450 – Normal people cannot climb to the top – 1
A cardinal feeding carrots to horses roaming around the imperial palace. It’s clearly a sentence that is grammatically correct, but strangely enough, my brain can’t accept it.
‘Is it a dream?’
I even had that thought for a moment. Could it be that a new defense magic was installed in the imperial palace to commemorate the new emperor’s accession to the throne?
A miraculous defense magic that puts intruders into a state of sleep without them knowing and allows them to see dreams? It’s very plausible. If you want to protect the imperial palace of the most powerful nation on the continent, you need to have that level of magic installed.
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If it weren’t for the situation where I came in after being officially inspected, I would have thought that way. I wonder if there is a defense magic that can intercept not only intruders but also those who enter the country officially.
“Respect to the wise men who follow the light of the Lord, and honor to the martyrs who shed blood for their faith.”
After briefly denying reality, he quickly crossed himself and opened his mouth. Since the cardinal greeted me first, it was polite to respond properly.
“A believer who longs for the embrace of the Lord greets you.”
When the cardinal bowed his head lightly in greeting, he looked surprised.
That’s natural, since I said to be surprised. The greeting I just gave was one that was used in the early days of the Dawn Church.
“It’s surprising. It’s a greeting method that many bishops don’t know about unless they’re familiar with tradition, but I didn’t know that ordinary believers would know about it.”
And perhaps thanks to the mention of the ancient greeting method, the cardinal smiled slightly and gave off a friendly atmosphere.
‘Good.’
I smiled at him because it was exactly the reaction I wanted.
From the Cardinal’s point of view, I am a noble person who has received God’s blessing. However, since the nobleman showed respect and understanding of the church’s traditions, I had no choice but to be happy.
“I have an acquaintance who is knowledgeable about the traditions of the religious order. Thanks to that, I learned a lot about the religious order.”
“Aha.”
But he didn’t stop there, and as he moved his mouth, the cardinal’s expression became even softer.
“Yes, that’s right. Brother Tanian is very interested in the traditions of the church, so you should know.”
The acquaintance I am talking about is Tanian, the most important person within the Holy Church.
“Oh, instead of staying here, let’s go to Taeyangjeon. I came out first because I was excited to meet you two, but Your Majesty and other cardinals are also waiting at Taeyangjeon.”
“Oh no, then I guess I have to go right now.”
The Cardinal clapped his hands briefly as if he had remembered it too late and naturally guided me and Mar.
Fortunately, the first impression seems to have been good.
Actually, I didn’t want to sell out Tanian in front of the cardinal. Normally, the members of the team are sh*tty and desperate, so it feels like they are swearing and selling out when necessary because of the despairing 1977 season. Anyone with a conscience can’t help but feel embarrassed.
However, the reason I mentioned Tanian is because the opponent is a cardinal. If you are going to hang out with a cardinal for official reasons, you must use all the cards you can.
‘This is not an opponent worth saving.’
The cardinal’s power is by no means light. In the early days of the Dawn Church, they were martyrs who died fighting for their faith, and after the Dawn Church achieved religious victory, they were monsters who reigned as the leaders of the continent’s largest religion.
The youngest minister of the empire? The Crown Princess’ godfather? This is a right to be treated well by the cardinal, not a right to treat the cardinal lightly. The only people on this continent who can stand above the cardinals are the emperor and the pope.
That’s why I sold Tanian with tears in my eyes. In order to be confident in front of the cardinal, the title of ‘Acquaintance of Tanian’ is more effective than secular authority.
“Brother Tanian also asked me to say hello. He also said that it was a pity that he could not attend the couple’s wedding as a guest.”
“Even though my body is far away, my heart has been fully touched. I received the gift well, so don’t worry too much about it and tell me.”
“Yes, I will definitely do that. Oh, now that I think about it, it happened when Brother Tanian had just returned home—”
However, I had no idea it would be this effective.
It is not far from where I met the cardinal to Taeyangjeon. But in the meantime, we had too many conversations about Tanian. I felt like a newbie who was caught pretending to know something in front of a crowd of people.
It’s painful. This is better than a cold or awkward relationship, but I don’t want to talk about Tanian at length.
‘Is it the Thanian faction?’
At the same time, I was impressed by Tanian’s abilities. A guy who is not even 20 years old can turn a cardinal and a growing giant into a passionate supporter. I guess this is because he is one of the male protagonists of the romantic drama.
“And he also said that he was a precious person he met in the empire.”
“That’s a happy thing.”
Anyway, every time the cardinal finished speaking, he mechanically nodded his head and agreed.
Be patient. In exchange for this inconvenience, it would be beneficial to maintain a friendly atmosphere with the cardinal, especially with the person who is presumed to be a candidate for canonization.
‘…But I haven’t even made a full statement yet.’
I almost burst into laughter without realizing it. Maybe it’s a reward for selling out Tanian during the first meeting, but we haven’t even revealed each other’s names until now.
