Chapter 131 - Chapter 131: Three Spirits
Steve teleported to the Holy Nation and headed straight for the Pope. Meeting with Steve, who had been recognized as an Apostle, was the Pope's highest priority. There, he reported that the Inquisition had launched an attack and received information about Sonne that the Pope knew. Once that was done, Steve went to the building where the Inquisition headquarters was located, based on what Mercury and Jupiter had told him.
From the outside, the building looked like a large inn, standing three stories tall. He prepared to enter using a body reinforcement magic spell.
He cast an illusion on the guards at the entrance, preventing them from recognizing Steve's figure, and entered the room without any issues.
At other church facilities, one could enter without issue simply by wearing clerical robes, but the Inquisition, which independently held a vast amount of confidential information, was not a place where outsiders could easily enter even if they were church personnel.
However, that strictness applied only to the identity verification at the entrance. Once inside, anyone who passed that strict check was recognized as someone who had no problems.
No one found it suspicious that Steve was walking around normally.
However, according to Mercury, that was only true for the first floor. On the second floor and above, ordinary staff members would not go up, so there was a clear understanding of who should be there on that day. In other words, if someone who should not be there was present, they would be immediately thrown out. Without taking a breath.
Steve used insects to scout the interior as usual and identified the people on the second and third floors. There were 18 people in total. He didn't know who was who, but a large, middle-aged man with brown hair mixed with white, sitting alone in a room labeled "Department Head's Office," was immediately identified as Sonne.
"Ah."
The moment Steve confirmed Sonne's figure, the vision shared with the insects went pitch black. Just before it went dark, he saw the knife Sonne had thrown, so he knew he had been killed.
"Did you notice my magic power?"
He couldn't tell if he had sensed the faint magic power used to command his familiar, or if he simply hated insects, but Steve's intuition told him it was the former.
If he was discovered, it was better to act quickly, so Steve teleported to Sonne.
"Hmph!"
As soon as he appeared, Sonne's slashing attack came at him. His actual combat power was equal to that of Ace of Sword, Joe.
So, while he was a threat in the public eye, Steve easily dodged it. After all, Steve could make the same movements as Joe, and he was further reinforced with body magic. There was no way Sonne's attack, possessing the same combat power, could hit him.
Sonne was surprised that his prideful strike was dodged, but he glared at Steve without showing the slightest opening.
"Who are you?"
"Would you understand if I said I'm an Apostle? Actually, I wanted to say I'm Peter Pan."
Upon hearing that, Sonne recognized the person before him as Steve. It was Steve he had seen during that religious trial.
"!!!"
Seeing Steve appear before him, Sonne realized that Mercury and Jupiter had failed their mission and decided to finish Steve off himself, but the iron chains created by Steve bound his body.
"You'd better not use fire magic. You won't be able to escape even if you burn."
"You demon!"
Since Sonne could not move his body, he glared with a killing intent in his eyes alone.
Steve acted playfully.
"Why do you think I'm a demon?"
"Those who deviate from the doctrine are heretics, those who do not believe are infidels, and those who try to alter them are demons."
"So you're going to kill me?"
"Yes."
"But if we talk, your way of thinking might change?"
"There is no way a conversation can be held with those who cannot hear God's teachings. Especially demons!"
Steve internally smiled bitterly, thinking this conversation would be difficult.
"Well then, let's see if I am a demon or not. You will experience it yourself."
"Do you intend to kill me?"
"Of course not. I am an Apostle of a merciful God. I would never take a believer's life. I will have you meet three spirits. And you will see the past, present, and future."
"That is impossible."
When Sonne shouted, Steve looked at him with eyes full of pity, as if saying how very regrettable it was.
"You fool who denies God's miracles. Come, savor the miracle to your heart's content."
When Steve said that, Sonne felt magic being used. Expecting pain reflexively, he closed his eyes, but no matter how long he waited, there was no damage. When he opened his eyes, a large candle stood before him.
That candle had a human face, its eyes staring straight at Sonne. And its mouth opened.
"I am the Spirit of the Past. I will show you your past."
With those words, a vision of Sonne as a child appeared before his eyes. Sonne was an orphan and did not know his parents' faces. He was raised after being picked up by the church. At that time, he did not think about whether God existed or not; he was simply grateful to the church that provided him with food and a place to sleep. From then on, Sonne grew up and began to learn what God's teachings were. Children picked up as orphans like him did not like learning about God's teachings, and Sonne thought those children were disrespectful.
