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Chapter 231: The God of Hunger. Federica. (2)
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
Citizens of the capital, who were on their way home, heard the commotion and came to investigate.
They gasped when they saw Ketal and Liltara, who was pointing a sword at him.
The citizens instinctively knew something barbaric, something that should never happen in the capital, was about to occur.
Some fled in haste, while a few curious ones hid and watched.
"Federica?"
It was a name Ketal had heard somewhere before.
As he thought, he realized.
"Ah."
On his way to a coastal city to confront the marine primates, Ketal had many conversations with Aquaz.
Among those discussions was one about a unique church that wielded divine power in a peculiar way.
The conversation had touched upon the church of Federica.
Now, standing before him were the followers of Federica, the God of Hunger.
Liltara quietly spoke.
"We have been tracking you according to the divine revelation, Barbarian Ketal."
Following the divine revelation, Liltara and her group had been relentlessly pursuing Ketal, from the Denian Kingdom to the holy grounds of Kalosia, from the coastal city to the mermaid village.
Finally, they had returned to the Denian Kingdom and found Ketal.
"You've done well to avoid our gaze."
"I wasn't trying to avoid anything."
Ketal hadn't even realized they were tracking him.
Liltara ignored him and continued.
"Please come with us. Sinner of the revelation. We intend to take you to the holy grounds. We will not accept refusal."
"Hmm. I don't quite understand what's going on, but, in other words, you're trying to take me to Federica's holy grounds."
Ketal's eyes gleamed with interest.
Another god was calling to him, trying to bring him to the holy grounds.
"Oho."
He was deeply intrigued.
Normally, he would have eagerly followed.
But unfortunately, Ketal had something to do at the moment.
"I'm sorry, but I can't."
His current goal was to save his master, who dealt with mysteries.
Everything else had to take a back seat.
"I'll go with you right after I finish what I'm doing."
Ketal offered a compromise.
Of course, his words fell on deaf ears.
"Your opinion is not required."
Clank!
The holy knights moved to surround Ketal.
The onlookers screamed in fear.
Ketal whistled.
"So you're going to force me, huh?"
Keiiiiing!
Light surrounded Ketal.
But it wasn't a bright golden light.
It was a dark, dense, brown light.
Liltara spoke.
"We hereby strip you of your freedom to roam as you please."
"We strip you of your freedom to think as you wish."
"We strip you of your freedom to refuse."
"Oho?"
A strange sensation pressed down on Ketal.
It was a formidable divine power, the power of the great Federica, which deprived and restricted will, freedom, desire, and longing.
Ketal's actions were stripped away one by one until, before long, the only option left to him was to follow them.
"So something like this is possible."
Ketal was impressed and stood still.
Thinking he was now controlled, Liltara lowered her sword.
"Come with us. That is the only action left for you."
"Following you might be an enjoyable experience, but—"
Ketal smiled.
"Unfortunately, as I said, I have something to do right now."
Step.
Ketal took a step forward by his own will.
Liltara, who had been calm, widened her eyes in shock.
"How!"
She had clearly stripped him of all his actions!
Liltara and the holy knights, now flustered, exerted more power.
The brown light bore down on Ketal, the divine power stripping away his actions and freedom.
"It certainly is a peculiar feeling."
But that was all it was.
It couldn't suppress Ketal.
He ignored the deprivation caused by the divine power and attempted to break through their encirclement.
Liltara shouted fiercely.
"We strip you of your freedom!"
"I told you, I don't want to."
Ketal lightly stomped his foot.
Boom!
The ground trembled.
With a clear refusal, the divine power that had been pressing down on Ketal shattered.
The backlash swept over the holy knights and Liltara.
"Ugh!"
"Cough!"
The holy knights coughed up blood and collapsed, unable to withstand the backlash, and fainted.
Ketal leisurely stepped out and headed back home.
"You, how dare you!"
Only Liltara remained standing, though with a face twisted in pain.
She shouted in a strained voice.
"Do you think you can escape? The god is watching you! We will continue to pursue you!"
"That sounds exciting. As I said, I'll come to you later. I hope you can wait until then."
Ketal spoke lightly and left Liltara behind.
She bit her lip in humiliation.
Ketal returned home, where Milena was resting on the sofa after finishing her work.
"You're back. There was a commotion outside. What happened?"
"There was a situation. Milena, may I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Do you know anything about the god Federica and their church?"
"...Are you talking about Federica, the God of Hunger?"
"Yes."
"Uh... hmm."
Milena's response was hesitant, noticeably different from how she reacted to other churches.
Ketal asked.
"Can you explain it to me?"
"Well, yes. It wouldn't be a bad idea to know about it in advance."
Milena began her explanation.
"The God of Hunger. Lady Frederica is a deity of the concept of hunger."
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"A god of food, then?"
"No. The hunger that Lady Frederica speaks of encompasses a broader domain. She's closer to a god who rejects the concepts of yearning and desire."
"Oh?"
The starving seek food to fill their bellies.
Those with endless greed hunger for more offerings.
