Chapter 146: The Holy Land
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 146: The Holy Land
Travel north from Wolfenheimer along the coastline for about a week, and you will come upon a land covered in pure white snow.
At this point, one realizes they have entered the northern part of the Northern Continent. And this is only the beginning.
The farther north you go, the deeper the snow becomes, making it easy to get lost without an experienced guide.
Fortunately, I was born in the northern part of the Northern Continent, and I was traveling with an archbishop who had served in the Holy Land for a long time.
Hadn't the Archbishop volunteered to be our guide, telling me to trust him completely? Then why did he look so hapless, sweeping his staff through the snow in search of the path?
The footprints trailing behind us were a messy zigzag, like those of a drunkard. I turned my gaze back to the Archbishop, who had stopped moving.
“Archbishop.”
He flinched.
“Ahem. I’m certain this is the right way…?”
Instead of looking back, the Archbishop just moved his staff more vigorously through the snow.
Sometimes, silence can be more pressuring than a thousand words. When I, the one who had called him, remained silent, the Archbishop glanced sideways and our eyes met.
He laughed awkwardly and made an excuse.
“It has been ten years. A full decade. Since it’s my first time returning to the Holy Land in so long, I just need a moment to refresh my memory. Surely I wouldn't get lost on the way to my own home, would I?”
“I believe you said the same thing a moment ago…”
It had been only a few minutes.
A thick bead of sweat trickled down the Archbishop’s forehead and collected at the arch of his eyebrow.
“Step aside.”
I passed the Archbishop and took the lead. Unlike him, I didn't sweep the snow but strode forward, leaving footprints on the snow-covered ground.
The Archbishop hurried to catch up.
“Baron, isn't this your first time in the Northern Continent?”
“Just because it’s my first time doesn’t mean I don’t know the way.”
“What in the…?”
The Archbishop stopped short, but when I didn't stop with him, he quickly fell in behind me again.
“It’s dangerous! As you can see, the north of the Northern Continent is covered in snow, making it impossible to tell one place from another! If we get lost, your valor and strategy will mean nothing!”
“We can’t turn back now. Trust me.”
“But… huh?”
The Archbishop, about to voice his concerns again, stopped once more. He had spotted a signpost marking a fork in the road not far ahead.
“Half a day to the Holy Land, is it?”
The sign kindly indicated the remaining distance. The Archbishop, who had finally caught up, offered another excuse with an embarrassed look.
“Ahem. You see? We were almost there. Had you given me a moment, I’m sure I would have remembered the path. But how did you know? That this was the way?”
“Isn’t the Holy Land always bustling with pilgrims? I figured they must have left some trace, and when I looked closely, I saw a difference in the level of the snow.”
Anyone born and raised in this land tries to visit the Holy Land at least once. For the sake of their afterlife.
That was why those with not long to live would use their entire fortune to make the pilgrimage.
That meant there was heavy foot traffic, so a path would naturally have formed.
“There’s a difference in the level of the snow?”
The Archbishop looked around again. But he tilted his head as if to say he couldn't find it.
“Yes. There is.”
So much snow had fallen that the difference was slight. It was so subtle that even my superhuman eyes could barely discern it, so it was no wonder the Archbishop couldn't find it.
As I took the lead again, the Archbishop fell into step beside me. Having had his role usurped, he tried to prove his usefulness in another way.
“Do you know how the Holy Land came to be?”
The Archbishop was full of confidence. He must have assumed that a nobleman—most of whom were illiterate because they hated learning to read—couldn't possibly have studied theology properly.
“Isn’t the Holy Land the first church established by the Great Prophet, who descended from the heavens to prove the Lord’s existence for us, the Lambs of the Lord?”
“Ahem, well, everyone knows that much. It’s common knowledge, is it not? But I’m sure you don’t know the details of how the Prophet established our faith in this barren land. Am I wrong?”
“What is there to know? He possessed an insight that pierced the essence of humanity and a sharp intuition comparable to foresight. And was that all? He even demonstrated his power to heal the sick.”
