Chapter 7

“Offering fish to the gods. The gods like fish, you know!”

“Musha, are you talking about the goddess Leira?”

“Yes, it’s Lady Leira! Lady Leira loves fish, so the king promised to give her fish!”

As soon as Musha said that the king promised to offer fish to the goddess Leira, the people in the outdoor cafeteria began to murmur.

“What is this kid saying? It’s customary to offer crystals and swords to the goddess Leira!”

“Hey! Don’t get worked up over what a child is saying!”

A cook named Donana scolded an old man sitting a bit away from Musha, who looked mean-spirited. He was defending Musha. Perhaps scared of being scolded by the old man, Musha trembled slightly.

“Don’t worry, Musha-chan. Your big sister is here for you.”

Diar patted Musha’s head to calm her down. Trusting Diar, Musha clung closely to her and opened her mouth again.

“It’s true, you know? Lady Leira loves fish, and the king is the one who gives her fish!”

“I see, so the goddess Leira likes fish. Well, it certainly sounds tastier than eating swords or crystals. Fish seems to be rare, so perhaps only the king can prepare a lot of it. Hmm, there are some discrepancies with the information I gathered in Ednail, but… this child doesn’t seem to be lying. She doesn’t even seem to have the concept of lying, to begin with.”

“Hey, hey, Jan. Are you saying what Musha is saying might be correct? This kid is a sinner, you know? If you, an outsider, say such things, the royal family will take notice!”

The fisherman, Goston, looked at me with concern. He wasn’t directing hostility at Musha; he seemed to be genuinely worried about me. The others around him had similar expressions. It didn’t seem like many were angry at someone mocking the royal family.

Is the royal family’s reign not going well? Or are there simply no loyal subjects? If that’s the case, it’s less about whether Musha is right and more about fearing the power of the royal family if one were to support her… Well, normally, one wouldn’t want to get involved in trouble.

“I don’t want to attract attention, but that doesn’t mean Musha is wrong. That’s one thing, and this is another. Hey, Musha, I understand that the goddess, Lady Leira, likes fish. But how do you know that? Who told you?”

“Eh? Lady Leira is saying it. Can’t you all hear her?”

Musha looked around at the faces of the people. But as if in sync with her gaze, they turned their eyes away from Musha. She was being treated like a complete weirdo.

“Hey, Jan, I told you, this kid is just—”

“—Musha might be a ‘shrine maiden.'”

“Huh…?”

“Come on, this outsider can’t be serious…”

As soon as I suggested that Musha might be a shrine maiden, the murmurs around us grew louder. The fact that talking about shrine maidens caused this commotion meant…

“It seems that there aren’t any shrine maidens who can hear the voice of the gods in Ednail right now. In other regions, shrine maidens are quite common; there is at least one in the city’s temple, and in some places, there can be about five. These shrine maidens connect with the gods they resonate with, can hear their voices, and interpret their will. So, when did Ednail stop having shrine maidens?”

“Huh? Isn’t it because they don’t need shrine maidens anymore? There haven’t been any for hundreds of years. You’re just an outsider who doesn’t know the traditions of other regions!”

“There haven’t been any shrine maidens for hundreds of years!? That’s surprising; thank you for your answer, elder.”

The earlier mean-spirited old man responded. If it’s true that there haven’t been any shrine maidens for hundreds of years, something might have happened in Ednail around that time.

“Shrine maidens actually possess the power to hear the voice of the gods, and that is a real ability. I’ve been traveling the world, and I’ve seen the power of shrine maidens many times. There have been instances where their advice saved my life. For example, when I was trying to pass through the Sloeze Great Forest, I was able to avoid a bottomless swamp thanks to the advice of a shrine maiden. In the dense vines where the ground was invisible, you can’t tell where the swamp is. If you look around, you can see adventurers who have been trapped in the swamp and turned to corpses. But I was able to safely pass through the Sloeze Great Forest with the guidance of a shrine maiden.”

