Chapter 798: City of [Shrudha]
[OP: ]
The city of religion where those who had faith in their lords resided… four atheists were walking the streets of this city where the faith towards their gods was everything for any individual.
[{ "So, why do you people don't believe in them?" }]
All four of them had their own reasons and logics to not believe in the eternal, omnipotent and omniscience of the gods that the common people and premises of this world believed in.
All four of them had lived different lives, were of different ages and had seen various things throughout their lives for them to believe in the power and authority of some certain figures that were the ones behind every single thing that happened in this world.
[{ "I mean, I understand we all know more than these dumb people that have blind faith and are ignorant of the reality of this world, but… why not believe in them at all even though they do really exist?" }]
[{ "That's a funny question, Del." }]
The city was said to have been blessed by the twelve gods that the [Temple] followed.
It was said that these twelve gods were the only original gods of this world and the other gods that were said to exist were all either only subordinates of these twelve or were a part of them that was misunderstood by the masses in various regions.
They thought the others were ignorant and did not know the true faith and they had the duty of showing them the true paths of life.
And that was what the Temple did, actually.
[{ "Well, it's a fun question to entertain at this time." }]
[{ "I agree with Lucifer. We might as well talk about something like this than just walk around silently. We aren't going to reach the destination for next few minutes anyway." }]
The blessed city of Shrudha, founded by the very first very first Saintess of their faith, was a large city with capacity to house more than three hundred thousand people, and, since it was truly 'blessed' there were abundant resources here.
[{ "Right? Then how about we start with Elle-." }]
[{ "Shouldn't the one that brought this up be the one to start?" }]
[{ "I'm ok with it though." }]
The blessed city was comparable to Theocracy of Cross situated in the southwestern region of the continent.
It was founded on the fertile land blessed by the (Goddess of land and fertility: Privth.) after the (God of mountains and earth: Giolo) cleared a certain area in the middle of a mountain range for the foundation of this city.
The (Twin gods of Flowing rivers: Nïdhu and Nidha) are said to have split off the great river that was flowing through these mountain ranges and redirected the flow to make a triangular fertile region.
The (God of Construction: Bruhashi) was said to have blessed the first foundations that were placed in this land by the very hands of the first Saintess, and it was said that these foundations still maintain the great city that had evolved into what it is right now.
It was said that the (God of true Winds: Vay) had blessed the city so that the strong winds never affect it, and along with it (Goddess of eternal flames: Niag) was protecting these lands from any kind of uncontrollable fire.
(Sister Goddesses of Light and Mercy: Boök and Böox) kept away any kind of external danger from them, (Three Fate weaving goddesses: Arrah, Büruh, and Curän) protected the fates of every being that followed her, protected them from the eternal karmic cycle.
The one that blesses protectors of north, the chosen individuals of Heliox, (God of oceans and warfare: Adrian) along with the goddess that blessed Anna (Goddess of healing, Althea) and (Goddess of justice, Meyat), complete the pantheon that is followed by nearly half a billion people of this world.
[{ "Nah. Cradle should start first." }]
They were walking down the clean streets of the city bustling with various shops and vendors that wore clean light clothes.
This was the inner city area so there were all kinds of normal things here however, just like a unique characteristic of every culture, the 'normal' of this city was a little different from the normal of the capital city of the empire.
[{ "Alright then, I don't have any problems either." }]
The people of this city mostly wore white or light coloured clothes.
There was no slum in this city, nearly every person in this city had a certain god that they followed and some of them even had multiple beings of faith.
They lived in harmony with the other followers of the other god as ultimately, all the gods were part of [Temple], the pantheon of most famous gods in the west.
[{ "Ever since I was young, I was different.
Among my people, in my family, in the castle and even among the common people of our kind, I was always different.
My mom died when I was born, my father hated me but not enough to kill me like my aunts did, the cousins I had always bullied me, and before I had awakened my powers, there were tens of things that tormented me to no end." }]
Their destination was the educational structure situated in the middle of the city and since there were no carriages allowed here, the only preferred way of transportation was by one's own two feet.
And since using Rein's shadow travel in the city was a little risky, they were going to use it as little as possible.
[{ "We do only have the progenitor as an object of worship, however, we were also told stories about these twelve gods when we were young.
So… in the times I had no one, when I was alone and had nobody else to rely on, cry with, complain to… I used to talk with those beings in the higher realms.
Beings that were said to always have been watching us with their all-seeing eyes." }]
They were walking towards their destination and since there was nothing much to do other then just… walking, the four atheists in the city of believers were sharing stories of why they did not have faith in these twelve eternal gods.
[{ "They never spoke back, didn't give any signs, didn't show any interest in me, and I spent most of my childhood thinking how I was the one with the problem, how I was the faulty one." }]
They knew her well after all this time and though they knew the person she was right now, she did not talk much about her family or past.
She had left all of that behind already so they mattered little to her. She wasn't concerned or bothered by any of it anymore.
She wasn't related to those people anymore and was only 'Cradle' the vice president of the academy's student council.
There was a merchant guild under her so she was also a rich person, but it was nowhere near what she had when she still was related to her family.
Still… even though it was negligible compared to that enormous wealth, she was happy with what she had right now.
[{ "One day when I was beaten up by those bastard cousins, I stopped talking with those 'gods'.
They never helped me when I wanted them, they never were there when I needed them, and they were bastards that greedily wanted me when I awakened my powers and was able to use magic and something that the rest of those pieces of shits will never have." }]
She left her house on her own; however, her leave and absence was never acknowledged by the patriarch or the originator so she was still technically part of her household… but it still didn't matter.
She had no intention of going back there until her last breath that she knew wasn't going to arrive anytime soon.
[{ "Well, I'm still not anywhere near as strong as I have to be to be to kill the adults of house, but if I ever get that strong, I'll make sure at least that bitch dies by my hands." }]
She didn't like the people of her house, but since the circumstances were as they were, she had no choice but to continue living as she was.
[{ "So, well, it's just the same old same old story from my side. Nothing new or particularly unique.
They exist, they do things, they are beings of unfathomable power, but at the same time, they are neither omniscient nor omnipotent.
They are just strong beings that are restricted to the higher planes of existence and there is not much they could do to this mortal world." }]
She smirked and shook her head while checking out a hot Sister walking on the opposite side of the road.
[{ "I was young and ignorant back then, but now that I know about those beings, they don't seem more exciting to me than the divine beasts.
Man~ the divine creatures that live among us and the origin beasts that are just as special as them are more exciting to me!" }]
She was not a human, and she also did not believe in the supreme authority of these gods.
She was here for a mission so, there was no need for her to get involved with the people who did believe her in these 'higher' beings.
She was a smart person, and thanks to all her study and direct teachings of the headmaster in the academy, she knew facts that only a handful of individuals in this city would be aware of.
And just knowing this fact reinforced her belief in her own beliefs.
[{ "Alright. Your turn Elle~." }]
She had her reason to be an 'atheist' and her own reason to have her own unique faith.
She was someone that walked a unique path from the others, so at the end of the day… she loved who she was.