I Was Reincarnated as a Commoner. I Can’t Stand Living Like This, so I’ll Become an Aristocrat! C104 Part2

 Side story: Shining Goddess Statue Part 1 (Alexis' point of view)

While I was working with Richard and the civil servants in my office as usual, a knight came in with an urgent message. Did something go wrong in the monster forest...?

“Your Majesty, I heard that a staff member from the central church has an urgent message to contact you, but is it okay for me to let you through?”

Isn't it a monster forest? However, an emergency call from a staff member of the central church is something that has never happened before. What the hell happened?

　I think it would be best to listen to him right away.

“Let it pass here.”

"I got it"

I don't know what happened, but I have a feeling it's going to be troublesome. Even though I have my hands full with the monster forest and the domestic situation, I don't want to hear about any more trouble. But my position is that I have to listen.

Sigh, I have to regain my strength.

“Richard, what do you think we’re talking about?”

“I don’t understand either, but when it comes to things that urgently need to be heard by His Majesty in the central church, the only thing that comes to mind is something related to the Goddess.”

"But, I wonder if there's any urgent communication about the Goddess...No way!! Was there an oracle?!"

I couldn't help but stand up. If I remember correctly, during the time when the apostle was here, there are records that there were several oracles from the goddess.

Leon-sama is here now. Maybe there really was an oracle...

"Your Majesty, please don't panic like that and sit down and wait. Staff from the Central Church will arrive soon. After listening to your story, we will discuss countermeasures. For now, there is no work that needs to be done right away. Let's finish our normal work today.''

"That's right. Thank you Richard. Well then, I'll leave the work I'm doing now until tomorrow. Please start cleaning up."

After I said that, the civil servants started cleaning up their work. I sit down in the chair again and wait for the central church staff to arrive.

After waiting for a while, the central church staff came when the civil servants had finished cleaning up most of the things.

“Your Majesty, I am very grateful to you for allowing me to visit you so suddenly.”

"Oh, so what happened?"

"Yes. Around 9 o'clock today, the statue of the goddess in the prayer room of the central church emitted a sacred light. There were three witnesses, all of them commoners. After the light subsided, the commoners who witnessed the incident reported this fact to the central church. She screamed in the reception hall, and all the people there rushed to the prayer room.And when many people gathered in the prayer room, the statue of the goddess started to emit light again.Now it was commoners who had heard the rumor. There are a lot of people pouring in. The resident knights are on duty to make sure no one touches the statue with a single finger.''

Wasn't it an oracle...but what does it mean that the goddess statue glows? 　

The prayer room and statue of the goddess in the central church are relics of the gods. It will never deteriorate, break, or get dirty. It can't possibly be a prank on someone. Thinking about it, I wonder if this is some kind of news from Goddess Micheline...?

I don't know the details, I don't know, but...the goddess has not abandoned this country or this world. That's all I understand.

Several hundred years have passed since the apostle created this country. Although she believed in the existence of the Goddess without hearing anything from her, deep down she could not deny the feeling that she had already been abandoned.

Because of this, especially in recent years, I have been acutely aware of the difficulty of continuing to follow the teachings of the Goddess and Apostle. More than half of the nobles have already lost their faith and are going against the teachings in order to increase their own rights. Now that the teachings of the Goddess and Apostle are starting to fade away, it is inevitable that forces that go against the teachings will appear.

This was a headache, but it was difficult to solve. If the royal family officially announced that it would uphold the teachings of the goddess and the apostle, there was a high possibility that a civil war would break out.

Up until now, it had been natural to follow the teachings, so I had not expressed my support for the teachings of the goddess and the apostle. I used that fact to my advantage and slowly dodged them, but...I had reached my limit.

A country where some people gain power and oppress others will eventually fall into ruin. Even with that in mind, it is impossible for a country to choose to go against the teachings.

If we spread the word about this event and spread the teachings of the Goddess and Apostles, our faith will increase again.

This might be a good opportunity to show the royal family's thoughts.

"I'm having a hard time reporting this. Is it still emitting light?"

"It was still shining when I left the central church."

"Understood. Please stand back as we will discuss our response. For now, let's dispatch a knight to settle the confusion."

"I'm sorry. Thank you very much. Now, please excuse me."

The staff of the central church has declined. First of all, we will need personnel to control the chaos. I told the knight who brought the staff.

"First, we will dispatch knights to the central church. For now, we will dispatch ten people from the First Knights. If that is not enough, please increase the number."

