LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 354
The meeting ended somewhat suitably, with the decision made to put off internal disputes in the face of the powerful enemy known as the Demon King and his army.
It was a meeting that merely promised vague cooperation among each other, yet a faint glimmer of hope began to linger in the eyes of those present.
They believed that even these tough times would pass. That these hardships could be overcome.
With the blessings of the gods upon them, they felt assured that they could overcome this crisis.
This faith stemmed from the High Priest’s words, but since the Goddess of Life had never reached out during such a crisis, it was a rational belief.
‘Is that me?’
“Sure is.”
Although the self-awareness was quite faint for the person in question.
‘I’ve heard of the Dragon Priestess. She was a Saint of the Church of Life sent down to carry out the will of the Goddess of Life, right?’
“Exactly.”
‘And that’s me.’
“Well, that’s how it turned out.”
Though it had happened this way by accident! Initially, I thought about coming down personally, but I simply couldn’t resist the momentary impulse of using the Demon King’s body as the Dragon Priestess!
If I had come down myself, I could have just taken a suitably talented human and defeated the Demon King between the two of us. But once I decided to use this child as the Dragon Priestess, that was no longer possible.
‘Hmm… Can I really do this?’
“Are you feeling uneasy?”
‘It’s not so much unease… No, you’re right, it’s unease.’
Oh? The Dragon Priestess rarely expressed weakness.
‘I heard the Dragon Priestess carries out the will of the Goddess of Life. However, I don’t know what the Goddess of Life wants.’
Hmm?
‘Why did the Goddess of Life make me the Dragon Priestess? Am I really the Dragon Priestess? People around me call me the Dragon Priestess, but I don’t know anything about the will of the Goddess of Life.’
Oh…
“But you’re doing well as the Dragon Priestess, right? Healing others, bestowing blessings, and all that.”
‘That’s something other priests can do too. Just because I can bestow slightly stronger blessings doesn’t prove that I’m the Dragon Priestess.’
As the Dragon Priestess spoke, she fiddled with the pair of horns growing from her head.
‘The only proof I have is this useless pair of horns hanging here.’
Such thoughts sounded like a weak voice.
‘Can I… really do this? A weak person who can’t even believe in myself as the Dragon Priestess, can I really do this?’
“You’re lacking confidence in yourself.”
At my words, the Dragon Priestess nodded slightly.
As the days go by, more people come to the Church of Life for healing, and many pray for the threat of monsters to disappear.
In this situation, the one called the Dragon Priestess, representing hope, could not find certainty about whether she truly was the Dragon Priestess.
Hmm… Well, is it alright if I tell her soon?
I had initially planned to reveal it only after more time had passed. But if she lacked confidence… she might not even be able to do what she could do.
So…
“It’s alright. You can do it.”
‘I always just give myself positive affirmations. Those kinds of words don’t instill confidence in me.’
“But you’ve already heard the voice of the Goddess of Life, right?”
‘What?’
At my words, the Dragon Priestess tilted her head.
‘The Goddess of Life?’
“Yes.”
‘Who?’
“You already heard it, didn’t you?”
‘Me?’
“Me.”
The Dragon Priestess’s face morphed into a look of confusion, as if she had heard something strange.
Well, it makes sense. If she thought the voice she heard inside her was an inner voice, and now I’m saying it’s the voice of the goddess she venerates, who would believe that?
She might think I’ve gone completely mad!
‘You must be joking?’
“Have I ever made a joke?”
‘You have. At the New Year’s Festival three years ago.’
“Oh… The New Year’s Festival three years ago?”
What did I say back then? Hmm… Ah! When I saw a family holding their parents’ hands coming to the Church of Life, the Dragon Priestess asked why she didn’t have any parents.
My reply was… that the world is your mother, and this magical power is your father, right?
Since a considerable amount of magical power concentrated in one place gave birth to that body, it wasn’t a lie. Was that thought taken as a joke?
“That wasn’t a joke.”
‘What?’
“If you think of it as a joke, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Even if I tell the truth, if the listener doesn’t accept it, that truth becomes a hollow lie.
‘So… I mean, no, not me, but… the voice echoing inside me, is it really the voice of the Goddess of Life?’
“That’s how it is?”
‘Lies! The Goddess of Life wouldn’t speak so casually!’
And that’s the part in question…
‘The Goddess of Life is an amazing being! I learned that she spread life in a desolate world where there was nothing!’
“That’s true. It was a very barren environment.”
‘I learned that she took in other ancient gods as her children and raised them with love!’
“Those children were quite mischievous, just like you, so I had my share of hardships. But, in a way, it wasn’t that troublesome since the environment was hard to recover once it was destroyed.”
‘And I learned that upon realizing countless lives had fallen, she took in the twelve among them who had not fallen and took the rest of their lives from their bodies!’
