Great Harmony (4)

“Great Priest, have you heard about the news of the elves…”

“Is this the time to worry about such things? The ungrateful Rohiten is trying to sway the Order as he pleases!”

The Order of Light, with the largest religious influence on the continent, encompassing all races and factions. The headquarters of this Order had been maintaining a tense atmosphere recently.

Two factions were divided, fighting over who should succeed the previous Grand Priest as the leader.

Lebevre, one of the key executives right below the Grand Priest, was no exception. At least for this moment, dealing with the internal strife was more important than any external issues.

‘But Rohiten’s faction monopolizes the Order’s holy water business. If this continues, we’ll inevitably fall behind in financial power…’

The current situation was about 7 to 3, unfavorable to Lebevre’s faction. The hostile faction that essentially staged a coup had already been thoroughly preparing, and they couldn’t stop the enemies’ machinations.

There was no proper way to reverse the situation that was becoming more unfavorable as time passed. The anguish of Lebevre, who played the role of the faction’s advisor, was also deepening day by day.

“So, you’re saying we should recruit this person named Lebevre?”

And there were those who saw through their entire situation and wanted to exploit it.

In fact, although it was just internal strife within the Order that others weren’t very interested in, it was very important for someone that they quickly resolve this.

“From what I hear, it seems the legitimacy lies with these people?”

“That’s right. There was someone originally decided to succeed as the Grand Priest, but the opposing side raised objections, and that’s how the power struggle began.”

Arisa nodded at Isilia’s words, who had flown here via a jump point in just one day.

“We’re in a hurry. It’s better to support the cleanest person possible to avoid future complications.”

“But the situation is unfavorable. They’re in a position where they might lose everything and be expelled if things go wrong.”

“It doesn’t matter. I brought quite a lot this time.”

Isilia grinned and handed Patrick a stack of promissory notes she pulled out from her chest.

In fact, the only one who could properly recognize what these were was Patrick, excluding Lina, a poor orphan beastkin, Laila, who was an academy student, and Arisa, an elf. But Patrick’s shocked reaction was enough for the others to get a hint.

These promissory notes, bearing the names of famous merchant groups operating on a continental scale, were items that could bring in an enormous amount of gold, prepared by Ethan mobilizing his organization.

‘It’s nothing, I can just make a few artifacts to make up for it.’

Isilia felt no pangs of conscience despite extracting such a huge amount of money. After all, it was something she could easily replicate.

“Let’s go meet Lebevre. We’ll convince him to join hands with us by offering help in the crisis he’s facing.”

“With this…”

It was uncertain how effective such a bribe would be for a priest pious enough to become a Great Priest, but the timing was exquisite.

Lebevre, who must be in quite a desperate state, would surely find it difficult to resist this enormous temptation.

* * *

“Ahem, then I’ll wait here and bring him. It would look strange if we all rushed in from the start.”

The place we decided to execute our plan was when Lebevre was returning home after work. There’s a secluded alley on the way to his mansion.

This place was in the heart of the city managed by the Order, so it was hard to find any ruffians, but it was still sufficient for a discreet conversation.

“Go and listen.”

As Patrick moved away, I attached wind spirits to his side. Their role was to intervene if necessary and relay to me what was happening there.

“W-What! Who are you!”

Soon, I heard Patrick blocking the carriage Lebevre was riding in. I heard the startled coachman shouting and the carriage window opening.

“Great Priest Lebevre. Could we talk for a moment? I’m just a mere adventurer, but I’m sure there will be a good outcome.”

Patrick politely greeted and revealed the main point. The rest was to see how the other party would react.

“You’re certainly an adventurer from outside. Otherwise, you wouldn’t do such a meaningless act.”

Lebevre ignored Patrick and started the carriage. I heard Patrick flinching and dodging the carriage. I thought he might, but for someone in a bad situation, his attitude was more resolute than expected.

“Seems he’s not desperate enough yet. But we’re in a hurry, aren’t we?”

It couldn’t be helped. I slightly moved my position and instructed the earth spirit to hold the carriage wheels. Then the ground shook, the road cracked, and the carriage wheels sank right in.

“W-What is this!”

Lebevre, startled, looked at the carriage wheels from inside and was shocked. He seemed to think Patrick had done this.

“It would be good for both of us to talk.”

“You…”

Patrick must have been surprised too, but he started to take control of the atmosphere. Whether it was effective or not, Lebevre hesitated, unable to ignore Patrick as he did at first.

As if even a strong priest couldn’t be sure.

“The reason I came like this is because I thought I might be able to help you, Great Priest.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know how much you know, but help from someone like you…”

“Gold equivalent to 100,000 gold coins.”

“!”

At the mention of gold, Lebevre’s words were suddenly cut off. As we had found out, it seemed he desperately needed financial support.

From Lebevre’s standpoint, it must be tempting that we knew about the internal affairs he was trying to handle without letting the outside world know, and that we were offering exactly what he needed.

“If the funding issue is resolved, you won’t be pushed back by the opposition, right?”

“Who on earth are you people?”

Patrick’s words, accompanied by a smirk, changed Lebevre’s tone. Judging by his use of “you people,” he seems to have noticed that Patrick was simply a messenger.

‘Just waver a little more.’

Lebevre is in a hurry too. From his trembling voice, I believed that if we shook him a little more, Lebevre would become interested in Patrick’s words.

“…Nonsense. It’s impossible.”

However, Lebevre finally gritted his teeth and pointed the staff he was holding at Patrick. Contrary to my expectations, this Great Priest’s heart seemed to be more straightforward than I thought.

“To involve a suspiciously external force in the Order’s internal affairs! That would mean losing all justification. Do you know why the world doesn’t know much about the internal strife happening in the Order right now? At least reveal your true identities first!”

I was wrong. Lebevre rejected the proposal due to a more practical issue rather than straightforward belief. He meant that if he accepted funds of suspicious origin and identity, the opposing faction would gain justification.

This problem was even bigger because they were a special organization called the Order. The original plan of putting Patrick at the forefront to handle things had to be scrapped from this moment.

“Lady Isilia?”

“I see what the problem is. This issue can’t be resolved by leaving it to Patrick. Follow me, Arisa.”

I smirked and gestured to Arisa, who was hiding and holding her breath. I wanted to handle this as quietly as possible, but now there was no choice.

“Quickly return the carriage wheels, or I’ll attack.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You dare…!”

Meanwhile, Lebevre attacked Patrick. A flash of light suddenly burst out like a shock from the staff he was holding.

Although I knew it was just a threat without killing intent, I, who was walking, used the earth spirit to erect a large stone wall in front of Patrick to block it.

“This can’t be.”

The shocked Lebevre faltered. Finally, at that moment, Lebevre’s gaze fixed on me and Arisa walking behind Patrick.

His eyes grew much wider. So much that the wrinkles around his eyes disappeared momentarily.

I walked unhesitatingly and slowly removed my hood while feeling his gaze. Arisa beside me did the same. Lebevre froze as if to prove what it means to be frozen in place, stiffening with even his breath stopped.

“It seems you’re trying to protect what you should, but from my perspective, it’s pathetic. The world is in an uproar about whether it’s going to end or not, but you’re too busy with infighting to even pay attention. Can you still call yourselves the continent’s number one Order?”

As I snapped my fingers, with a slight vibration, both the stone wall that had shot up from the ground and the earth that had swallowed the carriage returned to their original state cleanly.

Lebevre’s eyes flickered to the pavement that had returned to normal with a clatter. His face showed that he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

“Who… are you?”

His words, barely uttered, were more predictable than I thought.

It was the reaction I had seen to the point of nausea from those who had seen me so far.