However, he intended to become a priest in the future and teach the greatness of God to such children. So, instead of playing with children of his own age, he spent his time listening to priests' talks and reading scriptures.
"How is it? That was your past, wasn't it?"
"Undeniably it was me. But how do you know my past?"
The Spirit did not answer Sonne's question. Then, pitch-black darkness was born, snatching away Sonne's vision.
When Sonne's vision returned next, a man holding a torch stood before him. Behind him were two small boys.
"I am the Spirit of the Present. This is your present."
There, the massacre Sonne had committed was shown. The assassination of those deemed heretics. The extermination of infidels. A mother holding a young child begged for her life, but Sonne, citing the reason that they were infidels, ruthlessly severed the mother and child's heads. His subordinates also killed the unarmed infidels.
Sonne, shown that sight, showed no agitation.
"Are you telling me to feel guilt by looking at this?"
"I'm not saying that. By the way, the children behind me are the children of heretics and infidels. Both became orphans after their parents were killed, but will the church take care of them?"
"Why should the church take care of the children of heretics and infidels?"
"Because you, a child of a heretic, were raised in the church's orphanage like this. Isn't it strange to not recognize children other than yourself?"
"I am a child of a heretic?"
Sonne was shocked by a fact he did not know and did not want to know. He desperately searched for material to deny it. Nothing came to mind.
"It's no wonder you don't know. After all, you don't know your parents' faces."
"Say it's a lie! You too, you too are a demon! It's a lie to deceive me!!"
When Sonne shouted, pitch-black darkness once again snatched away his vision.
Then, as that darkness shrank and took a humanoid shape, his vision opened again.
The humanoid darkness before him said nothing.
But, just like before, he saw a scene not inside the Inquisition building, but somewhere else. It was the Great Cathedral of the Holy Nation he was familiar with. Only, it was burning fiercely. And before that cathedral, countless corpses lay scattered. Many people surrounded those corpses, and everyone had bright expressions.
They spoke words of joy in unison.
"We have regained freedom of faith."
"Now, we will no longer be forced to accept God's wrong words."
"The Inquisition, which refused to admit its mistakes, was the greatest heretic of all."
Sonne realized that one of the corpses the people were staring at was himself.
"Why am I dead, and why is the church burning?"
He asked, but the darkness did not answer.
Instead, Steve answered.
"If things continue as they are, the Inquisition, which opposes the review of the doctrine, will seize control of the church. They will purge those unfavorable to themselves, and the religion will change into one without freedom. To silence believers seeking freedom, purges will escalate further and further, until finally the believers' anger explodes and they retaliate. For a church doing wrong in its own name, God will become so exasperated that He will no longer wish to convey His words, and will simply look down from heaven to earth without interfering in anything at all. To the point where He does not even give divine punishment to those who burned the church. And after death, no one will be invited to God's kingdom, and people's souls will wander the earth forever. This darkness is the Spirit of the Future. The future he shows is such a world."
"That cannot possibly happen."
"Believing or not believing is free, but if the doctrine says that you, a child of a heretic, becoming the top of the church and killing other children of heretics is correct, then God is saying He will not allow His name to be used. Sending the Spirits of the Past, Present, and Future is exactly that. It has become something I cannot control myself."
Sonne did not want to believe the scenes he saw before his eyes. He wanted to find evidence that it was wrong somehow.
"T-That's right. Does God allow the doctrine to be reviewed?"
"Of course. Rather, He wants to fix things that have been misunderstood."
Even if Steve asked such a thing, it was certain that the doctrine would be reviewed, but Sonne was so anxious that he could not judge. This was because he was shown information Steve should not have known: that he was an orphan.
Sonne said nothing more from that point on.
He was thinking without saying anything.
Steve also waited for Sonne's thoughts to settle.
And finally, Sonne gave an answer.
"Even now, if I change my mind, will God forgive me?"
"God's love is equal to everyone. Even if one has acted wrongly, believers are always loved, and there is always an opportunity to obtain forgiveness."
"That's good..."
Hearing Steve's words, Sonne shed tears and thanked God.
