CH 99

Chapter 20. Promise with the World-building God

Thesilid Argent is back alive!

A person who was disgraced just a few days ago and had a funeral without a body.

He came to the main gate of The Vatican looking fine and confident. Rumors spread within an hour and there was an uproar everywhere.

There was constant gossip from those gathered here and there in groups of threes and fives.

“What is going on? I heard he entered the dungeon alone trusting only the Holy Sword, then caused a Burst and died?”

“I heard that he captured six Knights from the Pillar of Light and came back. It seems that the circumstances are different from what is known.”

“We have to listen to both sides of the story.”

Like this, ordinary priests gathered in the backyard and waited for the following news.

“Sooner or later, a Heresy Judgment may be held. Lord Thesilid claims that the Knights of The Pillar of Light made a pact with the devil and dumped him in the dungeon.”

“Whoa! A paladin made a contract with the devil! Is that really true?”

“You know Lord Thesilid’s affiliation, right? If the Heretic Judge has accused heresy, it should be certain.”

“Huh, this is an unprecedented incident. The Ministry of Doctrine took the Knights side with such zeal, even trying to hold Sir Thesilid’s funeral in haste, but it might backfire on them.”

“That is what I think. There is no way that the Minister of Prosecution and the Pope would miss this opportunity.”

“Sir Thesilid seems to be holding a public trial just to restore his honor, but the repercussions of this incident can’t be weighed.”

Those in power above the bishop rank exchanged political talks based on information power.

“By the way……”

At the sound of a cardinal’s voice, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed. There was a story that everyone wanted to talk about.

“Is it true that Sir Thesilid came with a woman from outside?”

“I saw her. She was a pretty girl with pink hair.”

“Isn’t the absence of Sir Thesilid more than a fortnight? I heard that he caught the Knights today……”

“Well, then Sir Thesilid has been alone with a woman from outside for 15 days……?!”

“Oh no! How could an unmarried paladin behave so promiscuously? It’s something I couldn’t have imagined when I was young!”

“That’s right. I’m afraid to even hear such things.”

The conservative officials rattled all over the place.

On the other hand, in secret places, there were those who showed outright hostility to the news of Thesilid’s return.

“Father, did you hear? Older Brother’s enemy is said to have returned alive. What kind of woman did he bring along?”

“I know, Helcion.”

Father and son were talking in a well-soundproof confessional room.

They were Cardinal Carnoil O’Drek and his son Helcion O’Drek.

Because of Eleon, who became the host of the Magic Sword, the O’Drek family suffered hardships.

At least, the prestige of Valcus Odrek, the previous owner of the Holy Sword, and Cardinal Carnoil’s position as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Doctrine prevented the family from being punished.

Otherwise, he might have been sentenced to death for having an apostate son.

It has already been four months since the loss of his eldest son Eleon. He had enough self-reflection, so he was about to resume his activities.

The news of Thesilid Argent’s return came just in time.

“I thought ‘Strict Order and Goodwill’ would have handed fair punishment, but it wasn’t.”

“Are you just going to watch, Father?”

“As Chief Resident, don’t act rashly, Helcion.”

The Ministry of Doctrine was in charge of one of the two pillars of The Vatican’s power structure.

Befitting of a person serving as Vice-minister there, Carnoil was cold-hearted.

“Do not view him as your brother’s enemy, but as Argent’s godson.”

“……Yes, Father.”

For the O’Dreck family, the most important thing was the fight for power rather than revenge for the eldest son.

As the denomination formed a nation, the Vatican was not free from politics. Its power structure has been divided in two and has long been at odds.

To this day, it has continued to be divided into factions based on which line they took between Doctrine or Prosecution. 

The current pope hails from the Ministry of Prosecution, which advocates judgment on heresy, and Cardinal Vesalius Argent was a representative from the pro-papal faction.

As an opposing faction, the Ministry of Doctrine prioritized missionary work and church expansion, and Cardinal Carnoil O’Dreck was on that side.

As is often the case with political battles, both groups could not be classified as good or evil.

