At 4:14 p.m., we stepped into the teleportation circle and left the dungeon. After that, we contacted Jacob and the others to meet up, strolling through the streets while chatting about what had happened over the past few days. We also went over the process of tomorrow's Food King Tournament again, along with everything we needed to prepare.
By 8:37 p.m., we had finished bathing at the inn and were resting in our room, reading while waiting for bedtime. Then Jacob, who was sharing the room with me, took out a newspaper from his storage space and handed it over.
"Karen, there's a news here about the Brave from Bartletis."
"Alright."
The moment I heard about the other Brave—Bell—I took the newspaper from him. But why was a newspaper as thick as a dictionary? When I looked at the side, I realized it was actually two papers stacked together.
I started with the earlier one.
(fatelis Year, February 7th, 2019, 11:13 a.m. — The Brave Bell and his companions arrived at the capital of Migalered, Medingaya, where he immediately sought an audience with the Pope, Nabi Arthur Migalered.
There, Brave Bell drew the sacred sword that only a true Brave can wield—the holy sword "Duralde"—proving his identity. As a result, he gained the recognition and praise of Pope Nabi, the most devout follower of the Goddess of Fate, and a grand welcoming ball was held in his honor.
May the apostle of the Goddess of Fate, Fatelis—Brave Bell—defeat the evil Demon King and protect this world.)
So Bell went to Migalered first. That country lies northwest of Bartletis—basically the opposite direction from Aimebisalon.
And its king is the Pope, meaning both the ruler of the nation and the high priest of the temple. In other words, it's a theocratic state.
Still, there's a holy sword? Why didn't King Leon tell me anything? It makes me look completely ignorant.
I picked up the second paper.
(Fatelis Year, February 8th, 2002, 2:13 p.m. — Pope Nabi has ordered Brave Bell to travel to Aimebisalon.
Why not the neighboring nation of Ashabisht? The reason is that during prayer, Pope Nabi received a divine revelation from Fatelis.
The Saintess Alice, who is also an apostle of Fatelis, awaits the Brave in Aimebisalon to greet him.
Surely this is Fatelis's will—that the meeting of the Brave and the Saintess will more swiftly save this world, now suffering under the Demon King.
In the end, time will resolve everything. May the Goddess of Fate, Fatelis, be with you.)
As expected of a religious nation—it was so wordy. And what does "time will resolve everything" even mean? If I were falsely accused, would doing nothing and waiting magically clear my name?
If time really solved everything, I might as well just lie down and do nothing.
The Pope receiving a divine revelation probably happened because Bell collected the brave power there.
But then why was a revelation given? In Butnashso, so many days passed without any news of one, so the spectator gods didn't give any. That old man god probably didn't either.
As for the god in Migalered, the revelation was probably given under the orders of the Goddess of Fate—just like how that criminal god granted Lina and me the dungeon transport magic.
Today marks the sixth day since Bell set out for Aimebisalon. But it took him a whole month just to reach Migalered's capital. That means it'll probably take twice as long to reach Aimebisalon's capital—so he'll likely arrive around April.
And tomorrow is the long-awaited Food King Tournament. The city gates will close early, so we won't be able to leave until the next day.
Now that we have the electric motorcycles, our journey will be significantly shortened. We should be able to enter the next country before March. After that, returning to the capital—factoring in possible delays—will probably take about half a month.
Then we'll need to head to the easternmost region—the Enchanted Sea—to reclaim the strongest power. But with thirty percent land and seventy percent ocean, how long will it take to find a place that isn't even marked on the map?
And after that, how long will it take to return to Aimebisalon? Probably May by then.
Too late.
(If only I could fly…)
I let out a sigh. Wanting to fly was probably a universal fantasy.
At that moment, Jacob spoke to me in a troubled tone.
"So you understand now—he really is a true Brave. But why would the Goddess of Fate choose two Braves?"
He must've thought my sigh was about Bell was true Brave. I shrugged in response.
"Only the Goddess of Fate would know that. But they don't seem to know that Alice isn't in her home country. Did the king and the archbishop cover it up?"
When a Brave appears, both the kingdom and the temple should receive official notice. Alice had already been gone for a month and a half, yet the news made no mention of her disappear. That was the only explanation.
"Most likely. Back when the country was first founded, the Goddess of Fate gave a revelation—saying the Saintess must not leave the capital before the Brave arrives."
I see. That made things serious. But first, I needed to confirm something.
"Let me ask—this Migalered, it's a theocratic state, right?"
"Yes. And the Goddess of Fate is the only faith in this world. So as a religious nation, Migalered holds tremendous influence."
"Then we can't afford to waste any more time. I estimate the Brave will arrive in early April. If he doesn't find Alice there, people will assume the king and archbishop defied the Goddess's revelation. Migalered might see it as blasphemy and declare war. Bartletis wouldn't miss that opportunity either—and other nations might join in."
A theocratic nation believes in its god far more absolutely than ordinary countries. They don't doubt divine will. If someone is found to have gone against it, punishment is inevitable.
An attack from Migalered and Bartletis would be all but guaranteed. And since I'd already fallen out with King Bari of Butnashso, he'd probably join in too.
"We'd be surrounded on all sides. But if you reveal your identity, this can all be avoided."
If I revealed myself, it would prove that King Leon and the archbishop hadn't disobeyed the Goddess of Fate. War could be avoided.
But I refused.
"No. I don't want to be known as the Brave. I want to be myself."
I absolutely refused to be labeled as "the Brave." People would stop seeing who I really was—they'd only expect me to act like the version of a hero they had in their heads.
"Fair enough. You said that from the beginning—you don't want to live your life as the Brave."
Jacob had asked me that the first time we met, and I'd already given him my answer. He only brought up that solution casually—he wasn't insisting. He probably believed I had another way.
So I told him my plan.
"The only thing I can think of is getting back to the capital before the Brave does. After we collect the brave power in the next country, we head back immediately."
"What about the Enchanted Sea?"
Finding the Enchanted Sea would take too long. There was no choice but to postpone it.
"We don't have the time. We'll go later."
"Alright. We'll do it your way."
And just like that, we settled on a plan.
Jacob then told me that Alice and Ethefelis didn't know about this, and since Grace was in the dungeon at the time, she naturally had no way of knowing.
We decided not to tell them. Grace and Alice wouldn't be able to stay calm—they'd definitely panic.
With tomorrow's tournament in mind, I needed to rest and recover. So I dragged Jacob along and went to bed early.