Ash woke up in a cold sweat. He clutched his heart as he tried to catch his breath. He tore his shirt and checked all over his body for any abnormalities. Much to his relief, he appeared to be human.

“You've finally awakened.” The man next to his bed stated. It was Blasius reading a book on a stool. He had a cup of tea on the nightstand next to him, with no sign of steam.

“What was that? Who was that!?” Ash asked. He didn't care if the Bishop took offence, that woman… he had to know what she was.

“Like I stated, that was our god…”

“Don't bullshit me there are only four gods that exist in this world!” He shouted.

“...” The Bishop stared at him blankly. “Although you are wrong, you're not wrong for the reason my colleagues would believe,” Blasius answered. “But nonetheless, as you are my protégé, your teacher has no problem giving you some insight. Are you aware of the fact this world once had one lord?”

“You mean that god the elves worship?” Ash asked.

“Yes, him. Several centuries ago the gods you currently know were simply referred to as ‘Archangels’.”

“That's… what the elves refer to them as.”

“Do they? Isn't that a nice piece of trivia, so are you aware why they held those titles?”

“I believe it's supposed to be a rather backhanded way of referring to them. Like saying they're the pinnacle of angelkind but are not worthy of the same title as their lord. At least that's my interpretation.”

“Wrong,” Blasius answered. He produced a small flame under his teacup and handed Ash a steaming cup of tea.

“(Do that too often and you'll break the cup.)” The mentally old man thought to himself.

He sipped away at the tea and listened on.

“The archangels were the servants of the first god. They were a group of angels second only to the previous Lord himself in the ranks of heaven.”

“They were angels? That's preposterous, do you truly believe only one god existed in the heavens? If you said they were younger gods, I'd believe but this is-”

“Do you wish to remain ignorant or will you let me continue?”

“...” He took another sip of his tea and rolled his eyes.

“We've uncovered records that one of these archangels betrayed him and was thrown to the earth. There she conspired with demonkind and plotted humanity's downfall. That angel is our Lord.”

“You're saying the other gods are all beings like that woman? (I've heard the priest spout this before but I never paid him mind. I can see why they consider her a god with that logic… A being second to the original god. And after what I've seen… maybe she is one.)”

“Yes, though given what the records say, they were far weaker than her individually. And here comes the question.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I do hope you aren't planning to quiz me.”

“Given one angel has already been shown to consider betrayal as an option, an archangel at that, why do you think these gods, once considered archangels, are now in charge?”

“...” He put the cup down. “Instead of siding with the betrayers that won we side with the one that lost?”

“Please remember they needed their lord's help to take out our Lord. Now they no longer have him.”

“...”

“I don't expect you to get it all now. Don't worry, you shall be provided classes not to embarrass or make a fool of yourself among the others.”

Blasius stood up from his stool and walked out of the room.

(“A war against the gods of this world…”)

He thought back to the woman in the cave.

(“That sorrow, do you weep for your former master? Or is it the envy of your peers’ success?”)

----------------------------------------

After dropping Tibaut and Elizabeth back at the mansion, the Saint said his goodbyes before leaving in haste.

Sitting on the doorstep waiting for them was a short dark-skinned woman in steel-toed boots and a leather apron.

“So what kind of fun have you two been up-” She cringed as she looked back at Tibaut. His bony body reminded her why she was so worried about him in the first place.

“Come on, I don't look that bad,” Tibaut stated. “It's nice to see you're cheery as ever.” He said before running towards her. He grabbed her cheeks and began pinching them. “Look at you all cool, what, you don't care if your buddy died or something?” He asked sarcastically.

Vanessa didn't move so much as an inch and blankly stared at him. “(I-I'm not dreaming, am I?) Listen, Tibaut I've had a lot of friends do this kind of work. After a while, you have to get used to people dying if you want to keep doing business.”

Tibaut released her cheeks and scratched his head while looking away.

“Uh, I guess you're right. I just didn't expect those words to leave your mouth…”

“Pinch me again.”

“What'd you say?”

“Pinch me again, you idiot. I need to make sure this isn't a dream.” Her eyes started to tear up as she looked at Tibaut and he quickly obliged.

“It…” she paused and wiped her eyes. “It is you.”

She grabbed his waist and pulled him in for a hug.

----------------------------------------

They sat inside, as Tibaut put away all the dry meat he could eat his hands on.

“Well, he's stupid but at least he followed my advice this time,” Vanessa stated as she watched him.

“You're right. Your equipment may be the only reason he's standing here right now.”

“So is that blue devil finally gone!?” She quickly asked. “I nearly forgot about that little bastard.”

“That ‘devil’ is another reason Tibaut’s still alive. We can replace our equipment if it's necessary.”

“Devil? What did Yuri do to you? Or is Agnes.” Tibaut asked as he gave his mouth a break from the rather chewy and fibrous dried rabbit.

“That quiet girl has some good taste, don't bring her into this. I'm talking about that Saint or whatever Lizzy calls him. He had the gall to enter this house with fucking Gallite of all things! The fucking nerve, the least the bastard could do was store it away instead of having a tour of the place with it hanging off his back!”

“Gallite? What's that?” Tibaut asked.

“Tibaut you said you saw the Saint using an arrow on the Bishop's armour and it turning to a glass-like substance, correct?” Elizabeth didn't seem all that concerned compared to the short woman beside her.

“You were near it!?” Vanessa quickly got up and held him by his collar. “You come too, Elizabeth, he's probably gotten all sorts of dust over you!”

“I'm not doing this again you little miscreant, now get out of here.”

“Whatever, I'll deal with you later!” She shouted as she exited the kitchen with Tibaut behind her.