“We resolved the issue with Shera, but we still don’t know where Zack is, right?” We had returned to Solon’s mansion using teleportation magic and were facing each other in the room. “There is likely only one person in this country who knows his whereabouts,” Solon said, taking a sip of tea his disciple had brought. “Who is it? I’ve interviewed most of the people involved with the hero, and I don’t think anyone was closer to Zack than you guys, who were members of his party,” I asked. “The prophet. The prophet probably knows where Zack is,” Solon replied. Upon hearing Solon’s answer, I felt let down. The prophet was a mysterious person of unknown identity. As a supernatural being, it was even more difficult to find their whereabouts than Zack’s. “Isn’t it harder to find the prophet’s whereabouts?” “No, I have an idea of who the prophet is,” Solon answered, taking another sip of tea. “Their identity? What do you mean?” “This is what I found out after defeating the Demon Lord,” Solon began, placing his tea cup on the table as if to prolong the suspense. “The prophet is probably the counterpart of the Demon Lord on the human side.” “The counterpart of the Demon Lord on the human side?… What does that mean?” I couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying. “The Demon Lord is the king who rules over monsters and is closest to the evil god. Well, even though we call it the evil god, it’s only from the human side. From their perspective, our god could be considered an evil god.”
“God becoming a demon? Solon, are you saying something dangerous in front of the royal family?” The royal family of this country has a deep connection with the temple. If you say something wrong, even the Great Sage may be impeached. Of course, I have no intention of doing such a thing. “No problem. The concept of good and evil is just a matter of perspective. We embarked on a long journey to defeat the Demon King, but there are also beliefs and justice on the side of the demons. Ultimately, the battles between humans and demons are a proxy war for the gods they worship. We were reminded of this many times during our journey.” “……” What Solon was talking about was not something I could agree with right away, but as someone who had never left the country, I couldn’t deny his stories of fighting outside. “So I thought, ‘If there is a demon king on the demon side, there must be a counterpart to the demon king on the human side.'” “And that’s the prophet?” “That’s right. Since the hero is the one directly defeating the Demon King, he is the most suspicious as such, but we know that is not the case. Therefore, the prophet who is finding the hero is the most suspicious.” “I kind of understand what you’re trying to say, but the Demon King was so powerful, yet the hero… Zack didn’t have that kind of power. The prophet only prophesied the existence of the hero and didn’t do anything, so it seems unbalanced.” Demons are strong, but humans are weak. Then the gods should give humans more power. “The authority of a god is probably different. No matter what anyone says, humans ultimately rule over most of this world. Humans, who are weaker in power than demons. The Demon King temporarily reverses that situation, but it never becomes a long-term thing.” Now that he mentions it, that’s true. The Demon King has never had complete control over the world. Even though he was supposed to be so strong. “He may not have strong power, but in that sense, the role played by the prophet is important. I don’t even know what the prophet is doing specifically.” “So is the prophet someone close to a god? Then…Maria? She’s called the Saint, and she should be the one who feels the most the presence of the gods.” Even though she is called the Saint, Maria has a somewhat dark feeling, so I could understand if she were called the prophet. “No, that’s not it. She’s just excellent at recovery magic. She’s on a different level than ordinary monks in terms of power, but that doesn’t mean she’s close to a god. Personally, I think she has a higher affinity with the demons than with the gods.” It seems that Solon has been friends with Maria since childhood, but he has a quite harsh evaluation of her.
“And the activity period of the prophet exceeds 1000 years. It is not a role that one person can continuously bear. They should be in this country, right? The clan that has been serving the gods for a long time,” said Solon, looking at me intently. “Huh? Wait, me? Are you saying that the royal family is the prophet?” I couldn’t imagine that the royal family was being suspected. “Yes, that’s right. The royal family of this country originally has roots in the priestess who serves the gods, and the female line has continued unnaturally. And the role of the priestess is always passed on to the next princess, and they continue to offer prayers at the temple without interruption. Therefore, it is likely that the current prophet of this generation is the current queen,” Solon explained. “That’s not possible! My mother is a kind person! There’s no way she would do anything suspicious like being a prophet!” I recalled my mother in my memory. Even as a child, she was a beautiful, kind, and wonderful woman. “How long has it been since you met your mother?” Solon ignored my objections. “I haven’t met her for over ten years since my grandmother, who was the queen dowager, passed away and I took over the role of the priestess. As you know, when you become a priestess, contact with people is strictly limited, right?” “I know that. But I don’t know what the priestess does at the temple. They say that they offer prayers to the gods, but what does that mean in concrete terms? What does it achieve to offer prayers to the gods?” I was at a loss for words. If my mother were to pass away, I would become the next priestess, but I wasn’t told specifically what I would be doing. “You don’t know either, do you?” Solon read my expression and seemed to understand that I didn’t know anything.
“The temple in this country is a divine realm. Even the royal family cannot easily enter it due to strict restrictions. Information is probably thoroughly restricted. The fact that even the next generation of priestess, the princess, is not taught anything until she enters the temple is evidence of this. What is so secret that it needs to be kept hidden to this extent? Why does the prophet only appear in this country and why is the hero only born in this country? If we analyze these things, it’s imaginable that the royal family, or rather the queen’s family, is the prophet. ” “Th-that’s ridiculous…” I couldn’t easily deny it. I had nothing to refute his argument. Moreover, since my opponent was a great sage, I couldn’t just dismiss this as a mere delusion. “Let me be clear. You being a princess is precisely why you hinted that Zack was the hero. As a princess, I thought you could enter the temple and find out where Zack was.” It seemed that he had been planning to use me from the very beginning. However, I was also using Solon to find Zack, so it was a mutual relationship. “Why do you think the prophet knows where Zack is?” “There must be some connection between the prophet and the hero. That’s why the prophet is able to identify the hero. In fact, the previous heroes married princesses and became kings of this country. This case is the only exception.” I didn’t know what to say in response. “I just want you to go to the temple and meet the queen. I don’t want anything more than that.”
