An oracle is the word of god proclaimed throughout the entire domain. There must be no falsehood in its delivery, nor can it be monopolized, and none may dare to doubt it.
This meant that the ridiculous blessing I had received was now known everywhere. A resurrected one chosen by god.
The temple that had collected my corpse would naturally claim rights over my person, and the Roam family and Imperial family that had abandoned me would try to recall me in some fashion.
Foreign powers, guessing my nauseating circumstances from all this, would attempt to make contact behind the scenes as well.
Every future was all too obvious. Though god had said that evil was running rampant and thus sent a resurrected one, in truth it was the resurrected one who was causing evil to run rampant.
「So I need to run.」
There was only one conclusion. I had no interest whatsoever in whether this world perished or not, and even if evil did run rampant, I lacked any ability to oppose it.
How could I possibly fight anything when in my previous life I had never even held a sword hilt! Moreover, I hadn't manifested any power like mana or divine power either. All I had was a monstrous recovery ability and slightly developed five senses.
A resurrected one? It sounds impressive, but isn't that really no different from an undead?
This is just being brought back as a monster, isn't it. I didn't have a noble enough heart to want to protect this world even after becoming a monster.
「I apologize, but you chose wrong.」
Mumbling words that could receive no answer into empty air, I devised a way out.
Everyone serving in the temple was a member of the clergy. Though there were differences in rank, all were the same in having sworn oaths of obedience to god and submitting final reports to the High Priest.
If I carelessly revealed my intention to escape, I would instead lose my current freedom.
Oh god, you should have given me a proper ability instead of this useless recovery power. If I had manifested even mana, I could have broken down this high wall and left immediately.
[Huh? What are you?]
I met the squirrel right then.
[My acorn! My acorn is gone!]
Whether the temple side had considered my emotional stability, I had been assigned a splendid room on the first floor connected to a small garden.
There was no large, beautiful tree in the garden that one could hang oneself from, but pretty flowers were modestly arranged.
The squirrel appeared there.
"What is this, who sent you?"
At first I thought it was magic. I thought someone from outside had sent a person to contact me. But watching quietly, this squirrel just kept singing about acorns.
[You stole my acorn, didn't you? Give it back right now!]
The squirrel charged at me pathetically. Far from running away with its agile body, it kept pestering me to give back the acorn, and after exchanging words a few times, I realized.
Ah, this is a real animal.
I can talk to animals right now.
That was the first real 'awakening of strange power' I realized after being resurrected.
"Is there anywhere I could get help?"
All the helpers I had made so far were animals. I did have some wrangling and failures, but they were much better than people.
The squirrel in particular performed great service in stealing temple treasures. When I found its acorn storage, it repaid me by hiding small treasures in its mouth and bringing them to me.
[When is that fierce eagle guy coming?]
The eagle the squirrel spoke of was also one I met at the temple. I discovered the eagle that had come to catch the squirrel and quickly lured it away, and because of that guy, I had to make all sorts of strange excuses to the priests to get raw meat.
But in return, the eagle made the temple noisy, and I was able to find a gap to escape, so it wasn't useless suffering.
"Well."
When I said I wanted to leave this city, the eagle said it had an older brother it knew and went off somewhere.
Is it expecting that if it helps this time too, it can eat fresh raw meat? If it helps, I certainly intend to get all kinds of precious raw meat for it, but....
I was sitting by the window looking outside through the curtains when I suddenly stopped.
"What is that person."
How did he find this place right away?
[Aneli?]
I moved away from the window and immediately closed the curtains, then looked back at the squirrel.
"You hide for now. I'll get you more acorns later.
[Okay!]
After confirming the squirrel quickly crawling under the bed, I fiddled with the ring on my hand.
This ring with a rough, crude black gem embedded in it was a spatial magic tool.
I had been wearing it since leaving Roam, and though it had the disadvantage of only being able to store jewelry, since money alone could solve most conveniences, I had swept in the money received from the temple without particular worry.
So currently, this was essentially my entire fortune.
Perhaps tracking magic was cast on that money I swept in? I heard that sometimes those who fear theft cast expensive tracking magic on each gold coin.
