The place settled down rather quickly despite the number of villagers present. The same thing couldn’t be said about the wave of expectations, however, as everyone was eagerly awaiting Marie’s answer in silence.
No matter how much my father, the patriarch of the clan, may have been herding us towards this point, but that by no means make any of this be believable. The clan wasn't made up of fools. Maybe these people had started to cling onto hope; the hope that a goddess would change their destiny of destruction and solve all of their problems for them.
In front of me were numerous grown adults staring at a little girl. The unfolding scene was creepy, to say the least.
Marie was putting herself out there to shoulder all of our burdens, even when she had no obligation to. But I had no right to get upset over this. After all, the one who begged her to be our master and guided her to this mountain village was none other than me. I was the one who was responsible for everything.
That being said, I strongly fought the urge to run to her side. I really wanted to help her from the bottom of my heart.
"Lord Wolf."
"…What is it, Lily?"
I calmly replied to Lily who stood next to me.
Before I had noticed, my fists were bleeding from where my nails had dug into my palms. I quietly turned towards her, but she wasn't watching me. Instead, her gaze was fixed upon Marie.
"I hated her at first."
"Is that so…"
"Yes. She was cute and beautiful, so much that I imagined she must be living in a different world than I was. She probably got anything she had ever wanted without having to work or suffer for it… or so I thought."
It's not a lie that Marie represented the beauty that the girls of the village envisioned the Goddess to be. No one would want to fantasize about filthy things, after all. But Marie wasn't a gem in a treasure chest, nor was she a dainty butterfly on a delicate flower in a walled-up greenhouse.
"Despite our efforts to distance ourselves from her, Lady Marie still stepped forward to our aid. We worked together. We farmed together. We lived together. She didn't mind the fact that her hair was filled with mud, or whether her hands were soiled with dirt. She would simply laugh it off as if it was nothing."
It was a rare sight for Lily to let her emotions show. Her mouth was quivering.
"I suppose it'd be wonderful if she actually becomes our Lord. I'm sure she’ll not only protect us, but also our pride as well… But, if it means she has to suffer like how she is now, then I really wouldn't want that."
"Lily…"
"We were so close to her and none of us ever realised how she was always on the verge of crying. Even though… Even though we were the ones who forced her into a corner in the first place…"
Lily looked like she was about to cry.
I followed her gaze to where Marie stood. Marie had a horrible complexion on her face and it looked like she could be falling over at any minute.
That's enough! Please stop it already! You don't have to burden yourself with our future anymore!
Or that was what I was about to shout out when her expression suddenly flipped on its head. Only Lily and I, who were watching from afar, have noticed it.
"What I'm about to tell you is an important story. But before that, I would like you to see something first."
Saying so, Marie extended her fists forward with a small object in each hand. When she opened her hands slowly, a small stone sitting on each palm was revealed, one in red, and the other in blue. Both stones shone brightly like jewels.
Last night, Marie had called them 'magic stones'.
These so-called 'magic stones' are rare and valuable stones that let the user cast one-time-use magic. But the downside was that it could only be handled by a magician. In that regard, however, it seemed Marie’s special magic stones could be used by ordinary people as well. Nevertheless, these are nothing but fakes. Compared to real magic stones, these produced no heat nor mass. 'They only make pretty light shows, sorry if you won't be able to find a use for them,' is what the people who gave it to her said, apparently.
Marie had planned to use those stones to play the role of the Goddess, but would showing them to the people be alright?
"Those are some pretty stones. What are they?"
Marie smiled back at the man's question.
She then firmly slammed the two stones together, creating a loud bang. The stones that looked hard at first glance were easily shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.
The stone fragments warped the air around them before igniting and burning themselves away into nothingness. The scattered blazes left over from the fragments floated in the air like fireballs. Eventually, they merged together and formed a giant red lotus that enveloped Marie.
"Eek-!!"
Despite knowing what would happen, the scene still took my breath away. The same couldn't be said for the villagers present who had shrieked in panic.
However, the flames that surrounded Marie instantly froze up in the next moment and transformed into giant icicles with a terrifying crackle.
Marie was soon covered from head to toe in ice. The encased figure in the flame-shaped ice was so serene and beautiful that even I thought she looked like a divine being.
But the illusion only lasted for a blink of an eye and was broken before long.
With a final thundering bang, the ice ruptured into small shards. When the light of the morning sun reflected off the broken pieces that adorned Marie, she looked even more like the Goddess from the stories.
A dream-like scene unfolded.
Everyone was stunned at the spectacle they had just witnessed.
Silly questions like 'How was that done?' or 'What's the meaning behind this?' quickly escaped their minds. Humans do not seek to know the reason for why gems are beautiful. When faced against something of true beauty, no words are required to justify its existence.
