Chapter 47
“Your Grace… what’s going on?”
“You called me here because of a reward, right? Isn’t that it?”
It was early afternoon.
Eric had just finished speaking with the Cardinal and stepped outside. Entering the room provided by the church along with his companions, he shrugged when Leona and Lilian rushed at him as soon as the bishop who had been guiding them stepped away.
“Well…”
Asking him to go somewhere alongside her seemed like a trivial request at first glance—but precisely because of that, it wasn’t something to take lightly.
If it were just that, there would have been no reason to go to so much trouble to summon him.
“It seems there’s some sort of problem within the church.”
If there was one thing he could guess, it was only this.
The fact that they had deliberately sought him out in secret, and that the request came personally from Saint Gregorius rather than in his capacity as a Cardinal, suggested it was likely connected to internal church conflicts.
‘Of course, it’s also possible that it’s truly a personal matter… but if that were the case, they wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of speaking indirectly while the bishop was absent.’
Then what exactly was happening within the church?
Lost in thought, Eric turned to Malefica, who stood apart with a complicated expression.
“Could we have a moment to talk?”
“Huh?”
Malefica stopped biting her nails and looked up at him. Glancing briefly at the two people behind her, she followed his gaze to the door and nodded.
“Miss Malefica.”
Eric led Malefica out of the room and, surveying their surroundings, spoke in a cautious voice.
“Is there anyone inside the church who holds a grudge against Saint Gregorius?”
At his question, Malefica looked up at him with trembling eyes.
“…Did the Cardinal say that?”
Eric gently shook his head at her response.
Gregorius had not spoken a word about the internal church strife. Eric was only speculating based on what might happen in the near future.
And from her reaction just now, that speculation became certainty.
“Haah…”
As Eric continued to watch her silently, Malefica let out a deep sigh, realizing she had made a mistake.
“…Actually, the Cardinal is in quite a precarious situation right now.”
She could have pretended not to know from the start, but now she could no longer deny it. After all, it had been her who had brought Eric here at the Cardinal’s request.
“Precarious?”
“Exactly as I said. Due to recent anomalies occurring across the continent, his standing within the church has deteriorated.”
Anomalies. Hearing that, Eric nodded as if he roughly understood.
The incidents he had resolved—the problems in the Nibosus Mountains, the Dark Moon Forest—and most of the other upcoming anomalies involved monsters. Often, these were powerful monsters from beyond the border, such as frost wolves or the lich responsible for raising the undead in the forest.
Given the circumstances, it was natural that Saint Gregorius’s reputation would suffer. After all, these monsters had crossed the border into this northern region.
All the anomalies currently occurring were likely seen by the church as failures of the northern diocese. Naturally, the Cardinal overseeing that diocese saw his influence wane.
“But… someone within the church targeting the Cardinal…”
After hearing Malefica’s account and forming a rough idea of the situation, Eric’s face hardened, and cold sweat ran down his brow.
The fact that someone seeking to bring down Saint Gregorius was linked to these anomalies meant that a faction within the church had allied with heretics.
“…This is still just speculation.”
Seeing her struggle to answer, Eric quietly groaned.
He had suspected there might be traitors inside the church when monsters that should have been outside the border began roaming the empire. But he had never imagined it would extend into the church itself.
‘So Isabella… That snake of a woman elevated me to hero status to gauge the reactions of those within the church allied with heretics?’
Eric’s mind flashed to Isabella’s face in the city beneath the Nibosus Mountains.
The church’s Inquisitor of Heresy, famous for her hatred of heretics and disdain for the incompetent—why had she taken an interest in him? And why had she, despite the resistance within the church, forcibly pushed this delinquent to hero status?
He was beginning to see a faint outline of the reasoning behind that cunning raven’s absurd actions.
“Was that her plan from the start?”
“Huh?”
“The woman who sent Malefica to me.”
At Eric’s question, Malefica looked flustered, opening her mouth.
“That… I don’t know.”
