The help of these supernatural beings can help me through the crisis.
‘If they’re really demons, it’ll be even worse.’
For now, it was best to have plenty of backup.
I hid all my worries and smiled brightly.
“I’m going to be friends with both Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly!”
***
Asta entered the artifact vault with low ranking priests as her escort.
Among numerous relics, a large transparent tube stood tall.
This holy object, which looked like a coffin, was the key to removing Hanelope.
Asta stroked the clear surface of the casket.
Suddenly, the screams of a woman who died inside this place a few years ago came to mind.
On that day, Asta had taken the Viridescent Sword from the witch. Retrieving it was the first task the Prache had given the regressor Asta.
The sword was in the hands of a merchant. He stumbled upon it when he crossed the ocean for trading.
“It was at the bottom of the sea,” he said.
The problem was that the merchant refused to give up the relic.
Persuasion and threats were in vain.
But during my repeated visits to retrieve the Viridescent Sword, a strange thing happened. The lips of the merchant’s family and even his employees began to turn green. They said it had been happening ever since they had obtained the sword.
Asta suddenly remembered a passage from the holy scripture.
{ The green-skinned traitors should kneel before the God Prache. }
She decided to use this as an opportunity.
“That merchant must be the ‘traitor’ mentioned in the holy scripture, the worshipper of demons.”
The merchant strongly objected, “My skin is not green, it’s only my lips! It might be a skin disease!”
Asta shot back, “If you’re so sure, then enter the ‘Casket of Judgement’ and prove it.”
The ‘Casket of Judgement’ is a holy relic found in the ruins of an ancient temple. It was a tool for executing traitors.
Asta interpreted it by reading the divine language.
The ‘Casket of Judgement’ looks like a vertically placed coffin. After a person enters, the chamber is filled with divinity.
Since ancient humans were all vulnerable to divinity, encountering too much divinity at once led to death.
The ‘Casket of Judgement’ was a tool that used this principle for execution.
“If you are not a traitor, enter the coffin of Casket of Judgement.”
The people would come out alive if they were not sinners.
However, this was a trick.
When the merchant entered the chamber, he realized that something was amiss, and he had been deceived.
Asta tampered with the tube and put contaminated water in the chamber.
The merchant drowned in front of a crowd of people in the square. But everyone believed he died because he worshipped the demons.
They couldn’t tell the difference between holy water and the water that had been used.
Immediately, in the name of God, the temple executed the merchant’s family and confiscated their property.
Among the confiscated property was the Viridescent Sword, which Prache wanted.
Asta had served his purpose, but the slaughter was far from over.
People frightened by the term “witch” began to massacre even the employees of the merchant.
Anyone who was close to the hired help, anyone who had ever worked in the merchant’s house, was killed.
Those who remained fled to the slums and hid, but even they were found and beaten to death.
Later, a bloodbath ensued, with people being dragged to their deaths even if their lips weren’t green.
Fear deepens faith. So the temple chose to turn a blind eye.
‘In other words, there is no such thing as Divine Poisoning, because I made it all up.’
But the truth doesn’t matter.
What mattered was that I had a testimony that Hanelope’s lips had turned green and could accuse her of being a witch. This is the payment for humiliating me.
“If I say that my failure in using divine power that day was also a trick by the witch…”
The Emperor would try to stop her from executing his granddaughter, but that didn’t matter.
‘I have no intention of executing Hanelope, I just want her to enter the coffin. Hahahaha...’
Asta laughed cruelly and told the priests, “Take the casket to the prepared place. So that more people can witness the witch’s death.”
***
In the beginning, this world was created for the Gods. The continents were ruled by the five Gods. That is why the world was filled with divinity. After all, Earth was not created for man.”
Professor Munich spoke with a stern tone.
“But after the Holy War, everything changed. God Prache sealed the other four Gods, who were evil, and blessed the humans so that they can survive divinity.”
The students listened with bated breath to Professor Munich’s lecture.
“Humans swore allegiance to the Gods, and the Gods stepped back for the sake of humans. Since then, the era of Gods has ended, and the era of humans began.”
Professor Munich closed the book he was reciting, frowning in disapproval. Then he abruptly threw the history book in the trash.
“You don’t need to learn the story of such… What kind of history is this? Even as a fairytale it’s not entertaining..”
The kids made noise in surprise.
“D-Does that mean we’ll have to study less?”
