The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 543

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 543   The secret of the prayer room

・Canon

“Please take a rest for a while. Try not to go outside the church too much. Right now, it’s applicable to the entire church, but especially those with conspicuous positions like holy maiden and heroes are more likely to be targeted.”

“…Yes.”

Although His Holiness’s words were gentle, it practically amounted to a suspension.

But I don’t have the strength to resist it now. Besides, even if I were to oppose it here, there’s nothing I can do.

I can’t go outside, and apart from the Cardinal, other high-ranking priests are all sly. They either want to push me down or try to use me, so if I get involved now, I might not achieve anything and could even obstruct His Holiness.

So, for now, all I can do is stay quiet. At most, I can select information to prevent the hero from defecting or hinder unnecessary meddling.

…No, maybe I should focus on that. Not only because there’s nothing I can do, but also because I’m concerned about the change in his attitude since he went to where the remains of the Sacred Tree were.

Most likely, he heard about what happened there in the past or learned about the elf’s usage. Apparently, he had an acquaintance who worked as a slave in the church before, and he asked where that person went.

I brushed off the matter and told the hero the next day that the elves had fled due to an attack.

As evidence, I had part of the church destroyed quietly overnight to make it look like there had been an assault.

Although he reluctantly accepted it for the time being, he probably doesn’t fully believe it.

Because of that, I ended up being delayed in heading to the Demon King’s assembly, and our response fell behind.

So, now I should focus on taking care of the hero.

Most mental interference skills are usually deflected by the hero, but if I slowly introduce them with pure potions and women…

Even though it’s not a skill but a potion, if the effect on the hero diminishes and he feel uncomfortable, he might become suspicious, so ideally, I didn’t want to do it. Besides, even without doing such things, the hero remained a ‘hero’. So there was no need to do it.

However, in the current situation, I can’t afford to say that. If the “Apostle of God, the hero” were to defect from the church here, the damage would be so severe that it cannot be expressed in words.

With those thoughts in mind, I left His Holiness’s office and started walking towards the chapel.

The office… to be honest, I don’t really like that room.

How should I put it… it’s extremely exhausting. When I offer prayers in that room, I feel a fatigue similar to using skills, so I don’t really want to go there often.

Even though I need to go there frequently to act as the Holy Maiden, if there’s no need for it, I wouldn’t go.

If praying to God means also dedicating my power to God, then I can understand, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.

Am I special? Is that why I get tired when I pray to God?

…But still, it feels strange.

In the first place, what kind of existence is the God we believe in?

I’m not the hero, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious about it.

I’m not doubting the existence of God. I’m not doubting the ideals of the church. What I’ve been taught since childhood cannot be a lie. After all, I’ve been able to rise to this position by living according to those teachings. I am happy. Although there are some problems now, it’s because the unnecessary element of the Demon King has been mixed in; otherwise, I would still have been able to live as a Holy Maiden without any change.

So there’s no mistake in the teachings of the church, it’s just that I felt a slight discomfort, like a small thorn.

And while thinking about such things, I arrived near the chapel and made eye contact with someone coming out of it.

That person was a high-ranking clergyman belonging to the church, but I also often see high-ranking nobles among them.

However, I always wonder why those people go to that room. They aren’t the kind of people who would offer prayers to God, are they?

Even though they are like that, could it be that the occasional disdainful looks they give me are because they see me as beneath them?

…How absurd.

As I walked, another person came out of the chapel.

“Oh, it’s the Holy Maiden. Long time no see.”

The woman who came out of the chapel smiled slyly as she approached me and greeted me.

I know this woman. But as the “Holy Maiden,” I don’t know her.

“Nice to meet you. And who might you be?”

That’s why my greeting is like this.

Upon hearing my words, the woman, who was supposedly meeting me for the first time, twitched her cheek slightly.

“…Ah, my apologies. Indeed, it’s our first meeting as ‘Holy Maiden-sama.’ I am Lui, leading the Order of Saints under Cardinal Dranges. I would be grateful if we could get acquainted from now on.”

