Chapter 222 - Chapter 221: Side Story: The Pope's Envoy
[The Gronoir Empire, Imperial Capital Karchi, the Great Cathedral]
Imperial Capital Karchi, a place roughly two days' journey by shared carriage from the Holy Land Uup Saktu.
A single, dazzling carriage arrived at the Great Cathedral in that capital, guarded by a large number of Church Knights Temple Knights.
Several Cardinals and Archbishops lined up to welcome it, with the Church Knights Order Temple Knights forming a tight perimeter around them.
When one of the Church Knights Temple Knights opened the carriage door, a single woman stepped out.
A beautiful Bishop with black hair, wrapped in an alluring atmosphere.
A glamorous style easily imagined even over her clerical robes.
She was "Humus" Humus.
Some of those lined up were likely harboring thoughts unworthy of a cleric.
"You have worked hard, Envoy."
A slightly stooped Cardinal stepped forward and spoke to the woman who had descended from the carriage.
"Are there any instructions from Her Holiness?"
"None have arrived specifically."
"Oh."
Saying that, the woman quickly entered the interior of the Great Cathedral.
The Cardinals, Archbishops, and Church Knights Temple Knights hurriedly followed after the woman.
"Haa, what a pain. Having to go around every single time."
While grumbling irritably, "Humus" Humus marched straight through the inside of the Great Cathedral, heading for the room assigned to her.
No guidance or anything was necessary.
That room was a room for "Humus" Humus, who flew all over the Empire for special duties.
An Envoy given some sort of task by His Holiness the Pope.
An order had been issued to all clerics to obey the Envoy's instructions.
The Envoy quickly retreated into her room, leaving the Cardinals confused before the closed door.
But, since this was also somewhat usual, the Cardinals exchanged glances and then dispersed.
Inside the room, "Humus" Humus sat on the sofa, throwing her legs onto the table.
While checking a detailed map of the Empire in her hand, she marked a list enumerating the town where the Great Cathedral was located.
"Finally, the second round is finished..."
"Humus" Humus, instructed by "Lumen" Lumen to conduct activities within the Empire, had traveled all over the Empire during the following nine months.
It was for the management of "Artorum" Artorum, but her current main duty was not that.
Management of "Artorum" Artorum would become busy a little while from now.
Rather, she was flying around now for a different task.
"Oh, I should clear this one out first."
"Humus" Humus threw the map and list onto the table, stood up with momentum, and headed for the door.
When "Humus" Humus suddenly came out of the room, the Church Knights Temple Knights on guard panicked.
"E-Envoy. Where are you going?"
"As usual. You don't need to come either."
Though slightly confused by being told that, the Church Knights Temple Knights still followed "Humus" Humus.
"Humus" Humus, who knew the way by heart, headed for the storage room.
Upon entering the storage room, "Humus" Humus faced several barrels lined up in the back.
The barrels were very large, easily exceeding one meter in height.
They were too big for an adult to even try to hug.
Every barrel had a large "Six-Ring" Six-Ring branded on it, indicating it belonged to the Church.
"Remove all the corks."
Ordering the Church Knight Temple Knight who had followed her to do so, "Humus" Humus took smoked meat from a shelf nearby.
The Church Knights Temple Knights ordered by "Humus" Humus seemed to have received the same instruction before, so they obediently followed without any particular confirmation.
As they pulled out the fist-sized corks fitted into the barrels one by one, a faint scent of alcohol drifted.
The contents of the barrels were Red Wine.
In the Church, Red Wine was often drunk.
Diluted with water, it was consumed daily, and Red Wine was served to believers gathered for Mass.
It could be drunk as is, and children drank the watered-down version.
Red Wine was also frequently used in the rituals of the Church of Light.
Red Wine played a very important role that could not be cut off from the Church.
A considerable amount of Red Wine stored in the Great Cathedral's storage room was placed there to be distributed to other churches in the diocese.
While gnawing on the smoked meat, "Humus" Humus placed her palm on the hole where the cork had been removed.
Muttering something like that, she moved to the next barrel.
She did the same thing to all the opened barrels.
The Church Knight Temple Knight did not know what she was doing.
But "Humus" Humus was doing the same thing at the Great Cathedrals and churches she visited.
She was not putting anything inside, surely.
"Humus" Humus was holding nothing.
She held smoked meat in her other hand, but there was nothing in the hand resting against the barrel.
"Good. Close the corks."
Saying that, "Humus" Humus quickly left the storage room.