"I got it"

Next, we need to discuss what to do next... First, let's talk it over with Richard and decide how far we want to go.

"Richard, we will discuss future actions. Everyone else please stand back."

Richard and I were left alone in the office, and we sat facing each other on the sofa.

"I think this is some kind of news from the goddess. What do you think?"

"I agree with you. That statue of the goddess is a relic of the gods. It is impossible for humans to make it shine through mischief, so the fact that it was emitting divine light must have been done by the goddess herself. I don't know if it has any meaning, but if I had to think of things that come to mind, it would be the possibility of a major disaster, or something unusual happening in the monster forest.''

I understand what Richard is thinking. It's a message from the goddess. It must be a sign that something bad is going to happen...

If we knew what it was, we might be able to take countermeasures.

"There's a high possibility that it's a sign of something bad happening. However, if we don't know what's going on, it's difficult to take countermeasures. For now, should we increase the number of knights stationed in the monster forest?"

"It's not unusual for something like this to happen. I think we should take all possible precautions."

"Then, we will increase the number of knights stationed in the monster forest. The details will be decided at a later meeting with the knight commanders."

"That's a good idea. I'll make the arrangements."

There was a moment of silence. Richard is probably thinking the same thing.

"Richard, the goddess has not abandoned this country. I thought so when Leon-sama appeared to us, but there was still no solid proof that Leon-sama was an apostle. This event has convinced me. The goddess has returned to this country once again. And she has sent an apostle."

"Your Majesty...I believed that the Goddess has not abandoned this country. I am very happy to have that proven. Also, there is no doubt that Leon-sama is an apostle. However, since it's hidden from view, I think it's best to just pretend like you don't notice it as you have been doing up until now.''

"Let's continue as usual regarding Leon-sama. However, could you tell us about what happened this time?"

"I got it"

There's probably a reason why he's hiding it, but I hope this incident will be a trigger for something.

"Also, we will make this event widely known throughout the country. We also plan to spread the teachings of the Goddess and Apostle once again."

"That's...! So, does that mean the royal family supports our forces?"

“Ah, I will support the teachings of the goddess and the apostle and make sure to help each other with the commoners.If you are wielding power unreasonably, even the nobles will be held accountable, even if they are commoners.In the past, That's how it worked. At some point, it became a mere shell..."

"I respect His Majesty's decision.However, if things become too harsh all of a sudden, there is a risk that it will lead to a civil war.I think it would be better to make things tougher little by little."

"That's true... But even after receiving the news from the Goddess, who would still disobey it?"

If you are a noble, you should have learned not only the greatness of the apostle, but also the strength and fear of his power... though I don't think he would oppose you.

``When people are trying to enhance their rights, they are told the opposite, and I think there are very few people who will accept it.Furthermore, there are many people who won't be able to accept it unless they know the horror of it with their own eyes.'' Sho"

It is true that among the aristocrats, there are many who mistakenly believe that they are powerful beings who have been chosen because they are born with power.

Will it turn into a civil war even at this moment?

“Do you think that if the royal family supported the teachings of the goddess and the apostles, a civil war would be inevitable even at this moment?”

“No, if we are to make it tougher little by little at this moment, some nobles will change their powers, and other nobles will ostensibly comply.We will have to wait and see for a while. What happens next depends on His Majesty's skill."

If that's the case, it'll work out somehow. If a civil war soon breaks out, there will be no way to do anything, but if that doesn't happen, there are ways to do it. We must avoid a situation where a civil war occurs and the lives of innocent citizens are taken away at all costs.

The quickest way would be for Leon-sama to show his power as an apostle and lead the country...but we can't leave it up to others. I am the king of this country.

"In that case, it'll probably work out somehow. There are some excellent subjects, after all."

"Thank you for your time"

“Then, I would like to decide what to tell the people, but first, would you like to go see the goddess statue?”

"Are you going to see it...?"

Until just now, Richard had the face of an obedient subject, but his face suddenly collapsed and he looked as if he was stunned.

He shouldn't have made that face. If it turns out to be a sacred light, wouldn't you want to go see it?

“As the king of this country, you should see it once.”

"...It's certainly as you said. Let's make the arrangements."

Richard said that and called back the civil servants and escort knights who had left.

"His Majesty and I will now go to inspect the prayer room of the central church. It's urgent, but I'd like you to make arrangements."

"I got it"