079. Orthodox Church (3)
After the monster task force attacked the capital guards without warning, less than two hours had passed before the scene was completely cleaned up.
Those who had been unfairly brought in due to skin diseases and other rashes left the capital guard station with quite a satisfied look on their faces after receiving food and money.
There was no trace of resentment on their faces. He could have been taken to the Heresy Tribunal and tortured to death, but since the end was good, it all seemed like a series of happenings.
Other seriously ill patients were evacuated to the Imperial Palace Medical Center and were able to receive treatment.
Originally, they were people from the slums who would have died at home without even being able to set foot in a clinic, but instead, they were given the opportunity to receive proper treatment.
Some early Gray Plague patients were also sent to imperial palace doctors to have their eggs removed.
Now the only people left are patients whose recovery seems impossible.
Although it was enough that the Orthodox Church did not need to consider temporary emergency measures again, the number was exquisitely reduced to a manageable level within the capital guard.
Julia Maier, who was watching the situation in real time on the spot, inwardly stuck her tongue out.
To be honest, even if he had rolled up his sleeves and gone out, he couldn’t be sure that things would have been organized so neatly.
“Don’t you have great acting skills?”
The red-haired Inquisitor standing next to her smiled.
“I didn’t know that you would ask to invade the capital’s security forces in the morning. “At first, we served as simple advisors, but before we knew it, the entire department was following the prince’s orders.”
“okay. “Thanks to you, I don’t think there will be any more need for the cooperation letter sent early in the morning.”
Julia asked, handing over the documents she was holding to her junior driver.
“First of all, we, the 7th Knights, will fully cooperate with the work of the monster task force. By the way, Sir Valerie, are you okay? “As an Inquisitor, aren’t you going against the will of the Heresy Tribunal?”
“well. First of all, I am a member of the monster task force. Moreover, the Heresy Court has already requested to dismiss the review. “Perhaps the seniors are also secretly happy because there are fewer people to take on the responsibility?”
Valerie then glanced briefly at the patients being carried into the guard prison.
“Anyway, the prince also made a truly big decision. In some ways, aren’t they the subjects of the imperial capital who are most in need of help? “You might not know it if you didn’t intervene at all, but if things happen like this, you won’t be able to avoid being criticized later for ignoring the poor people.”
“Even though it was the Orthodox Church that actually ordered them to be brought in?”
“So, they must have been planning to go through a Holy Assembly and leave everything to the Heresy Tribunal instead of hastily judging it. “Is there anyone who would dare to challenge the judgment of the Heresy Tribunal?”
That’s right.
Julia answered briefly and nodded.
“The Lord has told us to love our subjects as if we were our own children. “Don’t you think that you, a member of the royal family, who should set an example, are being overly cold-hearted?”
“I am a soldier of Delcross before I am a member of the Imperial Guard protecting my subjects. “There are times when you have to strategically give up the lives of those who are still alive, and I have no intention of blaming you for not clinging more desperately to those who have no hope.”
“Is that so? “For a politician, this is the choice of the lesser evil.”
“But that choice prevented the possibility of temporary emergency measures being reimposed. “It seems like the most efficient choice for a soldier.”
Then Julia turned her head towards Valerie. Mayer looked at his face with his characteristic purple eyes taking on a serious glow.
“And I can see that you also think that you are not wrong. Don’t go around pretending to talk about your inferiors for no reason, but speak honestly, Sir Valerie. “Do you now feel guilty for helping to determine the life or death of innocent people?”
Valerie then shrugged her shoulders.
“no. That’s not the case. I just wanted to see what other people thought. “There are times when I feel strange when I see Hae Hae.”
“It’s strange?”
“yes. Didn’t Sir Julia just say that too? “It’s the most efficient choice for a soldier.”
“… … .”
“That’s what’s fascinating. “There are times when you feel more like a soldier who fought for a long time on the southern front rather than a prince who grew up well in the imperial palace.”
“Lord Valerie!”
At that time, a young voice called to him from over there.
Prince Mores was waving his hand at them with a mischievous expression.
“It is said that the Knights of St. Bastian originated from the Orthodox Church. Let’s jump out quickly before we run into each other!”
Hahaha.
Valerie burst into laughter and narrowed her eyes at Julia.
