The Third Card (2)
“At this moment, I formally request Judge James to open a religious trial here and now under the authority of the Holy Empire’s Second Cardinal, on the grounds that this matter has, as of this moment, fallen outside the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court.”
Cardinal Basel’s voice rang out, his face rigid with resolve.
From Ito Souta’s perspective, it was the sort of thing that might have come as a nasty surprise.
There was no denying that the man was a blasphemer, but by his own account, this whole affair had started because of his ignorance.
Stupid bastard.
He hadn’t known the potion contained holy water. That ignorance was the root of it. Calling the Illusion Potion a drug had all happened because the bastard simply didn’t know what he was talking about. Considering it had been a mistake, he could at least have been granted some leniency.
The problem lay with Cardinal Basel, who was now trying to force a religious trial.
Of course, the reason I’d gone out of my way to meet with priests of cardinal rank wasn’t because I wanted to make friends.
There was no way I’d be running myself ragged just to build a little personal connection.
Of course, that sort of relationship wasn’t a bad thing either, but meeting with cardinals had been a very good opportunity for me.
An opportunity to screw you over.
Giving him wine made from holy water and making him see hallucinations was nothing to me.
Of course, the wine I’d given Cardinal Basel was a premium product I’d made myself.
I couldn’t really say it worked on the same mechanism as the cheap Illusion Potion, but it was such a luxury item that calling them cousins would almost be an insult.
Heroic Grade
Wine made from holy water, often called a gift from the gods. Mixed with a variety of compound ingredients, this wine permanently increases the Holy Power stat by 2 on the first glass only and restores consumed Holy Power. Sometimes, it also shows something special.
Nothing else needs to be said.
It cost around 8,000 gold just to make one bottle.
Of course, the process itself wasn’t all that complicated, but actually gathering the materials had been a little rough.
The Illusion Potion was one thing; with the alchemy plant in Puran handling production, it could be said to be out of my hands. But obtaining the ingredients needed to make Holy Wine wasn’t easy at all.
It probably would have been impossible if Ito Souta hadn’t been under investigation.
No—there was no doubt it would have been impossible.
After making the Holy Wine, what I did was very simple. I merely ate with Cardinal Basel and drank the wine together with him.
But I’d put far more effort into the scene he saw after drinking it.
Puhahahahahat.
That was a story that would unfold twenty years later.
A story about Ito Souta, who had made a contract with a demon summoned from hell.
The scenario I would show Cardinal Basel was the tragic life of a single man.
The struggle of a man trying to protect Goddess Benignore and the Holy Empire.
Of course, the main villain that man would face was the trash demon worshipper Ito Souta.
After already setting foot on this continent, the bastard—who had contracted with a demon—slowly and carefully infiltrated the inner workings of the Holy See.
Five years from now, he would have almost completely devoured the Holy See and even be able to manipulate the Pope of the Holy Empire with his own hands.
Our hero, Cardinal Basel, was the only hope and counterforce the church had against a man like Ito Souta.
Very nice.
The lonely war between Cardinal Basel and Ito Souta, stretching on for years.
As in any apocalypse story, Cardinal Basel would eventually lose everyone he loved, and he himself would meet a horribly miserable and painful death.
He would stand before the Holy See, surrounded by demons that had crawled up from hell, and howl in anguish, only to have a sword thrust through his chest in the middle of it all as he watched Ito Souta rip the worshippers of the goddess apart.
I could still remember Cardinal Basel’s expression after seeing the illusion.
He looked as though he were questioning whether what he’d seen had truly been a revelation from God, but by the next day, with his steel-hard expression, I had no choice but to acknowledge that he had accepted the goddess’s will.
Because he’s a true believer.
To our Cardinal Basel, a slightly different kind of regressor and revealer who had come from the future, Ito Souta was simply an enemy that had to be eliminated right now. Nothing more, nothing less.
Just like when Hyunsung first saw Jinho.
There was no way out anymore.
This was the last insurance policy I’d prepared.
I had a few more tricks up my sleeve, but what I had right now was the most certain way to put the bastard down.
“Judge James?”
“Understood. I will formally accept Cardinal Basel’s request. At this moment, I judge that this matter has fallen outside the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court, and under the authority of the Supreme Judge of the Holy Empire’s Imperial Court, I hereby close this trial at once.”
Ito Souta’s face looked far too flustered. His expression, twisted beyond recognition, came into view.
“Respected Cardinal Basel, I understand your feelings, but I— I honestly don’t understand what’s happening here. Even if I didn’t fully understand the Illusion Potion, I never intended to insult Goddess Benignore. If anything, the one who should be punished is Lee Kiyoung over there in the plaintiff’s seat!”
