Chapter 193 Part 1
Chapter 193 Part 1
Translator: “Hakou” Editor: “Weasalopes”
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At the time the Margrave received a report from the Grim Reaper in Landbarn, and Tauro was suspected of being an elf in the royal capital.
A large church stands in the central square of the Cathedral city in the Eastern Country.
A fat, elderly woman was walking down a corridor with a high arched ceiling.
From the clothes she wore, one could tell that this fat elderly woman was a bishop. That is the central position in the eastern country where the archbishop is at the top of the hierarchy.
「Where’s the Archbishop at!?」
She arrived at the cathedral. She looks around, but cannot find the person she is looking for.
She catches a young man passing by and asks him with a sharp tone.
「T-Today he will be at the executive’s office in the afternoon」
The young man was so startled that he almost dropped the scriptures and hugged the heavy, thick book to his chest.
「Is that so」
She said with her brow furrowed, and then went up the stairs with a loud voice.
The bishop, a fat, elderly woman, had been in the kingdom the other day. She was there to discuss the aftermath of the incident with the self-proclaimed sage.
「I see, you’ve suffered a great deal of damage as well, huh?」
She remembered the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, who called out to her with a pained expression.
His eyes were droopy, but he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. He also had a slender body, which she liked.
「Thank you for your concern」
A self-proclaimed sage who suddenly appears near the border of the eastern country.
He burns down a village just because he doesn’t like it, and also destroys the Knights who rush to the village.
The self-proclaimed sage then moves directly to the kingdom. He aided the Count, who was suspected of treason, and fought against the kingdom’s knight order.
(I’m glad that he’s an understanding man)
She thought so from the bottom of her heart.
The self-proclaimed sage is not a citizen of the eastern country. However, it is a fact that he entered the Kingdom from the East.
There was a chance that he would point this out and pursue her to take responsibility.
「Well then, let’s talk about the matter from here and out」
The Prime Minister of the kingdom continues to talk in a calm voice.
The meeting, which had a peaceful atmosphere from start to finish, proceeded in a constructive direction. One after another, agreements are made.
A joint investigation into where the self-proclaimed sage appeared from and who he was.
Reconfirmation of the mutual inviolability of the scorched border territory.
In order to rebuild the fortresses and border facilities, C-class Knights shall be permitted to operate in the vicinity of the border. These are just a few of the things they discussed.
(As I thought, it’s so much easier to work with competent people)
She was in a good mood.
Until she went to buy a man to have a look around the royal capital after the work she had done earlier.
After the sun went down, she returned to her lodging. Her figure was even more swollen with anger as she wrote up the report in one go with the same vigor.
She sent the report to the Cathedral city ahead of time, and left the royal capital the next day.
And then the next day, she left the royal capital and arrived at the Great Church a few minutes ago.
「Your Eminence, the Archbishop! Are you here?」
A rough knock and a loud voice made the Archbishop, who was flipping through his papers in his office, frown.
「Excuse my intrusion!」
Without waiting for an answer, the fat, elderly woman in a bishop’s uniform barged in.
Her breathing was ragged, probably because she had just climbed the stairs. But at the same time she also seemed to be angry.
「Your Eminence, the Archbishop! I trust you have read the report」
What in the world is she getting all excited about? The Archbishop, who is also well-fed, opens his mouth with a puzzled expression.
「You had a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom and made an agreement for reconstruction, right?」
He patted the papers on his desk and continued his speech with a satisfied expression.
「You did a good job indeed. Good work」
But she does not smile when she is praised for her hard work.
She put her hands on the Archbishop’s desk and leaned forward to question him.
「It’s the part after that! An evil practice that is spreading in the kingdom. Have you read about it?」
The Archbishop looks somewhat exasperated at her words. He makes a slight gesture of shrugging his double chin.
Seeing this, the fat elderly woman became more and more heated.
「You’ve read it, right? Yes, that 『Crime and Punishment』. Oh, how horrible!」
She embraces her own body that looks like a char siu wrapped in thread and shakes herself with a horrified expression.
「They curse people and whip them like cattle. Then, as punishment, they burn their bodies with melted wax!」
Perhaps she can no longer stand it, her tone of voice changes to a shrill scream.
「Despite being a human being, they sanction sins and inflict punishment. This is clearly an insult to the divine rights!」
She glared at the archbishop.
「As a nation dedicated to God, we cannot just overlook this. We must take immediate action!」
The Archbishop, on the other hand, was not enthusiastic at all.
「We’re talking about another country here, you know」
With both elbows on the desk, the Archbishop bent both eyebrows downward as he answered.
