Allow Me to Be a Righteous Thief Today
Finding the Original Scriptures was easy, as they were kept separate from the other items. Instead of being tucked away in a standard storage chest, a single book rested atop a writing desk that looked entirely out of place in the dusty vault.
"Hey, dummy. Do you recognize this?"
—I do not. Did I not tell you before? Writing the scriptures and establishing the religious hierarchy was the work of the mortals who believed in me.
"Yeah, yeah."
Yohan examined the Original Scriptures closely. Its most striking feature was its size and thickness, which defied comparison to any ordinary book. With dimensions like these, one could easily swing it to crush the skull of an impious heretic. Yohan glanced sideways, briefly imagining Annie bashing a heretic over the head with the corner of the massive tome.
If there was anything else of note, it was the heavy iron chains wrapped around the cover, and the small barrier enveloping the writing desk. The chains weren't a problem, as he could easily rip them apart. The barrier, however... Yohan turned his gaze toward Annie. As a former Heresy Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom, she was bound to know a thing or two about such wards.
"It is a barrier that reacts to Miracle Arts," Annie said. "A defensive wall that rejects the touch of anyone unable to wield miracles rooted in the power of the Primary God."
Annie reached out toward the desk as she spoke. *Crackle!* A small spark discharged from her fingertips, and a ripple of repulsive force spread across the surface of the barrier.
"A-Are you okay?"
"It was merely a slight sting. At any rate, you should be fine, Yohan. Rest assured, it does not possess the function to detect a specific individual's touch."
"Perfect."
Yohan had worried that an alarm might be rigged to the desk, but there was nothing of the sort. The moment he heard Annie's reassurance, he thrust both hands through the barrier. Unlike when Annie had touched it, the ward offered no resistance, letting his hands pass through effortlessly. Even when he lifted the scriptures with both hands, no loud alarms blared to signal an intruder. The barrier surrounding the desk simply evaporated into thin air.
—As expected of scriptures belonging to a religion with such a long history, they harbor a considerable level of divinity within themselves.
Yohan nodded in agreement with the Unnamed Goddess's voice echoing in his mind.
—The reason they possess such divinity, despite my lack of direct involvement, is likely because the faith of the high priests who participated in compiling these scriptures has coalesced within them.
The Goddess's voice sounded subtly pleased. Even though this had occurred long before she was split into her current self, she knew this object held the sincere hearts of the believers who had once followed the Goddess of Justice.
"It's heavy in more ways than one."
With the barrier gone, the brilliant divinity radiating from the Original Scriptures was unmistakable. In terms of pure divine power, it easily surpassed all the Divine Weapons they had encountered on their journey combined. Of course, he couldn't just feed this directly to the Goddess right now.
"Heave-ho."
Yohan hoisted the massive tome with both hands. He then summoned a portal to his Single-room and tossed the scriptures through the dimensional rift. Inside the pocket dimension, the various books Annie had gathered were already safely stored. With this, all reference materials needed to compile the Nameless Goddess Sect Scriptures had been secured. Their primary objective was complete.
Infiltrating the security system of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had been far easier than expected, but that was solely because Yohan was the Apostle of the Unnamed Goddess. Having Annie along, with her extensive knowledge of the Congregation's inner workings, had lowered the difficulty of the heist even further. If an ordinary person—unable to perform Miracle Arts and lacking an alliance with an Inquisitor—had tried to rob the Secret Archive, it would have been practically impossible. At least, that was Yohan's assessment.
Holy Capital Justia, where the main building of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stood, was a city that was essentially a fortress. Furthermore, the security devices installed inside the Congregation's headquarters were incredibly difficult for outsiders who couldn't use Miracle Arts to bypass. Yohan had only come all this way because, as the Apostle of the Unnamed Goddess, he absolutely needed the Original Scriptures.
"Tsk. Doesn't look like there's anything else worth taking."
There was nothing in the Secret Archive that could be easily fenced for quick cash. Yohan smacked his lips in disappointment as he scanned the vault. He had assumed that since this was a subterranean vault beneath the Holy Capital of the Holy Kingdom, there would at least be several Sacred Relics imbued with the Goddess's energy, even if there was no loot to sell. In reality, most of the items stored here were useless for restoring the Goddess's divinity. This was especially true of whatever was radiating an ominous energy from behind the stone door at the far end of the vault. It felt exactly like the sealed remains of some powerful foe locked away with great difficulty in the distant past.
"Well, it is time to head back," Annie said, turning her gaze toward the breached entrance.
Once the next guard shift arrived at the vault door, the entire Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would be thrown into chaos. They needed to slip out of the Holy Capital before anyone realized an intruder had breached the vault.
"No. We can't run away right now. We need to stay here for at least a few more days."
"What?"
For some reason, Yohan shook his head.
"Think about it. What do you think will happen if we bolt right now?"
"W-Well..."
"We'll immediately become the prime suspects. Even if we use teleportation to make a quick escape, they'll stop at nothing to hunt us down."
Yohan continued.
"Besides, those Church bastards know we came from the southwest of the continent, near Balifield."
Annie's eyes widened at his explanation.
"I see. I understand what you mean."
