episode_0218

***

After meeting Antonio, Kang In-ho had a hard time maintaining his sanity due to the high fever.

Perhaps because I was exposed to the rain with my bare body, I felt chills and fever rising.

The images of himself and Antonio, cowering under the Pope’s threats, overlap.

Inho felt an emotion that was difficult to explain in words stirring in his solar plexus.

“I just vented my anger on Sister Maria…”

[I… I…]

Maria looked at me with a tearful voice.

He got angry at Maria, who smiled brightly and followed him.

The sight of him leaving the room with a hurt face flashes in my mind.

Kang In-ho lay down on the bed and sighed.

Hot breath touched my skin.

“Is it body aches? Come to think of it, I have been sick before.”

Excluding the time when he was suffering from an old man’s body, the number of times he lay down due to illness was numerous.

He was lost in the pouring water.

“What are you?”

As soon as he closed his eyes, Kang In-ho opened his eyes at the sound he heard.

It seemed like he was lying down on a bed, but before he knew it, he found himself standing in a large space.

“Who are you?”

A woman with neat short hair and calm golden eyes.

And impressive white wings.

Kang In-ho traced his old memories and remembered a being who looked similar to her.

“I am Solari, a level 4 dimensional management god. He is the dimension management god of this dimension.”

“Ah… Dimensional management god.”

Inho said, remembering the name he had forgotten.

“He arbitrarily entered the dimension and even disrupted the plan I was preparing…”

Even though his voice was toneless, there was a hint of subtle irritation.

Inho shrugged his shoulders at the dimension management god’s anger.

“I didn’t come here because I wanted to, right? I ended up like this because some crazy bitch did something strange to me.”

“What do you mean? …There is a spell on your soul.”

“Is it possible to explain?”

Inho asked, out of curiosity.

“Unfortunately, it is a spell cast by a being higher than me. It’s impossible.”

Solari answered the mortal’s question kindly.

“It’s not just a simple possession technique, but there are a lot of various things at stake. I don’t know who it is, but… it seems like it hates you quite, quite a lot.”

“That’s right.”

Inho shrugged his shoulders again.

“But how did you call me?”

“I brought your sleeping soul here for a moment.”

Well, it’s a handy ability. Inho muttered.

Solari’s eyes sparkled at her calm and frail appearance.

“First, let’s summarize the situation. For some reason, you are under a spell that transports you between dimensions.”

Inho nodded at Solari’s words.

“I moved from the previous dimension to this place that I manage… and somehow, I ended up possessing the body of the man I was planning.”

“That saint impersonator?”

Inho recalled the crime of the criminal whom Maria had beheaded.

“He is a true saint.”

Solari sighed.

“What?”

Inho’s mouth opened slightly.

“He is a true saint. Mary beheaded him and tried to revive him with light and make him a saint.”

“Wow… it was real.”

“I paid some attention to it. The miracle of a severed head being attached to the body with intense light… I tried to show the birth of the saint through the miracle of resurrection. But…”

Solari’s tone grew stronger.

“But… I was possessed by you at that time and my soul was replaced.”

“Again, it’s not my fault?”

“I know.”

Solari snorted.

“If I hadn’t been watching him closely, I wouldn’t have noticed that you were in my dimension. I wonder how they can enter the car without leaving a trace… The technique is really scary.”

“If you weren’t looking at the person to be revived, you wouldn’t have known?”

“There is a high probability that it did so.”

In-ho now seemed to understand why he had never seen God while traveling through other dimensions.

“So… what is the purpose of calling me? Are you just protesting that your plan went awry?”

Inho looked at Solari.

“I propose a transaction. Owner of a noble soul, Kang In-ho.”

Solari flicked her hand, and two chairs appeared.

She politely pointed to a chair, and Kang In-ho sat down on the chair.

“Deal? What are the conditions?”

As Inho asked, crossing his legs, Solari sat down on the chair across from him.

“Please act like a saint.”

“If you talk like that out of the blue, I don’t know.”

“I plan to destroy the Solarium Church with my own hands. I hope you can help me with that.”

“Can’t you just throw down the lightning? Oh, it’s not that I don’t want to do it, I’m just curious why it’s happening. Is there really a need to make a saint?”

Inho asked brightly.

“As a god, if I directly exercise my power, the ‘law of cause and effect’ becomes increasingly deviant. It’s okay for the first one or two times, but if it exceeds a certain number, you have to sacrifice another soul to stabilize it.”

Solari spoke in an easy-to-understand manner, as if teaching a student.

“So you use an indirect method.”

Inho nodded.

“That’s right.”

“If the ultimate goal is the downfall of the denomination, what is the process?”

Inho leaned forward and asked.

“Mary’s faith must deepen. We must question the current denomination.”

“Will it be easy? You’re a Heresy Inquisitor, so you’re probably more serious about the church than anyone else, right?”

He frowned as if asking if it was possible.

“That’s why it’s a problem. If I had originally planned, I would have changed that perception slowly and over a very long period of time…”

Solari rolled her eyes, and Inho cleared his throat.

“The situation has become very twisted, so we have no choice but to use a radical method.”

“For example?”

“A saint dies unfairly at the hands of a religious order? If Maria had feelings for you that went beyond admiration, she would be hostile towards the church.”

Solari presented one scenario.

“Well, if that’s the case.”

Inho also nodded.

“If Mary’s faith deepens through you, she will be able to gain the strength to destroy the religious order on her own. Because I will perform a miracle.”

“But what happens if Maria rejects you in the process? If her faith comes to me instead of to you, doesn’t that weaken your strength?”

When Inho asked, recalling a setting he once read in a fantasy novel, Solari burst into laughter.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Well, don’t worry. No matter what my name is called or where people’s faith is directed, all faith at the level I manage is directed to me.”

Solari said loudly, clearing her throat.

“That’s a really good setting.”

Inho grunted.

“I won’t deny it.”

Solari answered leisurely.

“Okay, so if I help you, what benefit do I have? I’ll tell you in advance, but I don’t allow you to live happily in this dimension.”

In-ho presented the terms of the deal.

“I don’t want to leave you here for too long.”

Solari swallowed for a moment.

“The longer we keep you here because of the spell on you, the more the causality will be disrupted. So I have to send you to another dimension too.”

“Hmm… I don’t have any particular conditions that make me attractive…”

After thinking for a while, he clapped his hands.

“Okay, then let’s do it like this. Analyze the spell on my soul and hand over the information to me.”

Solari’s mouth opened slightly at Inho’s words.

“It’s not difficult… but is that all it takes? For the sake of our friendship, I might just hand it over.”

“It’s a situation where it’s impossible to resolve it anyway. I’ll make just this condition. I hate the church anyway, so the enemy of my enemy is my friend… I should help.”

“Are you an enemy….”

Solari laughed incredulously.

What mortal would face God and describe him as an enemy?

“Good. Well, let’s discuss the detailed plan later.”

“Can I see it in my dream again?”

“No, you can come to my avatar when you wake up.”

“Avatar?”

“It is a way to intervene in the world without destroying causality. I have created an image to contain my will and sent it to the church.”

“Really? Then who should I go to?”

“This is a face you know well.”

When Solari flicked her hand, Inho also changed into a familiar face.

“This is why I hate the gods.”

Inho, who was staring at the change blankly, frowned.