My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C185

Episode 185: Expansion of war

"Hurry and leave? Not this city, but this country?"

I couldn't help but ask again, and the man named Birds, who seemed to be an executive of the Jibelius Adventurer's Guild, nodded with pity. 

"Yes, you should leave this Kingdom of Algol as soon as possible. Yesterday, there was a decree that His Majesty the King had converted to the Isnef religion."

I could feel Lucien and Butch gasping. 

"Uh, what do you mean? What about the king's conversion and us..."

“Has there already been an edict to exclude demi-humans?”

Lucien asked Birds a question from behind me, who was not getting the point. 

"Ah, ah. That's right, you seem to understand. Immediately after the proclamation of conversion, policies were announced to ban demi-humans from public office, ban them from living in the royal capital and other designated areas, and differentiate the tax system. is"

　What!? ? 

"Shiro, the Isnef religion does not recognize demi-humans as equals to humans."

Lucien looked at me with a serious expression. Sure, I've heard something like that before, but isn't it too extreme? 

“The fact that the king converted to Isnefism means that Isnefism will effectively become the state religion in this country, and other religions will not be allowed to practice at all.This is a country where the royal power is strong.And now, Even if there are still certain restrictions on rights, things like this will become radicalized when it spreads to the masses, so they could soon start attacking demi-humans just by seeing them.''

“I never expected it to go that far.”

"I don't think so, either. I've heard that it's actually Ishtar."

Lucien and Butch seem to think that their lives are in real danger. 

"I think I have that concern too. The Adventurer's Guild doesn't discriminate, but in recent years in Japan, attacks on demi-human homes that appear to be by Isnefists have become rare. As an Algolian, I'm embarrassed, but if possible, I'd do it today. I think it would be a good idea to head for the neighboring Meurone tomorrow, because it's a very enlightened country, and I don't like that it's too swanky, but it's a highly cultured country...''

At that time, the young employee who had first called out to us called out again. 

"Chief Byrds! It's a big deal. I'm sending an emergency message via magic communication. This time it's a declaration of war!"

“What? A declaration of war? Where did it come from?”

“That seems to be the case between us and Ispata against Adan.”

“Huh!?”

Apparently, a report came from the royal capital that Algol and Ispata had jointly declared war against Adan, who could be called the leader of the city-states. 

“Adan and Ispata have been on good terms for a long time, and I don’t understand why, but why is Algol there?”

Butch, who is knowledgeable about the military, is scratching his head. 

"Didn't Katerra condemn Algol's edict to exclude demi-humans?"

"That's right, why..."

The young staff member expressed surprise at Lucien's point. 

"I see. It's a religious war, isn't it?"

It seemed like Birds understood the composition that Lucien had in mind. 

Historically, the Kingdom of Algol has had friendly relations with Katerra, a sacred place of polytheism that is widely believed on this continent. 

However, the king of Algol suddenly switched to the newly emerging monotheistic Isnef religion, which could be called the natural enemy of the Katerra pantheon, and began to discriminate against demi-humans, who are proclaimed to be equal in polytheistic religions. 

In response to this, Katerra naturally issued a statement condemning it. 

And Adan, who had more zealous believers in polytheism than Algol, supported Katerra and took the position of criticizing Algol together. 

On the other hand, Ispata, a rival city that competes with Adan for the leadership of the city-states, has been a country where the Isnef religion has been popular for a long time, and is practically a state religion. 

Therefore, Ispata has formed an alliance with the great power Algol, and is trying to use this opportunity to attack Adan and take over as the leader of the city-state. 

"What should we do?"

"It's still difficult for ships to return east by sea at this time of year. The west winds won't get stronger until next month."

What Butch and Maggie are discussing is that with the war spreading this far, it might be best to return to Parthea. 

“I think it would be best to head to Meulone by land, as Mr. Birds recommended.”

Lucien, who is well-travelled, seems to be in favor of going to Meurone. 

"Meulone is a country far from discrimination against demi-humans, and it's also a neighboring country to Garis."

Maggie and Butch were also taken aback by Lucien's next line. 

"That's right, in case of an emergency, I'll go to Garis's consulate, huh?"

I remembered Behanam's instructions. That's right, in case of an emergency, I was told to board the mobile ship that was secretly being built in Garis and return home. 

