The supreme leader of the Church of Savior is the Pope, but no matter how Pope he is, he is just like an ordinary priest in front of the oracle.
However, due to the characteristics of oracles, interpretations are often divided into several branches, and the Pope has a strong authority to choose one of these branches.
Another clergyman said this is the meaning of this oracle! It means that if the Pope opposes it, it is useless. Of course, it is not that the gods who can read the future cannot predict this.
So, the oracle that came down this time may also have accelerated the Gray Desert Expedition. Lina seems to think so too.
“But the problem is that the Savior doesn’t tell us about the oracle.”
“Are you telling a lie?”
“I’m not going to lie. I’ve been punished for doing that in the past. Are you daring to tarnish God’s prestige?”
The gods, including Luminus, are usually infinitely warm people, but they are strict in some areas.
For once, never lie. Even if it is a bit difficult to tell, it only tells the truth. Whether it is for that reason or not, he is strict about lies.
As Lina just said, when I lied that the oracle came down, didn’t I say that the punishment fell?
Even those fanatics firmly believe that they represent the will of God, but never lie.
It’s too much of a problem, though. The reason the gods do not restrain fanatics is that they do not tell lies.
“Are you saying that the Savior’s side can make up something suspicious?”
“It’s highly likely right now. Maybe it’s not the truth revealed in Zeno’s biography. If that happens, you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
“Hmmm…”
When I heard that, I was lost in thought. To be honest, the probability that the assumptions made by Lina will actually come true converges to zero.
First of all, Clark saw the truth clearly with his own eyes, and I just put it in Xenon’s biography.
If it was a lie, the gods would have spoken to me. But they went on without any mention.
In other words, the fact that demons are of human origin is quite likely to be true.
‘It’s not like you’re trying to purge me.’
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Moreover, the gods take pity on me. Didn’t even Hirt, the supreme god and deity, grant me the blessing of pure nature, that is, ‘power’.
He uncovered the demon worshipers that were slowly corroding the world, and further postponed the Demon Wars by thousands of years.
In other words, it is impossible for the gods to abandon me. If they did, they could be seriously harmed in reality.
It’s not that I’m trying to make it so, but it means that believers may have doubts. Probably, my reputation has grown to a level just below the gods.
‘You should be mindful of the possibility that the oracle was interpreted strangely by the Savior.’
At present, the number of cases is too many. Worst of all, the truth I’ve been told is a lie, but that’s not going to happen.
However, I am concerned that the Savior started the expedition too soon. I got out of my mind and asked Lina.
“The country responsible for the expedition is the Kingdom of Savior?”
“yes.”
“How are other countries providing support?”
“Starting with basic supplies, we dispatched the Knights. Helium and Albenheim are in a similar situation. However, due to the characteristics of the expedition, the power of religion is strong. Not only must we cross the desert, but there are also non-combatants in the expedition, so the role of a priest is very important. summer solstice.”
I’ve seen it in the newspaper before. Gerios Kingdom is an ancient ruin that has been buried for more than 3000 years due to complex circumstances.
From the point of view of scholars, beyond being able to confirm the starting point of the demonic war, it is to discover a hegemonic country 3,000 years ago.
Of course, if you were a scholar, your heart would be pounding and you would rush in with foam in your mouth. In fact, as soon as the news that the expedition was organized, scholars from all over the world came running.
As a result, the proportion of scholars, including archaeologists, is quite high. Scholars who were sometimes mentioned in newspapers are also included.
‘The number may be small, though.’
Of course, there are only about 10 of them. The gray desert is a demonic area where life is in danger just by walking on it.
As the number of non-combatants increases, the burden on the expedition will increase, so there is no choice but to minimize the number of personnel.
Even so, it will not be difficult to excavate the ruins since each of those 10 are highly prestigious scholars.
“It’s hard to understand why the time was moved forward. What kind of oracle was it?”
“Even if it’s not an oracle, there are a lot of questionable parts. For now, I can only hope that the expedition succeeds normally. If the expedition succeeds, either Helium or Alvenheim can install a teleport.”
Sometimes some people would have thought so. If it is difficult to cross the gray desert with two feet, why not fly through the sky or use a teleport?
It’s not that I didn’t think of it that way. However, teleportation is a magic that can only be used once you go there and know the coordinates.
It’s impossible to teleport to a place you’ve never been before. Then there is a high possibility that she will become a lost child.
So what about flying? Even if your field of vision is widened, it will be almost impossible to find your way. Especially in places like deserts, it’s perfect to get lost.
In addition, the demons were isolated until then, so they couldn’t even try, and Albenheim paid little attention.
The reason why you have to go to such a dirty place is largely due to the elf’s unique way of thinking. Still, there is news that an elf scholar is included.
