TranslatorCorner
Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!
Another chapters!
Also there is a picture I deliberately forgotto place on the previous chapter, so the aggregator won’t get it. It’s Mary’spicture. Check it out.
Also, new editor in place!
Have a claps!
DISCLAIMER: There is noguarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I waswrong.
Author:
Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)
Translator:
Yukkuri Oniisan
Editor:
SMS
Enlightenment Arc
Chapter 5 As a Person C
(State religion……)(Souma)
A nation’s official religion. In moderndeveloped countries, this concept that had become entirely obsolete. A religionthat is believed and officially endorsed by the country as a whole. Thatreligion’s holy days will be celebrated by the country as national event…… Anyway,it’s not all that realistic to apply this in our multiracial country.
「Mary-dono.Do you realize just what your request entails? If we, a multiracial country, givepreferential treatment to one religion, this will be a cause for disunity for ournation. Are you asking me to commit such a foolish mistake?」(Souma)
I protested, albeit gently, inorder to display my annoyance at her request. I may not look like it, but I am someonewith an authority worthy enough to be referred as a “Great King”. If she wasjust a small fry, she would be afraid to anger me and then behave. However, thegirl’s expression didn’t change at all.
「We’renot requesting preferential treatment. Even though, I would be grateful if we aregiven preferential treatment, we simply wish for our faith to be appointed as aState Religion to begin with. Our Lunaria Orthodoxy preaches tolerance for otherpeople. This att.i.tude also applies to interactions with other religions. We neitherwish to expel the believers of other faiths nor demand their conversion.」(Mary)
Saying that, Mary held her openhands high towards the ceiling.
「The Moonin the sky changes its appearances as the seasons change, and changes its facebased on the time and place it can be seen. Furthermore, just like how some maysee an animal’s silhouette on the Moon while others see a human one, the samething applies to faith. Even if it appears differently, the belief and faith inG.o.d doesn’t change. The unbelievers only have a different perspective in seeingwhat we see as Lunarisama.」(Mary)
「……」(Souma)
……That was quite the poetic opinion.If that opinion expressed her true feeling, then surely she was really tolerant……But I think that her words are nothing more than a weightless papier-mâchépretension.
「However,isn’t it true that you people don’t recognize the Mother Dragon Faith thatbelieves in the Mother Dragon of Star Dragon Mountains.」(Souma)
「G.o.d isin the Heavens and inside one’s heart. To worship a being that physically existsin the world, is only a fear of that being. What could the Mother Dragon do fora believer of the Mother Dragon Faith? The Star Dragon Mountains only interactwith Nothun Dragon Knights Kingdom, right?」(Mary)
「Itis natural that an awe towards a greater and stronger being becomes a faith. TheMother Dragon is a being beyond human understanding, a symbol of the natureitself.」(Souma)
「Thatway of thinking is wrong. We believe that faith is a bond between the G.o.d, who thinksof humans, and humans, who think of G.o.d. We see the Mother Dragon Faith as amisplaced affection to the Mother Dragon. We won’t accept it as a religion. Ofcourse, I could understand why there are people who have such thoughts.」(Mary)
Mary replied fluently. She didn’tsay anything particularly strange. In fact, the impression I got from her wasone of sound logic. If this was a personal opinion, I wanted to discuss this leisurelywith her on another occasion…… However, her premises were wrong on several points.
「…… Sincethis is a good opportunity, I would like to hear your opinion on this matter.May I?」(Souma)
「Inwhat matter?」(Mary)
「Recently,it looks like there are many spies loitering around this country……」(Souma)
「Inthis country? Even though this country appears so stable, how unexpected.」(Mary)
As expected, Mary’s expressiondidn’t change one bit. I couldn’t feel any ripple in her emotion from some timeago. This even made me believe that she really didn’t know about the OrthodoxyState’s dark side.
「…… Themoment that spy attacked my subordinate, he said a phrase, 『Infidelsc.u.m』. Perhaps, he was a believer of some religion. As aperson who worship a G.o.d like that Spy, does Mary-dono understand the meaningof that spy’s words?」(Souma)
「SinceI am not that spy, it is difficult to ascertain, but……」(Mary)
Mary pondered briefly and repliedwithout any particular enthusiasm.