The Pope’s ambition to establish a religious state was a major branch of the main story, one tied to the witch. Thanks to that, I was well-versed in the religious background.
“…You have received an excellent theological education.”
“Even so, I don’t know much about the Pope. Didn’t you say he was once a dear friend of yours?”
I smoothly changed the subject, partly to help the Archbishop regain his confidence. As a former friend, he would know the Pope better than anyone.
“He was a friend. But the Pope I hear about in the rumors is so different from the friend in my memory. I worry I might give you false information.”
However, contrary to my intention, my words only seemed to make him more somber.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Since things had come to this, I resumed my scheme to place the Archbishop on the papal throne in the near future.
To make this single-minded zealot, who would surely insist on procedure until the very end, into the next Pope, I had to lay the groundwork in advance.
“You said one needs the consent of the five Cardinal Archbishops to become Pope, correct? But I have a question. Do those who stood by while a corrupt Pope acted like a tyrant truly have the right to make that decision?”
Weren't the five Cardinal Archbishops the very ones who made the current Pope what he is? They, too, bore a certain responsibility for the Pope’s misdeeds.
“Of course, they are also responsible. But that is a matter for the churches of each region to decide.”
“Gathering the cardinals scattered across the five continents will be difficult enough, but now you have to elect new cardinals as well? All the while, the faith will become more mired in filth, and the believers will lose their trust. And yet?”
The Archbishop couldn't answer easily. The silence that fell between us lasted until the Holy Land came into view in the distance.
Pilgrims had formed a seemingly endless line to enter the Holy Land. Only after we had taken our place at the very end of it did the Archbishop speak.
“…If we can first depose the Pope, we can prevent the faith from deteriorating any further.”
Of course, he added that this was only if the rumors about the Pope and the Alliance’s confession all proved to be true.
It was only a partial success, but what mattered was that he had crossed a line. Having done it once, wouldn't it be easier to cross the next one?
Besides, the Pope was surely more corrupt than the Archbishop imagined, so another opportunity would present itself soon. I was sure of it.
That opportunity came sooner than I expected. It was our turn to enter the Holy Land.
“What do you think you’re doing? Not gonna pay the entrance fee?”
A guard with a thuggish expression abruptly thrust his spear shaft forward, blocking our path. The Archbishop, who nearly got hit in the face by the spearhead, whipped his head around.
“How dare you! Who would demand a bribe in the sacred Holy Land!”
“A bribe? You’ve got a lot of nerve, old man! This is the legitimate execution of our duties, under the command of His Holiness the Pope. You’re a bit behind the times, aren’t you?”
“What nonsense is this! Pilgrims come to the Holy Land for the sake of their afterlife! And you’re charging an entrance fee? That’s no different from buying salvation with money!”
When it came to matters of faith, the Archbishop was endlessly rigid and unbending. He was furious.
“Why are you yelling at me? I’m just following orders from above. If you don’t like it, then leave. There are plenty of others who want to enter the Holy Land.”
The guard tapped the Archbishop’s forearm with his spear shaft. He hadn't recognized the Archbishop, who wasn't wearing his clerical robes after the long journey.
“Truly, truly by the Pope’s command?”
The Archbishop looked shocked. I could have easily stopped the guard’s insolence, but I had deliberately allowed it. Now, I decided to twist the knife.
“Archbishop. Look over there.”
A group of pilgrims was praying with their hands pressed against the outer wall surrounding the city.
When I first saw them, I thought they were simply overcome with emotion upon reaching the Holy Land.
But when the guard demanded one gold coin as an entrance fee, my thoughts changed.
“Don’t tell me, all of them?”
“It seems the pilgrims who traveled so far can’t enter the Holy Land because they have no money.”
Just then, we saw a pilgrim who had been praying until his voice was hoarse finally turn away, forcing his reluctant feet to move. The Archbishop rushed over to him.
“Do you intend to end your pilgrimage like this?”
