Ch.222Report on the Collapse of Patience (15)

“So I asked, ‘Then what should we do?’

His Holiness gave his answer.

‘The previous Popes prevented the Wasteland from overflowing. However, the territory of the Wasteland only grows wider with each passing year and never shrinks, perhaps because hatred does not disappear but rather accumulates.

Like moths throwing themselves into bonfires, like beasts of the field seeking warm burrows, those filled with hatred and resentment flock to the Wasteland. They willingly throw themselves in and return as unspeakable monsters.

However, hatred fades when given no attention. If you do not look at it, it will tire itself out and fade away.

That is why the old Popes selected guardians. They destroyed everything about the Wasteland and extracted vows of silence from all who knew about that place.

After steadily continuing this for generations, finally no one knew about the Wasteland. Even the secular Emperor would not know of this.

But I will not pass on such a legacy to the next Pope.’

Arius and I looked at each other. The Pope gestured for us to come closer.

‘This vicious cycle must end. With each passing year, new hatred accumulates, and with the passage of time, the tragedy only deepens. The curse only grows stronger, while we grow weaker by the day.

So I will give it a name. I will cover it with skin, dress it in clothes, and give it weapons. I will gladly call it the Demon King.

I will also divide the sheep. Those who fall for their whispers will be quickly handed over, and those who stand on our side will also be selected.

Thus, I will eradicate all darkness and hatred so they cannot take root in this land.’

And so we all did just that.

The upper echelons of the Order knew that the priests of darkness and shadow were barely maintaining their existence, and they had some idea of their whereabouts, but deliberately did not capture them.

This was because they knew that these things would hide in the shadows and, like mold clinging together, would attract those who were meant to rot.”

Günther’s gaze fell on Maria. She was gritting her teeth. She seemed to understand what he meant.

“If I understand correctly, His Holiness deliberately tolerated heresy?”

“That’s right.”

Fire flashed in Maria’s eyes. Lily twitched her arm as if she could no longer bear it.

Kain gently held Maria’s arm, but it wasn’t very effective since he too was glaring at Günther.

“It was to reveal evil through evil. And it truly happened that way. We never imagined there would be so much potential evil in the world.

True children of light have the purity to shake off temptation even when they hear it. But those whose hearts are rough and easily harbor rot are not so.

It’s only a matter of time; those who will fall to temptation will fall anyway. But because they live mixed with the children of good, this world is as muddy as turbid water.

For muddy water to become clear, one can only wait patiently. Sin is as heavy as filth and sinks to the bottom, but the clear rises to the top.

So we let evil take away evil. This was to reveal the good.

But things turned out differently than we intended. It wasn’t the abstract threat of the Wasteland but the tangible threat of the Stone-Fire Faith followers.

Our strength was rapidly depleted while fighting against them. The excommunicated crusaders, the Fourth Crusade, even went so far as to attack the Empire after receiving bribes from the Eastern Alliance.

Evil spread so much that even the children of light began to distrust goodness. The overflow of the Wasteland worsened, reaching even civilian homes.

Because of this, we declared the Great Holy War a little earlier than expected. The Fifth Great Holy War.

The forces of those who had turned to evil were enormous, but the children of light were too exhausted, so we had to use every means available.

Mercenaries who bought and sold beliefs for money. Low humans who hadn’t fallen to evil but were difficult to mix with the forces of good. Swindlers. Robbers. Murderers. Children and the elderly… we gathered everyone we could.

It wasn’t a proper army. And even if there had been a proper army, it would have been difficult to protect oneself against the malice and terror shown by that Wasteland.

Fortunately, the Stone-Fire priests from beyond the desert knew the answer to that. The Order made a secret agreement with them.

In a form close to a peace treaty, we imported asas, the herb of courage and revelation, from them. We were taught the manufacturing method from the priests, and it was no trouble to mix it into food and water.

But we still lacked military funds. Not only military funds but also His Holiness’s prestige was in danger. The three battles with Stone-Fire had legitimacy as they were battles to gain more or to recover what was lost,

But the fourth battle was a holy war for evangelism, to spread the influence of the Two-headed Eagle more widely. When that holy war failed miserably, His Holiness had to be mindful of the voices of the sheep.