“By the way, why did you tell me this? Please tell the gods once? What oracle did you place?”
After grasping the approximate situation, I asked about Lina’s intentions. Actually, the gray desert expedition itself has nothing to do with me.
The origin of the devil was a situation that even the gods tacitly admitted to be true. Whatever truth came out there, to me, it was nothing more than a subject matter.
So, there must be a reason why Lina made these facts known. I glanced at her.
Lina looked at me with a serious expression for a while, then smiled as if she was embarrassed.
“No. No. I was just asking what you thought. It was so frustrating that I felt like grabbing a straw. I don’t know if the Savior did it arbitrarily, but it’s a situation where he went down to the oracle and couldn’t do anything.”
It is a side effect of a world where the priesthood is strong.
Even if all kinds of monstrous events occur in the Kingdom of Savior, the reason why it can maintain its powerful hegemony is because the existence of God is clear.
Even if other countries add all kinds of protests, if they say ‘God’s will’, everything will be ignored. Mortals may be dissatisfied, but they must obey their will.
It would have been even worse if the Savior had not been involved in fanatical deeds in the past.
Luminus may want this situation, but for now, it is a strong backbone of the Savior.
Even if Luminus might abandon the Savior, the Savior would not be able to abandon Luminus.
Helium can also be called a religion because it has a state religion as Mora, but the number of believers is far less than that of Luminus, so it is unable to exercise authority.
“Um… well, I’ll ask you once. I was planning on going to the temple after a while.”
I tapped the cheek with my finger, then glanced at Lina and opened my mouth. This is to satisfy Lina’s request and also to resolve personal questions.
“I, really? Are you really thinking about getting sick?”
Then, Lina opened her eyes and asked urgently. Its sharp eyes open wide, like a startled cat.
There was a real cat (Leona), but the impression was similar, so that’s okay. I nodded in affirmation to her question.
“Yeah. Don’t expect it instead. Luminus-sama might answer that it’s hard to tell. Besides, oracles can be interpreted in many ways, so I’d like to focus on Savior rather than Luminus-sama.”
“Yeah, that’s right. How could mortals like us know the will of God? I was just curious about the contents of the oracle.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“I have one…”
I knew it. I was fed up with that expression on my face.
Lina, too embarrassed, put her fist to her mouth and coughed. Seeing her cheeks slightly reddened, she looks embarrassed.
Then she looked straight at me, still blushing, and opened her mouth quietly.
“It has nothing to do with demon worshipers. You know demon worshipers were active in the shadows, right?”
“I know.”
“And do you know that the funds flowed out of our Minerva Empire?”
“You said Count Kerrison suffered the most?”
From what I have heard, I have heard that the head of Count Kerrison is currently being interrogated.
Apparently, the funds of the wealthiest families in the Empire leaked out to demon worshipers, so it was inevitable.
Although the Count himself is in a position of injustice, as you know, there is a saying that is just right in this case.
If he knew, he was an accomplice; if he didn’t, he was incompetent. In any case, the imperial family has laid the foundation for a strong centralized system.
“Yeah, but I’ve found one of the biggest problems here.”
“What is it? Was the Count really an accomplice?”
“It could be worse than that.”
What could be worse than that? A little curious, I leaned my upper body forward.
Lina looked around in case anyone could hear her, and then opened her mouth in a quiet voice.
“·······The demon worshipers got their money mostly from our empire. With that money, they spread their influence in the shadows of the world.”
“Well······”
“By the way, the means used to finance the funds is… counterfeit money.”
“······· Counterfeit money?”
I widened my eyes at the word counterfeit money. Counterfeit money is one of the oldest (?) crimes on Earth.
Its power is so dangerous that it completely destroys the country’s economy. In addition to destroying trust in money, the money supply increases exponentially, leading to inflation.
In the distant past, when counterfeiting was issued, most were consistent with the death penalty or equivalent. Even in war, issuing counterfeit currency is a basic tactic.
It seems that the demon worshipers were also financed with counterfeit currency, but the problem was that the target was the Minerva Empire, which was elevated with a strong economic power.
The demon worshipers have been active for a long time, so by now the counterfeit currency of the Minerva Empire would have spread all over the world.
‘Besides, the Minerva Empire’s currency also serves as a key currency…’
Gold, Silver, Cooper and so on. The currency of the Minerva Empire is counting that way, and it also serves as a key currency based on its strong economic power.
Although ‘banknotes’ did not appear due to the lack of monetary reform, they are still treated as key currencies.
Instead, it is closer to the euro, yen, and pound, rather than a near-perfect key currency like the dollar.
This is because the global economy, as well as the financial industry, has not yet developed and there is no advanced financial market.
In this situation, the fact that counterfeit money of the Minerva Empire spread all over the world…
“It’s f*cked up.”