If they returned to the village now, the Church, furious over the theft of the Original Scriptures, would chase them to the ends of the earth.
"Once we disappear, they will naturally begin their investigation near Balifield, where I originally found you."
"Exactly."
No matter how deeply they hid in the mountainous regions of the southwest, if an organization as massive as the Central Church of the Holy Kingdom set its mind to hunting them down, finding their village would be a mere matter of time.
"Then what do you propose we do?"
"What else?"
Yohan shrugged at Annie's question.
"We play nice and keep our heads down until things blow over."
Fleeing now would place them at the top of the suspect list. But if they acted completely oblivious and stayed put, they might face some minor suspicion, but they could ultimately brush it off.
"But the guards outside already know my face. Though they do not seem to know my name."
"Ah, don't worry about that."
Yohan turned and walked back toward the entrance. Annie tilted her head in confusion but followed him silently.
Stepping out of the vault, Yohan approached the two guards sprawled out on the floor of the corridor and reached out his hand.
Whoosh.
A dark, mist-like haze of light bloomed from his fingertips and seeped directly into the heads of the two guards.
Over the past few days, while studying information related to the Central Church, Yohan had learned that some of the priests' Miracle Arts could erase a target's memory. He had drawn inspiration from that. Since an Apostle's Authority was an all-powerful force, interfering with a target's mind was entirely possible if he put his mind to it.
"T-That is..."
Annie gasped in surprise as she realized what he was doing.
Yohan quickly stood back up. Now, the only memory left in the two guards' minds would be that they were chatting in front of the Secret Archive entrance when they were suddenly struck from behind and knocked unconscious.
The two finally left the underground levels and headed up to the residential quarters on the ground floor. Along the way, Yohan went out of his way to access corridors they didn't even need to use, manually disabling perfectly functioning security devices. He already knew the guards' patrol schedules, and even if a guard approached at an unexpected time, his internal Goddess-radar would warn him. He even went so far as to leave a window wide open in one of the hallways.
—Disabling security devices in other corridors to manipulate their investigation of your escape route... How meticulous.
The Goddess's praise echoed in his mind. Yohan snorted in response.
—I see the skills you honed robbing graves and ancient ruins haven't gone to waste.
This cheeky little brat.
Yohan swore colorfully in his mind.
Returning to their quarters, the two headed to their respective bedrooms.
"Whew. I should try to get some shut-eye."
—How incredibly carefree. What if those guards remember Annie's face perfectly?
As Yohan flopped onto the hard stone bed, the Goddess's voice chimed in his head.
"Hey, now. Who do you think you're talking to?"
Yohan smirked, looking up at the ceiling.
—The guy who failed to control his strength and flooded an entire city.
"How long are you going to keep bringing that up?"
—Hmph. Did you not tease Billy countless times over a broken table?
"Dammit."
She was right, leaving him with nothing to say but a curse. Yohan flipped an impious gesture toward the ceiling and rested his head on the pillow.
The Goddess's worries wouldn't come to pass. Yohan was certain of it. Even if the one wielding the power was flawed, the source of that power was the Unnamed Goddess herself. It would be fine. With a relaxed smile, Yohan closed his eyes.
"..."
He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
A deafening bell suddenly rang out, threatening to burst his eardrums. The alarm system seemed to be powered by Miracle Arts or magic; even though there were no speakers in the room, it felt as if the bell were being struck right in front of his face.
INTRUDER DETECTED! INTRUDER DETECTED!
It seemed the next guard shift had finally discovered that the vault had been breached.
"W-What? What did you just say?!"
Chaos erupted in the dead of night. Cardinal Paulus, the Director of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gasped in sheer horror at his secretary's sudden report.
"Well, you see..."
"Speak plainly! What did you just say?"
Did my ears deceive me? Clinging to a shred of hope, the Cardinal demanded an answer.
"Y-Yes, Your Eminence. Someone infiltrated the Secret Archive tonight and stole the Original Scriptures."
"Ah..."
A wave of unbearable dizziness washed over him. The Cardinal, who had been sitting on the edge of his bed, groaned heavily and collapsed backward.
"Your Eminence!"
Terrified, the secretary rushed forward to support his falling body.
"Primary God... what on earth is happening?"
Barely managing to steady himself, the Cardinal looked up toward the ceiling as if staring at the heavens, muttering in despair.
The Secret Archive had been robbed, and the most valuable item in their possession—the Original Scriptures of the Central Church—was gone. It was over. His career as a high-ranking clergyman was completely finished.
"The only saving grace is that they did not touch any other items," the secretary added quickly. "Furthermore, other than the two guards at the entrance suffering minor bruises, there are no casualties."
The Cardinal shook his head at the secretary's words. What did any of that matter? His grand ambition of becoming the next Pope had just gone up in smoke.
"If so, please give us your orders on how to proceed."
"First, station the senior Inquisitors who are not on external duty to guard the secret va—no, the Secret Archive. And as for me..."
The Cardinal let out a sigh from the very depths of his soul.
"I must personally report this to His Holiness the Pope."
Dragging his aging body upright, he began preparing to leave his bedchamber.