care to show yourself?」
At first glance, his words and actions were respectful.
But a hint of suspicion still lingered in Shylock’s eyes.
Just then, Jeanne d’Arc glared sharply at Shylock and shouted.
「O God, please do not heed the words of this greedy man! I will drive this blasphemer from the Sanctuary at once!」
With such a fragmentary story, I had no way to know what was really going on.
If I were Solomon, maybe I could make a wise judgment here…….
‘……But I don’t need to do that.’
I’m not a king; I’m the Creator.
Paaat!
In an instant, a System Window in the form of a Chat Window appeared before me.
In the Chat Window, the conversations between the Believers and Shylock were neatly recorded.
—Dding!
[System]
- The Creator can view the conversation history of the Believers.
※A Believer insulting God? Let’s weed out the traitors immediately! Justice must be served!
So-called ‘Faith Inspection’ function.
It was a new feature I gained after reaching Creator Level 6.
With this, I could check Believers’ conversations in chat format.
‘……It feels like an invasion of privacy, so I didn’t want to use it, but there’s no choice now.’
I quickly began scanning the Chat Window in front of me.
It seemed most of the conversation had been between Jeanne d’Arc and Shylock.
“……Hmm, so that’s what happened.”
Reading the chat log, I finally got a grasp on the situation.
To sum up:
‘Shylock, representative of the Venice Company, came to the Sanctuary to confirm the existence of God for himself.’
That was the whole story.
So why did things turn so tense?
The problem lay entirely in the words Shylock used.
Instead of the word ‘God (神),’ he preferred to use ‘Erlkönig,’ ‘High Priest,’ or ‘demagogue.’ Instead of ‘Believer,’ he used words like ‘misfit,’ ‘escapist,’ or ‘cultist.’
It was classic Atheism-based, aggressive and rude speech.
Now I understood why Jeanne d’Arc was so furious.
‘A Theist and an Atheist standing at opposing ends; it was inevitable that a fight would break out.’
I took a short breath and spoke to Shylock.
“I understand the situation. You came to see for yourself if I’m really God, right?”
「Oh, you’ve been listening? If you had shown yourself sooner, things might have gone smoother. Still, it’s nice not to have to repeat myself.」
At Shylock’s words, Jeanne d’Arc ground her teeth again.
But while Jan was angry, she didn’t step forward again.
「Well then, let’s get straight to the point. Time is money, after all.」
With that, Shylock got right to the matter.
「I have a request I want to make of the omnipotent God. That is, assuming you truly are God, of course.」
“Request?”
My, for someone here to make a request, he’s being awfully polite.
Jeanne d’Arc and the Believers in the Sanctuary gritted their teeth again at Shylock’s rude words.
But Shylock seemed utterly unconcerned.
「Of course, I didn’t come empty-handed expecting to receive something for nothing. If I want something, I should offer something in return, shouldn’t I?」
—Clap clap!
At Shylock’s light applause, his attendants began unloading items from the carriages.
In an instant, various items were neatly arrayed on the field.
From farm tools like hoes, sickles, pickaxes, and shovels, to all sorts of processed goods, even bandages and medicinal herbs.
They were all daily necessities the Sanctuary could not produce on its own.
「And I heard you all are struggling because you have no way to sell your harvested crops. Of course you are. What peddler would visit such a suspicious village?」
This Shylock fellow seemed sharp and quick-witted.
Well, becoming the owner of a merchant caravan in his early 40s wasn’t luck alone.
「If you grant my request, I’ll open a Trade Route to this village. For the Venice Company, that’s perfectly doable. If so, you’ll be able to get all these daily goods with ease.」
It was an extremely tempting offer.
After all, I had been worrying about how to deal with the surplus crops.
「Before that, though, you must first convince me that you are the ‘real’ God. Of course, if you are truly the Creator, that should be easy, right?」
「…Are you trying to test God?!」
At last, unable to endure any longer, Jeanne d’Arc growled and stepped forward.
Just as Jan said, I’d received countless prayers begging not to be put to the test.
But this was the first time someone actually proposed to test me.
Yet Shylock threw it right back at Jeanne d’Arc.
「Can you not do it? Afraid your Creator cannot prove His divinity? If even that cannot be demonstrated, can you truly call Him Creator?」
「You impious wretch…!」
Jeanne d’Arc’s eyes burned with more fury than I had ever seen.
Still, Shylock’s proposal wasn’t all bad for me, either.
Converting a single Atheist to a Believer would have far greater impact than bringing in a hundred Theists as Believers.
‘……And it would only deepen the faith of the current Believers, too.’
Plus, opening a Trade Route and a Market in the Sanctuary would be a huge boon for me as well.
If we could sell surplus crops, the Sanctuary would grow more prosperous, and the quality of offerings would naturally rise as well.
“Very well. But in return, not just a Trade Route—add a Market to the Sanctuary as well.”
「Hmm, at least you’re someone I can reason with, unlike a certain person. Understood. If you truly are the Creator, I will open a branch of the Venice Company here. And if that is the case, you may take my life for the sin of insulting the Creator.」
For some reason, Shylock seemed quite desperate.
“So, what must I do to prove I am the Creator?”
「I’ve already thought of that. If you can do the two things I ask, I’ll accept it. First—」
Shylock trailed off, then raised his voice confidently.
「Can you pile up a mountain of Iron right here, right now?」
「Is that difficult? If so…….」
“You just want me to pile up a mountain of Iron, right?”
……!]
“Just wait right there.”
As I accepted without hesitation, a flicker of surprise crossed Shylock’s face.
Regardless, I returned immediately to the real world.
Three minutes had passed since the Creator’s presence vanished.
In the Sanctuary, the Believers and Shylock’s group still stood off.
“He’s late. Maybe he ran away, afraid his true identity would be exposed.”
Shylock shrugged, and Jeanne d’Arc quietly replied.
“He promised never to abandon us. So just wait quietly for God.”
“……Hmm.”
Shylock glanced at his gold pocket watch.
Wasted time.
That was all he thought.
He’d come here just in case, but as expected.
There was no way God existed.
Whoever had been pretending to be God, deceiving these pitiful people, had surely fled by now.
‘……Besides, there’s no way anyone could obtain that much Iron in times like these.’
With preparations for war against monsters, demand for Iron ore for weapons and armor had skyrocketed nationwide.
Moreover, with the Trade Route to the Mining Town blocked, even a mountain of money couldn’t buy the needed amount.
“Hmph…….”
Shylock looked the Militia, who still pointed their swords at him, up and down.
Their clothes were ragged, their faces listless.
Even their stances gripping their swords were a mess.
In contrast, the Guards Shylock hired were top-tier mercenaries in the region.
A rabble like this Militia could be wiped out in a flash.
Shylock checked his pocket watch once more.
‘……One more minute. If nothing happens by then, I return to Rivera.’
And then he would report to the Lord at once.
That someone claiming to be God was deceiving the poor.
That all those gathered here in this so-called Sanctuary must be dispersed.
But then it happened.
Thud…… thududud……
Something began to fall, bit by bit, onto the empty grass.
A silver object, shining fiercely under the sunlight.
Thud~! Thudud~! Thudududud~!
Before long, a waterfall of silver objects came pouring down.
Faces of the Believers, including Jeanne d’Arc, began to light up.
But Shylock, representative of the Venice Company, was in no state to pay attention to that.
He simply murmured blankly.
“What in the world…….”
Because enormous chunks of Iron were falling endlessly from the sky.
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