Volume 18 - CH 2

We left immediately after a flurry of preparations and were on our way by carriage further west from the magical kingdom of Austin.

There were twelve carriages in total, and some of them were on horseback.

As you can imagine, a procession of this magnitude is a bit of a big deal.

「Oi, what's that?」

「Is that some nobleman?」

「It could be the king's royal retinue.」

Merchants and farmers passing by on the road would peek in to find out who was riding in the procession.

「Disperse, disperse! These are just adventurers. They're not royalty!」

The one who shouted at them and drove them away was Frederick, who calls himself the fiancé of Elisa, a Templar Knight.

He said she (Elisa) was brought before the Inquisition .......

「I'm glad you're getting rid of them, Frederick-san, but I wish you'd be a little more polite. It looks as if a nobleman or royalty is really riding in the car.」

Saki cautioned him softly.

「Mumurgh, that's true, too. Excuse me, I'm just being an escort knight. I'll be careful.」

Fredrick is also a bad guy. He used to talk to me straight but started using honorifics with the other female members.

「Who are these escort knights escorting?」

Serina asked. Like Frederick, she also travels on horseback, preferring to ride in a carriage.

「The people we are escorting are the high priest and the high priestess of the Pope. When you're in a position of great responsibility for the country, some unscrupulous people will come after you.」

「I see. So, since it's called the Holy Country, your eminence is in charge of politics.」

「No, there is a separate king. However, it is His Holiness who appoints the king, and he works closely with the king in order to lead the country in the right direction or to convey the divine message.」

It sounds good when you say it like that, but in reality, it means that the religious leaders are ruling the country instead of the king and pursuing worldly interests as well.

It's all about self-righteousness under the sun.　

「It's a country with some pretty fishy priests. Is he gay by any chance?」

「What did you say! You bastard! You insult my eminence!」

When I made fun of him, Frederick started to get angry with an indignant look on his face.

「Hey, Alec, why are you making him angry?」

Serina complains to me in a whisper, but it's not my purpose to make him angry.

I'm just poking fun at him because I don't like him.

Well, the real reason is that I just wanted to check the different interest between Elisa and the others.

In this way, it seems that only those knights who are very base ...... Ahem and very much in love with the Pope are gathered as escort knights.

Elisa and her party members behaved like priest, but their thinking was reasonably normal.

The drunken, bearded Edgar was a snob himself, and not a good one.

In addition, the king of Grandsword said that the "Temple Knight" has the same status as a "Princess of a small country", and according to Frederick, only one knight is appointed in his generation.

The fact that Frederick talks proudly about Elisa shows that she has a certain status in the Holy Kingdom of Ufa.

And yet, to have sex with someone other than your fiancé is to be subjected to a life-threatening inquisition by a bunch of narrow-minded religious people.

「Step aside, Meena-san! He, he can never be allowed to live! Alec! You'll be the rust on my sword!」

「No, I won't dare. If you really want to make my master rusty, you'll have to overcome my corpse first.」

「Damn it. Why did I let him do this?」

The swearing Frederick seemed to be unable to contain his anger, but he still put away his sword and returned to the side of the carriage.

「Frederick, please be patient. My darling may not talk much, but he's a pretty good guy on the inside.」

「Hmph, I don't believe that story, Saki-san. You're all just fooled by that man.」

「That's right! The enemy of women, and the enemy of God. How can he use the 【Zantetsuken】 that I can't use? ......Kuhh, God's idiot!」

Yulia, you're very brave to make fun of a higher god, when the Pope is so angry with you.(?)

「Yulia-kun, ...... God's will is known only to God. God has his own thoughts, and your ordeal is something that he has ordained. We all have times when things don't go our way. But temper tantrums don't solve anything, and don't curse God. God bless you ......, or you'll lose your luck.」

「Fufu, right, right, Frederick-san is right. It's a long road. Let's all take it easy and relax.」

Olivia, who is a clergywoman herself, laughs with a mischievous look on her face as if to tease a little, but it seems that we have a lot in common when it comes to faith, even if we are from different denominations.

