Episode 97
‘As expected, Amy is healthy. She has surprisingly strong bones.’
Amy was able to maintain her health while surviving on a short sleep. She had also been consistently practicing the aura training method I had taught her, as her aura was tightly packed in her danjeon.
I put my index finger on my forehead where the Samryunan was and spoke with a pretended serious tone.
“I see the truth in my eyes. The god of truth, Brecha, has entered my eyes.”
Amy’s mouth was wide open and she couldn’t say anything. She had been through all sorts of things with me, but she seemed to find today’s incident the most absurd.
I motioned for Amy to sit next to Yuria and gave her specific instructions.
“Tell the people of Hebron. Brecha is the god of truth, and Brecha believers must pursue the truth. The truth of Brecha is this: ‘Benefit humanity widely.’”
Amy came to her senses and thought about what I had said.
“That’s too broad. What does it benefit? No, before that, is it true that Brecha’s doctrine is to benefit humanity broadly?”
Amy looked back at Yuria, and I pretended to cover my eyes while looking at Amy.
“ah…….”
Yuria blushed as she realized belatedly that Amy had asked her.
“Do you not know the doctrine of Brecha? Or is it that the doctrine is not being properly transmitted?”
“The High Priest gave me some information, but he didn’t say anything like that, Your Majesty.”
The Brecha Church was a sect on the verge of extinction. It was ironic that those who claimed to believe in the God of truth did not even have doctrines.
‘That’s all the better. My words will soon become Brecha’s doctrine to them.’
It would be known that Brecha had taken up residence on my forehead, so whatever I said, the priests and believers of Brecha had no choice but to accept it.
I looked back at Amy and said.
“Amy, what you pointed out is key. It’s broad. You can put it anywhere.”
Amy stared at me, furrowed her brows, opened her mouth, and shouted.
“That look! What on earth are you planning? Tell me something.”
“In order to benefit humanity, we must first eliminate ignorance. The priests of the Brecha Church will be put to work educating the faithful.”
Yuria, who was nearby, said.
“Brecha’s will will be done.”
It seemed like my instructions were exactly what Yuria wanted.
I had the doctrines of various denominations in my head. I could have mixed them up to create the Brecha doctrine, but I chose the difficult way.
If Brecha were to become as ordinary as other religious groups, it would be difficult to use it as I wished.
“The Brecha Church does not tolerate human death. It treats the wounded, cares for the elderly and children, and values the conception of life. Therefore, the Brecha Church does not look down on doctors and midwives, but rather honors them.”
“That, that is… … .”
Amy’s eyes widened. She smiled brightly and took out her pen and notebook. She realized what I was up to.
The matter I have explained is consistent with the various policies and directions being implemented in Hebron. If the Hebron people believe in Brecha, they will naturally follow Hebron’s policies because the doctrine and administration are consistent.
“As Lord of Hebron and Pope of Brecha, I hereby decree that anyone who enrolls as a member of the Brechaites shall be exempted from paying part of their taxes.”
Yuria jumped up from her seat and shouted in declaration.
“Brecha’s will will be done!”
Certainly, the method I suggested could dramatically increase the number of believers.
However, the problem was that the taxes needed to run the estate were decreasing.
“What about the lack of funds?”
“Yeah, what should we do about that?”
“I asked first.”
“So I asked how, Prime Minister Amy.”
Amy swallowed a sigh and suggested a solution.
“… … I’ll bring it.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
* * *
Zeno’s kingdom followed the principle of separation of church and state. However, although it was said to be a separation of church and state, and on the surface it seemed as if politics and religion were separate, they exerted great influence on each other depending on the power of the king and the pope.
It was a time when the monarchy was strong. The pope was determined by the religion the king chose as the state religion. If the state religion were to be changed in the current situation, there would be a great backlash from the nobles. This was because the Harjan sect had long been able to win over the nobles in order to maintain its power.
“What should I call you now?”
Gaius’ question was not simple.
It contained the question of what to choose between religion and politics.
“I have been, am and will always be Viscount Louis de Hebron.”
Only then did Gaius’s face brighten, as if his mind was at ease.
“The Pope of Brezza, you never cease to amaze me.”
“I hope that one day I can alleviate some of Your Majesty’s worries.”
Gaius brushed my words aside. Unfortunately, he was rather dull. He did not understand my ambition to grow the Brecha Church to the point where it could check the Haryan Church. No, it would be difficult to dream of such a rosy future under the current circumstances.
“… … You killed the Barzai priest?”
“He insulted the Viscount Zeno.”
It meant that it was an inevitable choice, not because of my pride, but for the sake of Zeno’s authority.
“Is Barzai really the god of curses?”
“I can confirm this. A Barzai cult priest hired a group of Canaan mercenaries to hunt monsters, and when the priest used holy magic, the marked monsters’ movements slowed down and boils appeared on their skin.”
