My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 586: Knowing Where You Stand

The six heroes carefully picked up their questions, and Miko answered them personally as if she was never afraid that it would make the Glorious God dissatisfied.

The first question they asked was related to whether she would help them out. The answer to this question was a positive reply as she would help them out. However, not directly because they still had to fulfill their duties as how the heroes should.

The second question shifted to the Elysion Church and the Sacred Sakura. They also demanded clarity about her true identity. It still revolved around Miss Ely, also known as Miss E. Sadly, she, as Miko, could only shake her head as she was never the mentioned Miss Ely. It was her true body, not her.

And the last question was the most crucial.

"Is Sacred Sakura, the Goddess you serve possessed the power greater than the Glorious God, and capable of sending us back to Earth?" Mashiro leaned forward and said it with a solemn expression.

"Let me confirm something. How much do you know about this world and the world above?" Miko was in no hurry to answer as she felt it was a trap question.

"This world... it was formed by the three worlds. It’s vast and we’re currently in one of the three worlds. This part of the world is called the Chthonic World. As for the world above, we have no clue about it. Please enlighten us, Priestess Miko." Nyla deputized to respond.

"Mm, as you may already know, the Demon Realm and the Human Realm have always been at odds in all three worlds. However, this world has a much larger Demon Realm area than the others. Your tasks are arduous. If you by chance managed to be graced by the Sacred Sakura Goddess’ presence, you will eventually know the answer." Miko nodded, giving a vague answer.

The heroes had to finish their tasks first, so the story about the summoned heroes against the Demon King would still unfold. Regardless, she knew her true body would meet the Glorious God directly in two days.

At that time, they would demand an explanation from the guilty, and it might not be as peaceful as their encounter during the Martial Arts Competition. After all, it was not the real Glorious God, but only the consciousness that possessed Galashiels, the imperial family’s ancestor. And the one he met was actually Megami, not the real Elysia.

The Earth was already under the jurisdiction of the Elysium Pantheon. Although the hero summoning happened because of an accidental connection that occurred when Elysia’s group returned to Earth, the Glorious God literally kidnapped their people without permission. It was also against the said heroes’ will.

"..." The heroes were silent for a moment, pondering the sacred shrine priestess’ words.

Just as she was about to leave and send the heroes away, Mashiro suddenly clasped his hands. "Priestess Miko, as a revered senior whom I greatly respect, would it be possible for you to share a piece of advice and bestow us with your enlightenment?"

"Hmm~ you’ve formed a sacred oath to the Glorious God and his Council of Gods, so you need to seek their enlightenment instead of us, but I’ll do this favor just this once." Miko took out a guidebook and left it on the table.

As they were still the heroes of other God, she shouldn’t have interfered too deeply this early, but she still did it out of the compassionate regard for the summoned heroes.

After leaving the guidebook, she bid her farewell and left the room with her disciples without saying another word. She didn’t even wait for anyone to respond. However, Myra and Daemyx remained in the room, staring at the six heroes.

Mashiro’s gaze was still glued to the door as the sacred shrine priestess left them just like that. He then picked up the book.

The truth fell like a waterfall and drenched his mind in shock. It was actually written in English, not the auto-translated Quadria’s language. "The Otherworld’s Guidebook..."

"For dummies?" Nyla put on her magic glasses, surprised not by the book’s title, but by its subheading. The book was printed and obviously mass-produced, but that word bothered her quite a bit.

"It’s English... Priestess Miko may have some connections to Earth, but she can’t say much due to certain circumstances."

"She is prepared. We may not be the first summoned ones, and this is certainly not the first time she helped the summoned ones."

"She already done too much for us, and even put herself at the risk of offending the Glorious God."

"Sacred shrine priestess said we need to continue our tasks, and nothing will be changed..."

"At the very least, we can understand Sacred Sakura Goddess, Sacred Sakura, and Elysion Church will interfere. They’re not afraid to offend the Glorious God. Sacred Sakura Goddess might be far more powerful than him because her forces in the mortal world spread far and wide."

The other heroes voiced their opinions, but Mashiro remained silent. He marveled about it and opened the guidebook. It was about what one should do if they suddenly got dumped into a foreign otherworld.

"If you by any chance get summoned to another world, never trust anyone, including the god-like presence that promised you something, before you test them out..." Nyla pointed to the marked note in the reminder line.

