Chapter 277
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 277
Chapter Title: Merdaine (1)
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After surfacing to the ground, Jun and his companions headed to the Gilenoi Merchant Guild as usual.
This time, it wasn't for rest but to prepare for battle.
"This season has been unusually quiet."
It was a casual remark from Cloi, who was sitting at her desk reviewing documents.
The topic was none other than the movements of the Church of the Heavenly Firmament.
Indeed, as Cloi said, their activity this season had been particularly subdued.
The only notable incident that could be attributed to them was the Duke Randel affair.
Of course, the Duke Randel incident was far from minor.
It had ultimately brought the eastern war to an end, and Ben, the commander of the Heavenly Dragon Knights who had been shrouded in mystery, had made his move.
But most of those events felt more like the fallout from their schemes being uncovered rather than direct actions by the church itself.
"Doesn't make me feel any better. Feels more like the calm before the storm."
"Any separate movements from the nobles' side?"
"Surprisingly quiet there too. It was noisy right after the eastern war ended, but now with all the evidence out, no one's sympathizing with the obliterated eastern forces."
The numerous scenes of corruption that had unfolded in the east.
The Emperor had swiftly released that information to the public, so in that context, no one felt pity for the devastated eastern army.
"Given the situation, the nobles were probably too scared to speak out recklessly."
A bloody purge had swept through.
From the nobles' perspective, Ben's involvement was as good as the Emperor drawing his sword.
What was surprising was that the Emperor hadn't targeted those nobles first.
"I figured he'd at least threaten the ones tangled up with them to lend a hand in the church's war."
"That was an option, but it could've backfired like the mouse biting the cat."
In normal times, you could just rip the mouse's throat out in retaliation, but with the time bomb that was the Church of the Heavenly Firmament right in front of them, it wasn't so simple.
"But the Emperor's side didn't gain nothing. As you know..."
"Duke Randel returned. And with level 8 power, no less."
"Exactly."
"Speaking of, what happened to Duke Randel anyway?"
At the time, Duke Randel hadn't regained consciousness even when Jun and his party emerged from the Dream Forest.
Count Mordaine's people, who had been waiting, had taken him away after they exited.
Jun hadn't heard any updates since.
"Fortunately, he's come to his senses now."
"A level 8 body, huh... Surviving that level of torture."
"That's part of it, but the Ariclotos Order got involved too."
"The Pope himself?"
"Yeah."
That made sense. Treatment wouldn't be an issue then.
"And I got a letter on my end. Duke Randel wants to meet you."
"...Me? Why?"
"Not sure on the details... Probably to express his gratitude?"
"If that's the case..."
There was no harm in meeting, so Jun nodded roughly and asked about something else that had been on his mind.
"Merdaine. What's the situation there?"
The mission commissioned directly by Crown Prince Dexter.
Now that they were on the surface, it was time to gear up for deployment.
"This is a letter from the Sun Church."
"Content... pretty much what I expected."
Issues with the purification efforts in Merdaine lately, and contamination spreading back into areas already cleared.
Thus, a request for help from Eleanor, who possessed special holy power.
Jun and his party were to escort Eleanor and the Sun Church's saintess, who was deeply involved in the ongoing purification.
"That's not all, right?"
"Of course not. What do you take me for?"
The request had come in before heading to the Ariya Plains, so Cloi had gathered plenty of related intel.
"First off... as expected, it looks like the Church of the Heavenly Firmament is up to something."
"Specifically which part?"
"A key figure in the merchant group trading with the Sun Church has changed. Someone handling the transport of purchased goods, mainly."
Not only that, but the mercenary band escorting that merchant group had switched too.
"Looking closer, there are patterns of personnel changes at regular intervals. Like here, for example?"
"Even the people from the outfit collecting and delivering specific herbs have changed... The son took over what used to be run by his father."
"Yeah. Sure, you could say that happens, but the timing is too coincidental... And considering the father's age, retirement shouldn't even be on the table yet."
"These incidents happen on a regular cycle... And that's around when the purification hit snags."
"Exactly."
Cloi's intel quality was top-notch, as always.
After poring over the documents for a while, Jun closed his eyes thoughtfully, then spoke up.
"But the request letter doesn't mention the church at all."
"The Imperial side probably kept it from the Sun Church."
"If they hid it, there must be a reason."
"Bingo. With changes this obvious in their supply chain and the Sun Church not noticing, it means there are church spies inside."
"Heading into Merdaine with enemies in our midst..."
"The silver lining is there probably aren't many."
