In the living room, only three people remained: Fujino, SilverAsh, and the other.
"What do you intend for me to do?" Sipping the taro drink in her cup, Fujino said unhurriedly.
"I want to hear your thoughts," SilverAsh said calmly, taking a sip of the taro drink poured by his sister, his heart full of happiness.
"It would be best to deal with all of them. I assume you have also made preparations for the aftermath."
Setting down the taro tea in her hand, Fujino looked at SilverAsh with a smile: "As long as the people from the other two families are dead, you, SilverAsh, will be the sole power. At that time, even if those old fogies from Manjuin want to move against you, they will have to weigh the consequences. As for the people in the religious order, they have no strength to truss a chicken, and since they are all believers of the Holy Mountain, they won't be able to hinder you."
"That is indeed the case." SilverAsh nodded, then said: "I have thought about it. This time, I don't just want to eliminate the other two families. If possible, I hope Miss Fujino can help me eliminate the elders of Manjuin as well. Those conservative elders are already hindering Kjerag's development."
"Oh?" Fujino looked at SilverAsh in surprise, thinking that those old fogies from Manjuin must have given him a hard time when they called him to a meeting today; otherwise, why would SilverAsh make such a choice?
But she liked it.
The last time that elder from Manjuin went against her, she had wanted to kill him. If it hadn't been for SilverAsh's sake, she would have had that elder bleeding five steps away right then and there. He didn't even look at what he looked like, daring to make a move on her—he must have eaten the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard.
She had spared that old fogey last time for SilverAsh's sake, but since SilverAsh had made such a request this time, Fujino naturally wouldn't let that old fogey live.
"I assume you know what kind of incident will be triggered if you deal with those old fogies from Manjuin, right?" Fujino looked at SilverAsh with a smile. In Kjerag, Manjuin and the religious order could be said to be one entity, both serving the Holy Mountain—that is, the so-called god. However, that was in the past. Over the many years, only the people of the religious order still believed in the god of the Holy Mountain, while Manjuin had gradually decayed, with a group of old fogies piling up together, utilizing their positions as elders to seek benefits for themselves.
"Yes, so in this regard, I would like Miss Fujino's help." SilverAsh paused. "I believe Miss Fujino has a way, right?"
"Well, well, I knew it would be like this." Fujino shrugged helplessly, stood up from the chair, and said to SilverAsh, "There is a way, but it requires First Snow's help."
SilverAsh's expression changed: "You mean letting First Snow participate in that Saintess selection!?"
"That's right." Fujino nodded with a smile, secretly chuckling at SilverAsh, whose expression was changing rapidly.
Suddenly, SilverAsh's expression returned to normal, and he even revealed a smile, saying to Fujino, "I assume Miss Fujino must have some way to easily make First Snow the Saintess."
"Tch." Fujino made a sound of annoyance. "Talking to you smart people is no fun at all."
SilverAsh smiled helplessly: "Please don't tease me, Miss Fujino. It was hard enough to reconcile with First Snow, and I don't want to fall out with her again."
"Of course I know that. You were only able to reconcile because of me." Fujino cast a cold glance at SilverAsh, then turned around to pick up the teapot on the side table, refilled her taro tea, and returned to her chair.
"I will make First Snow the Saintess, and I will talk to First Snow as well. I will also help you deal with the people from Manjuin. As for the other two families, you will have to handle them yourself," Fujino said.
"Very well." SilverAsh nodded, then asked, "May I ask when Miss Fujino intends to act?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"But the Saintess selection won't start until two days from now, right?" SilverAsh asked, puzzled.
"Since I said I would act tomorrow, I have a way to make First Snow the Saintess tomorrow," Fujino said calmly, her eyes fixed on the half-drunk taro tea in her cup. "SilverAsh, do you know what the god your Kjerag has always believed in actually is?"
"I do not." Although SilverAsh grew up in Kjerag and often heard about the god from his parents when he was young, SilverAsh did not have any real sense of this so-called god. As the agent of the god, the so-called Saintess mastered the god's power, relying on the holy bell to display the god's glory to the people of Kjerag. When SilverAsh was young, he had seen the previous generation's Saintess display this so-called divine power, controlling the snowstorms and soothing the hearts of others. In SilverAsh's view, this was nothing special; he felt it was just a power more magical than Originium Arts.
"Actually, the god on the Holy Mountain is indeed a god." Fujino's gaze passed over SilverAsh and looked at the window behind him, where a high mountain stood—that was Kjerag's Holy Mountain.
"Is there really a god?" SilverAsh frowned. This somewhat broke the education he had received in Victoria.
"There is indeed a god." Fujino nodded. "But that was in the past. Now, the god on the Holy Mountain can no longer be called a god. Her divine soul is shattered, her power is less than twenty percent of her prime, and she cannot even be crowned with the name of a god. If it weren't for those in the religious order providing her with the Power of Faith to maintain her strength and repair her body, she would have perished long ago. And the so-called Saintess is merely borrowing some of her power to consolidate the faith of your Kjerag people in her."
Having said this, Fujino finished the taro tea in her cup and then added, "However, this god is not bad; at least she has warded off catastrophes for you, sparing you from the influence of oripathy."
"I see." SilverAsh nodded in sudden realization. It was the first time he had learned of such secrets.
"Wait, I remember the Laterano race also believes in something. Is that also a god?" SilverAsh asked.
"You mean God."
"God?"
"Yes, the existence that created all things."
SilverAsh was shocked; he hadn't expected the one Laterano believed in to be so powerful.
"What is there to fear? God does not exist." Fujino said blandly, pouring herself another cup of taro tea. Truth be told, the taro tea First Snow brewed tasted really good.
"Does not exist? What does that mean?"
"God exists, but your world does not have God, and the people of Laterano do not know that the existence they believe in is named God." Fujino looked at SilverAsh and said blandly, "You should know about the book that the Laterano race considers to be their Bible, right?"
"Yes, according to the people of the Laterano race, it was bestowed upon them by the heavens." SilverAsh nodded. This was not a secret; most people knew about this.
"Heh, that was not bestowed upon them by the heavens; it was written by humans."
"What!"
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