Chapter 312 – 312. Interlude, and a Comma (3)

– One –

“Why on earth did you not bring those good foods as side dishes!”

“Yes…?”

Vladnok is dumbfounded and blinks his eyes.

He pondered several times as he swallowed dry saliva, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

“Just because you didn’t throw away the intestines, I’ll let you go just this time! But no matter how much it is, flesh and organs, none of them are excellent ingredients that are beyond reproach. Did you really hide that precious dish to eat alone?”

“Uh-uh-uh-huh…”

Vladnok lets out a broken laugh.

It seemed a little embarrassed, but also a sense of relief.

The pope doesn’t show the slightest bit of anger that Vlad Knok has taken his life and poured it into the wine.

But the pope’s anger at his lack of culinary delights seemed genuine.

Vladnok felt the need to calm his anger first.

“His Holiness. I’m sorry to inform you, but even if I brought them, it was obvious that His Holiness would never have eaten them.

“Hmm…? That, what does that mean…?”

With one word from Vladnok, he instantly calmed his rage.

The Pope asks with a puzzled face.

“When the intestines of this human beast are salted, even if they are salted with spices, if they are not aged for a sufficient period of time, they give off a disgusting odor that is almost inedible. It’s so small, it’s almost impossible to take a proper bite. It seems that this ugly bastard will bring trouble to His Holiness if he treats such things properly. So, for the sake of future pleasure, I beg you to wait a little longer. His Holiness!”

“That, is that so…? Ha, ha, why didn’t you bring the flesh, the flesh attached to the bone?”

“Isn’t that the main ingredient essential for maturation of this rice wine? Besides, the flesh must have been filled with alcohol. It is so poisonous that His Holiness could harm his health if he ate it. Of course, it was excluded from the true product.”

“Huh… Is that so? Uh heh heh heh…”

Was it because he was sure that Vladnok had not been disloyal to him?

The pope let out a cheerful laugh with a full voice.

“Yes, His Holiness.”

“Maybe it’s because I was a bit drunk, I couldn’t control my emotions properly.

Swoop.
Wriggling, wriggling.

Vladnok bowed his head deeply.

Just by taking that pose, his body was drenched in sweat.

“No, please. Please remove the words. It all stemmed from this foolish man’s loyalty, but it is certain that His Holiness’s misunderstanding was caused by not being able to tell the truth properly, rather it was the poor man’s fault. Rather, this I’m just grateful that you made me realize such a lack of an ugly bastard.”

“Heh heh… I see. If you go that far, I will withdraw my apology. So let’s stop drinking this precious drink together.”

“Yes, His Holiness.”

Swoop.
Rocking, rocking.

Vlad Nok raises his head.

When he lifted his head with difficulty, there was a bright smile on his face that made him feel servile.

Swoop.
Visor!
Klopp, Klopp.

They toast again and take a drink.

They enjoy their drinks with happy faces.

“By the way, where did the main ingredients for this liquor come from? Did you buy a slave to make it?”

“No, Your Holiness. Among the secretaries who were under this ugly bastard’s command, I trained a bitch with moderate milk loss for many years.”

Vladnok ruminates on the memories of that day.

The day her Ada gave a speech across her empire, she reminisces about her toy that she broke while drawing her resentment.

It was a story of heroic conquest of prey, a memory of completing a toy, and an experience of butchering prey.

The pope puts in a merry choo-im-sae and listens to Vladnok’s words.

“Sometime, I’d like to take a look at the keg where the late bitch was soaked.”

“Do you mean this? This idiot expected right away that His Holiness would make such a request, and from the beginning, he put the wine in a tall, cylindrical glass bottle big enough for an old woman to fit in.”

“Huh…”

Chop, suck.

When the pope heard that, he licked his lips and swallowed as if his stomach was stirred.

This is because it was self-evident that if a bottle as tall as a man was filled with this liquor, he would be able to enjoy this sweet rice wine for a long time in the future.

Even so, it was certain that the drink would become more flavorful as time passed, and the pope’s heart began to throb with anticipation.

“That’s right, it’s a nice story to hear.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. If you visit this ugly bastard’s residence at any time, you will be able to enjoy such delicious wine together with this ugly bastard while appreciating the flirtation of a bitch who has no guts but has a good udder.”

They exchange insidious glances, imagining the special pleasures they will have in the future.

