Shini Yasui Kōshaku Reijō to Nana-ri no Kikōshi

Chapter 23 - Island of Messenger (part five)

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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, spacious 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, God that 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 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 God’s figure drawn on the mural. It might be a gut feeling, but this seemed to have a 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 was why I got puzzled by the discrepancy. The angels drawn on this wall seemed 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 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 God 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 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’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 amusement, 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 nobleman with a special circumstance 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.

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.(Hieronymus Bosch, Bruegel)

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