Someone spoke up, and Professor Munich gave them a look of incredulity.
“Rather than studying meaningless things, it’s better to play. In that case, you’re right.”
The children shouted louder, delighted.
‘The influence of the Temple of Prache is slowly disappearing.’
I thought, trying to ignore the floating windows only visible to me.
[ Uncle Rabbit: "What has this bunny learning all this time?"]
[ Miss Butterfly: “That's a pure lie, not even worth reading as a fairy tale.” ]
‘As Gods, they’re quite chatty.’Although they must have a lot to say after being sealed alone for a long time.
‘If they hate each other so much, they wouldn’t be chatting incessantly. Maybe they actually love each other?’
I laughed internally, imagining a scene that would shock them if they heard it.
Still, thanks to them, I learned some important information.
The explosion that occurred underground of the temple was the result of the clash between the force Uncle Rabbit unleashed to protect me and the energy of Miss Butterfly.
That the green lips, known as Divine Poisoning, were a mark left by Miss Butterfly.
‘She did this in the hope that the priests would find her. But time has passed and her priests and no more…’
Uncle Rabbit also tried to leave marks.
‘I’m not like that green troublemaker, so I gave up early’, he said.
Different Gods have different markings, usually leaving their own patterns. It was only Miss Butterfly who used to leave traces on skin.
And that’s how I learnt that ‘divine poisoning’ doesn’t exist.
‘Of course, it’s not enough to prove by statement.’
Because other people can’t talk to Miss Butterfly. And even if they did, they wouldn’t believe her.
‘We needed more proof.’
And there was one more thing.
‘Even Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly didn’t know the identity of the voice that tried to kill me at the Great Temple.’
They didn’t hear the voice at all because of the shock of the explosion.
‘Who could it have been?’
I pondered, staring blankly out the translucent windows that seemed to endlessly chatter.
But someone noticed that I wasn’t paying attention to the lecture.
“Hanelope, why were you distracted during the lecture?”
After Professor Munich’s lecture ended, while moving to attend Richter’s magic lecture, Brantley asked.
“I was looking at Professor Munich.”
I was startled but answered calmly.
Brantley narrowed his eyes.
“Really?”
“I was.”
“I hope you’re not keeping a secret from me…”
I felt embarrassed.
‘I can’t talk about beings whose nature as Gods or something else is still unknown.’
I playfully changed the subject.
“So Brantley, were you staring at me and not listening to the lecture?”
“Yes”, Brantley replied.
Katherine, walking alongside me, gaped in disbelief.
Brantley added confidently, “I occasionally heard parts of the lecture, too.”
“What do you mean! You should focus all the time.”
Katherine pointed out sharply. And Brantley shrugged.
“Just attending is enough.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Brantley had excellent grades despite his “occasional” attendance.
After Brantley entered the academy, Jacob studied tirelessly to surpass him. However, Jacob couldn’t come close, let alone surpass him.
‘If he focused on the lecture instead of staring at me, he would get the first place everyday.’
But Brantley wasn’t interested in any of it.
[ Miss Butterfly: I think he’s a bit weird. ]
[ Uncle Rabbit sticks his tongue out saying that boy is more persistent than me. ]
Even in the potions class, Brantley only had eyes for me.
‘I’m glad I sat away from Brantley.’
If we were seated next to each other, he would have been more blatantly looking at me.
Besides, today was a theory class, not a practical.
If I didn’t concentrate, it would be noticed quickly, and Professor Richter would be in great difficulty.
“Please pay attention. Today the theory class will focus of 8th circle spells.”
Professor Richter was looking so healthy that it was hard to believe she had fainted during the Blessing Day ceremony.
She was still worried about the fact that I had the pendant, and asked me if I was fine. But I knew I had done the right thing by taking it from her.
I looked at Miss Richter with a smile on my face.
But the other children booed at Richter’s words.
“8th circle! Why do we have to study something we can’t do?”
One even complained out loud, “I don’t want to learn that.”
An average person can barely reach three or four circles. Even the best mages could only reach six circles.
‘Which is my current level.’
Richter smiled wryly.
“Still, the ‘possible’ level for a human to reach is technically eight circles, so it’s worth learning just in case.”
“B-But that’s..!”
“You never know, right? Maybe one day you’ll awaken your power. But if you don’t know how to use that tremendous power, how regrettable would that be?”
Richter said cheerfully.
