episode_0082

91.

Bishop Inari’s encounter with the drunken Inquisitor was not a complete coincidence.

It was a coincidence that the person he contacted was a drunken heresy inquisitor, but since Bishop Inari was traveling around under the pretext of an inspection and looking for people who were dissatisfied with the saint’s recent interpretation of new doctrines, it had to be seen as half intentional.

In cases where it is not possible to talk at length, such as when meeting a drunken heretic inquisitor, give brief hints and promise for the next time, and make time to sit down with those who are clearly opposed to the saint’s new interpretation of the doctrine. So we had a serious discussion and reaffirmed each other’s positions.

Although it was not easy to identify and gather people of the same position, Bishop Inari had the political acumen to do so.

Even if the halo of being the saint’s teacher had a great influence, it was impossible for anyone to occupy the position of bishop of the royal capital. If she had been an ordinary priest with no worldly desires or special abilities, she would have held the position of bishop of a suitable locality rather than the royal capital. will be.

A group of people who were carefully selected by Bishop Inari and opposed to the saint’s new interpretation of doctrine.

In a place that was held several times and was previously just a place for people with similar thoughts to gather and air their grievances, Bishop Inari’s sudden bombshell statement brought silence to the noisy hall for a moment and everyone’s attention was drawn to it. The focus was on Bishop Inari.

“Lord, Bishop, those words are so…”

The first to break the silence that lasted for a while and speak was the heresy inquisitor who had met Bishop Inari while drunk earlier.

Bishop Inari opened his mouth with a calm expression on his face, in contrast to her stuttering words with her eyes wide open as if she was greatly shocked.

“Too much? What do you mean? Too extreme? Extreme? no. Not at all, Inquisitor Ferreira. All we are doing is to educate those who are walking the wrong path and give them a chance to repent. How can we say that this is radical or extreme?”

A quiet voice pierced everyone’s ears, like a priest teaching priest candidates.

“Don’t be fooled by the object’s specialness. All the Inquisitor has to do is carry out his or her duty as a Heretic Questioner, no different from what he or she has done before.”

As Bishop Inari continued, Inquisitor Ferreira’s eyes, which had been shaking mercilessly, stopped.

The embarrassment on his face disappeared, and Bishop Inari continued speaking with a gentle smile as he faced Interrogator Ferreira’s expression of interest.

“I am just trying to provide some small help as the current situation is special and there will likely be difficulties in the interrogator’s ‘legitimate’ execution. All of you gathered here also want to help each other as members of the same church.”

Bishop Inari took his eyes off Inquisitor Ferreira and looked over those gathered in the hall.

There were a few people who made eye contact with her and were shocked and embarrassed, but in the end, everyone nodded slightly, expressing agreement with what she said.

The corner of Bishop Inari’s eyes gently curved as he confirmed that there was some agitation but no opposition.

“Well, since it seems like no one has a different opinion… Now, let’s discuss specific ways to lead our saint on the right path.”

Even after Bishop Inari’s words fell out, everyone was hesitant at first, but as Bishop Inari started talking mainly to the ‘expert’ Inquisitors, including Inquisitor Ferreira, the framework of the plan was quickly established.

Then, the remaining people gradually joined in and started talking about how they could help each other, and the bare-bones plan quickly became more fleshed out.

92.

The saint’s whereabouts and schedule are public information.

This is natural because the saint, who is the face of the church, has no reason to hide in secret.

Of course, this does not mean that everyone knows the saint’s every move, but that it is easy to find out with a little research.

Therefore, the date and time for Bishop Inari and his party to carry out the rebellion were quickly decided.

A few days after Bishop Inari’s group decided to ‘reform’ the saint, a small hall with a statue of the goddess was located.

Unlike the main temple where hundreds or thousands of people can gather, even the small hall attached to the annex building is owned by the goddess, so it cannot be used exclusively by individuals, even temporarily.

Since there was no one who dared to interrupt the saint’s prayers or anyone who tried to pray side by side, it was naturally a place where the saint seemed to have it all to herself when she was praying in front of the goddess statue.

Because the saint was aware of this situation, she used the time in the early morning, when the sun had not yet risen, to avoid the time used by other people.

Since he was visiting a remote place at such a time and went alone without an escort or accompanying priest because he was inside a temple, there were no better conditions for Bishop Inari and his gang who were targeting the saint.

“Um….”

In front of the door of the temple where the saint would be alone, Bishop Inari, who was about to open the door, suddenly stopped, drooling.

Once you open this door, there is no turning back.

There is still room for excuses as long as they gather those who are dissatisfied with the new interpretation of the saint and form a faction, but if they touch the saint directly, their previous relationship will truly be over.

It was inevitable that there would be a moment of hesitation.

Bishop Inari spoke words to the saint in his heart that a priest could not dare to say.

In the first place, if the saint had not suddenly announced a new interpretation of doctrine or anything else without any consultation, there would have been no reason for her to do this.

Even if he only gave her a hint, if he had already recruited other priests except her and carried out the work without her knowing.

Bishop Inari gritted his teeth as he thought about the what-ifs that kept coming to his mind.

In fact, she had no complaints about the new doctrine announced by the saint.

What was important to her was that the saint, whom she had been supporting as a political partner based on her past relationship with a priest, suddenly began to ostracize her for some reason.

It may be that he is reacting too sensitively without even having a single conversation with the saint, but Bishop Inari, who survived the bloody political world of the church with the saint and rose to the position of bishop of the royal capital, does not know the saint’s exact intentions, but only knows that she is out of the saint’s eyes. could be sure.

I also know that if I stay like this, nothing good will ever happen.

Just as falling from a high place hurts more, Bishop Inari knew very well what a person of her level would face if she were kicked out of church politics by someone with the status of a saint, and that it would be worse than death. there was.

So, in some sense, this can be said to be self-defense.

“Bishop? Any problem…”

“You are sure that the saint is alone inside, right? Have you checked that there are no other people around?”

In order to hide the fact that he had hesitated even for a moment and to prevent disturbance around him, Bishop Inari looked to the side and asked as if he was just being cautious.

“I am sure because I have checked the number of people coming and going since yesterday. There is only a saint in here now.”

“Considering the possibility of a trap, we formed a group and searched the area, but there was no one around.”

It was a question meant to divert the conversation, but it was actually puzzling because the saint that Bishop Inari knew was not such a shabby person.

If it was a saint that Bishop Inari knew, she would have been able to predict that Bishop Inari would feel a sense of crisis and act quickly the moment she proceeded with and announced the interpretation of a new doctrine separately without informing her.

However, it bothered me that there was no preparation, but it was also funny to turn away all together just because I was anxious.

“Okay. Then let’s go inside. I believe everyone is fully prepared…”

“Yes, everything is to bring the lost and wandering saint back to the right path and into the arms of the goddess. I am ready to do anything for her.”

“Everything goes according to the will of the goddess.”

Dozens of voices overlapped, and the eyes of those surrounding Bishop Inari glowed with fanaticism or stubbornness.

In fact, Bishop Inari, who was at the center of the group, had faith in the goddess, but believed that the church’s doctrine was not absolute. However, since it was Bishop Inari who singled out these types of people in the first place, she smiled bitterly inside. I gave strength to the hand that was holding the door.

Thanks to good maintenance, the door to the small temple where the saint was waiting alone opened with a barely audible friction sound, and soon Bishop Inari crossed the threshold and entered the small temple, and the others followed her.