Episode 274
“Your Holiness. The Inquisitors have requested assistance, saying they are unable to conduct a proper investigation due to local interference.”
A voice that resonates calmly.
The person receiving the report frowned, frowning under his pure white eyebrows.
“…Pathetic.”
I didn’t allow direct communication, so they turn around and whine?
‘It’s definitely been so peaceful. ‘It’s worth putting gas in your stomach.’
The Pope clearly realized that he had turned the viper named Ethel Fabrun into a pig.
“It is said that they are unable to conduct investigation activities, let alone take over the personal affairs of those who have been abandoned.”
“Did he not even understand what I said?…”
“Yes?”
There was a bitter smile, but the Pope said with a cold face because he could not change the head of the investigation team now.
“Send an official message to the Kingdom of McLane once again and tell Cardinal Essel to risk martyrdom. If the investigation team returns without incident, I will hold them accountable.”
“…Yes? Oh yes. I understand.”
Seeing the bishop in confusion, the Pope clicked his tongue and sent him away with a wave of his hand.
‘There is no one who understands what is said at once.’
Most people who grew up in the old temple culture showed one of two sides.
Either they are so blocked that they can’t communicate, or they are completely corrupted.
From his point of view, he felt more comfortable with the corrupt guys than with the former, so he thought his choice was right again.
‘After all, change is needed.’
Soon the face of a young man who had a profound influence on this decision appeared in his mind.
– By doing what the temple is supposed to do a little early, you will gain the support of the next emperor of the empire.
Even considering the large donation, that single word touched his heart.
‘Prince Baros. Definitely a naan is a naan.’
Although he didn’t say it out loud, he seemed to know what he wanted.
There was no need for him to refuse an offer that would have forced him to do something he had to do anyway.
As the pinnacle of religion that dominates the continent, it has already enjoyed the wealth and fame it deserves.
But there was still some greed left.
“Now I have to engrave my name in history.”
It was such a long wait. This mere myth of an Aserian beggar becoming pope was not enough.
What he wants is for his name to be remembered forever.
Furthermore, the goal was to make the subjects of the continent think of the Pope before the Emperor of the Empire when talking about the Absolute of the world.
Under the name of Pope Julius Umberto I, who came from a nameless lower class and rose above the world.
‘First, we must clear up the heresy in the eastern part of the continent and show off the prestige of the temple. That’s the beginning.’
By reliably suppressing small countries on the border, we create absolute influence over the entire eastern continent.
The Pope who suppressed heresy and expanded the church.
The Pope who made even the emperor of the empire bow his head.
It seemed like a great achievement that would be recorded in the history of the church was just around the corner.
Of course, there were no obstacles, but they were not difficult to solve either.
“How far has Bishop Ilia come?”
“The report is that it will arrive in about a week.”
“okay.”
If the saint falls into his hands, some opposing forces within the church will also have no choice but to keep quiet.
‘If there are no stigmata, just dispose of it.’
As such, it will be a great warning to the opposing forces.
It would be an example that even a bishop could be referred to the Inquisition and burned at the stake.
‘Whichever it is, that’s when it really begins.’
Julius Umberto I looked out the window with a sinister smile.
Noviens, a capital city comparable in size to Aserian, the capital of the empire, was still peaceful, befitting its insidious ambitions.
* * * [Cardinal Ezer continues to demand the guidance of those who cannot access divine power, who, in their own words, are ‘outcasts.’ Of course, they refuse, but as the Heresy Inquisitors’ resistance becomes more and more violent, they have no choice but to mobilize the knights of the 3rd Corps to completely suppress them.]
“You are having a hard time, Master. Please try a little harder.”
[If the investigation team is like this, it seems that the temple has
also spoken out?] “Another notification has already arrived. Is it the royal family’s will to rebel against the temple’s events?”
[The temple appears to be more active than expected.]
“I plan to just ignore it for a while. So please hold on just a little longer. The time I told you about is running out.”
[yes. I understand.]
‘Now… I guess I’ll have to get ready soon.’
After finishing the communication, Logan measured the timing and checked again to see if anything could go wrong.