"Back where I came from, this phenomenon is called 'magic'."
Our hazy minds were snapped back to reality with Marie's words that cut through the silence.
Some people held their breath at her words, and some were also looking my way.
"I myself cannot use magic, which is a shame, but real magic can be used by someone who specialises in magic who are called 'wizards.' The types of magic that can be handled varies from person to person; there are those who can control fire, and there are others who can create ice. There are also those born with earth attributes. They can help plants grow faster and close body wounds."
Many couldn't keep up with Marie's explanation.
The same goes for me. Her speech was completely different from what we had planned earlier. Weren't you going to play the part of the Goddess? So why? Why reveal to the people the magic behind it?
I was puzzled at first, but after listening more and more, I slowly understood.
'They can help plants grow faster and close body wounds,' said Marie.
Others also began to understand, little by little. It at least seemed that there were a few who believed her.
"One of my friends has the power to heal wounds and injuries… Just like your Goddess."
The Goddess is the same as us: a 'person.'
Marie didn't say it explicitly, but the meaning behind her words was as clear as day. The impact the villagers received was immeasurable.
When I was looking closely at the magician who healed the knight's injuries back on the ship, I couldn't see the Goddess in him. It's obvious why I was unable to. There is no one who would believe that men and gods are the same. Gods are gods precisely because we can't touch them.
And yet we were so proud of carrying the bloodline of the gods. We weren't bound by some stupid law that prevented us to marry people from the outside, but we had chosen not to, even in the face of destruction. I’m sure that somewhere along the way, we were so drunk off of being the 'chosen ones' that we became blinded by our own fantasies.
"Currently, the only living wizards are in the Kingdom of Nebel, but hundreds of years ago, they were all around the world. I'm sure the Kua Clan's Goddess was someone with a strong affinity for the earth. However, the number of wizards has gradually declined year after year. Perhaps that is also the reason why your clan has lost the ability to use magic."
"Just stop with your nonsense!"
A scream interrupted Marie's explanation. It was from a man over sixty years old, covering both of his ears like he'd had enough. The old man was Lily's great-uncle.
He knew that Marie meant no harm. He knew that very well.
But he couldn't win against the fear of being deprived of something he had always believed for the entirety of his life.
"…But-"
"We got it! You don't want to be our Lord! So that's enough, right?! You were making that story up so that we would just give up on you, weren’t you?!"
"N-No! Great-uncle, that's not it!"
It wasn't Marie that had refuted him. It was Lily who shook her head and desperately begged her great-uncle.
"Lady Marie was trying to say that it wasn't our fault the clan's bloodline had lost its magical powers! It couldn't be helped since it was bound to happen eventually. It's not our responsibility anymore, so we no longer have to be bound by it… was what she's trying to say."
"Lily… you…" Lily's great-uncle looked at her while embarrassed. This was perhaps the first time Lily ever rebelled against him. Even I am surprised. This was the first time this child ever speaks her heart.
"Regardless of whether or not the Goddess was human, our respect for her will never change. She is the pride and joy of our clan. Is that not so, great-uncle?"
"That's…"
It wasn't only her great-uncle that was uneasy. The surrounding people had the same expressions as well.
"If I've made any of you uncomfortable, then I am truly sorry." Marie apologised to the crowd as a suffocating silence took hold of the scene.
"But, now that I remember, I have a favour to ask of you all."
"…What is it?" Leaning in curiously, Lily replied with a question of her own.
"I came over to this country to help people from the great illness that is currently spreading."
The expressions of Lily, her great-uncle, and everyone else suddenly changed.
"I am asking for help. Not from the people who wield the power of miracles, but to all the doctors here that have vast knowledge and medical skills."
I forgot to breathe and intensely listened to Marie's words.
"It might be too presumptuous of me to ask you this, being an outsider who doesn't know anything. However, I believe that everyone here has inherited something very valuable from the Goddess."
Of course!
It's not the power of miracles that we have to pass on to the next generation; it’s our medicine, our knowledge, and our skills.
And the most important of all: the will to save as many lives as we can.
The Goddess, my ancestors, and my skills as a doctor that had been passed down onto me are what I take great pride in.
No one will be saved if we kept clinging to the long lost power of a bygone era. We had failed as pharmacists from the get-go when we relied on something as silly as superpowers. Isn't doing that the same as spitting on the people we've saved so far?
"The disease is currently spreading on the border of the Kingdom of Wind. I want to stop it at all costs, and I need your help to do that."
Marie gave a deep bow.
"I beg of you, please lend me your strength."
TN: A wild chapter appeared!
EN1: Rose! Rose! Roooooose!
EN2:
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