Gaius spoke with a rather serious expression.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who have been deceived into believing that the god of curses is the god of battle and victory.”
“They will bring down your Majesty’s authority. Rumors are circulating among the Barzai cultists that the people will have to find a way to resist the monsters themselves since the Kingdom of Zenon is unable to protect them. They are clearly trying to use the people’s anxiety to spread their religion.”
I was the one who fanned the flames of the rumors about the Barzai cult. I spread the rumors in several strongholds of the Barzai cult, and the talk of ‘Since the Zenon royal family will not protect the common people, let’s trust Barzai to protect us’ was openly spread.
“I agree with you. But Barzai’s influence does not reach Hebron.”
“This is the result of providing basic education to the people of Hebron. Regardless of their social status, the people of Hebron learn to read and write and study the achievements of His Majesty Zeno.”
“Education… … ?”
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The royal family expressed concern about the education of the common people in Hebron. The royal logic was that it would be easier to rule if the people were ignorant, and that providing them with useless knowledge would only increase their rebellion.
The Zeno royal family, who were already suffering from
But I changed the direction of education. I instilled the theory that they must be loyal to the royal family and the lords, almost like brainwashing them. It was a measure to avoid the royal family’s suspicion.
“The King has decided to block the appearance of branded monsters soon.”
This time, I tilted my head. Gaius spoke as easily as if he were moving a chess piece, but as far as I knew, the current situation was not that simple.
If the myth of the Trickster and the God Elliot is true, then no human ability could stop the emergence of the branded monsters, just as no one could stop the creation of this world.
“I’m not sure either… … .”
Gaius’ expression was strange as he cautiously opened his mouth. The moment I faced his uneasy face, I realized a part of the secret hidden in this situation.
‘ah!’
I had a guess.
‘So that’s why Pope Haryan wanted slaves!’
Pope Harjan distributed 500 slaves provided by the royal family to temples around the country, and then collected them and returned them to the royal family. The process was suspicious, but it seemed likely that the slaves were sacrificed to prevent the emergence of branded monsters.
However, royal slaves were too expensive to sacrifice, so they had no choice but to return them to the royal family.
Instead, several mountain villages were reduced to ruins. It was said that there were no survivors. Furthermore, Gaius, even though he was the royal inspector, did not investigate the case deeply.
“It’s Haryan, the god of sacrifice.”
Gaius’s face darkened.
He hung his head as if he was ashamed of his situation.
Haryan was a god of sacrifice and love. He needed to make sacrifices to exercise his power. Hundreds or thousands of people had to be sacrificed to prevent an apocalyptic disaster.
“It is a small sacrifice that saves the kingdom.”
Now I think I understand why Gaius had been looking so grumpy the past few days. He clenched his fists in frustration.
Watching his reaction, a question suddenly occurred to me.
‘If Gaius were to sit on the throne, would he be able to put an end to such nonsense?’
He shook his head. It was not a matter for me to get involved in. According to the nobles who had intervened in the struggle for the throne, it was not good. Furthermore, Gaius had no supporters. Until recently, he had been a young man who had no presence and lived shouting, “I’m here!” wherever he went.
Even families that had acquired power comparable to that of the king were often reorganized after the succession to the throne. There was no need for me to confirm again what history had already proven.
“If Haryan puts an end to this situation, the Pope’s power will be greatly enhanced.”
“Still, thanks to the Count, it could end at this level. If the Pope had single-handedly prevented the appearance of the branded monster, His Majesty would have become an incompetent king.”
If he had given up 500 slave soldiers as the Pope Harjan had demanded, he would have taken credit for it alone. Thanks to my asking the King for help, I was able to create a situation where the Pope reached out to the King.
“The Pope of Haryan is an unfaithful man.”
“I think so too. No, most people think so too. They only think about their own power.”
Gaius’s eyes looking at me were gentle.
He was convinced that I was different.
‘As expected, you’re stupid.’
Gaius did not know me. I thought of my power and security more than any other noble. I was only joining hands with the royal family because our interests aligned well. For Hebron to grow, I had to rely on the royal family of Zeno.
“I will serve Zeno.”
“The fame of the Breio Dukes is no less than that of the Pope. On the other hand, the knights and magicians dispatched by the royal family have not achieved any notable results.”
Gaius mentioned the king’s adversary.
Pope Harjan and Duke Breio.
The two held the second most powerful position in the kingdom of Zeno, next only to the king.
The Duke of Braio also actively took advantage of the situation where branded monsters appeared. He entrusted the Knights of Braio to his eldest son to subdue the monsters, and the second son commanded the magicians. It was also reported that his youngest daughter, Ruby, had hunted a troll branded as a high-level water spirit.
The three Braio siblings were revered as heroes around the Braio Dukedom.
