Chapter 81
Chapter 81
11. A War Without Faith -1
How long had it been since the front of the 『Grand Sanctuary』 had been this bustling? People formed a sea of humanity, and their voices were loud to the point of excess. Any reverence had long since faded, and this place was not much different from a marketplace.
But one could say the atmosphere suited them well. Who among these people could confidently claim to have devoted themselves to the clergy? Not a single one showed reverence toward God.
There was only one thing on their minds. 'How shall we fill the empty space in our stomachs?'
The bishops flocked to the 『Grand Sanctuary』.
The time had come. The thirst had been long. The abundance had been far too insufficient.
In the end, if self-interest is what moves people, then the world is likewise moved by self-interest. The weight of the purse one receives is the measure of one's heart. Therefore, the world cannot be governed by will and morality alone.
Pathetic Holy God. Indeed, why had You declined?
If You had bestowed as You once did, and continued to do so, You could have maintained that glorious seat. Why did You weaken and shrivel? If so, then we who came seeking a sip of sweet nectar had no choice but to leave.
So this is God's fault.
The fault of a father who failed to feed his starving son!
Surely that was so, and yet⋯⋯
Thud! Thud! Thud!
When a bishop led the way, holy knights and priests marched in step behind him. The banners they raised made clear where their interests lay.
The first to enter bore a serpent emblem drawn on gray hemp cloth. They entered with their eyes cast down, as if scanning the ground for fallen gold coins.
Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction - Bishop Savidero.
"How, how could the Serpent God have commanded submission⋯⋯"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Submission? It's survival. You foolish primitive. A wretch who fears groveling flat on the ground has no right to live. If you can't hear it, feel it with your body, Savidero── a person has to shove their head down to drink water.]
All but one had sided with the Holy-God Faction. For cunning profit.
Scrape. Scraaape.
After the serpent procession passed, the next to enter bore a knot emblem embroidered in pitch black on golden silk. They entered with great pomp, riding in splendid and enormous carriages.
Binder Faction - Bishop Seldicto.
"Haha! It seems the time has come to sell at the highest price!"
They were testing the waters without hastily deciding where to cast their votes. There was no need to explain. For wealthy profit.
Stomp. Stomp.
After the procession laden with tightly bound riches passed, the next to enter bore a moon emblem beautifully embroidered on black cloth. They entered with their eyes closed in prayer, feigning piety.
But closing one's eyes does not mean one cannot see. Behind their eyelids, they were gazing at brilliant moonlight.
Moon-Shadow Faction - Bishop Bento.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Despite the swelling ascendancy of the Holy God, they held their ground. The blade of replacing the presiding god was still quite sharp. What need was there to say more? For the profit they had dreamed of!
At last.
Two people walked in last.
Trudge. Trudge.
There was no grand procession, no large retinue. Just a nun and a knight, the two of them alone. No banner was raised either. But ironically⋯⋯ those humble steps drew more attention than all the processions that had come before.
"Thank you, Saintess, thank you! Thanks to you, we didn't starve!"
"Thank you for saving us, holy knight! Those heaven-damned bastards finally!"
"May the Saintess surely achieve her purpose! I shall pray!"
Cheers were laid softly along her path.
The bishops frowned at this. Why were those penniless, wretched nobodies cheering for them? And they soon reached a conclusion. They must have spent that much in goods, so of course they would be revered.
So it was no different⋯⋯
Those people, too, were ultimately cheering according to profit and loss, and those nobodies were nothing but dogs wagging their tails at whoever fed them. If other bishops had given just the same, they would have rejoiced and offered prayers as well.
But that thought was wrong. The people did not remember full bellies or the glint of coins.
What they recalled now was a gaze. The gaze of the white-haired holy knight who lowered himself and asked if they were all right, the gaze of the Saintess who wove through the streets reaching out her hand to people, and deep within those eyes, flickering── heart.
These two alone, even while speaking of profit── spoke of something that was not profit.
Look. How could the weight of gold coins tossed out like alms possibly equal the weight of copper coins handed over with all one's heart from a crumpled pocket? And now.
