That's Your Share

The Pope and several cardinals made their way to the chamber where the Original Bible was kept.

"This is the place, Your Holiness."

A scripture the size of a human torso rested upon a pedestal. A faint white light drifted gently from its pages.

"Oh... This is the first time I've seen the scripture glow like this since I became Pope..."

"I am the same, Your Holiness. Then allow me to show you at once."

Marchel slipped on a pair of white gloves, approached the scripture, and carefully turned the pages.

The title of the new table of contents was written thus:

The Pope murmured upon seeing it.

"Recording the upheaval... Does this mean the world is about to be thrown into turmoil from this moment onward?"

Marchel answered.

"It would seem so, Your Holiness. However, not much has been recorded yet, so I cannot give a definitive answer."

"Then we must examine the contents first."

"Yes."

Marchel turned the pages, and the sentences began to reveal themselves.

The record continued.

And the moment they saw the next page, the others could not help but be astonished.

With that, the record ended.

A dazed silence hung for a while before the Pope spoke.

"The fate of the world is thrown into upheaval, and even if the waves cover the heavens... This is no different from a prophecy."

"It would seem so."

The others nodded in agreement, and the Pope continued.

"That the name Cael Luminara is mentioned in the first chapter of this Record of Upheaval—does that mean the world will be thrown into turmoil because of him?"

"I suspect that may be the case. More than anything, a new chapter being inscribed in the scripture is the first time since Saint Eldoras one hundred and two years ago."

Saint Eldoras.

The Holy Empire honored the greatest saints of its history as the Seven Great Goods, and Eldoras had corresponded to Humility.

Eldoras had been the Holy Knight of unmatched martial prowess in the history of the Church, yet he always lowered himself and showed respect to all.

The Pope stroked his beard as he spoke.

"Upheaval... Looking at Inquisitor Cael's recent actions, it certainly seems no ordinary matter. In this short time he has already dealt with two heretics within the Holy Empire. And not just any—an apostle of the Evil Book Society and a fallen bishop."

At that, Cardinal Barun spoke.

"Yes. Light is revealed amid chaos. Everything he has done thus far deserves applause."

"I agree."

Several cardinals nodded.

Marchel asked,

"Then how does Your Holiness intend to handle this matter?"

If this fact became known, the Holy Empire would be thrown into an uproar.

After all, the Goddess's words had been newly inscribed for the first time in one hundred and two years.

"For now, let us keep this knowledge among those ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠present and watch how the situation develops."

The Pope answered.

"It is the duty of us believers to spread the Goddess's words far and wide, yet because the record is still incomplete, even I find it difficult to offer a clear interpretation. If we cannot answer the questions of the faithful, great confusion will surely follow."

"That is certainly true."

"So for the time being, we shall simply observe. It does not yet seem the stage for decisive action."

"Yes."

"However..."

The Pope smiled faintly.

"I can only hope that this upheaval will work to the benefit of our Holy Empire and of mankind."

"Yes. I feel the same."

At Barun's reply the Pope smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

"Then let us be on our way."

Leaning on the staff adorned with two leaf-shaped sprouts, the Pope set off down the path.

"The trials ahead will only make us humans stronger still."

"From now on, we're going after a saint's holy relic."

I said this to Bella while we rode.

Bella blinked for a while before asking back,

"Pardon?"

"More precisely, we're going to obtain the holy relic of Saint Bertior of Charity, one of the Seven Great Goods."

A holy relic—an artifact imbued with the Goddess's power.

Moved by the deeds of the Seven Great Goods, the Goddess had once bestowed her blessing upon their belongings, and those objects possessed wondrous effects.

Any human was qualified to use a holy relic, yet the degree to which its power could be drawn forth differed from person to person.

"A holy relic is one of the rarest treasures in the world. Are we really allowed to just take one?"

"We are."

At present the Holy Empire possessed only a single holy relic.

The staff of Saint Seravio of Diligence, one of the Seven Great Goods.

That was the staff passed down through the generations of Popes.

"Originally the Holy Empire held the view that every holy relic must be recovered, but in the process they shed far too much blood for too little gain, and so their thinking changed. Even if they reclaimed a relic, someone else would simply covet it again."

In fact, fifty years ago the Holy Empire had even gone to war against the wicked in order to protect the relics it held.

In that "Holy Relic War" the relics had been scattered to the winds.

"So the current Pope abandoned the recovery of holy relics, saying they would find their proper places on their own. Something about the Goddess's providence, or whatever."

Of course, it had not been a wise choice.

In my previous life, most of the holy relics had ended up in the hands of villains.

"In a way, one could say the Pope simply stood by and watched—watching the wicked use the relics as they pleased."

Bella started and glanced around. But all that met her eyes was open field.

"Anyway, the important point is that even if we obtain a holy relic, the Holy Empire won't make a great fuss. There will be noise from others, of course, but the Pope will simply say we should wait and see."

I had never had the chance to meet the Pope in my previous life, yet I roughly knew his temperament.

Ludian had occasionally muttered that he had no idea what the Pope was thinking.

"I understand that us holding a holy relic won't cause major problems. But why the relic of Charity in particular?"

"Because I know where it is."

The holy relic of Charity was something I myself had used in my previous life.

That was why I already knew where it would be right about now.

"First we head for the Rustven domain."

The moment we arrived in the Rustven domain we went straight to the slums.

This time there was no need to gather separate information, so we planned to visit the nearby parish office afterward.

The streets of the slums were sticky underfoot, and the stench of filth mixed with a faint scent of blood clung to the nose.

Any ordinary person would have found it revolting, yet to me it was a familiar smell.

In my previous life as a villain I had been forced to spend most of my time in the slums, where the Holy Empire's gaze never reached.

