Ch.435Now Only Six Remain.

In the midst of conflicting interests, beliefs, ideologies, and greed, it’s difficult to find an ending that satisfies everyone.

After all, an ending that satisfies everyone is nothing but an illusion, difficult to see even in dreams.

What might be the best outcome from my perspective could be the worst result for others.

This case was no different.

Thanks to Cardinal Erich’s confession, the followers of the Church of Kranus were able to save their lives, but in exchange, the authority of the cardinal was thrown into the gutter.

Not just Erich, who was stripped of his holy office, but the authority of all cardinals.

People awoke from their illusion.

The cardinals were not the noble, faithful, and sublime beings they had believed them to be.

They were merely ordinary humans who, like themselves, could be swayed by desire and sometimes tell lies.

They weren’t divine representatives on earth, but merely Holy State nobles who had risen to high positions!

The citizens of the Holy State could no longer worship the cardinals as they once did.

The inviolable authority of the cardinals hadn’t just been scratched—it had been completely shattered.

Though they brought it upon themselves… it must have been infuriating from the cardinals’ perspective.

=====[ Cathedral of the Church of Ceres ]=====

“Damn it. Ceres, why do you bring such trials upon me…!”

Cardinal Rosoff of the Church of Ceres had been suffering from extreme stress, to the point where he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in recent days.

The cause was, of course, the woman who had reduced the number of cardinals from eleven to eight immediately upon returning to Alhebron.

No, since the cardinals of the Free Holy Legion were essentially exiled from the Holy City, perhaps it should be considered six now.

Such a dramatic reduction in the number of cardinals within the Holy City was unprecedented.

Though the exile of the Free Holy Legion’s cardinals was due to Rosoff’s own proposal.

‘Even the gods are indifferent. How could they grant such authority to that barbarian…!’

Rosoff lamented, staring at the holy symbol hanging on the wall of his office.

His expression mixed with anxiety and anger.

The madwoman Stardolf and the butcher Aishan-Gioro.

Those two women were the problem.

Paulus was found dead the day after meeting Stardolf, and Erich committed suicide within hours after Aishan-Gioro’s sick visit.

Too coincidental, wasn’t it?

Anyone with a brain would sense that the Church of Elpinel was involved in the deaths of the cardinals.

Not to mention Drexler, whom he personally retired.

It was questionable whether he was even still alive.

However, no one could directly confront them.

If they had been ordinary priests, they would have been dragged away and interrogated in the basement long ago, but unfortunately, both were individuals who couldn’t be touched based on mere suspicion without evidence, as the consequences would be unmanageable.

One was the Empire’s strongest knight, fully protected by the Imperial House, rumored to be the Emperor’s favorite, and even a descendant of the Great’s Twelve Knights.

Just from the rumors, she was a madwoman who might do anything if provoked carelessly.

The other was one of only two Stigmata bearers in the Holy State.

Unlike the candidate for sainthood from the Church of Menes, who Paulus had sheltered and who had never engaged in public activities, she had been actively building her position and reputation.

Even followers of churches other than the Church of Elpinel held goodwill toward her.

Though this was limited to the lowest-ranking church members.

Of course, the reason Lacy couldn’t be excessively persecuted wasn’t because of her popularity.

Even the cardinals, the leaders of the church, couldn’t carelessly touch someone who was a candidate for sainthood.

Cardinals were merely instructors guiding candidates for sainthood to stay on the right path, not their superiors.

Unlike cardinals who were merely high in rank, candidates for sainthood were true earthly representatives directly chosen by the gods.

It was impossible to force obedience or eliminate them for having different opinions.

Unless one did not fear the wrath of the gods.

‘If it were Ceres, she could prevent Elpinel’s anger from falling upon me. The problem is… I’m not certain whether she would do so…’

As befitting a cardinal of the Church of Ceres, Rosoff was convinced that the goddess he served was equal to Elpinel.

Just look at their domains.

Elpinel of the Sky and Grace.

Ceres of the Earth and Death.

Weren’t they clearly counterparts of equal standing?

Of course, no other church agreed with this claim.

When the Church of Elpinel boasted the largest power and authority in the Holy State, the Church of Ceres was only a middle-ranked church.

Now it had somehow risen to about third place.