"Shall we go, Noah Won."
"Let's go finish this. Andersen."
⋯⋯It was time to determine which side's coins weighed heavier.
Creeeak──
The moment Andersen and I opened the doors of the 『Grand Sanctuary』 and entered, the gazes of the twelve bishops fixed on us at once. Judging by the heat in their eyes, there could be no greater reception than this.
Bishop Bento, without even rising from his seat, inclined his head slightly and spoke.
"So you have come, Saintess. I have been waiting."
"You arrived quickly, Bishop Bento. Since you do not even show your face at gatherings where the great and small affairs of the church are discussed with His Holiness the Pope, I worried you might be late to the conclave as well."
"Is this not a gathering of that much importance? I have been so busy running about for the clergy that I have had no time to rest, and shamefully, I have often been unable to attend His Holiness's councils. But today is a day on which the futures of so many people hang⋯⋯"
A brief war of nerves passed between Andersen and Bishop Bento.
We looked around── and discovered that every chair one could sit in was occupied.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
They hadn't prepared a place for the Saintess and me to sit in the first place. Even if they had, they would have cleared it away. It was a rather petty ploy. Were they telling her to stand alone while all the other voters sat?
When I turned my head and shot a glare sideways, Bishop Savidero of the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction flinched with a look that said 'should I get up or not?' He was cooperating under the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord's orders, but he didn't seem fully convinced.
The other bishops who had defected, declaring they would side with the Holy-God Faction, were the same. They sat guarding their chairs, and not one of them stood.
Well, of course. They had switched sides for now, but they must have doubted whether what our Holy-God Faction was scattering around was truly sustainable.
"Hoo."
Then we just had to show them. I met eyes with Saintess Andersen. The cigarette ember in her eyes had long since become a clear beacon. Now, she was about to change the world.
In the brief pause before stepping onto the stage.
Andersen quietly expressed her gratitude to me.
"Thank you. Noah Won. Thanks to you, I have come this far. If not for you──"
No.
"I have no intention of putting on obvious modesty. But I don't want to receive more gratitude than necessary either."
If it had truly been a head-on charge into bare ground, there would have been no way except to catch and kill all the bishops. Even if I had cooperated with Sohye to distribute goods in the name of the Holy-God Faction, it would have been the same.
If Andersen had merely tottered about as a scarecrow like that Pope, would people have responded like this? If she had not proven her abilities, would the bishops of other factions have truly defected?
It was something that would never have come to pass if the Saintess had given up long ago.
The fire in her heart was a tenacious cigarette ember that had not gone out for years, even under the bishops' checks. It was a spark that would blaze brightly at the slightest opportunity. So.
"It is thanks to me, but what I did was merely add kindling to firewood that had already been stacked."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
"Go show them. Andersen. I'll be watching."
Rather rudely, I gave Andersen a light pat on the back. In a public setting, if it was a public setting, a holy knight laying hands on the Saintess was⋯⋯ not a very pleasant sight. But I simply wanted to.
Because at this moment, I wanted to cheer for Andersen more than for the Saintess.
She, too, widened her eyes slightly as if a little surprised, then with a fragment of a smile.
"⋯⋯Very well."
She pulled a cigar from within her robes and strode confidently before the bishops.
Go. Andersen.
Click.
Saintess Andersen took out a cigar and cutter from the pouch of her neat and modest nun's habit, cut off the tip, and put it in her mouth.
"⋯⋯What?"
"Saintess, what in the world is that object⋯⋯"
And then she lit it with a lighter. With the antique black lighter gifted by Kim Sohye, once the blue flame crackled── the cigar began to billow smoke.
Andersen inhaled the harsh smoke deeply.
Originally, it had started as a performance to bring the back-alley thugs under her command── to show that she was no different from them. But now, she had grown accustomed to it, and it had become a hobby.
At that natural smoking, the seated bishops and their attending retinues were thrown into an uproar.
"Saintess! This is the 『Grand Sanctuary』!"
