What should I do if the hero is resurrected in the Monster Girl Encyclopedia?

Chapter 11 Night Talk
Cold sweat instantly broke out on the priest's forehead.

Calm down, calm down. How could he possibly know that I wrote to the bishop? He must just be apologizing for making me lose face during the day; that would show he's reasonable... He couldn't possibly have come to discuss doctrine with him, could he?

No matter what, the best course of action is to get him out of here.

"Oh, it's you. My back was hurting, so I couldn't get up to open the door for you! Shall we discuss doctrine another time...?"

His eyes widened in disbelief at what was happening before him.

The blond priest walked straight through the wall and into his room. The wall, which should have been solid, was now as soft and elastic as jelly. After the blond priest passed through, he left a sizable human-shaped hole, which was visibly closing up.

"I'm so sorry, I was really worried about you, so I had to resort to this tactic to get into your room."

The other person's hand rested on my shoulder, the warmth radiating from their palm.
"...Oh? I've given you a quick check-up, and you seem to be fine. Could you describe your symptoms again?"

The blond priest's smile was quite restrained, but in the priest's eyes, it was no less than a demon grinning wildly, revealing its sharp teeth.

Milad's visit was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Recalling the gold object he had touched inside the priest's robes, he realized it was remarkably similar to the bishop's ring he remembered. As a symbol of status, bishops typically only distributed rings to their close associates, signifying that their actions were permitted by the bishop.

For a priest in a remote parish to possess such an item, he must have something exceptionally outstanding about him. Therefore, he planned to visit him that night to seek his advice and resolve some questions that had arisen in his mind while organizing the scriptures these past few days.

Looking around, the priest's room was fairly tidy, but it felt somewhat stuffy because the windows were completely blocked.

He seemed to be writing something at his desk before I arrived; a quill was on the table, along with several blank sheets of paper.

He sensed a familiar magical fluctuation; the Bishop's Ring had been used in a short time.

It turns out he was writing a letter to the bishop; how dutiful!

However, the transmission method has remained unchanged for a thousand years... Mirad wanted to sigh. Just how lazy and arrogant had the Church of the Main God become? As long as the monsters weren't fools, it was conceivable that the Church's information transmission had been thoroughly compromised over the past thousand years.

When the priest, whose back was aching, was seated on the bed, Mirallard could not hide his guilty and contrite expression.

As a close confidant of the bishop, his attitude toward the new crops, to some extent, also represented the bishop's attitude.

With May Day approaching, Elcia will be holding an agricultural fair again; in a few more months, the bishop will be leaving to attend the Grand Council in the Holy Land, and who knows what the situation will be like when he returns home... Even someone as oblivious as Milad can sense the undercurrents.

He was reluctant to get involved in this political struggle. Although promoting the new crop was undoubtedly good for the farmers, the intentions of the forces behind the king remained unknown.

"Relax, fellow believer. I am a devout follower of God, just like you. God above, I am not trying to make things difficult for you."

The priest thought to himself, "I don't believe you for a second. People are already blocking the door, and you're still saying you're not trying to make things difficult for me." But on the surface, he still put on a smile and agreed.

"Haha, I know, I know. Brother, you've come from afar, so it's my fault for not being a good host. Please stop teasing me. What are you planning to do at this secret rendezvous tonight?"

"The Lord God spoke to me again: 'Son of man, proclaim to the nations this: Thus says the Lord—Behold, the demons of the earth, with teeth like knives and claws like hooks, who drink blood and pierce bones. Their flesh must not be eaten, their blood must not be touched, for all who devour them will be tainted by evil, spreading like a plague. If a bird pecks at its eye, or a beast chews its bone, it will die in madness, its body lying dead in the wilderness, or it will become like the demons, choosing its prey to devour. Therefore I will turn their bodies into lakes of fire and sulfur, leaving nothing on the earth, lest any living creature be defiled.'"

After Mirad finished reciting the scripture, the priest before him seemed to anticipate the question Mirad would ask, his brow furrowed.
“Ephraim 25:18-19. You want to ask about the demon?”

“These days, I’ve come to understand that the true nature of demons seems to differ somewhat from what is recorded in the scriptures and what the church preaches. I wonder what you, fellow believer, think about this?”

Bringing up outdated scriptures to ask about things that are known but not openly discussed within the church—isn't that just making things difficult?
The priest almost couldn't keep up the forced smile. He kept telling himself to stay calm while trying to figure out how to fool this wandering priest who had come looking for his amusement.

"What tempts and corrupts is often sweet, but stinks inside. Even if a demon takes on human form, it is still the greatest enemy of humanity, feeding on human blood. Brother, do not let the rats in the granary go just because their fur is cute."

A strong heart, the willpower to resist temptation. Few lambs possess these qualities, therefore shepherds must watch over them more carefully; even a few lies can help the flock survive.

Wiping the drool from his mouth, the priest was very satisfied with his words. There were usually no monsters in this remote and impoverished place, so naturally no one could discuss these things with him. Instead, it reminded him of his time in college.

“I understand, fellow believer. Thank you for your explanation. I have benefited greatly from it, and my confusion has lessened.”

A beautiful appearance, a white lie.

The priests, who proclaimed themselves shepherds, were regarded as lambs by the masses.

The excuses the church uses to appease doubtful believers are exactly the same as those Milads envisioned. The two questions that arise from this are also like the two uncertain directions in his mind.

Is the monster's seemingly harmless and unambitious demeanor merely a deeper layer of disguise?

Is the church's choice to conceal the truth from the public truly for the sake of human survival?
He had just given the engraved magic amulet to Loki, partly as an apology for the disturbance, and partly to investigate whether the monster truly loved the miller's son as she claimed.

Is it true love, or just a fleeting, ambiguous spark that will be discarded like trash when it gets boring? The amulet will regularly report Rocky's condition to Mirad, and several months will be enough to prove its authenticity.

If it's true love, you should apologize properly the next time you see that couple.

As for the other question...

Mirand looked up, and the priest trembled slightly, fearing that the other party might ask something difficult.

"I am truly sorry to have bothered you. It is late, so I will leave now. My fellow believer, you should also get some rest and not stay up late writing letters, as it will harm your health."

"Yeah, thanks for your concern, bro... Don't worry, I definitely won't stay up all night writing..."

The priest's smile froze instantly. Before he could figure out how the other person knew he had written a letter, the blond priest had vanished, leaving only the open door leading to an empty corridor.

…At least they knew to leave through the main entrance.

(End of this chapter)