While Logan was heading to the main palace, he heard an unexpected voice.
“Huh!? Uncle…!”
“Stella! Title!!”
“Hehe. Your Majesty!”
Da da da da.
Before he could turn around, small footsteps approached him.
The moment Logan spotted the lady and her escorts looking awkward in the distance, the little lady who was already right in front of him jumped into his arms.
“Oh my!”
A bright smile naturally appeared on Logan’s lips as he held the child in an exaggerated manner.
He was short, barely reaching his thighs, and his big blue eyes that seemed to take up half of his short, flowing blonde face were looking at him with sparkles.
Looking at the child smiling brightly as if showing off his plump cheeks, Logan unconsciously pulled the cheek slightly and asked with a smile.
“Oh, my little girl. How did you come here? Did you come because you wanted to see your uncle?”
“Uhm. Ugh. Ah, I came to look for my dad…”
The child trailed off as if embarrassed by the simple greeting.
Logan, who was slightly mischievous at that cute appearance, spoke in a depressed voice.
“Oh really? I guess you didn’t want to see your uncle.”
I tried to put on a sad expression and lowered my arms.
“Oh no, I missed you too uncle…!”
Stella’s already big eyes got even bigger and she started waving her arms around.
Logan burst into laughter at the adorable sight and then picked up the child again.
The child you named.
Although she was my teacher’s daughter, I didn’t have a proper title for her, so I called her uncle, but now I really felt closer to her than just my niece.
“I know. Uncle Keke, I missed Stella a lot too.”
“Hi-Hi.”
As I rubbed my face against his plump and soft cheek, all the worries in the world seemed to melt away.
As I was laughing like that, I heard a slightly embarrassed voice next to me.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. The child is so reckless… I came here on an outing to show you around the palace, but I never thought I’d see you like this…” When the
teacher’s wife, Duchess Rose Myer, looked troubled, Logan immediately said, I waved my hand.
“No. My heart was heavy because I felt like I was putting too much of a burden on Master. You can come visit me as much as you want. I’m actually Stella’s godfather, aren’t I?”
“Daebuu? Is your uncle Daebuu Moe?”
“Stella! You should use an honorific title!”
“Hmph… Your Majesty?”
Stella, who was in tears at her mother’s reprimand, belatedly added her words.
Even the sight was so lovely that Logan hugged the child tightly again without realizing it.
“Kkeukkeuk. It’s okay for our little lady to not be called by an uncomfortable title.”
“Really? He’s my uncle after all! He’s the best!”
“But Your Majesty…!”
“Haha. It’s okay. You just have to be careful when Master is there.”
“The child’s habits…”
“So only when Master is not around. Wouldn’t it be okay to that extent?”
“…Do whatever is convenient for you.”
At Logan’s words, the Duchess shook her head with a small sigh, and Stella smiled and rode Logan’s horse.
“Uncle! Over there!”
“okay.”
Stella seemed to have forgotten the question from earlier and pointed to a corner of the palace.
The smile on Logan’s face naturally grew stronger due to his innocent appearance and warm body temperature.
“Uncle! Here here! Hee hee.”
Just looking at Stella running around, the stress built up in a corner of my heart seemed to melt away.
“But where is my dad?”
Of course, there were some briefly embarrassing questions.
“Huh? Uh… he’ll be here soon.”
“Hmph. I want to see Dad…”
“Uncle will soon hold Dad’s hand and go see Stella together. It’ll be soon. Now, promise.”
“Is this really true?”
“Then it’s true! When has your uncle ever failed to keep his promise?”
Doridori.
“Nothing!”
“Okay. So I promise. Now promise.”
“Yaksook!”
When I saw Stella smiling brightly just by placing her little finger on her small hand, the story of the temple suddenly came to mind again.
‘A child like this…’
are you calling him an outcast?
Such a lovely child?
Stella was nothing short of a symbolic being that proved that she had returned and changed the future and that she was changing well.
Proof that you have done well so far and can do well in the future.
“…uh?”
At that moment, Logan suddenly felt a strange intuition.
