Chapter 465

Archbishop Radenis of the Kranuus Church probably supported the protesters, hoping for a civil war in the Holy Kingdom.

I was half-convinced of this.

If not, then it would mean he stopped the Astraea Church Order out of pure benevolence. But if he were that overflowing with mercy, this mess wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Why did the citizens of Arad rise up?

Wasn’t it because Arad’s rule of law was too harsh?

I heard even minor offenses were punished by execution by burning. If Radenis truly cared for the citizens, he would have tried to stop this earlier.

Before their dissatisfaction erupted into protests.

The fact that he didn’t… means Radenis isn’t exactly a good person.

Good? What good? Seeing how he wants a war, he’s closer to being a wicked person.

This is what the people of the Holy Kingdom are like.

Most of them are so devout that they would throw away their lives for their faith and doctrine.

The problem is, those who can easily throw away their own lives can just as easily throw away others’ lives.

Even the Elpinel Church Order, which is relatively closer to being good, contains extreme supremacist ideologies. So, what about the other orders?

Even Arad’s riots, when you think about it, are due to the issues with Astraea’s doctrine.

“…Sir Median?”

Perhaps my silence lasted too long, as a paladin of the Kranuus Church cautiously spoke up with an uneasy tone.

Yeah, he should be uneasy. A warrior who could cut him down in one strike was spinning a longsword in one hand, staring at him without a word.

He probably thought I was debating whether to kill him or let him live.

“Mercy. Yeah, that’s a good virtue. I should thank you. Your mercy saved my property.”

I sheathed Durandal and smirked at him.

…No need to provoke him just yet.

After all, thanks to these guys, civilian casualties were reduced.

With the support of the Kranuus Church, the citizen militia could hold out instead of being completely crushed by the paladins.

It’s just a small comfort until Astraea’s main force arrives… but I won’t deny their contribution.

Though, if these guys are revealed as the instigators of the citizen uprising, the story might change.

“So, about that ‘property’ remark…”

“What’s the problem? It’s not wrong, is it? The nobles of the west consider their peasants as their property. Now that I’ve become the master of this city, shouldn’t its citizens also be considered my property?”

“Uh…? That, that is…”

The paladin, lost for words against my flawless logic, stammered.

I knew it. He looked a bit slow from the start. It was obvious he wouldn’t be able to refute even a simple sophistry.

“Hmm… is that so…?”

“…What are you agreeing to, Sir Kofschtein!”

A priest, unable to bear the paladin’s disgrace, stopped his healing and approached me.

“You can’t equate the free citizens of the Holy Kingdom with the serfs of the Empire. Moreover, Sir Median’s claim to be the master of this city is a unilateral declaration that no one has agreed to. It’s nothing but sophistry!”

Being a priest, he seems smarter than that paladin.

But still, it’s all the same.

When did I say I needed anyone’s agreement?

“Occupation is always unilateral. Kill those who resist, and you don’t need anyone else’s agreement.”

“What kind of…!”

“If you’re so dissatisfied with me claiming to be the lord of this city, then come at me. I’ll rip off your limbs and display you on the cathedral roof.”

I tapped the hilt of my sword and threatened the priest.

My low voice was filled with blatant killing intent.

“…….”

The priest, who was about to say more, immediately shut his mouth.

Yeah, you wouldn’t want to become a rooftop decoration in front of me. I get it.

“Not planning to attack, huh? Good posture. Life is precious, after all.”

I exhaled a long puff of cigarette smoke and smiled contentedly.

…This is surprisingly easy.

Instead of moving around with justifications like before, openly bullying and threatening made things too easy. It’s almost shocking.

—-

After that, I ordered the paladins and priests of the Kranuus Church to take the citizens and retreat.

“Archbishop Radenis ordered you to protect the citizens, right? If you retreat without fighting, no one gets hurt. Isn’t that so?”

Whether they understood my words or simply yielded to my power, they obeyed.

Some citizens cursed and resisted when told to stop fighting the Astraea Church Order… but suppressing their dissatisfaction wasn’t too hard.

– BOOM!

After seeing me blow away half a house with a single punch, no one was brave enough to complain to me.

Resentment and anger are only expressed to those on your level.

For them, meeting me was like a natural disaster.

At least dying to Astraea’s paladins gives the satisfaction of a heroic last stand for freedom and revenge. Dying to me, who came to stop the fighting, is just a dog’s death.

Anyway, I went around the city, separating the Kranuus Church members and citizens from Astraea’s paladins as much as possible.

I made sure to remember the faces of those who resisted particularly fiercely.

