Please Allow Me to Be a Righteous Thief Today (8)
Late dawn, before the sun had even risen. Cardinal Paulus, Director of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, arrived at his office hours earlier than usual and sat down, letting out a succession of heavy sighs.
For now, he had put out the immediate fire. The Director himself, dragging his old bones, had personally stepped forward to cast a powerful barrier over the entrance of the Secret Archive, ensuring that no one except high-ranking clergy of equivalent rank could enter. It would be enough to hold out until the door was properly repaired.
But in the end, this was nothing more than locking the stable door after the horse had bolted. An incident that should never have occurred had taken place. The Cardinal felt a raging fire burning deep within his chest, to the point where he felt a sudden urge to smash every single object in his office to pieces.
He had thought his career path was paved with gold after an inquisitor brought back a once-in-a-generation genius from some remote backwater. Instead, an unimaginably massive disaster had struck, and now he was in a position where he might be forced to strip off his robes as early as tomorrow. No, being forced to resign would be a mercy; he might very well be excommunicated for failing to prevent such a grave crime.
And soon, the very person who held the power to end his life was scheduled to arrive.
Sitting in his office chair, the Director bounced his leg anxiously, his fingernails tapping a relentless rhythm against the desk's surface.
Tap, tap, tap.
After a tense period of displaying such anxious symptoms, a knock finally echoed from the other side of the office door, which had remained dead silent until now.
"P-Please... enter."
The Cardinal spoke with great difficulty, his voice trembling.
At his words, the firmly shut door slid open to the left and right, revealing a figure standing in the doorway.
It was an old man, escorted by two Holy Knights clad in full armor and carrying swords. Although it was not an official event and he wore no luxurious vestments or ornate decorations, the sheer divine power radiating from him made it instantly clear to anyone that he was the current ruler of the Holy Kingdom.
"Y-Your Holiness."
The Cardinal immediately rushed out from behind his desk and prostrated himself before the Pope.
"Cardinal Paulus. Raise your head."
A report of the unprecedented incident that had occurred during the night had already been delivered to the Papal Palace.
"Y-Your Holiness—!"
Hearing the Pope's gentle voice only made the Cardinal slam his forehead against the stone floor repeatedly.
"Why do you bring such suffering upon yourself? Please, cease this self-harm and raise your head."
Only after the Pope's repeated request did the Cardinal stop bashing his head. In that brief moment, the skin on his forehead had split open, and dark red blood was trickling down his wrinkled face.
The Pope used Miracle Arts to heal the wound on the Cardinal's forehead before taking a seat on a visitor's chair on one side of the office.
"Come and sit. You two, wait outside for a moment."
At the Pope's command, the two Holy Knights silently marched out of the office. The Cardinal watched them leave blankly before rising from the floor and taking a seat opposite the Pope.
"Cardinal Paulus. I have received the report regarding the unfortunate incident that occurred last night."
"I... have no excuses."
The Cardinal almost slammed his head against the table reflexively. He was pushed that far to the brink mentally.
"The intruder easily bypassed the security system of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, slipped past the perception of the patrolling guards, and possessed the skill to cleanly breach that thick, powerful door. Is that not so?"
"Y-Yes, that is correct."
"Such a feat would require someone on the level of the Empire's renowned court mages."
The Pope's words were entirely correct. The Cardinal nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"In fact, given that an intruder of such caliber entered the Congregation, the fact that there were no casualties must be thanks to the protection of the Primary God."
"O Primary God..."
The Cardinal pulled out a rosary imbued with divine power from his robes and began to nervously fiddle with it with both hands.
"And, through the 'voice' the Primary God bestowed upon me not long ago, I have identified the likely culprit."
"I-Is that true?"
Hearing this welcome news, the Cardinal's face brightened considerably.
"Yes. And..."
Thud.
The Pope suddenly tapped his staff lightly against the floor. In an instant, a hemispherical barrier formed around the two of them, completely blocking any sound from traveling outside. This meant that whatever was about to be said next was a secret that must never be leaked to another living soul.
