I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

149 – The Forgotten Forest (5)

The prayer room that I entered as if I was being half-pushed into.

As Edwin said, it’s not something to brag about, but it was a place I would never have entered alone.

I was baptized by Hybras to be with Sirien, not because I really believed in the god Hybras.

Perhaps Hybras himself did not know that and did not bestow divinity on me.

Since he’s a god, he must have known. But he was faithful to his duty as a guardian, so isn’t it a win-win situation for both parties?

Perhaps even this kind of thinking could be considered blasphemous.

I’ll have to ask Sirien later. I think I’ll get in trouble if I tell Edwin.

Anyway, since we’ve come to the prayer room, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to say a prayer at least once.

It had been so long since I learned it that I was worried I wouldn’t remember it, but when I actually tried it, some things came to mind again.

First, we burn incense like this… … and then pour holy water… … what happened next?

‘Oh, I should light a candle too.’

It certainly looked easy when Sirien did it.

When I tried to do it, I felt a bit awkward.

Should I say that it keeps stuttering?

I couldn’t even get my posture right and almost dropped the ceremonial items.

I thought that even Hebras wouldn’t care much about trivial things, so I decided to just quickly offer up a prayer.

‘I’m sorry… I tried to do my best, but I couldn’t. I’ll learn it properly and try again sometime.’

Not too fast.

I’ll have time someday.

The moment when I slowly kneel down and pray.

My mind went completely black.

* * *

A river flowed in the dark space.

The yellow dirt and rocks gave off a somewhat gloomy air, and a chilling wind blew through my clothes.

An unidentifiable shadow was cast on the rock.

A voice was heard.

Rather than making a sound, it feels like the voice is resonating throughout the space.

Even though the language seemed different, the meaning was conveyed very naturally and clearly in my head.

I could suddenly recall the identity of the shadow.

Hybras, god of rest and death.

He invited me.

“There is no need to learn a new way of praying. It seems that I have a very faithful guardian. I will understand and move on, seeing his sincerity.”

“……sorry.”

“It is. I didn’t expect you to be as faithful as I thought you would be.”

Fortunately, Hebras was a very generous person.

From the beginning, he had an attitude that I hadn’t expected. I couldn’t make out his figure properly, but I could tell that he was looking straight at me.

Hmm, Hebras sniffled.

“It’s better than I thought. It’s improved a lot compared to before. I didn’t think the difference would be that big, but no matter how much time passes, you can never know what humans are like.”

“More than before… … are you talking about?”

“Originally, you would have been reclaiming the saint’s family lineage by now. Or, if I were to borrow your expression and say it was like the original, would you understand?”

“Hebras said nonchalantly.

“You look surprised.”

“Then… … wouldn’t you be surprised? I didn’t think you knew that.”

“Well, isn’t it something I can’t help but know? I am the God of Rest. You, who should have died long ago, are alive and moving, so I can’t help but know. Those who deceive death have always been my enemies.”

“… … Did I understand what you just said correctly?”

“Yes. Everything you thought was a ‘novel’ has already happened. You died because you couldn’t retreat from the battlefield, and my saint disappeared like the dew on the execution ground.”

I bit my lip slightly.

This is originally a habit of Sirien.

As we spent so much time together, it seemed like even habits had developed.

It seems that the premise itself up to this point was wrong.

I always thought that when I was possessed by a novel, a new story began.

So I thought that the content in the original work was something that hadn’t happened yet, and that I could change it if I tried.

Hebras didn’t give me time to indulge in sentimentality.

“My guardian, do you know what is absolutely necessary for the soul to find peace?”

“It must be life.”

“Yes. I am the god who leads all life to rest, but conversely, I am also the god who restrains death from encroaching upon all life.”

The theology I learned recently was helpful.

Faith is a series of contradictions.

In a land where there is only death, even death cannot be born.

Faith is more beautiful because it has withstood the temptation of betrayal, and order is necessary because there is chaos.

