Chapter 488

Lacey tried to snatch the cigarette from me, stretching out her arms, but after I burned through the leaves with just a couple of puffs, she finally sighed deeply and gave up on her futile interference.

“Tsk…!”

She gave me a resentful look, but I wasn’t the type to be swayed by such a gaze. I shrugged my shoulders as if to ask what was wrong, and Lacey averted her eyes, her face slightly red.

“……”

Agnes watched our little drama with a pitiful expression. It must’ve been amusing to see two saint candidates older than her acting like this.

I tossed the fully smoked cigarette into the ashtray and rummaged through my bag to pull out a fresh pack. I had planned to smoke leisurely, but thanks to Lacey trying to take it away, I ended up smoking it in a hurry.

“So, what were you trying to say?”

I lit a new cigarette and asked Lacey, who was soothing her parched throat with a cup of holy water, about the main point she had wanted to discuss.

She had mentioned something about the future of the Holy Kingdom. It was quite a grand topic. Given that she had sent the others away, it seemed like it might be something serious.

“That’s right. Where should I start…?”

After a brief pause, Lacey opened her mouth with a determined expression, as if steeling herself.

“I have a dream. A dream that took root deeply during my time as a novice nun, even before I received Elpinel’s Holy Mark. A world where all races are equal, a world where everyone can live in peace—that is my dream and my wish.”

“…What?”

What kind of sudden nonsense is this…?

“Just imagine it. Wouldn’t it be a beautiful sight? Young beastmen, little fairies, dwarven and dragonkin children, all forgetting their enmity and running together through golden wheat fields.”

“Uh… sure?”

It was a shocking statement. The harmony and peace of all races? It was a saintly dream, sure, but not something I ever imagined Lacey would say.

Who are you? You’re not the Lacey I know.

Where did the hardcore human supremacist go, and why is this suddenly inclusive saintess here?

“—In the internment camps.”

“…Ah, right. The internment camps…”

At her follow-up, I sighed and wiped away my confusion and doubts.

Of course. I should’ve known.

This was our Lacey after all.

—

Her dream wasn’t some utopia where all races laughed together in harmony. No, it was a future where all non-human races were locked in internment camps, harvesting wheat all day as serfs. Equality for all races except humans, I suppose.

“Archbishop Elmain…”

Agnes, too, looked at Lacey with a face full of disbelief at the absurdity of it all.

“Do we really need beastmen?”

…What is she even saying?

It seemed she wasn’t shocked by the declaration of sending all non-human races to internment camps but rather by the idea of sparing beastmen children.

Well, of course, as a saint candidate of the Menes Church Order, that’s to be expected. She’d probably get along well with Freide if they met.

“While I understand Miss Menesilia’s aversion, beastmen can contribute greatly to humanity. For example, if we teach them that donating their fur is a virtue, we could secure a large supply of hides. Warm hides that can withstand the cold of the snowy fields. So, preserving beastmen is essential for expanding humanity’s territory.”

Lacey tried to persuade Agnes.

The plan was to brainwash beastmen children, have them regularly donate their hides like blood donations, and use their fur to endure the northern cold.

If her plan worked, humanity’s territory could expand beyond the Sky Mountain Range. With the insulating properties of beastmen hides, they could survive even in the polar regions.

“So, what does your dream have to do with the future of the Holy Kingdom?”

“Listen. When I first received the Holy Mark, I thought that if I became a saint, I could achieve my dream. But… as time went on, I began to see the realistic limitations. The cardinals don’t want a saint from our order, and other orders are eager for a holy war to cull the non-human races.”

Lacey slightly bowed her head and fiddled with the holy symbol around her neck.

“My dream… has too many enemies.”

Well, of course, it would. Isn’t half the world your enemy?

The non-human races would naturally oppose it, and even humans would consider it too radical.

“Eventually, I had to realize that as long as I was tied to the Holy Kingdom, my dream would never come true.”

Her voice lowered, filled with either frustration or anger. Lacey saw the cardinals of the Holy Kingdom as obstacles to her dream.

Well… she wasn’t wrong.

Even when Lacey was the only Holy Mark bearer, the cardinals left the saint position vacant, waiting for a competitor to appear instead of electing her.

It was an overly blatant check.

“…Even if we unite our wills and fight, it would still be a thorny path. A divided nation like this could never accomplish such a task. That’s why I placed my hopes in the Empire, not the Holy Kingdom, and created the Imperial Diocese. I believe that with unified dioceses and the Empire’s military power, we can eventually achieve our goal.”

Hmm… I still think it’ll be tough.

The non-human races have grown stronger, while the Empire’s military power has weakened significantly.

“But… the cardinals have been hindering even this. They ignore the corruption and chaos within the Holy Kingdom and are obsessed with holding me back. That’s why I returned to the Holy Kingdom. To eliminate those who have brought chaos to the Holy Kingdom and remove the obstacles to my mission.”

Lacey put down the necklace she was holding and took another sip of water. It seemed like she was getting to the main point.

“Thanks to the grace of the holy Elpinel, only three cardinals remain as obstacles: Karnius of the Shaulite Church Order, Audius of the Keres Church Order, and Wolfgang of the Bølberg Church Order. Once they submit, there will be no more cardinals to stand in my way.”

