Pray to the Gospel

Where did Riica go? I take my eyes off her for one second, and she disappears...

My, my. You look lost, little lamb.

Lost? No, why would I be lost?

But you DO seek something, don't you?

Y-Yeah... My friend, she's...

Hehehe. I see, I see...

Don't worry, you can find whatever it is you seek. If you'll just follow me...

Thank you, but I think I'll just wait here for her...

Don't be shy now! The Savior shall surely lead you to the happiness you seek...

Happiness? Savior? What are you talking about?

Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm honestly fine...

I understand. It's not easy to accept the miracle you're about to witness.

Who are you?!

All those who join the Gospel of the Laula Fields express doubts at first.

But you must be honest with yourself, accept your karma, and open yourself up to the words of the Savior.

No, I...

Now, let's go! To salvation!

To the Savior!

To the Savior!!

To the Savior!!

TO THE SAVIOR!!

Thank you, oh Savior!

Before we let you go, I'd like to have a chatwith you, if you don't mind.

You will find the Savior ahead.

Are you ready to hear the Word of the Savior? To do so, you must proceed through the wheat field alone.

(They took me here against my will.) (But there's no turning back now.)

The Savior!

To the Savior!!

(Not without trouble, at least.) Here goes.

Welcome.

Wh-Who said that? Where are you?

What is your vow?

My vow?

Yes... A prayer, perhaps. Or a wish...

But I don't, um... I'm not here to seek salvation or whatever. They just dragged me here against my will.

I see... ...... Then...will you listen to my wish instead?

I don't see why not.

Will you...save me?

Huh? What do you mean?

Um... If we talk here, the others may hear us. Will you meet me at the tavern on the edge of town later?

Um, sure. Sounds like something's going on.

Until then...

Wait!

Why are you following me?

Because you haven't given us your donation yet!

Meeting the Savior ain't free, you know!

What?! But I never even asked to meet them.

And yet, you did. So pay up.

This is insane!

There you are, Aldo.

Riica!

We don't have all day, you know! Hurry up and hand over the cash!

This is sounding more and more like a scam!

H-How dare you!

Scam? Now that you mention it, I think I recognize your faces from somewhere...

Y-You're probably just imagining it.

Impossible. My database is never wrong!

Um, hey!

Right! G-Good news! Looks like you qualify for a free experience after all!

What was all that about?

What on earth did you get up to during our time apart?

Yeah, about that...

Ah, I almost forgot! I'm supposed to meet someone inside the tavern. Come on, let's talk inside.

So... With whom is your meeting?

To be honest, I don't actually know what they look like.

You...don't?

Are you the guy from the wheat field?

I am... So you're the one they call the Savior?

Please don't call me that, it makes me so uncomfortable. Just call me Eleanor.

Aldo? You're the guy from the wheat field?

Eleanor?! What are you doing here?

What is this "Savior" you mentioned?

Okay, let me get you up to speed...

Interesting...

Your turn to talk, Eleanor. What's your connection to those people who brought me to the wheat field? And why did you ask me to save you? Save you from what?

Um... Okay, this is a long story, but... I'm not even from here, you know? I was just minding my business and then suddenly I got sucked into this strange hole. Next thing I knew I found myself here...

Not exactly how I saw my day going, but I was having the time of my life exploring this curious new place.

Wow! A floating city! It's strange, and yet it's incredible!

Everyone here has such funny outfits... But this must be the style here! I love it!

There's so much to take in. I hardly know what to focus on!

My, my. You look lost, little lamb.

Huh?

Do you seek salvation?

(Maybe she's offering to show me around? How kind!)

Yes! Can you help me?

Of course, of course!

You will find the happiness you seek at the Gospel of the Laula Fields! Come along!

(Happiness? A bit over-enthusiastic for a guided tour, bless them. Still, what lovely people they are here.)

Wow! What a pretty field! So, where are we?

Just a moment. You have to wait for the person ahead to leave before you can enter the field...

Please grant me this wish!

Very well. Our covenant is formed.

(Covenant? Is this some kind of oath ceremony?) (It just looks like a regular field, but does it actually serve the same purpose as the abbey of my town?) This must be an important ceremony! In that case...

Wh-What the?! Oh, mighty Savior, explain to us what is happening!

Um...

This is proof that your vow shall be honored! Right, Savior?

Um, s-sure...

Thank you so much!

Before we let you go, I'd like to have a chat with you, if you don't mind...

What was that light? What is going on?!

M-Mom! Don't come out yet! We still have another visitor! The Savior can't appear before...

Yes, yes, but that was one mighty surprise! What did you do?

I didn't do anything! I think it was the visitor!

So you're the one responsible for that light?

Y-Yeah, that was me. I'm sorry...

Don't be sorry, that was incredible! What a wonderful power to have!

Right! If only we had such power... (Then we could swindle even more suckers. Just think of the money we could rake in...)

You know... (Are these people trying to get everyone to pledge oaths in order to protect the city from some threat?) (Just like the Knights of Lancel!)

I can't help but think...we're all of the same mind here.

Really?

(No way! A cute face like that, in our line of work?) Is that why you used that power before?

Yes!

(With a power like that at our disposal, fooling the masses would be like child's play.)