"How dare you put something that only vagrants burn to your lips!"
"You must maintain your dignity! What in the world is the symbol of the Church of the Holy God doing──!!"
Hoooo──.
Andersen let the bullshit go in one ear and out the other, savoring the smoky taste of the cigar, and spoke languidly.
"I understand this place to be a venue for replacing God. Blasphemy and atrocity have long since crossed the line, so a bit of soot on a symbol is hardly worth nitpicking, is it?"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯!!"
"We've come too far to waste time playing masquerade. Above all, it's ugly. I, too, am exercising the patience not to point out your contradictions, so I hope you will all do the same."
Silence.
The bishops stiffened and fell silent at the Saintess's boldness. Above that stillness, Andersen gazed up at the planetarium in the center of the 『Grand Sanctuary』 and thought.
According to ancient texts, the Saintesses of ages past communicated directly with the Holy God. But Andersen had never heard God's voice. Not even once.
The reason was that the Pope had hidden the knowledge he ought to have passed on, but Andersen personally had always believed it was because her own talent was lacking.
But she was still devout. Even if God did not prove His existence through bestowals, she believed the Holy God's teachings were right. Because the words written in the scriptures spoke of people and of life.
Because she knew that the Holy God loved the humans of this planet.
However, testifying of this love to all the bishops would have no effect. Merchants feel no weight in things without profit, so those who are no different from merchants would likewise fail to find meaning in nothing.
So the strategy had to change. If one wishes to save God, one must not speak of God. So forgive me, Holy God. I shall be irreverent.
"I have not come to speak of God. I have come to discuss profit. Just like all of you."
"Why, why⋯⋯"
Instead of love, I shall speak of gold coins and swords.
"Our Holy-God Faction's support will continue even after the conclave ends. Whether the Holy God is restored or completely ousted. You all know what this means. Are you not keen on your own interests?"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
"The reason citizens are helplessly exploited is not stupidity, but the absence of a center. If we distribute the firearms circulating in the world to them, feed them well, and raise them up, their resentment toward the kingdom and church that collect taxes will swell by the day."
A declaration that whether they won or lost, the Holy-God Faction would not stop expanding its power.
BANG!
At Andersen's declaration, which was little different from a threat, one of the Binder Faction bishops slammed his fist on the table and shouted.
"Have you lost your mind, Saintess! There will be war!"
"There will be. So?"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯!!"
"Fight and win, and you gain the world⋯⋯ However arduous that path, it would be easier than replacing God, so is there any reason I should remain silent?"
There was.
She did not want people to die. When she saw the children of the back alleys tottering about, gaunt from hunger, she felt dizzy. War was therefore terrifying enough to make her teeth chatter.
But would those wretches dare to know her true feelings? Andersen's skin was thick. They had made her that way. She flashed her eyes with false ambition.
"Even so, a shrinking pie is not a pleasant matter. If I can do it, so can all of you, and if infighting breaks out, half the storehouse will burn."
"⋯⋯Haha! So what proposal do you intend to make, that you speak such frightening words?"
"Sharing is more harmonious and agreeable than fighting. Vote for the Holy God. The price is power and wealth no different from before── no, more abundant than before. Have you not already investigated? The bestowals the Holy-God Faction has been pouring out."
"Indeed, indeed⋯⋯ I believe I understand what you mean."
Bishop Seldicto of the Binder Faction clapped and laughed.
Firearms. Various convenience tools. Military forces from another world.
Expanding the Holy-God Faction's power loudly and aggressively by mobilizing all of those had been partly to gain a voice── but there had also been a hidden intent of large-scale promotion. To show the bishops. That enormous potential.
The cornered bishops would have nimbly scraped together information, and the more they pondered, the more they would have realized what value the Holy-God Faction's bestowals of unknown origin held.
The decisive factor was 'people who appeared out of thin air.'
People not in any family registry, people of different races, appeared equipped with peculiar armaments. Ordinary citizens who had never learned anything might not know, but for bishops who served high-ranking hunters and had accumulated at least a shallow layer of knowledge, it was not hard to notice.
