Chapter 14 – Episode 13 – The Apostle Church’S Lilith (2)

Episode 13 – The Apostle Church’s Lilith (2)

Judging by appearances alone, they were just ordinary priests you’d find in any backwater village.
Wearing old, brown monk’s robes, with their heads shaved bald except for a small, round patch on top. And a Bible in one hand. Perfect.

“We are priests of the Apostle Church. We have come to speak with the self-proclaimed Saint.”

The Apostle Church.
A group that occasionally appeared in the game, so I knew what they were about. They were, so to speak, the reformist faction of the Church.
It wasn’t that the Church was corrupt. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t so corrupt that they needed to go around shouting about purifying it. So, they weren’t talking about that kind of reform.

The reform that the Apostle Church spoke of was about restoring the purity of faith.
…What does that mean? I don’t really know either.
I have no interest in real-world theology, so why would I care about the theology of a game world?

Still, the core of their argument was simple.
The separation of religion and secular power. In short, they wanted the Church to stop meddling in politics and return to its religious purity.

I sometimes felt it too, but the Church, the main religion here, had quite a lot of political power. Within the city-state of Hespole, which could be considered their territory, they had their own military, the right to collect taxes, judicial power, and administrative power. On top of that, they frequently interfered in other countries, much like the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.

Looking at them, they were just secular rulers in disguise, wielding the power of religion.
This was only possible because of the Church’s immense power, and the source of that power was the low-ranking priests.

The Church’s visible power was undoubtedly Hespole. The Church’s territory, centered around Hespole, one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, was more than a match for any ordinary secular lord.
But that was it. No matter how wealthy and large a city-state was, it was still far behind the powerful secular rulers. Nevertheless, the Church’s influence was due to the power of faith that had taken root everywhere.

If the low-ranking priests of the Church, who had spread to even the most remote corners of the countryside, stirred up public opinion, the impact would be enough to make even the most powerful secular rulers tremble. For example, there was the Church’s most powerful weapon, the excommunication beam.
Excommunication.
Simply put, it meant stripping someone of their status as a believer.

You might ask if that was all, but it was more powerful than you might think. Being excommunicated meant that you were an enemy of the faith, and the Church acknowledged that it was okay to take away that person’s position, territory, property, and even their life.

That was fine. If you thought you could withstand that, an even greater trial would come.
The priests of the Church, who had spread to even the most remote corners of the secular lord’s territory, would stir up public opinion. Uprisings would break out everywhere, starting with the ignorant peasants, and it wouldn’t just be the lower classes. Countless subordinates, officials, and vassals would rush to tear you apart, so how could you possibly withstand it?

That’s why one of the most important things for the Church was managing the low-ranking priests who had taken root in local communities. Although they didn’t receive much in the way of treatment, their religious zeal was so high that there was no need to worry. But that’s where the problem arose.

The low-ranking priests, who were the core of the Church’s regional control, began to rebel against the Church’s pursuit of power, and that was the beginning of the Apostle Church. Their core argument was simple: to restore the purity of religion, as the first ‘Apostles’ had advocated.

Of course, my honest feeling was, who cares?
I’d rather have the current Church with its immense power than some religious purity nonsense. Does that feed you? Does it make you money?
But surprisingly, this logic seemed to resonate with the priests who were burning with faith.

“If you call yourself a Saint, you must allow us to have a theological debate.”

Whether in the modern world or here, I was closer to an atheist. Of course, I was a bit more unsure than I was in the modern world, but that didn’t mean I was particularly zealous about religion.
So, when I saw people openly advertising that they wanted to die, I was just amazed. What was it about religion that made people willing to throw away their lives like that?

“Holy Knights. Seize them.”

The rebellion of the low-ranking priests, the grassroots religious force that the Church considered essential, naturally led to a hysterical response. The Church’s policy was to declare them heretics and wipe them all out.
At Sir Jacob’s firm voice, the white-clad knights, even their horses were white, approached.
With a chilling sound, the blades of their swords flashed in the light, but they didn’t even blink. They had a great conviction, though I couldn’t empathize with it.

“Wait.”

That’s when it happened.
Our Saint got out of the carriage and approached them. Irian, who had been watching blankly, hurriedly followed Diana.

“Saint! It’s dangerous!”
“It’s alright, Sir Jacob. I heard they are from the Apostle Church. Is that correct?”
“…Hmm, such immense divine power. You certainly have the qualifications to call yourself a Saint. Yes, that’s right. We are priests of the Apostle Church, searching for purity.”

The old man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward and stopped about ten steps away.
The Holy Knights, surprised by the Saint’s sudden movement, quickly surrounded Diana, but neither Diana nor the leader seemed to care.

Sometimes it’s hard to find a position.
Where should I stand?
As a Guardian, should I stand proudly in front of the Saint? Or next to her? …In the first place, our Saint’s martial arts skills are far superior to mine. She’s a skilled fighter who could subdue me in five seconds, so me hanging around would only be a hindrance.

But it wouldn’t look good for a Guardian to just stand behind and watch.
This is… my position is ambiguous.

I quietly followed behind Diana. Next to Irian.
Ahem.
Well, Irian and I are acting as the Saint’s arms, so this position is okay, right?
Sadly, no one cared. I was a transmigrator, a player. Why was my presence so weak?

“You wish for a theological debate. Are you perhaps asking for a council?”
“Yes. To be honest, we wish to hold a council… but we know that is an unreasonable request.”
“Then what is it that you want?”
“At least recognition! Recognize that we are not heretics!”
“These impudent fools! I can’t stand by and watch your insolence!”

