Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [146]
The merchant yelped.
“Is that a church of the Old God?” Wataru asked.
“No. Its teachings were not those of the Old God, nor those of our Goddess. Long story short, the whole thing was a lie.”
Ten years before, a traveling man by the name of Cactus Vira had briefly visited the town of Gasara and opened up shop, claiming to be a doctor. He was soon revealed to be a sham, and the branch chief at the time apprehended him and tossed him out of town. That’s when he dug a foundation at the base of the low hills to the east and built a hut, where he went into business again, claiming he could cure any ailment by the power of holy water given him by the ancient gods.
“Suspicious, to say the least. The branch apprehended him several times, but he always seemed to find a way to escape. As soon as they turned around, he’d be back doing the same old things. Over time he accumulated more victims, or should I say believers, and one day they began building their church.”
“So are these ancient gods older than the Old God?”
“Not sure. I believe the story went that they were deities from some other world.”
Once the church was built, Cactus Vira was installed as its pastor, and the believers began to worship him. Many of them took up residence in the hills around the church. They cut fields out of the barren soil, and brought their produce into Gasara, where they traded for daily necessities. Yet industrious as they were, they were very poor, and all of them—woman, child, and elder alike—were rail-thin.
“Since most of them had come at the promise of a cure-all, many of them were elderly or sick to start with. It had always been impossible to support the church merely through the efforts of its believers.”
Wataru remembered having heard news of something similar happening in the real world. How had that ended?
“Still, the believers were a tight group, and it was hard for the Gasara branch to know when the time was good to step in. Then one day, flames were spotted rising from the church. The Highlanders hurried to the scene, but they were too late…”
Hand in hand, the believers stood inside the burning church. Even as the timbers fell about them, they continued to sing the songs of praise to Cactus Vira.
“They did all they could to put out the flames, but the church had been built by amateurs, and it quickly collapsed. The bodies of the faithful were everywhere.”
Since all the corpses were badly burned, they were never able to identify the body of Cactus Vira. Even the branch didn’t know how many people had been living in the church commune by the end.
“Cactus Vira may have met his maker that day, or he may have escaped. Nobody knows for sure.”
It didn’t seem like the kind of place one would find a treasure, that was for sure. The merchant stared out into space, frowning. “But the man I talked to, he said that he passed by those hills at night, and he saw something glittering—a gem—giving off a light among the ruins of the church, making everything around it as bright as day.”
Trone chuckled. “Sounds like a great yarn to me. It would take a mighty big gem to glitter that bright!”
“He didn’t say how large it was, only that it was the most beautiful gemstone he had ever seen.”
“Gemstone?!” Wataru said, leaping to his feet.
Trone shook his head. “Don’t jump to conclusions. It’s just a rumor. And we don’t even have the source here to confirm it with.”
“Yeah, but we should check it out, all the same. We have to go seal up that well anyway, right? Let’s go, now!”
Chapter 7
The Abandoned Chapel
After some preparations, they rode out of town on udais. The udai was an animal somewhat smaller than the darbaba—about the size of a pony in the real world—and the preferred mode of transport for the Highlanders on patrols in the grasslands and hilly areas. Their smaller size made them more maneuverable than the darbaba, and able to fit through narrow spaces. They were also quite smart and easily tamed. Wataru was able to ride one on his own with ease after only a half-day’s practice with Trone. The udai