「Perhaps,he thought that his mission was ordained by G.o.d. The people who disturbed hisduty were, to him, people who didn’t believe in G.o.d. That’s why he saw them as “Infidels”.」(Mary)
「Inother words, it doesn’t matter whether or not the other people are really unbelievers?」(Souma)
「Fromyour story, I feel that, yes, it doesn’t matter. Though, this is only my subjectiveopinion.」(Mary)
「…… No,this is helpful.」(Souma)
……I wonder why. She’s made meeven more perplexed. I couldn’t detect any agenda or motive in her words. Shehonestly replied to all my questions…… Is this really a negotiation? Shouldn’t negotiationsbe a clash of opinions towards a mutual objective? For this reason, any factthat could become a weakness was hidden and conversation was directed towards anadvantageous position. However, I completely couldn’t feel anything in herspeech and conduct towards such a direction…… This is difficult.
「…… Let"sreturn to the original topic. So you want Lunaria Orthodoxy to become ourcountry’s state religion?」(Souma)
「Yes.」(Mary)
「Howwill this benefit our country? Also if you talk about religious tolerance, thenwhat the people put faith into should not matter. So, what is the reason behindthe Lunaria Orthodoxy’s request to be made as a state religion?」(Souma)
「Iwill answer your first question. If Lunaria Orthodoxy is granted a statereligion status, then we are prepared to acknowledge Your Majesty, the GreatKing, as a 『Holy Man(Saint)』.Your Majesty will not only be a king of a country, but a 『Holy(Saint) King』. Then, the Orthodoxy State would depute me as personalbishopess[1],to serve Your Majesty, as if to serve G.o.d Himself.」(Mary)
After saying this, Marie bowed…… Itwas just like what Roroa had said. But I never imagined that it would be theHoly Maiden herself to visit me.
「…… Itsounds as if your visit is to offer yourself as a bride.」(Souma)
「If YourHighness Holy King desires so, you may do whatever you please to me.」(Mary)
「I stillhaven’t accepted nor agreed to your offer.」(Souma)
「Pleaseforgive my impertinence.」(Mary)
Mary once more bowed down. Shewasn’t shy at all…… rather than that, her expression was that of someone whodidn’t even know that she had done bad things. Aisha, who stood beside me, twitchedwhen I mentioned the ‘bride’ thing, while Liscia wasn’t perturbed at all. She wasjust observing Mary with serious expression. Just how was Mary reflected in hereyes?
「Then?After I become the 『Holy King』 and the 『Holy Maiden』 serves me, is there any benefit to this country?」(Souma)
「Thiscountry has grown so much that it stands on equal grounds to the Grand Chaos Empire.This is also the result of His Majesty"s reign. If you can acquire Lunaria Orthodoxy’sinfluence, then this country could acquire power that could surpa.s.s even theEmpire.」(Mary)
「Sure,we have become bigger. But don’t you know that in terms of both territory and nationalstrength, the Empire still surpa.s.ses us?」(Souma)
Well, at least on the aspect of technologicalpower, though, we have already overtaken them, but let’s not reveal that. However,Marie shook her head.
「About40% of the Empire’s population comprises Lunaria Orthodoxy believers. This wasbecause the Mother Dragon Faith wasn’t that popular in the Empire that wagedexpansionist wars against Star Dragon Mountains in the past. In other words, closeto half of the Empire’s population follows the Lunaria Orthodoxy. If this countryever found itself at war with the Empire, then with our influence we coulddivide the Empire in half.」(Mary)
「……Stopspeaking something that outrageous so easily. Our country has no intention whatsoeverto wage war against the Empire.」(Souma)
「Thisis just a what-if situation. In short, we are extending an offer to be the mostpowerful Humanity country that even could surpa.s.s the Empire.」(Mary)
……Hmm. Well, if we look at therelationship between monarchs and the Roman Catholic Church during the MiddleAge and Early Modern Age[2],this isn’t an uncommon topic. With the combination of the political power ofthe Monarch and the authority of the Church, they could govern the country andcrush any enemies. This might be the simplest method to achieve such result. Butonly if we ignore the power balance struggle between the monarch and the churchthat happened afterwards…… However, right now, we are trying to move the age forward.To regress into the older age is something that we must not do. Suddenly,
「MayI have a moment of your time, Your Majesty?」(Hakuya)
Hakuya, who had been silently observingour course of conversations, spoke up.
