C91
At the moment I recognized that voice, a strange sensation of floating invaded me. The feeling of floating alone in a place where you can't clearly distinguish up, down, front, and back.
"Ethel?"
Then a call drew me in.
Immediately, my consciousness cleared, and my eyes opened.
"Ethel."
By my side, Terence examined me with a concerned expression.
"...Tay?"
"Are you okay? Because the prayer time seems to be taking too long."
"Ah, I just heard a strange voice..."
"A strange voice?"
"You didn't hear it? A voice saying, 'finally, you're here.'"
Terence shook his head.
"I didn't hear it."
I looked around. Besides us, there were a couple of other people in the temple, but no one seemed to have come to talk to me while I was praying.
What was that voice earlier? Just a hallucination? But it seemed clear enough to be said. Then the statue of the Goddess Miella appeared.
"Could it be a revelation from the Goddess?"
After asking Terence for understanding, I clasped my hands and prayed as before.
The content of the prayer was the same as before. But nothing happened, let alone a revelation.
Miella. I thought about God. After reading it as a novel, I know that God exists in this world.
The main character, Liena, has been blessed by the goddess, and there is a scene where she comes face to face with the goddess at the end of the novel.
"Probably the entity that transmigrated me to this world."
I had already guessed that the goddess had sent me here based on the fact that my ability was similar to Liena's ability to almost completely revive memories before regression.
However, since I transmigrated, I never felt the presence of the goddess.
When I was bored, I tried to talk to the goddess in my mind several times, but there was no response.
First of all, even if my original ability was indeed given by Miella, it was only a half-blessing.
Because, unlike Liena, I didn't have the mysterious ability to enchant people.
"What if we go back?"
Terence, who still seemed worried, said to me.
"Enough of walking. I think it would be better to go inside and rest."
He seemed to think I was hallucinating because I wasn't in good condition. It was hard for me to say otherwise.
"You haven't been able to sleep well these days."
In the past, I stayed up all night thinking about Iver Guild's specific tax evasion method, and these days, I have trouble sleeping due to the pressure of having to appease Elliot.
But it's a shame to go back like this.
"I'm in a good mood. Let's walk a little more."
"Just now..."
"I'm fine! It's been a long time since Tay took a break, so it's a shame to have to go back like this."
"If that's what you want, I'll be happy to do it."
So we headed to the temple exit for a walk. Finally, I focused my attention on the Goddess Statue.
Perhaps due to my feelings, the face of the goddess looking gently down seemed as if it had something to tell me.
I thought I should come back here before leaving the empire. Does she know something? Will I hear that mysterious voice again?
After leaving the temple, we walked through the Wandering Forest. Terence explained why the Wandering Forest is called that.
"I mentioned before that there is a legend that a goddess sleeps in this forest, right? According to the legend, the forest has mysterious powers, maybe because it is where the goddess sleeps."
"What kind of power is it?"
"It's the force that attracts wanderers who roam the world aimlessly. It is said that the goddess calls them to embrace them."
"She's a merciful person."
"Well. People often say that, but my opinion is a bit different."
"I really want to hear that opinion."
Terence smiled briefly and then continued.
"It was mainly written about legends that showed a benevolent side by humans. In fact, some of the less famous legends describe the goddess as a being that inflicts irrational violence on humans or enjoys watching humans fight between themselves."
"Well. I gained new knowledge."
"Also, there is no law that says Miella is necessarily a goddess. According to some legends, male gods or animal gods appear to people... Why are you smiling?"
"Well, I thought Tay's excited explanation was childish."
"Oh, I guess I got too caught up while talking."
"No no. It looks good. But I didn't know Tay knew so much about the goddess legend. I suppose you really like those things?"
"I like it, but I heard it a lot from my mother when I was young. She was someone who enjoyed things like ancient stories."