225-219 Choices

We succeeded in capturing Dongahaha, the head of the church's dark executive and human supremacist faction, and the number II......Brutus alive.

Since the original objective was to rescue and protect Catherine-san, we were able to achieve our objective when we safely rescued her from the darkness of the church.

''Ah........Dispel.

Catherine was surprised when she was suddenly dispelled, but if the curse had been placed on her, she would have gotten into trouble again.

To be honest, I wanted to spare her that, so I acted quickly.

Dongahaha said that the church became corrupt on its own without doing anything himself.

That wouldn't have changed much these days, even with the church's allegedly better reputation.

To use an analogy, these knights are like new recruits who mistakenly believe that the company's reputation is their own, and are happy and sad at the extent of rumors and unable to control their emotions.

The captain's rank and the priests who are the leading healers and the captain's rank like middle managers who had spent their lives without responsibility because the people who played a key role in the core suddenly disappeared.

The archbishops and masters of the various healers' guilds, such as branch managers and sales managers, who have given up on training their subordinates... not to say that they have given up on training their subordinates... but have chosen only to retain their own authority and power.

And the Pope, who can't tighten up.

If it's true what was written in Lord Leinster's biography, the reason he created this church was because he wanted to create a time and a place where lives that could be saved could be taken for granted, like in his previous life, and he wanted to create such a place quickly.

That desire became the goal of the entire church and led to the creation of the Healer's Guild.

I'm sure that up to that point everyone had been working together in the same direction, but they had achieved a major goal and there was no one to decide on the guiding principles afterwards, and the functioning of the organization had begun to fall apart.

Originally, the Pope or someone of the archbishop's class would have had to be at the helm.

But such a person was not at the heart of the church, and if he was, he probably gave up on it and did not take it.

An organization that loses its rudder is fragile. The bigger it was, the more....

The current situation is that each of them has set different goals, and they have all moved on. From an objective point of view, this is the impression I get.

But a big corporation is still a big corporation, and a church is still a church, even if it is rotten.

If the church disappears, it will be difficult for the Healer's Guild to survive, and if that happens, there will be many people who will be in trouble.

If there are other organizations like the Church that can be replaced, it's still good.

But such a thing doesn't exist in this world, so it can't be destroyed.

If the Pope was still in a position to heal people as a saint, if a charismatic person like Lord Leinster, who can steer the whole thing, had been the Pope, a different future (now) would have come.

Well, it's just empty to imagine something that doesn't exist now.

Most of the knights here believed the rumor that I was punished by God for using the evil law.

They are very nasty guys to me, but maybe their feelings for the church are genuine.

Even in large corporations that cause problems, the employees at the end of the line are often decent in their thinking and behavior, and they do their best, which makes their nature (and their people) even worse.

I decided to take a deep breath and focus on what I needed to do now.

''Master, Lionel and the others, please keep an eye on Dongahaha and the demonized knights.

Yeah. Okay.

Yes, sir.

Master and Lionel nodded, and then split up to gather the demonized knights together.

''Lumina-san and the War Maiden Holy Knights, please gather all the staff in the church headquarters here.

Duly noted.

Everyone except Lumina-san nodded along with Lumina-san's approval.

''I'm sorry Galba-san, but please go and wash up some information on the executive branch. Oh, can Kefin help Galba-san too?

I understand.

What do you think I should be looking for?

'I've already told you that there is a labyrinth in this church headquarters, although it's no longer confidential information. The labyrinth was created about fifty or so years ago, and you should go and find out what happened when we abandoned the attempt to capture it.

'All right. I'll go with someone who knows where the executive office is.

Nice to meet you. Now the knights, please keep your ranks here. I will bring the Pope here. Catherine, please follow me. And Nadia and Lydia, I don't want the remnants of the executive branch to be here, so I want you to follow me.

Okay.

Yes, sir.

I had just given instructions to each of them when I spotted Dolan and Paula.

'Paula, nice golem. Doran, take care of this place too.

"For giving me the magic stone.

If anyone goes on the rampage or runs away, I'll get them along with Paula.

Please don't kill me.

Okay.

Paula nodded and began to look at the knights.

I chuckled and started walking to the Pope's room.

On the way to the Pope's room, Catherine-san spoke words of apology to me.

'Luciel-kun, you saved me in this case as well. Thank you.

''No, it seems that I was the target of Dongahaha, so I'm sorry that I got involved too. Also, the reason I came to save Catherine-san is because I was asked to do so by Galba-san, to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude. So if you want to thank me, please ask Galba-san.

