Chapter 65: Back in black (3)

“Huh? It’s already resolved… What do you mean by that?”

I asked back in a flustered voice.

Currently, the Church of Radiance was in the midst of preparing for war.

The target was A-Secure Corporation, which had caused the terror incident on 1st Street.

Although their suburban branch had been easily subdued, the main office’s forces remained downtown, and if they received information that they had been attacked, a counterattack of some sort would surely follow.

We were in the process of gathering our forces scattered throughout the diocese and preparing for that war.

Then, a completely unexpected phone call left me utterly dumbfounded.

“It’s been taken care of?”

The voice on the other end of the receiver, Chairman Rian Lumen of the Lumina Group, chuckled good-naturedly and said.

[“Yes. We’ve handled it well on our end. Next time something like this happens, wouldn’t you give me a heads-up? I’m quite disappointed in our relationship, really.”]

“Th-that’s…”

Even before processing the content of what he said, I was more flustered by the genuine disappointment I could feel in his voice.

Chairman Rian Lumen of the Lumina Group.

Honestly, he was still someone I felt a considerable distance from.

That was only natural.

No matter how much goodwill he showed me, it felt as if a division commander or a prime minister had come up to me, patted my shoulder, and said, ‘Tell me anything you need.’

It was natural that I couldn’t just blindly rely on him.

In reality, the status of a conglomerate chairman in this city was likely greater than, not lesser than, such figures.

I could feel it even in our current conversation.

“Um… what do you mean by ‘resolved’….”

[“Hoho, it’s nothing much. I just threw those insolent bastards in prison. Their sentence… was it about 700 years? They probably won’t see daylight again, so don’t you worry.”]

According to him, A-Secure Corporation had essentially been decapitated.

There was no longer any room for a fight to even occur.

The matter was settled so easily, so anticlimactically, that our preparations for war felt pointless.

But perhaps it was an inevitable outcome.

It was like a tank, not even just an adult, had intervened in a fight between children and simply bulldozed everything.

“……..”

I realized anew.

The power of one of the city’s top 100 corporations.

And just what kind of person I was talking to right now….

Yet strangely, I wasn’t as tense as before.

His tone was consistently gentle, and his voice carried a sense of generosity.

I didn’t know if he was like this with others, but with me, it even felt like he was itching to do something for me.

It was a change so drastic I couldn’t imagine him as the gloomy and cold-hearted conglomerate chairman I once knew.

[“Perhaps you wanted to punish those guys yourself? I apologize if my handling of things was too hasty. I can have them brought back out immediately….”]

“Ah, no! It’s fine! It’s already over. I’m just grateful.”

At my flustered response, a satisfied laugh came from the other side of the receiver.

And then he brought up another topic.

[“Ah, right! Yes. Thanks to this incident, a suitable gift has been prepared.”]

“Huh?”

[“Since we were already rounding up their management, I went ahead and acquired a certain amount of their shares and took over the company’s management rights. I’m going to transfer that to your name.”]

“Whaat?!”

I was momentarily stunned.

It’s said that money can do anything in this city, but for that very reason, it’s not wasted on useless things.

But even if putting the company’s executives in jail was one thing, acquiring shares and handing them over to me… no matter how vast the capital of a large corporation, wasn’t this close to a waste?

It was too sudden, and the story was too burdensome for me to handle.

So, I instinctively tried to refuse.

“No… something like that….”

But before I could even get the words out properly, a voice that seemed to see right through me came from the receiver.

[“Hmm? Are you sure you want to decline? You’ll definitely need it for what’s to come, won’t you?”]

“Huh?”

[“My guess is, the place the Church of Radiance will eventually advance into next is downtown, right?”]

At those words, I unconsciously nodded my head.

In a way, it was an obvious deduction.

The Church’s endeavors always aimed for expansion, and as a result, it had taken control of half the suburbs.

However, despite gathering that many followers, it was still far from enough to cause the miracle needed to return to my original world.

‘It would probably be similar even if we spread the church’s influence to the southern and western districts.’

Even if we controlled the entire suburbs, I felt the goal was still incredibly distant.

If so, the only place left was downtown.

A metropolis so vast it was more like a nation, holding a population comparable to one.

Considering the scale of the inner city, the suburban population was barely a handful.

Therefore, to gather the necessary number of followers, the Church inevitably had to advance into the inner city.

The voice from the speaker continued.

[“For the Church to advance into downtown like that, your bodyguards would have to come along too…. Could hundreds of mercenaries of that caliber just waltz into the city? Getting them through the checkpoints won’t be easy.”]

“…..!”

My shoulders twitched.

I hadn’t even thought about such a problem.

‘Certainly… one or two mercenaries might be able to come and go, but….’

If the number of combatants crossing the border exceeds a hundred, the city government will undoubtedly deem it a clear threat.

Even if they came over individually, there would be a limit.

The entry checkpoints and surveillance systems at the city borders were not to be trifled with.

As the numbers increased, they would eventually be discovered as belonging to a single group.

