After finishing his conversation with the Pope, Lazarus, the forr cardinal and current papal deputy, let out a long sigh and straightened his back.
"I don't know what exactly you’re doing, but it seems you have no plans to return to the church anyti soon."
It had been quite a long ti since he had stayed in the Holy Land with that person, but this year, the Pope’s outings had been more frequent than ever before.
Fundantally, the position of the Pope is symbolic of the Church itself, a figure who embodies the divine. While the role of the Saint was created and so of the Pope’s significance was divided, it remains a re mascot and cannot fully replace the Pope.
The Church always requires soone holding the position of Pope.
Therefore, the Pope of the Church of the Almighty, the most influential on the continent, must live without ever resting for as long as he holds the position.
In fact, many past Popes have died from exhaustion, so it’s not hard to imagine the overwhelming weight of their duties.
Before this year, the current Pope had worked more fervently than any other Pope in history.
While those below him were stumbling, struggling with the limits of their physical strength, the Pope worked tirelessly.
As the years passed, the current Pope beca an imnsely powerful figure within the Church.
His influence reached every corner, and that was only natural.
Right now, I am maintaining the status quo by keeping continuous contact with the Holy One, but I know this won't last long.
The difference in ability is on a different level. While His Holiness can solve matters with just a glance, I am stuck struggling for minutes, so it’s impossible for to keep up.
"There's simply not enough people."
After months of pruning, the Church’s internal workforce had been significantly reduced.
In this situation, the miracle that the Saint had perford only made the dispersal of personnel even more severe.
I have no intention of blaming her.
She is a person who was born with a fate to be despised by the Almighty, but still, she was chosen by the Almighty, and she didn’t stop there. She stepped forward for a better world.
She did what she had to do, so how could I resent her for that?
Sigh. Damn it. If I were twenty years younger, I wouldn’t be complaining like this.
"Papal Deputy."
At the voice of his secretary, Lazarus raised his head and furrowed his brow upon seeing the pile of docunts the secretary was holding.
"What is it now?"
“These are the petitions from those awaiting trial. I’ve only brought the ones from the higher-ups.”
“Is that how much there is?”
A sigh naturally escaped. It seed the corruption within the Church had grown so large.
Even after the Dark Evil God had fallen, the darkness within the Church seed endless, as though no matter how much it was uprooted, it would never end.
"And today, the Saint and her companions have arrived at the Holy Land."
"Are they the ones who made achievents in the Fairy Forest subjugation? I would like to et them and have a conversation."
"Shall I convey your intentions?"
"No need. What would an old man like do by taking their ti? I don't have the luxury of such ti."
"Cardinal Cesare has already t with them."
"...Cardinal Cesare?"
What a damn fool. What is he thinking now?
Why does that trash, who should have his neck on the chopping block, ddle with young people who are supposed to lead the new era?
Lazarus, who had been thinking of confronting the old fool, exhaled deeply and picked up his pen.
"Any other news?"
“They say the Art Order has taken care of the forr followers of the Old Darkness. This ans they’ve been influenced by the new Dark source..."
Walking around the Holy Land with Faivy, what struck most was not the beautiful scenery, delicious food, or the unusual holiness of the Holy Land, but the reputation Faivy herself carried.
"Saint! What brings you here...?"
"If there’s no seat, you can sit here..."
"If it’s not inconvenient, could you pray for us..."
"Saint...!"
"Saint...!"
Seeing people in such fervor, it reminded of what would happen if a shabby deity descended on the Holy Land.
I knew Faivy was popular. Even when we were at the academy, there were many people who didn’t know what to do when Faivy walked by.
But I’m Faivy’s friend. I’ve seen her clumsy, foolish side as much as her noble side.
So when I saw Faivy showing the dignity of a Saint in front of others, it felt a little awkward.
"Ah. Sorry. I’m making you waste more ti because of ."
After praying for the people of the Holy Land and returning, Faivy apologized, but in truth, we didn’t feel anything.
It was true that ti was delayed because of Faivy, but we had gained much more than that.
‘Faivy must be struggling, too.’
Being worshiped is not always a good thing.
To worship soone ans, fundantally, that you must see them as different from yourself.
The one who worships and the one who is worshiped can never be close. As long as Faivy remains in the Holy Land, surrounded by so many people, she will ultimately be alone.