The atmosphere Musha radiarted was somewhat similar to the shrine maidens I had met during my travels. My reasoning might be weak, but shrine maidens have a distinct appearance. Their gaze is straight, with a depth that seems to see right to the bottom of the soul.

Musha, to put it bluntly, doesn’t appear very smart. She seems to have a lower intellectual and emotional maturity than her apparent age. However, it’s precisely because she possesses such a deep gaze that my intuition whispers to me that she might be a shrine maiden.

“But, Jan, just because of that doesn’t mean Musha is a shrine maiden, right…? There haven’t been any shrine maidens in Ednail for hundreds of years.”

“Sepia, that only means there haven’t been any recognized shrine maidens in Ednail for hundreds of years. Even if there isn’t an official shrine maiden, it wouldn’t be strange if someone with the potential exists. Normally, shrine maidens blossom their abilities through rigorous training. In Ednail, where the culture of shrine maidens has been lost, proper training is impossible, and the techniques for recognizing potential have likely been lost too. However, if she can hear the voice of the gods so clearly without any training in Ednail… then Musha’s talent as a shrine maiden might be something that appears once every few hundred years.”

The way people looked at Musha changed slightly. Although they were half skeptical, they were listening to my words more than I had expected.

“Alright, Musha, I’ll give you a fish. Since the king offers fish to the gods, he must be looking for them too.”

“Really!? You’re giving me fish!? Thank you, big brother!”

I handed Musha a fish. She looked quite happy… huh?

“W-what? sniffle, hiccup…“

Is Musha crying? Was she that happy?

“Thank you, big brother. Everyone didn’t believe what Musha said, so Musha thought she was weird, like everyone said.”

“Musha-chan…”

Diar hugged Musha. I also patted Musha’s head. That’s right… if she is a shrine maiden, she must have a high sensitivity. There’s no way she wouldn’t understand how people see her. If, despite being gossiped about and not believed by anyone, she still tried to stay true to herself without hating others… she’s a good child. I can only hope her life turns around for the better.

The people who had looked at Musha with disdain seemed to feel sympathy upon hearing her inner thoughts. Even if they couldn’t believe her, they could see she was a pitiful child. It’s a relief; even if there are misunderstandings, not everyone is a bad person.

“Hey, Musha! Where are you? We need to head back soon, so come out!”

A loud voice echoed through the street where the outdoor cafeteria was located. It was the voice of a young man searching for Musha.

“Ah! It’s Harupon big brother! Musha is here!”

“Ah, Musha! So you were here! Come on, it’s time to head back. If I take my eyes off you for just a moment, you wander off somewhere. Huh? Did you already have your meal here?”

Musha loudly replied to the voice calling for her, and a young man clad in light armor ran over. He seemed a bit out of breath. He was probably a soldier or someone like that.

“Yeah! I ate shark lizard oil grilled with Jan big brother, Dia big sister, and the fisherman uncle, and Sepia-san! It was super delicious, you know? If you try it, Harupon big brother, you’ll be surprised! Have you ever had it?”

“Huh? Is that so? Well then, maybe I’ll try it next time. Musha, you’re in a good mood today. Thank you all very much. It’s been a while since Musha has shown such a bright expression.”

“Um, who are you exactly…?”

“Oh, um, I’m Harupon, Harupon Nairudoppo. As a soldier serving the royal family, I’m currently the guard in charge of Musha’s cell.”

“Eh? A guard? A cell…? Wait a minute, huh? Now that I think about it, Musha is a criminal, right…? So, is Musha in jail?”

“Yeah! That’s right!”

Musha answered cheerfully.

“Musha often escapes from prison. She broke out again today, but I’m always the one who brings her back to the cell like this. Actually, Musha and I are acquaintances, so she tends to listen to what I say, which is why I was assigned as the guard to bring her back.”

“Eh, ehhh…!?”

So Musha isn’t just a former criminal but is currently a criminal and has been locked up… No wonder everyone’s reaction is so subdued… But, what is this Harupon guard? He seems strangely kind. It seems he already knows Musha, but still… he doesn’t really feel like a guard at all.