Chapter 140: Invitation to Gyo-guk Part 3

The Theocracy itself is no different from a kingdom that has broken away, so that much is only natural.

And those knights had no choice but to leave as their homeland became endangered by the war against the Demon King.

“I see. That’s impressive.”

“There’s nothing impressive about it. They don’t have large numbers. And even those few are being used for internal power struggles.”

The Pope isn’t interested, so it’s like, ‘Go ahead and fight amongst yourselves.’

“The Theocracy is a pointless country, then.”

“But surprisingly, those fools only fight among themselves. That’s why other nations don’t really know about it.”

Those who have visited the Theocracy—especially envoys—would have some idea.

But for those who only trade with them, very few actually understand the inner workings of the Theocracy.

“And even if they do know, if it’s about the Goddess Church, the discussion ends there?”

“Exactly. That’s the point.”

“Wow. The Theocracy really is its own little world.”

That’s exactly what I was saying.

“Right? And yet, because they’re the Goddess Church, they trade with countless nations, and there are countries that even offer tributes. So they’ve developed quite a bit.”

“Then the Pope is just a puppet?”

‘The Pope, huh?’ No, he’s not exactly a puppet.

“The Pope isn’t just a figurehead. Given his position, the clergy must obey him absolutely. What he does is simply let them fight their own civil wars without interfering.”

‘If I were the Pope, I’d probably do the same.’

As long as no one directly opposes him, there’s no reason to get involved.

They’re only arguing behind closed doors anyway, so making a move against them would be unnecessary.

More than anything, the Pope is old.

He’s probably grown tired of the Theocracy’s politics and just leaves things be.

“Is that country even okay?”

“There are so many factions, and even their private soldiers are just knights raised for the sake of appearances, so they’re small in number. There’s barely any real armed conflict.”

And even if there were, ‘what would they use it for?’

That’s probably the one good thing about it.

The population is small, and because they are clergy, there’s a limit to the number of soldiers they can formally raise.

Naturally, no single faction has been able to amass overwhelming power.

Still, they have to maintain the structure of the Theocracy for external and internal reasons.

If they were to use even that small amount of military power recklessly, they might end up getting crushed instead.

“William is probably the only exception.”

“You mean he’s directly aiming for the Pope’s seat?”

“That’s right.”

“Shouldn’t the Pope step down at this point? If he finds it tiresome, there’s no reason to stay in that position.”

Yeah. Normally, that would be the case.

But he’s held onto the Pope’s seat for so long that he’s developed a deep attachment to the Theocracy.

He can’t just hand it over to anyone.

‘William?’ He’s all flash and no substance.

On top of that, he openly displays his ambition.

‘If he were to pass the position to his grandson, that would essentially make it hereditary.’

“But his grandson is utterly useless. He’s just like a typical prince in a monarchy—nothing more, nothing less. So he’s probably waiting for the winning faction to take the Pope’s place.”

“Would they even do a good job?”

If this were an empire, it would be a major issue.

But since it’s the Theocracy, it’s fine.

“At least they’re fighting within the laws and framework of the Theocracy. As long as that remains intact, the Pope believes the Theocracy will continue to function.”

“They fight while adhering to the rules of the Theocracy. That alone shows that if they become Pope, the Theocracy will continue to exist as it is. Diplomatic relations with neighboring countries have also been stable recently.”

From the Pope’s perspective, it’s not too bad.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“We just need to go to the Theocracy, meet the Pope, and be done with it.”

“Understood.”

There’s no reason to interfere in that country’s affairs.

The Demon King is already gone and now that I know the truth—now that I am part of the Empire—there’s no reason for me to meddle in their matters.

***

The Theocracy

The Theocracy is the continent’s largest religious nation, sharing borders with numerous countries.

Forests and canyons as vast as the Great Forest serve as natural barriers, and the entire nation is enclosed by a massive wall.

If you trace the history of the Theocracy, it began with priests of the Goddess Church who had separated from a kingdom.

However, as time passed, foreigners who wished to become clergy, refugees, and even politicians who had lost power in their struggles all settled within the Theocracy, forming a structured nation.

Thanks to this, the Theocracy has endured to this day, but beneath the surface, the descendants of former rulers continue to bicker over control.

Yet despite this—

The one who could be called the true leader of the Theocracy, Pope Glacia, remained at ease.

After all, there was no direct threat to him.

***

“Your Holiness, a letter from Knight Commander William.”

Elias, a Holy Knight and close aide, approached him, holding a scroll in one hand.

“What does it say?”

It was obvious.

That foolish grandson of his was probably rambling about something unnecessary again.

To be honest, it would have been better if he had just stayed outside.

However, now he suddenly returns, aiming for the papal seat as if it should be handed to him.

As the pope, it was nothing but frustrating.

‘What even is this position? It was nice when I was out of the Holy Kingdom because of that guy. Ugh.’

That guy.

The mage, Noah.

At one point, he was a member of the Hero’s Party, but rumors spread that he was impersonating the High Priest.

So, I summoned him.

Honestly, he was just too arrogant.

The position of High Priest is something that can only be appointed through the Holy Kingdom, no matter what anyone says.

And yet, an individual of unknown origin dared to call himself the High Priest? As the pope, I couldn’t just overlook it.

So, I summoned him.