With so much uncertainty, I really don't want to make much contact with Catherine until the situation is settled.

I think it's important to have a conversation with her socially, but I've decided to draw a line and talk to her.

''That's right........ But still, Luciel, you're growing up more and more. Your holy attribute magic didn't attract others before, but now you're stronger than me even with your martial power. Perhaps even stronger than Lumina........

Catherine-san compliments me with a smile, but there's still a troublesome part of me right now, so I decided to put up some walls by telling her a little bit of my true feelings.

''Well I'm sorry for kicking you off the other day. I only heard about the situation after I went to Meratni, so I thought that Catherine-san had turned against you until then.

''Huh. Originally, it was my lack of strength that caused it. More importantly, what do you plan to do now?

I am sure this was all she wanted to hear.

'Let the Pope remain in his position as Pope, or have him declare his resignation, or let him decide for himself whether to proceed or not.

"You are going to take the Pope down from his throne!　I won't let that happen!

As I've been saying since the battle, when I told the Pope that I was giving everything to him, Catherine stood in front of me and made me stop walking.

Nadia and Lydia are unable to move, waiting for me and Catherine to make a move.

It's up to the Pope to decide. And if we don't do something about it, the church will soon be corrupted and sooner or later it will be doomed. No matter how noble an idea is, if it is allowed to fade away, there will be no doctrine.

I told him, and as I walked past Catherine, he blocked my way again.

'You know how much the Pope cares about the Church and the people. And yet you deny the Pope!

'I'm not denying it, I'm just not deluded. It is true that the Pope is kind, and he probably cares for the Church more than anyone else. I know that too. But no matter how much the Pope prays for everyone's happiness, is there someone in this church headquarters who will take over that thought and give it form and spread it?

Nothing will be solved if they only talk about their feelings without a clear vision or plan.

Catherine must really understand.

This time, she's going to walk on without being stopped.

I don't know why Catherine-san is so concerned about the Pope, but there must be something about him.

But more than that, I thought there were many things wrong with her when she thought it would be so easy to get the Pope to step down from his throne, but I just had to think about it.

When I arrived at the Pope's room, I heard Estia? from inside. came out and welcomed me.

'Master Luciel, I see you have returned to the church.

It wasn't a dark spirit, it was just a normal Estia.

''...Yeah. I'm sorry that I let Estia stay in the church and put a burden on her.

'No, sir. I like the Pope, so that's not a problem.

I felt sorry for Estia, who smiled at me as she said that, and entered the room.

The Pope-sama's room was completely cleared out, but there was only Rosa-san and Estia inside.

''Pope-sama, it's been two days since I've seen you. I don't see your maidservants in the room?　

Luciel, it's good to see you looking well. The maids are probably in the dining room taking Rosa's place. Hmm?　Is Catherine with you?

''Yes. She and the War Maiden Holy Knights were about to be executed, so I saved her and the War Maiden Holy Knights.

What do you mean?

Mr. Luciel!

The Pope and Catherine were surprised by the unexpected words, but there was a good reason why they told the truth this time.

They wanted to know what the Pope would do once the Pope's trusted Papists learned the truth about the danger they were in, and what action they would take.

'Mr. Catherine, I wouldn't have bothered to come here if I was going to lie to the Pope.

Luciel, you have done well to save our lives. And why did you almost get executed?

The Pope was pleased that Catherine was alive, but he seemed more concerned about the cause of the execution.

'But first, Pope. Have you spoken to those at the church headquarters and to the entire Healer's Guild about my becoming a wise man, which I asked you to do the other day?

'Hmm. I've spoken to the Archbishops who can talk to you in the Demon Ball, and the Master of the Healer's Guild.

As for the healers and the handmaids, I've taught them a thing or two.

Apparently, Rosa was helping me out too.

''I see. Let's see, the execution is a double espionage charge, but this is because it was discovered that Catherine-san sneaked into the church's darkest part of the execution department by herself.

Catherine?

'I'm sorry that you tried to dispel the darkness in the Church and failed, but the Pope should not forget that he also judges Catherine for acting alone. Well, since he acted out of concern for the Church, I think it's okay to give him a pardon.......

..........

Catherine is staring at me terribly, but I wonder if she hadn't considered the risk of a double agent?　I'm starting to think he's just a disappointment in many ways.

Did Galva-san like that?　I decided to explain the series of ringleaders to the Pope in a simple way while passing his gaze.　

