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Mostly about the world’s religion, not very important for the main story

When we leave the Nekome Store, Christina takes us to the church. It looked a lot like a catholic church, except that instead of being symbolized by a cross, it was something like two circles, one white and one black, joined by an X, looking like some weird design of glasses.

And this reminds me, I don’t know anything about the religion of this world

“Ah, this is my first time coming to a church.”

Olivia says that, her eyes looking distant.

“Really?”
“Yeah, both my parents were really spectacular, you see.”
“I think ‘secular’ is the word you’re looking for.”

Amy corrects Olivia’s mistake.

If Amy hadn’t been here, I probably would’ve thought that Olivia’s parents were some sort of super heroes. I tend to take everything at face value since there’s a lot I don’t know about this world.

“Umm, to be honest I’m not the most religious person either, I just like the ambiance here. Somehow it makes me feel really awake.”

I understand what Christina is trying to say. I also felt something similar when I visited shrines or temples in my past life. Every time I was in one, even if no priest or monks were watching, something made me stand upright all the time.

“Chrstina, I don’t really know anything about this religion, do you mind teaching me?”
“Yes, of course. Though I pretty much only know what’s common knowledge around here.”

Christina then starts talking about this religion, and the myth that gave birth to it.

At first, there was no world, just a vast emptiness where two married gods descended, Branses and Nowarel. Branses had control over light and life, Nowarel over darkness and destruction, and their combined power birthed the world.

Once the foundation of the world was established, the couple called more gods, Luciel God of Fire and War, Bregos God of Water and Wisdom, Verdel God of Trees and Harvest, Marrogole God of Earth and Development, and Junel God of Thunder and Travel.

These gods filled the world created by the couple with abundant nature and life.

Branses desired intelligent beings, creating three young boys and three young girls.
One pair were elves, the wisest race. One pair were dwarves, the strongest race. And one pair were humans, who stood in the middle between the others.

Nowarel imitated Branses and created more life. But rather than being human, only monsters appeared. Nowarel felt that was not right, so together with Branses she tried again. This time demi-humans, mermaids, birdmen, draconids, and others were born.

Nowarel’s new children were accepted by Branses’, and together they referred to each other as people.

The people then began growing in numbers. This would make the world a place brimming with life and nature, thought the gods. But things didn’t go so well.

The monsters began to attack people. They had no experience with battle, so many lost their lives.

Nowarel wished to help the people, but Branses opposed that.

“Monsters are also part of the world. It’s not fair to support some life and forget about the other.” Bregos and Marrogole agreed with that.

The other gods understood their point of view, but they could not stand seeing the people they had created be consumed by monsters. They set off to convince Branses. Nowarel was with them, who had created the monsters in the first place.

After seeing his wife beg for so long, Branses finally offered a compromise.

The gods would not step in, but they would teach the people how to make weapons, how to use them, and impart them with a portion of divine power which was later known as magic.

Now that the people had the means to defend themselves, they were able to regain some peace and liberty, even if it was not constant.

But a new type of conflict followed soon.

Some of the children of Branses began antagonizing Nowarel, who created the monsters, so they began attacking the demi-humans. That greatly affected Nowarel, who went to beg Branses to help her demi-human children, but Branses would not accept this time.

Desperate to help the demi-humans, Nowarel gave birth to demons, a race that should have protected them. But rather than doing that, the demons set off to destroy all of humanity.

Branses could not sit still watching that, so he created angels to stop the demons.

As demons and angels fought, the gods decided it was best to no longer interfere with life on the world.

With time, some of Branses’ children eased their hate on demi-humans, while other races decided to separate even further. That was how different settlements and countries were formed.

“And that’s the story told by the Branowa church.”

That’s…kinda miserable. At least that’s how I feel after hearing all of that.

The story aside, I felt bad for making Christina, a demi-human, relate something that painted demi-humans in such a bad light. Though I can’t forget I’m a monster myself.

“The Branowa church isn’t that bad. The issue is the Bran church.”
“Y-yeah, if you put it like that…”

Amy flinched a bit hearing that, and Christina grimaced a bit too. I’m curious, but I don’t know if I should ask more…

“The Bran church claims Branses is the highest God, and that Nowarel is an evil Goddess that tried to sabotage his world. They claim demi-humans are just like monsters and demons, servants of the evil Goddess.”

“But that’s why it’s prohibited to be part of the Bran church in Seperion, due to the many races that live together here. But it’s a different story in countries where most of the population is human, especially in the western kingdoms like Granleuche, they’ve formed a large conglomerate of allied countries where everyone is part of the Bran church there. They’ve been an enemy of Seperion for a long time, so if you ever find anyone who’s part of that sect you should warn the guards.”

They explain everything before I can decide whether to ask or not.

It seems Amy and Christina don’t think much of the Branowa church’s story, but they’re clearly unhappy with the way the Bran church portrays them. Though anyone would feel that way.

I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen Christina voice her annoyance so clearly though.

“Also, the Branowa church doesn’t only deify Branses and Nowarel, but they recommend praying to all other Gods too.”
“For example farmers tend to pray to Verdel a bit more, since that’s the God of Harvest, and soldiers will pray to the God of War Luciel.”

So they pray to a higher god, and then to a god that is related to their jobs. I guess that makes it less complicated and easier to follow for most people.

Also, where’s Olivia? She hasn’t said anything in a while.

“So the bra’s chores made demi-humans god’s hands…”
“Young Lady, I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Olivia is struggling too much trying to keep up with the conversation and is holding her head in pain.

Ingralowe was one of Seperion’s biggest cities, a large number of people entering and leaving through its gates every day, dwarfing the traffic in smaller countryside towns.

But the scuffle happening in one of the gates was not a common occurrence.

A large crowd was forming around a certain bulky carriage, which was tightly protected by guards. The crowd was there to see if they should be worried about whatever was in that carriage, or simply out of curiosity. The carriage was covered in a large cloth, making it impossible to see its contents. That was likely done to protect the items, but that simply attracted even more attention.

“Get away! This isn’t a show!”

The guards shouted angrily, trying to somehow open a path for the carriage through the crowd, but they showed no signs of dispersing. Quite the opposite, people seemed to constantly call even more people to join the crowd.

The young guards were starting to lose his patience with that willful crowd, when either coincidence or their bad luck decided to play a bad prank on them, as a powerful gust of wind blew the cloth off.

“Didn’t you tie that properly?!”
“I-I’m really sorry!”

The leader roared angrily while a young guard hastily tried to keep the cloth down, but it was all too late. Everyone had gotten a good look at it. Limbs hanging lifelessly, a hole carved in her chest, the pitiful remains of a girl.

There was a moment of silence before the crowd silently opened the way for the carriage.

The guards grimaced in annoyance, but at least they could continue moving now. The guards left and there was only an uncomfortably silent crowd left, which slowly dispersed as they tried to focus on their lives again, forgetting the nightmarish sight they had just witnessed.

“…”

Only one person was left, an adventurer, who just so happened to be there. He had struggled to overcome the walls people built around different races and got engaged, and now he stood in a shocked daze after seeing the remains of his betrothed.