Chapter 23
The self-proclaimed Angel-san with blonde hair smoothly pulled my hand and led me to the back of the cathedral .
The Black Dragon Tirnanog who was disguised as a star steel golem walked a little behind us with two large bags in his hands .
There was another bag of the same size that I had, but Angel-san now had it .
He was a kind person .
If I looked closely, muscles were firmly built on his arms even though they seemed slender .
Contrary to the indoor image of a clergy’s son, he seemed to be quite trained .
He opened the locked doors every time he went and was aiming somewhere straight ahead .
When I looked at his hand, he was opening and closing doors with a single key, not a bunch of keys .
Apparently, he seemed to have a Skeleton Key that was specialized for this cathedral .
“Are we moving to a considerably inner part of this cathedral?”
“Ah, it’s a place which only gets published several times a year . ”
“It’s a rare thing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah . But, I’m special, so I can see it anytime . ”
“Wow, that’s amazing . ”
Was it like a secret Buddha in Buddhism?
Such thing like a famous temple or something similar that would only be displayed once in months or years .
I was getting a little excited .
Every time he opened a door, the murals and sculptures of monsters grew more prominent .
The degree of chaos was reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch and Bruegel . 1
Children’s graffiti, nightmare, and true monstrosity were mixed in proper distribution that made chills ran through my spine .
Although they were scary, I thought that this was fun .
“This is…it’s pretty good . ”
“The actual thing that I want to show you is still yet to come, our destination is the innermost room . ”
“It’s the deepest part of the cathedral……”
I remembered about the recent incident when I reached the deepest part of the ruins in my hometown, and that had been terrible .
It became a good memory when I thought about it now, but I was a little traumatized about being in the deepest part .
I took a glimpse at Tirnanog behind me .
Well, the former source of my trauma had become my friend, so it was alright now .
“Now, it’s waiting ahead of you . ”
Angel-san opened the last door where he said the extraordinary artwork was, which was different than the other doors .
It was a simple room, s.p.a.cious but with little decoration .
In the back of the room, giant limestone walls seemingly to have been cut off from other places was enshrined .
Before I recognized clearly what was drawn there, chills ran through my spine .
“On the other side, that is our Lord, G.o.d that is said to be the one pillar of this world . ”
On the walls of the limestone was drawn the image of the only G.o.d, emphasizing aspects of the sun G.o.d .
Brilliant vermillion, black, white, and golden .
Humans and other creations were drawn at the lower part, grace and love that was equally given by G.o.d were expressed .
This alone, was not particularly pleasant .
There were countless hands grew from the sun .
A horrid of so many, elongated, light hands .
Each one of His hands was stretched over the people’s head .
Seven eyes were drawn in the sun .
There were countless eyes in each hand .
According to the sense of a modern human, it couldn’t be said to be flattering, graphic or artistic .
However, the murals painted elaborately with virtuousness that made you feel something urgent, overwhelming the viewers .
Although it was a tremendous masterpiece, it was not a kind of artwork that was oozing with holiness .
At first glance it seemed like a scrawl, and you would want to burst out laughing .
But, surely after you burst out laughing, you would regret your poor comfort .
“It seems that it was cut out from the altar of the sacred place on the continent of Karkinos . ”
“Amazing……”
“Do you feel uncomfortable or want to withdraw?”
“I feel uncomfortable, but I’m more scared than that . ”
“Oh well . It is too strange, and it will be inconvenient for believers to be disillusioned or frightened, so it seems it is not normally displayed to the public . ”
I couldn’t take my eyes away from G.o.d’s figure drawn on the mural .
It might be a gut feeling, but this seemed to have a kind of beauty .
Not only G.o.d and humans, but other figures were also drawn there .
A number of angels who obeyed G.o.d .
Four angels with high status were drawn largely, while other angels were drawn smaller .
When considering the four archangels, a certain religion of my previous world came to my mind, but their appearances were quite different .
These angels had beasts’ face .
“Are these……angels……?”
“Oh, yes . These guys are pretty deformed, huh?”
Among the religious paintings and statues that I had seen outside this room, the face of an angel was represented by a beautiful human face .
That was why I got puzzled by the discrepancy .
The angels drawn on this wall seemed more like an Egyptian G.o.d rather than an angel .
The angel drawn in the spot closest to G.o.d had a luxurious special treatment .
It was drawn largely and used an abundant amount of precious gold and cinnabar sands .
The head was a lion, with six wings, and had a strong body .
On its right hand was a sword of fire, and on its left hand was a bottle of medicine .
The lion angel who wore a red clothing and the other three archangels – horse-headed, ox-headed and bird-headed, were followed by other angels whose faces were painted red .
The four archangels had gestures to command the flocks of angels respectively .
(Isn’t there something like this in Christianity? Something like……Seraphim or Cherub, if I’m not mistaken . )
I was overwhelmed by such a masterpiece painting with such a strange G.o.d and angels, and I lost my words .
I had my mouth half-open while looking up .
I slowly retreated to capture the full view .
Then, I b.u.mped into something unexpectedly soft .
“Oh my, you’re such a bad boy for bringing a girl into a place like this . ”
From behind, I heard a saccharine voice of a woman .
“Ah~~, I give up . We’re found out by someone annoying……”’
The self-proclaimed Angel-san watched the person behind me with a hand on his forehead .