「Pleaseforgive me, Holy Maiden, but I need to talk with His Majesty for a bit.」(Hakuya)
「Yes,of course.」(Mary)
After asking permission from theHoly Maiden, Hakuya approached my throne. Then he brought his face to my ears andthen whispered to me.
(「You seem to be under the weather, Your Majesty」)(Hakuya)
(「Yeah…… Somehow, I can’t bring the sun out as I feel astrange sense of discomfort from that girl.」)(Souma)
(「That may be so, but it may be necessary to consider thinkingabout this differently.」)(Hakuya)
(「Differently?」)(Souma)
When I asked, Hakuya nodded.
(「I have been observing her from earlier, she seems tobe lacking emotions.」)(Hakuya)
(「Yes, I also arrived at the same conclusion.」)(Souma)
(「The Orthodoxy State may have some objective in sendingher here, but it looks like Mary-dono doesn’t think anything about it. She is merelyrelaying the top hierarchy’s intention t us as a Holy Maiden, just like a postalQui, isn’t it?」)(Hakuya)
(「?! So she is just a messenger!」)(Souma)
So she wasn’t tasked to negotiate!It’s no wonder…… Even though I was discussing with her, it didn’t feel like wewere negotiating. Surely, she had been guided about potential questions with prepared answers and was negotiatingwith me by following this guideline. That’s probably why she answered honestly whenasked questions outside those guidelines, just like the spy’s thoughts question.
Or perhaps she had been instructedto honestly answer such questions. Even if the other party skillfully tried tobring out important information from her, if she hadn’t been instructed aboutit, she could just honestly answer, 「I don’t know.」 This is not a negotiation. This was like a text to speech software readinga mail to another person. I took a glance at Mary. She noticed my glance andthen slightly tilted her head while still being expressionless.
(…… I see. Indeed, a girl similar to 『DIVA☆loid』[3])(Souma)
Back in my previous world, therewas text to speech software called 『DIVA ☆ loid』. It was visually represented by a cute girl, could recitetext with a girl’s voice, and even sing, which let to big following on videosites.[4]When talking to Mary, it felt like talking to that 『DIVA☆ loid』.[5]
(「In this case…… How should we negotiate after this?」)(Souma)
(「Well. Please try to get an answer to your secondquestion. However, we should infer the answer not as her personal opinion, but theintention of the Orthodoxy State itself.」)(Hakuya)
(「……Iunderstand.」)(Souma)
「Thankyou for waiting.」(Hakuya)
After I confirmed that Hakuya hadreturned to his original position, I spoke to Mary.
「Bythe way, I have not yet heard the answer to the second question I asked earlier.What is the reason behind the Lunaria Orthodoxy’s request to be made as a statereligion?」(Souma)
「Itis for all Humanity.」(Mary)
Mary answered without anyhesitation.
「The DemonLord Territory suddenly appeared in the Continent’s Northern side. Although at present,their expansion seems to have stopped, as long as Demon Lord Territory exists, therewill be no peace for Humanity. In order to obtain that peace, it is essential toinvade the Demon Lord Territory and eliminate the Demon Lord. However, thedemonic monsters of Demon Lord Territory are so strong that it is impossiblefor any country to deal with the threat individually. There is a need for allof Humanity’s nations to fully cooperate and consolidate their power.」(Mary)
「………」(Souma)
「Therefore,I wish for Your Majesty to become a Holy King. With Your Majesty’s powercombined with the influence of our Lunaria Orthodoxy, together we could bring manynations together. After we uniting many nations and ensuring their cooperation,even the Empire would yield. Since 40% of the Empire’s population comprises LunariaOrthodoxy’s believers, the Empire cannot ignore this fact. With Humanity’snations united, we will attack the Demon Lord Territory, defeat the Demon Lord,and liberate the North.」(Mary)
Mary was replying grandly. It wasjust like a Crusade. To unite the nations with the power of religion towardsliberation of lost lands.[6]So, they wanted me to become their banner bearer as the Holy King.
