The Grand Deception
Granted, I hadn't summoned him myself... Still, is it truly fine for House Castrein to summon a High Priest so frequently? Well, if both the priest and the ducal family are content with the arrangement, I suppose it doesn't matter.
"Pardon my asking, but what do you do with all those funds you collect...?"
"The Noble Faction, like High Priest Marzid, charges staggering fortunes every time they treat someone, and donations pour into their coffers by the cartload! But our faction travels about providing volunteer healing services, so we never have a single copper left to spare! Hahaha!"
High Priest Ilian laughed boisterously, but listening to him made me feel strangely choked up. What on earth... he sounds like an impoverished orphanage director struggling to feed starving children.
"Ah, yes... please hang in there..."
"In any case, Imperial Princess Titania, you certainly have an enviable knack for getting swept up in all sorts of trouble."
High Priest Ilian clicked his tongue in sympathy. I offered an awkward, sheepish laugh.
I had never imagined I would be seeing the face of a High Priest this frequently, either. It felt like only yesterday that I had crawled back from death's door, only for no one to bother calling a proper priest, forcing me to meet Raymon looking like a mummy wrapped in layers of bandages.
"Well, I'm merely running an errand here. Priest Cronen naturally has no clue I've arrived. But how do you intend to use this holy relic?"
High Priest Ilian pulled the relic from inside his robes as he asked. The "holy relic" in question was a round sphere featuring a mystical blend of orange and purple hues, glistening softly with enchanting beauty.
"Well, how should I put it? From what I've gathered about the fake relic, dropping living human blood or flesh onto it triggers a disaster, but otherwise it reacts to external stimuli just like anything else. That's why I had them set a fire in the inner chamber."
I calmly reviewed the plan in my head.
"A genuine holy relic wouldn't burn so easily from a mere fire, but the fake one was scorched. There's no way they can brazenly present a burnt relic at the Offering Festival. Instead of us stepping in to switch it out ourselves, the goal was to push them into scrambling for a substitute and swapping it on their own."
"Ah... But isn't there a risk they might simply find another convincing counterfeit that looks the part?"
"Even though you're all priests of the same cloth, you truly have zero faith in the southern clergy, don't you, Your Eminence? Would they really abandon all responsibility for the Offering Festival to that extent? I mean, I certainly wouldn't put it past them, but coming from a fellow priest..."
"Well, to begin with, this power we call divine power—or holy power—is hardly a gift bestowed upon us by God because of our pure, devout faith, you see."
High Priest Ilian casually dropped a bombshell in the gentlest, most good-natured tone. My eyes went wide in pure shock.
"...Pardon?"
"It's the inevitable conclusion anyone reaches after diligently studying and deciphering the temple's ancient texts. Everyone simply goes out of their way to feign ignorance, of course..."
High Priest Ilian's explanation unfolded as follows.
All this time, the temple had proclaimed that holy power—specifically, the healing abilities manifested by the priesthood—stood as undeniable proof of those chosen by God. The reality, however, was entirely different.
For generations, the highest echelons of the temple had known the truth handed down through the centuries. Or rather, they had long since pieced it together: what they branded as "holy power" was merely "healing power," a single facet of the elemental power of Earth, and the temple had never once directly communed with God. Every act of ascetic discipline and prayer meant to enhance holy power was nothing more than a method to refine that earthly healing energy. Furthermore, Adriana, the revered First Saint Empress believed to have been anointed by God, was nothing more than the twin younger sister substituted for Gloriana—the true hero whose very existence had been expunged from history.
In short, holy power was nothing but a convenient, sanctimonious label slapped onto a fragment of divine elemental power. All ancient divine attributes were equally capable of resisting demonic beasts; strictly speaking, the priesthood's holy power ranked even lower than the power of Light wielded by the imperial family.
Of course, those who uncovered the truth did everything in their power to bury it. They could never permit such a revelation to see the light of day. And since the imperial family had long lost the ability to wield the power of Light anyway, treating their own ancestral heritage as nonexistent, the emperors had willingly colluded with the temple in erasing the past. Whenever ancient research contradicted the temple's orthodox doctrine, it was ruthlessly suppressed. Scholars and dissenters were crushed under accusations of heresy, siding with the dark, or colluding with demonic beasts. The imperial palace had been just as desperate to feign ignorance of antiquity, making the two institutions cut from the exact same cloth.