''........I have found the ringleader who spread my rumors.

'What!　Who are you?

The Pope sat down and leaned forward.

'Under the leadership of Dongahaha, the head of the executive branch, we are capturing the human supremacist knights under Brutus, the former head of the Priestly Knights, at the Great Training Ground.

Dongahahaha...

The expression of disbelief on your face is unbelievable, but is there anything you don't associate with him when you hear the word "executive"?　He was a little doubtful, but he told the Pope the truth as it was spoken by Dongahaha's mouth.

'Yes. They tried to execute those girls to lure me in. In doing so, they also used the Evil Law of turning them into demons.

"...turned into a demon?　Not in another country, but within the Church.

''Yes. In fact, the evil law of turning people into demons is being used here and there these days. I didn't think it would happen within the church, but...

..........

The Pope began to think frantically about something, but before the Pope could trip into a whirlpool of thought, I'm going to cut to the chase here.

'We will now go to the Great Training Ground and the Pope will judge everything. Whatever the judgment is, I will accept it. Even if I have to forgive you all, I don't mind.

Mr. Luciel?

Catherine is surprised, but I didn't say anything blurry, I just accepted it, I didn't say I would be convinced.

'I know that the Pope cares for the Church. It was founded by Lord Leinster, and I'm sure the Pope has a strong attachment to it.

Luciel...

'Only the Pope was too kind. He was so kind that he lost the line between being too kind and being sweet. I think being kind is a wonderful thing. I too have been saved by the Pope's kindness on many occasions. But there is a difference between gentleness and sweetness.

Remembering what my mentor and Lionel had said to me, I put it into my own words to the Pope, even though they were both received by me.

'Kindness and sweetness?'

'Yes. For example, let's say a child did something wrong. What would that child's parents do?

That would make you angry.

Yes. But does that make you angry because you hate your children?

That's not true. I want him to learn to see wrong as wrong, so he can see wrong as wrong in the future.

'Yes. There's a kindness of parents who are concerned about their children's future. But the sweetness is not being angry with them when they do something wrong, it's being tolerant and accepting of them. And if that happens, what will happen to the child?

...you'll lose your sense of what's wrong with you.

Has the Pope ever been scolded?

I was scolded... a long time ago.

With a somewhat forlorn look on his face, the Pope laughed and replied, ''We are not God.

''We are not gods. So there will be times when we make mistakes. But when we make a mistake, we must do what we can to correct the error. I believe that the church today is in a state of disarray because it has been neglected without correcting the mistakes.

The Pope starts to tremble full-force.

'Yes, sir. It is easy for you to decide. Therefore, the Pope should decide everything here. If you can't decide, you can talk to someone else, but in the end, the Pope is responsible for the decision. This is as atonement for the lies you have told.

I heard a swoosh, and I heard Catherine try to draw her sword, only to be stopped by Nadia, who stopped her with her wand pointed at Lydia.

'Cancel it,'

Mr. Catherine may be asking me to rescind the atonement, but I'm not going to rescind it.

I ignore Catherine-san and speak to the Pope.

''You know that the Pope has already put a... no, you know that the Holy City has not been warded at the Church Headquarters, right?

At that moment, the Pope's body trembled with a momentary but definite jolt.

It was so, after all.

It would be strange if the Pope didn't notice the disappearance of the warding in the first place.

There was no way that the Pope, who was the child of the substandard reincarnation Lord Leinster and the High Elf who had only lore left in this world, could not have remembered the magic power sensing.

Even if a demon attacked, the Pope had enough magical power to protect the Holy City, even if a demon attacked, there was no doubt that he was even skilled in magic, magic and manipulation.

There was no way that this Pope couldn't recognize the disappearance of the wards.

The question of why the Pope played the role of incompetence comes to mind, but only because the Pope is too kind and is afraid to judge.

Come to think of it, there is no way that Lord Leinster, the free man who built Neldar and Rockford, would force a free daughter to fold her wings and spend time in a birdcage.

'He pretended not to notice when the wards disappeared so he wouldn't punish those responsible. Is it because you can't leave the church because you might not be able to protect the church headquarters and the Holy City if something happens?

I still vividly remember how mysterious the Pope seemed to be when I first met him.

That's why I felt that now that the demon tribe had entered the church, how the Pope would deal with the situation would determine the future direction of the church.

''From now on, will you put up a noble philosophy like the church was founded, or will you continue to slowly corrupt the church, let me hear the Pope's intentions?''

I had to bow my head deeply.