Heroes and Machine Girls Looking at Profiles

50 – Encounter in the West

The next day, as promised, we arrived at Senator Verdimont’s mansion in search of Lucien.

Because we had already heard the news and Ortrinde, who had been staying at the mansion for a while, was with us, the manager who guarded the mansion immediately let us in.

And, the person who greeted us as we entered the mansion was none other than the owner of the mansion, Representative Verdimont.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Roy Verdimont.”

“My name is Louis, a merchant.”

I shook hands with him, using the pseudonym I used when entering the Republic.

Congressman Roy Verdimont.

A man who can be said to be the leader among the young politicians of the current republic.

Not only that, he was a man with wide shoulders and a strong upper body, as if he had also mastered martial arts.

“I heard you saved my execution the other day. Thank you so much.”

“No, I heard that Ortrinde was indebted to me for being late due to personal matters. Thank you.”

“hahahahaha! It’s only natural to treat someone who saves and protects your family.”

Representative Verdimont smiles brightly.

After several conversations, I got to know him as a very cheerful and cautious man.

Even as he continues the conversation naturally, he does not show his true feelings at all.

It is not for nothing that he stands out as a politician.

For people like this, it works better to tell them directly what’s going on rather than just saying things back and forth.

I decided to tell him my request directly.

“Councilor, actually, I have a favor to ask.”

“Well, if it’s possible under my authority…And it doesn’t violate Republic law, there won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you. Then… Can I get permission to investigate the ruins that were discovered this time?”

“Ah…You mean those ruins?”

Rep. Verdimont does not seem particularly surprised when the name of the ruins is mentioned.

Well, in the first place, rumors about new ruins were a topic that filled the Republic until not long ago.

It is now buried due to the re-emergence of the Demon King’s army, but it is no exaggeration to say that most people in the Republic are aware of the existence of the ruins.

“I heard that the excavation work has been stopped for now, but…She’s actually here…”

I continued talking by introducing Rossweisse.

“She’s my subordinate, a kid named Roise…She’s majoring in archeology.”

“Ah, I’m sure you would be interested if you are an archaeologist.”

“Yes…So I would like to receive permission to enter the ruins…”

Surprisingly, permission was granted very easily.

Although there were some conditions, I was able to obtain permission to enter the ruins.

One person accompanying you is a citizen of the Republic.

It is said that this is something that must be attached when a person from outside the Republic excavates ruins, so it cannot be helped.

This was resolved by Lucien, who was in exile in the Republic, joining him, hoping that Lucien would go with him.

In reality, it is as if there is no surveillance.

Second, items from the ruins belong to the Republic.

This was also unavoidable as the ruins themselves were the property of the Republic.

Well, for me, I don’t really care about relics from historical sites, so that didn’t matter.

And three, time limit.

When the sun sets, you must come out of the historical site.

This seems to be a problem at the management level, so this could not be helped.

With these three conditions, we succeeded in obtaining permission to enter the ruins.

And we were riding a carriage and heading to the place where the historical site was located.

“It’s been a long time since I went this far.”

Luciana was looking out of the carriage with a slightly amused expression.

It seemed like Luciena had almost gotten into trouble several times, and Councilor Verdimont had prevented her from going too far.

However, this time, there were many companions, and among them were quite a few talented people, so permission was granted.

She looked at Luciena, who looked quite happy, and then she looked towards Ortrinde.

As if she knew what I meant, she nodded her head and sat a little closer to Lu Siena.

As long as Ortrinde is there, nothing dangerous will happen to Luciena.

The carriage continued to run southeast.

The place we arrived at after running like that was a place guarded by men wearing Republic military uniforms who had erected a strong military fence.

“Jeongji, who are you?”

We showed the permit we received from Rep. Verdimont to the soldiers blocking us.

This is a permit issued to external scholars when they enter the ruins of the Republic.

The soldier looked at the permit for a moment and nodded.

“Go in, but come out when it gets dark.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

“However, from here, carriages cannot enter the road… So you have to walk.”

As the soldiers said, the road beyond the fence was not properly paved, so carriages could not run on it.

As I was getting off the carriage and unpacking my luggage, a soldier came up to me and whispered.

“…Hey, I’m speaking to you as a representative of the group…”

“Yes, please say so.”

“Actually, other people came in a little while before you arrived…”

“Ah… Is that so?”

“They…They have a bit of an eccentric temperament…So please be careful.”

I thought that no one would come in since the excavation work is currently on hold, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

If a soldier deliberately gives advice like that, he doesn’t seem to be a sane person…

“Master, please go in now.”

“Oh…Yeah…Yeah.”

