“What do I do…”
I whisper after we return to our village. I don’t think that priest, Ilma, is a bad person, but he did feel a little scary. It’s probably because he’s energetic to the point of startling me.
“What should be done about this? Surely this priest who received the divine message is not a harmful presence, but he does have way too much blind devotion to Lerunda. It goes beyond just belief… It might even be dangerous to this village.”
Says miss Lan, and mister Dongu nods.
Belief. Belief in me.
Something like this has never happened to me before. I don’t know how to deal with it. I don’t know how to deal with mister Ilma.
Miss Lan says that belief could be dangerous for this village, but I don’t really understand very well. I don’t understand this feeling of ‘belief’ towards me very well in the first place, so I can’t imagine what it might cause.
“…What do you mean?”
“Well, for example, people with strong belief in something or someone can do things you wouldn’t expect. These people follow everything the target of their belief says, and do everything they are told. For example, if you give that priest an order, he might follow it regardless of how dangerous it might be to him.”
“…Yes. Another example is humans who enslave us beast people, because they fully believe we are lower beings. Belief alone is a powerful enough force to rouse people.”
Miss Lan and mister Dongu tell me that belief has a lot of power. I understand that.
When I told mister Sileva we could all join forces and defeat the monster sitting near the spirit tree, I believed those words. I said that convincingly because I believed it. Because of those words, the elves became our friends and we fought together. All because of belief.
Mister Ilma might believe in me so much that he will accept everything I say as being right.
“If you accidentally say something you want, he might try to make it happen. Even worse, he might even convince himself he’s doing something for you, when it’s actually something you don’t want. Belief can drive people to do these things.”
Still, we’re only talking about things that might happen. Having that said, if he really did these things, it could be bad for the village.
“It’s great to do something for someone else, but if the other person doesn’t want it, and you do it just because you’re conceited, it will cause problems for that person. Judging by what we saw earlier, it’s likely that this priest will do this. I would almost go as far as to say he’s obsessed with you Lerunda.”
“Exactly, that man could be dangerous. But who knows what he might do if he can’t stay with you. What will he do if he can’t be close to you after he found you? Also, I don’t think he will give up even if we tell him he can’t be by your side.”
I listen carefully to mister Dongu and miss Lan.
It’s possible that he might act on his own and think he’s doing it for me. That would be a problem.
Also, I agree with mister Dongu. Mister Ilma won’t give up if I tell him no. So what is the right option?
“I think… Letting him stay by your side is an option, even if it’s dangerous. We could even watch him to make sure he doesn’t do anything under Lerunda’s name. I think we should use this well.”
“Use…”
“Yes. I think it will be difficult, but I think it would be best to turn this into an advantageous situation for us. At the very least, if Lerunda is going to live as ‘the miko’, she should get used to having people working under her. It will be good in the long run.”
Live as the miko… Get used to having people working for me… It doesn’t even feel real to me. But if we’re thinking about the future, I have to make a choice. I don’t know what’s right, but I have to make a decision.
I don’t feel anything bad coming from mister Ilma, and I want to be friends with someone like him that likes me, if it’s possible. But who knows what that might bring.
I can’t reach a conclusion that day, and a new day begins.
—Girl and priest – Part three
(The girl that is probably the miko wonders how she’s going to face the priest that is convinced she is the miko, and can’t find a solution.)
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I fee like as long as the swordwoman is her she’ll keep him on a leash :3