“I didn’t want to do that, but it was unavoidable. It was something that needed to be done.”
‘Then… umm… uhhh…’
“Just accept it. The voice you heard in your heart is the voice of the Goddess of Life.”
‘Noooooo!’
In her heart, the Dragon Priestess wailed. Like a fan of a VTuber who realized the truth about the red medicine… um, that metaphor might be a bit off.
It’s as if she discovered a truth she didn’t want to know.
Though she wailed in her heart, her face showed no signs of it, which was quite impressive.
After a while of internally wailing while appearing composed on the outside, the Dragon Priestess seemed to gather her thoughts and looked refreshed.
‘Phew. Okay. So, I… no, the Goddess of Life?’
“Why are you suddenly getting so formal? Just continue as you were. I’m not that stiff of a goddess, you know?”
‘But you are the Goddess of Life. You’re the one I worship; how can I be that casual?’
“You’ve been casual with me until now, right? Besides, I’m not a stiff goddess. Just be at ease. Be at ease.”
‘But…’
“If I were a goddess who cared about that kind of attitude, I would’ve revealed my identity a long time ago. And in a way, you could see yourself as a kind of avatar of mine.”
At my words, the Dragon Priestess nodded slightly, seeming to understand.
Though inwardly, it didn’t seem like she was fully convinced!
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter what you think of me. Whether you see me as the Goddess of Life or as another part of yourself, it’s all a trivial matter. What’s important right now is… hmm, your hero.”
‘Hero?’
“Yes. Hero.”
The Dragon Priestess pondered my words intently.
A hero, the hero of legend. Good-hearted, unable to tolerate injustice, embarking on adventures to save the world.
A shining blade that dispels darkness in the world with the Dragon Priestess as a companion.
Imagining such a hero, the Dragon Priestess tilted her head.
‘If I’m a hero, wouldn’t I need a hero’s sword? In the stories, the Dragon Priestess has the hero’s sword, but I don’t have one.’
“Oh, that’s…”
‘Could it be that I’m not really the Dragon Priestess? I’m just a beastman girl with horns, and I was just lucky to be taken in by the Church of Life, so they’re treating me like a Dragon Priestess, a fake Dragon Priestess?’
“No…”
‘Could it be that the voice of the Goddess of Life in my heart is just a hallucination because my mind isn’t whole? Otherwise, the Goddess of Life wouldn’t speak so lightly and frivolously.’
Negative thoughts began to spiral out of control in the Dragon Priestess. Why is this happening?
‘Am I… a false Dragon Priestess?’
“I’ve acknowledged you, so you are the Dragon Priestess!!! And I have the hero’s sword! I was just waiting for the right time to hand it over to you!!!”
‘At the right time?’
“Yeah. If you ever feel ready to perform your role as the Dragon Priestess, I planned to hand it over.”
I looked at the still-dazed Dragon Priestess.
“Are you ready to go on a dangerous adventure to help others?”
‘Yeah. I want to help others.’
“Even if it means facing perilous adventures?”
‘Yeah. I’d rather not be unable to help others.’
“Even if it leads you to face death at the end of that path?”
‘Death is the destination all life will eventually reach. For me, who learned the teachings of the Church of Life, death is an inevitable destination. So, it’s okay. I can do it.’
The Dragon Priestess, the small child, uttered in a soft voice.
A girl speaking of death with the form of a small child. The Dragon Priestess.
I quietly dropped the hero’s sword before her.
“Alright. If you’re ready, I’ll pass the hero’s sword to you.”
‘Really?’
“Yeah. I’ll continue to support you from now on. For now… let’s find your hero.”
To be honest, the Dragon Priestess could probably defeat the Demon King on her own, but it would certainly be easier with a hero by her side.
‘Hero. Yeah… hero… what were the conditions again?’
“Conditions for a hero?”
Previously, the conditions to be chosen to pull the hero’s sword were as follows.
A person with a good heart.
A person with outstanding talent.
A person who cannot ignore injustice.
A person who has no hesitation in saving others.
But, at this point, those conditions hardly matter.
“The conditions don’t really matter. Since they’re your hero, you can choose whoever you want.”
‘Is that really okay?’
“Yeah. In fact, those conditions were just casually attached. The most important condition is… someone recognized by the Dragon Priestess.”
Of course, even if the Dragon Priestess recognizes someone, they also need my acknowledgment, but still.
“So, let’s start by seeking out the person who could become your hero.”
It would be fine to gather all the talents in the world, sticking the hero’s sword into the ground… but…
For now, I want to trust the judgment of the Dragon Priestess.
Most importantly, since it’s the Dragon Priestess selecting someone to accompany her, it’s only right that she chooses.
Thus, the Dragon Priestess tenderly embraced the hero’s sword that I had handed down to her.