Chapter 477

I explained last night’s events in detail to Radenis, who was staring at me in a daze, speechless.

Except for the part about the Special Operations Unit.

“…It’s hard to believe. Belcus, who had been in hiding for over a decade…”

When I drew Belcus’s tattoo from my memory to show Radenis, who was half in doubt, he finally accepted that I was telling the truth.

Even though Belcus had been in hiding for a long time, he was once a notorious figure, so it was only natural that someone like the Archbishop of the Holy Kingdom would recognize him.

Radenis stared intently at the pattern I drew and let out a deep sigh.

“Belcus, Belcus…”

“I don’t know what his goal is, but the fact that he tried to trap me means I must be in his way.”

“…That must be it. If Belcus was the one who caused the discord in Arad, then you, who came to resolve it, must be a thorn in his side.”

“Right. You understand well. Then, you must also understand why I told you about Belcus?”

The fact that he’s targeting me ultimately means he’s helping the Demon Lord achieve his goal.

Radenis furrowed his brows and nodded.

I observed his expression carefully, a faint smile on my lips.

His slightly trembling pupils, his stiff expression. It seemed he was quite shocked.

Well, it’s only natural to be shocked.

Unintentionally, he had been helping the Demon Lord.

The reason I brought up Belcus in the first place was to elicit this kind of reaction.

—

Though he was polite, it was clear that Radenis harbored hostility toward me and Lacey.

Probably because of the incident that drove Cardinal Erich to his death. It’s the height of hypocrisy, but fanatics are always like that.

Anyway, that’s why I tried to use the Special Operations Unit last night to find out what Radenis was up to.

But it became impossible because of Belcus.

So, I’m laying down a warning.

I don’t know what you’re plotting, but if you’re thinking of helping the Demon Lord, go ahead and try.

There was no way the two of them were in cahoots.

Fanatics and demons are like oil and water—they can never mix.

If Belcus were to appear before Radenis, he wouldn’t cooperate to kill me; he’d smash Belcus’s head first.

I’m certain of it.

Now that he knows harming me would help Belcus, he won’t be able to play any tricks against me.

At least, not until Belcus is caught.

“…I’ll keep that in mind. So, is that all you wanted to tell me?”

I ordered Radenis, who nodded with a stiff expression, to look for any of Belcus’s lackeys among the citizens he was managing.

I couldn’t possibly check every single person myself.

“Of course. Rooting out the Demon Lord’s collaborators is a duty I must fulfill as a servant of Kranuus.”

His immediate answer showed not a hint of hesitation.

—

“Ah, and… there’s one more thing I need to ask…”

“Go ahead.”

For some reason, I felt my face heating up as I brought up the last matter I came here for.

“…Um, if you have any spare underwear from the nuns, could you give me a few? Three or four pairs would be enough.”

“Underwear…?”

Perhaps the request was too sudden, as Radenis tilted his head and asked in return.

More like muttering to himself than asking.

“Why do you need underwear…”

He unconsciously glanced at my chest, then quickly averted his gaze as if he understood.

“Ah… Ahem. I see. Yes. Ah, well, I’ll prepare them right away. Just a moment.”

Radenis stood up abruptly, clearly flustered, and hurried out of the reception room.

Was it really that shocking? I looked down at my chest and saw that the shirt I had pulled up to cover the Holy Mark had risen even further.

Not just half of my lower chest, but almost half of my entire chest was exposed.

…Damn, when did it get like this?

I quickly pulled down my shirt to barely cover the Holy Mark, then bowed my head and fanned my burning cheeks with my hands.

My face was as hot as if I had a fever.

Even though I was originally a man, and logically speaking, there was no reason to be embarrassed about this.

A short while later, a nun carrying a bundle of clothes entered the reception room and handed me the underwear.

Plain pieces of fabric, as expected of nuns’ clothing.

They were all clean and fluffy, as if they had just been washed.

There was just one unexpected problem.

“Um… thanks for bringing these, but the chest size doesn’t fit… If you have any spare bandages, could you give me those instead?”

I scratched my cheek as I spoke.

The nun who handed me the underwear glanced at my upper body, then placed a hand on her own flat chest and turned her head away.

“Tch…!”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to her, who was clearly suffering from the pain of the wealth gap.