“Now then, we will make a strategic retreat, Sir Julia. “Thank you for your active cooperation so far.”
And the red-haired Inquisitor ran toward the prince with a cheerful gait.
“We must hurry, sir! Those Bastian guys are stuck somewhere. “I’m sure I’ll be tired when I encounter it.”
“no way. “Only for the Knights of St. Marsyas.”
“No, are you saying that in front of me? Marsyas and Bastian have long been famous for their incompatible rivalry. “The seniors were very upset with us, saying they couldn’t communicate well.”
“I guess we should also listen to the position of the Holy Knights of Bastian? “Do you think you two hate each other for the same reason?”
“Fuhahaha! “I can’t deny the possibility.”
They walked away quickly, giving and receiving. It appears that the Knight Commander of the Royal Guard, the Exorcist, the Plague Doctor, and the Imperial Palace Knights are following one after another.
It’s such an odd combination, but it strangely suits them.
Julia glanced at them for a moment and then left, leading her junior knight. At least, I completely agreed with Sir Valery’s statement that meeting the knights of St. Bastian makes you tired.
* * *
St. Bastian Church.
This beautiful church, which has supported more than half of the thousand-year history of the Holy Kingdom of Delcross since its construction about 500 years ago, was the cradle of the Knights of St. Bastian and the home of the Orthodox Church.
On one side of the tall spire, in the archbishop’s office, two old men wearing colorful robes were sitting facing each other.
“Now we are older too. “I hope from now on we won’t have to make appointments at the top of the building like this.”
Cardinal Albus Mayer, head of the Holy Congregation, takes off his miter and wipes the sweat from his forehead.
Then the elderly woman sitting across from me snorted.
“It’s no use talking weakly now. “Don’t you remember that when you were Archbishop, you called me here every day?”
“You were in your prime back then.”
“Now, don’t whine as we are all growing old together. “I am someone who goes to work at this high place every day.”
As if growing old together was not an empty phrase, the woman with mostly gray hair looked even older than Cardinal Meyer.
Archbishop Wesker.
As the current head of the Orthodox Church, she became a senior priest at a relatively young age, and was the person who rose through the ranks at the fastest pace, moving from bishop to archbishop.
Archbishop Wesker, who gave off a tougher look thanks to the eyepatch on his right eye, looked more like a veteran who had gone through many hardships than a priest. The fact that she suffered deep wounds from which she could not recover, despite the strong divine power she possessed in her body, is probably indirect evidence of how intense her life has been until now.
“Originally, the reason I brought you here was to ask for your consideration in the future review process… … .”
“I heard the news on the way. “Did the Prince say that he significantly reduced our work?”
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“is it so. That Prince Mores.”
The archbishop frowned and wrinkled his entire face.
“You did something really cute today. “When we heard the news and hurriedly sent the Holy Knights of Bastian, there were already less than 40 prisoners left.”
“The capital guard captain must not be such a soft person.”
“They said they sent people away in the blink of an eye, handing over signed cooperation documents. “There was no time for the guard captain to stop him.”
“Hehe, that’s right.”
Cardinal Meyer stroked his beard and laughed hollowly.
“Still, you left us a reasonable number. As you know, there are precedents for approval reviews. No matter how good the mediation was, it would have been difficult to hand over that number to the Heresy Tribunal. “Isn’t it great that we have identified all the innocent people in advance?”
“That’s what makes me even more angry! “It’s a little disappointing, but the results of committing another crime aren’t bad, and blaming the prince makes the picture quite clear!”
The archbishop seemed to be getting irritated just thinking about it.
“What on earth is this? Did he give up the right to succeed to the throne at all? You don’t manage your reputation? Since he was stabbed in the back in an unexpected and anomalous way, many high-ranking figures in the Orthodox Church and the Heresy Tribunal would have turned their backs on the prince.”
“If you were a person who cared about your reputation, would you have done something like that in the first place?”
Cardinal Meyer wiped the sweat from his forehead a couple more times and placed his miter straight back on his head.
Then he looked straight into Cardinal Wesker’s eyes and spoke in a slightly subdued voice.
“I think you know. “You really crossed the line this time.”
“… … .”
