Chapter 112

“Then What Do You Propose, Commander Karl Donaros?”
“He must be brought to trial immediately! It is a grave sin for the head of the Guardians to have failed to properly attend to the Saintess, let alone for a mere priest to declare a holy war! This… this is unacceptable! He must be severely punished at once!”

Karl Donaros raised his voice in the council chamber of the Holy Nation of Hespölte.
The five cardinals and the heads of the clergy stared at him with sunken eyes. Karl Donaros felt cold sweat trickle down his back under the gaze of the five cardinals.

Cardinals.
The most glorious and radiant position, where there is no one to look up to except the Pope under God.

The central clergy of the Holy Nation of Hespölte is the headquarters of this world’s religion. At the apex is the person closest to God, the Pope, and below him are the five cardinals, who are the core leaders who move this religion.

All major movements of the powerful, centralized religion of the clergy begin at the headquarters, the central clergy of Hespölte. Except for the Pope, who has not been seen for a long time, the five cardinals before him were the de facto power brokers who moved this vast religion.

The Pope cannot be seen. No one except the five cardinals had seen the Pope. So much time had passed that it was impossible to know how long the Pope had held the position, but the first Pope was still in place.

The one closest to God, the one closest to omnipotence, the one who has been with history, the one at the top of the clergy.
All these arrogant modifiers exist solely for the Pope. The first Pope had been in that position for a very long time. And the only ones who could face the legendary Pope who still held the position were the five cardinals before him.

They were the core leaders who actually moved the clergy under the Pope’s orders. And only a very few within the clergy knew the true nature of these outwardly gentle people. Karl Donaros, as one of those few, could only shut his mouth, sweating under the gaze of these five inhuman old monsters.

“Karl Donaros.”
“Commander of the Exorcist Order.”
“A candidate for Cardinal.”
“The current head of the Donaros family, who has produced the 13th, 15th, 17th, 24th, 31st, and 37th Cardinals.”
“A capable and ambitious man.”

One by one, as if they had planned it in advance, the five cardinals opened their mouths, and Karl Donaros took a step back, intimidated by their emotionless gazes.

‘Where… where did the gentle cardinal’s appearance they showed during external activities go!’

In the council chamber of the clergy’s leadership, the cardinals would instantly change, as if their previous gentle and kind appearance had been a mask.

It was a sight he had seen many times, but Karl Donaros realized that he would never get used to this appearance, not now, nor ever.

“…Your Eminences, esteemed Cardinals. I implore you in the name of the Commander of the Exorcist Order. Please uphold the value of justice according to God’s will.”
“Karl Donaros.”
“If we severely punish Priest Yurian according to your wishes.”
“The authority of the clergy will collapse.”
“Many have heard Priest Yurian declare the holy war.”
“And news is spreading across the continent that the holy war has been declared by them.”

Karl Donaros gritted his teeth.
Yes, that was the problem. The cunning fellow. He thought he was a mere fledgling, but he pulled off such a trick. Was it planned? If it was planned, he was truly cunning.

That day. The news of the holy war was spreading across the entire continent as many citizens, soldiers, mercenaries, and nobles who were present when the holy war was declared scattered to various places.

“At the time of Priest Yurian’s declaration of the holy war.”
“Marquis Crassus, Baron Reynold, Count Aulf, Duke Hestein, Prince Aingis, the Taiga Clan.”
“Archbishop Johannis. Governor Cha Hyewon.”
“And above all, Saintess Diana endorsed it on the spot.”
“Also, as Priest Yurian claimed, traces of demons were actually found in the city and the city’s underground.”

Nobles. It could be somehow smoothed over that high nobles, as well as the king’s brother and the head of the tiger beast clan, had heard the declaration of the holy war.

The clergy would suffer a great wound… the authority of the clergy would be shaken, but it was possible to dismiss it as the ravings of a mad priest.

It was also possible to smooth over Archbishop Johannis, who was being considered as a candidate for the next cardinal and had the enthusiastic support of the lower-ranking priests, and the governor of the empire.

Even the rumors circulating among the common people would be forgotten if they were left alone. However… however, Saintess Diana had watched the declaration of the holy war on the spot, right in front of her, and acknowledged it… there was no way to deal with it.

It was a holy war acknowledged by the authority of the Saintess. A mere priest, an archbishop, nobles, a governor… the clergy could smooth over what all these people were saying with their power, but they could not throw away the authority of the Saintess.

If they reversed the declaration of the holy war that the Saintess had endorsed, the authority of the clergy would be shattered. It would be worse than pushing forward with the declaration of the holy war.

“But… but a mere priest does not have the authority to declare a holy war! If we allow this deviation, the authority of the temple will collapse!”
“The authority to declare a holy war.”
“The Pope.”
“Two or more cardinals.”
“Or it is possible by the request of the council or the core temple leadership, which has equivalent authority.”
“Then it is a matter of giving him the authority.”
“……What? What… do you mean?”

The glassy eyes of the five cardinals turned to the scribes behind Karl Donaros.

“Priest Yurian.”
“Based on the time before he left Hespölte.”
“He is appointed as a cardinal.”
“With the consent of the Saintess and the cardinal, the authority to declare a holy war by two or more cardinals is recognized.”
“The clergy officially declares the holy war.”

Karl Donaros’s mouth dropped open.

* * *

“Yurian. Look over here. Yes, like that. Hmm… you look great.”

He was recognized for his contribution to protecting the Saintess and the city from the demons. In other words, it was a decision that not only overlooked the fact that he had taken Diana and gone into hiding without permission, but also gave him a pardon for his actions, saying that it was due to ‘unavoidable circumstances.’