Those starving for great power wish to become stronger.
Scholars starving for knowledge desire to accumulate more wisdom.
Those who desire something ultimately do so because of longing, desire, and lack.
Frederica was the goddess of such longing, desire, and deficiency.
"So that's why she's called the God of Hunger."
"Yes. Ultimately, she believes that all greed and desire in the world arise from physical or mental hunger and starvation. And the Church of Lady Frederica that worships such a god... has quite an extreme disposition."
Like other churches, Frederica's church worships the concepts of Frederica.
They wish for yearning, desire, and deficiency to fill the continent.
As a result, the Church of Frederica developed a twisted set of values compared to ordinary people.
"They abhor the abundance of the world."
What Frederica desired was hunger itself.
Naturally, she didn't like that hunger being satiated.
Therefore, Frederica's church also despised the world's abundance.
They harbored greed and desire yet refused to have them fulfilled.
They simply wished for the world to starve.
They wanted everyone to go hungry and for desires to never be satisfied.
Milena spoke softly.
"Honestly speaking... they're not a very welcomed church."
The Church of Frederica went beyond merely desiring this; they forced it upon the world.
In reality, they often invaded prosperous territories and caused forced starvation.
"Just like the Church of Kalosia did before."
The Church of Kalosia.
They worshiped the concepts of lies and deception, causing all sorts of chaos in the world.
In the end, the entire continent joined forces to attack the Church of Kalosia and forcibly suppress their momentum.
As a result, though they were now a normal church, in the past, they caused numerous disturbances.
The current Church of Frederica was very similar to the past Church of Kalosia.
"They're not people you want to get involved with. Thankfully, they're quite far from here. But why are you suddenly curious about them?"
"Well, a follower of Frederica came looking for me."
"What?"
Milena's eyes widened.
"A f-follower of Frederica?"
"They called me the 'Sinner of Revelation' and tried to take me to their sacred ground. The commotion outside was because of that."
"W-what?"
Milena was genuinely appalled.
"Are you saying Lady Frederica gave a revelation?"
"From what they said, it seems so."
"My goodness. Lady Frederica gave a revelation? Wh-what should we do?"
Milena was extremely flustered.
And understandably so.
In their history, the gods had directly descended to save the world dominated by demons.
As such, the power and influence of gods in this world were immense.
But for such a god to directly bestow a revelation upon a human...
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one's life would become distorted and ruined.
Milena couldn't help but be flustered and worried.
"Can you tell me who came to see you?"
"Someone named Liltara. Do you know that name?"
"...Yes."
Milena groaned.
Liltara.
A renowned follower of Frederica.
A person who had reached first-rate levels at a young age, possessing exceptional talent.
She was someone who received the full support and expectations of the church.
"To put it simply, just as the Sun God's church has an inquisitor named Aquaz, the Church of Frederica has a saint named Liltara. She's evaluated at that level."
At that explanation, Ketal stroked his chin with interest.
"So someone similar to Aquaz. There might be a gap since she's now at the superhuman level."
"That's not the important thing! Wh-what should we do? Mr. Ketal. Shouldn't you run away? No, no. You can't escape the eyes of a god in this world. Ah... what should we do..."
"Run away?"
Ketal tilted his head.
"Why should I?"
"Pardon?"
"If you think about it, isn't it that the god personally invited me to their sacred ground?"
A god's sacred ground was not a place outsiders could enter easily.
He had only been able to enter Kalosia's sacred ground due to various overlapping circumstances.
So he had thought he wouldn't be able to visit other sacred grounds after that.
But now, a god had personally invited him to their sacred ground.
It was something to be pleased about, not worried over.
At least from Ketal's perspective.
"I-is that so...?"
Of course, to Milena, a person of the continent, he seemed to be talking nonsense.
If anyone other than Ketal had said this, she would have thought they had lost their mind under excessive pressure.
"Uh... then, are you planning to follow them right away?"
"No. I have no such intention. Don't I have something to do right now?"
Find a teacher to learn mystic arts from and study swordsmanship under them.
That was Ketal's current goal.
He had no plans to go anywhere before achieving that.
"I told them I'd go after finishing this matter."
"Ah... I see."
Ketal's nonchalant attitude made Milena momentarily think, 'Perhaps it's not a big deal.'
"But why on earth?"
"I don't know either."
He had just learned what kind of god Frederica was from Milena now.
He had no connection with her.
But there was one possibility.
'What did the Spirit God say?'
[...We are deliberating. How to respond to you. Each has their own method. Indifference. Favor. Hostility. Control. I haven't decided yet.]
That was what the Spirit God had said.
According to those words, there were gods who showed indifference toward Ketal, gods who showed favor, hostility, or control.
It meant that gods were preparing various responses toward him.
'Is she one of them?'
Whatever it was, it didn't matter to Ketal.
He would finish what he was doing now and then go find out.
That was Ketal's thought.
And the next day.
Liltara and his group were still standing guard in front of the Akasha family's main house.
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[Translator - Night]
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