Meanwhile,

“Ah…!”

Like someone who suddenly came to his senses, the pope sighed and hardened his complexion.

He cautiously opens his mouth.

“By the way.”

“Yes, Your Holiness. Please speak.”

“If we made it so plain that people’s corpses were soaked in alcohol, wouldn’t the little idiots be frightened to see them?”

Seed profit.

Vladnok lets out a confident laugh.

He hadn’t heard back yet, but the Pope was relieved to see it.

“No, Your Holiness. Not only did I brew the wine in the secret space of my residence, but all the people who went in and out of the place and organized it were blind, deaf, and even mute. I’ve been collecting such idiots to make a justification, but I’m really using it very usefully to have them do such a mess. Please take it.”

“Huh. That’s right. While doing good things, he knows how to properly recycle even idiots. I see. Now, it’s getting late, so let’s empty the bottle.”

“Yes, His Holiness.”

Their drinking party was heartwarming.

There was endless admiration and cheers, and laughter and happiness overflowed.

Considering the disgusting main ingredient of soaked wine, it was a very foreign sight.

– 2 –

Next day.

“His Holiness, have you coughed now?”

“Heh heh. Maybe it’s because he had a good drink, he slept soundly for the first time in a while. He doesn’t have a hangover, so he feels very refreshed. It’s all thanks to you.”

“It’s too much praise, His Holiness.”

The two faced each other with warm looks from the morning.

They naturally headed to the restaurant for the hangover.

It seemed to be a place reserved exclusively for the pope, and the great hall was lavishly decorated with gold and jeweled furniture, but only they were there.

Considering its scale, it was very desolate and empty.

“Yes, every time we have a meeting place, it disappears as soon as we open our eyes, but this time, will it remain as a fisherman and have breakfast together?”

As if he knew everything, the Pope gave Vladnok a coy glance.

Vlad Nok shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if he couldn’t stand it.

“Your Excellency. Since the meal is yet to be served, I would like to tell you after the meal has been served, but please allow me to do so. This is not a short post.”

“Let’s do it.”

While they cheer each other up by chatting with each other, the priests who act as the hostess and cheungyanggwan serve food in turn.

Because the pope ordered a concise diet, the various foods were not served one after another, but rather a collection of foods.

Vladnok was satisfied with the Pope’s decision to order a simple diet because he was able to avoid wasting time.

“So, what do you want to say to me?”

“Your Holiness. What do you think of the second expedition of the Imperial Army to the north?”

“Um…”

The pope’s face hardened.

He, too, seemed to be concerned about it.

He nibbled at his food, and after a while opened his mouth.

“In order to properly establish the justice of the goddess, it is right to participate in this second expedition as well. As the saintess of the time was also accused of following the devil,”

Vladnok’s tiny eyes glow.

Seizing it, the pope stuck his tongue out inwardly.

It was because it became clear what his purpose was just by looking at it.

“It’s the church’s job to bring in the heretics who are presumed to be the saintess and her minions. But, it’s never easy.”

“How can you be like that?”

“Of course, it’s because the damage to the Church due to the failure of the last expedition is not small.”

The pope’s face is severely frowned.

Due to his rapid weight loss, his face was full of dissolving wrinkles.

In such a situation, when he even frowned, his face simply did not look like that of a human being.

Because of the age spots and wrinkles, it looked like a human figure was carved from an old tree.

“As many as 10,000 members of the Knights Templar have gone missing. It’s good to say that they never returned after participating in the war, or, in fact, they say that even the body of the dead was not found. Losing 500 Inquisitors is a bigger loss than losing 20 times that amount of Templars. What is 20 times? It’s safe to say it’s a bigger loss.”

“…You must have been very concerned, Your Holiness…”

Vladnok lowers his head slightly, his expression stained with concern and concern, as if empathizing with his pain.

But he had a smile on his face.

‘I only emphasized the scale of the loss and the difficulty of restoring the damage, but I did not reject it outright, nor did I judge it impossible by citing realistic difficulties… ? It sounds like you’re willing to step out as long as the benefits are guaranteed… !’

This is because, judging from such a reaction, he clearly foresaw the possibility of achieving his goal.

Contrary to the politeness he maintains on the outside, Vlad Nok said that he was a cunning man who would surely become a merchant rather than a pope, and he saw the pope a lot on the inside.

