Seeing that the mayor and the other elders were becoming uncomfortable looking at my “gorgeous” face, I quickly put my helmet back in its place.
Did I feel any shame in what I had just done, which was just scaring some random people for the sake of scaring them? Not... really.
Well, I did feel some guilt and shame, but justifying it to my self was really easy because, while these people didn’t really deserve to be scared for no reason, I was simply using them to train my intimidation skills as, in the near future, I will start... well, hurting people if not killing them.
And, while I’ve already realised, and accepted that, not having any blood on my hands is impossible, just putting the fear of god... or, well, the fear of a deity in people should be enough to deter most from attacking me, especially if they haven’t seen many undead in their lives before like these Eyrians.
...And I also didn’t think that I could practice my skills on the goblins as I’d either have to find willing participants that’d be very hard to scare or I’d have just start acting like a douchebag in my day the day life to try and scare people, which would erode people’s trust and loyalty in me very, very fast.
“Hmm... now, how do I apologise to these people?” I thought as I looked at the elders and the mayor.
I wanted to at apologise in some way but... how would a deity apologise in this situation?
...Well, a “true” deity probably wouldn’t apologise, but I am not a “true” deity yet, and even after I become one, I don’t plan on losing myself in whatever small power I manage to gain, so I should learn how to act like a deity that is acting like they care about others as I don’t think people I encounter would believe me, a “true deity” being genuine, and kind to others for no reason...
After a few moments of silence, I started talking by clearing my throat.
“Ahem... ahem... I—” But before I could even start my first sentence, the doors behind me started opening with a soft creaking.
*Creak~*
And as the doors opened, everyone’s attention shifted from me, to whomever was coming from the door, and in curiosity, I turned my head towards the doors too.
And, from behind the doors, an old elk man appeared.
He wore some weird garments with rich colours, making his clothing almost look like a handiwork of a group of kindergarteners that had gotten a bit too much free time without adult supervision.
But after a bit of looking at him, I realised that he wasn’t some senile old man that had come late to the elders’ gathering, but instead, he was the priest I was looking for.
And what gave it away? Well, the glowing dark-green prayer beads around his neck.
At first, I assumed that they were just another part of his clothes, but after looking at them again, I realised that they had that weird uncanny look to them that everything touched by divinity had.
Though the prayer beads didn’t wholly look like they were just 2d sprites in this 3d world, but still had some depth to them. Maybe they hadn’t been overcharged with divinity as much as the last two Artefacts I had seen?
But before I could ponder on the question for a bit longer, or ask Rifu-san about it, the priest turned his eyes towards me.
“Lord William, Ojciec Lasu would like to have a meeting with you. If you will, I’d like to escort you to the temple myself.” The old man said, and I nodded, getting up from my seat.
And as I did so, the priest started leaving the room, but before tagging along with him, I turned around to give a short goodbye to the mayor and elders.
“While our meeting may have been short, I hope nonetheless you enjoyed my... “little game”, farewells, and enjoy your feast.” I said curtly before leaving the room, and tagging behind the priest.
Our journey to the temple was swift to say the least.
We had to leave the mansion, of course, but as we did, a group of guardsmen joined us while the priest, whose name I learned to be Elijah during our very short exchange, led me to his god’s temple.
And, looking from outside, and inside, the church he led me to was really, really impressive.
It had a small garden around it, separated from the rest of the town by a small stone wall, and in the garden, there were patches of colourful flowers and flower bushes whose colours were visible as day even this far into the night.
And, not to mention the church itself. It was very... medieval looking, if that is the right word that is.
It looked like a wonder that had been here for ages even though it probably hadn’t been here for more than a few decades at most, and inside was... very different than how I imagined it’d look like.
From outside, this church looked like it’d at best have a few rows of those wooden seats they have in every church, followed by a raised platform at the end with a statue of a wooden elk or something similar to that with a divine core on it, that would allow me to commune with Ojciec Lasu or whatever.
But, unlike how I imagined it’d be, the inside of the church was... weird.
Soft moonlight entered the church from coloured amber windows that looked like mosaics depicting weird creatures I hadn’t seen before, not in this life nor my first one.
And the inside of the church could be best described as... overgrown.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The walls were decorated with glassy flowers on vines that reflected the moonlight coming from the amber windows, lighting the room and making it look almost like it was evening instead of night.
There were those wooden seats here too like any church, yes, but different from anything I had seen before, these chairs were put around the church in a circle, leaving the centre of the structure mostly empty, and they looked as if they had been grown from a tree instead of being cut and worked on by carpenters.
And the centre of the room, which seemed empty at a first glance, wasn’t actually empty—the important things were on the ground.
There must have been dozens, if not hundreds, of mana stones and semi-divine cores imbedded in the ground of the room, making a symbol that looped and looped and looped in the centre of the room, and I can only compare it to Nordic runes due to its... well, weirdness.
“...Nice temple.” I said aloud as I entered the temple/church with the Priest Elijah while the guards that accompanied us remained outdoors.
“Thank you for the compliment, Lord William.” The priest said.
“If you will, please sit in one of the empty seats while I start the ritual of communion.” He then added as he moved into the centre of the room, and started chanting something that I didn’t quite care to pay attention to and simply watched from one the empty seats as the flashy ritual continued.
And I am saying flashy because the mana stones and the semi-divine cores in the ground had started flashing in different colours, making a little visual show for me to watch.
“...This is just a waste of resources... is it not?” I thought to myself as I watched the holy ritual to commune with this Ojciec Lasu, knowing full well that whatever the priest was doing was 100% not necessary.
But hey, cool was cool, so I was willing to let it slide by.
