Chapter 84
[Translator – Angel Dust]
[Proofreader – Prototype]
Chapter 84
< Let there be light upon this land! The Radiant Church declares a unified prayer gathering… >
< Cardinal Beolant of the Empire's 4th Diocese proclaims, "This too is the will of God, how can we not rejoice?" >
Exactly two days after Karl and his companions attended the memorial service for the martyred soldiers, articles like that began to flood the Empire as if on cue.
Every newspaper, every article, every journalist was busy shouting out the same topic.
Light will shine upon the empire. It’s God’s will. All of this is a great blessing. And so on.
At the center of it all, one name was prominently displayed.
< The Sword of Saint Louis, discovered by Karl Adelheit, son of Count Friedrich… >
< The recipient of the Empire's Medal of Honor now receives gratitude from the Radiant Church?! >
< Let's learn about the Sword of Saint Louis, the lost sacred relic of the Church. >
“No… no… what in the world is this…”
Though no one would believe him, Karl, once again caught in the whirlwind of an unexpected event, could only mutter in disbelief, clutching his hair.
The beginning of all this, indeed, goes back to the very day of the memorial service.
* * *
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Brother Karl Adelheit.”
As the memorial service concluded and everyone was exchanging greetings, I encountered a prominent figure.
Not only myself, but even the quartet and Selena gasped in surprise at this individual.
“I never imagined I would meet Your Eminence, the Cardinal, in such a place.”
Just as there was religion in my past life, there is religion here as well.
The only difference is that here, the empire, the kingdoms, and even the elves, all believe in the Goddess of Light. And there exists the Radiant Church, which serves the Great One.
The largest of them all, our empire, houses the 1st to 5th Dioceses of the Radiant Church.
The southern region is overseen by the 4th Diocese, and Cardinal Beolant, the head of that diocese, had unexpectedly appeared at the memorial service.
“Are you surprised to see an old man here? Hahaha, then my plan was a success.”
“Your Eminence?”
“Actually, I heard that Brother Karl was coming to the memorial service, so I hurriedly adjusted my schedule and came here. Seeing you so surprised, it seems the secret has been kept well.”
“But… why did you…”
Excluding the Pope, Cardinals hold the highest position within the Radiant Church.
Cardinal Beolant is even a Bishop Cardinal, responsible for an entire diocese, making him even higher in rank than Priest Cardinals.
To my knowledge, Cardinals in charge of dioceses receive treatment equivalent to, or even exceeding, that of Marquises within the empire.
Excluding members of the imperial family, even the most esteemed Dukes exchange courtesies and show mutual respect towards Cardinals. Simply put, they are truly influential figures.
For such a person to suddenly say, ‘I came here because of you,’ it was quite bewildering.
“With your courageous spirit and valiant actions, you have widely proclaimed the greatness of ‘humanity.’ Even amidst those difficult and arduous hardships, you did not lose your light. Surely, this means that the Great One loves you and personally illuminates your path.”
“…Ah.”
I immediately understood what he meant. It was a positive remark, yet at the same time, it contained a political intention.
As I mentioned earlier, while the Goddess of Light and the Radiant Church are the main religion on this continent, there are definitely other religions as well. However, their influence is so small that they appear faint.
The Radiant Church and other religious factions sometimes coexist peacefully, and at other times, they growl at each other, maintaining a balance of tension and peace, much like nations do.
Amidst this, several decades ago, the Luzernes side, which had been in conflict with the empire, also caused discord with the Radiant Church.
The reason? The Radiant Church suggested, ‘Why don’t both of you stop fighting and make some concessions?’ To which the Luzernes retorted, ‘You humans are siding with the empire, aren’t you? How annoying.’
The arrogant fools even went as far as to utter the outrageous claim that the Radiant Church, which insists on the correctness of its existing doctrines, is a puppet of the empire.
Thanks to them, even those benevolent priests started saying things like, ‘Elves, you say? Hahaha. You must mean the fools of Luzernes.’
“Wow! It’s Luzernes again? Amazing! Luzernes! Amazing! Fools!”
Of course, the Hyzens, thinking, ‘This doesn’t seem right. This really doesn’t seem right,’ immediately cut ties with the Luzernes.
Afterwards, they shifted into a neutral stance, stating, ‘While our indigenous faith is important, we have no intention of abandoning the teachings of the Light,’ and did not reject the hand of the Radiant Church.
In the end, that turned out to be a genius move.
The Pope of the Radiant Church openly referred to the Hyzens, who were fighting against the Luzernes, as friends.
Even though they were elves, the Empire could have greater trust in those who shared the same faith in the Light. And to some extent, it became an alliance that could show a certain level of solidarity.