‘I don’t need to be told. I cherish her.’
‘Hey! You two! Stop chattering and keep fighting!’
I let out a sigh, irritated at the two who had suddenly stopped fighting and were now teaming up, and looked around.
‘And you know, here, I want to do things for Faivy, but I can’t.’
The reason people in the Holy Land respect us is because we are Faivy’s friends.
But if I were to start insulting Faivy, calling her a shabby saint, what would happen?
Wouldn’t I end up being burned at the stake?
In the Holy Land of the Almighty’s Church, it would be quite a spectacle for an apostle of the Almighty to be burned at the stake!
Isn’t that a bit of an over-imagined thought?
Maybe not. The people of the Church of the Almighty don’t seem to like that much.
Whenever Faivy is not around, I often feel the young, hostile glances from others.
It’s not because of my other friends.
It’s purely because of .
At first, I thought it was because of what Lucy had done before. The little girl who kicked a bishop’s face and destroyed his statues was Lucy. It’s enough to make people dislike her.
But after listening to Joy and Arthur, I realized it wasn’t really about that.
‘The believers of the Church of the Almighty can’t help but dislike Lucy. It’s just the way things are.’
‘You’re close to the Saint, with her noble holiness, and you’ve even wielded the legendary holy knight’s weapon under the Almighty’s guidance, but when asked if you’re from the Church of the Almighty... it’s a bit awkward to answer. You’ve done quite a few things with the Art Order.’
My friends, who know my position as an apostle of the Almighty, don’t question that I am a servant of the Almighty, no matter what I do. But for those who don’t know anything, it’s a different story.
To them, I’m just soone who’s received much from the Almighty and thrown myself into the Art Order, a trash.
And now that this little brat is boldly showing up in the Holy Land, they must be disgusted with .
Having understood the situation, I decided to just enjoy their hostility.
To avoid misunderstandings, let clarify. I’m not so masochist. It’s just that, when I think about it differently, it beca a bit funny.
Think about it. The Saint, who gets embarrassed every ti she holds my hand, is shy enough to blush just from holding hands, while the Almighty, whom they worship, is just waiting for to insult him, that perverted bastard.
It’s like so sort of NTR!
sugaki Golden Sun... what an awful hybrid, I thought, barely able to stop myself from laughing as I pictured it in my head.
That night, after finishing the delightful Holy Land tour, we decided to stay at a place there, using the excuse that it was late. In the middle of the night, we snuck out of our lodging.
There were plenty of people moving around the Holy Land, but it didn’t matter to us.
Because we had soone who could handle the powers of darkness!
The power that the Evil God of Darkness once wielded was so great that even Faivy and I, as apostles of the Almighty, couldn’t perceive it!
But could so halfwit priests recognize us?
Having snuck out from our lodging in the middle of the night, we made our way to the place we had intended.
“Using the powers of darkness to move around the Holy Land. Just saying that, and I’d be branded as a heretic.”
“Shut up, Prince! I was bothered by it too!”
“…You two. How do you think I, as soone with the position of Saint, feel sneaking around?”
“Well…”
“Sorry, Faivy.”
“Why bother with rules made by trash like them? My voice is far more valuable than any of that nonsense, right?”
Should I care about their rules? Since I’m an apostle of the Almighty, I shouldn’t have any problems, right?
I raised my voice with this thought, but my friends’ awkward expressions didn’t clear up. I guess there are things that are hard to accept, even if you can understand them with your head.
We wandered around the Holy Land like this, and by the ti the moon reached its peak, we arrived at our destination.
“This... is the Confession Room.”
Feeling the stench of blood in the place built for priests to confess their sins, I moved toward the statue at the far end of the room and placed my hand on it.
We didn’t need anything grand.
The only condition to open the dungeon’s door was to “breathe the holiness of the Almighty into it.”
As soon as I breathed the holiness into the statue, I saw the door to the dungeon appear, and I told my friends to follow as I leaped into the dungeon.
“…Huh?”
And the mont I stepped into the entrance, I instinctively stopped in my tracks. From the dungeon’s depths, there was a sll that should never be present.
“Ugh! Can I stop using the powers of darkness now?!”
“I don’t want to do it again.”
“Right. It was too easy and boring... Huh? The sll of blood?”
“…Young lady, this is…”
The sll of death made want to gag.
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