Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 97: Sigonia & Lotus

|<Notice: Sub-Goal of Dire Tooth’s Domain has been completed! Please turn in the mission for bonus rewards!>|

’Eh? Talking to him was what completed the sub-goal? What exactly was that magic he used? A projection of his soul, maybe? He could have also used some sort of life-extension magic after surviving the betrayal.’

"Mother Goddess. Were you being truthful when you said you were going to be hostile toward an empire?"

Nera’s words snapped Alchemy out of her pondering, which was probably good as she was leading the group through the tunnel with her Light Mana Shards.

"I said no such thing." She shrugged.

"We can’t trust his words right now anyway. Even if everything he said was the truth, that was 300 years ago. The people who betrayed him could very well not even be alive anymore. Not much reason to harm their innocent descendants." She continued.

Nera nodded in agreement. At the same time, Gravana started to hum curiously.

"The Severance Empire. I’ve had a run-in with people from there. From what I know of them, that supposed King’s story doesn’t seem too far-fetched."

"Eh? That’s a rather interesting coincidence. What about the details?"

"This was a while ago. I was acting as a peacekeeper for the Dryads at the time. A large group of humans claiming to be Adventurers from the Nation of Contest, Sigonia. They tried to put a weird device in the forest, which got them the ire of the Dryads. After I dealt with them, the Dryads mentioned that they had identification from Severance."

"And you don’t know what the device was for?"

Gravana shook his head.

"The order was to destroy it before it could cause any harm to the forest, so I did. I do know they were indiscriminately hunting monsters, regardless of whether they were hostile or not, but that’s fairly normal human behavior. Instead, that was what gave away the fact that they weren’t from Sigonia."

"What is Sigonia? I assume it’s a nation close to the forest?" Alchemy continued to question.

"Yes. It’s the closest nation to us. While it’s considered a Human Nation, other species and monsters are allowed in so long as they don’t break the laws."

’A multirace nation!’ Alchemy’s eyes lit up.

The way Gravana spoke, it was as if humans weren’t huge fans of other species normally, which Alchemy expected to an extent, but if a nation with multiple species is so close by, that could speed up her plans for expanding her nation greatly.

Seemingly, her facial expression gave away her plans as Gravana shook his head.

"You shouldn’t think about going there."

Alchemy turned her entire body to face Gravana, beginning to walk backward.

"What? Why?"

Gravana looked at Alchemy and could only sigh. He still really couldn’t get his head around Alchemy, not knowing anything about the world around her—especially something as important as this.

"Sigonia is a Theocracy. They worship the Goddess of Challenge, Lotus."

Alchemy stopped dead in her tracks as she processed her Teacher’s words.

"That’s a joke, right?"

Gravana shook his head again.

"No. I don’t know the first thing about mortal politics, much less those of the divine, but I can’t imagine getting involved with another Goddess for no reason is a good idea."

’System... Why me.’

|<Notice: No divine being, regardless of how powerful they are, can learn of your divinity if you don’t want them to. The system can perfectly mask your divine presence so long as you don’t actively use Divine Power inside their domain.>|

’That’s real reassuring and all, but why would you put me right next to a Theocracy? How am I supposed to spread my doctrine?’

|<Notice: Prospect Alchemy Ennis does not have a doctrine to spread.>|

’Oh... Right. I need to make one of those eventually.’

As she ended her conversation with the system, Alchemy sighed.

"I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Teacher."

"Grahahaha! No problem! But if you want to go, all you need to do is be strong enough to beat that Goddess into submission!"

"Yeah... I’m not trying to start a holy war. Honestly, it’d be nice if I could become allies or maybe even friends with her, but I’ll bide my time until I have a reason to go."

"Ah! There’s the exit!" Nera pointed at the glowing platform at the far end of the hall.

Alchemy turned back around and immediately cheered.

"Woo! I finally get some fresh air. It feels like we’ve been down here for an eternity."

Alchemy and Gravana picked up their pace, racing to reach the portal out.

Unfortunately, for the first of the two, Gravana managed to win by a hair’s width, even with there being limited space for him to move his body around.

"I’ll be staying back to look into these carvings." Nera stopped before the exit.

"Alright. Take your time, but make sure to check in." Alchemy waved at her daughter.

"Yes, Mother Goddess!" Nera bowed.

Without another word, the Wolf and Goddess left.

Gravana nearly threw up once again when they got out, causing Alchemy to jump away.

"No! Not again!"

{Mother! You’re finally out!} A Frostmark called out.

"Ah, Frosty! Have you guys been out here the entire time?"

{Yes! We’ve been looking for any who would try to disturb Mother and Sister Nera.}

Chuckling at their enthusiasm, Alchemy gave the Frostmarks head pats.

"Go take a rest. And call some other units here. Nera is staying back to decipher some markings, and she might need help."

{As you wish, Mother!}

As the Frostmarks scuttled away, Alchemy looked into the sky. The sun was not quite ready to set, but it was getting close.

Getting in and out of the dungeon took a total of 6 hours. The dungeon was linear, so they quickly got through it despite taking their time.

Not that Alchemy cared. She was just glad that she got out of that gloomy place, taking a deep breath of the lovely fresh air.

"Haah...It’s a little early to go to sleep." Alchemy yawned.

"If you need something to do, how about I teach you how to meditate properly?" Gravana said.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. You must be hungry as well. Let’s head back and eat first."

"Grahahaha! That’s my disciple for you! How considerate!"