Then they’d be an undeniable illegal armed group of smugglers.

At a minimum, arrest and deportation, and there was a high possibility of more forceful measures being taken.

“…..”

‘This was something I should have considered much earlier.’

Then, the man spoke once more.

[“That’s why I called it a gift. If you have the name of a security company, your bodyguards can be registered as official employees of the company and come into the city legally, very naturally. How about that? Quite a useful gift, isn’t it?”]

“….!”

That’s right.

That was precisely the role of a security company in the first place.

There was no better way to avoid suspicion as the Church’s forces entered downtown.

Could it be, he had foreseen all of this from the start?

A conglomerate chairman was indeed a chairman.

His insight and skill; he never worked by looking at just one thing.

To eliminate my enemy and, at the same time, present me with a gift I couldn’t possibly refuse.

I hesitated before replying.

“Thank you so much, Chairman. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for this…”

Just then, the voice on the other end of the call suddenly turned cold.

[“Hmm…. Hold on. That’s a little grating.”]

“Ye-yes?”

When I asked back, flustered, he spoke in a dissatisfied tone.

[“I hear you’re already on a first-name basis with Rachel, yet you’re going to keep calling me so formally as ‘Chairman’? When will you call me Father? Hmm….”]

“……”

I knew he was joking, but for a moment, I was speechless.

Was this really the same gloomy and pessimistic conglomerate chairman I first met?

They say couples come to resemble each other, and he too had a somewhat familiar aspect.

A playful yet somehow sincere suggestion; like someone who came to the cathedral every day, he still hadn’t given up, it seemed.

But… even if a division commander cherished me greatly, I’d be grateful, but becoming his child is a bit much, isn’t it?

As I hesitated, he spoke again.

“Godfather… are you referring to that?”

[“Yes. I heard your church has such a system.”]

It was true.

The Church of Radiance, at its founding, had adopted many forms and systems from Christianity for efficiency, and among them was the godparent system.

It was a system included because we needed a community where believers could be tightly bound.

It wasn’t mandatory, so only those who wanted it chose it, but it was received quite well among the residents of the suburban areas with poor public safety.

They liked the system where spiritual parents could take responsibility for the children if something happened to them.

Compared to the relationship of adoptive parents, which involves legal family ties, the burden was much less.

‘Godparent… that’s not too bad, is it?’

In any case, it was true that I had received help from the Chairman and his wife, almost like guardians.

I wasn’t without a desire to repay their kindness.

So, a little awkwardly, but also sincerely, I said.

“Then… I’ll be in your care from now on, Godfather.”

At those words, a satisfied laugh erupted from the speaker.

[“Hahaha, I’ll be in your care too. My dear goddaughter.”]

=========

This incident was resolved with anticlimactic simplicity, thanks to Godfather stepping in.

The Lumina Group also took charge of the cleanup, promising to handle it without any further trouble.

From the perspective of having been prepared for an all-out armed conflict with a mid-sized downtown corporation, it was a somewhat anticlimactic ending… but wasn’t it a hundred times better than our believers shedding blood in a fight?

I was told that a professional manager from Lumina Holdings had been assigned to the acquired security company to sort out its affairs.

They said the shares would be quickly transferred to me once the internal organization was complete, but honestly, if I had my way, I’d want to receive them much later.

Because, to be honest, I had no real knowledge about company operations, business, or management.

To tell the truth, even managing the Church was becoming quite burdensome.

The Church of Radiance was no longer at the level of a simple church.

Its scale was growing day by day.

I was beginning to feel the need for management through specialized knowledge, both administratively and in terms of its enterprises.

However, I, who had to take responsibility for everything in the Church, lacked such expertise.

Even though I had divided the operational roles as much as possible among Yoanna and other administrative personnel, the ultimate decision-maker was still only me.

Due to the nature of a religious organization, someone other than the Saintess couldn’t be the one in charge.

Because of that, I had managed to come this far through trial and error…

And now I might have to take on another company.

Perhaps I had finally reached my limit.

“……”

For that reason.

I was now standing in front of a mirror, looking at my reflection.

Beyond the transparent glass, a silver-haired beautiful girl, neatly dressed in a school uniform, was reflected.

A royal blue cropped blazer that fit her body perfectly, a white blouse worn underneath, a women’s necktie, and a pleated skirt that covered just about half her thighs.

On the chest of the outerwear, the emblem of ‘Lumina Academy,’ which I had first learned about a few days ago, was clearly embroidered.

To be honest, it was quite embarrassing.

Wearing feminine clothes in daily life, yes, there was Yoanna’s insistence, and at least I could make the excuse that I was wearing something that fit my body.

But a school uniform… it was somehow…

It truly felt like something on a completely different level.

It created a much younger atmosphere than my usual appearance, to the point where my face would flush unconsciously.

“……”

So, what does this ridiculous appearance have to do with the difficulties of managing the Church?

“Haaah……”

Well, there was a story behind it that could only make one sigh.