Xenia spoke.
“Is this really a divine oracle?”
“You’re a Holy Knight, don’t ask that.”
“I-I an… it really does feel similar to the illustrations described in old histories and manuscripts.”
Why is the Oracle so famous?
Why is it considered the defining mont that marks the Demon King’s arrival and the hero’s ergence?
Sure, the biggest reason is that everyone on the continent believes in the Celestial God. But there’s clearly another, deeper reason too.
‘Because it’s undeniable.’
[That’s right. It’s an event everyone across the continent experiences simultaneously.]
‘Exactly. If it was just so vague prophecy delivered to a single person, and that person announced the Demon King’s return, it wouldn’t have spread this far.’
If people don’t experience sothing themselves, there will always be sceptics.
But…
“An event everyone on the continent experiences at once, no one can deny that.”
And just then…
The sky opened, and the “Voice of God” resounded across the entire continent.
—“All my children who live upon this land, listen well.”
“The continent you now inhabit stands at the brink of crisis.”
“The one who has brought about this crisis… is the fake Hero, Mide Mohan.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
My party all turned to look at .
“What the hell did that bastard just say?”
“Calm down.”
“No, seriously. He just called Mr. Mide a fake. I’m done with the whole ‘Agent of God’ title.”
Not that it ant much to begin with…
“This oracle, this one’s not from the Celestial God.”
“Oh! That makes sense!”
“Yeah. It’s Idria. Let’s hear the rest.”
We held our breath and waited for the next words.
—“Mide Mohan is a loyal servant of the Demon King of Lies and Deception, Idria.”
Whoa. That’s how you’re going to play it?
—“Idria, knowing that only a true Hero could pose a threat, established a ‘fake Hero’—Mide, to discredit the na of the ‘true Hero,’ Kaeld Wake.”
“Mide Mohan is both Idria’s apostle and pawn.”
“Do not be deceived by that wicked man.”
“Only Kaeld Wake is the true Hero I have chosen. Only he can slay Idria.”
I held my head in my hand.
‘Clever move, Idria.’
Even though I was planning to force the Celestial God to issue an oracle of his own, with this kind of preemptive slander, there’s no guarantee it will have the desired effect.
[Let’s hope the Celestial God has a little bit of tact.]
Yeah, that’s all I can hope for.
I stayed silent.
The sky was slowly beginning to close again.
The voice continued:
—“Gather under Kaeld’s banner, and cast out Mide Mohan, the Demon King’s pawn.”
“Do not be swayed by his wicked tongue.”
“As always, the Demon King shall fall by the hand of the Hero.”
“As long as your eyes remain open to the truth, you will recognize the real Hero.”
Whoosh.
The sound of light pouring down echoed, almost as if urging everyone to believe that version of events.
And then, the sky finally closed.
Only then did we exhale.
Neril spoke.
“This definitely sounds like it ca from Idria.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Mide threatened the Celestial God, and it worked. No matter how pissed he might have been, a being in that position should have been able to see the situation clearly.”
“…You have got a point.”
“The real question now is: how convincing and well-delivered our side’s oracle is going to be…”
Just then…
As if on cue, the sky opened once more.
The clouds parted, and the exact sa radiant light we had just seen ca pouring down. This update is available on novel⁂fire
The Celestial God was delivering an oracle!
All right. Let’s see how well he represents .
The voice rang out:
—“Demon King of Lies and Deception, Idria, has descended.”
“In response, I appoint a Hero. His na is Mide Mohan.”
“Gather under him, and rise against the Demon King.”
Hmm.
Solid start.
And next?
What’s next?
“…”
We waited patiently for the next line.
But…
Shhhhhh.
The sky slowly began to close.
The light faded, and the clouds returned to their natural shape.
My party stared at the sky, then at .
Serein muttered:
“Wait. That’s it?”
Panic spread through my companions.
“You goddamn bastard!!!”
“The so called Celestial God is like dark, salty seawater from the abyss…”
“What does that even an?”
“I an he’s salty!”
“What do we do? The quality of the two oracles is night and day.”
“And he didn’t even call Kaeld a fake in ours!”
“Exactly! That’s the worst part. The other side’s oracle outright calls Mide a fake and a minion of the Demon King.”
I cald my party down.
Then shouted to Trail:
‘What’s my current fa compared to Kaeld’s?’
[H-Hold on…]
I felt lightheaded for a second.
‘Wait… what was my fa before again?’
[Last recorded: 148,760.]
‘So that’s about a 130,000 jump. From that one oracle.’
That single divine declaration earned almost as much fa as everything I’d scraped together through sheer hell since returning.
If it weren’t for the circumstances, I might have danced.
However,
My whole body trembled.
The last ti I checked, Kaeld’s fa had been 31,170.
In other words, from that one fake oracle by Idria, his fa had skyrocketed by about 370,000!
Mine had gone up by 130,000, so that was nearly three tis the difference.
‘Ha… Life’s unfair. Kaeld did nothing, while I have been running around everywhere nonstop.’
[You okay?]
‘No. Not at all. Let’s grab a drink later.’
[That was my suggestion earlier, though.]
I let out a soft chuckle.
Even to my own ears, it sounded completely drained of energy.
But then Trail’s next words perked up.