A Holy Knight, who had been holding back with a simmering expression, shouted, but the old man on the other side didn’t flinch at the loud voice. Rather, he seemed to be saying, ‘Kill me if you dare,’ which made him really difficult to deal with.
I understood why people who were prepared to die were scary.

“Our request is simple. We have heard rumors that a minion of the devil has appeared in the lowlands. You are probably going to investigate that as well, right? We will join you. We do not want blood and violence. Our faith is completed through peace! What we want is to compete in the lowlands to see who can drive out the devil first.”

Was it just me, or did I have ominous thoughts as soon as I heard that?
Their words sounded good, but who knew? Maybe they were the ones who summoned the devil and were pretending not to be. It was so common to set up a trap and then propose a bet that it wasn’t surprising.
…Well, actually, I knew that they wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t because I believed in their burning religious convictions, but simply because I knew the quest, so I knew that they had nothing to do with the devil.

Did they know? That if they competed fairly, they wouldn’t stand a chance against me, who knew the quest inside and out? Even though I had an overwhelming chance of winning, I wouldn’t accept such a bet. There was nothing to gain from winning, and if I lost, there would be big problems. Why would I accept such a bet?
Diana would think the same, right?

“Alright. I accept.”
“…Saint!?”

My eyes almost popped out. What nonsense was she spouting all of a sudden?
There was no way this smart girl wouldn’t know what I had just thought of. Did Diana really believe that those Apostle Church, or scammer church, guys would compete fairly?

“However, there is a condition. If you swear to God that you will compete fairly, then I will accept.”

…Oh, our Diana is still so pure.
But I couldn’t interrupt the Saint’s words here, so I observed the Apostle Church side.

An oath in the name of God was like telling a priest to risk their life. It wasn’t that they would be punished by heaven or that their divine power would disappear if they broke it… but a similar example would be swearing in the name of your parents, relatives, children, and all the people you hold dear.

Just like you wouldn’t be punished by heaven for breaking an oath made in your parents’ name, the God of this world didn’t seem to care whether those who followed him kept their oaths or not. Of course, it was questionable whether God even existed.

That’s why an oath in the name of God was heavy if it was heavy, and light if it was light.
It would be heavier than anything for someone who was righteous, but for those who were not, it was just a useless formality that could be broken at any time.

“We swear.”

The old man with the dignified expression… well, let’s move on.
Looking at his stubborn face, he didn’t seem like the type to plot behind the scenes. Then what about the guys behind him? Even though it was an oath without any binding power, I couldn’t just let it go.

“I am Priest Yurian.”

The atmosphere was naturally moving on, so I had no choice but to step forward.

“Hmm. I am Paul of the Apostle Church.”
“It seems that only you, the representative, Paul, are making the oath. Shouldn’t the people behind you also make the oath?”
“You don’t trust us?”
“I do. However, for fairness, it needs to be more certain.”

I even gave them a sweet smile to make them angry, and they made a displeased expression.
Whatever. I fixed my gaze on the group behind them.

“Aren’t you going to swear?”
“Ahem! Then you swear too!”
“Then shall we call off the competition? Don’t forget that we are only accepting your rude request out of the Saint’s mercy and generosity.”
“Where is such an unreasonable demand! Such a one-sided request! How can a priest who serves God be so unfair?”
“It is a priest’s duty to punish heretics as soon as they are discovered… is that what you want?”
“We are not heretics!”
“All heretics say that.”

Why was he talking so much? Was there something going on?
A sudden suspicion arose, and I recalled the quest details again. No matter how much I thought about it, there was no such event in the quest… but I couldn’t be sure.

The quest I knew was only a part of it. There were many sub-quests that I hadn’t even tried, and since I had never even seen the ending, my information was limited as I got closer to the end.
In the end, my knowledge had its limits.

“If you are righteous, what is there to be afraid of? Will you swear?”
“Ugh… I will!”

Seeing the Apostle Church priests, who had been making troubled expressions, swear in the name of God, my hands were itching to open the status window.
If I opened the status window, it would be easy to figure out their identities, but… the problem was that the status window wasn’t something I could use indefinitely.

Three times a day. The time limit was about 10 minutes.
That’s why I couldn’t just use it on anyone, but… this time it would be okay, right? If not now, when would I use it? I opened the status window for the guy who seemed to be the leader first.

【Paul】 ● Priest (Heretic – Apostle Church)

▼ Status
[Zeal] [Conviction]

There was nothing particularly strange. He was just an ordinary religious zealot.
Was I being too sensitive? It was when I was scanning the group.

“……Hmm?”

There was something strange mixed in?
A beautiful woman was here. And she was as beautiful as Diana and Irian, the main heroines, with a beauty that was on a different level.

This was suspicious. Even in a game world, there was no way a beauty like this would be rolling around like a stone on the street. Suspicious, suspicious.

Should I use the status window, or not?
…It’s not because she’s a beauty that I’m using it. No, it’s true that I’m suspicious because there’s an excessively beautiful woman mixed in, but it’s not because of personal feelings… Ah, whatever.
It’s polite to use it on a beauty like this.

‘……Huh? Why is she here?’

What should I say about this?
I thought about stepping in, but I decided to hold back for now.

Since even I had backed down, there was no one to stop our Saint. In the end, the Apostle Church priests joined the group, and they started moving towards the lowlands again.
…By the way, were those bald monks really planning to walk all the way there? They were already so slow that it was frustrating. Where did they think they were going, walking like that?

Ugh, so frustrating.