Episode 279 [It looks like we will be busy resolving internal issues within the church for a while. I think it will be possible to repay His Majesty’s help only after that.]
Logan also responded with a smile to Ilya’s smiling face in the communication port.
“What about repayment? You don’t need to do that, Saint Ilia.”
I meant it.
Because I have already received too much.
[It is difficult to use excessive honorifics, Your Majesty. Please treat me as comfortably as before.]
“No, I cannot treat someone in the position of a cardinal with disdain. I am not even the emperor of the empire.”
The Pope in the temple is treated as the emperor and the cardinals are on the same level as the king.
It was a doctrine created a long time ago when the Pope virtually surrendered to the empire, but in a continent where the faith of the Nine Great Gods was absolute, it was no different from law.
of course.
‘After bringing down the Pope, the Empire…’
Logan’s inner thoughts were completely different.
[I am sorry. All of this was possible thanks to Your Majesty.]
“How can I qualify as a saint? It’s Ilia’s ability.”
[no. Still, we cannot forget His Majesty’s grace. The denomination will now change and the temple will return to its former self. When that time comes, I will definitely repay you.]
“Haha. If you say that, there’s nothing I can do.”
[Huh?]
“I’m not one to shy away from giving. Moreover, I have high expectations for the kind of repayment that someone who is considered a candidate for Pope would give.”
[Ah… Haha yes. I will definitely repay you. But that statement sounds a little burdensome. It would be difficult for me to become Pope due to my lack of experience. Because there are Cardinal Austin and other cardinals.]
Logan tilted his head at those words.
“Other cardinals? Aren’t they part of the ex-pope’s faction?”
[They are claiming that they are also victims of the Pope’s tricks… Of course, tens of thousands of believers have seen their hideous behavior, so even if there are regulations for internal selection of cardinals, it will be difficult for any of them to become Pope. Because we cannot completely ignore the public opinion of the believers.]
“I guess so.”
[However, it is inevitable that the time until the next Pope is elected will be somewhat longer.]
Hmm.
Confusion increases over the election of the next pope.
I don’t know about Ilya, but for Logan, it wasn’t a bad story at all.
Just this time, I was so appalled by the sudden controversy at the temple.
Logan smiled and changed the subject.
“Still, it’s a good thing. Oh, by the way, what was that thing the Pope had?”
[yes? Didn’t you know that?]
“How should I know that?”
[…I’m more surprised that you don’t know that.]
“Yes?”
What is this again?
[You knew everything from the fact that the Pope had such an item to its characteristics.]
Ah.
“…I was just guessing based on the information I had.”
[It’s amazing that you knew information that even the Pope’s close associates didn’t know…]
“I was lucky. Thanks to the saint, I learned that it was an item that could imitate stigmata.”
[…I and the church have greatly benefited from Your Majesty’s luck.]
“Haha, I guess so. So what was that item? If it can imitate stigmata, it definitely can’t be an ordinary item.”
There was a reason for Logan’s persistent questions.
The only objects that radiate divine power on their own are the nine sacred items that can be said to be the sacred relics of the nine great gods. It has been a truth that has not changed for thousands of years since the founding of the church.
In my past life, all I knew was that the Pope was secretly attacked and the item was revealed, which led to the Pope’s downfall. At that time, I was not interested in the rise and fall of the Pope and just ignored it, but now I had to pay attention to the international situation as well.
However, since an item that completely changed the situation of the church appeared, there was no way I wouldn’t be interested.
[At first, most people thought it was a sacred object. In the case of Cardinal Rainey, a tenor, he even argued that the former pope should be forgiven in consideration of his contribution in discovering the 10th relic.]
“In the beginning? Then it is not a relic after all.”
[yes. I also felt different from pure divine power, and someone who handles aurors and divine power at the highest level expressed a similar opinion. So we concluded that it was not a holy relic.]
“Auror and divine power? Ah! Shield of God….”
