Ch.428Star-Dolph Style Solution

# The Cardinal’s Assassination

It was a major incident that could shake the very foundation of the Holy State.

Even though the various churches were hostile to each other, that was merely part of their power struggle, not something that would target the life of a leader.

After all, the murder of a cardinal was a major incident that had happened only a few times throughout the history of the Holy State.

The cardinals of each church declared that they would seal off the holy city and control all entry and exit until the culprit was found.

Naturally, all official schedules were canceled, and Lacy’s hearing was also postponed.

The hearing was hardly the issue now.

The Church of Menes, which recovered Cardinal Paulus’s body, revealed that he died sometime between 9 PM and 11 PM, and his neck was severed with a single strike from behind.

Unfortunately, his whereabouts during that time were unknown, and it was impossible to determine whether he was killed in the alley where the body was found or killed elsewhere and then moved.

Due to the blessing of purification that had descended upon the entire city, no bloodstains remained in the area.

—-

Everyone living in Alhebron stayed in their respective dwellings and poured out speculations about the culprit’s identity.

“It must be the work of the Church of Saulite, which is the largest faction but has no candidate for sainthood.”

“No, it’s the Freedom Crusaders who planned this to overturn the dominance between factions, as they’re the weakest in power.”

“When it comes to assassination, wouldn’t it be the Church of Ceres? They worship the goddess of death, after all.”

The prevailing theory was that it happened due to factional disputes between churches.

The main suspects mentioned were the Church of Saulite with the clearest motive, the extremely radical Church of Volberg, and the Church of Ceres which specialized in assassination.

Of course, all three churches denied the allegations and stated that they would respond at the church level if such rumors continued to spread.

That was a nice way of saying it, but in reality, it was a threat to kill anyone who spread false rumors.

Other churches also issued statements that they had nothing to do with this incident and would do their utmost to find the culprit.

Except for just one church.

“Why aren’t the Vimos people saying anything?”

“They’re always like that. They only have one cardinal in the holy city to begin with.”

The Church of Vimos maintained its silence as always.

The people of the holy city just accepted it as typical of the Church of Vimos.

While it was suspicious that no one doubted this church, it still seemed unlikely that a group with only one cardinal residing in the holy city could have done anything.

“It might be the work of heretics. Didn’t the leader of the Council of Dream Utopia recently get annihilated by the Church of Menes?”

“Unless it’s Holon, heretics infiltrating Alhebron? That’s impossible.”

Some pointed to the leader of the Council of Dream Utopia, but it wasn’t considered a very credible theory.

Heretics infiltrating Alhebron?

It was as absurd as suggesting that a cardinal with a unique death wish had cut off his own neck.

At least that’s what they thought.

“Could it be Stardolf’s doing? I heard he’s so reckless that he even imprisons cardinals who go against his will, and he met with Cardinal Paulus that day, didn’t he?”

“With the human butcher Aishan-Gioro as his subordinate, assassinating Cardinal Paulus would have been all too simple.”

There were also those who suspected Lacy and me.

Well, I might think the same if I were a third party, not the person directly involved.

“Hey, Haschal. Did you really do it…?”

Even Millia was looking at me with suspicious eyes.

“Millia… have you been looking at me like that all this time…?”

If anything, Lacy and I were the victims.

Not only had we lost Paulus whom we had persuaded, but our initial plan to gather detailed information during the hearing period had also been disrupted.

“The ones who suffered the greatest loss from Paulus’s death are Lacy and me. Besides, I would never commit such an atrocious act as assassination.”

[Where did you leave your conscience…? Ah, I’m sorry. You probably never had one to begin with.]

Hersella, who was listening in my head, burst into mockery.

Millia also looked at me with an expression that questioned if I was serious, tilting her head.

“Hmm…? With Knut too… and the other time you were gone for a few days, and the King of Panam was assassinated…”

That… was actually my doing!

“…This time I really didn’t do it.”

“That’s right, Millia. Haschal couldn’t have done it.”

Demian, who was beside me, slightly defended me.

What’s with him?

“They say the neck was cleanly cut. If Haschal had killed him, the body would have been in pieces. With the head exploded.”

…This bastard.

“Ah, that makes sense.”

What do you mean, “that makes sense”?

They say couples grow to resemble each other—seeing Millia genuinely nod in agreement with Demian’s ridiculous defense made me crave a cigarette.

I was already smoking one, but I craved it even more.

Of course, I couldn’t light another one.

Smoking two cigarettes at once is something only the weak do.

—-

Anyway, for these reasons, we too had no choice but to stay cooped up in the Ellunel Cathedral.

Fortunately, we had cooperated in Holon and had an alibi of staying at Ellunel Cathedral during the estimated time of death. Otherwise, the churches might have accused us of being the culprits and tried to arrest us first.

