The Pontiff Cries Alone in Secret
The leader of the Empire's Goddess Church, Callisto, had finally returned to the Empire.
Of course, he hadn't brought good news with him.
"That damn fox bitch. She refuses to acknowledge the Empire's Goddess Church to the very end."
His rage shot straight to the top of his head.
The attendant from Ashtar had at least taken him on a little sightseeing tour, which had helped ease his mood somewhat.
But the moment he returned to the church, he was stunned.
He was already furious about the Pope, but that anger instantly transformed into pure shock.
Not a single one of the older nuns was anywhere to be seen.
He had come looking for comfort, but there was no one!
The seductive, beautiful middle-aged women he had so carefully selected were gone.
Wondering what the hell had happened, he searched the entire church. Strangely, only very young nuns remained.
And even these nuns were... off.
"Today feels like an orc-hunting kind of day."
"Want to go? Let's hunt some kobolds while we're at it."
"How about a drinking contest with the knights?"
This was clearly the Goddess Church. This was a church.
Yet here were nuns carrying weapons and casually talking about slaughtering monsters.
What the hell are those things?
He wanted to approach them with the dignity of the Pontiff and say something, but he was scared.
What kind of nuns sharpened blades, carried maces, and smoked cigarettes in the corners?
They were even burning their cigarettes on the goddess statue.
The Pontiff might have been large, but he wasn't particularly strong.
He wasn't clean enough himself to lecture them about such behavior.
Still, as an adult, shouldn't he say something?
With that thought, he approached the nuns.
"Huh? Who the hell are you, mister?"
They didn't even recognize the Pontiff and simply frowned at him.
That damn Raphael!
With no other choice, the Pontiff called Raphael aside to vent his frustration and immediately slapped him across the face.
I set the newspaper down and breathed a sigh of relief.
Emperor Velia really was the type of person who never hesitated when it came to killing.
Jerato. That guy's life really had been one long tragedy.
Just how thoroughly had he been brainwashed to be so consumed with hatred for the Empire?
Thinking about it now, it was safe to assume Clanice had planted that hatred in him.
If that was the case, then Clanice herself might be connected to Kart as well.
"But you know..."
I slowly looked over the nuns standing before me.
In just a few days, the church had completely transformed.
Most of the nuns had been replaced.
It seemed the nuns from the assassination guild had given the others a thorough education.
The Empire's Goddess Church had now become Olivia's Church.
Yes. To be clear, it was Olivia's Church.
"You girls are truly wonderful. You must believe in the goddess, after all."
This was exactly why being a saintess felt so pointless.
I just wanted to stay as the mage Olivia.
Maybe I should just make a break for the Magic Tower? Hide my identity completely?
That seemed like the best option.
"We exist solely to protect you, Lady Olivia."
The nuns bowed before me with the respect one showed a superior.
Yeah. No matter how I looked at it, that was definitely not how nuns were supposed to greet someone.
"Anyway, while serving Mother..."
"We are solely your subordinates, Lady Olivia?"
Huh? What? My subordinates?
"What?"
"The mistress has ordered us to follow you, Lady Olivia, the next leader of the assassination guild. No matter what unreasonable demands come from Ashtar, even if the Empire itself tries to strike you down, we will risk our lives for you, Lady Olivia."
No, please don't! Seriously.
It was so fucking burdensome.
Before I could even become a proper mage, I was going to end up as the head of the assassination guild.
A person with zero assassination experience was about to become the guild leader. That was the situation.
"Ugh."
Killing Lily and her mother couldn't even really be called assassination.
At this rate, I was naturally going to inherit the position of guild master.
No, it was inevitable.
My so-called brothers would never take it.
Especially if the current family head tried to inherit the assassination guild—what a mess that would be. It would definitely end up getting passed to me.
Just then, I sensed a presence outside.
"Lady Olivia. The Pontiff has arrived. He says he wishes to see you."
Perfect timing.
"I'm busy, so tell him to come find me himself. Do you think playing saintess is easy?"
I leisurely enjoyed a cup of coffee while giving the knight those instructions.
A short while later, the Pontiff arrived with Raphael in tow.
I pretended to be busy organizing documents.
"Ahem. Saintess."
"Yes, Pontiff. Welcome back."
"First of all, there's something I'm quite seriously curious about."
Seeing Raphael standing beside him with a bright red cheek, I already knew what this was about.
"Yes?"
"Those... nuns I cherished. Did you send them away by any chance?"
Ah, so he'd found out.
Well, there was no helping it then.
"Ah, yes. There were unavoidable circumstances."
"What happened?"
I had my excuse ready.
The Pontiff enjoyed himself with the nuns behind closed doors but hid the relationship in public.
Humans never wanted to reveal their shameful sides.
I already knew everything about it.
So I decided to use a rather absurd justification.
I put on a ridiculous expression and raised my voice in anger.
"Those women were claiming they had been raped by you, Pontiff. How could they utter such impure words?"
I pushed the narrative aggressively.
They had damaged the Pontiff's honor, so I had driven them out.
"I-is that true?"
"Yes. So I sent them away and brought in young nuns instead. This should be much more pleasing to your eyes, shouldn't it, Pontiff?"
It might have sounded like I was throwing the nuns under the bus, but they had already completed their training.
The Pontiff wouldn't be able to lay a hand on them easily, and Nora could handle the rest.