Of course, the cardinal must have known that I was the Minister of the Congregation for Observation, and I also knew that one of the cardinals who visited this time was a woman, so there is no big problem, but… This is a bit…
‘How is there no normal?’
I think I will sigh this time. Tanian, who came from the Holy Church, is also abnormal, and the cardinal in front of him is also abnormal. There is even suspicion that the Holy Kingdom is a land filled with a curse rather than a blessing from God.
I was feeling frustrated, so I quietly squeezed the hand of Mar who was next to me. Thanks to the fact that I became the tank to draw off the cardinal’s aggro, I was able to escape the cardinal’s sight while holding my breath.
So lend her a little hand. I think I need to do skinship to clear my mind.
***
Hmm.
Hmm.
‘Passed.’
I came to a conclusion by looking at the Minister of Inspection and Inspection who was smiling and nodding regularly.
I passed. He may not be a wicked person since he has been blessed by the Lord himself, but when I see him in person, he is better than I thought. In fact, since he was a nobleman who rose to power at a young age, I assumed that he might be a bit arrogant or have some coercive tendencies, but…
‘So gentle.’
He’s just gentle. To the point where it doesn’t match his impression or his position.
This is amazing. No matter how quiet and frugal a person is, the taste of power will drive him crazy. But how could a person who was born with noble blood and came to power through his own ability do this?
“What kind of person are you? It’s hard to explain. The only thing that comes to mind is that you are a decent person and a good person.”
I suddenly remembered what Tanian said before coming to the empire. When he first heard that, he thought it was just a courtesy. When he has to praise someone, if he has nothing else to say, he says, ‘People are good.’ As if to say.
‘It was real.’
But he said that because he was a really good person. Why is this real?
I cleared my throat feeling a little embarrassed and looked at the Inspector General again. I had to criticize the other person by behaving in a way that was not rude, but rather inconsiderate, but since the minister mentioned Tanian first, I continued to bring up Tanian as a topic.
…Honestly, there was no sense of outrage when talking about Tanian, but even so, the minister quietly went along with it. He may have been swearing all kinds of things on the inside, but on the outside he was calm.
‘I’m sorry to make you feel worse about this.’
The original plan was to only briefly understand what kind of person the minister was, and then go into a solitary confinement somewhere and conduct a serious in-depth investigation.
No matter how blessed a person is, you must understand the person’s personality to make an accurate judgment, and you must know how much of an impact the Lord’s blessing had on the minister and his wife. That way, you can decide whether to canonize him as a saint, beat him, or just skip it.
However, since they tormented a gentle person so much, it became difficult to conduct an in-depth investigation. I came here to bring honor to the good, not to cause pain. The only thing that suffered was me suffering from seasickness.
‘I have to go to Bokja.’
After a short period of thought, I came to a clear conclusion. First of all, let’s get to the basics of beatification.
If the elder Aldino found out, he would be furious and ask why the beatification was done so roughly, but what does he know? If you are dissatisfied, you can become a saint yourself.
It was a mistake to entrust a major department called the Congregation for Canonization to a kid under 30 in the first place.
***
Fortunately, not all people from the Holy Church were strange.
“It is an honor to see in person a person who has a great reputation on the continent. This old man is called Aldino Wojtaja, who is in charge of the affairs of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.”
“I, too, have heard of your reputation as a cardinal. He suggests the path forward for the church and serves as an advisor to the Pope.”
“hehehe, that’s a shame. It’s just blathering on about an old man’s stubbornness.”
Unlike Cardinal Alexandria, who talked incessantly, Cardinal Aldino, who was conversing with the emperor in the Temple of the Sun, appeared polite and gentle. The appearance of a typical Nosaje, as if drawn from a painting.
Yes, this is normal. This is correct. Because I saw one after another unique figures within the Holy Church, I ended up making strange generalizations about the entire Holy Church.
It’s a shame. If someone looked at the heads of departments 2 and 3 and said, ‘The inspection department is full of crazy things.’ If I had made that review, I would have been angry too. There are normal people like the deputy director or the head of department 5, so why do you use them as a standard?
‘Let’s reflect.’
From now on, the Holy See will use Cardinal Aldino, not Tanian, as its standard.
“Unfortunately, for those who are still young and energetic, the stubbornness of an old man like me is nothing more than an annoying nag.”
…?
I felt a moment of discomfort. It is clearly said with a smile, so anyone who hears it may think it is a humble remark, but it seems to be subtly sincere.
Even when I look closely, Cardinal Aldino’s gaze is not directed at me. He was looking at someone standing in the same direction as me.
And as soon as I remembered the identity of the person behind me, I immediately ignored the feeling of discomfort. It seems that someone young and energetic and Cardinal Aldino often bicker. As an outsider, it’s probably not a problem I should care about.
‘There was a generational conflict here too.’
Suddenly my mind became calm. I feel the familiar scent of a minister from the cardinal I see for the first time.
The minister also called me all sorts of insults, calling me a brat and a bastard who runs around all the time.