The World I Was Supporting Was Real - Chapter 109



109. Towards a New World (1)

* * *

Saint Erin and Emperor Eirene.

As a result of the initiative taken by these two figures, the highest authorities on the continent at present, an expedition was formed at an incredibly rapid pace.

The first to gather were sailors, mostly from merchant guilds who traded back and forth along the great rivers and coastlines between the north and south.

Roughly 70% of them were affiliated with the Lohengrin Merchant Guild. Even if they weren’t sailors, Baron Lohengrin had declared that he would also provide ships capable of navigating the ocean for the will of the gods.

“I’ll lend it to you without any charge, Your Majesty. Please use it as much as you need. How could I haggle over something for the sake of Lord Eguoguedon?”

Of course, I could just say some pleasantries like, ‘Your pious and faithful heart will surely be remembered by the gods,’ and be done with it – but

“Raise your head, Baron Lohengrin. Have you forgotten the tenets of the Guedon Order? If you provide something, the core principle is to offer a corresponding reward. And since the Order seems to want to purchase a ship anyway, wouldn’t it “be better for you to receive compensation?”

“However, Your Majesty, it’s not for me to say, but if you were truly to pay its worth, I believe it would place a significant burden on the Order’s finances…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

The moment Eirene finished speaking –

Erin, who was standing beside her, cautiously brought a box to Lohengrin and had him verify its contents.

“This is…gold coins.”

“That’s right.”

“It’s a considerable amount, but even with this…ah, of course, I feel sufficiently rewarded just receiving this much.”

Erin shook her head at Lohengrin’s words.

“That’s not all, Baron. Would you please look this way?”

Erin pointed to a place where more than twenty wooden boxes, similar in size to the one she brought, were stacked up.

“Surely, all those boxes contain…!!!”

“That’s right. They all have the same thing inside!”

Erin said with a sunny smile.

Overwhelming wealth!

“We couldn’t bring everything from the cathedral due to the sheer weight, but please check and let us know if you need more!”

The source of the Order’s overwhelming financial power—

It was the cola that had recently gone on sale.

Even though it was an absurdly expensive luxury item, the cola sold like wildfire, and thanks to it, the Order’s capital grew to a level that was on a completely different plane than before.

Considering the short sales period, it was nothing short of an astonishing achievement.

Moreover, unlike the era of the largely powerless Emperor Aisha, the Golden Order now had the Imperial Family under its influence—

and befitting that, part of the budget allocated by the Imperial Family to support the Order was added, so they could pay the fair price for the ship without burden.

“You really don’t need to be so generous with us…”

“Oh, no, Baron. As Her Majesty said, our Golden Order doesn’t ask people to work without reward.”

After the most difficult part, securing the ship, was resolved,

the prominent figures they were taking with them were also an extraordinary bunch.

For starters, there was Duke Rengard von Euler, the only one who had experience in the New Continent; then, Saint Erin; and Luka and Ophelia, members of the Holy Knight One Platter.

On top of that, there was an unprecedented expedition of such magnitude that even the current Emperor Eirene was included.

And beyond that, there was a rather unexpected addition—

“Is the Imperial Prince also going with us?”

“Yes, Saintess. My sister… no, I mean, Sister Karen is also participating. Is that going to be an issue…?”

“No, of course not. Prince Ares is already practically family of the Golden Order!”

—Ares, who rarely made a move himself, could also be included.

Although he was taking part in a form of following someone, there was no reason to undervalue the fact that he was risking his life to sail for the Order’s purpose and not the Imperial Family’s.

While Eirene was away, the role of Emperor would be delegated to the First Imperial Princess, Yuria.

While the Saintess was away, the one to assist the Pope would be Linea of ​​the Holy Knight One Platter, the only one remaining in the Old Continent.

Emperor Eirene and the Third expedition Imperial Prince Ares had joined an led by the Order.

And since the Cathedral was being led by the Second Imperial Princess, for the historians who would record this moment, Eirene’s reign would surely be remembered as a period where the Order and the Imperial Family were bound together in a honeymoon period stronger than ever before.

“Alright! Let’s embark on this journey to prove that beneath the heavens, the only god is Lord Igwogwo!”

—Waaah!

With the booming cheers of the young priests and sailors as their starting point—

A few decades after Aisha’s death, the anchors were raised once more toward the New Continent.

* * *

The voyage was progressing exceptionally smoothly.

Unlike the old days of sailing, where they didn’t know how far they needed to go, the presence of Rengard, who had regained his memories, allowed them to know roughly how much further they had to travel. Because of this, they weren’t stingy with rationales, and were able to maintain the high morale of the navigators and sailors.

The fact that there was a clear goal meant that they weren’t consumed by impatience or anxiety was an added bonus.

‘I hope we can arrive safely like this…’

However, the sea is naturally a very rough place.

A sudden typhoon began to rage, threatening to swallow the whole ship.

“Kya, kyaaa…!”

“Everyone, stay calm! It will pass soon!”

Luca, along with the first mates under her command, tried their best to manage the situation, but unfortunately, the winds only grew stronger.

“It seems like it’s time for me to step in.”

“Karen-nuna…?”

“Your Highness. Please wait here for a moment. Understand?”

The reason Karen, a being descended from a god, had insisted on participating in this voyage.

It was because she, the very essence of divine, straightforward fact, was able to directly wield the power she received from the gods—straightforward fact itself.

Unlike Reina, who required a complete formula to utilize the power and could only use a small portion of the ambient energy in a limited area—

She, being the very essence of a plain, unadulterated fact, was able to project the will of God – ‘safe passage during the voyage’ – much more powerfully into the world.