When I turned around looking at his line of sight, my eyes met with the beautiful woman’s .
She had a pair of eyes that gave a strong impression, even if they were light up in amus.e.m.e.nt, I could feel their intensity .
Originally tall and wore high heels on top of that, she was looking down from a considerably high place .
She wore a ponytail full of plenty, glossy volume of blonde hair that gave me the impression of mane .
From the expensive red dress with the degree of exposure that was unique to the South, her voluptuous, sunburnt tanned chest overflowed .
She was gorgeous with gold jewelry on her whole body,
It was regrettable .
If she was ten years younger, then I guess she would be a type that would replace the role of a bad guy .
Such a gorgeous beauty was there .
“I’m annoying? My, my, the boy who hasn’t grown hair yet, has come to say that . ”
“See~, you’re so annoying . ”
When Angel-san said that as if sulking, the mysterious beauty laughed throatily .
“Angel-san, do you know this person?”
“Ah, this person is—……how should I say this……”
“Angel-san? Heeh? Angel-san, huh? That’s right . You sure are an angel . ”
“Geh……Don’t say anything unnecessary . ”
Angel-san pulled my hand and drew me away from the mysterious beauty .
Well, was she a troublesome acquaintance?
By the way, he did say that he would get angry if outsiders entered this place .
“Unnecessary? Me? Kufufufu, had I ever said anything unnecessary even just one word?”
“A long time ago, you said something unnecessary . ”
“How cold~ . As expected, I wonder if young girls are better? Angel-sama?”
The mysterious beauty provoked Angel-san in an amusing way .
I interjected to ask who she was .
“Excuse me……”
“Ah—, my bad . This person is my acquaintance……I can’t tell you too much, but she’s the one who lives in this cathedral . I shouldn’t be tattling, but you can feel relieved . ”
“Really . ”
Somehow, I only understood that she was someone with a delicate position .
I wondered if she was the great master of the cathedral, a daughter of a n.o.bleman with a special circ.u.mstance or something else .
It seemed that it was not a good story to meddle with, so I decided not to talk about it anymore .
“My, my, the totally-not-scary older sister is exposed . I was wondering if I should make my self-introduction funny . ”
“What do you want to say—……”
“If you are Angel-sama, then I am a devil—! ……Something like that . ”
“That’s not right, and that’s not funny either . That’s just normal . ”
The mysterious-beauty-now-self-proclaimed-demon raised her hands with a gesture as if threatening a child .
Her nails had a high offensive power with those elongated nails .
Angel-san shrunk himself as if scared .
It seemed that she was a cheerful and funny older sister .
“Was that not scary?”
“Yes, yes, I’m afraid, very frightened . Please stop scaring me . ”
“Ah! Yes, I was also scared . ”
“Ufu~~ . That is excellent . All living beings should fear me like this~~”
Devil-san seemed to be in high spirits like a child, a complete turnaround from before .
Angel-san seemed to be annoyed, but he looked somewhat smiley .
In any case, they were a close pair of angel and devil .
I wondered what else was hidden behind closed doors, it was irresistible for a boring person like me .
Then the sound of a bell was ringing from outside the cathedral .
That would be the bell that informed evening had come .
“It’s already this late . It’s better for Ojou-san to go home soon . ”
“Oh my, how unfortunate . I thought it was lively and fun . ”
“Yes, yes . The good time is over . We couldn’t hold back such a small child forever, can we?”
Oops, that reminded me that I was invited to the banquet of the Advent of the royal family, and it said that it would take place all night long .
It seemed that aristocrats from different countries would gather, so I also had to dress in appropriate costume .
“Thank you very much for today, and I will come and visit tomorrow as soon as I have time to move freely . ”
“Well, see you next time~ . I will also show you the underground cemetery . ”
“Underground cemetery……, if you are going to sightseeing with a girl, there are many other places more appropriate . Good grief . ”
“Eh~? Is this room also appropriate to show to a girl?”
“Well, see you, Erica, I will choose a better place next time!”
While grinning, the self-proclaimed angel and devil were waving their hands .
After all, it seemed that religious relations were special .
Actually, I wanted to ask for sightseeing guide in the downtown, but I couldn’t say such selfish thing .
Leaving the cathedral, I whispered to Tirnanog stealthily around the area where the population became scarce .
“Thank you for being quiet for a long time, Tir . ”
『Ah . It’s an easy thing to do . You looked like you were having fun too . 』
“Yes, I enjoyed it . ”
When I finished the sightseeing tour of the cathedral with Angel-san, the outside was already sunset .
The red sun was being swallowed by the horizon .
Maybe during the festival, this hour would be crowded with people .
In the air that wrapped around the city, there was a scent peculiar to the evening that stimulated my hunger .
Well, if I ate something now, I would be troubled when I had to wear a dress .
While suffering, Tirnanog pulled the hem of my skirt .
『But, Erica . You must not be deceived by them . 』
“Hm, what is it?”
『That boy is not an angel, and that woman is not a devil . 』
“Well, I understand it as well, so it’s alright . ”
『Yes . That’s good . Erica is smart . 』
What was that .
I felt somewhat uncomfortable as if when I was told ‘Santa is not real’ I unexpectedly said ‘I know that . ’
I didn’t understand the intention of the advice in the first place, but I decided not to think about it deeply .
I went through a lively city along with Tirnanog and returned to the temporary residence of Duke of Aurelia .