And the coolness of the ritual increased tenfold because, after a few moments, all the crystals in the ground shone brightly for a second, and after the initial flashbang from the crystals had cleared up, I saw an eye made out of light looking at me from above the crystals on the ground with a predatory glance.
“...So, those weird flowers were not to lighten up the room, but for some sort of magical hologram... cool.” I thought to myself as my many eyes glanced around the room and saw that the glassy flowers had started shining weirdly, and I connected a few dots.
“...It seems my priest was mistaken...” A voice coming from all around the room said and, weirdly, it was in imperial instead of the local tongue of these people.
“...Yet, I sense divinity, not of your own, inside of you. Tell me, whose priest are you to so brazenly come into my lands and scare my people and act like you are a deity worthy of respect?” The eye, or Ojciec Lasu said. It’s voice sounding calm, but I could still sense the underlying aggression in it.
“First of all, I am no one’s priest, the divinity you are sensing just belongs to my patron.
“Second of all, I didn’t come into these lands knowing your people had settled here, and it was never my intention to scare them, or act like a deity worthy of respect as you say it—they just came into conclusions on their own, and I simply followed along, not wanting to cause any problems with them and, from the moment I learned of their wrongful assumptions, I’ve wanted to talk with you to set things straight so there could be no misunderstanding between us.”
“And who’s your patron to gift you a divine artefact even if you are not their priest? What makes a mere undead abomination such as you so important for a gift of this scale?”
“A mere undead abomination? I’ll accept that I am an undead, and perhaps even an abomination, but mere I am not!
“I may not be a deity yet, but I am a deity candidate close to ascension! I just need less than a handful more followers, and I shall gain deity hood!”
“Hmpf! You? Reaching deity hood?!” Ojciec Lasu said, not hiding his distain after learning that I could be joining the ranks of deities.
But even though he was angry at me, everything still seemed to be going fine and, if he ever tries to attack me, I have 2 triumph cards under my belt!
First one being my semi-immortality, and the second, and the one I’ll rely on first, being the fact that my patron is The All Mother. So, a big, big shot.
“You said that you didn’t know my people had settled here, right?” Ojciec Lasu said, catching my attention before my thoughts could drift further.
“Why are you here then? Where were you going? What is your purpose?” Ojciec Lasu asked in rapid succession, and I started answering his questions.
“I am here simply because of unfortunate topography. I was simply following the river flowing through this river to reach my destination, Teria.
“And as for my purpose—you know I need only a handful of new followers to reach deity hood, and Teria just happens to be in a state of disarray, with all the chaos and such.
“I am planning on stealing a handful of people from Deity Tilk before she has the chance to return back to her domain, and stop me.” I said, and for a few moments Ojciec Lasu stood silent.
Before raising his voice for the first time during our conversation and screaming that is.
“YOU DARE?!” He screamed, the hologram eye looking at me enlarging and looming over me.
“You dare steal the followers of another deity through such underhanded tactics?! Do you have no shame?!”
“And why should I have shame? As far as my patron has told me, this is not the first time her nation has fallen into disarray due to her stupid decisions.
“If anything, I am saving her people from slaughtering each other due to her stupidity. What is there to be ashamed of from saving people?
“If there is no shame in saving people from slaughtering each other like cattle, then do I need to be shameful of the incompetent deity I am stealing followers from? Because, let me tell you, even though I’ve never met Tilk, I already hate her, and all that she stands for! And I’d be more than willing to confront her, and fight her a few years down the line when I am strong enough to defeat her!”
“Hmpf! So, you are stealing her people, her followers, and justifying it by hiding behind the cover of “saving them”? And you are doing this all when you know you are weaker than her?
“I wonder who’s this patron of yours to support such a dumb creature!” Ojciec Lasu said, and stood silent, waiting for me to give it a proper answer this time.
“...Rifu-san, can I use your name?” I asked Rifu through our connection.
“Go for it.” She replied shortly.
“Do you want to really know who my patron is?” I asked, and Ojciec Lasu stood silent.
“My patron is none other than The All Mother, Rifu Matoriaaku!” I said, hoping that Ojciec Lasu would at least back pedal a bit, but not even a moment after hearing my patron’s name, he yelled at me.
“AND YOU THINK BEING SUPPORTED BY AN ISOLATIONIST DRYAD WILL HELP YOU?!” Ojciec Lasu yelled, which was not something I expected it to do.
“If your patron even DARES to help you handle Tilk, I and every other deity including that monster from the north will come to defend her, and what do you plan on doing after that? What do you plan on doing if Tilk is angry at you enough that she tries to kill you, and your patron decides to defend you?
“You, and that overgrown bush will both die!” Ojciec Lasu yelled out.
“...Rifu-san, is what he says true? Can they kill you if they want?” I asked, actually starting to get worried.
But Rifu just laughed it off.
“Pfft~, they wish they could!
“If I decided to fight them fairly, which is to say only the deities fought without any of our armies or other resources, I’d win 6/10 times, and if it’s a conventional war, I’d win 99/100 times.
“Sure, through a stroke of luck they could technically beat me, but luck like that doesn’t grow on trees—but my soldiers do.” She said, as she lessened my worries.
But that made me only wonder if Ojciec Lasu and other deities were just... oblivious to how weak they were compared to Rifu-san.
“Kid, if you want to become a deity of your own right that can stand on his own, you need good allies and friends...” Ojciec Lasu suddenly started saying in a soft tone.
“And I’ll help you get there!” He suddenly said as the hologram eye seemed to smile.
“...Ah... there’s the backpedalling I expected... it seems he’s not that oblivious to his weaknesses.”