Anyway, the reason Rosoff couldn’t rashly touch Lacy despite his deep animosity toward her was that he himself wasn’t certain whether what he intended to do was right.

If it were right, Ceres would protect him from Elpinel’s wrath, but if not, she would abandon him.

Eliminating Elpinel’s representative was that significant a matter.

Incomparable to framing the cardinal of the Church of Volberg.

—-

Framing Wolfgang as an assassin and driving him out wasn’t really a problem.

Nor was it something to feel guilty about.

Though nominally bound together as the Church of the Eleven Gods, Cardinal Rosoff had never considered them as fellow citizens of the Holy State.

He knew that the relationship between Volberg and the other gods was close to hostile.

The secret research conducted by the Church of Ceres in the past proved this.

Confidential research conducted by the church to identify the conditions for increasing and decreasing holy power, using people as test subjects.

Through numerous experiments on humans, the ancient priests proved that holy power significantly decreased when cruelty was inflicted upon the innocent.

The ratio of decreasing holy power was highest when the victim was from the same church, followed by members of other churches, and then ordinary people who weren’t devout.

Up to that point, it was as the researchers had expected.

However, strangely, no matter how much they tortured and dismembered followers of the Church of Volberg and the Church of Grimnir, their holy power barely decreased.

Wondering if Ceres was hostile to those gods, they “invited” priests from other churches for experiments, but the results remained the same.

They couldn’t determine the cause until the end.

However, it was certain that all eight gods, except Vimos, were not pleased with Volberg and Grimnir!

Though they didn’t publicize this fact for fear of war with the two churches… from that point on, the leadership of the Church of Ceres no longer considered those two churches as allies.

They thought of them as foreign bodies that would eventually need to be eradicated.

That’s why Cardinal Rosoff didn’t hesitate at all to frame them and drive them out.

By his standards, it was the right thing to do.

Indeed, even after expelling the Church of Volberg, there was no change in his holy power.

Rosoff believed this was because Ceres also considered what he did to be right.

Only the gods know the truth.

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

“How many times do I have to tell you? I just visited to check on him, had a little chat, and left. I had no idea the cardinal was that kind of person.”

“You were the only outsider Erich met after the attack. Moreover, within a day of conversing with you, Count Median, he confessed everything and took his own life. Why would Erich, who was full of ambition and on the verge of achieving it, choose suicide? It doesn’t make sense that someone with a lifetime of success right before his eyes would throw away his life for no reason. Yet you claim you don’t know why he chose to confess?”

I don’t know, I tell you.

“That’s right, I don’t know. How would I know that?”

I exhaled cigarette smoke nonchalantly with a smirk.

Such a strange thing indeed.

If he had just kept his mouth shut, he might have become the number one figure in the Holy State as planned, but right on the verge of that, why did he choose suicide?

You must be curious about the reason… but I have no intention of telling you the answer.

If you’re that curious, find out for yourself.

“Perhaps he finally felt guilty? People are like that. When they’re focused solely on moving forward, they commit crazy acts without realizing what they’re doing, but when they stop, thinking they’ve achieved everything, only then do they see the actions they’ve committed.”

[ That’s surprisingly insightful coming from you. ]

Hersella whistled in surprise, as if finding it unexpected.

Don’t mock me and take it to heart.

From my perspective, you’re exactly in that position.

—-

The paladins who came to me about Erich’s suicide eventually had to leave without any results.

They couldn’t imprison me based on suspicion alone.

After all, I’m not some master of hypnosis or language magician who could drive someone to suicide after just a brief conversation.

It doesn’t make sense even from a common-sense perspective, does it?

Anyway, after that, the Holy State became somewhat more peaceful than before.

At least Alhebron did.

Even those who had been demanding immediate judgment for the Church of Volberg fell silent, shocked by the truth that the incident was Erich’s plot to incite civil war.

Of course, this was just the beginning, not the end.

The balance of power among the cardinals had already collapsed, and their authority and dignity had been damaged.

The current state of the Holy State was merely like lifting the lid of a pot about to boil over to release some steam.

It wouldn’t take long for it to boil again.

—-

And at noon that day, an unexpected letter arrived for me.

An invitation with the seal of the Church of Imela stamped on a snow-white envelope.

Cardinal Kurt Reiher of the Church of Imela was trying to contact us.