A new religion decided to adopt my title as its name.
Boom!
Outsider Church.
It had originally been operating in secret, but this time they even made a sign. And under Rebecca’s leadership, the Outsider Church began to write new scriptures.
First, she gathered all the people who had spoken to me.
Then, in a gigantic conference hall attended by members of the Ansellus royal family, they spent seven days organizing my story. Yes, you heard that right.
They compiled the scriptures of the Outsider Church.
One interesting thing caught my eye.
Rebecca’s expression was dark, but the doctrine of the Outsider Church was about forgiveness and freedom. And when a person dies, I come to take them away, that’s the base. Too soft.
For a religion to grow, it needs powerful evangelism.
But the Outsider Church handed out freedom instead. They posted my words exactly.
“Whoever you believe in, if the Outsider blesses you, in the end, the Outsider will come for you.”
Looking at Rebecca and Dakota’s feelings, it seemed like forgiveness shouldn’t be an element at all. But just like the Outsider had, the Church encourages others to forgive.
Since the Outsider blesses a person and takes away all their sins, you should also forgive others to release them from their sins.
That’s how they laid out their logic.
In my view, this makes it vulnerable to heresy.
Also, I couldn’t understand why they made such a big deal out of me coming when a person dies.
If you’ve been blessed by the Outsider, it doesn’t matter who you are, old or young, I’ll come to take you to the last remaining warmth. That was the main point.
Full of holes.
Weak doctrines.
Fragile evangelism.
This religion was nothing but a problem.
However, the religion defied my expectations.
It swiftly spread beyond the Ansellus Kingdom to other nations.
Soon, the capital of the Ansellus Kingdom became like the headquarters of a religion.
Gradually, people began to come and pray in the square where the Outsider had died. Movement of people began. As more people arrived, merchants started to appear.
Commerce started to thrive.
Of course, the Seongsin Church vehemently opposed it. They once sent out orders to suppress other religions amidst the famine, showing their zeal against other faiths.
In order to eliminate the new religion, they incited the kingdoms surrounding the Ansellus Kingdom. As I mentioned before, most countries to the east of the Skad Stone Desert believe in the Seongsin Church.
In other words, they are under the Seongsin Church’s influence.
Upon hearing this news, the Ansellus Kingdom immediately informed its people and prepared for war.
But no country responded to the Seongsin Church. About a year and a half after the famine ended.
The king, who had collapsed from overwork, barely got back up.
He saw the completely transformed kingdom and looked at his own hair. Then he simply abandoned the Seongsin Church.
Without speaking to anyone or even muttering to himself, I don’t know what he thought.
The king immediately contacted the Outsider Church.
Rebecca and Dakota. And 17 former Seongsin Church priests.
Or perhaps one person resembling the Outsider, along with 18 Blessed Ones.
At first, the king mistook Rebecca for me, but after hearing the truth, he understood. Then he shared a story he heard from his grandfather, Tisah.
The second conference was held, and the scriptures were updated again.
Honestly, I found it incredibly funny, but it seemed like an important matter for those people.
The Outsider Church members listened intently to the king’s story, and it took them over a week to rewrite it into their scriptures.
As the Outsider Church grew, the Seongsin Church suddenly gathered its legion and attacked.
But even calling it a war, the number of people wasn’t that high.
Even if you combine paladins and priests, there were only 200 of them. I wondered if that was too little, but given that the number of knights in the Ansellus Kingdom was similar, it wasn’t necessarily a small number either.
In fact, the knights of the Ansellus Kingdom were fewer. They were merely knights in armor fighting without divine miracles.
There were about ten mages.
Watching that battle, I thought it was hopeless.
No, seriously, how do you beat someone wielding divine power?
But they won.
Yes.
I didn’t perform miracles, but miracles happened.
Originally, only the Ansellus Kingdom’s army was there. But at that point, believers of the Outsider Church stood up.
However, even then, the Seongsin Church people were attacking outside the city walls. The armed citizens inside didn’t drastically change anything.
But as each day passed, the number of believers gradually increased. They came from outside the capital.
By the end of a week, believers from other nations joined with weapons, gathering in such numbers that they began to surround the Seongsin Church.
I’ve heard that a paladin can fight 100 to one during the harvesting period, but they seemed to be human too.
As the numbers over a hundredfold gathered, they lost their will to fight.
The war was a victory not for the Ansellus Kingdom but for the Outsider Church. After the victory, a festival was held. However, it wasn’t a public execution festival that tied up the vanquished and killed them.
Instead, they forgave the captured people, gave them food, treated their wounds, and provided them with rest.
