Chapter 139
Tomorrow, I
Will Too
Translator : PolterGlast
The state religion in the Grust Kingdom is a religion
called the Holy Church. Well... it probably has an official proper name, but
it's generally just called the Holy Church. It is a monotheistic religion
similar to the Christianity I know. Monotheistic religions tend to stick
closely to those in power because they provide legitimacy to their rule, like
the concept of the divine right of kings. It seems a progression often seen on
Earth is also happening in this kingdom; the country's Holy Church and the
organization governing it are completely in bed with the state's authority.
And now, that same Holy Church is in the midst of a massive
restructuring. Evidence of their misdeeds has been coming out one after another
in a chain reaction from Izel II, who had been deeply colluding with the
Holy Church to commit various atrocities. Naturally, among that evidence was
proof that Izel II had conspired with the upper echelons of the Holy
Church to secretly assassinate Miku.
Personally, I thought it would be fine to just eradicate the
religion itself at that point, but surprisingly, the one who put a stop to it
was Miku.
「I think the Holy Church is necessary
for the people of the Kingdom too. Just having something they can
believe in and rely on makes a huge difference, after all.」
Precisely because she had traveled all over the country as a
Saint, Miku felt the necessity of the Holy Church. It's quite an
unfamiliar concept to me as a Japanese person, but it seems the Holy Church in
this country has become a level of general education, used as part of their
schooling and as a standard for ethical and moral behavior. If we were to
forcibly remove it, she said it would undoubtedly leave a root of calamity for
the future.
"I'll do
something about it," Miku said. So, I obediently decided to
leave it to her.
I have absolutely no intention of leaving the Holy Church
unchecked. But if it's Miku, who was nearly assassinated herself, she
will ruthlessly take a scalpel to the corruption within the Holy Church.
And so, to check on how Miku was doing, I came to the
headquarters of the Holy Church, the Ode Cathedral. I've never traveled
abroad, so of course, this is my first time entering such a full-fledged
religious facility. Feeling a little nervous, I had them let me in through the
back entrance.
(Heh... So this is what it looks like.)
Looking around inside, the first floor had a massive number
of seats prepared for the believers, and slightly elevated from there was a
space set up for preaching. The structure allowed sunlight to pour down through
the stained glass onto the priest delivering the sermon. Are they utilizing
visual effects...? I surprisingly can't underestimate them.
(As expected, it seems they are closed today.)
I entered through the back, but it seems that today of all
days, even the church personnel weren't in a position to be praying; the
general public area meant for offering prayers was blocked off so no one could
enter. Turning my eyes toward the second floor, people who looked like church
members were running around holding documents, looking unbelievably busy. They
too are probably running around frantically to squeeze out the pus from the
inside.
「Excuse me, we have stopped accepting
worshippers for today...」
A sister, who apparently thought I was a stray believer or
something, called out to me. She was gripping a massive stack of papers in her
hands, and her complexion looked a little pale.
「Oh, sorry, but could you guide me to
the Saint...?」
「Umm... Her Holiness the Saint
is currently extremely busy. Unless you have a prior appointment...」
「You idiot! Didn't they send out a
notice beforehand!?」
「Ouch!? What are you doing, Camus-san!」
The exhausted sister was lightly smacked on the head by a
male monk who had approached nearby. The monk quickly straightened his clothes,
then smoothly gestured behind him with his hand.
「Masaru-sama, please come this way. I will guide you to the back!」
「Masaru-sama... Ehh!? This person is!?」
I wonder what kind of things are being said about me within
the Holy Church... I was curious, but I decided not to ask for details. There
are some things in this world better left unknown.
「For now, please do your best.」
When I cast High Heal on her, the sister's complexion
returned to normal in an instant. Giving a light wave to the surprised sister,
I followed the guide up to the second floor.
As we proceeded deeper, passing by rushing clergy members, a
massive set of double doors came into view. Inside the room behind the
glass-decorated doors was a huge vertical desk, and sitting at the so-called
head of the table, Miku was wrestling with paperwork.
「Miku, how are things going?」
「—Masaru! You came back!」
When Miku looked up, her expression brightened
radiantly, and she ran over to me. Thinking she looked like a dog welcoming its
owner back home, I gave her a light hug.
Instead of the rough habit she had been wearing until now, Miku
was dressed in overly decorated clothing that suited the image of a Saint.
Apparently, this is her formal attire as a Saint. —With Izel II
abdicating and the authority of the power-holders who colluded with him
collapsing, Miku had returned to the Holy Church as the Saint.