In this world, religion is quite important, and especially the Radiant Church, which holds the largest influence, has immense power. The Luzernes underestimated that.
Or perhaps they misjudged that they could win the war.
“I have much to discuss with you, Brother Karl. If you have the time, would you like to take a walk with this old man?”
“I would be delighted to, Your Eminence.”
“Hahaha. I worry that this old man is taking away the time of a young hero.”
“How could you say such a thing? Of course not.”
It wasn’t just empty words, it was truly an honor to have a conversation with the Cardinal in charge of the diocese.
Leaving aside everything else, just considering our Friedrich County, this was a very positive event.
Even Marquises find it extremely difficult to have personal meetings with Cardinals.
“I’m relieved to hear you say that.”
With a benevolent smile, Cardinal Beolant left his escorts behind and strolled along a secluded path with me.
Somehow, it seems I’m being recognized more than the escorts again, which makes me sad. Don’t overestimate me just because I stopped a terrorist attack. I’m not a bodyguard!
“I heard that you saved countless lives towards the end of the recent horrific war.”
“Ah, yes. I was lucky.”
“It wasn’t just luck, was it? It must have been God’s will as well. Perhaps He was with you, even in a small way.”
“Thinking about it, that might be the case.”
Suddenly, the words of the Hyzens envoy I met recently came to mind.
He said that what I had accomplished was too extraordinary to be dismissed as mere luck. He suggested that it was a sign of God’s love for me, that He had briefly stayed by my side.
At first, I thought it was absurd, but thinking about it this way, it might actually be true.
To be honest, it was a bit of a miracle. I survived after diving into a place crawling with Luzernes, a forest where the Kanfras were waiting with their eyes wide open.
I don’t devoutly believe in the existence of God, but I do think it’s possible.
The fact that I remember a past life is one thing. Honestly, when I think about the things I’ve done, it does make me wonder if some transcendental being is watching over me.
“Many brothers and sisters have lost their lives. While war is a constant occurrence, this time has been even more agonizing. Moreover, our opponents were those who stubbornly rejected even the light, believing their own arrogance to be faithfulness.”
“…”
To interpret, he meant, ‘We suffered fighting against the fools who called our Radiant Church a puppet of the empire. We’re so relieved to have wiped them out.’
As expected, even religious figures should never be underestimated or taken lightly.
Currently, they may be in perfect cooperation with the empire, but in the early days of the empire, they openly opposed the appointment of imperial dioceses and cardinals.
“To have saved precious lives from such beings is a most noble and extraordinary deed. Those who were comforted today must have felt relieved that more people did not suffer the same fate, and they were surely moved by your actions, Brother Karl.”
“You flatter me. I simply did what I had to do.”
As I scratched my cheek in embarrassment, the Cardinal smiled and changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, now that the Luzernes are completely gone, our diocese will be busy.”
“The 4th Diocese, you mean?”
“Yes. We must now carry out the tasks we couldn’t do because of the Luzernes.”
“…Is it because of the sacred relic you lost in the past?”
The Radiant Church’s dislike for the Luzernes, the Kanfras, is not solely due to their disregard for the teachings of the Light. It’s because they committed acts of similar, if not greater, magnitude.
“Sadly, that is the case. It is the only thing lost in the long history of the Church.”
“I’ve heard of it a few times. The Sword of… Saint Louis.”
The Church has several important artifacts that they call sacred relics. One of them is the Sword of Saint Louis, which was being kept in the 4th Diocese.
However, that important item was lost decades ago when the Luzernes attacked the empire and burned down the Church headquarters.
It was a crucial item that needed to be found immediately, but at the time, the area was occupied by the Luzernes, making it impossible. So, the Church had to reluctantly wait for a later opportunity.
Later, the empire drove out the Luzernes again and reclaimed all the lost territory.
And now, at this very moment, with the Luzernes completely eradicated, the Church sought to recover that sacred relic.
“You are well informed. That’s right. The Sword of Saint Louis. It is the reason why our 4th Diocese must recover it, no matter how long it takes.”
For a moment, the Cardinal’s face showed both firm determination and a hint of anger.
I’m not particularly religious, so I couldn’t fully empathize with him. However, based on the fact that the fools were in the wrong, I could only reply, ‘May God help you.’
* * *
Thus, the meeting with the Cardinal concluded, and I returned. I thought that was the end of my brief encounter with the Radiant Church.
“Huh?”
That night, until the damn quartet kept teasing me, and I unknowingly smashed a few rocks with my greatsword, a sword emerged from within one of them.
[Translator – Angel Dust]
[Proofreader – Prototype]
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