A Loving God

"Resident Stone? There's nothing I can do about that."

Mayor Aite looked troubled. His savior had rarely come to ask him for help, so of course he wanted to do his part, but as the mayor of a small town, he was not qualified to vouch for Ruben.

Ruben and Mayuna had already packed their luggage and were ready to set off when the mage girl suddenly asked, "Do you have a Resident Stone?"

Only then did Ruben realize he was apparently an undocumented resident. A Resident Stone was the crystal Mayuna had buried beside her little cabin as a child, engraved with her identity information. It was like an ID card on Earth. It was unnecessary for minor matters, but without one, things like enrolling in school were impossible.

"Although I trust Ruben's character, someone from another country needs at least a marquis to vouch for them if they want citizenship."

As Aite spoke, he gave Ruben a systematic explanation of why. The four great human empires were not united as one, and Resident Stones had been invented to prevent ill-intentioned spies from infiltrating. They were issued by the state from birth and used on many important occasions. If someone from another country happened to end up here and wanted to obtain a Resident Stone, they needed an influential guarantor. After all, no one could be sure whether they were a spy, and if they were, the guarantor would have to bear responsibility as well.

"You're really useless, mister."

Mayuna did not understand the details, but she still bluntly mocked him.

"Ahaha..."

Aite's rough face once again showed a trace of embarrassment. He did not get angry at Mayuna's words. Compared to a powerful mage, she seemed more like a mischievous junior.

"It's fine. Sorry for bothering you."

Ruben nodded and took Mayuna's hand, intending to leave. This was somewhat unexpected, but still within what he could accept.

"Dad, I got into a fight with the butcher's son today, and I won!"

Just as Aite was about to say something else, his son suddenly ran in. His little face was bruised, yet he spoke with unusual delight. After that incident, Aite had changed his approach to parenting, and the once introverted William had gradually become more cheerful.

"William, didn't I tell you not to keep fighting?"

"That uncle has changed quite a bit too. What are you going to do?"

Mayuna only spoke after they had left the mayor's house. Even William, who had once been so crazy, had changed. It gave her a bit of a heartwarming feeling.

"I'll go take a look in a larger city. As long as I find someone who can vouch for me, there'll always be a way."

"Is that so? There's no need to make it so troublesome. I'll take you directly to find a guarantor."

Mayuna knew very well that Ruben was not only a world-class chef, but also a doctor capable of bringing the dead back to life. A person like that would shine wherever he went. But she did not want too many people to know how special Ruben was. That would only bring trouble to their peaceful daily lives.

"You?"

"I can still handle a small favor like this."

As Mayuna gently placed her hand on his shoulder, Ruben felt his body grow light, and the scene before him completely changed. Before he could mentally prepare himself, he had completed his first spatial transfer.

When Ruben came back to his senses and looked at the scenery before him, even he was slightly awed. An endless stretch of towns spread outward from the imperial palace at the highest point. It was not hard to see walls scattered throughout the city. These were traces of the imperial capital's development. The originally small city had grown through expansion after expansion, while the walls that had once defended against foreign enemies had been preserved as memorials.

"The scenery here is beautiful, isn't it?"

Mayuna had wanted Ruben to see this view no matter what. After Yura had rescued her years ago, this was the first place her teacher had brought her. Ever since then, Mayuna had always felt that there was no more beautiful scenery in the world than the imperial capital.

"No, I'm wondering why they were able to build structures like these. Given the level of civilization in this other world, they shouldn't have had time to study how to make houses so beautiful."

Ruben voiced his opinion. This was a world focused on magic. The development of architecture should have been similar to that of other skills. This world clearly did not even have sewers, yet it could build such extravagant houses. From a quick glance, he could see quite a few buildings taller than twenty meters. That involved foundation issues, after all. Dris's houses were no more than two stories high, so Ruben had always assumed the imperial capital would look much the same. Seeing it so prosperous was difficult for him to accept.

"Do you have no sense of atmosphere at all?!"

Mayuna was so angry she practically wanted to strangle Ruben. But it was not as though he had only lacked tact for a day or two. Getting angry at him would only mean getting angry at herself.

"Forget it, you guessed right. Humans didn't come up with this. It was bestowed by the God of Light."

"Is the God of Light a master architect?"

"No! According to legend, the God of Light is the god who loves humanity most, and human development was extremely distorted..."

As Mayuna told the story, Ruben imagined a bizarre scene. From the moment humans first came into existence, they had learned to use their own magic power to do all sorts of things. So they had sought to develop magic to its utmost limits and abandoned everything else.

Imagine humans fighting other races for dominance over the continent. One moment, they were casting earth-shattering magic; the next, they were lying down to sleep in crude caves. Then, because there were not enough caves and they could not find shelter, they ended up wandering the wilderness.

At first, the God of Light had not intended to interfere with human development. But he waited and waited, yet saw no sign of humans making even the slightest progress. Decades passed. Young men became middle-aged, and middle-aged men became old. The God of Light saw that this would not do. Even if your child was an idiot, a father still loved him. So the God of Light went to the dwelling of the God of Crafts, whom the dwarves worshipped, traded for some things, and obtained information on architecture. He then sent angels to personally deliver it to humanity. Only then did humans learn how to build increasingly advanced dwellings.

This was also the first time humans learned that gods existed above their heads. The Church had been established by humanity at that time to thank the God of Light, and it had continued to develop until the present day.

"That's the story depicted in the Church's murals."

"I feel like the gods in this world play the role of foolish fathers. Are all gods like that?"

Ruben did not know what expression he should use when facing the gods. Was it a case of a crooked beam making a crooked roof? The man who had casually sent him to another world also seemed to be an idiot.

"Are you talking about me?"

Mayuna sharply caught Ruben's muttering. As though she felt he was taking a jab at her, she rolled her eyes and asked.

"No. So who are we looking for in the imperial capital?"

"His Holiness the Pope."

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P.S. Meeting the parents, huh.

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