—

After receiving a bundle of underwear and enough bandages to mummify a person, I left the cathedral and returned to the city center.

I needed to change into the underwear, but to avoid revealing the Holy Mark, I had to do it somewhere out of sight.

The ruins of a looted building, covered in snowdrifts.

To restore the city, the citizens needed to return to their daily lives as soon as possible… but it was still too early.

If we were to fight Astraea’s main force, we’d have to engage in guerrilla warfare outside or rely on buildings for urban combat. If we let the residents back into the city and fought there, the casualties would be unimaginable.

I considered defending the city walls, but that seemed impossible.

How could I defend the entire wall by myself? Even with ten bodies, it wouldn’t be enough.

So, as unfortunate as it was for the residents, they would have to remain under the control of the Kranuus Church for the time being.

Until everything was resolved.

…Would it really be resolved peacefully?

—

After slipping into the white underwear and tying the side strings tightly, I wrapped bandages around my chest to cover the Holy Mark and left the changing room of the clothing store, heading toward Astraea’s cathedral.

By now, the Barrier of Divine Light created by Wilhelm should have disappeared, so I planned to use the cathedral as a base for a while.

Unlike the city center, which had been swept by looting and violence, the cathedral guarded by the paladins should still be intact.

…Ah, come to think of it, couldn’t I have gotten underwear there?

There must have been nuns or female knights in Astraea’s cathedral, so there should have been some spare clothes lying around.

Damn it, why didn’t I think of that?

It would have been better if I had thought of it before making a fool of myself.

—

When I arrived at the cathedral, as expected, the Barrier of Divine Light had long since disappeared.

On the ruins, which looked as if hundreds of dinosaurs had tap-danced and thrown a party, only the cold ashes of Wilhelm and the melted holy artifacts remained.

I kicked Wilhelm’s ashes away and smashed the holy artifacts into powder.

I thought maybe the Holy Mark would disappear if I did this… but unfortunately, it seemed Astraea wasn’t going to let me off that easily.

Astraea’s cathedral, reflecting her nature, was orderly and symmetrically structured.

From the walls to the windows and pillars, everything was perfectly aligned.

If it weren’t for the brass or gilded decorations, it might have looked more like a military barracks than a cathedral.

The only place that felt like a cathedral was the main prayer room in the center of the building.

“……”

I stared at the statue of Astraea on the altar in the prayer room, pondering for a long time whether to destroy it or not.

—

The golden-armored goddess held a longsword in her right hand, pointing downward, while her left hand held a scale high above her head.

Above the statue’s head, a golden halo floated, slowly rotating. Seeing the strange divine light emanating from it, I guessed it was some kind of holy artifact or miracle.

I wanted to just smash it, but… I felt a bit uneasy.

If I carelessly destroyed it, I might end up in trouble. That strange intuition made my chest tighten, and I hesitated to reach out.

Was it because destroying a holy artifact was on a different level of blasphemy?

I don’t particularly like or worship the gods here, but there’s no benefit in openly antagonizing them.

In the end, I retracted my fist and instead lit a cigarette, venting my frustrations.

“You’re listening, right? If you’re listening, answer me. Why are you doing this to me? What do you expect from me that you branded me with such a grand mark? I don’t understand, so please, just answer me. Don’t just watch from above.”

I didn’t really expect an answer.

If they were capable of that, they would have given oracles to priests or intervened more actively.

But as far as I knew, that hadn’t happened.

Although Menes seemed to have done something similar… according to Agnes, it was just indirect hints through the Holy Mark or dreams.

They were just watching from the high heavens.

Until now.

– Crackle.

The halo above the statue’s head, which had been slowly rotating, began to ripple up and down. Like the waves on an electrocardiogram.

What the…?

I forgot to exhale the cigarette smoke I had inhaled, staring wide-eyed at the ring of divine light.

Right here, right now.

A piece of the world’s common sense was shattering.

– Fizz. Crackle!

The ring of light, which had been twisting and making strange noises, suddenly unraveled like a knot being untied.

The fragments of divine light, losing their form, scattered and sparkled.

Each strand of light, as if pulled by something, condensed and left clear letters floating in the air.

With a mesmerized heart, I read the golden words that had formed above the statue’s head.

『 Suivez Votre Propre Justice』

Follow Your Own Justice

…Astraea had answered.