After this, due to Sonne's conversion, the Inquisition's policy changed, and they came to accept the review of the doctrine. Of course, Steve's assassination order was also lifted.
It was also reported that Mercury and Jupiter, whom they thought were dead after attacking an Apostle and being counterattacked, were currently studying under the Saintess, and the Inquisition staff also thanked God for His deep love. Although about two of them thanked Steve instead of God.
After everything was resolved smoothly, Steve decided to report the gist of his time in the Holy Nation to his wives while soaking in the hot spring at his mansion.
It was not a mixed bath for the family, but Aurora, Evelyn, Scarlett, and Daphne were taking a bath together in the hot spring. Scarlett, saying she was embarrassed to be naked, wrapped a cloth around her body to hide her nakedness. It was a violation of manners, but since it was Steve's mansion bath and the hot water was created by magic and could be easily replaced, permission had been granted. Furthermore, Scarlett insisted there was no option not to enter, so this special permission was granted.
Steve held his head in his hands at the bad atmosphere of how this had come to be.
Originally, Aurora had come saying she liked the carbonated hot springs Steve made, and at the same timing, Evelyn had arrived in Archibalt Land as a hot spring guest. It was said that it was unacceptable for only Aurora to enter a special hot spring, so Evelyn was invited to join as well. Daphne happened to have her vacation on this day, and she was in Archibalt Land to wash away the sweat after training with Nancy, insisting on a special hot spring.
Steve had intended to tell them the gist later, but Aurora invited him to join the hot spring since it would take a long time.
When he heard that, a Hannya mask floated on Christina's back, but when Aurora said that for her to appeal her youth, it would be better to have a comparison target, she completely turned over and invited Steve.
By the way, Aurora, who spent money on skin care, had no intention of losing to Christina, who was older.
Although the carbonated bubbles did not make the whole body clearly visible, Steve was worried about Nancy and Daphne following his gaze. It was a situation where he could not relax despite being in a hot spring, accumulating stress. Nevertheless, he told them the gist.
"I heard Sonne's past from the Pope and showed him a hallucination of his past to make him easier to persuade. Along with the information that he was a child of a heretic. From there, I showed him the present and future in succession, making him think a tragic future was coming. It was hard to come up with three spirits."
Christina had a question and asked Steve.
"Was Sonne really a child of a heretic?"
"That was a lie. Or rather, it's more correct to say I don't know if it was true or not. But if you are told that you are in the same situation as the heretic children you have killed so far, it would be shocking, right?"
"You would be quite shocked."
"Before recovering from that shock, I showed him a fake future scene to make him believe it. A future where he was abandoned by God."
Regarding what Steve had done, all the women thought:
(This guy, is he a demon?)
But that did not reach Steve.
So, Steve continued with a smile, talking about how the plan succeeded. If he had understood what was in the women's hearts, Steve would have been greatly shocked, and his smile would have disappeared.
And continuing with that smile:
"See, I don't kill women just because they are women. It's just that, by chance, the people I haven't killed so far have been women."
At that moment, a servant came.
"My Lord, Your Holiness the Saintess, Frank-sama, Mercury-sama, and Jupiter-sama have arrived. They say they were invited by you."
"Ah."
Steve had forgotten that he had invited them.
And he had not told his wives about it either.
"What does your 'Ah' mean just now?"
Christina looked at Steve with quiet anger hidden in her heart.
Steve made up his mind and decided to report that he had forgotten and explain the background of the invitation.
"Actually, yesterday when I went to Julia's church to report that the Inquisition matter was resolved, we also talked about making carbonated hot springs. I invited them to come if they wanted to."
When inviting them to the hot spring, no specific date was set. Julia and the others misunderstood that it was fine anytime.
"So, did you intend to invite them to this situation as well?"
Christina was curious about the reason Steve gathered the women who had feelings for him in one place. She was very curious.
"If they dislike it, I will ask them to reschedule. Besides, I think I should get out soon."
Steve tried to escape. When he had previously invited Julia and the others with social pleasantries, he was told to speak in advance next time. Since he had already invited them once, he could not say not to come again, and he had promised his wives that if he invited them, he would tell them the promise.
"I have something I want to talk about later."
Christina firmly grabbed Steve's shoulder.
Steve nodded weakly.
"Sister, it's an incident."
He muttered softly, looking toward the Kingdom of Merda.
Thank you always for your typo reports.