After I had unpacked and packed all my luggage, I saw the people waiting for me and ran towards them at a brisk pace.

I don’t know if there are any clues in these ruins, but I still have a feeling that there is something there.

Pope Francesca headed west with several priests, following the voice of the goddess Erdiya that she heard in a dream.

It was several days later that her incredible message arrived.

The sound of horses’ hooves was heard behind her as she crossed the border of the empire and stepped onto the land of the principality.

When she realized that the sound of the horse’s hooves was coming towards her, she put her guard on guard, but when she realized that it was a person wearing the attire of a priest of the Goddess Church, she relaxed her guard.

And then, Pope Francesca’s face turned pale as she read the message he gave her with a pale expression.

A cult of fanaticism entered the empire and the imperial capital and made contact with the crown prince.

And they had succeeded in summoning a new hero.

Yes, it was okay up to that point.

I understood well that Goddess Erdiya was not the only god, and that there were various other gods in this world.

Priests who had only a little knowledge of theology could have accepted that much.

In terms of doctrine and the content of religious rituals, even fanatics who were accepted as cultists were able to understand… To a certain extent.

The problem was next.

The crown prince whipped the priests of the goddess religion and drove them out of the imperial capital.

The church where Goddess priests lived was given over to fanatics.

Furthermore, those damn things insulted the statue of the goddess in the church.

It was all an atrocity that was difficult to tolerate.

Pope Francesca was trembling with anger.

“That crown prince… I knew he wasn’t a sane guy, but…”

“Your Holiness…What will you do?”

I wanted to run to the imperial capital right now, grab the crown prince by the hair and twist it.

But, having already come so far, I am even more reluctant to go back and disobey the goddess.

Furthermore, there was another big problem.

Pope Francesca looked back.

Inside the carriage, old people and young children were struggling to breathe.

They were the survivors of the village I found while passing by.

The corpses of strong men lined up in the village, and among them were the corpses of those who appeared to be thieves.

He was probably attacked by thieves.

We rescued them and protected the injured.

However, because the village was a very poor place to care for the sick, they were moving toward the capital of the principality.

That’s why I couldn’t go back from here.

I couldn’t leave them behind.

In the end, it was decided to consider the issue of the empire later, and Pope Francis continued to move toward the capital of the principality.

He still had a few more hours to travel, but he could still see the capital of the principality in the distance.

It was in the meantime.

As I was heading toward the capital, I saw a familiar silhouette over there.

Statue of Goddess.

A statue of the goddess Erdiya stood on the side of the road.

The surrounding area appears to have been properly maintained, with a simple altar and flower beds neatly organized.

“Why is there a goddess statue in a place like this…?”

Doubts arose, but as long as there was a statue of the goddess, there was only one thing to do as the Pope.

Pope Francis stopped his steps, approached the statue of the goddess, and prayed.

From noble mtl dot com

The priests also followed the Pope and prayed together behind him, and the survivors of the village who were walking together also prayed.

A quiet and reverent time passes.

I heard someone’s voice.

“Hey…Who are you?”

The voice of a young girl.

At that voice, Francesca stopped praying and looked to his side.

Two young girls in simple but neat clothes were standing looking at them.

Francesca smiled and looked at her children.

“We are believers of the Goddess religion. We were passing by and saw the statue of the goddess, so we are praying.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But do you know why there is a goddess statue in a place like this?”

Pope Francesca thought that if children lived around here, they would probably know about the goddess statue.

Just as she thought, the children nodded.

“I brought it with me when I moved!”

“What…?”

As Francesca looked at him with a blank expression, another child spoke.

“Well…We used to live in a closed church…But when we came here, my mom said we couldn’t leave the statue behind…”

It is a closed church.

Has any church been closed recently?

While she was thinking about that, one of her subordinate priests spoke to Francesca.

“That…Actually, I heard that the original church was closed while a new church was being built in Nevan.”

“Hmm? But wasn’t it the rule to move the statue to the new church?”

“Yes, but no matter what method I used, the statue wouldn’t move, so I had no choice but to create a new one…”

It was a strange statement.

If that is the statue of the old church in Four Bansi, then who was that mother who was able to move her statue?

While I was thinking that, someone was coming towards me.

“Aroma~ Philia~ where are you?”

“Ah, Mom!”

“It’s mom!!”

It seemed like the person called ‘Mom’ had arrived.

When I looked behind the children, I saw a beautiful woman with red hair approaching there.

At that moment, Pope Francesca could clearly feel it.

It is that person.

The person that Goddess Erdiya said she wanted to help must be that person.

I was able to know that fact, as if I had received a revelation.