The help of these supernatural beings can help me through the crisis.
‘If they’re really demons, it’ll be even worse.’
For now, it was best to have plenty of backup.
I hid all my worries and smiled brightly.
“I’m going to be friends with both Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly!”
***
Asta entered the artifact vault with low ranking priests as her escort.
Among numerous relics, a large transparent tube stood tall.
This holy object, which looked like a coffin, was the key to removing Hanelope.
Asta stroked the clear surface of the casket.
Suddenly, the screams of a woman who died inside this place a few years ago came to mind.
On that day, Asta had taken the Viridescent Sword from the witch. Retrieving it was the first task the Prache had given the regressor Asta.
The sword was in the hands of a merchant. He stumbled upon it when he crossed the ocean for trading.
“It was at the bottom of the sea,” he said.
The problem was that the merchant refused to give up the relic.
Persuasion and threats were in vain.
But during my repeated visits to retrieve the Viridescent Sword, a strange thing happened. The lips of the merchant’s family and even his employees began to turn green. They said it had been happening ever since they had obtained the sword.
Asta suddenly remembered a passage from the holy scripture.
{ The green-skinned traitors should kneel before the God Prache. }
She decided to use this as an opportunity.
“That merchant must be the ‘traitor’ mentioned in the holy scripture, the worshipper of demons.”
The merchant strongly objected, “My skin is not green, it’s only my lips! It might be a skin disease!”
Asta shot back, “If you’re so sure, then enter the ‘Casket of Judgement’ and prove it.”
The ‘Casket of Judgement’ is a holy relic found in the ruins of an ancient temple. It was a tool for executing traitors.
Asta interpreted it by reading the divine language.
The ‘Casket of Judgement’ looks like a vertically placed coffin. After a person enters, the chamber is filled with divinity.
Since ancient humans were all vulnerable to divinity, encountering too much divinity at once led to death.
The ‘Casket of Judgement’ was a tool that used this principle for execution.
“If you are not a traitor, enter the coffin of Casket of Judgement.”
The people would come out alive if they were not sinners.
However, this was a trick.
When the merchant entered the chamber, he realized that something was amiss, and he had been deceived.
Asta tampered with the tube and put contaminated water in the chamber.
The merchant drowned in front of a crowd of people in the square. But everyone believed he died because he worshipped the demons.
They couldn’t tell the difference between holy water and the water that had been used.
Immediately, in the name of God, the temple executed the merchant’s family and confiscated their property.
Among the confiscated property was the Viridescent Sword, which Prache wanted.
Asta had served his purpose, but the slaughter was far from over.
People frightened by the term “witch” began to massacre even the employees of the merchant.
Anyone who was close to the hired help, anyone who had ever worked in the merchant’s house, was killed.
Those who remained fled to the slums and hid, but even they were found and beaten to death.
Later, a bloodbath ensued, with people being dragged to their deaths even if their lips weren’t green.
Fear deepens faith. So the temple chose to turn a blind eye.
‘In other words, there is no such thing as Divine Poisoning, because I made it all up.’
But the truth doesn’t matter.
What mattered was that I had a testimony that Hanelope’s lips had turned green and could accuse her of being a witch. This is the payment for humiliating me.
“If I say that my failure in using divine power that day was also a trick by the witch…”
The Emperor would try to stop her from executing his granddaughter, but that didn’t matter.
‘I have no intention of executing Hanelope, I just want her to enter the coffin. Hahahaha...’
Asta laughed cruelly and told the priests, “Take the casket to the prepared place. So that more people can witness the witch’s death.”
***
In the beginning, this world was created for the Gods. The continents were ruled by the five Gods. That is why the world was filled with divinity. After all, Earth was not created for man.”
Professor Munich spoke with a stern tone.
“But after the Holy War, everything changed. God Prache sealed the other four Gods, who were evil, and blessed the humans so that they can survive divinity.”
The students listened with bated breath to Professor Munich’s lecture.
“Humans swore allegiance to the Gods, and the Gods stepped back for the sake of humans. Since then, the era of Gods has ended, and the era of humans began.”
Professor Munich closed the book he was reciting, frowning in disapproval. Then he abruptly threw the history book in the trash.
“You don’t need to learn the story of such… What kind of history is this? Even as a fairytale it’s not entertaining..”
The kids made noise in surprise.
“D-Does that mean we’ll have to study less?”