“So what, are you going to assassinate all three?”

Lacey shook her head.

“Of course not. There’s no need for such dangerous measures. We can negotiate with the Keres Church Order over the ownership of Nasiriya, and the Bølberg Church Order is already in decline, unable to return to the Holy City. If we leave them alone, they’ll lose their influence.”

“That’s…”

Agnes let out a low groan, as if feeling guilty.

It was an understandable reaction. The Bølberg Church Order had been driven out of the Holy City because they were framed for the assassination of Cardinal Paulus, and it was Agnes herself who had killed Paulus.

Of course, it was something she had to do, and the Keres Church Order was the one who framed them, but she still must’ve felt sorry for the Bølberg Church Order.

“You don’t need to feel guilty, Miss Menesilia. Even without the Paulus incident, the Bølberg Church Order is currently the most suspicious order.”

Lacey glanced at Agnes and offered something resembling comfort.

“Even though they were framed, the fact that they fled without even attempting to defend themselves, their alliance with the Grimnir Church Order, and their plans to use Panam and Dane to check the Empire… it’s hard to see them as innocent or benevolent.”

“Is that so…?”

“That’s right.”

It was less of a proper consolation and more of a “they had it coming, so don’t worry about it” kind of statement.

“So, what we need to do now isn’t worry about the Bølberg Church Order. We need to head to Arvil, burn down the cultists’ brothels, and hold the Shaulite Church Order accountable for allowing them to fester.”

“So that’s what this is about.”

I chuckled as I tapped the ash off my cigarette into the ashtray.

She really went on a long tangent just to say we need to take down the Reverse Ascension Society.

“Yes. Once we eliminate them, our work in the Holy Kingdom will be mostly done. Paulus is still a concern, but… in this vast Holy Kingdom, finding someone who has completely disappeared without a trace is practically impossible. We’ll have to put that on hold for now.”

“Paulus? Didn’t I…?”

When the name of the man she had killed suddenly came up, Agnes tilted her head in confusion.

I guess no one told her yet. I’ll have to explain it to her later.

“His body disappeared, right? So we can’t be sure he’s dead. Even the witch Isabella came back to life multiple times. If he’s a priest of the ancient gods, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have a similar ability.”

“Ah…!”

Agnes nodded blankly, as if she hadn’t considered that possibility.

Well, it’s understandable she’d be surprised.

She’s never left the Menes Cathedral, so she’s never seen a human come back to life after being torn apart. I’ve only seen Isabella do it myself.

In the game, I’ve encountered a few like that.

“Menes, I apologize for my negligence…”

Upon learning that Paulus might still be alive, Agnes bowed her head in a somber prayer to Menes, apologizing for her carelessness in failing to cut off the apostate’s life.

Hmm… I doubt even Menes would task a teenage girl with killing an apostle of the ancient gods.

The throbbing of the Holy Mark and the hints in her dreams were probably just warnings to stay away from Paulus.

After Agnes finished her prayer, Lacey continued to elaborate on her future plans.

She planned to subdue all the cardinals, secure the existence of the Imperial Diocese, step down as a saint candidate, elevate Agnes to sainthood, and return to the Empire.

Tracking down Paulus could take months, so she planned to leave that to the Holy Kingdom for now.

It was a decent plan, except for one thing.

“…What about finding Isabella’s accomplice?”

The witch’s collaborator hiding among the cardinals. Wasn’t that the original goal? We just got caught up in all sorts of things.

“Ah, about that, we’ve found the answer. While Sir Median was away, we investigated the ruins of Grimnir Cathedral again and found an interesting journal.”

Lacey pulled out a tattered notebook from a drawer and showed it to me.

The notebook was torn and water-stained, likely damaged during the cathedral’s collapse, but some parts were still legible.

It wasn’t Rübitz’s handwriting. It must’ve been written by one of the Grimnir Church Order’s priests. I didn’t know who, though.

I leaned in and read the legible parts of the journal.

/…Though it was for the sake of researching the abyss of magic, contacting that woman was a mistake…/

/…The knowledge she provided was certainly fascinating, but because of it, we’ve made an enemy we can’t handle…/

/…Soon, the Empire’s hero will come to kill us. We must find a way to stop him…/

“Uh… wait, is this…?”

I looked up from the journal and stared at Lacey, my expression asking if the speculation in my head was correct.

As if confirming my suspicion, Lacey nodded with certainty.

“A woman knowledgeable enough in magic to provide the Grimnir Church Order with magical knowledge. A woman who, by association alone, would become Sir Median’s enemy… There’s only one answer, isn’t there?”

Right. The witch Isabella. It had to be her.

Everything made sense if that was the case.

Lacey folded her fingers one by one as she continued.

“The same suicide spell as Archbishop Trier. This journal. The fact that they suddenly targeted our lives. Even if it’s just circumstantial evidence, with this much overlap, it’s practically conclusive. It seems the ‘accomplice’ we were looking for has already been killed.”

“Good grief.”

I let out a hollow laugh and exhaled cigarette smoke.

What a ridiculous turn of events. We racked our brains trying to uncover the accomplice’s identity, only for them to pop up and die on their own.

As they say, the thief’s foot is the one that slips.