Shini Yasui Kōshaku Reijō to Shichi-nin no Kikōshi

Chapter 23: Island of Messenger (part five)

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.

I had another bag of the same size, but Angel-san now has it.

He is a kind person.

When I looked closely, there were muscles firmly built on his arms even though they looked slender.

Contrary to the indoor image of a clergy’s son, he seems 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 seems to have a Skeleton Key specialized for this cathedral.

“Are we moving to a considerably inner part of this cathedral?”

“Ah, it’s a place which is open for public only 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!”

Is it like a secret Buddha in Buddhism?

Something like a famous temple or something similar that would only be displayed once in months or years.

I am getting a little excited.

Every time he opened a door, the murals and sculptures of monstro grew even 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 balance which made chills run down my spine.

Although they are scary, I think that this is fun.

“This is…it’s pretty good.”

“The actual thing that I want to show you is yet to come, our destination is the innermost room.”

“It’s in the deepest part of the cathedral……”

I remembered the recent incident when I reached the deepest part of the ruins in my hometown and that had been a terrible experience.

It has become a good memory when I think about it now, but I am a little traumatized about being in the deepest part.

I took a glimpse at Tirnanog behind me.

Well, the former source of my trauma has become my friend, so it is 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 from the other doors.

It was a simple room, spacious but with little decoration.

In the back of the room, giant limestone walls seemingly to have been cut off from other places were enshrined.

Before I recognized clearly what was drawn there, chills ran down my spine.

“On the other side, that is our Lord, God who is said to be the one pillar of this world.”

On the walls of the limestone was drawn the image of the only God, emphasizing aspects of the sun god.

Brilliant vermillion, black, white and golden.

Humans and other creations were drawn at the lower part, grace and love that was equally given by God were expressed.

This alone, was not particularly unpleasant.

There were countless hands growing from the sun.

A horrid image of so many elongated, light hands.

Each one of His hands were stretched over the people’s head.

Seven eyes were drawn on the sun.

There were countless eyes in each hand.

According to the sense of a modern human, it can’t be said to be flattering, graphical or artistic.

However, the murals were painted elaborately with virtuousness that makes one feel something urgent, overwhelming the viewers.

Although it is a tremendous masterpiece, it is not the kind of artwork oozing with holiness.

At first glance it looks like a scrawl, and you would want to burst out laughing.

But, surely after you burst out laughing, you would regret your poor sense.

“It seems that it was cut out from the altar of a 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 that it is not normally displayed to the public.”

I couldn’t take my eyes away from God’s figure drawn on the mural.

It might be a gut feeling, but this appears to have some kind of beauty.

Not only God and humans, but other figures were also drawn there.

A number of angels who obeyed God.

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 is why I got puzzled by the discrepancy.

The angels drawn on this wall seem more like an Egyptian god rather than an angel.

The angel drawn in the spot closest to God had a luxurious special treatment.

It was drawn largely using abundant amount of precious gold and cinnabar sands.

The head was that of a lion, with six wings and 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 of commanding the flocks of angels respectively.

(Wasn’t there something like this in Christianity? Something like……Seraphim or Cherubim, if I’m not mistaken.)

I was overwhelmed by such a masterpiece painting with such a strange God and angels and lost my words.

I had my mouth half-open while looking up.

I slowly retreated to capture the full view.

Then, I bumped 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’ve been 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 following his line of sight, my eyes met with the beautiful woman’s.

She had a pair of eyes that gave a strong impression, even though they were lit up in amusement, I could feel their intensity.

Originally tall and wearing high heels on top of that, she was looking down from a considerably high position.

She wore a ponytail of plentiful, glossy volume of blonde hair that gave me the impression of a lion’s mane.

From the expensive red dress with the degree of exposure unique to the South, her voluptuous, sunburnt tanned chest overflowed.

She was gorgeous with golden jewelry on her whole body,

It is regrettable.

If she was ten years younger, then I guess she would be a type who could replace the role of a villain.

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— uh……how should I say this……”

“Angel-san? Heeh? Angel-san, huh? That’s right. You surely are an angel.”

“Geh……Don’t say anything unnecessary.”

Angel-san pulled my hand and drew me away from the mysterious beauty.

Well, is she a troublesome acquaintance?

By the way, he did say that he would get angry if outsiders enter this place.

“Unnecessary? Me? Kufufufu, have 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 someone who lives in this cathedral. I shouldn’t be tattling, but you can feel relieved.”

“Really?”

Somehow, I only understood that she is someone with a delicate position.

I wonder if she is the great master of the cathedral, a daughter of a nobleman with special circumstances or something else.

It seems that it is not a good story to meddle with, so I decide not to talk about it anymore.

“My, my, the totally-not-scary older sister has been exposed. I was wondering if I should make my self-introduction funny.”

“What did 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 have a high offensive power as they are very long.

Angel-san shrunk himself as if scared.

It seems that she is 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 seems to be in high spirits like a child, a complete turnaround from before.

Angel-san seems to be annoyed, but he looks somewhat smiley.

In any case, they are a close pair of angel and devil.

I wonder what else is hidden behind the closed doors, it is irresistible for a boring person like me.

Then the sound of a bell rang from outside the cathedral.

That would be the bell informing that evening has 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 can’t hold back such a small child forever, can we?”

Oops, that reminds me that I have been invited to the banquet of the Advent of the royal family, and it is said that it will take place all night long.

It seems that aristocrats from different countries would gather, so I also have to dress appropriately.

“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 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 bantering good-naturedly, the self-proclaimed angel and devil were waving their hands.

It seems that religious relations are special after all.

Actually, I wanted to ask for a sightseeing guide in the downtown, but I couldn’t say such a selfish thing.

Leaving the cathedral, I whispered to Tirnanog secretly 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.”

By the time I finished the sightseeing tour of the cathedral with Angel-san, it was already sunset outside.

The red sun was being swallowed by the horizon.

Maybe during the festival, this hour would be crowded with people.

In the air wrapping around the city, there was a scent peculiar to the evening that stimulated my hunger.

Well, if I eat something now, I would be troubled when I have to wear a dress later.

While I was 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 I was told ‘Santa is not real’ and 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 too deeply.

I went through a lively city along with Tirnanog and returned to the temporary residence of the Duke of Aurelia.

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1 Hieronymus Bosch was a painter from Netherland that was known for his fantastic illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. Pieter Bruegel the Elder was his best-known follower.