She couldn’t possibly understand what Isabella, one of only three Inquisitors of Heresy in the entire church, truly intended in recommending Eric as a hero and sending Malefica.
“So… which is it?”
Eric’s question made Malefica hesitate, bowing her head in genuine uncertainty.
“Which… what?”
“Is it Isabella? Or…”
She trailed off quietly, staring straight at him. Malefica’s expression hardened as she spoke firmly:
“Neither. We cannot interfere with matters of the Light, and that goes for them as well.”
The Light and the Shadows.
Though both acted in the name of the church and in service of the goddess, in practice they were completely separate.
It was unthinkable for an Inquisitor of Heresy, who usually purged heresy and inspected corruption, to support a specific faction.
“However…”
“However?”
After a moment of annoyance at the insulting question, she continued calmly.
“If someone is allying with heretics behind the scenes to defile the goddess’s will, you can be sure it’s not them.”
She then calmed herself and continued, though her piercing gaze suggested she wasn’t entirely pleased.
“That’s enough.”
Eric finally smiled, relieved, and continued walking.
Though the full details were still shrouded in smoke, for now it was enough. At least he knew Isabella had no involvement with the Cardinal’s predicament.
In fact, if heretical factions were involved as Malefica feared, this might work in Eric’s favor.
“Ah!”
As Eric returned to the room, he suddenly stopped and turned around.
“Miss Malefica, you said the Shadows cannot interfere with matters of the Light, correct?”
“Yes.”
Isabella had used Eric as bait to root out the church’s corruption. While it felt unpleasant to simply follow her plan, it was still a valuable opportunity for him.
After all, it was true that there were ample accomplishments to use in the grand scheme she was plotting.
“So, can we consider the church’s hero to be of the Light?”
Malefica blinked for a moment before smiling faintly, understanding his implication.
If the Shadows cannot intervene in matters of the Light, then they simply needed someone to act on their behalf. Likely, that was why Saint Gregorius wanted to meet Eric.
“Of course.”
Seeing her nod, Eric resumed walking.
‘Good. The board is set. Although it seems like I’ve been placed on it by someone else, at this chaotic point in the northern diocese, it no longer matters.’
Seeing how Gregorius, the Archbishop in charge of the northern diocese, had tried to meet him in secret, it was clear that someone from the opposing side had already reported his actions.
‘I’ll move as you wish.’
Leaning over the railing overlooking the first floor, Eric narrowed his eyes at the bustling entrance.
‘But…’
He observed the priests carefully, then turned back toward the room.
In truth, it wasn’t much to ponder. Though it felt unsettling to be manipulated,
‘Isabella. I’ll make full use of you too.’
Rejecting the Cardinal’s request would have been foolish—the potential rewards were far too sweet.
“Hohoho, you’re out early.”
Early dawn.
Eric, having brought his companions outside the temple ahead of the appointed time, waited with Lilian, who kept nodding off from exhaustion. Soon, the elderly Cardinal appeared alone, leaning on his staff. Eric tilted his head.
“Alone, Your Grace?”
“Didn’t I say it was a personal matter? It’s not a church affair, so I can’t just bring someone along.”
Seeing the old man smile gently at his question, Eric swallowed nervously.
‘…Just how isolated have you made yourself?’
A private matter shouldn’t command church staff, but this was only an excuse. Even ordinary bishops could call for priests or paladins at any time, and no one would question a Cardinal or Archbishop doing the same.
‘I thought he might bring a few paladins at least.’
Glancing at Malefica, Eric saw her nod in agreement with a troubled expression, realizing the Cardinal had few reliable allies in his diocese.
“Alright, then let’s get going.”
Watching the Cardinal head straight for the carriage, Eric looked around the darkened temple skeptically.
“Where are we going?”
Following the old man into the carriage, Eric asked curiously.
“Huh? Didn’t I tell you?”
Gregorius blinked in surprise before answering, causing Eric to break out in a cold sweat.
“To the Aridus Plateau. I left something there long ago.”
The plateau lay beyond the borders, in the region of the former northern diocese.
