Shini Yasui Kōshaku Reijō to Nana-ri no Kikōshi

Chapter 23 - Island of Messenger (part five)



Chapter 23


The self-proclaimed Angel-san with blonde hair smoothly pulled my hand and led me to the back of the cathedral .


The Black Dragon Tirnanog who was disguised as a star steel golem walked a little behind us with two large bags in his hands .


There was another bag of the same size that I had, but Angel-san now had it .


He was a kind person .


If I looked closely, muscles were firmly built on his arms even though they seemed slender .


Contrary to the indoor image of a clergy’s son, he seemed to be quite trained .


He opened the locked doors every time he went and was aiming somewhere straight ahead .


When I looked at his hand, he was opening and closing doors with a single key, not a bunch of keys .


Apparently, he seemed to have a Skeleton Key that was specialized for this cathedral .


“Are we moving to a considerably inner part of this cathedral?”


“Ah, it’s a place which only gets published several times a year . ”


“It’s a rare thing, isn’t it?”


“Yeah . But, I’m special, so I can see it anytime . ”


“Wow, that’s amazing . ”


Was it like a secret Buddha in Buddhism?


Such thing like a famous temple or something similar that would only be displayed once in months or years .


I was getting a little excited .


Every time he opened a door, the murals and sculptures of monsters grew more prominent .


The degree of chaos was reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch and Bruegel . 1


Children’s graffiti, nightmare, and true monstrosity were mixed in proper distribution that made chills ran through my spine .


Although they were scary, I thought that this was fun .


“This is…it’s pretty good . ”


“The actual thing that I want to show you is still yet to come, our destination is the innermost room . ”


“It’s the deepest part of the cathedral……”


I remembered about the recent incident when I reached the deepest part of the ruins in my hometown, and that had been terrible .


It became a good memory when I thought about it now, but I was a little traumatized about being in the deepest part .


I took a glimpse at Tirnanog behind me .


Well, the former source of my trauma had become my friend, so it was alright now .


“Now, it’s waiting ahead of you . ”


Angel-san opened the last door where he said the extraordinary artwork was, which was different than the other doors .


It was a simple room, spacious but with little decoration .


In the back of the room, giant limestone walls seemingly to have been cut off from other places was enshrined .


Before I recognized clearly what was drawn there, chills ran through my spine .


“On the other side, that is our Lord, God that is said to be the one pillar of this world . ”


On the walls of the limestone was drawn the image of the only God, emphasizing aspects of the sun god .


Brilliant vermillion, black, white, and golden .


Humans and other creations were drawn at the lower part, grace and love that was equally given by God were expressed .


This alone, was not particularly pleasant .


There were countless hands grew from the sun .


A horrid of so many, elongated, light hands .


Each one of His hands was stretched over the people’s head .


Seven eyes were drawn in the sun .


There were countless eyes in each hand .


According to the sense of a modern human, it couldn’t be said to be flattering, graphic or artistic .


However, the murals painted elaborately with virtuousness that made you feel something urgent, overwhelming the viewers .


Although it was a tremendous masterpiece, it was not a kind of artwork that was oozing with holiness .


At first glance it seemed like a scrawl, and you would want to burst out laughing .


But, surely after you burst out laughing, you would regret your poor comfort .


“It seems that it was cut out from the altar of the sacred place on the continent of Karkinos . ”


“Amazing……”


“Do you feel uncomfortable or want to withdraw?”


“I feel uncomfortable, but I’m more scared than that . ”


“Oh well . It is too strange, and it will be inconvenient for believers to be disillusioned or frightened, so it seems it is not normally displayed to the public . ”


I couldn’t take my eyes away from God’s figure drawn on the mural .


It might be a gut feeling, but this seemed to have a kind of beauty .


Not only God and humans, but other figures were also drawn there .


A number of angels who obeyed God .


Four angels with high status were drawn largely, while other angels were drawn smaller .


When considering the four archangels, a certain religion of my previous world came to my mind, but their appearances were quite different .


These angels had beasts’ face .


“Are these……angels……?”


“Oh, yes . These guys are pretty deformed, huh?”


Among the religious paintings and statues that I had seen outside this room, the face of an angel was represented by a beautiful human face .


That was why I got puzzled by the discrepancy .


The angels drawn on this wall seemed more like an Egyptian god rather than an angel .


The angel drawn in the spot closest to God had a luxurious special treatment .


It was drawn largely and used an abundant amount of precious gold and cinnabar sands .


The head was a lion, with six wings, and had a strong body .


On its right hand was a sword of fire, and on its left hand was a bottle of medicine .


The lion angel who wore a red clothing and the other three archangels – horse-headed, ox-headed and bird-headed, were followed by other angels whose faces were painted red .


The four archangels had gestures to command the flocks of angels respectively .


(Isn’t there something like this in Christianity? Something like……Seraphim or Cherub, if I’m not mistaken . )


I was overwhelmed by such a masterpiece painting with such a strange God and angels, and I lost my words .


I had my mouth half-open while looking up .


I slowly retreated to capture the full view .


Then, I bumped into something unexpectedly soft .


“Oh my, you’re such a bad boy for bringing a girl into a place like this . ”


From behind, I heard a saccharine voice of a woman .


“Ah~~, I give up . We’re found out by someone annoying……”’


The self-proclaimed Angel-san watched the person behind me with a hand on his forehead .