The Order of Saints, huh. Even though they belong to the church, they are not under the jurisdiction of His Holiness, the Pope, a group gathering those who failed to become saints.

But… something seems off about this.

I attained the position of saint through hard work. This woman was my competitor at the time. Certainly, she had her own strength, but she was still nothing more than someone who couldn’t become a saint.

That means she should be weaker than me.

Of course, in my case, the reason I was chosen is also because I have both “Light Magic” and “Healing Magic,” so it’s entirely possible that in terms of pure strength alone, I’m inferior. However, even considering that, the difference in power is too great. To feel such a sense of intimidation from her, who should be at most equal to me, and to feel awe in the face of that pressure…

Has she trained since then? No, that’s impossible. It’s not that she couldn’t have trained; it’s just not something that’s likely. But even so, since she wasn’t chosen as a saint and joined the Order of Saints, she must have had some responsibilities. We received rough reports on the activities of each squad, so it’s unlikely that she would have been able to train without doing any work.

So, why do I feel such power from her?

“Hehe, what’s wrong, Holy Maiden-sama?”

Perhaps sensing my confusion as I looked at the hand she extended along with her greeting, the woman in front of me smirked lewdly.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I might just be a bit spaced out. …I’m Canon, the saint. Nice to meet you.”

However, determined not to show any weakness, I took the hand she offered and shook it. But…

“Ah…!”

As we shook hands, she exerted force in her grip.

It’s a classic move, effective in indicating superiority, but it caused pain in my hand.

I almost cried out from the pain I felt, but I couldn’t afford such a display of weakness.

With a forced smile, I pretended to overlook it.

“Well then, I have something to attend to, so I’ll take my leave here, Holy Maiden-sama.”

But as if seeing through my facade, Lui released my hand with a triumphant smile and left the scene.

“What in the world…”

Muttering to myself, I glared at Lui’s departing figure, then shifted my gaze to my right hand, which had been shaking hands just moments ago.

“Ah!”

Focusing on my right hand, I applied a slight pressure, and instantly, pain shot through it.

Most likely, this pain indicated that there was a crack in the bones of my hand.

If my memory serves me right, she was chosen as a saint candidate because she’s a “Healing Mage.” I’m not sure about her secondary occupation, but even so, she shouldn’t have been able to exert such force.

Yet, in reality, she had cracked the bones in my hand. And not through punching or kicking, but simply through shaking hands.

There didn’t seem to be any indication of her using skills, so it appeared to be purely her physical abilities.

However, it was still hard to believe.

When she was a saint candidate, she didn’t possess such strength. Otherwise, even if my primary and secondary occupations as “Saint” were ideal, she wouldn’t have been chosen as a saint.

Come to think of it, she also came out of the chapel. Despite claiming to have work, did she really have time to pray here?

Of course, there’s the possibility that it was just a sarcastic remark or a jab at me. But I couldn’t shake off the feeling of curiosity. Is there something in this chapel that I don’t know about?

The idea of suddenly gaining strength just by praying? That’s absurd…

“…No way. No, that’s impossible.”

As I applied healing to my own hand, I recalled the bandits who attacked us on the way to the Sacred Tree the other day, claiming they could suddenly gain strength.

That was indeed a case of “suddenly gaining strength.” Though, their form had become non-human, the fact that they gained strength remained the same.

But it’s not the same as that. It’s impossible. That couldn’t happen. After all, that was the power of a curse. It wasn’t the power of the god we worship, but the power of an evil god.

In other words, it would mean that one could receive the power of an evil god in this church. It would mean that the entity we worship as a god—

…No, it’s disrespectful to entertain such thoughts, isn’t it? A saint shouldn’t think about such things.

Certainly, it’s a fact that the church is involved with the power of evil gods, and we’ve heard about it based on evidence we’ve seen and stories we’ve been told.

But it’s only using it. There’s no way our god could be an evil god.

Thinking about such things is probably just because I’m too exhausted from being disturbed by various matters.

However, it’s certain that there is something in this chapel. What it is… well, I’ll find out someday. For now, I should rest in my room.