We hurriedly reported the results of the fishing boat escort quest and asked them to contact the fishing cooperative via the guild. 

I can't talk about Canarilla, so the story is about how she was thrown into the sea by the Umibozu and drifted, but somehow managed to find her way back home using magic. 

The reason why it went through so easily was because the adventurer's guild had already received a consistent report from the head of the fishermen's association, Bonde, who requested the quest. 

The Fishermen's Association agreed with the Guild that the escort mission had been accomplished to the bare minimum, as the dangerous sea areas had been identified and the monsters responsible had been discovered, and there were no casualties among the fishermen. Daily allowances and condolence money were paid to us victims. 

So I only received one day's allowance and had the condolence money returned to me by the guild. 

Well, it was definitely a job that wasn't worth it. 

And so, we hurriedly departed from the city of Giberias. 

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

"May you and those close to you rest in peace..."

We joined hands as Lucien prayed. 

Leaving the inland gate of the castle city of Giberias, on the main road heading towards Meulone, just a little further into the mountains are Marletta, an ancient lady who has been turned into a ghost ship, Maretta Cyril Crenor and the Marquis of Crenor. There was the remains of my family's mansion. 

Although I was in a hurry to move on, I decided to stop by, thinking that it was some kind of coincidence that I only needed to take a short detour. 

I placed the flowers that Lucien and Carmilla had piled up in the forest on the site where only a few cornerstones can now be seen in the grass, and as I prayed silently for a while, a faint breeze blew and I heard a whisper. I felt it. 

"I'm sure she went to heaven, with her unborn baby."

Nolte said with a beaming face. Yeah, that's right. 

We boarded a small covered wagon pulled by normal horses, not unicorns. 

At the horse and harness store introduced to me by the Adventurer's Guild, I asked Nolte, who has coachmanship skills, and Lucien, who can communicate with animals, to choose horses, and I bought them along with a used covered wagon. 

Because I was in such a hurry and was so reckless in buying something that I could buy right away, I ended up spending 20 small gold coins including the horse, even though it was a pretty dilapidated carriage, but I still can't get enough of it. 

If they were in a covered wagon, they wouldn't be able to see Butch or Lucien once they were inside, and Nolte, who was sitting on the coachman's stand, could be pushed through as a ``small human boy'' by tucking his hair into his hat. 

After a hectic stay, we left Giberias, the Kingdom of Algol on the western tip of the continent, and headed northeast along the Western Road, which has a history of nearly 300 years, to the neighboring Kingdom of Meulone. 

Giberias is on the western edge of Algol, so it's a long road to the border with Meulone. 

After learning from Nolte, we were able to change the driver little by little, and by the way, I was able to use my horse riding skills to ride not only horses but also horses. 

In some of the towns we passed through, there was a clear trend of discrimination against demi-humans, and in other areas, there was no such thing and people were confused by the king's sudden change of heart. 

However, once he was refused accommodation at an inn as soon as it was discovered that he was accompanied by a demi-human, and once he was asked to stay in his room ``to avoid trouble with other guests.''

Furthermore, he was once stoned while shopping in the city. Fortunately, no one was injured. 

And, the rest of the time was camp, but as promised, we were attacked by monsters or thieves every night. 

However, the monsters were only orcs or kobolds, and the thieves were only small-scale bandits, about ten at most, so the trip didn't feel too dangerous for us at the moment. In fact, it was mentally tougher when people in the city who I didn't think of as my enemy suddenly threw stones at me, so I might have been more comfortable camping. 

The horse I bought in a hurry was an ordinary stallion, but he had an obedient temperament, was easy to handle, and seemed to have more strength than I expected, and he silently pulled the covered wagon carrying six of us. 

Of course, there were cheats, such as using magic to recover your physical strength and supporting the slopes with gravity control. 

Nolte has become very fond of her and has named her "Dosha". It doesn't have a twist, but it seems to mean something like "hard worker."

The journey itself went smoothly, as there was no heavy burden and we hurried ahead as a group of adventurers only. 

Although the road in the mountainous area of ​​the border was quite steep, seven days later, on the 9th day of the last quarter, we crossed the border between Algol and Meulone, which was established at a pass in the Palena Mountains. 

　Mewron Kingdom. 

It is said that a hero who fought against the Demon King appeared in this area 200 years ago, and it is said to be the continent's foremost country of art and culture.