It actually takes a couple of hours of talking and storytelling until Bug is satisfied with the subject of religion.

For the most part, these humans don’t know much more than what they were taught as children while growing up. Among them, Andrew is the only one that semi-frequently still goes to mass on Sundays, but all of them are still firm followers of the Goddess. Not believers, like some sinners (atheist) like to call it, since the Goddess isn’t some idea to ‘believed’ in. No, they are followers, because apparently, the Goddess is a real, living, breathing, person that lives in some temple far to the north. Though, only kings and high-ranking members of the Church have ever met her… Bug chooses to keep her thoughts on that to herself.

“So, if you don’t follow these rules the Goddess set for you, you go to Hell after you die, and if you are a good person, you go to Heaven?”

“Yes, that’s basically how it works.” Responds Andrew who is still being held down on the floor by a skeleton, having to arch his neck to look up at Bug who has switched to lounging on her side, one hand propping up her head as she lazily scratches her leg with her foot.

“Huh… Well, that’s stupid.”

“Stupid!? How dare y-!” Andrew starts, but quickly bites his tongue as he remembers his current position.

Thankfully, Bug doesn’t look too terribly bothered by his outburst and just shrugs.

“Apologies, I don’t mean to step on your beliefs, but I just find all of this to be… well, it just seems dumb to me. I mean, that isn’t how death works? Souls don’t go to a good place or a bad place after you die, they just move on and get reborn somewhere else as a new person. I mean… You’re telling me that every person that dies will go to these two places. That would mean that these places would have to be big enough to hold an infinite number of souls and be able to properly keep all of them either suffering or in perpetual happiness? Not to mention, where would all the new souls come from when new people are born? Where would they even come from?”

Andrew looks mad, but he just keeps his answer simple.

“The Goddess makes them.”

“… The Goddess makes an infinite number of souls, and maintains two places with infinite capacity and resources? Is she all powerful?”

“Yes!” Andrew practically shouts.

Bug just thinks for a bit and then asks, “But if she is all powerful, then why isn’t she saving you from me? Why does she allow the Demons to threaten humanity? Why does she allow evil to remain in the world, if she wants you all to be happy?”

“The Goddess likes to test us.”

“Your Goddess sounds like a bitch.”

“You take that back!” He screams, trying to lunge forward. But the skeleton holding him down just pushes down and shoves his face to the floor.

Still lounging comfy and lording over them, Bug cringes a bit as she watches that. Seeing how someone can suddenly get so angry just from having their beliefs stepped on. It surprises her, though only for a bit. Honestly, she really doesn’t care about this whole religion thing. Why should she want to dedicate herself to some god a reward that she can’t even enjoy in this life? It’s just dumb…

And besides, thanks to the System, Bug already knows what happens to souls after death. There are even several Spells in not just the Death school of magic that involve manipulating this process, but even in Life, Space, Time, Soul, and even a little in some of the other elements, like Water, Earth, and Nature. And in all of them, they have the same stipulation. They can’t be used on any soul that has already fully entered the Cycle of Reincarnation, a process that takes about three days after full bodily death to occur. After that, trying to say, use a Life spell to bring someone back from the dead, will simply just fail. Their soul has already moved on and been reborn by then. They are already a new person.

It is because of this knowledge, partly, as to why Bug doesn’t care so much about killing people. Sure, it’s a mean thing to do and she would hate to have it happen to herself or to someone close to her, but at the end of the day, it’s not like she’s destroying their soul. They’ll be back, and hopefully, their next life will be a better one.

So, Bug just relaxes for a bit as she watches the angry human try to get himself back under control, the woman next to him desperately holding his hand and whispering to him. Bug can clearly hear her whispers, but doesn’t comment on what is being said.

“Love, please calm down. Please don’t give her a reason to kill you. We’ll get through this. I love you, please-” and such things.

Bug decides to let them cool down for a bit and mull over what she has learned so far. Regardless of her personal opinions of the human’s religion, it is still good to know as it could help her in the future when dealing with them.

For one thing, they have a list of ten important rules that they are supposed to follow, which makes them to be considered, ‘Good People’ in the eyes of the Goddess.

1. Don’t lie.

2. Don’t rape.

3. Don’t steal.

4. Don’t murder other humans (including the other races that the Church likes, example being the Dwarfs) except in self-defense or on the orders of your ruler in war.

5. Don’t have sex with a married person’s lover.

6. Don’t have sex before marriage.

7. Don’t have sex with people of the same sex.

8. Don’t have sex with anyone that isn’t human. (Or again, not a race that is liked by the Church. Hobbits are kosher.)

9. Don’t disobey your parents.

10. Worship only the Goddess, and no other gods.

Ten rules, and most of them are just to tell you who you can and can’t have sex with… Why the Goddess would care, Bug has no idea about that, but at least the other ones make some sense. After all, it is bad to kill and rape each other, and stealing is bad. Not that that will stop Bug from killing and stealing. She’s not interested in rape though, which is a good thing.