“Do you think being part of the Hero’s Party gives you the right to call yourself the High Priest?”

“I never did that, though?”

“…?”

Turns out, he never actually claimed that title himself.

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about.

But after looking into it, I found out that while healing people on behalf of Saintess Syria, he was simply called the High Priest because he was part of the Hero’s Party.

It was truly absurd.

Still, thanks to that, I became interested in this man named Noah.

Not in a romantic sense, of course—I was too old for that.

It was more like… I just wanted to get along with him.

‘You know how some people just have that kind of inexplicable charm?’

Noah was that kind of person.

***

“Yes, Ashtar has decided to send the noble lady.”

“Hmm. Ashtar is sending their young lady so easily?”

I had said I would meet her, but it wasn’t like it mattered whether she actually came or not.

“It is said that your grandson personally persuaded them.”

“That’s nonsense.”

It was obvious.

He just wanted to take all the credit for himself.

Trying to make himself look good.

Sure, if I had to admit it, my grandson had the kind of face that could charm women.

But the noble lady in question had a reputation—she was the kind of woman most men wouldn’t even dare to approach.

There was no way she would fall for him so easily.

And it’s not like he could have built a good relationship with the duke’s family in such a short time.

Maybe he twisted my orders in a way that made the Ashtar family misunderstand.

“Your Holiness, must you speak so harshly?”

“Harsh? Am I wrong?”

Not wrong at all.

It was just nonsense.

The only fact that mattered was that the Imperial Saintess was coming to the Holy Kingdom.

“Mm… Ever since Lord Noah visited last time, Your Holiness has been speaking a little too…”

The woman recalled the time when the Hero’s Party had visited the Holy Kingdom.

Back then, Noah had been incredibly rude.

Many priests had tried to win over the Hero’s Party to their side, but the Hero had turned the situation around and used them instead.

And Noah?

With his unique way of speaking, he quickly won the priests over.

Even the pope was no exception.

In fact, the pope had met with Noah so often that he even started picking up on his speech patterns.

And now, here we were.

“Too much or not, whatever. So, what do you think of the Imperial Saintess?”

“Would she turn out to be a power-hungry villain in person as well?”

“I hear she has quite a strong personality.”

“Yes, I’ve heard the same.”

From what I recall, she was the real power behind the Imperial Church.

There was a leader, sure, but from what I had investigated, the Saintess was the one pulling all the strings from behind the scenes.

The problem was that the church wasn’t really a church at all—it was more like her personal military organization.

“They raised nuns, but religious teachings? Those had been thrown out long ago.”

“Instead, they trained battle nuns—nuns who killed.”

“Meanwhile, they used the church as an excuse to embezzle money.”

“Which is exactly why we cannot officially recognize them.”

“What?”

“The Holy Kingdom was a mess, sure, but recognizing a church with that kind of Saintess?” Impossible.

“No.”

“Oh… Wait, are you referring to that talk about recognizing the Imperial Church?”

Now that he mentioned it, there had been discussions about whether to officially recognize the Imperial Goddess Church when the Imperial Saintess arrived.

Most likely, that grandson of mine had fed the Imperial Saintess some nonsense—something that hadn’t even been formally decided—just to lure her here.

Tricking her.

That had to be it.

“For now, I just want to see her.”

The pope tapped his fingers on the edge of the desk, as if spinning them in thought.

Let’s see just how broken this so-called Goddess Church really is.

***

“Based on our information, the Imperial Goddess Church must not be recognized. How can that woman be called a Saintess? And their leader? He’s nothing but a piece of trash who uses his position to take bribes and prey on women.”

From what I had seen of him before, that so-called leader certainly looked like trash.

And yet, for some reason, the Goddess seemed to favor him.

Strangely enough, he possessed an unusual power.

“That may be true… But even that leader is no ordinary man.”

“Excuse me?”

“Who knows if he’ll ever come to this country, but… if he had been raised properly, he might have become a real religious leader. No—if he had been born in the Holy Kingdom, he would have been one. Too bad he was born in a barbarian country that has survived for over a thousand years without any real religion.”

“I hated to be prejudiced, but in a country ruled by that empress?”

“Yes, it was definitely a barbarian land.”

She walked around the palace naked.

Rumors said she kept strange monsters hidden underground.

She supposedly fought with her maids like they were equals.

Honestly, she and her people were no different from soldiers in a barracks, roughhousing and throwing punches without a care for formalities.

“Are you saying even that kind of person is blessed by the Goddess?”

“Well, yes. Beyond just his divine power…”

Based on what I’d heard, he seemed to have a slight ability to foresee the future or at least sense threats.

Actually, maybe it wasn’t religion at all—maybe he was just a superhuman.

Either way, he wasn’t an ordinary man.

If he had been properly trained, he could have at least become a priest capable of fighting against demons.

***

“Enough about the past. Let’s prepare to receive the Imperial Saintess.”

“How do you mean?”

What did he mean?

By now, Elias knew him well.

Of course—he had used Elias to test every visitor before.

“Welcome her properly. Isn’t she a noble young lady? There are plenty of figures whose reputations have been exaggerated, like Noah. Let’s observe her first. How about having the Cardinals prepare a grand reception?”

“Understood. I’ll inform my father.”

Thus, the pope and Elias decided to welcome the Imperial Saintess.