Moreover, apart from this achievement, they were also holding the cardinal appointment ceremony that he had not been able to do before leaving Hespölte. Oh my god. They appointed me as a cardinal before I left Hespölte?

‘Bullshit. I became a cardinal without even knowing it.’

I could guess.
It would be difficult to reverse the declared holy war. There were so many prominent people there at the time that it was difficult to gloss over, and above all, the Saintess had joined in, so it would be impossible to reverse it.

However, the clergy also had their own position, so they could not say that a priest had declared a holy war on his own. So, they were going to push forward with the position that Cardinal Yurian and Saintess Diana had witnessed the outbreak of demons and declared a holy war.

Well… it was so easy that I was a bit bewildered, but since this was what I had intended in the first place, it was a happy ending for me.

‘No. It’s not the ending yet. It’s still a long way to the ending, but it’s going better than I thought. It’s strangely so. I knew that the clergy’s leadership favored me, but I thought I would be reprimanded this time for being so impudent.’

It had already been a month since the holy war was declared and he had fought the monsters with the enthusiastic citizen army.
So many things had happened.

He had safely reunited the family of the poor child Emily, and many people had bravely thrown themselves into the battle and died in droves. Among the reinforcements from outside, there were ordinary soldiers who were moved by my speech and were inspired by the holy war, nobles who looked at me strangely, and Karl Donaros, who was jumping up and down.

There were also some welcome faces that he had met after a long time.
Langa Taiga, who had participated as the leader of the tiger beast clan. He said he had participated leading his clan. It felt like just yesterday that he had left Hespölte for the first time, but it was a moment that made him realize how much time had passed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t catch up because Diana was glaring at him, but he would have another chance someday. Langa Taiga had also said that they would meet again.

“Oh my. Yurian. Just stay still. Your ceremonial robe is crooked.”
“Just do it roughly. It’s all about the face, anything looks good on my handsome face.”
“That’s true, buuut~”

Diana seemed more excited about dressing me in the ceremonial robe than I was about becoming a cardinal. Well, is that it? The wife is happier than the husband himself because her husband is doing well. Something like that?

“Yurian.”
“Why do you keep calling me?”
“You know I helped you a lot, right?”
“……Huh?”

Wh, what is she going to say?
I glanced at Diana and our eyes met.

Her bright blue eyes were shining and curved beautifully.

“This time too. You know you got through it safely because I was there, right? Diana worked hard and used her power~ You know that too, right?”
“Y, yes. Of course. It’s all thanks to our Diana’s support that I’m doing so well. Nyahaha.”
“Uh-huh. Of course. You mustn’t forget~?”
“Y, yes, ma’am.”

I felt a sense of pressure from Diana’s smiling face. Why? What for?
Diana’s body came close as she carefully fastened the buttons on my neck one by one. I could feel her full breasts pressing against me, even through the layers of ceremonial robes.

Diana brought her face to my neck, and her cute tongue lightly brushed my neck and lower jaw.

“Yuriaaan.”
“…Uh-huh. Why, why?”
“Diana is having a hard time holding back.”

Gulp.
I swallowed involuntarily. Holding… back? What, what is she holding back?

“Uh-huh. Diana is having a hard time holding back~ Aren’t you going to ask me if something is hard?”

It was as good as a rhetorical question.
She used to gently lead me to say what she wanted, but now she was being direct.

“Wh, what could be hard~?”
“I want to do it.”
“……Huh?”
“Diana wants to do it so, so, so, so much. Irian too. That tiger bitch too. That succubus too. I can’t stand it anymore because they keep coveting what’s Diana’s.”
“……Ahem, ahem. By the way, what about Lilith?”
“…….”

I felt like my face would be pierced by her glaring gaze. I couldn’t do this, I had to ask for help. Help!

“Irian! How is Lilith, is she doing well?”

I raised my voice for no reason, and the door opened slightly, revealing a red head of hair.

“As you said, I’ve kept her locked up in her room for now. Although she’s a demon, she repented and gave us information about the enemy, and she follows the teachings of the clergy… I guess that excuse worked on the clergy.”
“Ugh. Ahem. C, how about Carsilla?”
“……Carsilla is still asleep.”
“Oh no… L, what does Lilith say?”
“……She says it’s a recovery period. She says she’ll wake up soon.”
“R, really? Oh no… Wh, when Carsilla wakes up, so she won’t be surprised… Ahh… P, please stay by her side.”
“……Okay.”

Irian’s face, which was peeking out, was as red as her hair. I was worried that she might catch fire.

“D, Diana. When you’re talking to Irian, touching, touching me there… isn’t that… a bit much?”
“Oh my? Irian doesn’t mind. Right, Irian?”
“……Y, yes, th, that’s…….”

Irian was hesitant to say yes, but she was staring at me, and Diana smiled at her.

Then, as if to show her, she took her body away from me and started to fondle my thing so that Irian could see it.

“Oh my~ It’s getting harder because Irian is watching? Yurian? You’re not thinking what I’m thinking… right?”
“I, I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
“Irian. Do you really like this lecher?”
“Absolutely! Absolutely not!”

Diana smiled at Irian, who was shouting with a bright red face.

“Liar.”
“……Hiccup.”
“But it’s okay, especially for Irian. So Irian. I’m watching over him, but… this lecher is secretly good at scheming behind the scenes. Irian, please keep a close eye on him. Okay?”
“Yes, yes!”

That’s unfair!

“Then. See you after the ceremony, Yurian. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Wh, what??