When you think about it, it's a curious thing. The place that most needs a helping hand is the place the Goddess's grace reaches least.

Of course, the poor are not automatically good. Precisely because they are poor, they can more easily be stained by darkness.

Yet it was also true that some would never have become villains if only someone had helped them.

And even in this darkness there were those who still strove to remain good.

So if someone had only reached out to them, the number of villains in the world might have been smaller.

Well, that's not my concern. What I can take with me is limited.

Just then Bella asked,

"So the guy's here?"

"Yeah."

The heretic I had come to catch this time was Mordak, known as the Chain Hunter.

Originally a mercenary, he had tasted the flavor of money and now ran a loan-sharking business in places like these slums.

He had already committed countless illegal acts, so he was more than enough of a target for interrogation.

Of course, that isn't the only reason I'm looking for him.

When I had met him in my previous life, he had been in possession of a holy relic.

That had been not long after I killed Baron Scalen, so he would still be here in these slums.

Afterward I had cut off the bastard's ankles and gone with him to the house where the little boy had lived.

There, a small skeleton had been waiting for an older brother who never returned.

Looking at it in silence, I had spent a full hour taking revenge on the boy's behalf right there on the spot.

By now it shouldn't be too late.

Recalling the memories of my previous life, my steps quickened a little.

"Follow me."

"Yes!"

In a certain alleyway.

The little boy, Lark, offered a single silver coin to two men.

"H-here... the principal and the interest..."

One of the men took the coin and let out a low murmur of admiration.

"Oh? How did a brat like you earn this much in just one month?"

"I... I saved it up doing odd jobs..."

Lark's hands were rough. He had never refused any menial work if it meant earning money. Places that would even hire a child had been scarce to begin with.

"Th-this should be more than enough for the debt now, right? I only borrowed one dose of cold medicine..."

Lark had borrowed a single day's worth of cold medicine from them.

Even accounting for the high price of medicine in the slums, the debt had long since been repaid many times over—yet their interest rates defied all reason.

Still, with this, the endless nightmare of debt would finally be over.

"What are you talking about? There's still debt left."

But they were more vicious than even Lark's imagination.

"What? That was already dozens of times the interest..."

"Ahh, that was true until yesterday. But starting today the interest went up."

"H-how much...?"

The man grinned.

"One silver coin."

"What...?"

Even that single silver coin had been hard-won.

If the employer who had taken pity on him had not pressed the money into his hand, a child could never have earned a silver coin in a month.

"You just paid off the interest up to yesterday. Now all that's left is one silver coin, yeah?"

"Y-you...!"

"Whoa, look at that face. You wanna get hit?"

"Even so, this is too much! I only borrowed one dose of cold medicine!"

"Ha, funny little shit. Did we threaten you into borrowing it?"

The man jabbed a finger hard into Lark's chest.

"You came to us begging to borrow it. Huh? So why the hell are you bitching at us?"

"You never said the interest would be like this!"

"That's why you should've read the contract carefully. This is what happens when clueless brats try to play adult."

"You bastards...!"

Lark glared at them with bloodshot eyes. The man's brow furrowed as he stepped closer.

"This little shit..."

The man was about to swing his fist when—

Thud—

A large palm settled on top of the man's head.

Startled by the sudden presence, the man whipped his head around.

There stood a man utterly out of place in the scenery of the slums, expression blank.

"When did—!"

In that instant the man's gaze was slammed violently downward, and his face smashed into the ground.

KRA-BOOM!

The man crumpled to the dirt without even managing a scream.

The man in priest's robes who had appeared out of nowhere turned to the remaining thug.

"Wh-what the hell...!"

Meeting Cael's eyes, the man recoiled in terror and bolted.

"H-huh?"

Yet for some reason he could not move forward.

Feeling a strange force, he looked back—only to find Cael gripping the hem of his clothes tightly.

"Where are you rushing off to? Need to take a shit?"

"L-let go!!"

The man slapped Cael's hand away with his arm.

Watching him put distance between them, Cael lightly kicked off the ground and closed the gap in an instant.

KRA-BOOM!

Cael brought his fist down like a thunderbolt and slammed the remaining thug into the dirt as well.

Having finished both of them in the blink of an eye, Cael slowly approached Lark.

"Uh, uh..."

Flustered, Lark lowered his head.

"Th-thank you."

Then Cael came to a stop right in front of him.

Even the atmosphere around Cael was on another level. Completely different from the swaggering punks who thought size made them tough.

This pressure was a chill Lark had never once felt before.

Surely the man had not helped him out of kindness. He had simply removed the obstacles standing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the way of the silver coin.

This world was a place without such things as warmth.

"Are you hurt?"

But the question that came was unexpected.

"...What?"

"I asked if you're hurt anywhere."

Still dazed, Lark managed to answer.

"Th-thanks to you, no..."

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see."

Cael suddenly stepped aside, picked up the silver coin that had fallen to the ground, and held it out to Lark.

Not understanding the meaning, Lark could only tilt his head.

"Take it. That's your share."

"N-no. You helped me, so you should have it..."

"Then I'll just have to throw it away."

When Cael made as if to toss it, Lark hurriedly cried out.

"N-no! I'll take it!"

"Smart choice."

Cael placed the silver coin onto Lark's small palm. Feeling an oddly heavy weight, Lark clenched his fist tightly around it.

Cael looked him over. More precisely, he looked at the oversized, worn-out sandals on the boy's feet.

Fortunately, I wasn't too late.

Those were the holy relic of Saint Bertior of Charity, one of the Seven Great Goods—

and the very sandals the Sword Demon had worn throughout his previous life.

Now I can just catch that bastard with a clear mind.

Cael brushed the hilt of his sword and smiled inwardly.