97. For the Believer, God Shall Come

Despite rational explanations, fear of the current unstable situation spiraled out of control.

“Drive out the foreigners and bring justice to this land!”

“Let’s cleanse this land with pure blood!”

“Do you really need to see blood before you’re satisfied?”

“Shut up!”

“You’re the one being loud!”

An angry wind swirled around following my will. People naturally fell silent.

“No matter how much blood you sprinkle, the soil remains red! Nothing can grow in red soil! Don’t you realize this even as you set fire to this land every year?”

How simple it is to silence people by yelling at them like this.

“For 500 years, this land has fed you. Honestly, you must have felt it year after year. That this land’s strength is fading! Yes, that medicine is iron powder, and iron powder alone can’t fully heal you.”

“You fraud!”

“Until this land becomes fertile again and your tables are overflowing with food, that disease won’t go away.”

Truly convincing people’s hearts is a much more difficult task.

“I’ll tell you a better way than offering blood. Change the soil. Go down below the mountain, bring back plenty of rich black soil, and cover your land with it. Since nothing grows in red soil, bringing soil from elsewhere might allow something to grow on your land.”

If only there was enough labor force left to do that.

“But it’s simpler to leave this land and go down below the mountain!”

“What does a foreign woman know! How can the land below the mountain be the same as the mountain tribe’s land?”

“The mountain tribe’s land is sacred. The prince will come to this land!”

Those gripped by fear cannot make wise decisions.

Anyone who could assess the situation would have left this land alone. Abandoning this barren land to find a new world.

But only cowards remained on this land. Only those who turned a blind eye even as the situation gradually worsened, like frogs slowly boiling in water.

These were the people we needed to take down the mountain.

These complainers who, terrified of the truth, kept their eyes tightly shut and ears firmly plugged.

“You…!”

Just as the confrontation between me and the mountain tribe reached its peak, a hand landed on my shoulder.

“Faithful people who await the prince.”

Arshama passed by me and walked leisurely despite the intense conflict.

His steps were so light he seemed to walk on the wind, giving him an undeniable dignity that no one could ignore.

It had nothing to do with the golden makeup at the corner of his eye or his richly flowing garments.

His mere presence made it clear he was the protagonist of this place.

“Are you the people who remained until the day the prince comes?”

“Yes! We’ll believe in our god without foreigners interfering!”

“Then when is the day the prince comes? How will the mountain tribe recognize the prince?”

“Of course, the prince will wear luxurious attire so anyone can recognize him, and descend from heaven with angels……”

“Wrong. You won’t recognize the prince even when he arrives. It’s already written in the prophecy. People of the mountain tribe who believe in prophecy, God taught us to love our neighbors. For they might be the prince.”

Arshama’s face, usually full of mischief, now showed not even a hint of a smile.

His face without laughter was serious and solemn.

“He said not to despise the lowly. The prince will come in a completely unexpected way.”

The protesters hesitated and said to Arshama:

“Who are you to speak of our faith?”

“Look. You cannot recognize the one you seek even when he stands before you.”

Arshama stood proudly before the crowd. Even without silk clothes, even though he wasn’t standing in a palace, he looked like a prince.

“The prince has already come, so why do you cling to the old kingdom?”

As the clouds dispersed, a beam of light fell upon Arshama’s head.

Arshama held up the mountain tribe’s sacred object.

The miracle of nature and the authority of the sacred object left no doubt that he was a being from legend.

“Oh, God……”

“The prince, the prince of the new era has come in this perilous time……”

Someone murmured. Inkheart and I knelt before Arshama.

The people wavered at the sight of foreigners submitting before their god. Slowly, slowly, people began to kneel in unison.

It was a miracle.

* * *

“There was a time when I wondered if this con would actually work.”

“It succeeded.”

Arshama looked at us with the expression of an immortal.

“As they say from ancient times, blessed are those who believe.”

“Your Highness, please return to your human form now.”