Logan couldn’t have known the name of Harman Killerbrew, the shield of God.
[yes. The common opinion he and I had was that it was not a sacred object from God, but a fake. In the process of interrogating the Pope, that fact became clearer.]
“Did the Pope tell his sources so easily?”
Is your life at stake?
Ilya’s face hardened for a moment at that reasonable question. After hesitating for a moment, she soon opened her mouth.
[The church’s engineers received the material in one day. But the testimony was so absurd…]
Ah. The church’s torture technicians are said to create heretics that do not exist.
okay. They can do that.
Logan smiled bitterly as he recalled the existence of those he had only heard of through rumors, and Ilya’s shaky voice continued.
[It’s a relic left behind by someone with an unheard-of nickname, the Magical Saint…]
Jjiiing.
“Ugh!”
At that moment, Logan grabbed his head from the sudden, intense pain.
[Your Majesty?]
A magic saint. As soon as I heard that unfamiliar word, a sharp tinnitus disturbed my mind. As the pain darkened before his eyes and he lost consciousness, an unfamiliar memory suddenly passed through his mind.
– Please. Currently, you are the only person who is knowledgeable about ancient languages.
– Even if you have to burn the book, you must keep the contents in your head and pass them on to someone with talent. In case even that doesn’t work….
The last moments of his past life were filled with unfamiliar but familiar memories.
– In the worst case, you can throw away the vision. But this relic must never fall into the hands of Emperor Baros! never!
– The relic of the ancient transcendental magic saint Zibrik Cassel… If this gets into the hands of that crazy guy, the world will turn upside down… The
face of Louis Hyon, who looks much older than he is now, with his face covered in scars, flashed through my mind. .
-Where is the holy relic?!
– Dare to take the imperial treasure!
I also remembered the items that my old self, who was hurriedly running away, kept in her arms.
– All you need is that sacred object to complete the ritual. Hand it over gently!
– Damn…. Haha, I’d rather just fall over.
– This crazy guy…! Stop it!
– Let’s die together!
– Wow!
He remembered the end he had faced in his previous life a little more clearly. It felt like a lot of the fog that had been clouding deep inside my soul had cleared.
Soon the pain gradually disappeared and his head seemed to become clearer, but Logan couldn’t help but smile.
[your majesty! Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Where are you?…]
“Magic Saint. Gibrik… Kassel?”
[yes? Have you ever heard of it?]
“Oh, no. I’m not sure yet… More than that, Ilya, by any chance was that object a small sword?”
[yes? no. It was a bracelet.]
“Bracelet… ah…!”
A huge magic circle that I saw at the last moment of my previous life.
There were corpses piled up like a mountain inside and two objects that glowed strangely on the altar of the corpses.
One of them was a bracelet.
“Is this a bracelet that emits pure white light in the shape of a spherical ring…?”
[yes? yes. As expected, you knew!]
“…Ah. Yeah…let’s say something like that.”
The pain disappeared and my head felt refreshed, but perhaps it was a reaction to the memory coming back for a while, and I felt sudden fatigue again.
I wanted to lie down and rest right away, but there was still something I needed to check.
“Did the Pope say where he got that item?”
[He claims that he accidentally bought it on the Aserian black market when he was young. It doesn’t seem to be a lie…]
“Ha…”
A sad sigh escaped Logan’s mouth.
If the information spewed out by the church’s torturers is highly likely to be true. Moreover, if it was obtained from the Aserian black market, it is impossible to find out the source.
Any chance I had had disappeared in an instant.
‘Should we wait for the empire to find Zibrik Cassel’s grave in this life?’
Maybe that consciousness at that time sent me back to the past.
No, probably not.
But now I couldn’t afford to be interested in a complicated magic circle that I couldn’t even remember turning countless lives into sacrifices.
Although this life is not as difficult as the previous life, which was full of hardships, this life is just as difficult. I had no intention of repeating my difficult life again, just in case everything got ruined again.