Perhaps they had already heard about me, but Astraea’s paladins scattered throughout the city sheathed their swords and quickly retreated upon seeing me.

Though they did mutter about seeing me later.

“Yeah, see you later.”

I smiled arrogantly, sending them off with cigarette smoke.

An hour later, the battlefield’s roar that had engulfed the city finally subsided.

It wasn’t that their conflict had ended, but I had forcefully suppressed it.

Either way, I had put out the immediate fire.

—-

After temporarily halting Arad’s civil war, I immediately visited the Kranuus Church Cathedral.

I needed to have a little chat with Archbishop Radenis.

As if expecting my visit, Archbishop Radenis was waiting for me in the reception room with tea already prepared.

As soon as he saw me, he showered me with flattery.

He had heard of my fame, the rumors of how I stopped the Grimnir Church Order’s atrocities, and so on.

“…For Sir Median to come here personally to save the citizens of Arad, I cannot thank you enough. With your help, even the cruel servants of the Goddess of Order will have no choice but to retreat helplessly. Your grace will be remembered in Arad for generations—”

“Ha… enough with the pointless flattery. Archbishop Radenis, you and I both know what’s really going on.”

I cut off his flattery with an annoyed voice and cracked my neck.

Of course, I meant I cracked my own neck, not that I killed the archbishop out of nowhere.

“What do you mean by ‘what’s really going on’…?”

“Stop pretending. Saving the citizens? What you really want is a war between the Church Orders, isn’t it? Isn’t that right? It’s obvious. You have the same look in your eyes as Cardinal Erich.”

Whether my sarcasm hit a nerve, Archbishop Radenis’s expression changed dramatically.

The fake, benevolent smile disappeared, and the true nature hidden behind it was revealed.

“The same look, the same look, you say…”

His expression turned icy, with the fervent gaze of someone obsessed.

It was the face of a fanatic, a textbook example.

See? I knew it.

These lunatics.

“I didn’t expect to hear such words from the one who drove Cardinal Erich to his death.”

Radenis, now showing his true colors, didn’t hide his hostility toward me.

He seemed to know that Erich’s suicide was due to my and Lacey’s threats.

“Cardinal Erich died because he deserved to die. He chose to confess his sins and take his own life… isn’t that a good thing?”

I laughed at Radenis, taking a deep puff of cigarette smoke.

Holding a grudge against me for Erich’s death was nothing but hypocrisy.

If he hadn’t taken all the blame and killed himself, the Kranuus Church would have been destroyed just like the Grimnir Church.

“…He didn’t deserve to die with such a stain on his name.”

“Really? That’s your opinion. You were willing to burn thousands of lives to restore the Holy Kingdom’s purity or whatever, but it’s unfair when you become the kindling?”

The smoke I exhaled spread, obscuring our vision.

Through the swirling cigarette smoke, Radenis stared at me for a long time without saying a word.

His eyes… if he could, he’d probably attack me right now.

“……Let’s stop. Arguing over the rights and wrongs of the past is meaningless now.”

In the end, Radenis gave up and bowed his head.

No surprise there. Arguing would only hurt them.

Even if he couldn’t control his anger and attacked me, he wouldn’t win.

“You didn’t come all this way just to talk about that. So, let’s get to the point. What do you want?”

Straight to the point, huh?

Well, I didn’t want to chat with this guy for long either.

“I have two questions and three orders… which do you want to hear first?”

“Five things…? Then let’s start with the questions.”

Radenis leaned back on the sofa in the reception room and took a sip of tea.

The tea smelled quite good, as expected of an archbishop. I didn’t touch it, though.

You should never drink something offered by someone who holds a grudge against you.

Especially if it might be poisoned.

—-

After waiting for Archbishop Radenis to set down his teacup, I immediately asked him the questions I had been pondering since coming to the cathedral.

First question:

“Did you orchestrate the Arad protest incident?”

“No.”

An immediate answer.

Whether it was true or not, I couldn’t tell.

Second question:

“If it wasn’t you, do you know who did it?”

“Wasn’t it you?”

Another immediate answer.

And one I hadn’t expected.

“……Us, you say?”

“Who else could it be? The manifesto that spread throughout the Holy Kingdom caused this bloodshed, and you’re the only one who came to clean it up. That means the manifesto was Archbishop Elmain Staldorf’s work, right? Isn’t that so?”

…That was sharper than I expected.

Except for the last two lines, the manifesto was indeed written by Lacey.

This guy’s too sharp…?

……Though he’s barking up the wrong tree.