I Became a Fake Priest the Saintess Is Obsessed With

39 – Spiders Are Not Insects, They Are Animals

“It’s already evening…”

As usual, time passed quickly, and it was already time to complete the mission.

“We’ll go first, Priest…! Stay alive and see us…!”

The saint was taken away in the circus carriage before me.

“We should start heading there too.”

“Please get up, Priest.”

“Tsk tsk! Is youth spreading like that?”

The companions for this mission must have gathered already. It’s our turn to move.

“Are you worn out… just taking a break to enhance work performance.”

“Ah, young ones are the problem!”

There’s no particular dissatisfaction with the team, but that old man is getting on my nerves.

To think that the director of Matap is such an old fogey…

I wonder how the slaves of Matap work under him.

Today, the slaves of Matap looked pitiful as always.

“Don’t be too harsh, Temiel. Ivan Sage was involved in the Aikid incident and is still recovering, that’s probably why.”

“Tsk tsk, seems like a weak body for someone so young.”

While the director is a total old fogey, the Grand Master is a true gentleman.

That’s what you call a respected elder, sigh…

“Enough chit-chat, let’s ride.”

Lecia was waiting for us in the carriage, whenever she got on.

I got on the carriage carrying the spatial crossbag I received from Pappy a while back.

“Why are you fussing over such small things when we’re just going to catch some clowns?”

“I was just getting ready so as not to slow you down, sir.”

“Temiel, stop dawdling and get on.”

The magicians boarded the back of the carriage.

“Then let’s go, everyone!”

“What’s got you so excited? We’re heading out to handle official business right now!”

“I’m not excited either. I just came to the circus, feeling like I’m going to an amusement park.”

I shouted excitedly, but the carriage didn’t move.

“…Why isn’t the carriage moving?”

“Come to think of it… we didn’t hire a coachman to keep our mission confidential…”

Ah.

Come to think of it, even Lady Dorothy was driving the carriage.

I looked around at my companions.

“So, does anyone here know how to drive a carriage?”

I asked, but they either avoided eye contact or looked away.

Lecia raised an eyebrow as if to say, “Drive?”

Sigh… Why does the future already seem so bleak?

In the end, I, the only one who knew how to drive a carriage, took the driver’s seat.

***

It had been a long time since I last drove a carriage, but I managed to reach our destination with some difficulty.

The circus tent was deep in the mountains.

The first thing that surprised me was how huge the tent was.

Well, it’s a place that could be considered the headquarters of the seven major religions, so it’s no surprise it’s not small…

Upon arriving at the circus tent, we parked the carriage in the rear and slowly made our way towards the tent.

“It’s eerie to have a circus tent deep in the mountains…”

It was scary to enter a tent where clowns might be lurking in the dark of night.

There’s not exactly a fear of clowns, but entering an enemy base directly made my body tremble.

“Don’t worry; I’ll protect you.”

Lesia confidently assured.

“Just as the Saint says, don’t worry, young one. Do you think I can’t protect you? No! Even if it’s not elderly respect, you have to protect us!”

Oh, the inspiration from this guy is real.

Temyel, not knowing elderly respect but encouraging with words that make elderly attack tempting, spoke.

“We understand. We won’t get anywhere by just standing here. Let’s think of it as a spiritual adventure and go forward…”

Although I initially planned to go in, saying it like that gave me a bit of enthusiasm.

Leading slightly ahead of others, I approached the tent.

Inside the tent, a song with a steady rhythm was playing.

I opened the curtains slightly.

“It’s pitch black…”

The corridor extending into the tent was pitch black, with not a single light.

Actually, in the distance, lights of various colors twinkled like fireflies, but you couldn’t see what was in the corridor right away.

“I’ll cover my eyes for a moment.”

Shrill’s voice was heard, and the wrinkled hand of the old grandfather covered my eyes.

…Looking from the perspective of a third party, it might appear as a lover’s playful prank or a game.

“Mr. Shrill!”

“…Right, but why are you suddenly saying that?”

“It’s nothing…”

After a moment, Schreer’s hand withdrew from the area around his eyes.

And the surroundings became bright.

The view of the dimly lit corridor unfolded before his eyes.

“How is it? It’s my developed adaptive magic.”

“Impressive… You’re adept at handling such sophisticated magic?”

“Even though I’m called a grandmaster. This is a piece of cake.”

Thanks to Schreer’s magic, the field of vision became significantly brighter.

With this, I could proceed forward without fear…

[No! It’s not allowed! The theme of this performance is ‘horror’! Watching a horror show in a bright place is cheating!]