Why didn’t I think of this before?
The future you changed?
A child born in an altered future?
Is it true that all children are similar to Stella?
“Oh, no way…”
If the guess is true, things will get too big.
He will continue to change the future, and the number of children born as a result of that changed future will continue to increase.
Is that just limited to the Mac Line?
‘No way.’
10 years. What if 20 years or much longer passes?
The descendants of those children born in McLane will spread around the world.
If that happens, eventually.
‘Is the divine power disappearing from its place as a god?’
thud.
I felt like my heart was sinking.
As I reached the scary conclusion, my face suddenly convulsed.
“Probably not. No way…”
Even as I said that, I had an ominous feeling that my guess would be correct.
No matter how much of a returner he is, Logan is also a human on this continent who has lived under the faith of the Nine Gods.
Logan’s complexion momentarily became gray as he felt his emotional foundation crumbling, or rather, as if he had broken that foundation.
“uncle?”
Stella tilted her head at that hardened face.
“Your Majesty. Are you unwell?”
The duchess and the guards who were a little away came up to him and asked with worried faces.
“No, no.”
There must be another reason.
There will be.
I suddenly became anxious.
“I need to communicate with you, Master.”
“Yes? Suddenly?”
“We need to find out what the investigators are trying to do with those children…”
“Yes? Oh yes. If Your Majesty says so…”
The confusion clearly evident on Logan’s face quickly spread to the people around him. .
Logan knew that too, but he wanted to confirm his uneasy premonition even more.
But then.
“uncle… “Why are you saying this?”
Stella’s anxious face caught Logan’s footsteps.
It was only then that he noticed again that the little finger he had extended was still touching the child’s small hand.
“Stella…”
The adults around him were confused. What would it have looked like to this child?
Moreover, what if the adult facing him suddenly did this?
“I’m sorry. Something urgent came up, so I have to go now. My uncle will come back soon so we can play again.”
Tears quickly formed in Stella’s big eyes at those words. She
reflected for a moment as to whether she had said that harshly.
“Why don’t you do Yagsook? Stella, can’t you meet your father soon?”
Logan, who was trying to move urgently, stopped at the child’s words.
Logan, who managed his expression again and smiled, made eye contact with the child and wiped away the tears and said,
“No. Absolutely not. I can meet you soon. Now, Yakso-ok. Stop crying and look at your uncle. Now, promise!”
“Heh… I’m glad.”
As the small hand went down to wipe away the tears, a brightly smiling face was revealed again.
However, the reflection of himself in those big eyes still seemed uneasy even to himself.
That was the child’s What will it look like to the eyes?
The moment I thought that,
a certain evil that arose deep within my heart pressed down on my collapsing faith.
‘The divine power will disappear? So what?’
What problem will arise if people similar to this child spread further and the influence of God disappears? Are
priests and temples that are so corrupted really necessary for the people?
Above all,
when the reward is here by my side in such a lovely form?
“Yes. It’s much more important to see our little girl smile. That’s God.”
“Huh? lol. “Is Stella important?”
“Yes. It’s the most important thing in the world.”
“Hehe.”
The slight anxiety that remained in Logan’s heart disappeared at that lovely smile.
‘Okay. What does that have to do with it?’
From the beginning, I was planning to fight against the temple if I had to.
What does it matter if the temple disappears or the faith disappears in tens or hundreds of years?
‘We just have to check whether it will actually become a variable.’
After the plan goes as planned and you are free from the threat of the temple,
you can test it with Bishop Ilya or another priest. There is no need to confirm the story about the outcasts that Ezer said now.
‘Faith is just that . It’s just a tool.’
If it doesn’t help the future I’m pioneering, if it doesn’t help my life, it’s okay to throw it away. It was
only for a moment, but I felt my heart, which had been greatly shaken, become stronger.
“Thank you, Stella.”
“Huh? ”
Why
?
”
_
_
_ Hi-Hi. It tickles.”
Just a few days after the day of enlightenment, when Logan’s heart became even stronger.
“Your Majesty! I’ve received a call!”
The news I had been waiting for came.