"True. If nothing else, they've got the saintess, known as the apostle of the gods."
In the game, the Sun Church's saintess was firmly on humanity's side.
Jun knew it best since she was a playable character.
"And this intel comes from sources outside the Sun Church."
Skimming the additional documents handed over, the picture started to form.
"As you can see, other groups in Merdaine besides the Sun Church have taken heavy losses."
"You dug this up well. They'd want to keep it buried."
"That's market economics for you. You see the overall flow, and changes reveal what happened."
Just as Cloi said, the documents pointed to exactly that.
"Sudden massive bulk buys of supplies one moment, then total cutoff of trade the next."
"They wouldn't make changes this drastic if they weren't idiots. The fact this much leaked..."
"Means they don't even have time to worry about it."
"Hm."
Having heard that much from Cloi, Jun nodded.
"Alright. Is that all the major intel?"
"That's the big picture. The rest is minor details."
Things like what supplies the Sun Church might need, possibilities of allying with other affected groups, and disputes among them.
Only after hearing all that in detail did the initial briefing wrap up.
"Whew. Laying it all out like this, it's quite a bit. So, got your thoughts sorted?"
"Yeah. I have a rough idea of what they're after."
"...My intel's solid, but you pieced that together?"
"From prior knowledge."
"So, what's the Church of the Heavenly Firmament ultimately trying to do?"
"Primary goal: reviving the lich."
"Figures it'd be that..."
"And their ultimate aim..."
The God of Death.
His descent.
'Alright, let's think this through...'
The Merdaine crisis should have started years from now, like all the previous events.
But it kicking off now meant there was a clear reason.
'Minimal preparations are complete? But summoning the God of Death requires a ton of sacrifices.'
The answer came quickly.
'They harvested the souls of the northern casualties.'
A scoff escaped him.
Souls that should have been used to summon Pommel to the surface.
But the God of Death had broken off the deal with Pommel and chosen direct descent.
'Makes sense. They couldn't even gather enough for Pommel's manifestation.'
In other words, Pommel could no longer exert influence on the surface like he had in the north.
"Which means things just got a lot tougher for us..."
The God of Death.
With "god" right in the name, it was predictably overpowered.
In the game, it went by "Image of Death" instead.
"Memories flooding back."
Even back in his Lee Jung-jun days, he'd subjugated it multiple times.
Though it always demanded massive prep.
"Cloi, supplies sufficient?"
"Yeah. Stocked up as discussed. But man, you need a ton."
"Gonna be using potions and holy water like water there."
"Expenditure's insane... but if we resolve this Merdaine mess, the returns will be beyond investment—off the charts. Here, hand these over."
Preparations were already complete.
Four subspatial backpacks total.
All top-grade items available on the market.
Obviously for his companions.
Stuffed to the brim with supplies.
"Prep's mostly done... Time to head out."
"Already?"
"Rested plenty already... And they're probably itching to go too."
They'd all hit level 7 together.
They'd want to test that power and gauge their standing ASAP.
No reason to dawdle.
About a week later, they arrived at Merdaine.
Strict security everywhere, and camps that somehow looked on edge dotted the landscape.
"Whoa, everyone's on high alert."
"And the number of camps is massive too..."
"Considering Merdaine's size, it's no surprise—as you all know."
Known as a trade city, but given the Empire's scale, this place rivaled a nation on Earth.
Purifying all that naturally drew huge crowds.
"Their stares are pretty sharp."
"Indeed! Wasn't like this last time I was here."
"Recent internal troubles."
As the documents Cloi provided indicated, they'd taken real hits, and strangers like them were met with heavy suspicion.
"Wait... that insignia."
"White Whale Mercenary Corps?"
"Blackout season just ended—already sniffing around?"
"Imperial Family's making moves too, huh..."
Openly eyeing them as potential poachers of their prey.
But Jun and his party headed not for any specific group, but straight to the Sun Church's camp.
"Greetings. I'm Jun, captain of the White Whale Mercenary Corps."
"Ah, you've arrived! So quickly too. No troubles on the long journey?"
The holy knight guarding the Sun Church camp welcomed them with a bright smile.
"Sorry about this. We should've sent someone to meet you..."
"You're in the midst of sacred duties. We understand."
"Thank you."
"If you're amenable, shall we brief you on the situation inside right away?"
"Ah... rumors were true."
Word of his bulldozer-like efficiency must have spread.
The holy knight nodded with an awkward smile.
"Then let's move. I'll explain as we go inside."