Don’t lie. Now that’s a rule Bug can get behind. She hasn’t really put much thought into why it is that she personally refuses to lie, herself, but Bug can certainly say that she would like it a lot better if others wouldn’t lie either.

Disobeying parents? Bug doesn’t have those. She was born from a plant… Does the Dungeon count as her parent?

Screw that rule…

And the last one, well… Bug doesn’t much feel like following that one either. And if anything, it just worsens her opinion of this Goddess person. Like, she only cares about amassing a bunch of followers and having them pray to her.

For instance, some of what Bug was taught is the unofficial rules that aren’t a part of the big ten, but are still important enough to follow to where if you don’t, you will be considered a sinner. Like, contraceptives are bad and shouldn’t be used, because if you are going to have sex, it should only be for the purpose of having children and nothing else. Especially not pleasure. And have lots of children and raise them to be loyal worshippers of the Goddess. But don’t enjoy it! And a bunch of other stuff that Bug quickly lost interest in while she was listening to Andrew spew on about this and that…

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Though, the thing that was the nail in the coffin for her feelings on the Goddess was when Bug learned about Sunday mass.

The people, all these worshippers that the Goddess wants to keep making more kids that will also all grow up to be more worshippers. They are supposed to give their MONEY, to the Church!

It’s all just a way to get rich and have everyone love her while behaving! And, it, is, brilliant!

This Goddess person, who Bug is pretty sure is just some lady, probably a pretty powerful Life or Soul Mage or something like that, is just manipulating all these dumb, gullible humans into giving her treasures and doing everything that she says. And their reward for their obedience?

Oh, you get to go to this nice place after you die. But if you are bad…

And the funniest part? The part that has Bug wanting to laugh as she looks down at this angry little believer? The humans have no real way of proving it wrong. After all, what are they going to do; die and come back after they see it was all just a big fat lie? Even Bug can come up with a believable excuse for why even that wouldn’t work. “Of course you didn’t see Heaven. You weren’t meant to go there yet, silly. You did come back to life, didn’t you? It’s just not your time yet.”

Wish I thought of that. Just relaxing in a palace all day as people give me their stuff. And all I would have to do is bring back the dead and show off my power occasionally? So jealous…

Bug doesn’t even consider explaining any of this to the humans. She already knows that her words will just fall on deaf ears, or they will pretend to agree with her just she won’t kill them. Plus, she just doesn’t care enough to try. Why should she? Besides, they are free to believe in whatever they want. If it makes them happy, then why should she care to change their minds, or beliefs for that matter?

With a shrug, Bug decides to move this along and clears her throat, getting her captive audience’s attention.

“That’s enough about religion; I think I learned everything I need to about that subject… Let’s move onto Demons. Earlier, you called me an Imp. Are there other kinds of Demons?”

Gerald responds to her question with open confusion.

“How do you not know about Demons? Everyone does.”

Bug just shrugs again. “I don’t get out much…”

Figuring that the Demon claiming to be a Gremlin isn’t going to elaborate, Gerald decides to just tell her what he knows.

“We’ve never seen any Demons before, so this is just what we have learned from the Church-”

“Of course it is.”

“- and… Uh, well. I’ll just tell you what I know. Is that all right?”

“So long as you tell me no lies, I will gladly accept all you know. I don’t expect you to know everything, after all, none of you are even literate…”

Still can’t believe that the Church doesn’t bother teaching children how to read. Instead, only the wealthy families get to have that privilege. Probably just more ways of keeping control… Smart, I like it.

Bug chooses not to comment on the fact that she herself didn’t have to learn how to read, and that the System gave her that knowledge for free…

Gerald takes Bug’s following silence as permission to speak, swallowing down any complaints he might have about Bug making fun of his inability to read. Who needs to read anyways? The time spent learning how can be spent on earning money instead. You don’t need to read to be able to swing a sword after all. As long as he can do his maths, that’s all he needs to get by.

“Okay, well, you already know about Imps,” Which the Mad Dogs are still certain that Bug is one. “so, I will tell you about the other types I know of… Aside from the Imps, which are small and sneaky…” He stops to look up at Bug and make sure she isn’t mad. She isn’t.

“Aside from them, there are the Fiends, which are giant Demons, about twice as tall as any man and are strong enough to destroy whole buildings with their bare hands. Supposedly, they struggle with magic, but they are still incredibly dangerous on the battlefield. Then there is… I think they were called, Jimms?”

Gerald looks over at the sulking Andrew who has calmed down some by now.

“They’re called, Jinn.”

“Mhm, Jinn! Right… Uhm, they are supposed to be powerful magic casters. None of us here are mages, so… we don’t know how strong they are. Are you one, maybe?”

Bug just gives him a stink eye.

“I’m a Gremlin.”