Say, how would you like to join us?

M-Mom?

(They want me to help protect this town!) (I have no idea how to get back to the abbey anyway. I might as well make myself useful here!)

I'd love to!

Perfect! You can be our Savior.

So that's how I started helping out with the Gospel of the Laula Fields. It was to help this city and all its people.

Aldo... If my analysis is correct, then this Gospel of the Laula Fields is a...

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing... Listen, Eleanor...

But while I was working with them, I realized something important!

Ah. So you figured it out too?

Yes! I figured out that I'm never going to be able to help Gospel of the Laula Fields like this!

What?!

They're not making these oaths because of some danger threatening the city. And it wasn't just oaths that brought people to me, either. Lots of people would come to make little everyday wishes or to pray for things I could never grant them.

I see...

I can use my power to shape their feelings into a sword of light... But ultimately, all that does is give shape to their strength of feeling. It can fortify one's resolve, or give one a push, but it can't grant wishes or create miracles or anything.

Okay...

The Gospel of the Laula Fields folks want to grant as many prayers and wishes as possible. But I can't meet their expectations. If I keep this up, I'll effectively be deceiving all those poor people!

Yeah, that's right...

So I want to quit the Gospel of the Laula Fields. I just don't know how to tell them.

That's what you wanted to talk about?

Yes. I have no one else I can turn to. When I saw you in the field, I thought you might be able to help.

......

Eleanor... You're too trusting for your own good.

Huh?

That's rich coming from you, Aldo... But I agree. The Gospel of the Laula Fields is a predatory religious organization, a scam to trick people out of money.

WHAT?!

They lure in the weak-hearted and the lost using sweet-sounding lies. Then they make their marks believe that meeting the "Savior" will grant them some miracle... Only to demand money from those who go through with this meeting.

Y-You're kidding!

You harbored no suspicions at all? I assumed this meeting was because you'd discovered their misdeeds... And you wanted help in hatching an escape plan.

They even chased me down before I got here, demanding I pay them a donation for meeting the Savior.

Have you been given a share of these "donations," Eleanor?

I have... I just figured the Gospel of the Laula Fields folks were being nice.

And where is that money now?

I still have it on me, unspent. But I'll return it at once, if it really was taken unfairly.

It sounds like you're still inclined to trust your Gospel friends.

I am. Maybe there's something we're missing. What if there's a reason they really need that money?

I'm not so sure...

You never know, it couldn't hurt to ask them.

I suspected you'd say that, Aldo. There's that overly-trusting nature of yours at work again. But I'm afraid there's no saving them.

What do you mean?

After analyzing the information against what we learned from the people that went after Aldo... I believe I know who our culprit is!

You're sure?

My database is never wrong!

What do you want to do then, Eleanor?

......

If they really have been deceiving people, then we need to stop them and make them repent! But...there is one thing I want to find out first. Will you come with me?

We should find them in the field. Let's go!

Hey!

How's it going, Savior... Wait. What are you doing with that guy?

Is it true that you've been swindling the people who come here and taking their money?

Wait, she didn't realize?

I did kind of feel like we weren't on the same page... Looks like we both misinterpreted each other. Oh, what a mess...

Well, I guess we're just gonna have to keep up the charade now.

W-We'd never dream of such a thing! This is all a big misunderstanding!

Yes, we just took you on to help spread joy to our flock.

I can't believe you'd mistrust us after all we've been through!

In that case...can you swear to me that you're not lying?

Of course! We swear!

Good... Now to see if you're telling the truth...

What?

What are you doing?

I was trying to create a sword of light out of their oath.

Like this. But...it didn't work. Their oath wasn't strong enough.

And that means they were lying?

B-But we're not! You have to believe us!

I'm sorry. I've dealt with this power ever since I was little, and it has never steered me wrong so far.

Care to confess?

It's payback time!

R-Run for it!

Eek!

You're not going anywhere! Just confess to your sins!

Please.

Looks like the jig is up.

Mom!

If even Mom's giving up, I guess we have no choice.

So, are you going to arrest us?

......

Are you done now, Eleanor?

Yes, I've given all the money back to everyone who donated to the Gospel of the Laula Fields.

And did you explain what happened?

No, some people are better off believing in miracles. I just handed back the money and let that be that.

I see. "What they don't know can't hurt them," as they say.

And your gospel friends?

We parted ways just now.

Are you sure it was a good idea not to arrest them?

I don't know, they seemed sorry enough. The previous crimes were all attempts at worst, and seeing as they gave the money back and since there were no actual victims... And besides...

They promised not to do it again, after all! You saw how their oaths became swords, right?

Yeah...

(While Eleanor's idea was supposed to let them off easy...) (Making them repeat their oath until their swords came out was a pretty harsh punishment in and of itself...)

Arresting them would have broken up their family, after all! And I do not want that, no.

So I choose to believe their oath was true!

You're too good-natured, Eleanor.

If I am, so are you. You let me make that decision.

You might have a point.

You know, I'd love to do a little more exploring before I make my return to the abbey.

I don't know, I'd worry about you traveling on your own. What if you get swindled or used again?

Then why don't you two come with me? Teehee...