Ch.908Take Good Care of Your Younger Sibling.

After finishing my conversation with Agnes, I visited the cathedral of the Church of Astraea to meet Cardinal Ernliter.

I didn’t have any particular business with him, but since I was visiting Alhebron, I needed to meet him at least once.

If someone known as the Saint of the church openly bypassed her own cardinal, it would be quite a blow to his dignity.

In other words, I was acting as a “Saint” should. After all, it was thanks to Astraea that I had overcome the crisis.

“Ooooooh…!”

Though I regretted that decision within five minutes of meeting him.

Cardinal Ernliter seemed reasonably normal until we exchanged formal greetings.

However, his appearance of normalcy ended there.

When Ernliter began our proper conversation, he carefully asked about Astraea’s halo, and when I showed it to him instead of answering, he immediately devolved into a monkey who had lost the ability to speak.

“Ooh, uooooh! Oeooooo…!”

Ernliter kept making these howling sounds, having forgotten human speech in his lethal dose of religious ecstasy.

His reason only returned after he had smoked an entire cigarette with deep sighs.

Afterward, the somewhat calmed Ernliter spent a full ten minutes praising the goddess’s grace and blessings with all manner of flowery phrases.

Then he went on to shower me with embarrassingly excessive praise, saying I was incredibly devout for having received the goddess’s personal protection.

And as the crowning touch, he handed me ten volumes of scripture, saying they would help me carry out Astraea’s will.

He insisted I should read them whenever I had time.

I had originally planned to tell him about hearing the goddess’s voice, but seeing his reaction, I had to abandon that idea, not knowing what might happen if I did.

Even Agnes hadn’t yet heard Menes’s voice, so if I mentioned that the goddess had spoken to me…

I don’t know for sure, but he might have tried to offer me the entire Holy State.

That’s how fanatical his attitude was when he faced my halo.

—-

My audience with Ernliter left me mentally exhausted. Plus, I was now burdened with ten volumes of scripture.

He was truly exhausting in many ways.

But I suppose all fanatics are like that.

…Anyway, that concluded everything I needed to do in the Holy State.

All that remained was to visit the Empire to meet Leopold, then return to Hestella.

I had actually planned to meet Cardinal Richard of the Church of Elpinel as well… but I was told he had left for the western border, leading his holy knights.

A cardinal leaving the capital to personally travel to the border region? Quite an unconventional move. Perhaps he hasn’t fully shed his holy knight tendencies?

Anyway, with both Richard and Ceylon gone west, there was no one else I particularly needed to meet.

So after informing Cardinal Ernliter that I would be leaving the Holy State tomorrow, I borrowed a private room in the cathedral and finally got some proper rest.

I bathed with the assistance of priestesses who wore reverent expressions, filled my stomach with fresh meat dishes, and then secluded myself in my private room to smoke.

It felt like all my accumulated fatigue was being washed away by this luxury.

It was a bit troublesome when the cardinal asked me to participate in prayers at every prayer time.

If it were just closing my eyes and praying, that would be fine, but the problem was my position as the church’s Saint.

Every time I participated in a prayer ceremony, I had to say something as a Saint, which was quite bothersome.

Of course, bearing the title of Saint, I couldn’t skip prayer ceremonies just because they were annoying.

“—Therefore, as the sword of the goddess, we must eradicate all evil down to its roots.”

So I ended up standing on the podium delivering various speeches.

Even wearing the flowing ceremonial robe they had given me as a Saint’s vestment.

“For the ideal world of order and goodness, a blue and pure world that will be reached after destroying evil again and again.”

Well, the speech itself wasn’t that difficult.

I just glossed over the existing doctrines of the Church of Astraea since everyone already knew them, and instead delivered ideologies taught to soldiers in the Republic of Korea, rearranged in the church’s style, which was quite effective.

“—For a blue and pure world!”

Perhaps because I gave the speech with my halo activated at the cardinal’s strong request, as soon as I finished speaking, everyone was chanting “blue and pure world.”

Anyway, after finishing the prayer and returning to my room, I spent time writing a letter.

To whom, you ask? Well…

“To His Majesty Cylude, Dragon King of Jin”

A letter to Cylude, the king of the Dragonic Kingdom.

——–

Since we have never met, I will refrain from using expressions of affection, Your Majesty King Cylude.

I have read your letter well.

“If you attempt to enter the country again, we will have to question the true intentions of your country and the Church of Astraea”… quite an impressive expression.

It seems there has been some misunderstanding, so I am sending this reply.