“Ahaha, it’s really hard playing prince without a cow or servants. According to tradition, I should have appeared with something magnificent like a white cow or a hundred donkeys.”

Inkheart and I sighed. Fortunately, Arshama was actually a prince in his home country. Despite his usual careless behavior, he turned out to be a talented individual armed with political and doctrinal knowledge.

“Well, it’s not a lie, is it? We suddenly appeared at the temple, and the temple people said we were sent by God and tried to sacrifice us immediately. Who is sent by God? The prince, of course!”

Arshama just burst into laughter. If people suddenly came to their senses and turned against him for mocking their faith, the one hanging would be Arshama, the false prophet. That guy is always carefree, good for him.

“How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“The clouds parting and light pouring down on your head. We had planned to create atmosphere with spirits or something else if necessary, but there was no need?”

And at that moment, you held up the sacred object perfectly. Just like someone truly sent by the mountain tribe’s god.

“Did you lock yourself away for days to calculate the timing? Something like a solar eclipse?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Huh?”

Arshama laughed deeply.

“Other than holding up the sacred object, I didn’t do anything. Whatever happened, what you saw is all there was.”

Oh.

“……That’s really.”

I covered my mouth. I don’t know, I decided not to believe in the mountain tribe’s god. Besides, there’s no reason to believe.

Anyway, the prince’s miracle spread widely. The prince gave medicine to those who collapsed from the strange disease and explained the reason. He also explained the crisis this land currently faced.

The unknown is frightening, but knowing makes things less overwhelming.

“This land doesn’t even have cows or horses that are common in other regions. How can people live on land where even animals can’t be raised?”

“Ask the elders who have farmed for a long time. How has the harvest changed each year?”

Gradually, rumors spread among people that the prince had appeared. The prince who finally arrived wanted a new kingdom.

“Let’s go! Down the mountain!”

As public sentiment shifted, fewer people visited the temple.

“If he is the real prince, why didn’t he appear at the temple? Why is he staying at the suspicious foreigner’s residence that’s shaking us?”

The shaman sneered while trying to calm the believers.

“False prince! Faith is always tested.”

“Waaaah!”

In the midst of brilliant fire and strange smoke that clouded the mind, the believers forgot their thoughts and became loyal once again.

But there were also those who objected.

“The prophecy says the prince won’t come from the temple. It says the prince will come like lightning when no one expects, so it doesn’t matter where he appears.”

“Then, chief, do you believe he is the prince?”

“At the very least, people believe so.”

“If he is the real prince, how can he demand that we leave this sacred land of our people?”

The shaman declared.

“It’s just the words of a few people. Foolish people at that.”

The chief had come to say that since things had turned out this way, they should completely abolish human sacrifice rituals.

“But people now want to migrate. They’re happy to know there’s another way besides bloodshed.”

“How can they be happy about such things? If he is the real prince, he cannot abandon the people who have faithfully kept this land, eagerly awaiting his arrival.”

The shaman looked at the chief.

“The prince rules the people. If the real prince has come, then rightfully all glorious positions belong to the prince. Will you, chief, be deceived by a false prince and give up your position?”

“……If he is the real prince, I must do so. The chief’s position is merely one that rules on behalf of the prince who will come someday……”

“Of course, a prince who suddenly appears cannot rule the kingdom alone, so he’ll need new hands and feet. But the prince already has people by his side. That foreign spirit mage.”

Abandoning this land and going down meant giving up everything the mountain tribe had built in their village. The chief’s wealth, his house, and even his position.

“You will lose everything. And everything of the mountain tribe as well.”

“Then what should I do? People ask me for reasons. Why have we become like this! As chief, I must give them answers. But I have no solution!”

“Chief, as someone who serves God’s will, I can offer only one piece of advice.”

The old chief of the mountain tribe was so gripped by fear that he seemed about to burst into tears. The wisdom he had accumulated throughout his life did not include how to deal with such a situation.

“God and the devil come together. When the prince comes, false prophets come with him.”