That the Saintess had a way to connect to another world.
Another world. How could one not smell the fragrance of gold coins overflowing from those three words! But there was danger to match. Bishop Seldicto asked cautiously.
"Hahaha! This is rather embarrassing to say, but. Compared to you, Saintess, we lack in devotion, and so it is difficult for us to hold unwavering faith. Could you perhaps grant us instruction?"
"Should one not meet swords with swords, and bows with bows?"
"Oh-ho!"
Only then did Bishop Seldicto completely understand── or so he deluded himself.
Yes, the Saintess had found a gate connecting to another world. And she had succeeded in making contact with a new civilization beyond the gate and even drawing out some form of cooperative relationship. But── there was no guarantee they would not someday turn into invaders!
So she would want the cooperation of the bishops who had received bestowals from high-ranking hunters, the power of that same other world. Swords met with swords, and another world met with the power of yet another world.
That was why, even while putting on a performance of mutual destruction if crossed, she was trying to win them over instead of pushing them away. In this situation, it was worth siding with the Holy-God Faction. Perhaps, if he watched for an opportunity, he could even nibble away the trading rights with the other world from the Saintess!
Of course, it was a vain thought.
How could Seldicto possibly guess that, because of the existence called Noah Won, there was a solid bond of trust between the two worlds?
"Haha! For the future of this planet, I had intended, with a presumptuous heart, to borrow the power of another god called the Binder, but in this situation, I need not commit such an unfilial act. Holy God, forgive me! The Binder Faction shall support the Holy God!"
"You are welcome."
And so the Binder Faction's two bat-like votes became the Holy God's.
"Th-then I shall return as well! Bishop Savidero! Please say something! Was it not you, Bishop, who told me to go to the Moon-Shadow Faction and test the waters⋯⋯!!"
"Shh, shh! I'll handle it⋯⋯ Ahem, Saintess. This bishop also seems to wish to defect."
One bishop of the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction, whom Savidero had sent to the Moon-Shadow Faction to keep riding the fence until the end, also defected in a fluster upon seeing the flow. And thus.
● Native God Holy God Faction (10 votes total)
-Serpent-Subduing Young Lord Faction 4 votes
-Honorary Bishop 1 vote (★)
-Binder Faction 3 votes (★)
-Pope 1 vote
-Saintess 1 vote
● 『Moon Shadow (月影)』 Faction (4 votes total)
-Moon-Shadow Faction 4 votes
The conclave ended before a vote was even held.
Crunch.
Andersen unknowingly clenched the cigar she had been smoking and crushed it. Letting the last mouthful of smoke rise, she trembled finely with a sense of accomplishment. She had done it. She had prevented the Holy God's expulsion.
Now the work of slowly cooking those pig bastards remained, but at last, she could bring sunlight down upon the squalid, gloomy back alleys.
It was clearly over, but⋯⋯ something felt off. It was strange.
'Why aren't those Moon-Shadow Faction bastards defecting?'
The flow aside, hadn't Andersen even promised to preserve their former wealth and power? In the first place, they had no way to win the vote now. So even if they had some other scheme, they should have buried it for now and waited for the next opportunity.
To say they had decided to just charge ahead, seized by conviction and stubbornness── those bishop bastards were clearly closer to merchants. Unless a faith they'd never had was suddenly sprouting up now⋯⋯
"Magnificent. Saintess."
"⋯⋯Bishop Bento."
"But even so⋯⋯ we cannot break our resolve. So instead, how about you step down, Saintess?"
It was the moment Bishop Bento, with those words, began fiddling with his necklace.
Whoooosh──!!
The air changed.
Bishop Savidero rubbed his forearm as if he felt something eerie. Andersen, too, twitched her fingers as if sensing discomfort. But it was not something to end with that level of reaction. That is, no one had noticed.
Something invisible covered this entire space in an instant. No, swallowed it. A bizarre and unfathomable energy coiled around the area. That⋯⋯ that fact, I alone among those present realized.
⋯⋯Those bastards, they had something more!