Contrary to Your Majesty’s misunderstanding, our purpose is not to cause discord in your country. Rather, it could be said to be the opposite.

Dragon King, do you know?

That attached to your half-dragon sister, whom you have raised with such care to reduce the influence of the orthodox dragonborn, is a parasite no different from a worm.

That worm’s name is Bernard Feiler. A member of a group that worships an old god rejected as heresy, he is like a spark that will bring chaos to the Dragonic Kingdom.

The recent incident with the Four Dragons was also orchestrated by their group.

Your Majesty’s wish must be for the Dragonic Kingdom to enjoy stable prosperity under your name.

Forgive my presumption, but this is a wish that can never be fulfilled as long as Bernard is left unchecked.

The operational policy of the organization he belongs to is to cause chaos in world affairs. Reviving the Four Dragons was part of that plan.

If left unchecked, before long, the returned dragons will fly throughout the Dragonic Kingdom, reducing the entire country to ashes.

I don’t believe you wish to become the last Dragon King, ruling alone over burnt ruins. I trust you do not.

Moreover, the plot Bernard harbors in his heart is not just that.

Although it is distasteful to mention even in a letter due to its explicit nature…

In Bernard’s eyes when he looks at Your Majesty’s sister, Princess Persiella, there is a truly base desire.

The desire unique to human males who covet beauty.

While causing chaos in the world is the goal of the cult group Bernard belongs to, Bernard’s goal itself can be considered Princess Persiella herself.

You understand what I mean, don’t you?

Whether it stems from affection or a desire to dominate, I cannot judge… but I think the result will be the same either way.

Within a year at most, you might see a half-human, half-dragon hybrid.

While the birth of a new heir to the Dragonic Kingdom or the Celestial Demon Palace might be considered a national celebration…

I wonder if Your Majesty would consider it a celebration for the princess of the Dragonic Kingdom to bear a child of a cultist with only a quarter of dragonborn blood.

Therefore, as a woman concerned about the princess’s future, I tried to warn her directly… but regrettably, the princess did not take it seriously.

I cannot be certain, but she may already be enchanted by that man. Enchanting others and making them slaves is one of the main methods of cultists.

If that is the case, news of the marriage of the head of the Celestial Demon Palace might be heard within a dozen days.

If things proceed that way, sending Your Majesty this letter will have been the right decision.

Marriage is a significant matter for the entire family. Your Majesty should know in advance what kind of man will become your brother-in-law.

That is all I have to convey. No reply is necessary.

– Queen of Hestella, Haschal Median Aishan-Gioro.

P.S.

Come to think of it, in Bernard’s case, rather than saying he “enchanted” the princess, “trained” might be a more appropriate expression.

After interrogating an executive of equal rank to Bernard, I learned that Bernard’s hobby is to completely subjugate women’s bodies and minds and put leashes on them.

Like raising a pet dog, he enjoys tying naked women with leashes to chairs, or taking them for walks to show off to other cult members.

To summarize such behavior in one word, “training” would indeed be most appropriate.

Wouldn’t you agree?

——–

‘Hmm, this should be good enough?’

I reviewed the completed letter to check if there were any issues with the content.

Advice that if he doesn’t want to see his sister become a bitch and have a half-dragonborn nephew, he should urgently eliminate the pervert bastard who’s attached to his sister.

It was a perfect masterpiece with no flaws—maintaining proper courtesy without any trace of servility, even though I wrote it myself.

Even if not at the level of a father with a daughter, a brother who cares for his sister wouldn’t leave Bernard alone after reading this letter.

With the authority of the royal family and the stability of the Dragonic Kingdom at stake, he would likely try to eliminate Bernard somehow.

Since it had become difficult for me to deal with Bernard directly, this was the best option available to me now.

[…You should truly be grateful that you obtained the power of Cheonwecheon.]

Hersella’s assessment seemed a bit harsh.

‘What now? What’s the problem?’

I wondered what kind of nitpicking she was going to do this time.

[Everything.]

Hersella snorted with a scornful tone.

‘Everything?’

[If the khan of a minor tribe had sent me such a letter, I would have torn apart both the letter and the messenger on the spot and declared war.]

‘That’s because you’re a barbarian.’

I also snorted with laughter.

I asked what she meant, and as expected, it was just her usual nitpicking.

I personally wrote and sent a letter expressing concern for the future of the Dragonic Kingdom, and she talks about tearing apart messengers and declaring war?

Who would do such a thing except barbarians like the Ka’har?

It was a typical barbaric idea from a savage tribe where swords come before words.