episode_0030

“Saintess, it’s time to wake up.”

It was a bright and warm morning like any other.

Joahn Ayende, the saintess of the Goddess Order that spanned the entire continent, rubbed her bleary eyes and rose.

“Haaah… It’s already morning.”

She groped the floor with her toes, barely finding her slippers, and rang the bell by her bedside.

It was to call the servant who would be waiting outside.

This was a guest room located in the Elaine Kingdom Cathedral.

It was a space prepared solely for the saintess, so unusually for a cathedral, there was a servant.

Well, when you get down to it, they just took a volunteer from the priests.

“You’ve been waking up early lately?”

“It’s an important time. I must do my best to fulfill the duties assigned to me.”

“That’s an excellent attitude. The Holy Emperor, held captive by Duce, will be pleased.”

*As if* the human who always stares at my tits every time we meet would be.

Those words rose to the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t bother to spit them out.

She was now the head of the Goddess Order, after all.

Since the Helvetia Republic occupied the Holy Emperor’s territory, the only being in the world with the authority to lead the Goddess Order was the saintess.

As someone who had taken on a heavy responsibility at a young age, it was necessary to show some sense of responsibility and gravity.

If she kept grumbling and acting frivolous every day, what would the believers think of the Order?

“Shall I prepare water and towels for you to wash?”

“It’s alright. Could you bring me a simple snack instead? Something like a sandwich or fruit.”

“I will bring it to you shortly.”

While the old priest went to get the food, Joahn was attended to by the nuns who helped her dress.

She took off her fluttering pajamas, put on a dress with a subtle amount of exposure, and then wore simple accessories.

She combed her soft, green hair and wiped away any impurities from her face.

It was complete with a robe to cover her massive tits, which had so much presence that they would be emphasized even if she didn’t want them to be.

Finally, carrying the Holy Staff and the Bible was the basic attire of the saintess.

‘It’s a little tight.’

She had definitely measured her size last month and had the clothes altered.

Why did she feel cramped again?

Could it be that her breasts had grown again in the meantime?

If those chunks, already bigger than her head, swelled up any more, she wouldn’t be able to handle it…

She grumbled inwardly, but couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

If the nuns next to her heard it, they would surely give her looks filled with anger and jealousy that would terrify even the devil.

“Good morning, Saintess. Did you have a peaceful night?”

“Thanks to you. The bed is so comfortable that I fell asleep right away.”

When she finished her simple meal with the food brought by the priest and left the room, there was a bishop.

He was a member of the delegation she was bringing.

At the same time, he was also an assistant who gave her advice in areas where she was weak, such as politics and diplomacy.

“What is the schedule for today?”

“Not much. You will attend the worship service and have a meeting with the representatives of each diocese. According to the original schedule, there was supposed to be a summit with the King in the afternoon…”

The bishop clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“He suddenly notified us of the cancellation two hours ago. He said he wanted to postpone the schedule to the week after next.”

It was an incredibly rude act.

The saintess clearly had a status comparable to the Holy Emperor, that is, on par with the head of state.

Moreover, Joahn was currently temporarily holding the position of Holy Emperor.

It was an unforgivable act for the King to come out barefoot to greet her, but to commit such a discourtesy was unacceptable.

“They’re trying to break our spirit now that the war has broken out!”

They couldn’t be ignorant of this common sense.

Nevertheless, the only interpretation was that they were doing this for one reason only.

A battle of wills.

Since the war had broken out and they had taken a stance against the Goddess Order, they were trying to establish dominance.

Now that they had accepted the 115 articles of refutation, it was impossible to coexist with the existing Order system anyway.

Now that the Holy Emperor’s territory had collapsed and their power had waned, they must be planning to tame the Order.

“Saintess, you must formally protest this. How can they inflict such an outrage on us, who serve the Goddess…”

“I’ll leave the response to the bishop. However, as for the date of the meeting, there is no need to change it.”

“Yes? Why is that?”

“Because I have some personal business to take care of.”

To the bishop’s words, which called for a strong response, the saintess nodded, but expressed her opinion that some concessions were acceptable.

In this situation, they were the weaker party anyway.

They had lost their base and headquarters, barely formed a government-in-exile, and were just being swayed by the situation.

Wasn’t the reason the saintess had moved from Navrre to Elaine to petition for an end to the persecution and restraint against the Church?

‘Honestly, we’re losing the justification too.’

It was difficult to actively refute the claims because the Order had been quite corrupt.

They had been eating away at it for hundreds of years.

There were many times when they shared or shared it with the royal family and nobles, but…

In any case, since the mastermind was affiliated with them and the problem had been raised first, the responsibility rested with the Order.

“I understand. But what personal business could you possibly have…?”