“Why exactly should I be punished, Ito Souta?”
“Didn’t you commit the blasphemous act of mixing weed extract with the goddess’s holy water?”
That alone was proof that he was backed into a corner.
I could tell he was just spewing out whatever words came to mind, desperate as hell.
He looked around, trying to act as though he were the one being wronged, but the crowd’s reaction was, of course, ice-cold.
He’d already been exposed as a liar once. No one was going to listen to him now if he claimed he’d been framed.
In fact, I was certain his behavior was only making Cardinal Basel angrier.
In the future shown to us by Goddess Benignore, Ito Souta’s specialty had been that slippery tongue of his, after all.
“Shut up!”
“Cardinal Basel?”
“I said shut up, you filthy heretic!”
“I am not a heretic. Cardinal Basel, Inquisitor-General Helena—there may have been a misunderstanding, but I have never once betrayed Goddess Benignore.”
“Don’t make me laugh, you filthy heretic. Who do you think you’re fooling with that black heart of yours?!”
“I’ve been wronged.”
“I already thought something was off from the moment you started coming and going through the Holy See.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I told you to shut that mouth of yours. Filthy heretic! Did you think I didn’t know you were colluding with the demons that rose from hell?”
“What?”
“Ever since you arrived here, I had already received divine revelation from the goddess that you were working with demons to gnaw away at the Holy Empire.”
“That’s—”
“You filthy demon worshipper.”
“That’s completely—”
“The goddess told me everything. How you slowly ate away at the Holy Empire from within, corrupted everything in the Holy See, and plotted to destroy it all!”
“There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding. I’ve never colluded with demons. I understand that you’re angry, but—”
“No matter how much you deny it, it doesn’t change the fact that you tried to assassinate a believer of Lee Kiyoung in order to prevent the potion made from Goddess Benignore’s holy water from being distributed in Japan.”
“I’ll say it again: we absolutely did not attempt an assassination. The ones who tried to kill Lee Kiyoung were the Kage Guild.”
“So now you’re talking about a conflict between organizations?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. The Kage Guild probably didn’t want the medicine made from the goddess’s holy water to be distributed in Japan, so they tried to assassinate Lee Kiyoung—”
“Your story is different from what you said a moment ago.”
“That was due to my own ignorance.”
“You’ve always been like that. Hey. What is the Inquisitor-General doing? Helena! Helena!”
“I’ll make the necessary preparations at once.”
“Bind that demon worshipper at once! Interrogate him and judge him! We don’t even need a religious trial. A trial is too good for that heretic. No, not just him—drag in every filthy demon cultist in the Holy Empire, and seize the filthy heretics in the free city of Celia as well.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll send the Inquisitors and the Holy Knight Order to Celia immediately. I’ll cut the roots from under those filthy demon worshippers!”
It seemed Cardinal Basel had gotten a little heated, thanks to old memories.
Of course, I understood his feelings.
The very man who would one day bring about the Holy Empire’s destruction was standing right in front of him.
It was only natural that he’d want to lose his mind and deal with him on the spot.
I didn’t expect him to skip the trial entirely, though…
Either way, trial or no trial, it was an undeniable fact that the bastard was going to suffer and die. Still, I’d wanted to play with him a little longer.
Toward the end, he had collapsed anyway, but I’d wanted to know what else he had been preparing.
Even so, it would only have ended with him getting crushed by the hand I’d prepared for him, but it might have been a little entertainment.
Even amid the chaos in the hall, I could see Ito Souta staring at me.
So you’ve figured it out?
He seemed to understand at least a little of what was happening, why he had been driven into this corner, and why Cardinal Basel was so agitated.
He looked like he was trying to say something, but there was no way those words were going to come out.
Religion, after all, is something where logic doesn’t work.
He probably knows that too.
“Put that bastard on the pyre right now! That demon worshipper!”
“Kill the heretic!”
“Execute the blasphemer this instant!”
In the end, the trapped bastard had only two choices left.
Would he let himself be interrogated by the Inquisitors in a witch hunt? Or would he resist this unjust situation, or try to run?
The first choice at least offered a sliver of a chance to survive. He’d be tortured and die in agony, yes, but there might still be a shred of hope.
But the second choice was a different story altogether. The moment he resisted, it would be only natural for him to be branded a demon worshipper and a heretic.
The simple fact that he had resisted the Holy See would itself become proof that he was a demon worshipper.
What’ll you do?
I became very curious to see what he would choose, but tragically, it looked as though his only real option was the latter.
Why?
Because the Holy Knight Order and the Inquisitors were already rushing toward him.
Bingo.