Criticism was especially fierce regarding the Children’s Crusade, and when their improper actions were discovered, His Holiness had them burned at the stake.”

“By improper actions, you mean…”

“I’m referring to how the monks who recruited the Children’s Crusade sold the children cheaply to pirates from the East. Half were sold off, but the remaining half were able to join the holy war. If we had been a little later, we might have lost them all.”

As Kain understood it, the Children’s Crusade had begun with the madness of a deranged monk.

Those who reluctantly raised unwanted children in poor villages unhesitatingly handed over “the village children” to them. The Pope could not tolerate this and had the instigators burned at the stake.

But that wasn’t it. From the beginning, the Order had planned to mobilize those children. The monks were burned at the stake not for gathering innocent children, but for selling them to pirates instead of crusaders, causing “damage” to the Order.

“There was another problem. The holy sword bestowed by His Holiness disappeared somewhere. We had no idea where it had gone.

Fortunately, Arius and I had considered various measures, including the scenario ‘if the sword doesn’t work well.’ We found the answer in the practices of the Life Tree Order.

Among the Order’s rituals, when a brave person passed away, there was a tradition of sharing and chewing their flesh. They did the same when beautiful or handsome people died. This was because they believed the souls of the departed would remain in the bodies of those left behind, breathing and living together.

And finally, at that rock where the sword had been drawn, at the center of the Wasteland, we accomplished it.”

Günther was smiling. As if it were a fond memory, as if a hero was happily recalling his story, he was just smiling. But soon his face darkened.

“But that too was not perfect. Among those who made it to the end, Arianne, who was given the name of Humility, refused the ritual.

Later. Much later, we learned that she had secretly thrown a piece of the Demon King into the ground. Because of her own ‘conscience.’ Because of that useless act of saying she couldn’t do this one thing!

We tried to punish her, but she was in Emmaus, and the Samaritans around there loved Arianne, so we couldn’t do anything to her.

The same was true for the heroes who carried pieces of the Demon King in their bodies. William. Leonardo. Roberta. Hans. I don’t know what effect the fragments had on their bodies and souls.

But it’s clear that they wanted to become ‘like the Demon King.’ Because hatred is stronger than any emotion, has the power to easily manipulate others, and can spread like wildfire.

William used it to fulfill his dirty desires. Roberta tried to create her own country, and Leonardo wanted to devour Venelucia. Hans hid behind everything and accomplished what he had been doing before, but on a larger scale.

Did the Demon King’s fragments corrupt their minds? No. No. They had always been consistent.

The Demon King’s fragments merely opened doors for them. Things they wanted to do but couldn’t because they shouldn’t or couldn’t—now they could.

Even if you become a hero, you can’t really escape from yourself.

Look at Arianne of Humility. She became a hero from someone despised by all, but she didn’t leave her hometown.

Arius and I pondered this problem for a long time.

The best solution was to raise the Demon King again and select a child of light to oppose the Demon King, but the power of the Wasteland had grown too strong and secular power had weakened, so it seemed like too big an undertaking.

But the noble heavens opened a path. Almost by divine providence, I found that sword again. And I also knew who had absorbed the fragment that Arianne had dropped.

Laios. An apprentice of the White Blood Knights and the lover of Ismene, who had become the fragmented Demon King.

He had everything we needed. He was wandering the Wasteland as a lonely ghost.

‘Who are you?’

He was already blind, so he didn’t understand my words well. So I had to repeat two, three more times.

‘I am the chosen warrior. I must save Ismene. I must return home. I promised.’

It was frustrating that he wouldn’t say anything else, but somehow we could communicate.

What happened was that these two reckless kids had somehow gotten hold of asas fruit and split it in half to eat, but when eaten that way, it’s just a tasty and expensive fruit with no medicinal effect at all.

In the supply corps, asas was referred to in code as ‘fruit and herb for warriors,’ and I thought they might have misunderstood that.

But what did it matter? A warrior was there. And I had the sword. The sword that could destroy the Demon King, hope. So I gave him hope.”