[Still, this is unexpected.]
‘What is?’
[Didn’t you notice? Look at the map more closely.]
I shifted my gaze from the numbers to the continental map and my jaw dropped.
‘W-what is this?’
Two oracles had co down in a row.
And not just any oracles, they were completely contradictory.
The first declared as the Demon King’s pawn.
The second declared I was the Hero.
Most of the continent chose to believe the first oracle.
However, there were still many places that held unwavering faith in .
No, there were many such places.
“Sir Mide.”
Lady Ariena, no, Countess Ariena gazed up at the now-cleared blue sky.
She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
“I’m standing here today because of you. I got to acknowledge my mother again, our people avoided war… all of that was thanks to you.”
So…
“I don’t care what the oracle says. I have always believed you were the true Hero from the beginning.”
“Dear.”
Mariana stroked the statue of her husband, Sol.
“You heard the oracle just now, didn’t you? What did you think?”
Of course, there was no reply.
But she spoke again softly.
“You never could respond to before either… but just this once, I think I know what your answer would be.”
Surely, he felt the sa way.
Mide had resolved the ghost incident in Raynus territory.
He had found the whereabouts of her husband, missing for thirteen years.
He had struck down the Demon King’s power and returned Sol to her.
Whatever the oracle said, it didn’t matter.
“And our son, he can see people’s true natures, you know. He sees their souls.”
So wasting ti worrying about so petty oracle was pointless.
Ben, the butcher, had been haggling with a custor over at prices right when the oracles were announced.
By the ti both ssages were done, he and the custor were practically best friends.
“What kind of crap was that? Mide, a Demon King’s pawn?”
“Co on, the first one’s obviously fake. The second’s the real one.”
“Exactly. That first oracle was way too long. Since when does a Celestial God ramble like that? No authority in it.”
“Right? I nearly fell asleep listening.”
After so light banter, they went back to business as usual.
In other territories, news like this would have put everyone on edge for a week.
But not here in Hasphil territory.
This was the Hero’s hotown.
No one would be shaken by so fake oracle.
The custor who finally got a discount on at said,
“Why are you only open for the morning today?”
“Oh, I’m visiting Dianne.”
“Ah. I heard sothing new ca to light after Mide visited her last ti.”
“I couldn’t sleep for three days when I heard. I was the one who reported Dianne, after all.”
Back then, after eting his mother, Mide had visited the lord again.
He revealed the abuse from his father that hadn’t co up in court.
The lord, deeply embarrassed, apologized for not properly investigating it at the ti.
But Mide shook his head and said,
“The one who owes my mother the greatest apology… is . And besides, that trial was under the forr lord’s jurisdiction, wasn’t it?”
“Then should we release her imdiately…”
“It’s true my mother killed my father. If that qualifies for sentence reduction, you’re welco to grant it. But…”
“She has been in there for so long… It might be overwhelming to return her to the world all of a sudden. Maybe she will be safer there, until I return after defeating the Demon King.”
The lord nodded in agreent.
Afterward, he issued a formal decree acknowledging that Dianne Mohan had suffered severe abuse.
Ever since, Ben had visited her weekly with fresh at.
That afternoon, when Ben arrived at the visiting room, Dianne was staring at the sky beyond the bars.
“Ahem. Dianne.”
“You’re here? I told you not to co every ti.”
“I’m only coming because I have got the ti.”
“Hehe… Let’s go with that then.”
“What were you doing?”
She turned from the sky to et his eyes.
“A rather offensive oracle ca down. It said my son is the Demon King’s pawn.”
“That thing? Don’t worry. No one’s paying it any mind.”
“True…”
She continued in a gentle voice.
“Anyone who actually knows Mide wouldn’t believe such a ridiculous lie.”
David was in a eting with his father and vassals when both oracles ca down.
Once the second one ended, silence fell over the room.
Then David said,
“Shall we continue the eting?”
“Huh? D-David, sir?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Well, two oracles just ca down and you’re so calm…”
“You’re mistaken.”
David shook his head firmly.
“There was only one oracle. The one that said Mide is the Hero.”
“Gasp...y-you are right!”
Count Acaine nodded in agreent.
“Keep a close watch. So of our citizens may still be wavering.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We were once pro-Kaeld, so so may still call him the Hero. But as long as I, David, and Ophelia stand firm, such blasphemy will not be tolerated.”
The vassals bowed in unison.
Count Acaine turned to his son.
“Go on.”
He had gradually been passing more of the territory’s affairs to David at his request.
David had once said he wanted to be the lord when he t Ophelia again soday.
“Very well. Regarding the harvest yield I ntioned earlier…”
Dronoar territory remained calm.
As if nothing had happened.
Following Trail’s words, I checked the continental map and was stunned.
[So? The regions where your fa shines, they haven’t changed, have they?]
My fa appeared as a bright light, while Kaeld’s was a black mist.
All the territories I had personally visited were still glowing brightly.
‘Yeah… How is this possible?’
[It’s simple. Those are all the places where you personally resolved major incidents.]
‘······’
[In other words, the people who actually t you have no doubt you’re the true Hero. Even after a biased oracle like that.]
‘Trail…’
[Just keep doing what you have been doing. I know you can turn things around.]
Overco with emotion, I couldn’t say a word.
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