「How are we going to duel?」

「Let’s see. When it comes to being the Guardian Deity, one must have the strength to protect the village. So let’s compete in arm wrestling! 」

「Okay」

It might have been problematic if the topic was about mental calculation.
However, when it comes to brute strength, Iris didn’t plan to lose to anyone on this earth.

「If you are doing arm wrestling that desk should do」

Sheryl brought a small desk from the depths of the church.
Muriel and Iris clenched their fist on top of it as they assumed an arm wrestling posture.

「Well then, start!」

With Eclipse’s sign, the arm wrestling match began.
At first, she was worried whether this ancient desk could withstand a demon and the Guardian Deity arm wrestling — but that was a needless worry.
Muriel was indescribably weak.
The match was settled before the desk had a chance to break.

「No jaaaa! You are too strong! 」

「No…..you are too weak. Try doing it with Sheryl」

「Even This Mistress won’t lose to a normal human」

「That’s right. I’m just a frail maiden」

「Yeah, sure. Indulge me」

Iris tried to compare the two against each other.
In the end, Sheryl won.

「…….My arm strength is actually god-class!?」

Sheryl opened her eyes wide and stared at the hand that defeated Muriel.

「Wrong, wrong. Muriel was just too weak」

「Uuu…….This Mistress has materialized only recently, so I can’t bring out much of my ability…….besides, arm wrestling has nothing to do with being a Guardian Deity!」

「You were the one to bring this up」

「Just a little mistake! Strength is important…….but it should be determined through the real fight! So let’s fight! 」

There was a broom on the wall that Sheryl always used to clean the church.
Muriel took it and used it as a sword.
Since it couldn’t be helped, Iris took Sheryl’s mop as well.

「Take this」

Muriel attacked with the broom.
However, she was slow enough to put one to sleep.
Iris casually knocked the broom away with the mop.
The broom fell on the floor and sadly rolled away.
And while Muriel was spacing out, Iris lightly struck her on the head with the mop.

「I-It hurts…….」

Muriel had tears in her eyes as she rubbed the spot where she was hit.

「Big Sister Iris, you can’t bully the weaklings」

「That’s right, Iris-sama. Please get along with Muriel-sama」

「I didn’t intend to bully anyone…….sorry. Alright, alright. Let the pain go away」

As she said that, she used recovery magic on Muriel’s head and Muriel stopped crying.

「Oh……..it doesn’t hurt anymore」

「I didn’t hit you that hard in the first place. So, is it okay to consider it my win? 」

「Mumu…….apparently, you are slightly stronger than This Mistress」

「Slightly or not, since it’s my win, is it fine with you that I’m the first? Give Punigami back」

Muriel was sitting on Punigami since a while ago.
Punigami’s squishy body was good for hugging, lying, and sitting, almost omnipotent. The desire to monopolize him was completely understandable.
That’s precisely why Punigami was so precious to Iris.

「No, not yet! This Mistress haven’t lost yet! A Guardian Deity’s worth isn’t determined by strength, but by how much he makes his people happy! So let’s compare our contributions! 」

What a sore loser of a goddess.
That being said, how does one even measure contribution?
As Iris wondered about it, Marion stopped by.

「Iris, are you awake? You are awake! Eh, is it afternoon already!?」

Marion is a dragon normally living in the human form.
But since she was not proficient in it, she had horns on her head and a tail sticking out her rear.
Marion, who faltered upon seeing Iris awake, had not only her expression but even her tail swaying in confusion.

「It’s morning, morning. Why does everyone get so surprised that I’m awake in the morning? 」

「No, no. It is pretty surprising. So, who’s that sitting on top of Punigami? She doesn’t look human」

「Y-You are the dragon girl, Marion. This Mistress is this land’s Guardian Deity, Muriel. Worship me! 」

「Asking to worship on our first meeting………I feel a whole different kind of danger」

Marion too made a long face.
Most likely ten out of ten people will react the same.

「Muriel. You should probably stop asking strangers to worship you. They will definitely think of you as a weirdo. They need to know that you are the Goddess first」

As Iris advised, she thought that telling strangers『I’m the Goddess』is rather suspicious too.
However, with Muriel being the real Goddess, she had to make people believe.

「I-Is that so…..? Then let This Mistress explain. This Mistress is the Guardian Deity! 」

「Uwaa…….」

Marion’s expression was that of pity.
She didn’t believe Muriel at all.
Which wasn’t surprising.
There wasn’t enough context.
Muriel lacked the attitude to make others believe.

「Stop with that look! This Mistress is going to explain, so listen」

Muriel explained her backstory for the third time.

A little more until 20000 points ٩( ‘ω’ )و
[¹]