228 - - CHAPTER 228. ATTACK OF Fierce God's Believers

◆ war god priest

"The Lord God's Temple is communicating with the Empire?

I had heard a rumor that something strange was going on in the Temple of the Lord God, and I had received a startling report from my subordinate whom I had sent to investigate.

"Yes, sir. We have heard rumors from the neighbors that they have seen a traveler with an imperial accent frequenting the Temple of the Lord God. In fact, we have confirmed that someone with an Imperial accent has been seen wandering near the Temple of the Lord God, though he has been cleverly concealed."

"But why would the empire be the main temple of the Goddess of Mercy?　Isn't that a run-down temple that could collapse at any time?"

In fact, for decades now, the temples of our god of war and the god of commerce have flourished in the Holy City, while the temple of the main god has been in decline.

What good would it do for the empire to be associated with such a failing temple?

"Apparently, the emperor of the empire is trying to revive the temple of the main god and use its favors to gain a foothold in the home country. It seems that he has sent a number of powerful men from his own country to help him do so."

"Huh?"

What the heck, we have to rely on the power of people like that, or is the emperor of the empire a coward?　

"Well, the empire is not so bad."

Nevertheless, this is an opportunity.

It would be blasphemy for a temple of God to be ruled by a nation, even if it is in decline.

"All right, I will personally punish the temple of the Lord God!"

"What?　If you do that without the high priest's permission, you will be condemned!"

I was taken aback when my subordinate started talking nonsense.

"No, of course other people will eavesdrop and take the credit if you do such a thing!

The high priest is surrounded by a lot of lackeys who are good only at rubbing people's noses in it.

They try to steal information and take credit for other people's work by rubbing elbows with the high priest.

Thanks to these people, only those who are not good at what they do get promoted, and our temples are only getting more corrupt.

"Call in as many men as you can!　Time is of the essence. Gather them directly in front of the main temple!

Yes, sir!

My men took my order and ran like spiders.

Well, let's see if you can be the bait for me to rise to the top, Lord God's temple!

I'll let you be the bait for me to rise to the top, O Temple of the Lord!

I came to the temple of the Lord God and moved when I saw that my men had gathered to some extent.

"Come out!　The temple chief of the Lord God's Temple!"

Using the wind magic of my men, I made my voice louder and let the sound reach the inside of the temple.

Then, like insects driven out of their nests, the priests of the temple came out from inside.

They came out, they came out, they came out!

What in the world?

"Finally!　I am Santoy, Captain of the Temple Knights in the service of the God of War!　You are suspected of having made a secret pact with the Empire!　You will be investigated by us, and you will be investigated by us, and you will be investigated by us!

"What?　A secret pact with the Empire?　What the hell are you talking about?

When I told them of my suspicions, as expected, the priests of the temple of the Lord God turned a blind eye.

Well, that was to be expected. But it doesn't matter.

I'll just have to find out by force, no matter what they say.

"Don't play dumb!　In exchange for money and manpower from the Empire, you are going to misuse the authority of the gods of the Holy City to help them in their invasion!　The appearance of this church is proof of that!"

With that, I thrust my halberd at the temple as if to point at it, which is now as good as new.

"You've got it all wrong!　The temple was repaired by the goodwill of the traveling congregation in the Holy City!"

Ha, that's a lame excuse.

"Well, you've already shown your true colors!　No mere traveler can afford that kind of money!"

The priest of the main shrine seems to have lost his nerve at my point of view and shuts his mouth without being able to retort.

"Oh, you are too one-sided!　If you say we are connected to the empire, show us the proof!"

"Proof?　I'm sure you can find plenty of that stuff in this temple!"

Any more bickering is pointless. They will raid the temple before they hide the evidence!

But two women stood between us and the priests of the main temple.

What the hell is wrong with you people?

"Hey, hey, hey, whoever you are, you're talking to me all by yourselves."

A little girl with a bad look in her eyes appeared, speaking in a violent manner.

"It's not very polite to try to break into another temple without proof, is it?"

The other was a woman with large breasts.

I thought she might be a priestess of the main temple, but she looked more like an adventurer.

"What are you, adventurers ...... or so you say, you are the helpers sent from the empire."

What?""What?""

I heard they called in the best, but the Empire must have been up at night to send in a bunch of girls like these.

No, it's just that these girls were the only ones prepared to follow the rules of the pilgrim's journey in all honesty.

They wouldn't have sent these girls if they knew the loopholes in the rules.

"But it's not that bad."

"Huh?"

"Fine. Play a little ...... or I'll discipline you. You will do manual labor in the temple of the god of war when I'm defeated. Then I'll forgive your sins."

""Huh?""

d*mn, you girls have no manners, but if I show you how strong I am, you will realize how reckless you are.

After that, I will bring them back to my temple, convert them to the god of war, and make them my men.

"Kukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkukkuk!"

"...... something creepy about this guy."

"...... Oh, that gave me the creeps."

Ha-ha-ha, you're scared of something you're not even fighting for!

"Now, ready your weapons!　Let me show you the power of the priest of the god of war!"

I run toward the girls, weapons at the ready.

