Ch.7070. The Conspirator

On a cool late spring evening.

A visitor arrived at the counseling room in the underground church, the headquarters of the Vengeance Order.

“Ex-excuse me…”

“Hmm? Oh, isn’t it the newly appointed priestess Filena? What brings you to me?”

The one seeking counsel was Filena, a Felinian novice priestess who had been officially appointed just three days ago.

And the one receiving her was Gracchus, the head of the order and the Chosen of the great God of Vengeance.

“I… I have a question.”

“A question, what is it?”

“Well, I heard you’ve met the messenger sent by the God of Vengeance, and I wanted to know more about them… Was that an impious question?”

She had always been quite timid by nature, and recently she had learned about the punishments inflicted upon blasphemers, which made her even more cautious.

Seeing the new priestess Filena asking her question so carefully, Gracchus chuckled warmly and began speaking in a gentle voice.

“Wanting to know about the one who delivers His will is not wrong at all.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. But even I don’t know much in detail. I’ve only received messages unilaterally a few times, and what His saint has told me is all I know.”

Speaking kindly to the girl before him as if she were his own granddaughter, he soon asked her again.

“Still, would that be acceptable?”

“Y-yes… please, Lord Gracchus.”

“Very well then… let’s begin here.”

After appearing to contemplate for a moment, Gracchus organized his thoughts and began explaining step by step.

“The Messenger takes the form of a red-haired wolf beastkin woman, tasked with delivering His will. You already know this much, of course?”

“Yes, it’s something we must learn to become priests.”

“Then I’ll skip the trivial details. Let me tell you this.”

After saying that much, he paused briefly, and Filena, curious about what would follow, looked at him with bright, attentive eyes.

Finding her expression quite adorable, Gracchus continued casually.

“The one who calls herself the Messenger, though she hasn’t stated it herself, is considered His proxy.”

“P-proxy…?”

Modern people might not grasp the significance since they rarely encounter proxies in daily life…

But in this era, especially in the Rom Empire, a proxy held a considerably important position.

While it literally meant someone who acts on behalf of another person…

In Rom Empire society, being a god’s proxy meant that person had temporarily received authority from the deity.

From a meta perspective, the most representative example would be Rael Auredotir, the Commander-in-Chief of the Blood Warrior Corps.

As the proxy of Ma-Duk, the God of Vengeance, she was granted numerous authorities related to the Blood Warrior Corps.

She could force soldiers to follow her commands on the battlefield regardless of their personal will, modify operations within the framework of the original plan at her discretion.

Above all, her greatest authority was the ability to declare war based on her own judgment.

The fact that one could borrow a deity’s authority so directly was enough to startle Filena.

“Then, the Messenger… is virtually the same as His voice…”

“Yes. The words spoken by the Messenger are essentially the words of the great God of Blood and Vengeance Himself.”

“I-I see…”

The atmosphere suggested that her questions had been answered, but Filena, still perking up her ears, seemed to have more to ask Gracchus.

“Umm… well… you see…”

As she stretched out her words hesitantly, Gracchus suddenly…

Said something she could never have imagined.

“Since she’s right behind you, why not ask her directly if you have more questions, Filena?”

“───!???!”

The moment she heard those words, true to her Felinian nature, Filena jumped like a startled cat.

Shocked to her core, she turned around.

“Greetings, High Priest Gracchus. And Priestess Filena.”

“H-h-he-hello…”

Faced with the Messenger addressing her by name, her voice trembled violently, but simultaneously she thought:

‘There’s no doubt… I can tell by the voice. This person is real, truly real!’

The Messenger’s voice itself sounded ordinary—somewhat rigid but beautiful—yet each word carried power.

Every time the Messenger uttered a word, the surrounding space warped slightly, and Filena’s soul trembled with tension at the overwhelming difference in status.

There was no doubt. This was beyond a mere familiar.

‘A p-part of the god? Did they create an independent being from a piece of themselves!? What is this!?’

Before what couldn’t simply be called a messenger—essentially another aspect of the deity itself—Filena, having realized the truth, trembled uncontrollably.

“…So, how long do you plan to pretend, High Priest Gracchus.”

‘W-what…? From the beginning, you noti—’

KWANG!!!

“《Hammer of Attack Mind》, it is. Yes, it seems nothing can be hidden from the Messenger.”

After exchanging such familiar dialogue, Gracchus looked at the collapsed Felinian girl—

No, more precisely, at the doppelganger, a familiar of the “Conspiracy” who had taken the form of a girl, and spoke.

“As I suspected. A pawn of another evil god… to think such a thing was possible.”

“Yes. ‘Conspiracy’ may be weak in direct confrontation, but its tricks are troublesome. Your stalling tactics were excellent.”

“You flatter me, Messenger of the Great One.”

With such mutual compliments, the Messenger briefly observed the wrinkled, ugly doppelganger before absorbing it into a crystal orb she held.

“Priestess Filena is safe, so please be at ease, High Priest Gracchus.”

With those words that immediately dispelled Gracchus’s concerns, the Messenger vanished instantly.

And so the day came to an end on that late spring evening.

※ ※ ※

Doppelganger.

A term from German superstition referring to a human identical to oneself.

Its origins vary depending on the medium, but at least in this Dungeon & Adventure world, its origin lies with the gods.

Among the 7 Evil Gods, the relevant one is “Conspiracy.”

Befitting a deity with such a representative aspect, its familiars are thoroughly sinister.

This is where doppelgangers originated in this world.

Though classified as mid-tier monsters, their combat ability ranks at the bottom of that tier. Aside from a few special abilities, even a Blood Warrior could probably defeat one alone.

However, this means doppelgangers invest all their resources in special abilities rather than combat power.

Consequently, their special ability—transformation—has incredible utility.

They can transform into anyone they’ve seen, but the change goes far beyond mere appearance.

The original’s smell, clothing, equipment, magical abilities, aura usage, skills, and even parts of their memories.

With abilities perfectly suited for infiltration, the Evil God of Conspiracy is infamous for being disgusting to face in the game.

The trap where an entire village is replaced through a random encounter event is notorious, and these creatures, despite being mid-tier divine familiars, have low summoning costs.

By sacrificing any sentient being in a ritual, one can permanently bind a doppelganger to the mortal realm until its death…

Yet when killed, its soul returns to the Evil God of Conspiracy, making it the most troublesome spy imaginable.

Especially since some high-level specimens can rarely split themselves…

The sub-event where an NPC who has accompanied you since the beginning betrays you with “It was actually me all along!!” is infamous—easy to see through once you know, but unavoidable if you don’t…

《But you got caught by me and sealed away. What, feeling frustrated?》

Rather than being powerful, Conspiracy’s familiars are annoying due to their various special abilities, so sealing them like this turns them into mere items.

Perhaps because their HP and MP don’t change even when transformed, doppelgangers have considerable magical energy reserves for casting spells while transformed, even though they can’t use magic in their original form.

So when properly sealed in a sealing orb—specifically, one designed for Outsiders—voilà!

You get an excellent magical power source that can be embedded in magical war machines as an energy source.