"...Tsk!"
The more I think about it, the more... this feels way too complicated!
It’s getting kind of troubleso now!
Retreating-intent Lv1.0
Also, the goodwill the Natural Pantheon wants to express is pretty unique.
The Forest Goddess takes this boy, whom the Master of Nature "values," very seriously, and tries to make every little detail perfect.
And because of Herbert’s identity as the Sun Saint, She didn’t choose to just hand down a reward from on high with the posture of a superior.
Instead, She very thoughtfully asked Hecayas in advance—what does Herbert need? What would truly cater to his tastes?
So, here cos the question—what does Herbert like?
Hecayas actually had no clue in His heart about this question either.
ow ow ow?
How am I supposed to know what he likes!!?
He does have so friendship with Herbert, but it’s really not that deep.
It’s just that He’s been one-sidedly drooling over him, wanting to make him His own Divine Favorer, then provided him with so utterly insignificant help and sent a few Priests his way.
As for Herbert’s true personality, his hobbies, his relationships with others—He actually doesn’t know much at all.
After racking His brains for quite a while, Hecayas finally fired up His "brilliant genius" and barely squeezed out a conclusion that sounded sowhat reliable.
Herbert likes—Monster Girls!
Uh, no, that’s not right.
It should be said, he likes helping the holess who are rejected by the world, and those people just happen to have sothing to do with Demons, that’s all.
After all, a Paladin as benevolent as him, doing those good deeds, must be acting out of the rcy and compassion in his heart. It’s definitely not because he likes them that he does all that.
...Right?
Hecayas rembered that He had gone to his territory before; what he’s probably lacking most right now is manpower that can participate in construction.
After thinking hard for a bit, He finally passed this information on to the Forest Goddess.
"Lady Fulingya, Herbert should like Demons... uh, no, I an, if we could arrange for a group of races who are shunned by others in the outside world to go live in his territory, it might make him happy."
Fulingya raised a brow, asking curiously, "They have to be shunned by others? That’s a rather special condition."
What kind of place would need such a peculiar requirent?
"Mm, his territory is a bit... special. He doesn’t like outsiders randomly probing into it. Once this group goes in, they’ll probably have to cut ties with the outside world as well."
The Spring Bud Goddess picked up the question: "Then where is he?"
The little kitten who had just been at the rcy of all the big shots, kneaded and toyed with however they liked, narrowed His eyes.
He was silent for a mont, then lightly shook His head.
"...My apologies, lady, I can’t say."
"That’s Herbert’s secret. I promised him I wouldn’t leak any information to outsiders. I’ve already said a bit too much as it is; I can’t say anything more."
Hecayas, after all, is a Divine who has survived for over a thousand years. He’s not so easy to trick into spilling things.
He has principles.
He can let the big shots squish and knead Him, can really act like a little kitten and play cute.
But as for secrets others have entrusted to Him, He still won’t sell them out.
Even when "interrogated" by the big shots, Hecayas did not reveal Herbert’s greatest secret.
He was vague about the matters of the Elda Territory, never letting slip the key points, only saying that Herbert is a minor Lord with a territory.
Hecayas just kept repeating one thing.
That place carries Herbert’s vision; for its future he holds enormous expectations.
If those people go there, they definitely won’t be bullied. Instead, they’ll be able to truly find a place where they belong.
In the end, it was the Cold Winter Goddess who stepped out, taking the lead in approving Her own little kitten’s way of doing things, which finally made the other curious Goddesses close their mouths.
"Alright, let’s leave it at that."
Fulingya did not press further. She clapped Her hands and directly made the decision: "Since you’re so insistent, we’ll go with your arrangent."
"As it happens, a ’cursed people’ Clan is currently temporarily camped on the outskirts of the Forgotten Forest, and their relationship with the other forest dwellers isn’t very good."
Speaking of this arrangent that would directly decide the future of an entire Clan, the Master of the Forest lowered Her gaze and said softly, "If Herbert needs them, then you guide them to his territory."
"This particular Clan does not belong to Nature, not because Nature abandoned them, but because they chose to turn their backs on Nature themselves. We cannot truly keep them."
"Since they are unwilling to beco a part of Nature, then let them leave."
Nowadays, after a long wandering, the Beastman tribes have two options.
A very small portion returns to Nature, completely abandoning the human part of themselves, forgetting speech, and, like their ancestors, living on raw flesh and blood, becoming a new kind of ’beast’ within Nature.
The rest, however, still stubbornly cling on, unwilling to give up the part of them that is human.
This portion is the group of Beastn who are not accepted by Nature, yet are also hated by humans—the ones who have it the worst.
"I hope this arrangent can be a stroke of luck for those poor little ones."
Fulingya, in a calm, even sowhat indifferent tone, said coolly:
"Even if it can’t put an end to their wandering, at least it can let them rest for a while..."
Is this the rcy of the Divine, or of Nature?
No.
Nature treats every Life that belongs to Nature equally.
And the Divine...
In many cases, They are far more ruthless than mortals imagine.
.
.
In the underground ruins.
Herbert listened in a daze to the words Elvis left to posterity.
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