“Saintess. It seems we need to enact God’s will soon.”

“Karen…!”

Erin, the only human who knew the full extent of Karen’s circumstances, cautiously looked up at the sky.

The rain was only intensifying, showing no sign of letting up.

She wanted to conserve the ‘plain fact’ bestowed by God as much as possible, seeing as the power was fueled by God’s life force…

But if we were to be endangered by this, wouldn’t that make us the greatest sinners for defying God’s will?

“Okay, then please—”

Just then.

From afar, Ophelia’s urgent voice pierced through.

“Rabbit Master! It’s dangerous! Even for you, with your small frame, you cannot withstand such strong waves—”

“Leave it to me.”

“You’re leaving it to… Are you serious?”

The rabbit descended from Ophelia’s head, tapped the deck with its small paws, tap tap, and then—

*Hop!*

‘…!!!’

It leaped up, its body stretched out like a flying squirrel with its arms wide… and held itself suspended in midair.

Soon after, a massive, spherical shape formed around the rabbit, encompassing the entire ship.

From a distance, they’d surely appear as if surrounded by a protective shield.

Then, a blue light flowed from its black, sunflower-seed-like eyes…

A darkness, like it would devour the world, sawed and oozed out of the rabbit’s body.

*FLASH! FLASH!*

The rabbit, glowing as if it had eaten lightning… finally opened its small mouth.

“Igo… Anigodon!”

—*FoooM!!!*

“!!!!”

And then the sky burst open.

This wasn’t some metaphorical thing. The dark, looming sky, that had been pouring rain and spitting lightning, burst as if someone had used an explosion spell.

At the same time, as if the concept of space had vanished, the surroundings turned pitch black in an instant.

Everyone, having been dropped into a place of nothing but darkness, was dumbfounded and couldn’t speak a word—

—*WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!*

The rabbit sucked the darkness into its mouth.

The pitch black void was rapidly drawn into the rabbit’s small maw.

*GLUGGLUGGLUGGLUG!*

Then, as if a heavy, dark curtain had been pulled away—

Suddenly, a clear, blue ocean and sky appeared.

The storm had stopped, and the sea was incredibly calm.

The rabbit, having returned the concept of space to everyone, landed nonchalantly on the deck as if nothing had happened, and began to… devoured the darkness it had inhaled.

*Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp.*

… *Burp!*

“Full belly, money.”

The rabbit said this, then, with a hop, jumped towards Eirene who was observing the situation not too far away—

And settled into her arms—

“Goo goo, money. Goo goo, money.”

It began to act spoiled with her.

It was sudden, sure… but, in truth, throughout the voyage, the rabbit had often left Ophelia’s head and nestled into her arms like this.

‘Lord Ophelia mentioned it. The rabbit prince is very fond of me.’

If the messenger of a god, no less, liked her, Eirene had no reason not to treat the rabbit with her utmost sincerity.

After all, wasn’t the messenger of a god essentially a part of that god?

Eirene stroked the rabbit’s head with an exceptionally benevolent smile.

With its ears pulled back so far, it was exceptionally easy to stroke its head.

“Yes, Rabbit. You’ve suffered so much. Thanks to you, we were able to overcome a great crisis. I will not forget your devotion for the rest of my life.”

“Pya! Get it, good, money!”

The sailors, dumbstruck by the series of surreal events, stared blankly at each other’s faces—

Then, all at once, slowly approached the rabbit and knelt.

“Ah… oh god…!”

“Long live the messenger rabbit, sent by Lord Egguggudon!”

“Long live the rabbit! Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”

Erin, watching this scene from a distance, cautiously nodded to Karen and said,

“…It seems we didn’t need to use the ‘unvarnished facts’ after all.”

“Y-yes…”

The power of the God’s messenger, the “Rabbit,” sent down to Earth.

Its potential was so immense that even the Holy Woman Erin, and Karen, who was a human being with the clear, blunt facts, couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.

* * *

After that, thankfully, they were able to continue their voyage without any major issues –

And finally, a new continent came into view of the crew.

“Land! Land ahoy!”

Hearing the shout of the sailor, Erin spoke to Lengard, who was gazing thoughtfully, with a trace of melancholy.

“What do you think, Duke?”

“It’s certain! However… As I told you before, they are highly likely to be hostile to us. So please, be careful.”

“Understood.”

She said that, but – Erin wasn’t worried at all.

After all, the fact that Lengard had regained his memories could only be seen as a divine intervention.

Believing that God’s will wouldn’t put them in a corner, she naturally began to worry about something different than Lengard.

‘How should I best persuade those who believe in the false god?’

The absolute rule of the Guodendron faith – there must be a reward to offer in order to preach one’s religion.

First of all, if the ‘pointy-eared foreigners’ don’t come out hostile, there’s no need for us to create any kind of disturbances.

But if they unilaterally and aggressively insisted that their god is the only god, the high priests who came along on the voyage wouldn’t stay still, and Erin herself would absolutely not be able to accept it.

Unless they’re completely unable to communicate, according to Lengard’s testimony, they use their language through some kind of power, making it even more worrisome.

‘Even if they act violently, let’s choose the path of talking it out as much as possible. Considering what happened with the demons, peace must be what Yiguoguden values ​​most. Yiguoguden didn’t send us here simply to start a fight… There must be a way.’

Having steeled my nerves with those thoughts—

“We’re anchoring!”

“Everyone, prepare to disembark!”

—I carefully lowered the anchor on the shores of the New Continent.

“This is the new continent…!”

“I never imagined it would take decades to return…”

As Rengard said, his words laced with complex emotions that defied simple definition—

It was a historical moment, decades later, when people from the old continent once again stepped onto the new.