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The Sacred Mountain of Flame was a place of heat beyond comparison to the blazing desert.

It was as though an invisible wall trapped more than half of that heat, allowing only a fraction to escape, thus creating the scorching desert.

In other words, the Sacred Mountain of Flame was roughly twice as hot as the desert.

“Phew… Haah…”

“Pinna. I’ll cast a spell on you.”

“Ah, no. I’m alright for now.”

Even Pinna, the dwarf, seemed to be struggling against that heat, gradually turning a complexion similar to Eric’s when he crossed the blazing desert.

“Choosing to see the Sacred Flame was my decision. I want to manage this on my own. Though I didn’t fight alone while crossing the blazing desert…”

“I believe you could have made it here by yourself, even without Alice’s and my help.”

At Eric’s words, Alice nodded slightly.

Despite her youthful appearance, Pinna was an incredibly powerful warrior.

Wielding a hammer and anvil, she could smash nearly any monster to bits. She had an exceptional eye for detail and observation, not missing even the smallest issue. Somehow, she even possessed a heat-resistant cloth that mitigated the desert’s searing heat.

Had it not been for Eric and Alice’s aid… Well, things would have been tough, but somehow she would have set foot on this mountain.

“That’s flattery.”

Of course, she would have been out of breath immediately upon arriving at this mountain.

But that future vanished with the company of the Dragon Priestess Alice and the Hero Eric.

The small dwarf girl had reached the mountain she aimed for, escaping her destined demise.

“I’m glad to have met you both.”

Pinna smiled shyly at Alice and Eric, continuing onward.

Toward the mountain where even the rocks melted into flowing flames.

To the dwelling of Ifrit.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

As such, those flames that burn eternally. The conversations that the hero’s party had upon meeting the Sacred Flame were not recorded.

As a result, the Dragon Priestess, slowly succumbing to the Demon King’s energy, found a slight breath of relief, and the small dwarf girl who accompanied them received the blessing of the eternal flames, becoming a being through which hot flames flowed in her veins.

Thus, to repay the grace bestowed upon her, upon discovering the identities of her companions, the dwarf girl Pinna formally joined the Hero’s party.

It was the moment Pinrotia Envirgard appeared in history, as the agent of the Sacred Flame and a guardian spirit of the forge.

– The Second Faith of Dwarves. The Sacred Flame.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The conversation between Ifrit and the three was… not particularly remarkable.

Ifrit pretended to be solemn and congratulated the three upon reaching him, sharing a tiny bit of his power with Alice to assist in the physical contest against the Demon King.

He asked Eric if he wanted anything as well, but Eric declined, saying he had been nothing but a burden in getting here and had no right to receive anything.

Still, not giving him anything seemed a bit impolite, so he casually infused him with some flame power as well.

It wasn’t much power, just enough to avoid damage from flames or heat.

As for Pinna… Well, she could reach Ifrit’s location through sheer will, but physically she seemed to have hit her limit.

As she faced the eternally burning flames, she collapsed, her heart stopping.

Alice jumped in shock at the sight of Pinna and attempted to cast a recovery spell to restart her heart, but Ifrit’s actions were quicker.

He placed a tiny shard of himself into her halted heart, bringing it back to life.

Well, I mean, CPR plus a recovery spell would probably have worked just fine, but hey, the heart was beating again, and he shared some of his power, so all was well!

“Still, isn’t it dangerous to share your power with just anyone?”

“If they’ve come this far in living bodies, they certainly deserve some blessing, even if they’re not the hero or the Dragon Priestess.”

Ifrit said this with a smirk.

“And through that child, I can observe the hero’s party adventure from a closer perspective.”

Was that his goal all along?

“Also, if sharing my power is troublesome, the one it’s most troublesome for is your mother. So many in this world have received her power.”

Hmm… If you put it that way, I have nothing to say.

Some of the children I assisted even reached divine status.

“Speaking of which, those two seem to be searching for their mother.”

“T-They’re doing that…?”

“Yes. Apparently, they visited the Church of Life recently. They might get caught if they don’t hurry. The two seem to have no problem navigating between the Divine Hall and the Human World since they’re originally human.”

Ugh. Should I hurry? If they catch onto me, I might just be dragged straight to the Divine Hall.

Honestly, I didn’t need to be at the Divine Hall, but those two keep chasing me.

“Then… I guess I should take my leave soon.”

“Yes. Take care. By the way, Mom, can I ask you one thing?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

As Ifrit gazed at the three leaving the mountain, he asked me.

“That Dragon Priestess. The girl named Alice… she’s originally the body of the Demon King, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“What will become of that girl in the end…?”

I didn’t answer Ifrit’s question.

Born from a concentration of magical power, she was identified as a Demon King as monsters gathered around her and separated body and mind before becoming the Dragon Priestess named Alice.

To be honest, I hadn’t given any thought to her final fate.

If you had to pinpoint it…

“I hope it leads to a happy ending.”

It would be joyful if it could lead to a happy ending, but I understood how difficult that would be.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Now, where do you plan to go next?”

The small dwarf girl, carrying the spark bestowed by the God of Flames in her heart, Pinna asked cheerfully.

Having exited the scorching desert and set foot in Procyon, it was time to think about their next moves.

“We need to meet all six Ancient Gods! It won’t be an easy feat! I’ll help with whatever little strength I have!”

She was so energetic and lively it was almost overwhelming. It must be the spark inside her fueling that passion.

“Hmm… Where could we go next?”

“Alice. Don’t you have anything in mind?”

“Yeah. The first one we need to meet is clear… but the other gods are a bit ambiguous.”

Alice began counting off on her fingers.

“First, the Dwarves’ god and the Sacred Mountain, Sagarmatha.”

“Ah, can we put that off for later?”

“Why?”

“Because if I go to Sagarmatha because I ran away from home, my father will scold me and trap me at home.”

That was a very personal reason.

“Well, we don’t necessarily have to go to Sagarmatha. Then we could go to Yggdrasil, the World Tree of the Elves…”

“E-eh, I’d like to delay that, if possible…”

At Pinna’s words, Alice held back her frustration and responded.

“Not this, not that! What should we do then? Even if I think about other gods apart from those two, the gods of light and justice and the winds have ambiguous positions, and the gods of water and the sea are far across the ocean, so we’d need a boat and the mermaids’ guidance!”

“Ugh… That’s true, but…”

Eric intervened between the rapidly rattling words of Alice and the slightly intimidated Pinna.

“Alright, let’s calm down. Meeting those two gods would be good, but we’ll eventually meet all the other gods too. We’re just discussing the priority; it’s not like we’ll be saying goodbye to our newly joined companions.”

“That’s… true, but…”

Alice, though a bit flustered, seemed to come to accept Eric’s perspective.

“Then for now, let’s search for the gods of light and justice and the winds. Hm… The one we might be able to gather information about is probably the god of light.”

“Gather information?”

“Yeah. The Wanderer Judge that serves the god of light might know something.”

“The Wanderer Judge… I’ve heard of them. They are like priests serving the god of light, wandering the world and enforcing justice.”

“Hmm. Each one is a powerful priest and warrior, so… they might know something.”

Alice and Pinna both nodded in agreement.

“Then we need to find the Wanderer Judge.”

“Fortunately, I know where they usually go.”

Eric calmly spoke, pointing to a somewhat unique building amidst the multiple towers in Procyon.

It was a building adorned with a symbol of scales overlapping a sword. The trial hall, where judgments were made based on the sins of the guilty.