One Church Knight Temple Knight was left behind in the storage room to clean up, while the rest followed "Humus" Humus.
But "Humus" Humus returned straight to her room and did not come out for the rest of that day.
■■■■■■
[Warterelam's Perspective]
Warterelam's home in Imperial Capital Karchi.
Lambaluel, Warterelam's fellow enthusiast and the one who dragged him into the bad taste of the Church of Light's darkness, stretched his body widely.
His hunched back must be creaking painfully.
Seeing Lambaluel grimacing, Warterelam smiled bitterly.
Reaching for a glass, he found the diluted fruit wine was empty.
It seemed he had finished drinking it without noticing.
"............Shall we take a break soon?"
He did not know what time it was.
Since he began researching jointly with Lambaluel, Warterelam hardly ever left his house.
Because he and Lambaluel had been completely immersed in research together.
He had been obsessed with research for the year prior to that as well, so he might have been continuing this lifestyle for about two years now.
Technically he belonged to the Ministry of Sacred and Evil Inspection, but he had remained shut up without ever reporting for duty.
Still, no one said anything about it.
The reason was simply that he had originally left his seat due to whim.
If he tried to make an excuse like poor health, they would say, "Then resign as a Cardinal."
It was better to let them think he would come out eventually due to a whim.
If they said anything, he could think of a way to bluff at that time.
"Master. Master Lambaluel. Breakfast is ready."
Sestendof came to call while gnawing on smoked meat.
Warterelam and Lambaluel were able to stay in their room and immerse themselves in research almost entirely thanks to Sestendof's support.
He gave various instructions to the servants in Warterelam's house, arranged for meal preparation, and came to call them like this.
Although he was the steward, regarding the care of Warterelam and the others, he was entrusted to Sestendof rather than the steward.
"Breakfast...?"
Warterelam made a suspicious face.
His lifestyle, which did not seem to care about whether it was day or night, had continued for so long that he had stopped caring whether what he had eaten just now was lunch or dinner.
"Have you finally gone senile? Drinking such things all day long."
Lambaluel stood up unsteadily and pointed to the bottle of fruit wine placed on Warterelam's desk.
"It's diluted with water. It's no different from water. How could anyone get drunk on this?"
"If so, just drink water honestly."
Lambaluel retorted with sound logic against Warterelam's objection.
He only added a little to enjoy the taste and aroma, yet somehow everyone treated Warterelam as a drunkard.
He could not accept it.
Watching the exchange between the two, Sestendof smiled bitterly.
"............Indeed, one could say that even the teachings of the Church of Light itself have changed since the Pope erased from the rolls a thousand years ago."
Gnawing on bread, Lambaluel spoke.
A discussion Discussion while eating.
Since they had been researching all day long, Sestendof thought they should at least eat quietly, but such logic did not apply to Warterelam or Lambaluel.
The reason was that this was their hobby.
It was not much different from talking about where to go on vacation.
At least, for these two.
"From before 3,500 years ago, to roughly 3,000 years ago, that is Early Church of Light... For some reason, this religion spread and took root across the entire continent at once. For about two thousand years after that, movement was relatively small. I think it is fine to classify it as the Early Period Church of Light."
They could trace back only to 3,500 years ago, but it seemed the Church of Light arose around that time.
It swallowed indigenous nature worship and replaced it with the Six Gods and their attendant gods as the same thing.
Rather, one could even consider that the attendant gods were a system created to incorporate this indigenous faith into the Church of Light.
And the altars of the faith that originally existed were either destroyed or converted into altars of the Church of Light.
The Church of Light itself was probably not called the Church of Light in the Early and Early Periods.
Words like "Six" Six, "Holy Beings" Beings, and "Teachings" Teachings frequently appear in ancient documents.
"At that time, if you will, it was a religion that should be called the Six Saints Church or the Six Gods Church. As a remnant of that time, there is no superiority or inferiority among the Six Gods in the teachings themselves even now. But..."
As Warterelam reached for fruit, Lambaluel took over the continuation.
"About a thousand years ago. If we position it as the Late Period, various drastic changes were made after entering the Late Period. The name Church of Light as well. The erasure of the Pope. The unnatural death that caused that erasure also began around a thousand years ago."
Sestendof listened to the two's discussion while silently continuing to eat.
He had a face that seemed to think, "Even if you talk about such constipation-inducing stories, I don't need to eat," but he did not say anything extra.
If he interfered lightly, the two would surely start lecturing him together.
In fact, it had happened several times already.