At the time she brought our classmates back, she was branded
a heretic and stripped of her title as a clergy member, but it seems the heresy
charge has already been lifted, and she is able to act as the Saint without
any issues.
「Are there any problems?」
「Mhm, my former subordinates came
rushing over immediately, and right now, even the higher-ups of the Holy Church
are bowing their heads low to me.」
With enough charisma to build a whole faction in just six months,
and being the best friend of the current monarch, Alice, she
coincidentally gained the same status as the power-holders who tried to
eliminate her. Currently, she is using that power without hesitation, wielding
her exceptional skills to completely reform the Holy Church from the inside.
「For now, it looks like everyone who
was doing shady things will have to atone for their crimes and have their
personal assets confiscated. As for the Cardinals, evidence of their misdeeds
keeps popping up one after another, so they'll probably all be executed. About
ninety percent of the Archbishops will likely be stripped of their wealth and
thrown out of the royal capital completely penniless.」
「Whoa...」
「Well, honestly, I want them to be
grateful that I'm just not killing them. After hearing what they did, I
genuinely want to execute all of them.」
What she's doing is brutal... I thought, but after hearing what they had done, I ended up
sharing Miku's exact sentiments. Not just inciting assassination, but
bribery to the Kingdom, tax evasion, rape within the church, and
indecent acts targeting the orphans in the orphanages they ran (terrifyingly,
it seems many of them had a taste for young boys)... Almost all the people in
positions of power had an unbelievable amount of additional crimes. By the way,
the Cardinals' crimes apparently warrant execution even under Kingdom
law, so the death penalty is fully justified.
In order to completely squeeze out the pus within the Holy
Church, she's apparently using her authority as a trump card to pick fights
even with Archbishops where evidence is insufficient, aggressively confiscating
their personal assets. It's a terrifyingly forceful power play, but it seems
it's possible right now because the Holy Church's own power base is shaky.
Maybe this is what they mean when they say the best thing to
have is a friend who's a King. Not that you can easily have something like
that... Wait, thinking carefully about it, I'm friends with Alice and Emilia
too, right? My bad, I take back my previous statement.
「To ensure they can never exert
political influence again, I want to firmly separate the church and state.
Ultimately, I want to turn it into a laid-back organization that just runs
orphanages, soup kitchens, and holds mass on Sundays.」
「...Isn't that going to take a
ridiculous amount of time?」
「For now, I want to elevate the
status of people who seem decent, and then have them cooperate with the Kingdom
to handle it. It's impossible for me to do everything myself, after all.」
It seems Miku is incredibly tired. Although she seems
to be managing her physical fatigue with Recovery Magic, her mental
exhaustion appears to have built up considerably.
「But it looks like it'll still take a
little more time. I'll probably have things wrapped up in about a week, so I
want you to wait just a bit longer.」
Although people around her are desperately trying to stop
her, once she cuts through the organization's corruption cleanly and swiftly, Miku
intends to quit being a Saint. Well, having the title of Saint
restricts your actions in various ways. Besides, Miku is technically a 'Fallen Saint' anyway. Still, her
strong sense of responsibility to properly finish what needs to be done before
quitting is very typical of Miku.
「I'm planning to head to the battlefield
starting tomorrow.」
「I see, you're going to train Lirica-san,
right?」
「At the same time, I'm thinking of
observing what kind of people the demons really are.」
As we caught up on what happened today, the time passed in
the blink of an eye.
「Ah, I prepared this just in case, so
eat it if your brain gets tired.」
「Wow...!」
Miku's
sparkling eyes were fixed on the items I took out of my Item Box...
various chocolate snacks, including boxed ice cream and chocolate bars. I
placed them inside a giant block of ice created with Ice Magic, so there
shouldn't be any worry about them melting for a while. In the end, when you're
tired, sweet things are the best. By the way, I'm in the Kinoko (Mushroom) faction, but since I didn't know which faction Miku
belonged to, I prepared both Kinoko
and Takenoko (Bamboo Shoots). My
ability to avert a war beforehand might mean I have the makings of a tactician.
「I have some salty stuff too, you
want them?」
「I do!」
Supplying her with a second wave of potato chips and various
snacks, I couldn't help but laugh seeing Miku happily hugging the
massive pile of junk food. Things will probably still be tough, but I really
want her to do her best.
Of course, I'll do my best too! I'll have to get even more fired up than usual tomorrow.
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