I thought it was stupid, but through that alone, some began to abandon the Seongsin Church. They continued to believe in the Holy God but declared they would no longer follow the Seongsin Church.
While the festival was taking place, I finally managed to hear through the ears of the harvesting period whether other kingdoms hadn’t attacked and why people sided with them.
During the famine.
The Seongsin Church, not just in the Ansellus Kingdom, had robbed food from all the kingdoms under its influence.
At that time, hatred for the Seongsin Church grew throughout the region, and the Outsider Church seized the opportunity to infiltrate.
Moreover, the Outsider Church embraced the Seongsin Church. To be precise, it showed no hostility towards believers of the Seongsin Church. Just like now.
You can believe in both.
People have the right to freely believe in religion.
Even the right not to believe in any religion.
This must have been incredibly powerful. I thought heresy would increase, but conversely, the Outsider Church flourished.
This seems to have showcased where the broader heart lies, in the combination of forgiveness.
The most surprising part was the phrase about me coming for you when you die.
If blessed, I will definitely come for you.
I never thought this would ensure humanity’s universality. I never expected such an awareness to sprout from such an unexpected place.
I thought it would be good to enlighten others and sow seeds, but it spread religiously. Is it a limitation of a world with a society similar to the early modern period?
And in just ten years.
The balance of power between the Outsider Church and the Seongsin Church was overturned.
The place where the deity sacrificed for humanity became a new holy ground.
And during that time.
A prayer based on some religion spread throughout the world. This was a prayer of a religion that did not exist in this world.
There appeared just one person. A sinister villain. The Witch of Joy, Hyungkesuni.
The enemy of Dakota. And perhaps, the enemy of Rebecca as well.
Dakota pursued the witch relentlessly.
Despite being a religion with forgiveness at its core, the Witch of Joy was the only exception.
It was too obvious, and no one doubted it.
After ten years, I finally realized that Rebecca knew more about me than I expected. She hadn’t just been watching from behind as I observed the harvesting period.
She likely saw the core of my memories.
Otherwise, how could she perfectly use my intentions?
Precisely eight years after the famine ended, the Outsider Church had gotten the measure of the Witch of Joy. However, under Rebecca’s orders, they left her be.
It was the day Dakota first fought Rebecca.
But Rebecca persuaded her.
“Isn’t killing her not enough?”
And on that day.
Dakota saw the emotion beneath the skin of Rebecca I had always known.
Rebecca explained that she also held a grudge against Hyungkesuni. She said that the sudden killing of her family and the fact that her heart was torn out was also the fault of Hyungkesuni.
Dakota resonated with her words.
But I know.
That wasn’t everything she said. I’ve mentioned it before, but part of the truth is my specialty, you know?
Rebecca didn’t say it all either.
The deep-seated grudge she holds isn’t just against the Outsider Church.
Of course, she’s angry that the remnants of Hyungkesuni are still alive, but what she truly despises is something else. I suspect it might be the world, but I’m not fully sure that’s correct.
Anyway, through this event, Dakota opened her heart to Rebecca. Then Rebecca wielded this to start leading the Outsider Church more fervently.
Then one day.
I found a breakthrough regarding the Blessing Agent in a completely unexpected place.
While reading and researching the materials about me, a person discovered the contract phrase.
“I will give myself to you. In return, when you finish everything, I’ll take back everything you’ve given me. How about it?”
Upon reading this phrase, he responded with “Yes.”
Thus, he got connected to me.
I stained his light with darkness and gave him a part of myself.
Yes.
I was able to give blessings just by having them read. Those who had viewed the materials until now were the royal family, nobles of the Ansellus Kingdom, and the former paladins and priests, including Martin.
In other words, it was harvesting time.
So, after reading this phrase, nothing happened.
The man who could be called a theologian of the Outsider Church wasn’t a part of the harvesting period. He was among the first people to enter once the information was finally made public after ten years.
In just ten years, I discovered a way to spread blessings.
And this quickly rose to the core of the Outsider Church.
And.
Now, the hair color of the Outsider Church people turns purple.
For now, among those residing in the capital of the Ansellus Kingdom, or the headquarters of the Outsider Church, only some were selected to receive blessings.
But soon, I planned to spread this widely.
I thought people would hoard this power if they had it.
And just as I thought, Dakota said that only special people should be blessed.
But Rebecca refused that. Instead, she gathered those leading the Outsider Church and planned to spread it widely.
I chuckled underwater.
If I had hands, I would have been clapping.
Soon, the harvesting period is going to explode enormously.
Rebecca is truly amazing.
