Bannou “Murazukuri” Cheat de Otegaru Slow Life ~Mura desu ga Nani ka? - CH 251

My name is Maria.

I am pious believer and servant of the gods.

I have been serving as a sister in the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, which was the largest religious grounds in the nation, ever since I was young.

One day, I was tasked by the head of our congregation to go and investigate a wasteland city in the northern regions of the former Albert territory.

Apparently, an illegitimate church was operating in the area. Doing things like spreading false teachings was nothing but blasphemy.

And so, burning with faith and righteous indignation, I accepted the task and infiltrated the village. After some time, I discovered—

“Ahh, Millia-sama! My eyes are finally open! It’s as you say, Luke-sama is unmistakably the messiah sent down to us by the gods!”

—I have discovered the truth.

Upon being enlightened like that, I was brought to tears.

I have been learning about faith for many years now, but never have I been so moved like this.

“Indeed, Maria. Luke-sama is an existence than could stand equal to the gods themselves. He is someone who is set to rule and guide all of us here in the world.”

The one who zealously agreed to my words was Millia-sama, the very person who opened my eyes.

Her role as a maid was nothing more than a disguise for her true calling: being a genuine evangelist.

“The truth doesn’t lie with the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. I know now that it lies in this village, in this church, and in Luke-sama.”

Thinking back on it, I did find a few things to be odd in the teachings I studied in Areisler.

For example, the blessings.

To be blessed, one must first give a significant offering to the cathedral. As such, only some nobles and the wealthy could receive it.

According to the priests, it was only natural to demand an appropriate offering in exchange for the power granted by the gods. To them, it was nothing short of blasphemy to allow a nobody to have an easy access to the rite of blessing.

However, the nobles’ offerings could be traced back to the taxes collected from their people while the wealthy people could attribute at least some of their offerings to the efforts of their workers. Why then were these so-called nobodies not worthy of a blessing while the nobles and the wealthy were?

Worse yet, there were some who earned their offering through foul means. And so, I just had to ask myself: would the gods really be pleased with such offerings?

And speaking of offerings, the offerings that Areisler received from everybody was spent like it was nothing.

The priests live in extravagant homes that could be mistaken for palaces. They also dined each night as though it was a feast.

And yet, not a single coin was spared for the needy.

In contrast, Luke-sama and Millia-sama built this village in the wasteland from nothing and accepted people who have been suffering from the wars that have long been plaguing the nation. Moreover, they did so without discrimination to anybody.

Even as time passed, instead of turning new people away, they continued to ensure that each new immigrant was going to have a comfortable life. And before long, their village has developed to outrival even the royal capital.

Lastly, their village had overthrown the Albert army when the latter occupied the royal capital. Like that, this era of warring was about to meet its end.

…it was written in the 5th volume of the holy scriptures titled [The Legend of Luke-sama], so it must be true.

According to Millia-sama who possessed the [Oracle] Gift, anybody regardless of their lot in life could receive a blessing here free of charge.

At present, about 1 in 10 villagers had Gifts.

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

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

I was dumbfounded when I first saw the villagers chanting like this, but now, I could only see this passion as the natural reaction.

“I too vow to devote this life of mine towards Luke-sama! Praise be to Luke-sama!”

◇　◇　◇

“Hmm…I feel like there are so many villagers who have a Village Bond Level of ultra-high nowadays…”

Aside from the people who have been with us from the start, even the people who have just immigrated have upgraded their Village Bond Level to ultra-high right away.

Take for example a certain woman who has lived in the village for only about a month.

Name: Maria

Age: 24 years old

Village Bond Level: Ultra-high

Suitable Occupation: Sister

Gift: None

I have been keeping my eye on her since she showed up in the map with as an [intruder] when she first arrived. And yet now…