「God’s teachings do not care about national borders」
However, with nary a pause.
The archbishop tries to persuade her while pulling his chair back.
「The kingdom does not adhere to the teachings of that God. Unlike our monotheistic country, the Kingdom is polytheistic」
The fat, elderly female bishop’s eyes become even rounder.
「Is Your Eminence going to abandon your people just because they are pagans from another country?!」
She said with a shout.
At those splattered saliva, the Archbishop closed his mouth in a heartbeat.
「We have our own rules, and so are they. Let the other country take care of it on their own」
「What a thing to say!」
In what must have been a fit of rage, she slammed her heavy weighted hand down on the desk.
The Archbishop frowned as she struck on his beloved walnut desk.
「Do you really think that even you, your Eminence, the first apostle of Almighty God, is going to be forgiven after saying such a thing!」
The archbishop shrugs his shoulders and sighs and begins to counterattack.
「You, just what have you seen with your eyes as you climb your way up to the rank of bishop?」
Eyes as round as a pig’s. He stared at it straight ahead and opened his mouth.
「God is not omniscient or omnipotent. Didn’t you understand that?」
「Isn’t it written in the scriptures?!」
The way she puts her hands on her cheeks and screams is as if she is looking at something unbelievable.
The Archbishop shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head.
「Something like that is just like introducing the bride and groom at a wedding. All beautiful men and women, pledging their eternal love to each other. Setting aside their actual feelings」
He turns his face to the person in front of him who has her mouth wide open and continues.
「Even though you are in that position, why are you still talking like a little child who has just read the scriptures for the first time? Just what have you been seeing while you’ve been living the reality of this world until that age?」
The archbishop doesn’t stop there.
「If he were omniscient and omnipotent, he wouldn’t need you or me. The people would be living happily and respecting each other without the need of God’s representative like us on this earth」
Perhaps remembering something, he makes a pained expression.
「It’s the same with the self-proclaimed sage. If he was truly omniscient, he would not have killed the villagers, the soldiers, and the pilot in such a horrible way」
The bishop’s mouth opened and closed twice, and then her eyes grew intense again.
「That…That was God testing us. To see if we truly believe」
The moment he heard this, the Archbishop’s face turned red. Then, with an angry expression on his face, he lightly slammed the desk.
「Can you say that to the families of the people who died? The reason why your wives, husbands, and children were murdered, is because the God you respect and believe in tested you」
The fat, elderly woman couldn’t reply.
「And what was the result of that test? Did you lose your life because of your lack of faith? People who work hard and live peacefully, are grateful for their daily harvest. If such people are not worthy of his trust, then no one will survive in this country」
The Archbishop double chin shook as he sighed. He softens his tone and looks at the old woman in front of him.
「God, you know, doesn’t do such nasty things as test your faith and punish you. At least that’s what I believe」
After finishing his words quietly, he instructed her to leave the room.
He waited for her too-fleshy back to disappear into the corridor and patted the top of the desk.
(At least there’s no dent on it)
A walnut desk that has lost its color over the years.
He had fallen in love with it when he was young, and even borrowed money to buy it.
The archbishop breathed a sigh of relief as he confirmed the safety of his friend who had walked with him through life.
***
A fat, elderly woman bishop who had been talked down by the archbishop.
As she walked down the stairs to her office, her heart began to boil again.
(The archbishop is wrong)
It was an unreasonable thought.
No, for the person herself, it is a reasonable thought as the result of her own coherent thinking. But to a third party, it may not look that way.
It was a mental allergy, so to speak.
Her mind was rejecting the actions of 『Crime and Punishment』, creating a huge wave of emotions that she normally wouldn’t have.
「I’m back」
She opens the door of her office with great force and makes her favorite chair let out a loud voice.
Two people, a man and a woman run up to her, eager to hear the Archbishop’s reaction.
「How did it go?」
The man was in his late twenties. He had a thin but well-built body that could be seen even through his monk uniform.
A handsome face composed of thick eyebrows and thinly shaved beard is reminiscent of some main character of a French movie.
Then there is the thick pheromone drifting around him. The source of the pheromone seemed to be the dense forest area around his chest and armpits.
「What did Your Eminence, the archbishop said?」
She told him what the archbishop said with a look of displeasure on her face.
「What a materialistic person!」
「This is blasphemy. He is not a person who should remain in the position of Archbishop!」
The two people have similar views of values to their boss and share the same allergies. They were very angry with the Archbishop and belittled him.
The sight of them calmed her down somewhat.