Chapter 10 - Inn and Church
The meeting at the village chief's house ended, and everyone was allowed to return to their houses.
"Alright, let's go to my place immediately! I will introduce you to my wife!"
This uncle is very enthusiastic.
"Okay, I understand. Well then, Village Chief, I will excuse myself!" (Fell)
"Yes. If you need something, please come here anytime." (Village Chief)
I left the village chief's house, following the enthusiastic uncle.
I don't know about their standard, but I think this village is quite small. There's a circular square in the center of the village, and the houses are lined up around it.
The whole village is surrounded by a fence. Forget about demon or monster, even a wild boar's rush seems enough to destroy it. I wonder what is the point of this fence.
"Come on, this way!"
The inn was located in front of the village chief's house, across the square. I arrived after walking through the square in a straight line.
The signboard says 'Forest Fairy Inn', but no matter how I look at him, this uncle is not a fairy. I wonder if this is some kind of fraud.
"Oi, I'm back!"
I followed the enthusiastic uncle into the inn.
This place looks like a diner. There's staircase in the back, so perhaps the accommodation facility is located on the second floor.
"Yes, welcome back. Was the bear figurine useful?"
From the next room, a woman came out and answered the greetings.
Is she this uncle's wife? I wonder what is this bear figurine she’s talking about. Is it the object that the uncle's holding? Maybe he planned to give it to me as reward. I will gladly accept it if he still wants to give it to me.
"No, I bring it back with me. Instead of monetary reward, it's been decided that she will stay at our place for two weeks free of charge."
"Is that so? Oh my, you're here already. Thanks for saving us from the bandits. My name is Nia." (Nia)
"Now that I think about it, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Ron." (Ron)
"I'm Fell of the demon race. I will be under your care for a while." (Fell)
"I didn't expect you would stay here, so the room isn't ready yet. How about the innermost room on the second floor? All the room are the same, but it's a bit noisy when there are a lot of customers who come to eat. The innermost room is the quietest." (Nia)
"I leave it to you. Then, I will look around the village in the meantime." (Fell)
"Alright, the room will be ready by evening." (Nia)
Nia went upstairs after saying that. Meanwhile, Ron began to clean the diner. I decided to go outside so as not to disturb them while pondering about various things.
First thing is about Maou-sama. I'm still waiting a contact from him. Maybe he is still sleeping? Oh well, I'm sure he will contact me using the magic tool later.
For now, I will look around the village. Gathering information about the place that's going to be our base of operations is important, after all.
Looking at the inn from the front, I saw a church(?) on the left direction....
I've heard that the majority of humans are adherents of Goddess Religion. The demon race also had the Demon God as a subject of worship in the past, but it has changed to the demon kings at some point. There's no longer demon who believe in the Demon God.
Okay. In order to establish a friendly relationship with the human race, I will gather information about the Goddess Religion.
“Pardon!” (Fell)
I opened the door and walked into the church. I was hoping to see sparkling stained glass, but there were only two statues, altar, and several empty seats. My first impression of this place was 'run-down'.
"Oh, I'm sure your name is.... Fell, correct?"
From the door in the back, the old man whom I met at the village chief's house came out. I wondered if he was the priest of this church.
"This is a church of Goddess Religion. Do you need something here?"
"I'm interested in the religion of human race. I hope I could learn something from here, will it be alright?" (Fell)
"In that case, I can give you a brief explanation about the Goddess Religion."
Thus the old man explained about the Goddess Religion to me. However, different from what he stated at the beginning, it turned to be very long story with a lot of extra information. Halfway through, he only talked about how cute his granddaughter was.
In summary, the Goddess Religion is a religion that worships the Goddess of Light. The followers of Goddess Religion are scattered in all countries, except the country of beastfolks.
The headquarter of this religion is located in a religious state called Lomon, in the southeast of this forest. The Goddess Religion teaches its followers that demon race is the enemy that should be wiped out.
"Then, doesn't it mean a demon like me should not be here?" (Fell)
I mean, demons stay in the village where there's a church of the religion that's trying to wipe out the demon race.... isn't it just bad? However, the old man doesn't seem to care at all.
"Not really. I couldn't care less as long as long you do not harm the villagers. I'm not a devout believer myself, and to be honest, I don't have a good impression about the current Goddess Religion."
He said such a problematic statement so easily. If he were a demon talked about the Demon King Cult, he would receive an immediate death penalty. He won't even get the right to hire a lawyer.
"I'm thinking of retiring soon. So, would you like to become a nun and take over this church for me?"
What kind of masochistic play is that? There is no reason to convert to a religion that's trying to wipe out the demon race.
"Umm, a demon becomes a nun of the religion that's trying to wipe out the demon race is a bit...." (Fell)
Yeah, I don't need to answer it.
"There will be no problem as long as I keep silent about it."
"Please give priority to my personal circumstances!" (Fell)
"You don't want it? I kept asking the headquarter for a replacement, but nobody wanted to come to such a dangerous place."
This village is located in deep in the dangerous forest. Yup, just give up!
The talk continued after that. However, it was mainly the old man complained about the Goddess Religion. I received quite mental damages for some reason.
Goddess Religion is such a formidable opponent!