"But the state of these nuns..."
"Yes?"
"They seem somehow terrifying and completely unrelated to the duties of a nun. They even appeared to lack basic manners. When I entered the church, I saw a nun sharpening a blade, for heaven's sake."
Ah, so he'd seen that.
He'd witnessed something he really shouldn't have.
"Is that so? Is there anyone like that among you?"
I turned to Casey, who stood beside me as my guard.
When I asked as if I knew nothing, Casey simply shook her head.
"No. We know nothing about that."
"Hmm, it seems there's been some misunderstanding. Anyway, if I had left those aunties here, the church would have practically become your personal brothel, Pontiff."
"I-it wasn't like that!"
Why? Did that hit a nerve?
This was suspicious. Had he been involved with the old aunties too?
Then it was even more necessary to get rid of them.
"So we had to drive them out. If those women caused more trouble and threw tantrums, it would only damage the church's image."
"Cough. I see. Then we'll need to fill the positions with clean, new faces..."
Ah, but I had already filled them all.
This old man really was insanely horny.
"Ah, I've already filled the positions with young nuns."
"Al-already?"
"Yes. It's better for the younger generation to hold the church rather than the older ones. Look at the Holy Kingdom. All those old people in charge, and look at the mess they're in. By the way, did you receive acknowledgment from them?"
The Holy Kingdom rarely saw generational change.
Even now, the entire leadership was covered in white hair.
"Uh. No, that... didn't work out."
"Pardon?"
"The Pope refused to acknowledge us. I was thinking perhaps you should go."
Me? Why? There? Go?
That old fox of a Pope was incredibly cunning.
How cunning? Despite her age, she disguised her appearance to look young.
That grandmother was worse than any of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings. If a person had any conscience, they shouldn't walk around looking young at that age.
It was annoying to even go, and even during my time as Noah, conversation with her had been impossible. What good would it do for me to go now?
She might not even accept me as a legitimate saintess and could call the whole thing a fraud.
If she acknowledged us, the Holy Kingdom might even have to return the Goddess Church's main headquarters to the Empire.
"It would be pointless."
"Why?"
"It won't work even if I go. That old fox Pope will never want to acknowledge the Empire's Goddess Church."
I shrugged.
"Ah."
"Logically speaking, if the Holy Kingdom acknowledges the Empire's Goddess Church, the main sanctuary would instantly become part of the Empire."
"That makes sense. The Empire is the dominant power on the continent, after all."
The Empire was the greatest nation on the continent. No other country could match it in population, culture, politics, or economy.
If the Goddess Church of such a nation received acknowledgment?
The main sanctuary of the Goddess Church would immediately shift to the Empire.
The Holy Kingdom could accept the Kingdom as the main sanctuary, but they could never accept the Empire.
They wanted to wield power as the Goddess's primary nation, but if even that was taken by the Empire, the Holy Kingdom would become nothing but an empty shell.
"So it seems they cannot acknowledge us. Let's just give up."
"How can the word 'give up' come so easily from a saintess's mouth?"
It wasn't like I even wanted to do this in the first place.
"Think about it logically. Is there any real reason we need acknowledgment from the Holy Kingdom?"
"Do you have a good idea?"
Couldn't he think for himself a little?
It wasn't that he lacked thoughts entirely.
In fact, this was also a perfect way to screw over that Pope.
"If they refuse to acknowledge us, shouldn't we simply create our own Goddess Church?"
"Hmm?"
"Logically speaking, the Holy Kingdom originated from the Kingdom, didn't it?"
"That's true."
"Let's be honest here. If the Empire seriously started gathering believers, how many do you think we could get?"
Even if you combined the Kingdom, the Holy Kingdom, and all the smaller nations, they still couldn't match the Empire's population.
In that case, establishing an Empire-only Goddess Church and competing purely in numbers of believers sounded rather entertaining.
"That does make sense."
"The Empire has the largest population. So if we simply increase the number of believers, the current Goddess Church will inevitably be shaken."
"Yes. And after we establish our own Goddess Church, then what?"
"After that, you'll have to handle it yourself, Pontiff."
Did this man really want to rely so heavily on a girl the same age as his daughter?
I'd spoon-fed him this much, and Nora would take good care of him every night.
"Hmm?"
"I am a saintess. Technically speaking, there are four saintesses across the continent. So that part should be handled by you, the head of the Empire's Goddess Church."
"Creating our own new religion..."
In truth, if it was simply about religion, the Empire had many gods to choose from.
But the Goddess Church was deeply rooted here, and this Pontiff had been spreading its name everywhere. It would be difficult to introduce a different god at this point.
Yes. Time to dump all the annoying work on the Pontiff.
I could just offer occasional advice.
"Anyway, I'll be heading to the academy now."
"Already?"
"It's before the academy's summer vacation. I need to study for the exams."
Even if it was meaningless.
I had to escape this boring church.
After all, it was a church in name only—it was practically my private soldier training ground.
"Does studying even mean anything to you?"
"That's rude."
Still, there was such a thing as keeping up appearances.
"No, I'm genuinely curious."
"Well, I suppose that's true."
Maybe I should just head straight to the Magic Tower like this?
Since it was an institution that valued skill above all, it might be worth trying.
This is an illustration of the Pontiff and the three sisters.