Someone spoke up, and Professor Munich gave them a look of incredulity.
“Rather than studying meaningless things, it’s better to play. In that case, you’re right.”
The children shouted louder, delighted.
‘The influence of the Temple of Prache is slowly disappearing.’
I thought, trying to ignore the floating windows only visible to me.
[ Uncle Rabbit: "What has this bunny learning all this time?"]
[ Miss Butterfly: “That's a pure lie, not even worth reading as a fairy tale.” ]
‘As Gods, they’re quite chatty.’Although they must have a lot to say after being sealed alone for a long time.
‘If they hate each other so much, they wouldn’t be chatting incessantly. Maybe they actually love each other?’
I laughed internally, imagining a scene that would shock them if they heard it.
Still, thanks to them, I learned some important information.
The explosion that occurred underground of the temple was the result of the clash between the force Uncle Rabbit unleashed to protect me and the energy of Miss Butterfly.
That the green lips, known as Divine Poisoning, were a mark left by Miss Butterfly.
‘She did this in the hope that the priests would find her. But time has passed and her priests and no more…’
Uncle Rabbit also tried to leave marks.
‘I’m not like that green troublemaker, so I gave up early’, he said.
Different Gods have different markings, usually leaving their own patterns. It was only Miss Butterfly who used to leave traces on skin.
And that’s how I learnt that ‘divine poisoning’ doesn’t exist.
‘Of course, it’s not enough to prove by statement.’
Because other people can’t talk to Miss Butterfly. And even if they did, they wouldn’t believe her.
‘We needed more proof.’
And there was one more thing.
‘Even Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly didn’t know the identity of the voice that tried to kill me at the Great Temple.’
They didn’t hear the voice at all because of the shock of the explosion.
‘Who could it have been?’
I pondered, staring blankly out the translucent windows that seemed to endlessly chatter.
But someone noticed that I wasn’t paying attention to the lecture.
“Hanelope, why were you distracted during the lecture?”
After Professor Munich’s lecture ended, while moving to attend Richter’s magic lecture, Brantley asked.
“I was looking at Professor Munich.”
I was startled but answered calmly.
Brantley narrowed his eyes.
“Really?”
“I was.”
“I hope you’re not keeping a secret from me…”
I felt embarrassed.
‘I can’t talk about beings whose nature as Gods or something else is still unknown.’
I playfully changed the subject.
“So Brantley, were you staring at me and not listening to the lecture?”
“Yes”, Brantley replied.
Katherine, walking alongside me, gaped in disbelief.
Brantley added confidently, “I occasionally heard parts of the lecture, too.”
“What do you mean! You should focus all the time.”
Katherine pointed out sharply. And Brantley shrugged.
“Just attending is enough.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Brantley had excellent grades despite his “occasional” attendance.
After Brantley entered the academy, Jacob studied tirelessly to surpass him. However, Jacob couldn’t come close, let alone surpass him.
‘If he focused on the lecture instead of staring at me, he would get the first place everyday.’
But Brantley wasn’t interested in any of it.
[ Miss Butterfly: I think he’s a bit weird. ]
[ Uncle Rabbit sticks his tongue out saying that boy is more persistent than me. ]
Even in the potions class, Brantley only had eyes for me.
‘I’m glad I sat away from Brantley.’
If we were seated next to each other, he would have been more blatantly looking at me.
Besides, today was a theory class, not a practical.
If I didn’t concentrate, it would be noticed quickly, and Professor Richter would be in great difficulty.
“Please pay attention. Today the theory class will focus of 8th circle spells.”
Professor Richter was looking so healthy that it was hard to believe she had fainted during the Blessing Day ceremony.
She was still worried about the fact that I had the pendant, and asked me if I was fine. But I knew I had done the right thing by taking it from her.
I looked at Miss Richter with a smile on my face.
But the other children booed at Richter’s words.
“8th circle! Why do we have to study something we can’t do?”
One even complained out loud, “I don’t want to learn that.”
An average person can barely reach three or four circles. Even the best mages could only reach six circles.
‘Which is my current level.’
Richter smiled wryly.
“Still, the ‘possible’ level for a human to reach is technically eight circles, so it’s worth learning just in case.”
“B-But that’s..!”
“You never know, right? Maybe one day you’ll awaken your power. But if you don’t know how to use that tremendous power, how regrettable would that be?”
Richter said cheerfully.