“Don’t even think about the nonsense talking about the devil’s curse like the one you just submitted as a review document. If you are a devil like Benitus, you are not just a stubborn human being who attacks you at any cost. “In the first place, don’t you know best that as long as His Majesty the Holy Emperor is there, the devil species will not be able to spread their magical arms over the imperial capital?”
“… It doesn’t matter if it’s not a curse, Your Excellency. Gray Plague patients are dangerous.”
“So you told us to catch everyone, even those who might not be plagues?”
“Once the early symptoms were revealed, I just didn’t want to miss a single thing. “It would have been sufficiently determined during the screening period whether they had the plague or not.”
The archbishop also did not want innocent people to get caught up in this.
It’s just that she also had her own calculations.
Patients in the final stages of the gray plague will die while waiting for review, and in the meantime, patients in the early stages of the disease will progress and their condition will become recognizable to some extent.
Even if there is some sacrifice in the process, it is nothing compared to the risk of leaving them in the ecliptic.
“This would not have happened if the Heresy Tribunal had been faithful to its duties in the first place. “No matter how hard we try to catch one more, it’s not enough, so now you’re just watching the disease spread, using the unheard-of thing called a [monster] as an excuse?”
“The duty of the Heresy Tribunal is to fight heresy. “It’s not like we’re arresting a severe plague patient.”
“If there is a serious threat to Delcross’s safety, shouldn’t he be punished by at least being accused of devil worship?”
“… Archbishop Wesker. Are you really… … .”
Cardinal Meyer sighed.
Although he is now divided into the Heresy Tribunal and the Orthodox Church and leads each, Benitus and Wesker are originally junior priests who have worked together under him for a long time.
Benitus, who rushes in if something deviates from strict religious lines without considering the repercussions, and Wesker, who thinks it’s okay to slightly overstep the taboos of the church for practical purposes.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could just divide the two in half and mix them together?
“It’s not that I don’t know your hot-blooded personality, but now you are the head of an organization. This means that there is a limit to what you can do once you commit something and then correct it, just like in the old days when you were a senior priest. Could it be that the prince was the only one who was branded a troublemaker by high-ranking officials due to this incident? “What are you going to say to the prince now?”
“… … .”
“I am saying this because it seems like His Majesty cares for you quite a bit. I also don’t want to lose talented people who have worked under me for a long time. Do you understand? “We should not take lightly the fact that he gave the prince an official document of cooperation with a seal.”
Archbishop Wesker remained silent.
She stared at Cardinal Meyer with sunken eyes and then stood up. She slowly walked towards the closet in the corner of the office.
“dismissal. “I still dream of that time sometimes.”
There was a small wooden box in the closet. She picked it up and stroked it carefully as she spoke.
“What happened when you led the Orthodox Church and I was still a senior priest. “It was a time when it was good to just run forward without a single suspicion, following His Majesty’s footsteps and fighting against demonic species and pushing out all underground dark sects.”
“… … .”
“The time when I used all my might to drive the relic into the body of the demon that took my eyes, and when Your Majesty finally blew off the evil thing’s head with a nutcracker.”
The archbishop brought a wooden box and pushed it in front of Cardinal Meyer.
The cardinal slowly opened the lid, and inside was something that looked like a translucent, milky-white stone.
It was made of a crystal-like material, but it was an ominous mass that was not properly crystallized and was tangled up like a lump of old oil.
“This stone is dangerous, sir.”
“this is… … .”
“It was found sparsely in the crematorium. “This stone sometimes comes from the heads of gray plague patients who died in the Inquisition.”
Cardinal Meyer traced a vague memory. He had certainly seen these stones before.
So, when Wesker was a high-ranking priest, didn’t you show him this and make a report?
The cardinal, who had been groaning for a while, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“No way, in Ansa Village… … !”
“Yes, Your Excellency. I saw it clearly that day. The sight of the entire surrounding area, including a village, being sucked into a human body! “At that time, I realized that anxiety must be eradicated, even if it means taking some damage.”
In Archbishop Wesker’s only remaining eye, which was facing the Cardinal, an intense flame, like a kind of madness, was burning brightly.
“Do you feel sorry for the suffering some of your subjects are going through right now? However, if this is left alone, in the end, there will be no more people left to suffer.”
fantasy,