“…We’ve been had. I never expected things to turn out like this.”

Lacy sighed, clearly showing her dismay.

It was a natural reaction. Our carefully laid plans had gone awry from the start.

I was used to it, though.

“Reality always exceeds expectations. Anyway, what do we do now? Since the original plan has fallen apart, should we try contacting the Church of Kranus and the Church of Imela?”

In my view, the culprit was likely one of them.

Although Paulus’s whereabouts were unknown, he had told us he intended to meet with those two cardinals.

I don’t know what conversation they had that led to such an extreme outcome as assassination.

Of course, if we confronted the two churches, they would deny it as groundless slander without evidence.

And if, by a slim chance, they weren’t the culprits, we would be creating an irreversible hostile relationship.

“Let’s… hold off on that for now. If they’re enemies, it would be simple, but if they’re not, it could become a serious problem. And if, by any chance, they too are killed after contact with us… our position would become quite precarious.”

Lacy furrowed her brow and sighed, holding her forehead with a deeply troubled expression.

Her furrowed brow reminded me of when she faced heretics. Her face was full of worry and conflict.

“So what, we just wait quietly? That doesn’t seem like a good decision. From my experience, quietly waiting only makes things worse, not better.”

I gave Isabella just a few days, and the entire imperial palace collapsed and the country split in half.

“…Of course we need to respond.”

Lacy knew that much as well.

Come to think of it, she was also one of those who nearly died in that incident.

“How?”

“Since we don’t know the identity of the enemy or their future moves… it would be best to assume the worst possible scenario. What do you think is the worst development for us?”

Lacy raised her head slightly and looked straight at me as she asked.

…I wish she wouldn’t answer a question with another question.

“The worst development? Well, either you dying or the Holy State being destroyed?”

“…You’ve gone too far. I said the worst development, not the ultimate end.”

Lacy looked at me like a homeroom teacher looking at a high school student who got basic arithmetic wrong.

[What kind of person are you that your brain only works well when deceiving or torturing others? It’s exasperating.]

To be called stupid by a barbarian—how did I end up like this?

I must have adapted too well to this body.

Perhaps I’ve lost my modern brain and gained a barbarian’s brain, lowering my intelligence.

“Let me tell you in advance, in my opinion, the worst situation we could face is being framed as the masterminds behind the cardinal’s assassination. If they manage to frame us in any way, any subsequent cardinal eliminations would be attributed to us. The real culprit could remove all obstacles without arousing any suspicion.”

It was quite a plausible inference.

Except for the unknown specific method they would use to frame us.

“Right, that makes sense. I’d do the same. So how do we respond? Should we go find the cardinals and protect them?”

Though I doubt those people would accept our protection.

“That would be difficult unless you could be in ten places at once. I have a better method.”

Lacy smiled as if she had been waiting for this moment and pulled out a sheet of paper from the pile of documents on the desk.

“The reason why the cardinal’s assassination becomes a threatening card against us is because it’s a shocking and gruesome tragedy rarely seen in the history of the Holy State. So we need to… change public opinion so that it’s perceived not as a tragedy but as something natural. Would you like to read it?”

Though she spoke calmly, it was an incredibly subversive idea.

What would it take for a cardinal’s assassination to be perceived as natural?

“Let me see…”

I took the paper from Lacy and read it.

“The Holy State has gone astray.”

It was a manifesto that didn’t reveal the author’s name.

=================

“The Holy State has gone astray.

The Holy State that rose with one heart, respecting each other and pursuing humanity’s tomorrow, is gone.

Raise your head and look around.

What remains here are only divided churches, endless chaos, and the sprouting of evil!

Who do you think caused this?

Whose responsibility is this chaos?

There is only one answer.

The misguided blind faith of leaders who have forgotten the essence of faith, and those who still follow them.

That is the true cause of the Holy State’s fall!

If you have eyes, see.

If you have a mind, know.

The gods do not fight each other for supremacy, so why do those who should be closest to the gods create conflict, hoping their church will rise above others?

Can that be considered right for those who serve the gods?

It cannot be.

Did not our gods wish that their children would not fight each other?

Look at those greedy ones who, despite knowing this fact better than anyone, promote division while competing for worldly influence.

Those who have lost both their old spirit of protecting humanity and their lofty ideals of not colluding with power.

Those despicable ones who now only crave power and have even begun to kill each other.

They no longer serve the gods, but worship the authority and power of the gods!

Awaken, people of the Holy State!

We live to serve the gods, not to serve the cardinals!”

=================

“…Are you crazy? Are you trying to incite a rebellion?”

“Of course not. I’m just trying to separate the ordinary believers of the Holy State from the cardinals.”

Lacy was smiling brightly, but I couldn’t help but be reminded of the time when she gave speeches calling for the extermination of werebeasts.