When I turned around looking at his line of sight, my eyes met with the beautiful woman’s .


She had a pair of eyes that gave a strong impression, even if they were light up in amusement, I could feel their intensity .


Originally tall and wore high heels on top of that, she was looking down from a considerably high place .


She wore a ponytail full of plenty, glossy volume of blonde hair that gave me the impression of mane .


From the expensive red dress with the degree of exposure that was unique to the South, her voluptuous, sunburnt tanned chest overflowed .


She was gorgeous with gold jewelry on her whole body,


It was regrettable .


If she was ten years younger, then I guess she would be a type that would replace the role of a bad guy .


Such a gorgeous beauty was there .


“I’m annoying? My, my, the boy who hasn’t grown hair yet, has come to say that . ”


“See~, you’re so annoying . ”


When Angel-san said that as if sulking, the mysterious beauty laughed throatily .


“Angel-san, do you know this person?”


“Ah, this person is—……how should I say this……”


“Angel-san? Heeh? Angel-san, huh? That’s right . You sure are an angel . ”


“Geh……Don’t say anything unnecessary . ”


Angel-san pulled my hand and drew me away from the mysterious beauty .


Well, was she a troublesome acquaintance?


By the way, he did say that he would get angry if outsiders entered this place .


“Unnecessary? Me? Kufufufu, had I ever said anything unnecessary even just one word?”


“A long time ago, you said something unnecessary . ”


“How cold~ . As expected, I wonder if young girls are better? Angel-sama?”


The mysterious beauty provoked Angel-san in an amusing way .


I interjected to ask who she was .


“Excuse me……”


“Ah—, my bad . This person is my acquaintance……I can’t tell you too much, but she’s the one who lives in this cathedral . I shouldn’t be tattling, but you can feel relieved . ”


“Really . ”


Somehow, I only understood that she was someone with a delicate position .


I wondered if she was the great master of the cathedral, a daughter of a nobleman with a special circumstance or something else .


It seemed that it was not a good story to meddle with, so I decided not to talk about it anymore .


“My, my, the totally-not-scary older sister is exposed . I was wondering if I should make my self-introduction funny . ”


“What do you want to say—……”


“If you are Angel-sama, then I am a devil—! ……Something like that . ”


“That’s not right, and that’s not funny either . That’s just normal . ”


The mysterious-beauty-now-self-proclaimed-demon raised her hands with a gesture as if threatening a child .


Her nails had a high offensive power with those elongated nails .


Angel-san shrunk himself as if scared .


It seemed that she was a cheerful and funny older sister .


“Was that not scary?”


“Yes, yes, I’m afraid, very frightened . Please stop scaring me . ”


“Ah! Yes, I was also scared . ”


“Ufu~~ . That is excellent . All living beings should fear me like this~~”


Devil-san seemed to be in high spirits like a child, a complete turnaround from before .


Angel-san seemed to be annoyed, but he looked somewhat smiley .


In any case, they were a close pair of angel and devil .


I wondered what else was hidden behind closed doors, it was irresistible for a boring person like me .


Then the sound of a bell was ringing from outside the cathedral .


That would be the bell that informed evening had come .


“It’s already this late . It’s better for Ojou-san to go home soon . ”


“Oh my, how unfortunate . I thought it was lively and fun . ”


“Yes, yes . The good time is over . We couldn’t hold back such a small child forever, can we?”


Oops, that reminded me that I was invited to the banquet of the Advent of the royal family, and it said that it would take place all night long .


It seemed that aristocrats from different countries would gather, so I also had to dress in appropriate costume .


“Thank you very much for today, and I will come and visit tomorrow as soon as I have time to move freely . ”


“Well, see you next time~ . I will also show you the underground cemetery . ”


“Underground cemetery……, if you are going to sightseeing with a girl, there are many other places more appropriate . Good grief . ”


“Eh~? Is this room also appropriate to show to a girl?”


“Well, see you, Erica, I will choose a better place next time!”


While grinning, the self-proclaimed angel and devil were waving their hands .


After all, it seemed that religious relations were special .


Actually, I wanted to ask for sightseeing guide in the downtown, but I couldn’t say such selfish thing .


Leaving the cathedral, I whispered to Tirnanog stealthily around the area where the population became scarce .


“Thank you for being quiet for a long time, Tir . ”


『Ah . It’s an easy thing to do . You looked like you were having fun too . 』


“Yes, I enjoyed it . ”


When I finished the sightseeing tour of the cathedral with Angel-san, the outside was already sunset .


The red sun was being swallowed by the horizon .


Maybe during the festival, this hour would be crowded with people .


In the air that wrapped around the city, there was a scent peculiar to the evening that stimulated my hunger .


Well, if I ate something now, I would be troubled when I had to wear a dress .


While suffering, Tirnanog pulled the hem of my skirt .


『But, Erica . You must not be deceived by them . 』


“Hm, what is it?”


『That boy is not an angel, and that woman is not a devil . 』


“Well, I understand it as well, so it’s alright . ”


『Yes . That’s good . Erica is smart . 』


What was that .


I felt somewhat uncomfortable as if when I was told ‘Santa is not real’ I unexpectedly said ‘I know that . ’


I didn’t understand the intention of the advice in the first place, but I decided not to think about it deeply .


I went through a lively city along with Tirnanog and returned to the temporary residence of Duke of Aurelia .



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