One side dreamed of extreme doctrinal enforcement and exclusion, and the other dreamed of pragmatic and secular expansion of power.

Which is the worst and which is the lesser depends on the point of view.

However, one thing was clear to all. The pro-Doctrine sects had many regrets about the Sacred Sheep.

Under the leadership of the Pope, it was only natural that the children were raised to become Heresy Inquisitors who collaborated with the Ministry of Prosecution.

“The arrested knights will be under an inquisition. It’s not enough that Argent’s godson was brought back to life, and if his honor is restored, the Ministry of Prosecution will rise again.”

“The bastard is growing up too fast. It would have been nice if our side had raised some useful orphans from long ago.”

“It’s too late to regret it now.”

“At this rate, the power balance will be completely tilted to the Ministry of Prosecution. Are there really no means of checking them?”

“There is. Don’t you know?” 

Cardinal Carnoil’s old eyes flashed.

“The Saint.”

“……”

“We have to find the Saint before they do.”

In fact, the Doctrine sects have secretly searched for the Saint for quite some time.

The knights to which Helcion belonged also pretended to be dispatched to subdue dungeons several times while gathering information about the Saint from the villages Clovis stopped by.

Helcion spoke rather skeptically. 

“The last time Descent of Divinity happened was 10 years ago. Is she alive?”

“As long as there is no evidence of death, she is alive. So……”

Hope shined in Carnoil’s eyes as strong as his desire for power.

“First, we must find the Saint and bring her to our side. By all means.”

✠

Currently, Thesilid and I were waiting in front of the main gate of the Holy Church.

“I waited for over two hours. How long do they plan to make us wait?”

At my dissatisfied words, Thesilid couldn’t hide his apologetic expression from his handsome face.

“It’s my negligence. I didn’t know they wouldn’t let me in until a decision was made from above.”

“I don’t mean to blame you.”

It was within the expected range that the conservative and bureaucratic Vatican fed sweet potatoes to us over the issue of Thesilid’s survival.

But no matter how much I expected bad treatment, I didn’t know that we would be blocked from entry like now.

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ snorts, asking if you had underestimated the dryness of the original work.]

No, it’s not a matter of underestimating, but of plausibility right?

“Does this kind of treatment make sense? You are the owner of the Holy Sword.”

“The owner of the Holy Sword that is hated by the world.”

“……”

His self-objectification gave complicated feelings.

Our current location is in front of the flower bed, a little far from the main gate. There was some distance from the guards.

Since the Vatican’s garrison took the Knights, no one was seen. 

It was not possible to estimate how long this wait would be. 

I was about to sit down on the flower bed, but Thesilid stopped me. He took off his uniform coat and laid it on the base of the flowerbed.

“Sit down, Eli.”

What? Is this Rofan?

“Because it is my duty.”

When I heard the reason that was lightly added with a refreshing tone, ‘The Commandments of the Seven Holy Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins.’ came to mind.

I quickly sat down to help him farm his divine power.

Thesilid smiled bitterly as if in trouble.

“You also have a connection with Cardinal Cattleya, so I thought there was no need to prove your identity. If I had known I would cause such trouble for you, I would have gone separate ways when we arrived.”

“I’m fine, never mind.”

In fact, this was not the time for Thesilid to care about others, he had to worry about himself first.

It is not a good sign that the conversation between the superiors is prolonged because the original has always fed sweet potatoes that are in proportion to waiting.

And finally, the paladins belonging to the garrison showed their faces. It had been three whole hours of waiting.

What kind of decision would they have received from the upper ranks?

The man presumed to be the leader opened his mouth as if he was very sorry.

“Sir Thesilid Argent, the decision of the Council of Cardinals has been made.”

“I will obey.”

A prime specimen of a Pushover Free Pass that sticks to obedience first without asking or arguing.

At the glance of the garrison leader, two paladins timidly approached and took out something.

It was chain handcuffs. 

The captain said

“Sir Thesilid is accused of causing a burst in Greenwall’s Class A dungeon by his own will. Therefore, Sir Thesilid, like the Knights of the Pillar of Light, should be investigated and tried as a sinner.”