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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
A series of huge mountain ranges stretched almost to the center of the northern continent.
Together, these mountains were called the Samyura Mountain Range by the people of the continent.
Among the Samyura Mountain Range, the mountain range with the highest peaks is called Mount Samyurei, which is a sacred mountain where the Goddesses sometimes gather.
Samyura Mountain Range and Mount Samyurei.
Mount Samyurei was popularly known as a sacred mountain for a reason.
Mount Samyurei was the reason why the northern continent was considered highly religious compared to the others.
There was a town called Arcis where people lived in a basin almost halfway up the mountain range.
Because of its high altitude, the town was surrounded by snow for most of the year.
There was a reason for the town’s existence in spite of such a harsh environment.
That reason was the presence of the Temple of Arcis in the center of the town.
Centered on this temple, which was known as a sacred object, only a certain area of the town had less snowfall than the surrounding area.
Thanks to this effect, people managed to live even in this harsh environment.
However, most of the residents of Arcis were priests who had come to the temple to undergo rigorous training.
The only other people living in Arcis were merchants who supported the priesthood and adventurers who came here for the materials they could get from the surrounding area.
The oracle that originated in the Kingdom of Gates was naturally no exception in this town.
However, the town of Arcis was so far removed from the rest of the world that it could almost be said to belong to a separate world, not to any other country.
It was an independent city, so to speak, and there was no government that ruled over it.
If one were to venture a guess, the head of the Temple of Arcis had the most power, but he did not have a strong voice compared to other countries or cities.
Because it was such a city, it was not so strongly influenced by other churches, so the oracle did not have much influence on the city.
Nevertheless, an oracle was an oracle.
The scandal caused by a church that existed on the same continent caused the priesthood in the town of Arcis to train themselves even harder in their practice.
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When Kousuke and his group arrived in the town of Arcis, they found themselves in a room at an inn.
They were quite exhausted when they arrived in the town, as even from the nearest town they had to walk for two days.
However, Kousuke was the most tired, and the rest of the group was not as tired as Kousuke.
Peach saw Kousuke sitting on the bed in the inn, taking a breather, and called out to him in a concerned tone.
“Are you all right~?”
“Oh, well, I’m fine.”
In fact, Kousuke wasn’t as tired as he thought he would be.
Kousuke’s group had been worried that they could get altitude sickness because the town of Arcis was located at a high altitude, but they seemed to be okay.
It was all fatigue from all the climbing they had done up to this point.
Kousuke, who was a God, was showing the most fatigue, while the other members did not seem to be so exhausted.
The members who accompanied Kousuke this time were Shrein in addition to Mitsuki and Peach.
Nana was at Kousuke’s feet as usual.
Wanri was staying at the tower.
The reason why Kousuke and his group came to Arcis was because it was said that when the church and vampires were in conflict in the past, the temple here was the only one that did not take hostile action.
It could also be believed that this was because the geographical position of the town made it less susceptible to the influence of other churches on the continent, but the truth of this is unknown.
They came to this town to find out the truth.
Even though they checked in other towns on the continent to see if the Prost Clan had survived, they were unable to catch the tail of it at all.
It was in this context that they were able to hear about the town of Arcis.
Smoke does not go up where there was no fire, but if there was a certain amount of vampire stories left, they were betting that it was possible that there was something to be found.
The question was whether Kousuke and his team, being ordinary people, would be able to find out something about the history of this town so easily.
Starting tomorrow, they would have to start asking around about the history of the town, but their first priority would be to go directly to the temple.
According to Sylvia, most temples had things that should be kept secret, but they rarely showed such things to the public.
The question was whether the Arcis Temple’s relationship with vampires was something that should be kept secret, but even Sylvia could not be sure.
Whether she could do nothing but hit and shatter, or take a roundabout way to find out, would depend on the investigation that would begin tomorrow.
Kousuke, tired from the unfamiliar snow-covered road, quickly fell asleep while thinking about such things.
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“I was too tired yesterday to take the time to check this place out, but this is awesome.”
The next morning.
Kousuke, who had completely recovered and regained his strength, quickly got up and went outside the inn.
There was no snow on the streets of Arcis.
However, once he stepped out of the town gate, he found himself in a snowy landscape.
Even if Kousuke was not a first time visitor to Arcis, he would still be impressed by the snowy landscape.
Kousuke watched the scene for a while, but then he remembered something.
“…Oh, I see. I thought I’d seen it somewhere before, the elven village.”
He remembered that the village of the elves who now guard the World Tree in the southern Tower had a similar environment.
The elves’ village was also protected from the outside environment by the former World Tree.
“No wonder why the temple is considered a divine gift.”
Shrein chimed in on Kousuke’s thoughts.
“That’s true, but… doesn’t it remind you of something?”
Kousuke’s question caused Shrein and Peach to look at each other.
“You don’t mean the World Tree, do you?”
Peach asked, thinking so from the flow of the conversation, to which Kousuke shook his head.
“Nope. There are other buildings that prevent monsters from entering within a certain area, right?”
Kousuke said, to which both of them simultaneously uttered, “Oh”.
“I see… the Vermilion Castle.”
The floor where Vermilion Castle was located was not as severe an environment as the one they were in now, so it was difficult to notice, but it was the same in that it prevented monsters from invading.
The same could be said about the climate.
“The Temple of Arcis is built the same as the Vermilion Castle?”
“I don’t know. There is too little information to make such a statement.”
Kousuke had investigated the Vermilinia Jewel before.
If there were similar items in the Temple of Arcis, it might be possible to find out what happened here.
But currently, there was no such investigation, so it was impossible to say for sure.
There could be a subterfuge method of asking the Goddesses about it, but that would be a last resort.
“So? What are we going to do today?”
“First of all, there’s the temple.”
“Oh. We are going to the temple first?”
Shrein did not think that he would suddenly go to the temple, as he could be kicked out of the city if he did not do his best.
Kousuke’s reply was not what Shrein expected.
“No way. That’s not a coincidence. I was just wondering if they have any information on the origins of this town, and if so, I thought I’d ask them to show it to me.”
This was something Sylvia had advised Kousuke to do.
Most temples often kept documents that described the origins of the city or village.
Few places would deny access to such items.
Of course, some of these materials may be hidden if they could not be useful to the temple.
The idea was to start with those places and find out more about the temples in this town.
Once they had decided on what to do, all that remained was to do it.
Kousuke and his team headed for the temple of Arcis, without even bothering to enjoy the winter weather.
