Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 155 Tokens and Backups

To the left of the cathedral, the headquarters of the Axis Order, lies a vast lake, which also serves as the town's water source. Behind the church, however, is a mountain from which hot springs gush forth. The road leading to the source of the hot springs is heavily guarded by the town's knightly order.

In order to reach the back mountain smoothly, Charlotte and the others specifically sought out Cecily, a priestess of the order, thinking they could proceed without any obstacles. However—

"No, even if you are the high priest of the Axis religion, we cannot let you proceed."

"Wait, wait! What are you talking about?! I'm Cecily, the beautiful priestess of the Axis Cult! Why do I need your permission to enter my own territory?!"

"Isn't this all your fault?! If Cecily hadn't poured agar slime at the source, the Knights wouldn't have taken on this job! You stupid priestess!!"

The guards seemed to recognize Cecily and berated her rudely.

Originally, the water source for the Order was controlled by the Axis cultists, but the current situation arose because Cecily poured agar slime powder into the source. For the specific reasons, please refer to the side story.

"In short, Cecily is no longer allowed to enter the source!"

"How could this happen? I'm so sorry, Lady Aqua—"

The guard said this coldly and indifferently, and Cecily could only look at Aqua awkwardly. However, she did not expect that Aqua would abandon her so decisively.

"So, Cecily just doesn't need to go in, right?"

"————Aqua-sama!?"

"Cecily, you know what I mean, right?"

Aqua winked at her, seemingly suggesting that she find someone else who could speak to her. After all, it would be simpler to have someone of higher status explain things to her than to make a scene here and still not get in.

Cecily quickly understood this, then turned and ran to the church to find someone to help her.

Aqua continued to persuade them: "You devout Axis followers, please listen to me—"

"Excuse me."

"We are followers of Eris."

That's what the two guards said.

"Why?! I live in this town, how can I be a follower of the Eris Cult?!" Aqua was somewhat distraught. It was bad enough that her family's hot spring was controlled by the Knights, but to have the Eris Cult run it was the ultimate act of home invasion!

"Please, let us in! The source of the hot spring is dangerous! This is for the good of the town! I—"

"I—! I just wanted to save this town!"

"No means no, go back!"

No matter how much Aqua pleaded, the guards remained indifferent and cold, and their attitude worsened after they learned that she was also a follower of Axis.

Charlotte————

There's no other way.

Under Aqua's tearful onslaught, Charlotte had no choice but to step forward. His priestly robes had somehow been replaced with those of the Church of Eris. However, he didn't intend to use his cult identity to deceive them; instead, he planned to use a simpler and quicker method.

"Believers, I am a priest of the Church of Eris. You should have heard of my name. My name is Charlotte."

"Charlotte? Could it be that—"

"Is it the one that sir mentioned?"

That sir?

Although curious about the word they used, Charlotte didn't have time to care now. She decisively pulled out a token from her pocket and said, "I'm sorry, you may not have a good impression of her identity, but this matter is very urgent and quite important to this town! So, please let us pass!"

"This is—the emblem of the Sinphonia family!?"

"I remember the union did issue a commission for the Sinphonia family, could it be that—"

The two guards widened their eyes.

Darkness's eyes widened as well. She grabbed Charlotte by the throat with such force that he almost touched the ground with his toes, and asked in a hurried and agitated whisper, "What's going on? What's going on? Why do you still have the Sinphonia family heirloom?!"

"Cough cough—Don't, don't be impulsive, Darkness. I never said I only had one token, but I have many spares. Look, the mold was specially made to create it. Wouldn't it be a waste not to forge more?" Charlotte replied softly.

"Is this a matter of whether you're at a disadvantage or not? You rascal, you rascal!"

She looked very angry.

Kazuma Sato leaned closer to Aqua and Megumin and whispered, "I think Charlotte's desperate attempt to get in has gone too far, hasn't it?"

"I will thank him for the sacrifice he made."

"I will remember him in the future."

"6

"Hey you over there, could you stop making it sound like he's already dead?" Charlotte rolled her eyes in annoyance, and said to the two guards, "To be honest, the hot spring pollution commotion yesterday has spread throughout the entire town. Rather than considering it as isolated hot springs being poisoned, it's more likely that the source is contaminated. We've found the culprit and are convinced that he's poisoning the source right now, which is why we're here to investigate."

"Wow, I never thought it was like this!?"

"We are very sorry, please forgive our rudeness! Mr. Sinphonia!!"

"oh oh----"

Charlotte's answer was dry and uninspired.

Despite being addressed as "Sir" by a nobleman, the thought that this identity was false, and that he was still with Claire—made him extremely uncomfortable.

Just as the guard opened the iron gate to let them pass, another guard said tremblingly, "N-I'm sorry, Mr. Sinphonia, you said you came to investigate the source, but actually the hot spring manager has already gone up the mountain."

He also said that he wanted to investigate the cause of the pollution, so no one was allowed to enter the area—especially other Axis believers.

Hearing them say this, Sato Kazuma and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

It was such a coincidence.

The hot spring manager also believes that the source is very likely to be contaminated, but it is obviously wrong for the other party to prohibit the Axis followers. After all, if it was not done by their own followers, then the more Axis followers there are, the better to solve the problem. But if it was done by their own followers, then they can solve the problem as soon as possible and avoid trouble.

Just to be on the safe side, Kazuma Sato asked, "Was the manager a man with dark skin and short brown hair?"

"No, it's an elderly man with blond hair. He's been managing the hot springs here for a long time," the guard said.

Charlotte said with certainty, "He's a fake."

"Fake goods? Why?"

"Either he is not an administrator of the Axis Cult, or he is not an administrator of the Axis Cult; either way, he must be a fake."

"What nonsense are you talking about—oh, is that so!"

Kazuma Sato suddenly realized.

He understood. One was the administrator of the Axis Church, and the other was the administrator of the Axis Church himself. Since the other party went to the source first and did not allow the Axis Church members to enter, there was obviously something wrong!