NOVEL NEXT V2Ch-33-Probing Vale
(Haruka POV)
Looking at Stephanie and giving her a quick nod in thanks before I turned back to face Elinaria and asked, "Why do you have the authority of foxes? Only Kitsune goddesses are supposed to have that, if I remember right."
For some reason, this question caused both Elinaria and Stephanie to lower their head and sigh, but only Elinaria had her face go completely red without either of them responding.
It was then that Vale spoke up from my side and said, "That would be because of me," leaving me confused with my head tilted to the side, looking at her.
This was apparently enough for her to continue explaining, "When I unlocked the religion tech tree in my system, I was able to have it craft Elinaria's holy book. However, since one did not exist, I was then contacted by the divine system to-"
The three of us did not let her continue, however, as we all shouted out at the same time, "The Divine System?!"
Taking advantage of the stunned silence that everyone had for a moment, I quickly asked, "Why did you have contact with the divine system?"
She then tilted her head in that same manner as when she was confused before saying, "Well, the divine system said that it had to ensure that the system granted by my wish did not end up harming me because of any faults within it like when the blockers failed to release. That also meant that when I tried to craft something that did not exist previously, it intervened and helped to create the item.
It also mentioned something about a deity without any authorities will have them chosen for them by their followers. As well as the argument that since Elinaria is my mother, then she should be a kitsune, the same as me, and since the beliefs of a deity's followers can change them. It described her as a kitsune goddess in her holy book making her into a kitsune over time."
With that, she finished her explanation while looking at me like a puppy, expecting praise. However, the fact that she said that without batting an eye or even realizing that any of what she said could be wrong was very concerning.
Still, I hesitatingly reached forward to pat her head while subtly glancing around at the others who were here and noticing that they felt the same way that I did. So I decided to probe her by asking, "If you had the ability to turn others into kitsunes, would you?"
Hearing my question, she then turned her head to the side and placed her hand on her chin while her ears would randomly twitch and her tail swayed around calmly behind her. I assumed this was her thinking about it which was not a good sign in my book, but it did not last long as she soon answered, "Only if they wanted to."
Not liking how long it took her to answer, I continued to probe, "How would you know if they wanted it?"
This time, it did not take her any time to think about an answer as she replied, "The most likely way I would be able to do that is through cultivation techniques I would be giving people, and I would make sure that they would know about the consequences of the technique. So if they continued to cultivate using that technique, it would be their choice."
This made me feel somewhat better until I heard what she said next. "Unless, of course, they are demonic cultivators. Then they deserve everything coming towards them."
All the worry and concerns I had came rushing back when I heard this, but before I could say anything, Elinaria quickly asked, "Are you talking about what the empire considers demonic cultivators or cultivators that use demonic methods?"
This question caught me off guard as it was not something I considered asking. I was even more shocked to see Vale tilting her head to the side in that same questioning manner as if she did not understand the question. What she asked next made me feel both grateful that I had miscalculated and ashamed that I thought she was corrupted by a cultivator's way of thinking.
"Aren't they the same thing?"
When she said this, Elinaria bolted up and hugged Vale before rubbing her head between her ears. I was initially very concerned about this, but I then noticed no reaction from her bloodline as well as the slight purr that she made when that happened allowing me to understand something.
When Elinaria said that Vale was her daughter, she was not talking in the normal way of when a goddess talks about their champion, but about how she actually adopted Vale. If you were to then follow the traditions of the divines, it would mean that Stephanie is her grandmother and that Stephanie and I are now related to each other.
This reminded me of a joke that we both shared a while back about how we acted as if we were family and how we both wished we were.
Funny how fate acts sometimes.
Regardless, we were still having to deal with the little girl, so I focused back on the conversation just in time to hear Elinaria say, "That should be the case, but since an emperor in the past did a few things and didn't want to get caught he changed the ruling. So now the only thing making techniques considered demonic is whether or not they use demonic Qi and change a person's race."
She then tilted her head again at this and retorted, "But there are plenty of techniques that could use inverse Qi which are not demonic in nature, and why are techniques that change a person's race a bad thing? As long as it does not change a person's mind in any drastic way, it should be fine."
Her words were very reassuring and showed that she had the right idea about demonic cultivators, even if the last part of what she said would leave other people concerned.
Just to confirm that she did not have the wrong idea when it came to a person's race, I asked, "What do you consider drastic changes to a person's mind?"
She was very quick to answer this one with almost no time to think, saying, "A drastic shift in someone's personality, urges to do something that they would never think of doing normally, and a major rapid shift in their morals or understanding of right and wrong without any significant event occurring in their lives."
Her answer to my question already caused a smile to appear on my face, but I still wanted to probe her, so I asked, "Does it not have anything to do with a person's body?"
Just like with the last question, she was quick to respond, but unlike last time, I was not prepared for her answer.
"Is everyone with black hair a demonic cultivator?"
This left Elinaria and Stephanie blinking and trying to understand what she just said, but I was only stunned for a moment before remembering that she was that man's child and that this was to be expected from someone raised by him.
I could only laugh after that, causing the other two to look at me weirdly before I said, "I am going to have to remember that for the next time I have this argument with others. I also agree with your philosophy on this that a person's race, let alone the color of different parts of their body, should not have any indicator of who they are.
Sadly, there are some people who can not see past this no matter how much better their lives would be if they simply ignored this."
It was then that Vale said something that made me laugh again.
"Could we not talk about this? Dad did always say to not talk about these things as it is better to leave politics out of things."
When I did finally get my laughter under control, I replied, "We can do that, but you are a cultivator now, so politics will be something that you will have to deal with no matter what."
She frowned at my words but did not do much else and simply stood there, waiting for something to happen.
I was willing to provide that, and before anyone could keep this meeting going quickly said, "Well, since you are no longer throwing a tantrum over getting younger, you should go home as I need to have a conversation with these two about Elinaria becoming a kitsune goddess in the future."
This brought the other two out of their daze and back to the situation at hand.
Elinaria looked like she wanted to say something, but Stephanie quickly stepped in and said, "That would be for the best right now. Raina is panicking quite badly about this right now, so it would be best for you to go home and talk this out with your mother."
Vale then made a motion like she wanted to say something, but I quickly flung a ball of blood-colored energy at her, making her stop before she suddenly disappeared from this entire realm.