The bishop nodded, acknowledging that he didn’t know anything about the complicated situation, but was puzzled.

What personal business could the saintess, who had no special ties to this land, have?

“I received a divine message.”

“Ah!”

The saintess answered.

It was the will of the Goddess.

“I can’t tell you the details, but she wants me to go to the Academy. So I’m going to go there for a while.”

“I understand. I’ll tell the other priests as well.”

As the bishop, nodding diligently, stepped back, the saintess, left alone, headed for the chapel.

The rhythmic click-clack of her high heels against the stone floor echoed through the hallway.

‘The divine message… was cut off halfway.’

It was the night before last.

When the saintess was relaxing in the bathtub, the Goddess spoke directly into her ear.

[Hey, are you listening?]

Unlike her usual relaxed and arrogant tone, her voice was extremely urgent.

She didn’t wait for an answer and fired off a series of words.

Unlike her, in a desperate tone.

[I’m in a big hurry right now? So I’ll get straight to the point. There’s someone in the world who’s deliberately instigating war and spreading discord.]

‘Are you saying there’s a mastermind behind the current great war?’

[Yes. So you need to go to the Academy right now and find an instructor named Raemis–]

It was cut off in the middle, so she couldn’t hear everything.

Probably the Goddess didn’t have enough divine power, so it was cut off.

Divine power is a power created by faith.

Since the number of believers who offered their faith had decreased a lot due to the war, it wasn’t an unusual phenomenon.

‘That person has to be there.’

But she could understand the general meaning.

A person named Raemis was clearly an assistant that the Goddess had arranged. An expert who would help her find and defeat the villain threatening the continent.

She was called an instructor, so the knowledge she possessed must be important.

She didn’t know exactly how it would help… but she could go and meet that person and ask for guidance.

If necessary, she could scout them directly.

‘Based on the name, it seems like a man. I hope he’s handsome.’

Based on the fragmentary information she was given, Joahn made a rational judgment.

Unaware that she was about to become Inspector Lestrade shaking hands with Moriarty.

* * * * *

“…So you’ve come to hear my lecture.”

“Yes! Are there any seats left?”

“…Of course. There happens to be one seat left.”

I don’t know what the hell is going on.

Since the saintess was earnestly asking me, I had no choice but to accept a transfer student into my special lecture on political science.

The excuse that I was picky about the qualifications for taking the class was meaningless.

The head of the continent’s largest religious order says they want to learn from me, so how can I refuse?

The headmaster was staring at me fiercely from the side, for crying out loud.

“Then come to this classroom three times a week, at 1 p.m.”

“Thank you. Ah, Instructor? Could I ask you for guidance separate from the lecture?”

“Are you talking about private lessons?”

“Yes. I don’t have much time, but there’s a lot I want to learn.”

“…I’ll make time in the morning.”

As a temporary instructor, I had no right to refuse the earnest request of a high-ranking person.

In the end, I had no choice but to accept a contract to be the saintess’s exclusive instructor from Monday to Friday for two weeks.

Well, it was annoying, but I was going to do my job faithfully anyway.

It would be a problem if I got a bad reputation for doing it carelessly.

Until Kalya completes her mission, I should work normally.

“Since time is short, let’s move on quickly. Today, we’ll learn about the difference between monarchy and republic, and diplomatic rhetoric.”

I condensed and passed on to her the vast amount of knowledge I had accumulated through my studies.

Basic diplomatic theory, how to use political expressions, the basic principles of diplomacy, and the differences between countries depending on their system, etc.

Things that were useful in this era and not ideologically dangerous.

“When a diplomat says they will consider something positively, it means don’t even dream about it. When they say they will actively promote something, it means they will try it once.”

“Ideology has a stronger power than you might think. Like in the case of Helvetia, it can sometimes drive an entire country into madness.”

“When making deals or contracts between countries, you should not expect the other party’s goodwill. That’s a shortcut to being scammed and robbed unilaterally.”

Surprisingly, the saintess was quite a good student. She concentrated on what I was saying and actively asked questions if she didn’t know something.

Unlike the lazy guys who just sat there and did other things or slept.

In a way, it was fun to teach her.

“Then in diplomacy, the expressions ‘must’ and ‘definitely’ are forbidden?”

“That’s right. Unless you want to ruin your own credibility forever.”

However, the teacher-student relationship that had been formed by chance.

Due to her reckless remarks and my sudden outburst, it led to catastrophe.

* * * * *

“Honestly, I don’t understand this guy Ishmael. How can he think of going against her while living under the Goddess’s grace?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Honestly, isn’t that right? It’s all thanks to the Goddess that we live a happy life. I don’t understand why he would try to go against her.”

What do you know about me?