“…to be honest, it makes me more depressed.”
“I have no choice but to be honest.”
Even before the invention of the central bank, counterfeit money from a specific country spread around the world? Is it a currency that also acts as a semi-key currency?
Recovery is virtually impossible. It must have been difficult to separate the real money and the counterfeit money because it was mixed here and there.
The fact that he only recently noticed the existence of counterfeit money means that the counterfeit money of the devil worshipers is so sophisticated.
Thanks to this, the Minerva Empire is likely to overwhelm the stigma of being the cradle of demon worshipers again. It’s just a neighborhood book.
‘But I’m glad the Empire is sensitive to this.’
The empire is not an idiot, and the bigger the economy grows, the more thoroughly it prepares against counterfeit currency.
If it hadn’t been done, the Minerva Empire would have had much more slums and the economy would have collapsed.
In the midst of carrying out the currency reforms, they suffered blood, but they were able to bear the damage as a result of a phone call.
“What is the extent of the damage?”
“It’s more of a problem outside of our empire. The demon worshipers cleverly didn’t spread counterfeit money inside the empire and only used it outside. I guess our empire is sensitive to this, so they didn’t want to take a risk.”
“You’re smarter than I thought.”
“It’s cunning. Anyway, this can be done with some diplomatic insults…”
Then he looked at me with wide-eyed eyes. Blue eyes full of anticipation stared straight at me.
It seems to imply that there is no way to prepare for counterfeit currency. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the expression on his expression.
‘How does this woman know me as a blue raccoon robot?’
I have no choice but to do it Unfortunately, there is no way to prepare for counterfeit money.
Even with the advent of central banks and the development of the financial industry, what do you want in a world where counterfeit money roams around the world?
Even the US dollar is a situation in which counterfeit currencies that cannot be identified are frequently appearing.
“I’m sorry, but even in the world I lived in, counterfeit money is constantly circulating. This is not something to be prepared for, it’s something to catch.”
“Really not?”
“Rather than that, create an institution that manages the economy separately. You didn’t know it at all, even though money was leaking like it is now.”
What the Minerva Empire most needs right now is not a central bank, but a proper control tower, that is, a centralized system.
Their counterfeit currency is circulating openly around the world, and it is a huge problem that they did not know at all.
The current emperor, Berit, is by no means incompetent. Some demon worshipers are cunning, and nobles don’t cooperate well.
It can be said to be the biggest drawback of feudalism, and it was like this before the Black Death broke out in Europe.
‘It’s a little funny that a demon worshiper plays the role of the Black Death.’
Of course, even if not, the Kingdom of Teres developed a political system in a different form. A revolution is more terrifying than disease.
Anyway, counterfeit money is an inseparable crime as long as ‘money’ exists even if the economy and financial industry are developed.
Why is it said that the scariest thing in the world is money? In the end, the only answer is to catch this.
“·······I understand. First of all, with this event as an opportunity, we should strengthen the imperial power a little more.”
Lina sighed as if she had given up in the end, and said in a complicated way. I’m sorry to her, but there’s no real way to tell her.
“Is there anything more you want to say?”
“No, there is not.”
“Then I’ll go see Luminous-sama. It’s going to take some time because I have to do other things.”
After that, I headed to the Temple of Luminus and asked directly in the private chapel.
[I’m sorry, kid. I can’t tell you that.]
I knew it was like this
*****
The Gray Desert Expeditionary Force was supported by many countries, but in reality it was like going to the Savior’s Kingdom Hall.
It started suddenly, saying that the oracle had come down before all other countries had sent their aid.
Originally, about 1,000 elite troops were expected to gather, but now about 700 are gathered.
Although the number was less than expected, each of them was an elite soldier, and only about 50 of them were non-combatants.
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Moreover, the most important ‘supply’ problem was also possible thanks to the wizards dispatched from Helium and Albenheim.
On the surface, there seems to be no problem due to the lack of numbers, but their destination is the ‘Devil Zone’, which is famous for its viciousness.
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None of the expeditions had ever passed, and it was an area that did not even pay attention because only a vast desert was spread out.
However, elite soldiers from all over the world gathered in one place to find the ‘truth’. Humans, demons, beasts, dwarves, and finally elves.
They were going to play an active part in the expedition by taking advantage of their strengths, and they will go out to excavate the ruins that have been buried for more than 3000 years.
“Is Isaac really true…?”
Dark circles that descended deeply and a slurred tone of voice. However, Cindy, who radiates a strange decadence beauty by supporting her appearance like an elf, inquired.
In response to that question, Elena, an elf with green eyes and hair reminiscent of leaves of grass, looked at her without looking at the map.
