Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

Volume 7 Chapter 1

The Holy Kingdom of Sura—the one and only religious state in this world. Of course, it may be a state, but it holds no particular land to itself, and instead it was the place in this world most highly regarded for its religious practices.

“And despite that, it looks like a regular city state. Or rather…a town. Doesn’t seem like one of the most important places in the world.” Seran mumbled to himself as he looked around the Holy Kingdom with mixed impressions.

“Don’t say stuff like that out loud, okay?” Kyle was conscious of the people around them and warned Seran with a faint voice, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

They were currently traveling down a path that connected to the Holy Kingdom, with the majority of people with them being on a pilgrimage. From their point of view, hearing this must be akin to having your worshiped place being insulted. That said, Seran most certainly was not in the wrong. The location they were gazing upon from a distance definitely didn’t seem like anything particularly outstanding. If there was one thing, it would be the large tower standing tall in the center. It had a sharp tip, almost resembling the shape of an animal horn. Then again, aesthetic tastes always differed depending on where you looked.

“So that’s the famous ‘Tower of Beginnings,’ huh?” Minagi uttered the name of the tower that was part of the myths related to the birth of the world.

According to such, this world originally consisted of utter nothingness before the gods appeared, who built this tower as a space for them to live in. From then on, the gods created the earth, spread the sky, gave birth to the sun, moon, and stars, and proceeded to fill the lands with humans and beastmen, animals, and other living beings, until they eventually created the demons…and that was what started this whole world. Finally, once they had accomplished their goals, they once again ascended from the tower and left.

Of course, the original legend was much longer and more complicated than that, but it was a brief summary of the world’s most prominent story. In that sense, the Tower of Beginnings was also seen as the institution that would eventually greet the gods once they had decided to descend once more. Any passionate follower of this religion would set their eyes on visiting this holy ground at least once. Around them weren’t just human pilgrims, but elves and dwarves, too. The sigils hanging from their necks belonged to the Goddess of Earth Cairys, the God of Commerce Maranai, or the God of Smithing Regane.

“But the fact that it was supposed to reach up to the heavens, it’s pretty…low, right?”

Once again, Seran knew exactly what to point out for it to hurt, but yet again he was correct in that assessment. The castle and towers of a regular city were probably taller than that.

“Apparently, you’re not allowed to build something taller than the tower. For that reason, they don’t have any walls, either.”

Of course, part of that was to make sure the tower would be easy to spot from the distance for the arriving pilgrims.

“Let alone walls, I heard they don’t even have any army or soldiers, right? Well, who would attack a religious state in the first place, I guess.”

In this day and age, it was virtually unthinkable that a town could exist with no walls whatsoever, but the divine status of Sura made it impossible to be invaded. Not even an Empire with the might of Galgan dared to make advances. In fact, even demons remained neutral to the place, which made it the safest place on the entire earth.

What a futile dream that was…Then again, no saving what can’t be saved.

Kyle grumbled in his mind but just shook his head to rid himself of the thought. In the original timeline he experienced, the Great Invasion caused by the demons even ravaged Sura in the end. He never learned the details of this event, but he could imagine the carnage considering it was unguarded and unprotected.

Guess you can’t count on the gods to help you when you need it the most…

Kyle once was a believer in Cairys, but after losing his parents and everyone he loved, he knew that even the gods couldn’t be trusted. In fact, he never once prayed to the gods in this second life he was given. Of course, he wouldn’t call it pointless by any means, but he decided that training even a second more would benefit him more greatly than going on his knees.

“Hm, that tower still hasn’t changed…Even though I had witnessed so much change since my days during the reign of Zaales. I guess this sight will remain the same even thousands and thousands of years from now on.”

The one who pulled Kyle out of his thoughts and back into reality was Shildonia with her comment as she gazed at the Tower of Beginnings. Thousands of years ago, humanity prospered. Back when the Magic Kingdom Zaales ruled the world. And since this was the one and only Magic King Shildonia saying that, she naturally must have known the tower.

“Ever since the beginning of history, this place has been a holy ground. Even with our knowledge of magic back in Zaales, we could never understand the secrets of the tower, so we eventually had to give up and accept it was the gods’ doing. That’s why even back then we judged that attacking Sura was not something acceptable. Unless the whole world burns, this place will remain.”

“Sure sounds ominous…” Kyle grumbled as he listened to Shildonia throw around casual prophecies.

But of course, nobody would believe in such a thing, so it remained at that level. In that sense, even the Goddess Mera who reproached any races other than humans found its own followers and was accepted. Since Urza, an elf, would be in danger in a place like that, it made sense for her to be nervous.

“It’s fine. They might allow followers to enter the town, but that doesn’t allow them to commit any crimes. In fact, nobody would do such a thing in a holy place. They are very strict when it comes to honoring the gods.”

“I see…Then I shall visit a temple for the Goddess Moona.”

Kyle’s explanation allowed Urza to feel more relaxed, so she brought up the name of the Goddess watching over spirits, the moon, and the elves. She was a devoted follower of such, so she must appreciate this chance to visit the holy land.

“But why did Leyla-san tell you to come here?” Lieze asked with a worried tone.

The one person who urged them to come to Sura was none other than Seran’s foster mother, as well as Kyle’s teacher. In the same sense, Leyla was like a second family for Lieze, so learning that she might end up their enemy made her wish this was just some awful joke by Kyle. But now that she knew it was the truth, she wondered what Leyla’s intentions were, but she couldn’t hope to understand.

“As for that…we’ll have to ask the person herself.”

“?! Yeah, I guess so…”

Kyle commented with a low tone as he gazed over at Sura, to which Seran narrowed his eyes all the same. Far in the distance, thanks to their trained eyesight, they spotted a certain individual waiting for them at the entrance of the town. Undoubtedly, this was Leyla.

“Can’t believe she actually came out here to greet us. Well, she’s not the type to adhere to secrecy.” Seran flashed a confident grin.

“Wh-What do we do now?” Lieze clearly didn’t expect to run into the person in question this early, not prepared at all.

“What else can we do…but go meet with her?”

Since they had picked up on her being present, the same must be the case for the other side, so trying to hide this late into the game was futile.

“That’s how it is. Can’t back down now.” Seran started speeding up his walking pace, with Lieze reluctantly following after him, the others right behind her.

“Seems like things will get rather chaotic…I still can’t believe I’d come here again.”

Kyle followed at the end of the group as he gazed up at the sky. Grumbling these words, he picked up the pace as they approached the Tower of Beginnings.