In theology, we also explore things that cannot be fully explained simply by the terms divinity and the other side.

As Hybras snapped his fingers, visions of the past rose above the river.

“Once upon a time, long ago, there was a being who deceived life and death. The soul that should have been at rest kept waking up and going back. Into a meaningless hamster wheel.”

“Are you talking about the god of time?”

“Yes. In the confined time, there is neither life nor death. It is a problem for the souls that are supposed to be at rest to awaken, but it is a bigger problem for the souls that are supposed to be born to disappear. That is why I had no choice but to intervene.”

I remembered what Sirien had said long ago.

It was a story I heard while heading to the Pantheon from the Grand Duchy of Illencia.

– Sonarq, the god of time.

– The power behind it is unknown, but the reason for its subjugation remains.

– The saint abused her power too much. She bound the entire continent in time and imprisoned it for eternity.

If the time of the continent is locked, then no one on the continent should know of that fact.

However, the tricks of the Saint of Time were eventually revealed to the world, and she was eventually defeated by the Panshinjeon.

The fact that the current pantheon defines the god of time as an evil god and uses it as an example was proof of this.

It meant that the one who came to the forefront at that time was Hybras.

A rising illusion illuminated a certain battlefield.

There was one face that stood out in the welcome.

Edwin. A man just like I knew was sweeping across the ancient battlefield.

“I gave orders to all believers to fight against Sonark. Sonark fell asleep in my rest, but I was not completely healed. The believers who could not control my power were devoured one by one by death.”

“Is that why the religious order died out?”

“Yes. It was something that had to be done, so it was a problem I had to endure. In any case, now that Sonarq has fallen asleep, the world’s cause and effect seems to be stabilizing again.”

As Hybras waved his hand, the welcome changed.

The next thing that came into view was me and Sirien.

Sirien comforting me when I heard the news of my father’s death.

Therion and Henna laughing brightly at the campfire in front of the cabin.

A dangerous journey through the forgotten forest.

The fierce battles on the northern front and the bloody tragedy that occurred in the Illencia Grand Duchy.

The flow was similar, but there were some slightly different aspects.

That illusion must be because it is not the path we have walked.

Perhaps it was to show us what we were like in the original.

“A long time has passed. So long that you humans have forgotten everything. But for immortals like me, time is just a flowing river.”

The welcome passed quickly.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at my death.

It was a scene where the heart was pierced by the hand of Crown Prince Karzan Edelmar.

A little further on, there was a vision of Sirien being executed.

I couldn’t bear to look at that either, so I tightly closed my eyes.

“Your deaths are… … regrettable to me. However, it was not a matter for me to intervene in. Even if my divinity were to be forgotten forever, it would not be possible to destroy the cause and effect of the world.”

I know what it means.

This must mean that public and private affairs are separated.

But there was genuine regret in Hebras’ voice.

Hybras dismissed the vision as if it wasn’t something he wanted to see.

“But you live before me like this, and I tolerate you like this. Do you know what this means?”

“So something has happened that requires Hebras’ intervention again?”

“Yes, my guardian, change your mindset.”

“A frame of mind?”

“Why do you think that your change is an accident, a coincidence? I am the god who rules over death. How could it be a coincidence when you have returned from the dead?”

When I came to my senses, Hybras was approaching me.

“Question everything. Question everything. I am powerless before the law of causality, so I cannot give you all the answers. You must figure it out for yourself.”

The hand of God gently stroked the side of my head.

It feels like a parent is caressing a child.

It was a hand that calmed the human heart, as befitting the god of rest.

“Did you really accidentally enter a novel? Do you really think it was a coincidence that you came to this world in that invented story? The false saint appeared in this world by borrowing someone else’s body, so how could you have simply regained your memories?”

“that…….”

“Think about it.”

I felt like my thoughts were being shattered by Hebras’ words.

I was thrown out of the space of Hybras.