Mashiro skimmed everything to the very back page. He then handed it over to Nyla, the most intelligent one among everyone in his Hero Party because he sensed a bad premonition if they couldn’t record it quickly. "Nyla, please read everything in detail, right here, right now. Record them all with your photographic memory. We can still comprehend the secrets between the lines later, but we can’t let the Glorious God and the Council of Gods know about this. Despite our sacred oath as the heroes of humanity, we still suspect them."

"Y-yes!" Nyla immediately received the guidebook and recorded everything into her memory, sparing no detail behind.

After Nyla recorded everything to her memory, she handed the guidebook over to the others as they were required to at least read it once. After everyone got their turn, Mashiro burned the guidebook to ashes, leaving no evidence that might endanger Priestess Miko for helping them learn more about this cruel world.

"You should leave." Myra reminded.

"Then, please excuse us. Please convey our deepest gratitude to Priestess Miko." Mashiro bowed slightly, conveying his sincere gratitude.

"..." Myra just nodded in reply and opened the door for the guests to leave.

When Mashiro passed Daemyx, he spoke something out in a whisper-like voice, almost inaudible, but the lips movement was clear.

"!!!" Mashiro and Nyla could understand it as they were trained in lip-reading.

"Everyone may have their own purpose, but you should be wary of the one who can trigger the uneasiness in your heart."

More or less, it was like that. Mashiro and Nyla nodded in understanding and then the Hero Party left the hotel without even looking back.

Unfortunately, The imperial guards were already waiting for them outside. The imperial guards conveyed their intention as they were tasked to escort the heroes to the Imperial Palace to answer the imperial summons.

Mashiro sighed and led his party to follow the imperial guards. Upon arriving at the palace, they were guided to the princess’ study room. The one who sought their presence was not the Emperor this time, but Princess Genevieve.

"What were you talking about with the sacred shrine priestess, my heroes?" Genevieve asked. Her tone was neutral, but her gaze spoke otherwise.

"It’s about the Elysion Church’s participation during the holy war. We had to seek her guidance to obtain some information." Mashiro stepped forward, grasping his hand behind his back.

"And, what information did you receive? What kind of guidance?" Genevieve frowned. As the Glorious God’s heroes, they sought guidance from the follower of other God, and that could be said to be insulting their God!

"The one we had yet to know." Mashiro replied calmly.

"Why didn’t you seek the guidance from us? You could’ve also sought enlightenment from the Glorious God." Genevieve narrowed her eyes, feeling dissatisfied.

"We need to learn from many sources, not just from one individual. War strategies, battle tactics, planning, and so on... do you think the sage became wise by learning from one teacher? Princess, you should look at things with an open mind. You may comprehend this vast world more deeply once you talk to the sacred shrine priestess. I do not favor this kind of suspicion and hostility as our sacred oath only stands for humanity’s sake and ’His’ promise. Please understand it." Mashiro furrowed his brows, emphasizing his sentence with a strong tone.

He would always uphold his justice and belief, but he and his comrades never sold their souls for the one who summoned them to this world. Moreover, as the princess who would participate in the hero expedition team, Princess Genevieve would be under his command during the holy war against the Demon King’s army. Therefore, he should make things clear right at the beginning. He was never beneath her nor became her subject as he would be her superior during the holy war.

"Do you want to teach me how to do things?" Genevieve couldn’t rebuke it, but she felt offended because Mashiro literally said she was unwise and had to learn from the sacred shrine priestess.

"We don’t dare, but you need to understand. Is there anything else you would like to talk to us about at this late hour, princess?" Mashiro faintly smiled, speaking like a proper gentleman.

"You may leave. Rest early. We shall await your best performance in tomorrow’s matches, heroes." Genevieve raised her hand, shooing the heroes away.

Mashiro bowed slightly, followed by his comrades, and then they left the room right away.

The princess pondered about how she should meet the sacred shrine priestess and probe things personally.

On the other hand, Mashiro left while thinking that it was a bit of a shame. The princess might be beautiful, renowned as the most beautiful in this empire, but it could never hold a candle before Priestess Miko in all aspects of life.

Broadly speaking, he never favored the imperial princess as his hunch told him that Priestess Miko’s lies were still more trustworthy than Princess Genevieve’s honesty, though this feeling was truly strange.