Chapter 123: Religious Reform – 1

Chapter 123: Religious Reform – 1

“…A customer?”

“……It’s an unexpected customer, but… I think we should greet them together.”

“…Wasn’t it your customer?”

At the sudden suggestion that we should greet the customer together, the Hero naturally looked like she was asking what the hell I was talking about, but there was nothing I could do.

…I didn’t know the Saintess would visit at this exact timing, the Hero didn’t know, and it was obvious the Saintess herself wouldn’t have known either.

……Though the System might have known.

A sudden thought crossed my mind, and I glared at the System’s notification window for a moment, but as always, there was no answer.

“…Tell them to come in.”

“Alright. By the way, the timing is quite peculiar, isn’t it?”

“You can say that again. How did these two end up coming to this cramped house at the same time?”

It seemed Lily also knew that the person who had just arrived was the Saintess.

Whether she recognized her or the Saintess told her directly, I didn’t know.

……Seriously, how did the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom and the Hero end up gathered together in this cramped house?

“Who is it?”

“…It’ll be someone you know, so just wait a bit, okay?”

“Someone I know… The only people I know among the Empire’s citizens are the Knight Commanders and the Imperial Family? What, did a real Knight Commander actually come?”

“……No. Not today.”

Christie visits occasionally, but not today.

Before the Hero could ask who it was, the door opened, and a girl in familiar attire entered.

A white nun’s habit, dazzling silver hair that suited the outfit perfectly, and golden eyes that felt sacred just by looking at them.

It was the same hair and eye color that the Hero had been disguising herself with until just a moment ago, for my original goal of guiding the Hero, which now seemed greatly distorted.

……But no matter how I looked at it, the Saintess seemed prettier, so it seems the fake can’t beat the original after all.

Or maybe the Hero is just uglier than the Saintess.

“Y-You, why…?”

“I told you. It would be someone you know.”

“No, even so…!”

The Hero’s reaction to this ‘unexpected’ guest was exactly as I had imagined.

Her brain seemed to have frozen at the identity of the guest, which she couldn’t quite comprehend, and honestly, no one except me and Lily would have fully understood.

…Her head already didn’t seem very good, and if her brain froze in this state, wouldn’t that be a problem? But I couldn’t say that out loud.

Because the Saintess opened her mouth first.

“……You always exceed my imagination.”

“You can say that again. I never imagined I’d be with someone like the Hero, you know. Especially… I never thought I’d meet the Saintess-nim in this situation.”

“By the way, how did you two…?”

“…If I told you we got caught in the Holy Sword’s trickery and fought to the death, would you believe me?”

After that, I briefly explained to the Saintess how the two of us ended up in the same room in this state.

And when the explanation was over, the Saintess quietly nodded and then turned towards the Hero.

“So that’s what happened. Then, Hero-nim? Holy Sword-nim?”

“Uh, huh? W-Wait, wait a minute!”

Saying that, the Saintess smiled sweetly and headed towards the Hero.

She seemed to have originally intended to talk to the Holy Sword, but for some unknown reason, the Holy Sword had disappeared, so she just went straight to the Hero.

“…Hero-nim.”

“……Uh, hmm.”

The Hero’s face was filled with tension and a faint hint of worry.

……To be precise, it was exactly the expression a child makes right before getting scolded by their parents for doing something wrong.

The Hero, who wouldn’t listen to the Holy Sword at all, seemed to be afraid of the Saintess’s words.

Considering their attitudes towards each other and the Hero disguising herself with the Saintess’s hair and eye color, I thought their relationship was quite close, but looking at it now, it felt more like the Saintess was the Hero’s control device.

Given that the Hero, who would usually casually dismiss what others say, was tense and unable to do so, this must be a case of human compatibility.

However, the Saintess’s reaction seemed different from the Hero’s prediction.

She simply smiled lightly and refreshingly, and whispered softly.

“…So now you’re also someone who’s made a mistake, just like me?”

“……Huh?”

“I didn’t have a great first meeting with Lucia either, you know. So that’s always bothered me a bit… but now there’s one more person in a similar situation.”

Ah, I think I understand what she means.

Actually, my first meeting with the Saintess was during a skirmish with the inquisitor commander who was trying to capture me.

Well, strictly speaking, the first meeting was when she visited the potion shop with a friend, hiding her identity, but I intentionally pretended not to recognize the Saintess.

…It was so chaotic, and for me, it was a branch, so I didn’t feel any emotion, but from the Saintess’s perspective, she seemed to feel a bit sorry about it.

“…Is that right?”

“Well, it’s lighter on the mind to have someone else who’s made the same mistake, rather than making a mistake all by yourself, isn’t it?”

“No, I was fine in the first place?”

“……Still, it wasn’t the right thing to do. Oh, and actually, the reason I’m here now is also related to that incident.

I told you before, didn’t I? I want to change the Holy Kingdom.”

Perhaps because she didn’t quite understand what she was saying, the Hero stood dumbfounded behind her, and the Saintess began to explain the current situation and her reason for coming to me.