"So, as ridiculous as it might sound... you are aware that House Castrein has been gathering weapons imbued with divine power, yes?"
I reflexively darted my eyes around the room. Barbara, who had been clearing the dessert plates, stiffened, her eyes wavering. I spoke up in a hurry.
"W-Why bring up such a sensitive matter here of all places?!"
"Now, now. By virtue of your very existence, Your Highness, House Castrein has already crossed swords with Imperial Consort Cleo. Even if Her Majesty the Empress caught wind of this, she would hardly raise an issue."
Why on earth do you think I went out of my way to hide things from Barbara, both when visiting Hecate's Tavern and when I was kidnapped?! It was precisely because I didn't want her caught between the tangled, dangerous web tying me to House Castrein!
I stared at him, screaming silently inside my head. Yet High Priest Ilian merely regarded me with baffling serenity.
"From the moment she accompanied you out here, Lady Barbara was already in too deep to step away. With everything that has unfolded and your own decision to take active counteraction, that rings doubly true. Sharing the facts with her will prove far more helpful in the long run."
I bit my lip.
"...And what is it you wish to tell me, that requires revealing all this?"
"To my knowledge, there are five divine weapons imbued with the power of the gods in total."
High Priest Ilian's explanation aligned with what I already knew. During the reign of the First Emperor, five weapons containing divine power were widely known: Flamberge's Rage, imbued with the power of Fire; Chloris's Necklace, imbued with the power of Wind; Dagda's Iron Staff, imbued with the power of Earth; Waves of Oceanus, imbued with the power of Water; and Gloriana's Insignia, imbued with the power of Light.
A divine weapon could only be wielded by one capable of channeling its respective divine power. Yet even being born with that innate affinity did not guarantee one could wield the weapon. In almost every case, the weapon had to choose its master—just as Flamberge's Rage had chosen Lisianthus, granting him the right to wield its flames. That was the fundamental rule.
Yet the tone High Priest Ilian struck next carried a strange nuance.
"I suspect that Dagda's Iron Staff is enshrined within the Central Temple. Furthermore, rather than answering to a single, specific master, I believe Dagda's Iron Staff lends its power to anyone who fulfills certain criteria."
"Could you explain what you mean by that?"
"Hmm, where should I begin...? Are you aware that not all divine weapons share the same form or functionality?"
"Yes, I know that much, but...?"
"The 'Gloriana' in Gloriana's Insignia was, in truth, the true First Saintess and Saint Empress. Yet the power of Light is traditionally attributed not to the temple, but to the imperial family. Isn't that curious?"
C-Come to think of it... he was right. I turned over the name 'Gloriana' in my mind, remembering the book I had pulled from the imperial archives. She was the First Saintess, not an imperial royal, so why was her name attached to a divine weapon imbued with the power of Light? Then again, couldn't they have simply named it after her for symbolic reasons?
As tangled thoughts swirled through my head, High Priest Ilian offered a hearty smile and continued his explanation.
"Moreover, outsiders rarely realize this, but not every priest possesses healing powers. Every acolyte must undergo an extensive series of rites at the Central Temple to be ordained, and only after those procedures conclude can a select few finally channel healing energy. Hahaha. Isn't that peculiar when you think about it? Did some extraordinary divine blessing descend exclusively upon the Central Temple? If a priest were truly devout and worthy, shouldn't they be capable of manifesting holy power without needing any convoluted ritual?"
Stunned by the radical heresy pouring from his mouth, my jaw dropped slack.
"Therefore, my deduction is this: Dagda's Iron Staff, the weapon bearing the power of Earth, grants a blessing to anyone possessing the right aptitude who meets its specific conditions, allowing them to wield healing power. And that staff is almost certainly hidden away inside one of the statues or holy relics housed within the Central Temple. In other words... without Dagda's Iron Staff, wouldn't the priesthood be completely stripped of their precious healing and holy powers?"
The sheer magnitude of his words took the breath right out of me.
"C-C-Can you really... share something so massive with me so casually?!"
"Why, because you are the one who once wore Gloriana's Insignia, Princess Titania. Not to mention, you wield an extraordinary holy sword capable of eradicating demonic beasts. Besides, the temple's authority is so deeply entrenched that even if someone blabbed this outside, no one would ever believe it. From what I understand, the successive Saint Sovereigns were vaguely aware of this truth as well, yet chose to maintain absolute silence."
"..."
In short... the temple had been running a massive, empire-wide fraud for centuries.