Even if that were the case, I had no means to distinguish which coins had magic cast on them. And I couldn't just leave without money.
I had already abandoned the bag I brought from my previous lodgings and come here; if I lost the money too, I would completely lose the capital to escape.
Or was tracking magic cast on me? But after resurrecting, I had not contacted a mage even once.
Amidst the confusion, footsteps of someone came from outside the room. Heavy footsteps with a sense of weight. The sound of armor chains rubbing together also came.
Perhaps he might not come to this room....
Knock knock knock.
I held my breath at the knocking sound that came immediately. I stared at the closed door without answering, and the knocking sound came again. I still didn't answer.
"I know you are here."
A calm voice was familiar. It was definitely the black-haired holy knight I met on the street earlier. The very one I had just seen through the window.
"I heard you were very confused after awakening. The temple understands the resurrected one's confusion, and only hopes that you do not become endangered due to this wandering."
His words were not probing. He was certain that I, the resurrected one, was in this room. If so, what I needed to know was the fact of how he had discovered my location.
After pondering briefly, I stood before the door. If this person intended to capture me, he would have opened the door long ago, so I could tell he had no intention of dragging me away by force.
"Please take more time to organize your thoughts if necessary. However, for the sake of safety, I implore you to at least accept my escort."
I flung the door open wide and came face to face with the holy knight standing stiffly. I looked straight into his gray eyes.
"Who are you?"
Even at the suddenly opened door, he showed no sign of surprise. Because he must have already known I was standing before the door.
This person is different from other holy knights. A far superior one. He was probably the one who found me at my previous lodgings too.
"I greet you for the first time. I am Samuel, who serves god."
Samuel. A name I had heard before. Samuel Bent. A man who was the second son of the Bent family but decided his future at a young age due to the manifestation of powerful divine power.
"The Bent family's...."
"I have belonged to the temple for a long time. You may call me Sir Samuel."
Having bluntly arranged the title, he gazed at me intently.
When I encountered him on the street earlier, I ran away without even thinking to look closely, but seeing him like this, he was at least a full head taller than me.
Moreover, he was the owner of a large frame enough to fill the space beyond the open door. It wasn't because of the armor; his original physique seemed large and thick.
Was it because he was looking down? His slightly shadowed face looked extremely cold and arrogant.
While his features were distinct and his lines bold, his tightly closed lips revealed a stubborn temperament.
In short, he was the very image of a holy knight with an appearance so blocked up that not a trace of flexibility could be found.
"So you're that famous Samuel Bent?"
"......Clergy do not follow the secular surname."
Whether he found the 'Bent' attached after his name considerably disagreeable, slight wrinkles formed between his brows.
"Did I speak incorrectly of your birth?"
"You spoke correctly."
"I don't understand why you dislike it so when it's correct."
"It is meaningless to discuss a clergy's birthplace. I am merely correcting you since you seem unfamiliar with temple culture."
"Why would I need to know temple culture?"
"I heard there was no proper exchange at the Grand Temple after resurrection. I understand that you find it unfamiliar because there was no one to help with adaptation."
He was not understanding my rebuttal at all.
Or perhaps he was deliberately ignoring it.
"......Fine, Sir Samuel. In any case, you are that holy knight himself with those amazing tracking skills, aren't you?"
Samuel Bent is a holy knight with excellent tracking skills that the temple always proudly displays. They say he has never missed a single person he pursued, or something like that.
I heard he was away to catch a necromancer who recently escaped the temple prison, and it seems they called him back just to catch me.
"It is a strange encounter with the temple's famous figure, but what to do? The person you're looking for doesn't seem to be me."
"You cannot deceive me with your appearance."
As if my smiling denial was meaningless, Samuel denied my words with a confident voice.
That meant he at least recognized that 'I' whom he met earlier and the current 'I' had different appearances.
It means the magic tool is working properly.......
"How do you confirm my identity, Sir?"
"I cannot fail to recognize the one chosen by god."
No, there's definitely something. There's something I haven't thought of yet. I must have made a mistake somewhere and left a clue to this man.
I scrutinized Samuel's face obsessively, wondering if I might get a hint. However, his impassive expression was only as solid as firm bedrock.