Using Gacha to Increase My Companions and to Create the Strongest Girls' Army Corps
Chapter 168
While traveling, we engaged in light conversation with Irina-san and her companions, learning about their daily life at the temple and their devotion to Testudo-sama. The followers of Testudo-sama at the temple dedicate several times a day for prayers at designated hours. They seem to have strict guidelines about what is forbidden, although I didn't catch all the details. Understandably, as a group of clergy-like individuals, they appear to take their duties very seriously. Even during this journey, though brief, they prayed multiple times due to the urgency of the situation. Unlike the "cleric" in our party, these folks genuinely overflow with devoutness.
…Though, in a way, even Sisya seems to be filled with some sort of "faith."
However, for ordinary believers, their practices seem more relaxed, requiring only prayers of gratitude. Given that Testudo-sama’s blessings help keep monsters at bay and bring abundant catches from the sea, many people naturally become faithful, which, in turn, sustains the temple. Fishermen, for instance, bring their first catch of the day to the temple. It seems the people of Sevarya frequently visit the temple, maintaining a good relationship despite its religious nature. The presence of a guardian deity is also officially recognized by the country, providing a certain level of backing. If time permits and it isn't urgent, they can even request support from the military or a knight order.
It seems Testudo-sama is a recognized entity in this nation more than I initially thought. I wonder if there are similar guardian deities in other regions...
We were also invited to join their faith, but I gave a vague answer to dodge the topic. Considering the current situation with the shrine, there's a lingering fear that some divine punishment might befall us. I hope our cooperation will earn us some leniency. Irina-san, in particular, seemed to have a deep interest in Sisya, earnestly discussing faith, but their conversations often missed the mark.
With that, we spent three days riding on the back of the giant ray, finally reaching our destination.
“Everyone, please be careful as you disembark.”
Dara slowly descended, and we stepped onto solid ground. No monsters bothered us; we simply flew over mountains and rough terrain. The magic carpet was already incredibly convenient, but now I feel the desire for a flying transport of my own…
“Thank you, Dara. We’ll need you again later, so please wait for us,” Irina-san said, patting Dara, who responded with a gentle wave of its pectoral fins before flying back into the sky. It seems Irina-san is the only one able to communicate with this creature, as the other temple members just watched silently.
With these thoughts in mind, I began to survey the area where the shrine was supposedly located. Unlike the previous shrine we found perched on a cliff, this place is at the edge of a forest adjacent to the coastline. From the sky, we saw lush, dense mountains with significant elevation changes—like a jungle.
“...There’s supposed to be a shrine here?”
“If you were searching for the first time, it’d be hard to find,” Noru said.
“The shrine we found before was in a visible location; this is quite a difference,” Estel added.
Since it’s called a shrine, I assumed it would be in a more obvious location like the last one we found. Even if someone says there’s a shrine here, I find it hard to believe… or imagine finding it. And in the process of searching, we might just fall off a cliff into the sea.
“To ensure Testudo-sama’s watchful presence, some shrines are placed in easily noticeable locations. However, only a select few who serve him know the precise locations of all the shrines,” Irina-san explained.
“That makes sense. People might want to offer prayers to their guardian deity while outside the city, too,” Sisya said.
“Yes, I believe that’s one of the reasons they were placed here long ago,” Irina-san replied.
Sisya seemed to understand such matters well, nodding along with her explanation. It appears the shrines aren’t just for protecting the area around Sevarya; they serve other purposes too. Placing them in prominent locations across the land could also help gather faith. Now that we’re at our intended destination, it’s time to plan our next move…
“By the way, miss, does it happen often for shrines like this to lose their power? If there are some in obvious places, don’t they get tampered with?” Estel suddenly asked, resting a hand on her cheek.
“No, that rarely happens. Occasionally, the power might weaken, but I have never seen it completely lost in all my years of service. As for tampering, people might touch the shrines out of curiosity, but a barrier is in place, so unless someone uses very powerful magic, they can’t do much more,” Irina-san answered.
“So this incident is quite unusual, then? It’s not just that the power is gone, but it’s hidden away. If someone’s responsible, they went out of their way to find it,” Estel said, with a playful smile.
“That might be the case…”
Irina-san avoided eye contact, her expression turning complicated. If Estel is going out of her way to ask, then something’s up. Indeed, from what I’ve heard, if someone had caused damage, why pick a shrine in such a hard-to-find place? They could have targeted the more accessible shrine on the cliff. Maybe the shrine’s location was a factor, but looking at Irina-san’s reaction, it seems unlikely.
“One more thing—was this shrine particularly important? Let’s say if this shrine stops functioning completely, would something terrible happen?” Estel continued, maintaining her sweet smile.
At this, Irina-san widened her eyes in surprise. Estel… could it be she already knew…? No, that’s unlikely. She’s probably bluffing. Yet, the current reaction tells us enough: there’s definitely something significant about this shrine we weren’t aware of. Observing silently, I saw Irina-san sigh in resignation.
“...Actually, the shrine we’re heading to plays a crucial role among the shrines around Sevarya.”
“Oh, so that’s why you were so desperate to find a guard at the guild. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“We didn’t want this information to become known outside our circle.”
“Oh, so you didn’t trust us, how sad,” Estel teased.
“N-no, that wasn’t my intention…!”
“Hehe, I’m just kidding. Everyone has things they can’t talk about, even with people they trust.”
Though Estel’s smile remained, it must have been intimidating because Irina-san and the other temple members were trembling, their faces turning pale. Estel truly has an uncanny knack. I fear there might be things she knows about me but keeps quiet about. Better watch her behavior more closely in the future… It's a bit unsettling.
“Well then, what’s this important role?” I asked.
“This shrine serves as a relay point connecting the main temple with other shrines in the area. If the power here were completely lost, all the shrines around Sevarya would lose their power as well. For that reason, this shrine has a particularly strong barrier and even houses a piece of Testudo-sama himself,” Irina-san explained.
“So that object in the temple was stored in this shrine?” Noru exclaimed.
They used a piece of the guardian deity’s body to connect it to the temple’s sacred object?! And if this shrine were to fail, it would take down all the others… this is a dire situation. Without the guardian deity’s protection, monsters might start flooding into the Sevarya region. The sense of urgency back at the guild makes much more sense now. It's hard to imagine such a heavily guarded shrine losing its power naturally—Diabolos’ involvement seems more likely. And if the barrier was breached, it wasn’t a solo job.
“If they did this deliberately, we’re dealing with a formidable foe…”
“Indeed. If they weakened the shrine’s power and anticipated our arrival, we should proceed cautiously from here,” Estel warned.
I was already on guard, but this situation seems far more dangerous than I anticipated. There could be traps in this forest ahead. I’ve discreetly dropped the beacons from the air to summon Runa and the others if necessary. I notified them of our estimated arrival time, but… I hope Runa isn’t asleep or anything…