In the process of investigating the history of the Church of Light, Warterelam and Lambaluel created three classifications.
Early Church of Light.
The era when the Church of Light arose, roughly from 3,500 years ago to 3,000 years ago.
Actually, it probably began a little earlier than 3,500 years ago.
It was the era when it spread across the entire continent.
Early Period Church of Light.
The era when the Church of Light, which had become widely believed, firmly took root.
About two thousand years from 3,000 years ago to 1,000 years ago corresponded to this.
Many myths were added to the scriptures.
As a result, the scriptures seemed to have swollen and become quite different from what they are now.
Late Period Church of Light.
From 1,000 years ago to the present.
The unnatural deaths of the Popes began, and their cover-ups started.
Also, myths in the scriptures were made forbidden texts or apocrypha, and new ones were added, touching the teachings themselves.
Lambaluel wiped the stew plate he had finished eating with bread and put it in his mouth.
"............Regarding the Early Period, there are no particularly suspicious points. If examined carefully, something different might be seen, but for now, let's leave it aside. What do you think?"
"No objections. Let's focus on the Early and Late Periods. Which one shall we do?"
When Warterelam asked, Lambaluel made a face as if thinking a little.
"......To change my mood, shall we switch occasionally?"
At Lambaluel's proposal, Warterelam made a surprised face.
"Is that okay? The Late Period is Lambaluel's specialty, isn't it?"
"Normally, I have never been so immersed in a hobby up to this point. I want to take a little break."
Lambaluel said that and smiled.
Thinking about it, it had been almost a year since they began researching jointly.
During this year, it had been nothing but research, to the point where he felt he could die at any moment.
...No, he still did not want to die.
At least, he wanted to produce some results before dying.
If mysteries remained mysteries, one could not truly die even if they died.
Warterelam nodded.
"Understood. I will investigate the Late Period. Lambaluel, please investigate the Early Period. ...It is fun, you know? Facing lost languages and imagining unknown worlds."
Not as much as the languages used in prehistoric civilizations, but the language of the Early Church of Light era was also different from modern ones.
And the information from the Early Church of Light era could only be read from pieces of parchment.
However, since similar words remained and some words were already identified, it was not impossible to decipher them at all.
Warterelam was also chasing the mysteries of the Early Church of Light while deciphering pieces of parchment like that.
The mysteries of the Early Church of Light.
Originally, Warterelam had been investigating the Church of Light of various eras.
As one of them, he had also investigated the origins of the Church of Light and [God's Miracle].
How the Church of Light arose, who was the founder in the first place.
How [God's Miracle] was acquired.
Through what process the phenomenon of the Church of Light and [God's Miracle] became linked.
That sort of thing.
However, two years ago, with ancient documents obtained independently, a fact that had never occurred to him until then surfaced.
In the era of the Early Church of Light.
People were fighting against something.
Not wars between nations or religious persecution.
Separately from those things, they were fighting against something.
"Word" Vocabulum and "Miracle" Miraculum, which were thought to be the same thing.
But by examining the materials, it was found that these were separate things.
"Miracle" Miraculum was what is now called [God's Miracle].
And it seemed this [God's Miracle] was acquired to counter "Word" Vocabulum.
So, what was "Word" Vocabulum?
That was the current mystery.
Looking only at the results, the side using [God's Miracle] probably won.
In other words, the ancestors of current humanity.
Did a completely different race use the thing called "Word" Vocabulum?
Or did those living on the same continent split into two and fight?
For now, nothing about such things is known at all.
There were many words on the pieces of parchment that could not be deciphered.
The meaning of the deciphered characters in the document full of holes was, after all, just a guess.
Deriving the correct answer from this would be close to a miracle itself.
But, precisely because of that, it was interesting.
Whether the guess was right or wrong, it did not bother anyone.
Then, they would just do as they pleased.
On the pieces of parchment obtained two years ago, words that had rarely been seen until then appeared frequently.
One of them was "Curse" Imprecatio.
It was unknown if it was the same concept as the current Curse.
Also, the word "Child" Impubase often appeared together with "Curse" Imprecatio.
Taking that into account, he had guessed that "Curse" Imprecatio should be considered "Cursed Child" Imprecatio?
"Cursed Children" Imprecatio who used "Word" Vocabulum.
And our ancestors acquired [God's Miracle] to counter it.
Warterelam's chest leaped with such imagination.
Eating breakfast, then sleeping like mud.
Being awake for over thirty hours straight at his age was naturally going to result in that.
Warterelam, who had awakened like that, began research.
