episode_0095

“Phew…”

dump-

As soon as the corps commander left, Thistle collapsed on the spot.

It was no different from me.

Deshade said things that made us anxious without hesitation.

“I thought I was going to die. Deshade talks too harshly… I’m glad he didn’t cross the line.”

“No, in my opinion, the line was crossed long ago. That guy just let it go.”

“We all stood still, but was there a separate line to cross?”

“There was an invisible line, but Deshade worked hard to get over it and tap danced, so shut up.”

“Let’s believe it because it’s what the bishop says. It definitely wasn’t there in my opinion.”

A quick look at the orders on the desk showed that Enin, Master, and I were treated as exclusive, independent units.

And it was said that the soul soldiers belonging to this independent unit could only move for the Deshade Church and would not receive orders from officers of other military units except the corps commander, who was the ultimate commander-in-chief of this region.

“You allowed me to move very freely.”

Thistle comes next to me and looks at the order next to me.

“I see. At this level, you’ll be able to move quite a bit outside of Grace territory, right?”

The restrictions on soul disease would be suffocating if they were the way they were.

Considering the military’s strict discipline of even leaving the barracks without the control of a trustworthy officer, I find this order very palatable.

Although it would be impossible to cross the border or move across this area to an area defended by another corps, this is enough.

“But it might not be a very good situation.”

I was very happy to have an environment where I could move freely, but Thistle seemed to have something else to worry about.

“Why? If we keep arresting and killing all the heretics and devil worshipers, wouldn’t people like the church more?”

I was planning to do my best if I could, but Thistle raised a fundamental problem.

“Of course, that is something that must be done since the defense of this area has been entrusted to the Gaia Church. But don’t you know this, Lee Rim? Our denomination has no money.”

“Of course.”

Of course, what Thistle said was a known fact.

Thistle was really tight on money right now, so he said he would have to start earning money by working as an adventurer again starting tomorrow.

But I didn’t worry too much because I thought the financial problem would be resolved somehow.

“But if you catch the heretics, you get a bounty or reward, right? That should be enough to cover it.”

And Thistle pointed out that there was a fundamental problem with my thinking.

“Irim.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where the money for the subjugation of heretics comes from?”

“Uh… Isn’t it the adventurer’s guild and the security forces?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“The reason money is paid for the punishment of heretics is that the Church of Gaia gives money to adventurers as a token of gratitude for raising the prestige of the Church. But that denomination delegated this entire area to us.”

“Uh… what do you mean?”

“Our church now has an obligation to protect the territory against the heretics in this area. They say that adventurers will move like they do now only if we can pay the money that the Gaia Church has been giving us until now. In short, it means that no one will give us money. So, since we don’t have money, we either have to run around and catch the heretics in this wide area ourselves instead of the adventurers who won’t move without compensation, or we have to somehow secure money to give to the adventurers. Otherwise, we should hope that a kind-hearted charity worker will help us.”

“… So you’re saying that no matter what we do, we’ll be extremely short on money from now on?”

“That’s right. We are in the worst situation because even if we had to earn money for food right now, it wasn’t enough. The story is that from now on, we may have to shake off every penny from the pagans’ underwear.”

“Holy shit.”

Free labor. Passion Pay.

It was only after hearing Thistle’s explanation that I understood the severity of the situation.

The Deshade denomination is a denomination that has no land or temple to give to its bishop.

On the other hand, for pagan relief, even riding a carriage to catch apostates costs money, even eating a meal costs money, and it should be said that there is virtually no one who will be impressed by such volunteer work and donate money.

Actually, it’s just a small group of heretics that pop up whenever you’re bored, and it’s easy to deal with them by asking adventurers to deal with them.

However, the Church of Gaia, which had paid the entire request, has given up, so we, who have no money, have to solve the problem ourselves.

The only reward we can get is the money in our pockets from catching these guys, as Thistle said.

“No, what were those crazy people thinking when they passed it on to us?”

At this point, the blood pressure in my backbone rose so much that I was so angry that I thought it wouldn’t be strange if I burst to death and was resurrected once.

Honestly, I know they’re trying to screw us over, but I wonder what benefit they get from doing that.

Thistle answered my thoughts before I could even ask.

“… I guess this is an attempt to set an example for us. This is to show the hierarchical relationship between denominations.”

“Superior/subordinate relationship?”

“It would be virtually impossible for us to eradicate all of the heretic groups spread across this large area. The only way the Gaia Church can keep them from uniting is by making requests rather than directly taking action. They will definitely hand it over to us and make it fail, and as time goes by and a large group of heretics arises, they will come forward again. By doing so, the plan is to let people know what will happen if the Gaia Church disappears.”

‘This behavior is too severe to be considered territorial.’

An act of giving up on the security maintained in a place already crowded with refugees and making people aware of the situation without them.

They seem to be planning to emerge as heroes again from the public safety situation that was ruined by our failures, and educate them on what will happen if they disappear and who will be able to deal with them.

Now that I know for sure what their plan is, I feel dumbfounded.

I don’t know why it’s not some kind of gangster group, but the largest denomination that does something like this.

