93 – Owner of the Support (4)
Asty. Warning to Frach. Ruslan and Aris. Conversation. Determination to become the owner of the support.
After being announced by the Pope and guided by the priests, Asty and I headed to our assigned lodgings.
Since the lodgings were inside the pontifical palace, they were quite luxurious rather than modest. Well, there’s no need to boast about modesty. Especially in front of envoys from other countries. It’s natural that they evaluate the place where they stayed when evaluating the nation.
Even if it’s an unparalleled holy empire, it can’t afford to look inferior to other countries. No, it should rather establish more authority.
As individuals, modesty of priests is a virtue, but the modesty of a holy empire as a nation will only invite disregard from other countries. Perhaps even this lavish sight I see now is based on that thinking.
From the start, the holy empire was one of the wealthiest countries on the continent. The offerings sent by believers scattered throughout the entire continent were already significant, and because of the country’s policy of respecting traders, merchants frequented the holy empire.
There is no one who can criticize me for using the wealth I possess appropriately. I can only feel the greatness of the holy empire.
As I was looking around the room, someone knocked on my door. I wonder who it could be. I feel like I already know who it is.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Prach.”
As expected, it was Asti who knocked on my door.
“What’s the matter? You haven’t even looked around the room yet.”
“I have something important to tell you. Let’s start with ammonium chloride.”
– Is it a sensitive matter?
Asti nodded in response to my question. Why would that be?
– I just felt something terrifying a moment ago.
– Terrifying?
– You may not have noticed, but all the doors near the Papacy suddenly closed.
– What?
– Maybe the average person wouldn’t even have noticed. It was like time momentarily stopped. A very fleeting moment.
Time stopped?
That’s only possible… for transcendent beings, right? The setting of time stopping usually makes a transcendent being’s presence more impressive, so that’s probably why it was included.
Upon my intuitive gaze, Asti nodded.
– Mikael is here.
– Can you be sure?
– I was his brother. And I lived with him for a long time. Isn’t it strange that I wouldn’t know?
-… This is nuts.
Really, it’s insane. And it had to be Mikael.
Archangel Michael. As Asti mentioned before, he was the most ruthless angel in the celestial realm. A being who would immediately eliminate any presence of a demon and not hesitate to commit any atrocities.
But now, that being is firmly established in the kingdom. Does that even make sense? Even if the original work was distorted, what’s the point of introducing the final boss from the very beginning?
– Do you think Mikael would have recognized you as well?
– Absolutely. Just as I sensed his presence, he would have sensed mine. Mikael and I are of the same caliber… we can’t secretly detect each other.
– Is there a possibility that he would try to kill us right away?
– It’s not impossible, but… I’m not sure. If it were Mikael’s original personality, he would have killed us on the spot and still remained. But considering he let us go… maybe he wants to observe from a distance for now.
– Can you be sure?
– I can’t be completely certain. Just as I changed over time, there’s no guarantee that he hasn’t changed either. But still… we shouldn’t let our guards down. Prach, you need to do what you have to do. If you sense anything suspicious from Mikael, I’ll step in.
– I’m counting on you.
It is not difficult for Mikaeri to dominate the Holy Empire. No, Mikaer’s appearance is in Chapter 3 from the beginning. Even if the original work is twisted, isn’t it a lot to cross the line by having a character who appears in Chapter 2 appear in Chapter 3?
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Moreover, Nawa and Asty have not caused any special accidents yet. In the original work, Mikaeri reveals himself to avenge Prax’s mischief in Chapters 1 and 2, because Prax’s mischief was quite severe.
But now, Nawa and Asty have not been without mischief. But why would that guy appear in the Holy Empire at such an early stage.
My head hurt. The distortion cannot be stopped, and now the information I knew was nothing more than scraps of paper. From now on, I had to navigate through all hardships by making instant judgments.
…Can I do it? I had a moment of doubt, but I shook my head. Now is the time to do something, no matter what. Just because the future I knew became scraps of paper, it does not mean that knowledge about this world disappears. Even if I have that knowledge, I could at least try something.
Especially information about the characters. For example, Angeles III seems to be a kind person, and he actually is, but like all people in power, he is not unconditionally good.
He is clearly the one who represents the will of God.
If there are commands from the angels closely related to God, they might become hostile to us. All of that ultimately means that our treatment is determined by Mikaer’s judgment.
If Mikaeri becomes hostile to us… from then on, I will have no choice but to discard all the future I knew from the original work. Because immediate survival will become a problem.
It doesn’t matter if it’s just the Pope personally being hostile, but if the entire Holy Empire declares us as evil, then the story is different. We will become enemies of the continent.
Cold sweat trickled down my back. I didn’t expect to encounter Mikaer so suddenly on my journey to obtain the shackles’ sword.
But I can’t just stand here scared and do nothing. At the very least, I must achieve my goal. However, if Asty keeps an eye on Mikaer, I might be able to read his movements at least. Asty also agreed to do that, so it seemed difficult to ask Asty to do something for a while.
In other words, I have to rely on Lina and Nea for obtaining the shackles’ sword. I can’t trust Adriane, even though she is a saint.
If Mikaeri is a divine being, he will be able to force almost absolute obedience from the members of the Holy Empire. Even a saint cannot be an exception there.
Don’t panic. Nothing has happened yet.
Think about what needs to be done, Prax.
* * *
Luslan was lost in thought in his lodging. What does he need to do to become the owner of the candlestick.
The candlestick was said to lend its power to those with a just heart. If that’s the case, then the flame that appeared to Prax… it means that he is a more suitable person for the candlestick than himself.
But then why does Prax not want to become the owner of the candlestick, even though he has no reason to refuse.
To be honest, Luslan wanted to rush in and ask him right away. Why don’t you want to become the owner of the candlestick?
Many coincidences overlapped. He said he told the saint.
But is that possible with just coincidences?
Above all, why did the candlestick lend its power to him? Is it simply because he is just and righteous? But Luslan couldn’t understand what the criteria for that justice were.
Luslan couldn’t figure out what he wanted. Recently, everything was in chaos. Suddenly unleashing the power of the candlestick, subduing Behemos… and then fighting against Saint Estelle.
There were too many significant events in a short period of time, and he couldn’t find time to organize his thoughts.
He asked himself.
“Do I want to become the owner of the candlestick?”
When he first held the candlestick, he felt something like a destined fate. That only increased his confusion. To be honest, he was just a boy with a talent for handling swords, nothing more.
He knew that there was a mission ahead of him.
As a result, he felt perplexed rather than happy. Like a mouse that knew it couldn’t turn back. But still.
Despite that, he did it. Because he felt it was something that needed to be done. He didn’t really know what justice was, but at the very least, he felt that justice didn’t involve making others shed tears.
Because of that, he may have felt even more confused. It felt like the mission wasn’t only given to him, but there was someone more suitable for it.
If that’s the case, perhaps it would be better to pass it on to that person. He was just an incapable being who seemed unlikely to properly utilize it no matter how you looked at it.
However, contrary to the thought that he would feel satisfied, there was a lingering sense of disappointment in his heart. Why was he disappointed? It was something that didn’t match his station.
The contemplation continued, and he came to a conclusion. He wanted to become the one who carries out the noble act of helping others through the torch.
Without the need for grand reasons, he simply wanted to do it. He wanted to see others smile.
Of course, he hadn’t always acted justly, but at the very least, since taking up the torch, he wanted to think about what justice meant and walk that path. He believed that there was a reason behind everything.
The contemplation took longer than expected, but he still felt relieved.
He wanted to be the master of the torch. Before that.
There was something he had to do.