"Cardinal Paulus. I know well what hardship you face. At the same time, I sympathize with your feelings more than anyone."
The Pope placed his hand gently over the Cardinal's trembling hand.
"Cardinal, do you know the contents of the Original Scriptures kept in the Secret Archive?"
"Y-Yes. Yes, Your Holiness. I know them all."
The existence of the passages deleted by later generations under the pretext of being blasphemous. The moment his thoughts reached that point, the Cardinal felt his bleak, dark future suddenly brighten.
"Does that mean..."
"You are quick to understand. Yes, your assumption is correct. The one who infiltrated the Secret Archive and stole the Original Scriptures is undoubtedly the pretender of the Main God Justia."
The Pope suddenly turned his head and looked in a certain direction. The Cardinal realized that his gaze was directed toward the highest point of the Papal Palace.
"Y-Your Holiness. Surely, the one sleeping in Your Holiness's office is..."
"Yes. That person—no, that being—is the other half and the pretender of the Primary God, whom the Primary God sealed in the Dormitory of Dormancy in the distant past."
The realization that the Secret Archive had been plundered by an unknown assailant threw the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith into absolute chaos.
The leadership, centered around the Cardinal, immediately gathered the senior inquisitors to dispatch a pursuit force, while simultaneously ordering a complete lockdown of the Congregation.
Considering that the lockdown of the Grand Cathedral just last week had already caused all sorts of rumors to circulate among the citizens of the Holy City, this was an incredibly drastic measure. However, since the Congregation was not an institution open to the general public like the Grand Cathedral, the news of the lockdown was unlikely to escalate into a major issue.
Soon, all the inquisitors remaining in the Holy City, including Yohan and Annie, were gathered in one place.
Due to the nature of their work, Heresy Inquisitors rarely gathered in such large numbers. This meant the current situation had far exceeded any "usual" circumstances.
"Listen, all inquisitors!"
The Grand Inquisitor standing on the podium growled. His expression was so ferocious that he looked ready to bash someone's skull in with a holy book at any moment.
Yet, even his fury was nothing compared to that of Cardinal Paulus, the Director of the Congregation, who sat behind him.
The extremely enraged Cardinal's wrath acted as a physical pressure in its own right. Because of this, all the inquisitors gathered in the hall were sweating profusely, looking as though they might faint from sheer terror at any second.
Among all the inquisitors present, only Yohan and Annie remained perfectly fine.
Since Yohan possessed the Apostle's Authority, he had no reason to be intimidated by the pressure radiating from the Cardinal. As for Annie, since she was fundamentally unable to perform Miracle Arts, she couldn't even perceive the pressure based on divine power in the first place.
The Grand Inquisitor glared, scanning the faces of the inquisitors one by one.
There were roughly two to three hundred inquisitors gathered in the hall. Considering that inquisitors were constantly traveling across the entire continent, this was not a large number.
The reason was simple: except for Annie, who had been assigned to solely guide the apprentice inquisitor Yohan, all senior inquisitors had already set out to pursue the mysterious thief who had stolen the scriptures.
"Currently, by order of His Eminence Cardinal Paulus, Director of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation has been isolated from the outside. The reason is...!"
Slam!
The Grand Inquisitor suddenly struck his staff against the floor. At the same time, the cowering inquisitors flinched and trembled in unison.
"..."
Yohan merely watched the Grand Inquisitor with a blank face.
That old man. It's obvious he got kicked in the shins by the Cardinal all night and is now taking his anger out on his subordinates.
The problem was that they wouldn't have issued a lockdown order just to vent their frustration. There was definitely another motive at play.
Yohan thought to himself as he glanced at the Grand Inquisitor and the Director sitting in the chair behind him.
"The Holy City, which has not allowed an external intrusion for hundreds, no, over a thousand years, has been breached!"
Hearing the Grand Inquisitor's shout, Yohan realized once again just how absurdly overpowered the Apostle's Authority truly was.
"And... the damned intruder stole items from the Secret Archive in the basement of the Congregation and fled!"
