As we continued chatting about this and that over tea, Olivia-san suddenly looked as if she thought of something and spoke.
[Miyama Kaito-sama, please allow me one more question. What are you going to have for dinner, Miyama Kaito-sama?]
The wedding reception party was held in the afternoon, so it was true that we hadn’t eaten dinner yet. However, the party lasted a long time and I had some snacks, so I wasn’t that hungry.
It was still a little early for dinner. I was going to go and just have my meal back home…… but it might be a good idea to have my dinner outside.
[I was going to eat back at home, but it would also be nice to eat outside before going home. There’s also Kaori-san’s restaurant here, so now I’m thinking it might be nice to eat there.][In that case…… If Miyama Kaito-sama is alright with it, would you allow me to accompany you?]
[It’s alright. Well then, shall we go? Though I say that, I’m not really that hungry yet, so I’d prefer we go a little later……]
We had a stylish course meal earlier in the daytime, and I missed the set meals. I mean, once I thought about it, my desire to go to Kaori-san’s restaurant became quite strong, so in my mind, it was almost settled that we would go there.
[Yes, understood. Until then, if you have any requests in mind……]
[Ahh, then I would like to see the Cathedral. The last time I was here, I went straight to Olivia-san’s room and then we went outside, so I didn’t get a chance to look around much……]
[I see…… If I may be so presumptuous, please allow me to show you around.]
[Thank you. Well then, after we finish our tea, let’s go.]The Cathedral is quite large, and it’s not like this place is only made up of prayer rooms. It seems like there are many other rooms and some that are used for various events, and according to Kaori-san, this place is also famous as a tourist spot, so I think what I said was a pretty good idea.
Speaking of which, I would be digressing, but the religions of this world are almost unified…… Or rather, it’s no exaggeration to say that they only have one belief, Godism.
Well, I guess that’s inevitable because God actually exists. Incidentally, this Godism doesn’t have very strict commandments, and is quite free in many aspects.
There’s only one thing that must be strictly adhered to. As long as you dedicate your greatest belief to Shiro-san, and your faith puts Shiro-san above all else, it doesn’t matter who or how many of the Gods you believe in.
There are apparently some factions depending on which of the other Gods they hold faith in, but they aren’t in conflict with each other, and there are many priests who belong to more than one faction at the same time.
They apparently have scriptures, but almost none of them limit the people’s actions. For example, as Dr. Vier said, there are no restrictions on marriage.
There are no restrictions on food, and it’s a little different from what I imagined a religion would be like. I thought they would be something like a subservient organization that serves the God Realm.
[Speaking of which, what do you do as the Founder, Olivia-san?]
[In my case, I work more as a city representative and less as the church’s leader. I also organize the annual Grand Assembly, and on New Year’s day, I organize the prayers in the Cathedral…… I think that’s about it. If it’s the year when the Festival of Heroes is held, I have a lot of work, but when it’s not, I have a lot of time on my hands. I used to spend such time in prayer, but now, I used this time to learn about various things.]
[I see…… What is the Great Assembly?]
[Once a year, priests and others of high status from around the world gather in the Cathedral to review the scriptures…… You could say it’s kind of like a conference.]
The Low-ranking Gods have temples throughout the Human Realm, and the priests and other workers in these temples should be exclusively Godists. As I thought, I think that this is a unified religion, and that quite a number of people belong to it.
Even if the participants are limited only to priests and those with high standing, it’s likely that a considerable number of people will gather, giving it the impression of a major event.
[If Miyama Kaito-sama desires, I can invite you…… I think everyone will be pleased to receive Miyama Kaito-sama’s words.]
[Eh? N- No, as expected, that’s just…… I’ll have to pass.]
[I see, understood.]
As expected, that’s just something I can just go along with, no matter how much she stares at me with sparkling eyes. Even now, she was having this extremely high evaluation of me, and if I were to be honored by the head of a unified religion at that Great Assembly, it would be too much for me to handle.
I’m not Lilia-san, but just thinking about what would happen if I did agree…… makes me feel pain in my stomach.
<Afterword>
~ ~ Extra ~ ~
※ For some reason, I have often been asked about Epilogue recently, so I will summarize the setting as an Extra.
As for Last Story, it’s only one factor attached to the Epilogue.
『Epilogue』
【User】
Shallow Vernal
※ Strictly speaking, Shallow Vernal is a being that’s more like a will that sprouted later by chance late in the phenomenon’s eternal existence, so Epilogue itself is Shallow Vernal’s true form.
【Range】
Its range could never be limited. It can “end everything” or focus on only a certain phenomenon.
【Activation】
It’s basically activated at Shallow Vernal’s discretion, but since Epilogue itself also has a will of its own, even if something were to happen to Shallow Vernal, it could activate itself when it wants to.
【Details】
This is Shallow Vernal’s power to end everything, an outlier beyond comparison to other abilities.
Faced with an Omniscient and Omnipotent Being, “it brings the Omniscient and Omnipotent Being to their end”. Faced with a Being Beyond Omniscience and Omnipotence, “it brings the Being Beyond Omniscience and Omnipotence to their end”. Faced with a Being immune to Epilogue, “it brings the Being immune to Epilogue to their end”. Faced with a Being capable of dealing with Epilogue, “it brings the Being capable of dealing with Epilogue to their end”.
There’s no point in killing or sealing the user Shallow Vernal, for the being who killed or sealed Shallow Vernal would still be brought to their end.
To put it another way, this is something like “an ability that always would always stand at the end in all conditions”, and no countermeasures or ability would hold any meaning against it.
No matter how one resists, “〇〇 would be brought to their end”, and no countermeasures against this phenomenon exist.
Extreme it may sound, but even if they’re a Being beyond Omnipotence, a Being beyond Multi-Dimensional Omnipotence, a Being beyond Higher-Order Multi-Dimensional Omnipotence, or even the “Strongest Imaginable” beyond the Ever-Expanding Multi-Dimensional Omnipotence, their existence would be “nothing more but paper in a book”, holding no meaning whatsoever.
Shallow Vernal herself is often used as a scale against individuals or a world itself, but before Epilogue, the existence of limits didn’t exist, and it held no restrictions whatsoever on the target size, area of effect, or distance to be covered.
She also doesn’t need to be aware of what would be brought to its end, for the end can be brought regardless of location, dimension or distance.
The Epilogue is the phenomenon of a story’s ending, so to speak, and Shallow Vernal is a consciousness that happened to be born of this phenomenon.
Since Epilogue is the power located at the end of all stories, Epilogue…… Or rather, Shallow Vernal herself is the “last story”, and Shallow Vernal’s end would only come after all stories except her own have been brought to its end.
It can be said that factually nothing can resist its end, and nothing can extinguish Shallow Vernal.
To be honest, the author also has no idea how to defeat her. Or rather, there’s no way to defeat her because she was never thought of as someone that can be defeated. Above all, her being “someone that will always stand at the end” is just so much of an outlier that Epilogue is literally not in the realm of ability comparisons.
This would have been an unacceptable level of ability if this were a battle story, as dealing with and preparing countermeasures against it is impossible…… but fortunately, there’s no need to defeat Shallow Vernal who has this power, nor is there any need to find a way to defend against Epilogue. There never has been, and there never will be. The world is at peace.