It’s been a long time since it’s been on an adventure, so Cindy looks a little nervous. After all, I’ve only studied at the academy for nearly 100 years, so it’s only natural.
However, rather than the expedition, the ‘truth’ buried there seems to be more tense.
“Well. It’s an unverified truth, so I don’t know. I’ll have to go check it out.”
“Aren’t you even curious…?”
“I’m curious too, I think I’m going crazy. It’s been a long time since I’ve had my heart race like this.”
As I have explained a few times before, Elena and Cindy are originally adventurers who traveled around the world to dig up ruins.
I was doing research at the academy to organize the knowledge I gained during the adventure, and I don’t want to miss this opportunity.
Of course, Cindy, who was full of cynicism, didn’t want to go, but Elena brought her along.
“It’s a ruin that appears in the world after 3000 years. Aren’t you looking forward to it? Besides, if you’re alone, you’ve organized an expedition at the national level. You can’t ever give up.”
“Nee… did you talk to the academy?”
“No? You can come back before winter break.”
“·······”
Cindy looked at her with a puzzled expression. I feel like it’s actually possible, so I’m speechless.
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Normally, Elena has a sensible side, but there are times when an adventurer’s temperament is activated like this.
In this case, drying is of no use. I’ve been quiet for 100 years at the academy, so that’s okay.
In the end, Cindy was forced to sigh and grunt. Being her assistant is one of the best things about Chun Chu.
“······Do whatever you want··························· still will will with me because I don’t want to die.
“You knew that, and I brought this person, didn’t you?”
At Cindy’s words, Elena crossed arms with the man next to her.
Looking at the thick man’s arms close to his voluptuous chest, you can guess that it’s not a normal relationship.
At this, Cindy looked at him, then lifted his head slightly and looked at the man’s face.
A man with a rather macho-looking face, although his face itself was beautiful, with a rich beard.
Also, the rice cake stand is huge, and just by looking at the arms, you will be able to realize at once that you are muscular.
“The Queen asked me, but isn’t it good to look outside after a long time?”
“ha ha ha······”
At Elena’s words, the man, Aiker, smirked. Surprisingly, he is currently participating in the expedition.
Instead, he used a pseudonym when attending and was more of an escort than a direct expression of force.
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Naturally, the escort is his wife and scholar Elena, and her assistant, Cindy.
There were other elves dispatched from Albnheim, but the only scholars were Elena and Cindy.
Originally, other elf scholars had to be included, so it was not possible to get involved because the summit or the Kingdom of Savior departed earlier than expected.
“The weather in the desert is very hot, are you okay?”
“It’s fine with me. By the way, look at your skin. How long have you been out there to be whiter than me?”
“I’ve been to the Holy Land from time to time, but…”
“It’s an excuse. Anyway, I’ll trust you this time.”
Elena seemed to want to express her affection more, so she stuck to the level of being naive at all. Even after decades of marriage, their bond of gold is still strong.
As a Cindy watching it in real time, it was a situation that made her side ache.
Aiker looked around the expedition after shedding a characteristic smirk at the aegyo of his beloved wife.
Certainly, the spirit of each individual was unusual as it was an expedition that was decided and organized on the side of the Savior. Besides, the cardinals are also included here.
‘I’m very suspicious of leaving earlier than the original…’
Albenheim did not believe in the Kingdom of the Savior from the beginning, so Aiker was recruited as a support force.
To do that, Arwen personally came and persuaded him to persuade him.
At first, Aiker did not like it very much, but when he heard the news that Elena was participating in the expedition, he was able to change his mind immediately.
Anyway, if Elena goes wrong, she’ll get heartbreaking sorrow.
‘There’s something. Perhaps the moment you enter the ruins, your true colors will be revealed.’
Aiker experienced firsthand the extraordinary and cunning of humans during the Tribal War. That’s why I was always on the lookout if there was a plan.
When crossing the desert, they will act like an ordinary expedition, but from the moment the truth inside is revealed, it can be said to be real.
What could be the truth, making such a hasty decision that everyone doubted?
Aiker looked around the expedition in full swing again and asked Elena.
“Helena. Can you show us on a map where we’re going?”
“here.”
I’d recommend checking the location first. Worst case, you might have to run away on your own two feet.
Of course, Elena, unaware of his thoughts, unfolded the map as Aiker wanted and showed it to him.
“The whole of this part here was the territory of the kingdom of Gerios. It’s safe to say that they ruled the entire western end.”
“Hmm. Even this kingdom fell helplessly to the devil…”
“Yes. Besides…”
The territory of Gerios Kingdom, which Elena pointed to with her finger.
“The west was surrounded by the ‘sea’, so there would have been nowhere to escape. The devil was only going to go east.”
It had a very similar topography to Earth’s Europe.