As I blinked, attempting to enter the tent, a lively clown’s voice echoed from inside.

It was a voice different from Vlad Pierre’s melodious voice, a robust and coarse voice.

To have the unfair voice of a clown spreading through, my field of vision darkened again.

“Che, seems like we’ve fallen into a tricky theme from the start…”

Schreer, who had been enchanting the others with magic, clicked his tongue.

“Sir, I’m a layman when it comes to circuses, but what exactly is this ‘theme’?”

“It refers to the topic of the performance each clown presents. In the circus, the number of acts is determined by the clowns, and we have to subdue the clowns by breaking through each theme. Understand?”

“Uh… I got it. We just have to beat them one by one, right?”

“You’ve understood it exactly. Anything else you’re curious about?”

Earlier, you seemed perplexed about the theme being horror. Is there a reason for that?”

“Horror is the theme of the third clown, Rikux. He lays ‘shadows’ in the circus tent, dominating mana to restrict magic power. It’s a pest of a theme for magicians like me and Temiel.”

Aha!

Upon hearing Shurer’s words, the current situation was instantly understood.

The theme of terror restricts magic, rendering the sorcerers powerless.

And coincidentally, two members of our party are sorcerers.

In essence, except for me, who is practically useless, our only capable member, Lesia, must handle this theme alone.

“Well then, I guess I’ll take care of it.”

Lesia seems to have realized the current situation, much like me.

“Are you sure, young lady? Even with the vigor of youth, facing Licus alone might be challenging…”

“It’s probably better for us to face Licus than dealing with numerous sorcerers on the other side. And…”

Lesia drew her sword and stepped forward.

“I don’t think we need your help in subduing one clown.”

The cross-shaped Zweihänder glowed beautifully in the moonlight.

With a single swing that brushed away the moonlight, Lesia gracefully entered the tent.

We snapped out of our daze, following her movements with our eyes.

“Seems like she’s confident enough to handle everything alone… Let’s go and see! We’ll have to stick together from the next theme anyway!”

Agreeing with Temiel’s opinion, we slowly followed behind Lesia.

The narrow and damp corridor emitted a moldy smell.

“Didn’t they say it was a new installation…? It feels more like an abandoned mansion than something new.”

“It’s all the influence of the terror theme. The clowns dealing with the theme like to change their stage according to their tastes.”

Shurer explained with a hint of doubt in his solo muttering.

The great sage must possess an incredibly diverse range of knowledge.

When I input something like “kiwi tree,” an immediate response is generated. Let’s call this the SageWiki from now on.

“Huh? What’s this?”

As I strolled through a corridor that made me feel uncomfortable with every breath, a spider appeared from the shadows.

I grabbed the spider with my hand and showed it to my companions.

“W-Wha-What is that!!! Get rid of it right now!!!”

Seeing the spider wriggling in my hand, Temiel, trembling, took ten steps back.

“That’s a fear we should encounter in the horror theme. In horror themes, frightening entities, embodying the fears participants dread, emerge from the shadows to torment them.”

“So, this spider…?”

“That’s right. Temiel really hates spiders.”

As an experiment, I tossed the spider towards Temiel.

From Noble mtl dot com

Upon seeing it, Temiel, with almost a convulsive shudder, avoided the spider.

“aaah!!! What are you doing!!!”

“Oh… no, it’s nothing. I just found it adorable how you’re so afraid of a tiny, precious creature like a spider.”

“Who said spiders are tiny, precious creatures! Spiders are distinct animals!”

“Uh… is that so? But why…”

“That’s why youngsters these days! Spiders are scary because they’re animals! That creature might be treated as an animal rather than an insect, but insects are also considered animals! I find that contradiction too frightening!”

Uh…

I wanted to hear a cute story about hating spiders due to their gruesome appearance, but Temiel seemed to dislike spiders for some very complicated reason.

Since I honestly don’t understand what he’s saying, let’s just treat it as him disliking spiders because of their appearance…

“As we walk forward like this, the things we fear might jump out from the shadows.”

“Then, what is it that the great sage, Lady Lesia, fears? It would be helpful to know in advance for better preparation.”

To my question, both shrugged their shoulders.

“I don’t know.”

“Likewise. When you reach this age, you start forgetting even the things you used to fear. What about you? What do you fear?”

In turn, I hesitated at the question.

What I fear the most…

“Well, I don’t think I’ve encountered anything scary in my entire life.”

“Is that so… Then, what might jump out ahead of us is entirely unknown.”

Schuré nodded in agreement.