(But…… that is simply what it looks like on the surface.)(Souma)
By taking into account theinvisible people who stood behind Mary, their intention came to light. Mary seriouslybelieved that it was to liberate the North, but the intention of those behind herwas different. To unite Humanity, that’s the hint. There is already a structurein this world which brought Humanity together into one. It’s the 『HumanityDeclaration』 initiated byMaridono. Although this pact had a defect, I believed that, for the timebeing, it had functioned effectively.
Maridono, who was deemed by theOrthodoxy as “impersonating” a Holy Maiden, was gathering fame and honor as theleader of 『Humanity Declaration』. TheOrthodoxy State could not tolerate this situation. After all, the moreMaridono gained recognition, the more their own Holy Maiden’s influence diminished.A religious country is one ruled by religious influence. In other words, theloss of such influence is a life and death problem for the State.
(That’s the reason why the Orthodoxy State wanted tocreate an international cooperation structure, different from the 『HumanityDeclaration』. A new structure that could emphasize their owninfluence.)(Souma)
And it seemed that they wished tohave me as the figurehead. I sent a glance to Hakuya. who noticed it, closedhis eyes and nodded, then he shook his head. Perhaps he had arrived at the sameconclusion as I did. Furthermore, it seemed as though he wanted to say: we mustnot accept it…… Well, of course. Anyway, there is something that I ought to ask.
「Bythe way, what will happen if I refuse this Orthodoxy State’s proposal?」(Souma)
「Thoughit is regrettable, I guess it will be better to give up on it. We shouldn’t forceyou too much.」(Mary)
Huh? This is unexpected, she backdown easily. I thought that if I didn’t accept their demands, they would say thatthey would incite the believers inside the Kingdom and raise rebellions. While Ihad such thoughts, Mary continued speaking without changing her expression atall.
「However,perhaps… Perhaps we will wait.」(Mary)
「Wait?」(Souma)
「Yes.Your Majesty may change your mind, or perhaps “a new candidate for Holy King willappear”.」(Mary)
「!?」(Souma)
Well, well…… so this is it, huh?In other words, if in the future a country becomes slightly stronger or if amonarch who had gained fame emerges, they would propose the same to them aswell. Perhaps, if this is true then the fate of 「40%of the Empire’s Population is believers, we could divide the country if we wantto」 will befall us. Mary might not have noticed, but thiswas a very frightening threat.
(This is…… something that I could just immediatelydecide right now.)(Souma)
Either to accept it or to rejectit, I couldn’t decide without giving it a thorough thinking. At least, I wouldlike to have a thorough discussion with Hakuya. I stood up.
「I understandthe Holy Maiden’s request. However, given its importance, it is impossible to givean immediate reply. I would like some time to carefully consider it. Let uscontinue this conversation another day.」(Souma)
「Certainly,Your Majesty. I pray that you will come to a good decision.」(Mary)
Mary obediently exited theAudience Room. Even though the negotiation didn’t reach any conclusion, therewas no disappointed expression on her face. I had been observing Mary’s facereally seriously. Even during this conversation, her expression practicallydidn’t change at all. As if she was a doll-like girl.
(Puppet………… An artificial…………!?)(Souma)
――― There I noticed. The true meaningbehind the "sense of discomfort" I had felt from her.
☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽
Accept: DEUS VULT!
Refuse: DEUS VULT!
If this is CK2, I think I’ll put my trustedloyal cardinal to become the Orthodoxy’s Pope and a.s.sa.s.sinate the othercardinals with Satan’s power (press ~).
Next chapter? Perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday.
[1] If femalepriest is priestess, female bishop is .
[2] European Middle Age is from 5th Century to 15th Century while Early ModernAge is from 15th Century to 18th Century.
[3] Hatsune Miku!
[4] Hatsune Miku!
[5] In case,you still didn’t get it, Divaloid is, of course, a stand in for Vocaloid.
[6] Yup. Thisis crusade. To unite the nations with the power of religion towards liberationof lost Holy Lands. Deus Vult.