“Right, right! Sorry… Ah… next is… sorry, it’s been years since I learned these. I never thought I would run into a Demon, not with their land being so far away…”

Bug chooses not to say anything about him still implying that she is a Demon and instead just glares slightly. Maybe she needs to remind them of their place? It has been a couple hours since she last hurt them…

Seemingly getting a hint of what Bug is thinking, Gerald hurries up.

“Ah, ah! Uhm… Succubus! That was the next one! They are winged lady Demons that prey on men and suck their souls out by… having sex with them…”

He slows down a bit there, at the end, his eyes going up to Bug’s wings and then down her body to her large and bountiful chest and then even further still to those full and round thighs that are barely covered by her short shorts. Even being covered in dirt and in much need of bath, Bug is still admittedly quite the looker… if he were to die, death by those thighs wouldn’t be a bad way to go…

“I’m not a Succubus either. I. am. a. Gremlin. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

He quickly looks away from the lounging Gremlin, who is most certainly a Gremlin and absolutely nothing else, and tries to pretend that he finds this brick in the floor to be very interesting… Better to look at the floor anyways, since the only other thing to look at is the corpse of his dead friend…

He quickly reprimands himself mentally and moves on, not wanting to further anger the little De- Gremlin. He doesn’t want to anger the Gremlin.

“Uh, aside from them, I only know one other one, and…”

“Yes, go on, tell me already. And whatever it is, you better not mistake me as being one.” Bug says, waving a hand to hurry along the nervous human.

But Gerald is quite confident that Bug isn’t one of what he is about to name. If she were, he is certain that they would all be dead already anyways.

“Devil.” Gerald says with apparent fear, his eyes darting to the shadows as he if expects to see them suddenly spring to life. Beside him, Andrew is already silently praying. He can’t see what Fel or Laz are doing, but he imagines that it is much the same.

Bug, much to Gerald's amazement, doesn’t look bothered in the slightest at hearing that word. Almost like it is her first time learning about it.

“Devil…” Gerald repeats himself. But Bug still looks the same.

She just raises an eyebrow and says, “Yes? Go on, tell me about it.”

“Uh…? Devil, that’s what the Demon Queen is. How do you not know this?”

“Again, I don’t get out much. I do know about the Demon Queen though, but not much about her. So, what’s a Devil?”

“… The strongest of the Demons. Effectively the Demon’s god and the only being that can threaten the Goddess. They say that the Kobolds can bargain with her, and that wherever she shows up, Death always follows in her wake. Entire cities have been destroyed simply because she was mad.”

“Oh? Then why doesn’t your Goddess just kill her then? Is the Demon Queen stronger?”

“No! The Goddess is stronger! It’s thanks to the Goddess that that Devil can’t kill us all. She protects us all!” Andrew quickly pops up and shouts, pushing against the skeletal hands that are holding him down.

“Hmm…” It is the only response she gives him, though she does silently order her skeletons to shove him back into the floor as punishment for yelling, the grip on the back of his neck growing a little tighter as a sharp claw scratches at his throat. Andrew quickly gets the message and calms down.

“Is that everything about the Demons?” Bug asks Gerald.

“Yes, I’m sorry, but that is all I know…”

“That’s ok. Thanks for sharing.” Bug thanks the bewildered human.

Hmm, this doesn’t really change my plans any. After I get out of here, I should make way for the lands of the Demon Queen. I doubt that I can live a very peaceful life here in the human lands, what with the Church. And regardless of my opinions on the Goddess, she probably is very powerful, and I don’t want to risk making her an enemy. Looks like my idea to see if I can get the Demon Queen to take me in is looking even better. As long as I am treated well, I don’t mind using my power for her and killing some humans or whatever… Wonder if she pays well?

Putting her thoughts aside for now, Bug returns her attention to the humans.

“Alright, next subject. You will teach me about the outside world and –”

Bug spends the next couple of hours asking and learning about anything that can come to mind. Fulfilling her curiosity about different subjects that she couldn’t when she was trying to fit in with the Green Scarves. Eventually, night slowly arrives, and it comes closer to time for the Dungeon’s restock to occur. The Humans, not wanting to endure the Mana Wave and the sickness that would leave them ill afterwards, plead with Bug to allow them to return to the Safe Room for the night.

Considering that that is where Bug will be able to finally take a bath, it doesn’t take much for them to convince her.

Though they offer to show her the way, Bug isn’t dumb enough to let them just walk as they are. A long length of rope appears in her hands as she smiles, and after some work, the four humans are tied up and finally permitted to stand, the ends of their ropes being held like a leash by a team of skeletons as they lead the way towards the Safe Room.

What is left of Blane’s mutilated body disappears with just a touch from Bug’s wing, the Mimic having long fallen asleep in her arms after eating its fill a while ago.

Finally, Bug can get herself a bath! She can continue searching for her skeletons in the morning. It’s not like they are going anywhere without her anyways.