Volume 9 - CH 7

Chapter 7: The State of Various Countries 

Boom... Splash! Boom... Splash! 

There was the repeated sound of cannonballs firing, and then them impacting the surface of the sea and raising a pillar of water. 

Though the armed ships kept trying to use their maneuverability to make fools of them, with the cannonballs and pillars of water, their courses were blocked and they couldn’t move around well. 

Castor watched calmly from beyond the brim of his captain’s hat. “I more or less have it figured out.” 

“Huh?” 

“Artillery! Direction: two o’clock! Distance: eighty!” 

When Castor yelled into the speaking tube, the artillery fire began as commanded.

Boom... Crunch! 

Souji and Margarita visited a Lunarian Orthodox church on the edge of town. 

Having Margarita stand by outside in case something should happen, Souji opened the door and entered the holy hall. 

He saw someone wearing a hooded cape that covered the whole body sitting by the altar. 

When he circled around in front of that person, Souji’s eyes went wide. “Well, color me surprised. It really is the saint girl.” 

“It’s been awhile, Bishop Lester.” 

When that person stood up, two pigtails fell out from inside her hood. 

The shape of her face was beautiful, but pale and without life. This doll-like girl was the saint of Lunarian Orthodoxy, Mary Valenti. 

While feeling suspicious, Souji didn’t let it show on his face as he casually asked, “What’s a great saint doing coming to the kingdom unannounced? If you’re not careful, they’ll catch you.” 

However, Mary’s face didn’t move in the slightest. 

“If it happens, it happens. I’ll simply request an audience with your Sir Souma from prison. That is the only reason I’ve come here, after all.” 

“You came all this way just to see me? I had figured you fervent believers would hate an irresponsible bishop like me.” 

“If I may speak my personal opinion, you’re right.” 

“You’re forthright...” 

“Sir Souji, you should be more aware of your role as a bishop of Lunarian Orthodoxy, and comport yourself in a way that befits that position.” Mary preached at him with a serious look on her face. “Though you are a man of the cloth, who ought to live a life of honorable poverty, you are infamous in the Orthodox Papal State for your fondness for wine and women. That hasn’t changed since you came to the kingdom, has it? That is unforgivable for the person who must unite the adherents of orthodoxy in the kingdom.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the sermon.” Souji dug the earwax out of his ears. 

He was simply not equipped to repent after being given a sermon by a girl that much younger than him. 

“Did you come all the way to the kingdom to lecture me?” 

“...No. I say this strictly as my own personal opinion.” 

“In that case, can we move on to the point?” he asked in irritation. 

Mary’s face took on a sad look as she said, “The Lunalith has handed down a new oracle.” 

“An oracle? Already?” 

The Lunarian Orthodox Papal State centered their faith around a monolith called the Lunalith. 

The oracles appeared by forming text on the Lunalith. 

The Lunarian Orthodox Papal State based its rule and foreign policies on the oracles that appeared on the Lunalith. However, oracles were only supposed to appear once every five years or so. 

It was said they had prophesied the emergence of the Demon Lord’s Domain around ten years ago. 

Then, just around a year ago, an oracle had descended saying, “Send a saint to Souma who was summoned from another world, and place him under the influence of your own country.” 

That plan had been cleverly thwarted by Souma, and though they had succeeded in making Lunarian Orthodoxy the state religion, it was a position shared with other religions, and the saint had been sent back so that they were unable to place him under their influence. It was fifty-fifty on whether it was a success or not. 

After one had come down so recently, had a new oracle descended already? 

“Isn’t the period a little short?” Souji asked. 

“There have been precedents in the past. Though they say that when the time between oracles is short, the times are changing rapidly.” 

“So, what’s the oracle?” 

“‘Northeast,’ ‘rising sun,’ ‘light that covers the world’... and ‘burning countries.’” 

“Huh? That’s pretty fragmented.” 

“I’m told that’s how oracles from the Lunalith are,” Mary told a dubious Souji. “This is something only told to those in the upper echelons of Lunarian Orthodoxy, but we haven’t accurately deciphered all of the oracles from the Lunalith. However, we can understand parts of them, so we piece them together and infer their meaning.” 

“Whuh?! The oracles are that vague?!” 

Even for Souji this was a shocking revelation. 

The oracles were a secret among secrets in the Orthodox Papal State. They said the Orthodox Papal State was ruled under the guidance of the Lunalith, but the truth was they could only read bits and pieces of it. That meant they were moving the faithful around on that sort of incomplete understanding. 

A cold sweat ran down Souji’s back. “...Is it all right telling me something only the higher-ups know?” 

“Normally, this is information neither you nor I would be able to learn... however, the situation that is unfolding inside the Orthodox Papal State makes it impossible to enforce that.” Mary lowered her eyes in sadness. “There were some disconcerting words in the oracle.” 

“‘Burning countries,’ you mean?” 

“Yes. The Orthodox Papal State’s higher-ups are divided over the meaning of these words. For ‘northeast,’ ‘rising sun,’ and ‘light that covers the world,’ they are united in their belief that it likely means, ‘A great man with influence that will cover the world will appear in the northeast.’ However, they are divided on what the ‘burning countries’ that will likely be burned at his hands are.” 

Mary held up the index finger of her right hand for Souji to see. 

“First, there is the group who see this great man as a threat. They think the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State may be one of the burned countries, and they propose that countermeasures must be prepared. Their main countermeasure is to form an alliance with the Kingdom of Friedonia. We may not have been able to make King Souma into the holy king, but activities of believers in the country are protected. If he were our ally, we would have a reliable backer. This group are the relative moderates, you could say.” 

“Hmm...”