The era of the Late Period Church of Light was also an interesting subject.
The tampering of the Papal rolls, which Warterelam had originally investigated, was also an event of the Late Period.
There were various incomprehensible movements of the Church, but above all, the greatest mystery of the Late Period was the "Oracle."
One would first want to ask if the Pope, who suddenly said "Perish" to a neighboring country, was sane.
The Empire and the Kingdom certainly did not have good relations.
They were in a relationship where they had fought four or five wars up to that point.
But that was a problem between nations, after all.
For a country that made the same Church of Light its state religion, for the Pope of that Church of Light to say "Perish" was too rough.
Well, from the Pope's perspective, it was not his own thoughts, but simply an Oracle from the gods.
As for Warterelam, if the gods he believed in suddenly said "Perish," he could not bring himself to believe in such gods.
In fact, the people of the Kingdom of Ektrem seemed to claim that the Oracle was not from the gods, but fabricated by the Pope.
This claim was, well, reasonable.
Nowadays, travel is impossible between the two countries due to a protective wall built by the Ektrem side.
But at the time of the Oracle, there was no protective wall, and travel itself was possible.
No, since they had already entered a state of war, strictly speaking, travel was impossible?
Either way, the border must have been guarded quite strictly.
But, at least if it had not even become a state of war, travel between the two countries had occurred.
Travel had actually taken place.
Clerics sometimes moved between the two countries for assignment, and it was common for believers from Ektrem to come on pilgrimage to the Holy Land Uup Saktu.
But the Pope's single word collapsed all of that.
And the Pope who brought up this Oracle.
In fact, he was a moderate.
Until then, he had been calling for dialogue between the two countries.
Even after the war started.
There had been several times in the past when the Church incited war.
However, all of those were against countries of non-believers.
Although the Church of Light was rooted across the entire continent, it was not the case that other religions were completely eradicated.
They still remained until a few hundred years ago.
For such countries, the policy was to send priests and conduct missionary work in a small way.
That policy also changed in the Late Period.
They began to make countries of the same Church of Light cooperate and attack countries of other religions.
He did not know about Ektrem, but regarding the Empire, there was also the aspect of expanding territory using such churches.
All countries remaining on the continent now are countries of the Church of Light.
The Trade Union has not established a state religion, but the majority of the citizens are believers of the Church of Light.
Such a state was very desirable for the Church, yet they said to destroy countries of the same Church of Light and incited conflict.
Anyone would doubt their sanity.
In fact, there seemed to be confusion within the Church as well.
Regarding that, documents remain in the Church even now, and they can be confirmed.
However, strangely, this confusion was settled quickly.
It unified into supporting the Oracle.
The Cardinals, who had been moderates, quickly turned into hardliners and warmongers.
The Church's heavyweights toured the Great Cathedrals within the country, calling for support.
With that, they quickly organized the churches within the country and pressured the Emperor.
The Emperor must have been surprised.
As an Empire, they probably thought it was just a minor scuffle.
A simple comparison of military strength would be difficult, but the opponent was also a major power ruling half of the continent.
They would not lose, but winning would also be difficult.
That was the opponent they should have faced.
The Kingdom of Ektrem.
Even if they won, they would only expand their territory a little.
Considering the price paid for that, they could not bring themselves to fight seriously.
And, as a matter of hindsight, the Emperor's thinking was correct.
After fighting for fifty years, the two countries ended in a stalemate, and what remained was a mountain of domestic problems.
Those who lost parents or children overflowed, production capacity declined, the economy shrank, and public order deteriorated significantly.
Some of the Emperor's descendants spent their lives trying to rebuild the ravaged Empire.
Warterelam looked up from the documents and lightly rubbed around his eyes.
"It has become a very bloody religion."
As if seeking sacrifices.
The peaceful era ended over a thousand years ago, and if one traces history a little, a blood-stained veil appears before one's eyes.
"The things under the veil..."
Was there someone sucking the blood seeping from the veil?
Who was seeking blood?
Thinking that far, Warterelam placed the documents on the desk.
"......I believe there were five or six countries that the Church incited and destroyed, right?"
Curious for some reason, he investigated that era.
The oldest was about 900 years ago.
The most recent was over 300 years ago.
And he checked and wrote down the Popes who incited the destruction of other countries in the official Papal rolls.
"This... is it a coincidence?"
Warterelam scratched his head vigorously.
He felt a cold sweat breaking out.
What was written down were all Popes erased from the rolls, who had committed suicide or died mad.