Now, as Logan remembers his past life, he has something else to look forward to.
‘If I can find that sword that I named the Holy Sword.’
A sword that enabled him, who was only a rank knight, to resist being pursued by the Imperial Special Inspection Department for over a month and instead infiltrate key locations.
It seemed like the fight against the Empire would be easier if I had that sword, but it seemed like I would have to give up that expectation for now.
[We are also most curious about that fact. No matter how disguised the holy power, it is a bracelet that grants holy power higher than that of an archbishop to someone who would not be at the level of an ordinary priest. If there are more similar items, it really is…]
Ilya’s next words did not go well to my ears.
‘The relic of the magic saint. If it appears again, before anyone else…’
I was immersed in that thought and just sorted out the memories of my past life that had resurfaced.
“You must take good care of that bracelet, Ilia.”
[Of course, Your Majesty. Although it is not a sacred item, it is an item of great value, so we plan to treat it strictly as a treasure of the church.]
“Yes. That would be a relief.”
‘We will definitely be able to crack down on that bracelet being passed over to the empire.’
In any case, the preparations to change fate seemed to be going well so far.
Even if it’s a lucky coincidence.
* * *
“Ha. The Pope was really impeached? That’s absolutely absurd.”
Aserian, the imperial capital.
A voice that could not hide its annoyance came out from inside the second prince’s villa in the very center of the imperial palace.
Everyone who was listening, including the guard and the guard, held their breath and stopped moving, but a handsome man with blue hair motioned and sent everyone around him away.
Soon, after confirming that everyone in the room had gone out, he quietly opened his mouth.
“It is said that he possessed an artifact that deceived the eyes of the world and allowed him to display saint-level divine power.”
“There is an artifact that grants divine power? Does that make sense? Wouldn’t it be better to say that one more divine energy has been created?”
The second prince’s frown narrowed even further, but Leos continued speaking calmly.
“That’s what the church announced. Regardless of whether it’s true or not, isn’t the reason why His Highness feels uncomfortable because of the existence of such an artifact? He probably doesn’t like the fact that the Kingdom of McLane is still intact.”
“…Okay. Logan McLane, that lucky guy got away like a loach again this time. I don’t like that so much. How many times has it been already?”
Feeling as if something is being placed on your chest.
The 2nd prince’s expression hardly seemed to straighten due to that unpleasant feeling.
“Aren’t you too obsessed with him? Even if you’re lucky, how far will it go? Wouldn’t it be better to finish the work in the Small Kingdom Alliance first?”
“No, no. I have a really bad feeling. Surely the heresy investigators being wiped out had nothing to do with us? It was on your side, right?”
“As a result of the investigation, it appears that it has nothing to do with our empire. However, there was no movement of power that could have led to such an act, either. We confirmed that not only large-scale troops, but also super-humans such as the king and swordsmen did not leave their positions. ”
“No, no. It’s clearly their doing. If we specify it like that and then manipulate the evidence, will we be able to make the Church attack them again?”
At those words, Leos’ complexion changed for the first time.
“Your Highness. Aren’t you the type of person who always relies on intuition to do things? I don’t know why you’re so sensitive to him.”
Stop worrying about it now. Let’s just keep doing what we were doing.
It was advice given in that sense, but 2nd Prince Baros von Ares did not accept it.
“No. The intrusive feeling has become stronger these days. I have a strong feeling that I shouldn’t just leave it alone. You know, right? The blood of the prophets that flows through our imperial family.”
‘It’s just an obsession that arose because my plans kept going awry.’
The legendary founding emperor’s foresight ability was not passed on to any of his descendants.
But Leos swallowed the sincerity welling up in his throat.
Even as a recorder, he could not have crossed the line.
That’s how he did it . The moment I couldn’t say anything.
“I guess I have to go see His Majesty.”
“Yes?”
“I have to get rid of him, even if it means putting a bit of effort into it.”
The 2nd Prince’s black eyes glowed viciously.
