Bannou “Murazukuri” Cheat de Otegaru Slow Life ~Mura desu ga Nani ka? - CH 250

“Oh, they’re retreating.”

“Hmp, gotta give their general some credit. Somebody else would have been stubborn and push through despite the lack of any solution for your shenanigans…wait, did I just describe myself!?”

“Are you doing a bit, Raul…?”

We had noticed movement among the Barste army. It would seem though that it was to turn around and return to their home kingdom.

“Anyway, I guess we didn’t even have to deploy the kingdom’s army. Oh well, we have the trains, so it’s fine. But then again, it might be better to station them here for a while in case the enemy somehow decides to attack again.”

“In the end, there wasn’t any need to ask the lords for reinforcements, huh.”

I might not have volunteered to be the commander here, but I sure hope I’ve accomplished that duty with this.

“U-unbelievable…we’ve won without even fighting…”

As though still in disbelief, Duke Talister said so while his lips trembled.

Despite being like that, I decided to entrust him with handling the rest so that I could return to the royal palace with Raul right away.

I quickly asked an audience with the king in order to deliver my report.

“The enemy army has withdrawn, your majesty.”

“…w-withdrawn? Care to elaborate?”

I then gave a summary of what has transpired.

“…………”

“? …ahm, your majesty?”

“Ahh!? E-excuse me…I was so shocked I spaced out for a moment there…”

Is he exhausted or something?

“But I suppose this is nothing when you can bring an entire city to the capital…did you perhaps do that same tactic to resolve our national crisis so easily…?”

“Well, this time, I just built a really long wall.”

By the way, one alternative I thought about was making a deep moat that could be confused for a valley. But then I thought about how it would restrict travel to our kingdom later on and decided against it. Moreover, I didn’t want anyone to accidentally fall down there and die.

“At any rate, thank you for everything you’ve done for us this time as well. If there’s anything I can do repay this favor, you need but say the word.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.”

I didn’t agree to do it because I wanted a reward, after all.

Although, if I was forced to choose something, I would like to spend my days in peace and quiet.

“…by the way, Luke, I’d like to talk about my daughter, Darinea—”

“Well then, I bid you farewell, your majesty.”

“Wait, let me finish!”

Before the king could tell me what it was about, I teleported back to the village.

I just had a bad feeling about it.

◇　◇　◇

My name is Maria.

I am a pious believer and servant of god.

I had entered the faith at a young age. Soon after that, I began serving as a sister in the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, the largest religious site in the nation.

And now, many years later, the head of our congregation was personally telling me that I was to perform a certain mission.

“Maria, you are to immigrate to a city in the wasteland and conduct an investigation there.”

“An…investigation?”

“Yes. We suspect that there might be an illegitimate church in there.”

“An…illegitimate church?”

It was my first time to hear such a phrase.

After all, one couldn’t call itself a church without first receiving the approval of our cathedral.

To begin with, they wouldn’t have a priest since everyone who has received the [Oracle] Gift was compelled to be believers of our faith.

“There’s the chance that the city in question has gotten hold of an unaffiliated bearer of the [Oracle] Gift.”

“Wh…”

If that was true, we had a grave situation in our hands.

“I understand now. I will do my best to determine the truth.”

“We’ll be counting on you then, Maria.”

◇　◇　◇

And so, I headed to the said wasteland city.

I, who has never stepped a foot outside of the dominion controlled by the church, was overwhelmed by the city that I saw.

“So many tall buildings…and so many people; it’s so bustling…”

I was worried that they would suspect me because I was repeatedly getting surprised by all the new things I was seeing, but since the other immigrants were pretty much acting the same, I ended up blending in quite nicely. Thanks to that, I was able to start my life in the village.

Some time passed when I heard a certain rumor. Apparently, the maid of the city’s leader—who prefers to be referred to as a village chief—was periodically gathering the residents somewhere underground. I heard that this gathering used to be held aboveground, but when too many passing travelers attended it, they had it moved underground so as to not attract any unwanted attention.

“…definitely suspicious.”

Naturally, I immediately decided to attend that gathering. And in there—

“““Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama!”””

“Yes! For Luke-sama is the messiah of the world sent down here by the gods!”

—No matter how I looked at it, they were definitely following a crazy doctrine.

The one enthusiastically preaching such beliefs on the altar was none other than the mentioned maid…who was, for some reason, doing so while still dressed in her maid outfit.

Spreading such false beliefs was a grave sin against the gods. This was absolutely unforgivable.

I knew I had to report it to the church as soon as I could.

However, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder.

When I turned around to look, I unintentionally let out a Hiii.

“Fufufu, this is your first time here, right? Then, once the service is over, allow me to personally tell you about Luke-sama’s magnificence.”

At that moment, the smiling maid looked as though she was the personification of an evil deity.