Deshade also became worried after hearing those words.

“To be honest, the ranking between Gaia and me doesn’t really matter, but I’m a bit worried that many humans are being harmed by heretics in the meantime.”

As God worried, if things continued like this, the pagans who had been constantly being wiped out would become active again.

Adventurers never do volunteer work.

They only move with money.

In fact, most people do this even if they are not adventurers.

“I can’t believe that priests who are in a position to reassure people would act like that.”

“That’s what I see too. I wonder why Gaia doesn’t take any action even though their followers are doing such things…”

“I’m curious about that too. It’s not easy for gods to meet each other.”

‘No, you shouldn’t say that.’

While Thistle and I were complaining, I was a little embarrassed because even Deshade agreed with our conversation.

“Don’t the gods of heaven live in the same space?”

“Not really. Aren’t you also fighting with races that worship other gods in the first place? If the gods were friendly with each other, that wouldn’t happen. But the reality is that the gods are also hostile to each other. Since he created his own home and tried not to let anyone in, he couldn’t talk to most of the gods even if he tried. Actually, I came down because I was bored because of that.”

It was the same when I talked to Hygenic before, but the more I listen, the more it seems like the story of the gods is an unknown story.

“In any case, the common responsibility of gods is to prevent the descent of the devil. Other than that, no matter what we do, we don’t interfere with each other. These days, it seems like there are only people who don’t even do that.”

“Are you sure Deshade is an outcast?”

“Lee, Lee Lim. As I always said…”

“Ah, yes. sorry. I made a mistake, mistake.”

‘Well, it may not be bullying, but it doesn’t seem like the other gods are acting normally.’

If the descent of the devil is something that all gods must stop, then other gods must also send priests to serve them.

But in the end, Deshade was the only one who noticed the sign and moved.

As I listened to Deshade’s words, I thought that the other gods had passed on all of their godly responsibilities to the newly born Deshade.

Not only did Asmodeus descend this time, but the current Gaia Church also treats pagans passively and rejects other races for worshiping devils, but I heard that they do not take any action unless they are directly harmed. This is the proof.

Thistle brought me back to reality as I was thinking those thoughts.

“Anyway, the financial problem is really big. As expected, it may be difficult unless a big sponsor comes forward. For now, we will use the money we will soon receive to commission adventurers in areas too far away from where we are to hear news of heretics, and if possible, we will have to search for the heretics ourselves.”

With Thistle’s words, I also try to somehow summon up the motivation that was on the verge of disappearing due to the absurdity of reality.

“… Of course, I should do it too.”

It was already right after Helias sold me out, so I couldn’t leave it out.

It’s true that most devil worshipers are murderers and should be killed anyway, but it’s still a bit annoying.

Thistle looks at me with a smiling expression while I have a deathly expression on my face.

“Because you are the bishop.”

Even though I’m smiling and looking at it, I feel like I’m going to curse.

Not to Thistle, but to the corps commander who treated me like this and the higher-ups in the church who made things happen like this.

“No, but I still have something I want to say. To be honest, I said I would become a believer, but it’s really unfair that the position of bishop was handed over to Deshade on his own.”

“It’s okay. It may be difficult now, but later on, wouldn’t the position of archbishop be respected by people? Even if you have a hard time now, think about it later and persevere.”

“Coming from the perpetrator’s mouth, it’s a terrible story to hear. There is nothing we can do about it because it has already been done.”

It seems like after swearing wrong once, things become more and more annoying.

At that moment, the tent that had been standing still opened and someone called us.

“Um… are you finished talking?”

Astesia lifted the tent slightly and was watching our mood.

“Ah, yes. It’s over.”

As she came in, we naturally decided to make waves.

Thistle steps in and settles the situation.

“Now, let’s finish interviewing the wizards and clean up this place. Lee Lim. Please be patient for the time being. I think I’m going to be very busy from now on.”

“I see. I thought it might be a little more comfortable.”

“Oh, and I might have to find a new place to stay now. Until now, I have been using the accommodation for free thanks to the favor of the head of the security forces… but if I continue to rely on his power, the Gaia Church may harm him as well.”

“That’s true too. Wait, then shouldn’t we find a bigger place to stay?”

“… Right. I think it will act as a base and I need to find accommodation… but it might be harder to find than I thought. Especially if you want to rent the entire building, it seems like it would cost a lot of money…”

“… Well, it will work out somehow. You will recognize the building right away.”

I already feel exhausted because there are so many things to worry about, but I try to stay positive.

Still, I think that if I were to just catch the heretics, I would die less than I did during the Soul Disease period.

There are no nobles giving strange orders, and even if they are heretics, I have never heard of them being that serious.

but,

As expected, I couldn’t help but complain.

“Still, what’s hard is hard.”

“Yes? Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable?”

Astesia reacted to me like that, but I couldn’t complain even to her, so I passed it on.

“No, I’m just talking to myself. Let’s organize it.”

‘It’s going to get really busy starting tomorrow. First, I need to find accommodation.’

Move your body and empty your mind.

I think if I take it step by step, something will work out.

After that, I started organizing things along with other people.