“Your Holiness. Even though this foolish man is not a rich man with overflowing funds. Hao, he has actively participated in the work of joining hands with the church and stepping out to establish justice for the Goddess, even though he is in debt. Aren’t you?”

The Pope also snorted inwardly.

It was because he was clearly aware of how many assets Vladnok possessed, and he was also well aware of how obsessed he was with Ada’s body, far from establishing the justice of the goddess right away.

However, they had enough discernment not to bring it out of their mouths.

It is because even though they are self-praised and evaluated by those who know the truth, they are old and pretentious keuts themselves.

“Yes, you have always been, and always will be.”

“That’s right, Your Holiness. This idiot, taking the recent demon haunting incident as an opportunity, made a resolution that he should put more effort into spreading the justice of the Goddess. Moreover, if the church and the social leaders and intellectuals like us do not step out to respond to such a situation, it is truly self-evident that those corrupt seeds who have colluded with the devil will be insensitive to a thousand things. It’s me!”

Rocking, rocking.

Vlad Nok shakes his whole body and rants.

He seemed genuinely absorbed in his words.

It was clear that such speech was the driving force that made him the head of a progressive civic group.

“However, due to the failure of the first expedition, the power vacuum within the Church is so severe that it seems difficult to recruit additional Inquisitors or Cathedral Knights.”

Vladnok does not raise the question of why a single religious group should be so obsessed with force.

It is because he was well aware that power comes from force and that wealth accumulated without force is only subject to exploitation.

However, he was convinced once again that the church was not an organization that followed the teachings of the goddess by pursuing faith, but a private interest group that pursued wealth and power.

“Anyway, with only 250,000 Imperial troops dispatched, isn’t the number of infantry organized in the 2nd Expeditionary Force sufficient? According to this idiot, I heard that priests are rather lacking. Even if you send only low-ranking priests, it is clear that the Imperial Army will be able to detect it.”

“Ohhh… Is that so?”

Whoops, whoops.

The Pope scratches his chin as he ponders.

But Vladnok was convinced.

The moment the pope started to pretend to be struggling, the conclusion was already reached, but the fact that it was far from over.

In order to concentrate power within the church to himself, the Pope hopes that the armed groups within the church under his influence will always be maintained above a certain number.

“Priests, priests… Only priests are dispatched…”

At the same time, he finds an excuse to easily purge the priests who are against him.

And since the Church is not a military group like the Imperial Army, but a religious group, compared to infantry, the number of priests is far greater.

To put it more bluntly, priests are so common that they rot.

Since priests are the most common, it is inevitable that there will be an overwhelming majority of those who oppose the pope.

Let’s think about it,

See profit.

A smile blooms on the pope’s wrinkled face.

“There is no great burden in sending only the priests. Besides, if you pay the full cost of the expedition,”

Vladnok had never promised to pay the full cost of the expedition, but in time the pope naturally made it a fait accompli.

Vlad Nok was dumbfounded at heart, but since he had expected it to be like this in the first place, he didn’t protest too much.

However, deep down, he said that the young man was greedy, and he only fervently chewed the impudent Pope.

“It’s not enough, so it’s possible to support more than enough priests. Hmm… 35,000 beginners, 15,000 lower grades, a total of 50,000 healers, do you think it’s enough?”

In the pope’s opinion, the number of priests in the church who were against him seemed to be about that.

Vladnok nods, affirming the pope’s opinion.

“I think that will be enough. And just in case, I think it would be good to send not only priests who can only heal, but also priests who specialize in detoxification and purification. The Imperial Army might complain that there is an overflow of surplus manpower. However, if you properly organize professional manpower to respond to various situations, it would be nice if you welcomed the dispatch of the priests due to His Holiness’s decision, the Imperial Army side There will never be a voice of dissatisfaction.”

Due to his own instigation, the pope decided to send the priests, but Vladnok wraps it up as the pope’s own decision.

Such small ways of dealing with life piled up and piled up, and it would have served as the basis for a solid cooperative relationship between him and his vested interests that could be evaluated as inseparable.

“That’s a good idea. I can think of a suitable person, so I’ll refer to your opinion and organize the personnel to be dispatched.”

“It’s an excellent choice, Your Holiness.”

They had such a late breakfast.

In the marching song for the second expedition, which had only been calm, a variation finally began.