This was all information Yohan already knew. It was so boring he almost yawned.
"However, you do not yet know what items were stolen from the Secret Archive."
This was also true. Except for Yohan and Annie, who knew the truth, the apprentice inquisitors gathered here only knew that a theft had occurred, but had heard nothing about what had actually been stolen.
The Grand Inquisitor shifted his gaze and locked eyes with Agnes.
"Except for one person, Inquisitor Agnes. Is that not so?"
"That is correct."
At the Grand Inquisitor's question, Agnes nodded with a blank expression.
Yohan quickly realized why the Grand Inquisitor had specifically singled out Agnes. Among those gathered, she was the only official Heresy Inquisitor who had moved past the apprentice stage.
As the inquisitors of the Congregation rose in rank, the amount of information they were privy to increased. This was because the more valuable and sensitive the information, the fewer people should know it.
The Grand Inquisitor was essentially telling the green apprentice inquisitors that he was about to share high-level information that only veteran inquisitors like Agnes would normally know. It was a subtle tactic to boost the apprentices' morale and loyalty.
"And now! I will reveal to everyone in this room a secret that must never be leaked to the outside!"
Sure enough, as soon as the Grand Inquisitor finished speaking, a stir ran through the hall.
Despite trembling under the pressure of the two high-ranking clergymen, the apprentice inquisitors, who had remained silent until now, began to whisper and gasp.
I guess I should manage my expression a bit too.
Yohan quickly adopted a stern and serious look.
Thud.
The Cardinal, who had remained silent, stood up with the help of his staff. At his movement, the Grand Inquisitor stepped aside with clockwork precision.
"Listen well, everyone. In truth, the scriptures kept in the Papal Cathedral are not the original."
The moment the Cardinal stood on the podium, he dropped a bombshell.
As soon as his words fell, every single inquisitor in the room, except for Agnes, gasped in shock.
"The scriptures kept in the Cathedral are copies. The true original has been kept and protected by our Congregation in the Secret Archive for over a thousand years."
Following his explanation, several quick-witted inquisitors realized the identity of the stolen item.
"Yes. As you have guessed, the intruder who breached our Holy City's defenses entered the Secret Archive and fled with the Original Scriptures."
Thud!
In an instant, several apprentice inquisitors collapsed to the floor, their legs giving out.
"O-O Primary God..."
Some even let out weeping groans as they were overcome with emotion. Although Yohan didn't collapse, he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists.
"For this reason, all official inquisitors of the rank of Inquisitor and above, excluding Inquisitor Agnes and those on external missions, have left the Holy City to pursue the missing scriptures."
It meant the Congregation was literally putting all its strength into recovering the scriptures.
But what can you do? The scriptures you're searching so desperately for aren't even in this 'world' anymore.
Yohan sneered inwardly at the thought.
Hehehe. These fools would not realize their scriptures rest within my pocket dimension even if they were to die and be reborn.
The Goddess reacted similarly.
"As I mentioned before, the fact that the Original Scriptures were kept in the underground Secret Archive is a secret accessible only to official inquisitors with recognized achievements and experience. Therefore, you must never speak of what you heard here today to anyone."
This was a praise disguised as a threat. It was a tactic to bind the apprentice inquisitors' loyalty even tighter by placing a heavier responsibility on them.
Thud!
In an instant, hundreds of apprentice inquisitors knelt on one knee in unison. Then, they pulled out their rosaries.
Sensing the atmosphere, Yohan hastily assumed the same posture.
The rosary he had received upon gaining the rank of apprentice inquisitor. It wasn't anything special, and just like the one Annie had given him back in Junk Town, it was completely useless.
"Therefore, from this day forward, until the day the Original Scriptures are safely recovered, you will have no external missions and will undergo only closed-door training."
"Gasp—"
At the Cardinal's declaration, Yohan almost let out a scream. He barely managed to keep his mouth shut, letting out a ragged breath instead.
I'm screwed. You're telling me I have to live locked up inside this Congregation building until they find the Original Scriptures?