“What can I do? I spent all my money on the journey here… If I had known there was an entrance fee to the Holy Land, I would have prepared more…”
I slowly came to stand beside the Archbishop and asked.
“Where have you come from?”
“I came from Osenblanca. And you two?”
Fortunately, it was a place I knew. And because of that, even I, who knew the depths of the Pope’s corruption, was shocked.
And for good reason—Osenblanca was a city at the southernmost tip of the Southern Continent, the farthest one could be from the Northern Continent.
The Archbishop seemed to know this as well. Looking even more shocked, he grabbed my arm urgently.
“Baron.”
Knowing what he was about to ask, I shook my head.
“Only He, or the Great Prophet I mentioned before, can save everyone single-handedly.”
“Even so, it is possible to save those gathered here, is it not?”
I was the man who had taken control of the Coastal City Alliance. Even if there were hundreds of pilgrims camped by the walls because they couldn't afford the fee, it was not an impossible sum for me.
“Well, I suppose that much is fine. But tell me, has your opinion that procedure is absolutely necessary changed at all?”
The Archbishop had agonized for quite a while over my words that the common people would suffer until a new Pope was elected. Seeing the reality before his eyes, he was bound to be even more conflicted.
“…”
The Archbishop fell silent again. There was no need to press him further. This was only a tiny fraction of the corruption the Pope would reveal.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“You both will surely go to heaven! Yes, you will!”
The pilgrims, who were finally able to enter the Holy Land with my help, thanked us repeatedly as they left.
Even though things had gone my way, the Archbishop’s expression was grim. It was because of the scene inside the Holy Land.
“What… what is all this?”
The holy city was not holy at all. In fact, it was more secular and decadent than the great cities of the Coastal City Alliance, the most secular of places.
For example, along the main road, merchants watched eagerly for a chance to swindle pilgrims, while prostitutes openly solicited on the streets.
The pilgrims, who had been suppressing their desires for a long time, easily fell for such temptations.
“As they say, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. I had high hopes for the Holy Land, but isn't it just another city? Though it does seem like the world’s greatest city of pleasure…”
With that little prod, the Archbishop’s already shocked face flushed crimson.
“How can that be! The Holy Land was never like this! It is meant to be a pure place, where one leads an ascetic life and refines their heart in devotion to the Lord! But, but…!”
“An ascetic life? You expect me to believe that after seeing this?”
What was even more shocking was that men in clerical robes were casually gambling with dice alongside merchants and consorting with prostitutes.
Just then, a priest who noticed us staring shot us a smirk and forcefully grabbed the breast of the prostitute sitting beside him.
“Hahng…”
The prostitute leaned against the priest’s shoulder and let out an affected moan. Neither the priest nor the prostitute cared that they were in a public place.
The people around them gave them a brief glance before returning to their own business. It showed that the priest’s behavior was an everyday occurrence.
It was only natural that the Archbishop was even more shocked.
“How, how could the Lord’s first house…!?”
“A fish rots from the head down. Besides, even the churches in the distant Alliance were corrupt. It’s only natural the Holy Land would be even worse.”
The Archbishop paid my words little mind, his gaze fixed on the massive church situated on the hill above.
Even after hundreds of years, the great structure, which still maintained its pure white color, boasted a magnificent presence.
“Archbishop, how about we look around the Holy Land a little more before meeting the Pope? We can assess the situation and then decide what to do.”
If I had him witness more of the corruption by touring the Holy Land instead of meeting the Pope right away, persuading him would become much easier.
“Who knows? Perhaps this is all a misunderstanding, and the Pope’s actions are his own way of protecting the faith.”
I deliberately gave the Archbishop a sliver of hope. The shock would be that much greater when he realized that his last remaining hope was also a lie.
Besides, my only reason for accompanying him to the Holy Land wasn't just to persuade him to become Pope.
‘The witch is definitely here.’
The Witch of the North was the Pope’s strongest piece. That meant the Pope was cherishing her.
If my guess was correct, it was obvious where the witch would be. In the game, her background was always the same. I doubted reality would be any different.