62. The First Friend

Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Audrey. It was an amazing dinner.

Glad you liked it.

And my thanks to you too, Miss Audrey. Well... I'm afraid it's time to say goodbye.

Senko and I have a prayer meeting to attend, so we have to go now. You guys have fun, maybe go for a stroll at the St. Jordan night market.

Leaving already? You sure are a pair of busy bees.

Until next time.

... Awakener, can I talk to you for a minute in private?

, Huh?

...If it's just a minute.

Don't keep her waiting, Awakener!

Miss Vivi, is there something else on your mind? If it's business, we can talk when you're free...

, Awakener!

(She just shouted out my name!)

Yes?

...Could you...

...

Could you be my first f-f-f-f-friend?

Uh... well...

I've thought a lot about your advice... Uh, I heard that only best friends can be completely open to each other... but I don't want to take it too fast...

(Too fast?)

So... can we start by being just friends?! I want to try to rely on you!

Sure, I think we're already... friends.

...Great! So... from now on, could you drop the ''Miss'' and just call me Vivi?

O-okay, Mi... Vivi.

As for me, I will continue to call you Awakener. Okay, one minute is up. I should get back to my duties. Farewell, Awakener!

(I agreed without thinking. Was that a wise thing to do...? Anyway, she looks happier now. Guess that's a good thing.)

, Well?

What?

What's going on between you and Vivi? Are you just friends or... something more?

...Moving on to the next stage of life, huh? I can see it from that look on your face.

What are you guys implying?!

Ahem, it's not important what we're implying. What's important is for you to remember that we're foreigners here and that means there are boundaries that are not to be crossed.

...I understand.

Anyway, the second mission is complete. Time to report back to Guinevere.

Welcome back. Audrey already contacted me. Thank you again for your help. Everything went well, I hope?

All went to plan except for the unexpected encounter with the Church leaders.

Speaking of, how come the God Eaters have dealings with the nobles affiliated with the Church management?

Audrey had been an apprentice priest in the Church for five years, and she was my boss. When I left the Church, she continued to treat me as a friend.

She wanted to support my cause without hurting her old acquaintances in the Church. So instead of joining the God Eaters, she chose to help me indirectly.

That's why she ''hired'' you. This way, she could finance you without getting personally involved, and the Church would not suspect a thing.

...Miss Guinevere, there's something else that still puzzles me.

Today while working with Vivi... the Holy Lady and the Empire troops' captain, I realized that they had something in common with you people.

And what might that be?

The willingness to put yourselves in other people's shoes, to sacrifice yourselves for other people's wellbeing, to work hard to solve problems. I see the same qualities in the God Eaters.

...

All disciples of the Church, including the leaders, are striving for their people's welfare, the same way the God Eaters are striving to help their own people.

So it got me wondering, why would you leave the Church in the first place? Was there some kind of irreconcilable difference?

(, That's right. In the past two days working with the God Eaters and the Church, I couldn't find any reason the two organizations should be rivals.)

(Awakener asked a question based on her intuition. Well done. How will you answer?)

You mean to ask why the God Eaters and the Church are opposed to each other...? Sure, the two are pretty much the same in what they do.

But they're a world apart in why they do it.

How do you mean?

The Church people help the refugees not out of the goodness of their hearts, but out of their obligation to follow God's doctrines.

If God tells them to be kind, they will be kind; if God asks them to fight their enemies in the name of faith, they will vanquish them or die trying. In short, their actions are driven by the will of God, not the will of their own.

I wanted to take that power from God and return it to people. That's why I created the God Eaters.

...Fine.

(I will see for my own eyes the difference between the two organizations.)

, Lady Guinevere, something's up!