Don't make it easy on me!

"Nun nun nuh wah!"

Just as I was about to swing my weapon at the little girls.

Suddenly something blocked my body.

"What the hell?

My body was flung backwards, and I fell on my buttocks.

What is it?　What happened?

"Oh, what did you guys just do?

"What?　What?　What are you talking about?"

"What did I do? You fell on your butt on your own!"

What?　The little girls didn't do anything?

Then what the hell was that?

I had no idea what had just happened, but that didn't mean I could just sit back and take it easy.

I raised my weapon again and cut at the girls.

Boom!

But once again, something blocked my way and I was sent flying backwards.

"What the hell is this?

I stick out my hand and it stops in mid-air before it touches the girls.

Here, here's something.

"Hey!　What is this invisible wall?

But not only the girls, but also the priestesses of the main god are too blind to respond.

So I send my wizard to check it out.

"What is this?

"Warding?"

Priests of the Temple of the Lord God. What do you know that I don't?

We are not being attacked by a foreign enemy in the daytime, and to put up wards is to claim that we are doing something sinister!

"All right, deactivate the wards!"

I ordered my men to deactivate the wards, but they immediately shook their heads and said it was impossible.

"Impossible. I have never seen such a powerful ward. And not only at the entrance, but the entire temple seems to be warded. It is impossible to keep warding such a large area!

Warding the entire temple?　How much magic are they using?

"Hey!　If you say he is not guilty, then remove this ward!

"It's a misunderstanding. I did not put up any wards."

""......""

But the priests of the temple of the Lord God are just pretending.

"Don't play the fool!　You went to the trouble of putting up wards to prevent us from entering!　After all, the temple of the Lord God must be connected to the empire!

No, of course not, we are not connected to the Empire!

Then why don't you let us in!　If you have nothing to hide, let us in immediately!"

But the priests of the main temple refuse to admit it.

You're using this opportunity to hide the evidence!

"Surround the temple and see to it that no one escapes!　It's a big wall. It can't hold for long!"

As soon as the warding is lifted, I'll jump in and get the evidence!

That's when it happened. An old man walked past me and spoke to the priests of the main temple.

"Priest~, can you heal my back again?

"What?　Uh, no, I'm just taking it in right now. ......"

The people in the main temple were bewildered by the sudden intrusion of the old man.

"Really?　Then I guess I'll have to ask the young lady from yesterday to cast a spell on you."

With these words, the old man went into the temple.

......What was that old man?

"Ah!"

Then one of his subordinates made a stupid sound.

He said, "You just came in, didn't you?

He pointed to the back of the old man entering the temple.

"...... what?"

I immediately give the order to my men.

"Everybody in!"

"""" oh oh oh oh!

Shit!"

The girls are panicking, but it's too late!　Once the warding is lifted, it's ours!

Take this opportunity to completely smash the Lord God's Temple. ......

bam bam!

Next thing I know, we're in the water.

"Gabobo?

We were definitely in the water. And we were in deep water that we couldn't get our feet on!

Why?　Why?　I was in the temple of the Lord God!

"Gabobo!"

No, no!　If we don't do something, we'll sink!　We need to get to the surface fast!

"Gabobobob!

Whoa!　The metal armor is too heavy to swim properly!　And the clothes inside absorb water, making them even heavier!

Shhh, I'm dying!　If I don't do something, I'll die!

"Gobobobobobooooo (someone help me)!"

Liliela.

"...... what happened?"

The sudden disappearance of the priests of the god of war who had been trying to break into the temple had puzzled not only the priests of the main temple but also the onlookers who had been watching the commotion from afar.

But only Gyro-kun, Janet, and I had noticed the reason for their disappearance.

"I'm pretty sure that's what this is ......."

"I'm pretty sure that's true. ......"

Yes, it was definitely Mr. Lex, a.k.a. Laxi.

He must have done something when he was renovating the temple.

I don't know what they've done, but it must be ...... outrageous as far as I'm concerned!

But how do we cover this up......

"...... Hey, maybe that was the Lord God's punishment?"

While I was worrying about such a thing, unexpectedly some onlookers started saying such a thing.

"It's ......, isn't it? A priest of the god of war is always acting all high and mighty, and even now he was trying to break into the temple for some messed up reason. ......"

"...... Not only the old man just now, but there are still regular believers going through there, and I'm sure God got rid of the rude unbelievers.　......"

As they say, with the priests of the god of war gone, the unknowing congregation enters the temple as usual.

......Yeah, that's it.

"Yes, that's it!　God got rid of the unbelievers!"

"Oh!　I'm sure you're right!　Brother, God must have gotten rid of the bad guys!"

Gyro seemed to understand my thoughts and immediately agreed to help guide the conversation.

"What?　Is that so?"

"I'm sure they are!　Because this kind of thing is impossible for normal people!"

We forcefully persuaded the bewildered priests that the disappearance of the priests from the Temple of the God of War was a divine punishment.

We were so close!

The priests of the temple of the god of war who disappeared were blown into a lake near the Holy City, and their lives were saved by the nets of the neighbors who happened to be out fishing. ......