I placed a statue of the God of Farming in Village Two, and in Village Three, I set up the God of War along with various other deities.
I could have asked Michael-san to procure existing statues for me, but in the end, I settled on carving them myself.
Regardless of whether they actually existed or not, this world was home to numerous religions—or rather, numerous gods. It felt as though there were as many deities as there were regional beliefs. Amidst this landscape, a sect called the Korin religion had integrated many of these faiths, boasting massive influence.
The Korin religion followed a single core philosophy: cherish your own faith and the faith of others.
In short, it was religious freedom. The idea was that you could worship whomever you liked, provided you didn't interfere with the worship of others. Because of this, even fellow followers of the Korin religion might revere completely different gods.
That being said, wherever people gathered, factions formed, and those factions inevitably influenced politics and personnel. The largest faction within the Korin religion was the group that worshipped the Creator God. Following them, the factions for the God of Light, the God of War, the God of Farming, the God of Magic, the God of Medicine, and the God of Music were all doing their best to keep up.
Incidentally, the God of Music was a deity related to the arts, similar to a God of Entertainment.
As it turned out, Lu’s grandfather, the Progenitor, was a high-ranking official in that very Korin religion.
"Huh," I said.
"Could you show a bit more surprise than just a 'huh'?" the Progenitor grumbled, clearly dissatisfied with my reaction.
"No, I mean... it’s more like, 'Oh, so that’s what your job was.'"
"When you put it that way, I suppose you’re right. I was keeping it a secret, but I guess there wasn't really a need to hide it."
As the Progenitor sat in thought, Lu brought in some tea.
"Progenitor. I believe it is for the best that you keep your position hidden," she said.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Vampires are subject to all sorts of misunderstandings."
"True enough."
He sipped the tea Lu had provided. I had green tea, while the Progenitor had coffee. Once Lu set the tea down, she immediately left the room. She said it was because she had to look after Alfred, but now that I thought about it, she seemed to be actively avoiding the Progenitor.
Flora wouldn't even come near him. I wondered if they were just bad at dealing with him.
"By the way, Village Head. I've been curious about something for a little while now."
"Hmm?"
"That cup displayed on the shelf back there. Isn't that a carving of the Creator God?"
"Oh, that. I tried making it during the winter, but it’s a failure. It’s not much more than a decoration."
"A failure? In what way?"
"It lacks practicality. I accidentally carved the figure all the way up to the rim where you’re supposed to put your lips."
"No, no, look. If you hold it and drink like this..."
The Progenitor brought his own coffee cup to his lips to demonstrate.
"With that design, the Creator God's hand is positioned right against your lower lip. It’s as if you’re receiving Holy Water directly from the Creator God's hand! It’s incredible! A brilliant design!"
"Hahaha."
It was a total coincidence. I hadn't considered that for a second. Still, it didn't feel bad to be praised so highly. I decided to lean into the Progenitor's enthusiasm.
"If you like it that much, why don't you take it home?"
"I shall use it for my most important rituals!"
"No, I meant for everyday use... actually, just use it however you like."
It was probably better than letting it sit there as a decoration. The Progenitor took the cup and departed in high spirits.
Once he was gone, I went to find Lu and Flora to resolve my earlier question.
"Are you two uncomfortable around the Progenitor?"
"It’s not so much being uncomfortable as it is... awe-inspiring, or perhaps terrifying?" Lu answered.
"He is essentially a god to the vampire race," Flora added.
The Vampire Progenitor. Ah, I see. When they put it that way, it made sense.
"Is he the only Progenitor?"
"I haven't heard stories of any others," Lu said.
"I don't know of any others either," Flora agreed.
I see. I had assumed there might be several, but if he was the only one, I suppose he would be treated like a deity. Perhaps that status was what led to him becoming a high-ranking official in the Korin religion? No, surely not.
"So, what was the Progenitor's business here today?"
"He said a large-scale outbreak of Undead appeared, so he wanted us to be careful, just in case."
"Large-scale Undead? Where?"
"Northeast of here, I think. He said it was quite far away, past the forest and over the mountains."
"Over the mountains? Then we should be fine."
"The Progenitor said it was just a precaution. We don't have any reason to head in that direction anyway, so it should be okay."
"I suppose so. But I'll make sure to let everyone else know."
"Of course. Also, I’ll pass the word to Beezel and Michael-san. And Howlin Village too."
Geographically, Howlin Village was the closest to the site. Even so, there was a considerable distance between them. I spoke to Rusty and had her send the message out via Small Wyvern Communication.
The Undead. In my mind, that meant Zombies or moving skeletons. Maybe Ghosts for variety? I had the impression they were spirits with lingering attachments to this world, but apparently, the reality was different.
Zombies were corpses possessed and moved by incorporeal monsters. Skeletons were what happened when an incorporeal monster tried to manifest a physical form. Ghosts were clusters of incorporeal monsters that had gathered and accumulated power.
The true nature of the Undead was simply incorporeal monsters; it had nothing to do with having "unfinished business" in the world of the living. Because corpses were moving, people had formed that image, and the misconception had simply spread.
Regarding these Undead...
"Is it safe to just leave them alone?"
"Usually, it’s fine to ignore them. They disappear after a few years anyway," Lu explained.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, though they do cause a few problems."
"What kind of problems?"
"Well... Zombies are the biggest issue. Corpses, regardless of the race, are sources of disease. Having them wander around is a nuisance, and if they fall into a water source, it’s a disaster."
"That does sound like a problem."
"The other issue is that Undead serve as food for monsters and magical beasts."
"Food?"
"Yes. That’s why powerful monsters and magical beasts tend to congregate wherever Undead appear."
"I see. That’s definitely a concern."
"But since Undead don't really attack on their own and don't move around much, if you leave them be, they eventually get eaten."
"So that's what you meant by them disappearing."
"Exactly. We don't know why they appeared on such a large scale, but the warning is really about being careful of the powerful monsters moving in to hunt them."
I see. I had misunderstood. I thought we were supposed to be on guard against an Undead army, but it was actually the local wildlife we had to worry about.
As I was processing this, Hakuren joined the conversation.
"If it's just Undead, I can fly over and incinerate them with my breath, you know?"
"Can you hit only the Undead? Is there no collateral damage?"
"Hmm... the surrounding terrain might change a little."
"Doesn't that make your 'solution' more destructive than the Undead themselves?"
"Maybe."
"Request denied."
"Aww."
"A wise decision," Lu added.
For the time being, we decided to leave them alone. If we received an actual request for help from Howlin Village, I would let Hakuren do her thing.