In other words, she explained how messed up the Holy Kingdom currently was, and how she planned to overhaul it.

For the record, the Saintess also very kindly explained to the Hero, who was asking what the hell was going on, how we had met.

……Looking at it this way, I suddenly felt how much I had suffered back then.

Anyway, to summarize the Saintess’s words that followed, after failing to capture me alive and instead having their captain captured by the Empire, the power of the inquisitor faction and some related cardinals had waned.

To compensate for this, they were implementing even more radical and inhumane policies.

And, accordingly, the first target of reform would also be them.

Of course, other cardinals also seemed to have problems, but

Because the inquisitor faction had gone to great lengths to restore their power, their problems and corruption became more prominent, and it seemed like this could be exploited well.

“That’s good. I hope this allows the Church to take another step forward.”

“…However, it’s still a bit lacking. Currently, there are virtually no people within the Church who follow me.

So, there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you, Lucia.”

“……If you’re asking me to pretend to be a heretic again and cause trouble, I’ll refuse immediately. After that Holy Sword bastard’s trickery, I’m quite fed up with the idea of being a heretic.”

“It’s not that, it’s just… I’d like you to come to the Holy Kingdom for a while, if that’s possible?”

*

Quest – ‘Religious Reform with the Saintess! – Prologue’ has begun!

-> Among the corrupt cardinals of the Church, the corruption of those associated with the inquisitor faction has been firmly exposed!

=> Through this, they can be sufficiently ‘reformed’, but the Saintess currently has virtually no internal Church personnel to support her!

=> Accompany the Saintess to the Holy Kingdom and establish her base of support!

+> The Hero must accompany you on this quest.

+> Upon completion of all Religious Reform quests, you will receive immense support for the Holy Kingdom faction, and for one time only, the Holy Kingdom faction will act according to your will.

Additionally, hints and information about future branches not yet revealed to you will be provided!

*

……It was truly a quest of all sorts.

The reward was undeniably good. The problem was that it looked difficult at a glance, and this was only the ‘Prologue’.

Even if I didn’t know anything else, that last line, the part about having to accompany this idiotic Hero, was the biggest problem.

Look, even now, she can’t follow this conversation and is just staring blankly at our faces, alternating between us, you know?

While I was silently cursing the Hero, she finally seemed to understand the conversation so far and began to question the Saintess.

It seemed she had realized that what we were planning was truly an upheaval of the Church.

“No, wait, wait a minute. You… what on earth are you planning to do?”

“Well, it’s about guiding the problematic Church onto the right path, isn’t it?”

“S-Saintess-nim? You’ve become quite… radical, I should say, since I last saw you? If you do something like this so radically, it’ll cause friction.

No, and in the first place, discussing such an important matter with an outsider of the Holy Kingdom is also a bit problematic…”

“Most of that friction would probably be resolved if you accompanied us, wouldn’t it?”

For the record, I was serious. No matter how lazy and utterly useless the Hero’s mindset might be, she’s still the Hero.

The power she possesses as a Hero? Her skill? Those are useful, of course, but even more useful is her status as the Hero.

No matter how solid the Church is, if the Saintess and the Hero both question things, saying there seem to be some strange points, it’s impossible to dismiss them.

……Anyway, since the quest says to accompany the Hero, I have no choice but to go with her, even if I don’t trust her.

“Accompany? I have things to do too, so that might be difficult…”

“Hero-nim. How much do you know about the Holy Kingdom and the Church?”

“……Just that the Pope, who receives divine revelations, is taking good care of things?”

“The problem is that that’s not the case, and most believers believe it to be so. I recently realized these things thanks to Lucia.

Since you meet with the cardinals directly, you couldn’t have been completely unaware of this… Didn’t you vaguely feel that there were some things wrong?”

“……”

Silence flowed.

Honestly, I wanted to tell her that she had wronged me, and that since it was her Holy Kingdom she had to return to, she should cooperate, but I also remained silent.

This conversation, at this moment, was solely between the Saintess and the Hero.

The Saintess, who had seen the truth and dark side of the Holy Kingdom and wanted to change it, and the Hero, who vaguely knew but had ignored it.

It was a conversation where the Saintess simply extended her hand and proposed to that Hero to properly change and set the Holy Kingdom right.

“The Hero-nim I know is lazy, finds many things bothersome, and isn’t particularly diligent, but……”

“Hey, just insult me directly.”

“……Nevertheless, I believe she wouldn’t want the Holy Kingdom, those who follow the Church, to go down the wrong path.”

……Silence flowed once again.

The Saintess gazed at the Hero without another word, and the Hero gazed back at the Saintess.

After a brief moment, the Hero’s lips moved.

“…Tsk. You should explain the situation properly before giving orders. At least I need to know what’s going on.

Anyway, I guess it’s just my bad luck today; all sorts of things are happening.”

The answer to the Saintess’s proposal was acceptance.