Luna opened her eyes again. Now that her mana had been replenished, she displayed the special sensitivity characteristic of elves in the middle of the night. And hence, the sound of Nier wiping her sword in the room sounded like a noisy and dangerous signal to her. Nier sat on her bed and wiped her blade over and over with a cloth. The elven blade isn’t the curved sabre type. It’s similar to a pirate sword that we know in the modern day, still somewhat curved and with a relatively heavy blade, but thinner. However, it was light when swung. Nier became attracted to the blade within a single day. She didn’t leave it behind even when she returned to the Valkyries’ place.
Of course, there were other reasons as well, like it being given to her by his majesty. Nier was slightly agitated right now because of his majesty’s hug. She couldn’t sleep despite trying, so she did something that could calm her down. But she couldn’t calm down for as long as she held the sword.
“Is it because of his majesty?”
“Aaaahh!”
Nier screamed in a high-pitched voice and her hands started to shake subconsciously, causing her to toss her blade out. Nier turned around and felt her face burn up. Luna looked at her with an ambiguous smile. The atmosphere between the two of them was extremely awkward. It was the first time Nier revealed a surprised expression instead of hate or disgust in front of Luna. Her reaction was like that of a child that had his secret seen through.
Nier is just a kid in the world of romance. Luna could lead Nier by the nose in that world. Luna looked at Nier who was frightened with a smile like she was enjoying it. First loves are always so beautiful both for the person involved and the people watching from the side. For those watching from the side, a silly romance is like a warm rom-com. No matter who it is, they’ll give their blessings with a smile to the two of them.
“No!”
Nier quickly regained her usual composure. She picked up her blade from the ground and began wiping it again. Luna rested her head as she looked at her and said: “I think that we can become good friends, Miss Gilliante. If possible, could I call you Nier in the future?”
“Do as you please.”
Nier scoffed and then continued, “I’ve never thought about getting along with an elf. For as long as your elven king does not fall, I will never be friendly with you elves. The situation is only as so since I have no other choice. Don’t go thinking you can become friends with me either!”
“While you say that, we’re the same, Nier.” Luna emphasised Nier’s name and then said with a smile, “Haven’t we both fallen for someone we can’t fall for?”
“What are you saying?! I’m warning you. Don’t try to get any ideas about his majesty! I’m just his majesty’s temporary bodyguard. I’ll return to being a Valkyrie afterwards. That’s where I should belong!” Nier looked at Luna and continued sternly, “It doesn’t matter if it’s you or me, we can’t have feelings for his majesty! Our statuses aren’t the same!”
“I just don’t get it. Why must humans have that rule? We don’t stop love even though we strongly value bloodlines. Love is the sweet flower dew god gifted us with. If we stop it because of identities and statuses that people created themselves, god wouldn’t be happy either. It goes against god’s will. A love that came by through bloodlines won’t be respected by anyone, nor will it receive the blessings from anyone.”
Luna lied back down on the bed then looked at the roof and continued, “Nier, if you give up just like that, I’d feel like you’re different to how you usually are. Nier, you can’t choose who to protect and what you want to do. However, the one thing you have the freedom to do is to choose who you love. Maybe you still don’t understand, but you’ll come to understand it in the end. When you embrace the one you like, your entire body will be filled with bliss and shyness. You’ll probably feel like you can’t stop it.”
Nier froze up like she got hit by an arrow. She then said to Luna behind her in a soft voice: “…… Go to sleep.”
Luna rolled over and closed her eyes again. This time, she wore a bitter and astringent smile on her face.
“Nier. Nier, are you still up?”
When Nier was about to put the sword down, a knock suddenly came from the door.
I anxiously knocked on the door. I wore a simple overcoat and then wrapped a cloak around myself. It happened suddenly and I just found out about it. It looks like the church sped up after I refused their offer. The horse carriage which was supposed to arrive tomorrow had already entered the market. As a result, I needed to take action earlier than planned. Fortunately, I had prepared everything necessary beforehand.
“Aaahh!”
I heard high-pitched cry came from inside as well as the sound of metal dropping on the ground. A moment later, Nier pushed the room door open. She looked at me firmly and in a composed way, and said: “Your majesty, what orders do you have?”
I looked at her slightly blushed face and hesitated for a moment. I decided not to mind it for the meantime and said to her: “Get ready right away. We need to make a trip outside. Oh, right, wear more clothing, both torso and lower body.”
“Is it very cold outside?”
“No. I’m worried that you’ll get really hurt when you fall.”
I revealed a mysterious smile and left behind a bewildered Nier. Luna sat up and looked at me. She smiled and said: “Your majesty, do you still want some tea? Sorry. If I knew you were going to wake up early today, I would have gotten up earlier.”
“It’s fine, Luna. You keep sleeping. Just prepare some good tea when we get back. We probably won’t be too long. We should be back by the afternoon.”
“Alright. I wish you luck, your majesty.”
Luna stood up and bowed before lying back down. I admit I looked down below Luna’s sleeping gown for a few seconds. But I’m really excited right now because if everything I did before is considered foreshadowing, then tonight will be the battle. As long as my plan succeeds, I’ll be able to ride the wave of momentum and resolve everything.
There’s definitely a problem with the statues of god. I insist on that. For humans, heavy gold is much more attractive than god. Humans don’t actually believe in god. Those who worship god do so just for their own desires. All the explanations of god are just to justify their own actions. Humans and elves are completely different. Humans don’t yearn for god. Humans only make statues of god for their own needs.
That’s precisely why the elves’ shrine is miraculous while the humans’ is forever a place full of bloodshed and sins. That’s why humans need atheism. As long as god exists in a nation, they’ll go crazy over that so-called god as well as kill and seek profit. While they run their mouths about god’s will, they just do what they do for their own filthy desires. That’s religion. That’s this so-called belief.
But I’m not trying to destroy religion this time. If I forcefully take away the people’s belief when they believe in religion, their believers will create trouble. That’s no good for governance purposes. You can’t make people forget their faith with a single swing of a sword. The protestant reformation in Europe didn’t happen overnight. I don’t intend to destroy religion this time. What I want is the right to preach religion, thereby not allowing the church to say what they please. So what I’m after is the right to preach their content.
Whoever holds the power to preach will be the one that benefits.
I want to strangle the church’s neck and make them kneel before me and admit to their crimes. I want them to hand over their gold covered in blood. I want to destroy their bullshit-acts they used to fool countless people.
That’s right, I don’t believe in god. But I can make others believe in me.
Glossary
In the last paragraph, Troy is talking about not believing that humanity has a god, you know the god the church worships, not an umbrella term for some never-ever-mentioned singular god figure that rules over all species in this world. Stick to the context.
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