I think Olivia's personality is more suited to be a priest.

If I'm going to listen to her, a kind and beautiful woman is better, of course. She's a sex worker.

「Oh, no, I'm sorry I lost my temper and made a scene. You should look in the mirror first before you tell others what to do.」

「No, no, no. It happens to all of us.」

Frederick apologized, and thanks to Olivia, the atmosphere became a little more relaxed.

「So, Frederick, you said that there was a factional war between the papal and the privy factions, but are the privy factions is the king's faction?」

When I calmed down, I turned to him for more information about the internal affairs of the kingdom of Ufa.

「No, it's the king's advisory body, but the Senate is also in a position to assist and give opinions to the king, so it's more in conflict with the king.」

「So the Senate is the opinion of the country. So the king and the pope are both papists, right?」

「Yes, well, but handing over the crown at the coronation is just a formality, and the king is chosen from the royal family. ...... The term "appointive power" is not ......」

Frederick seemed to be concerned about the sound of the word.

「But if there is a brother in the royal family, the Pope will decide whether it will be the older or younger brother. If there's initiative there, there's power, you know?」

Whoever has the personnel power is the most powerful. If you don't like it, you're fired! and replace your head with someone else's.

「Ummm, I think the order of succession in that area should probably have already been decided in consultation with the vassals. ...... Umm」

「Well, I don't really care about the details of the Pope's power. It's about your country. All I want to know is, "If the Pope says it's black, does that make it black even if it's white?"」

I told him in an easy-to-understand way.

「You're right, he doesn't have that much power. There are many times when your eminence's opinion is not accepted.」

「What about the oracle?」

「What? An oracle? That's ...... how it was. Wait a minute. ...... uh ...... ah! I think there was an oracle about ten years ago that told us to proceed with flood control work, but the previous king put it off because he didn't have enough manpower.」

「If you don't go back ten years like that, you wouldn't have been able to trigger the right of veto. By the way, how many times a year do the oracles come out?」

「It's four times a year: the Pentecost, the Spring Festival, the Cow-Eating Exhibition, and the Chinpou Festival.」

「Wait, did you just say the Chinpou Festival?」 (TLN: Chinpo = penis)

I thought it was a bit of a mishearing coming out of this serious-looking guy's mouth, so I checked.

「What!? It's Timpou! Timpou! I can't believe this guy can say such a vulgar thing in front of the ladies ....... And you're making fun of my country in some way.」

「Well, it's ridiculous, but that's what the words sounded like. It's just a mishearing, so don't get so upset, Frederick.」

I nudge Frederick, then turn to the side and say.

「Serina, try saying "Timpou Festival" ten times as fast as you can.」

「Absolutely don't wanna.」

「Damn, what a mess. You're making a sacred grand festival look like a vulgar party,......, and I'm telling you,......, that's dic-,......! Ahem, It's not a vulgar festival, it's a solemn ceremony to pray for the peace and prosperity of the kingdom.」

「Have you heard of it, Serina? In Japan there are also festivals of that type called strange festivals.」

「So, why are you shaking your head at me? I know it, but I don't know much about it.」

So you know that?

Serina turned away, but despite her appearance, she's still lewd on the inside, isn't she?

I'm sure she's been secretly checking around.

「Don't tell me you participated in that festival?」

「No, I didn't!」

It would be fun to pull this story out and make fun of her, but it would be bad if Frederick got seriously upset and couldn't listen to the story of the Holy Kingdom of Ufa.

I'm just trying to gather information to help Elisa.

If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have asked the man every single question.

「I'm just asking. If it's four times a year for ten years, there are forty oracles, and the chance of rejection by the king is a little over two percent. Apparently, the Pope is the most powerful man in the Holy Kingdom?」

「That's ......」

Frederick frowned, but this time he was not offended.

If it's presented in objective numbers, it will be hard to deny it, no matter what you've been thinking.

And he's a decent guy, as far as he's concerned.

「So, let's move on. Which side is Elisa on?」

I asked the most important question of all.