But what if the third prophecy meant that, if you connected all those unrelated places...
Could you say that someone had drawn all the fire away?
Even so, old Mikhail remained as composed as any mature adult. He advised Louis, "Your Majesty, it's best not to put too much faith in prophecies."
"If prophecies really worked, then over ten thousand years ago, one descendant of the Goddess of Light's line wouldn't have become a hero only to be corrupted by the Demon Race. Nor would only one woman have been left, only to disappear. And there wouldn't be rumors about an old woman putting one of the goddess's descendants on a raft and leaving her to fend for herself."
"If prophecies really worked, things wouldn't have turned out like this. Perhaps they only became true because people believed in them."
"Back when Emperor Charles was still working hard to govern, he was remarkably capable. If he hadn't been overcome with grief, would there have been any prophecy about someone being nailed to a cross?"
"If prophecies were accurate, Empress Isa wouldn't have disappeared, would she?"
"After all, looking back, the prophecy about the Saintess at the time must have been about Empress Isa."
"Look, even the prophecy itself changed, didn't it?"
"Those prophecies have been completely wrong time and again."
"History is full of prophecies that turned out to be wrong."
That was how people were. After a shock, they became especially superstitious.
There was no concept of superstition here, but they weren't fools.
If faith in the gods really could solve everything, would the church have declined?
It was because the True Gods rarely showed themselves.
And the ones who showed up often were Evil Gods.
All they did was cause a little trouble and collect a few souls.