The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 137

Chapter 17. Fake: The Vexing Bastard

I became an Archbishop of the Belanus Order.

I even got my own private chapel inside the Holosium Grand Temple.

For a month, I stayed there, observing the atmosphere.

And here’s the conclusion I reached.

‘Saint Repli’s power is beyond imagination.’

All the major affairs of the Belanus Order were influenced by her.

Everyone revered and honored the Saintess.

At this point, a question arose.

What on earth is the Pope doing?

I immediately began searching for him.

I also proceeded with the search for the Golden Branch.

“Archbishop Khan, good day to you.”

“May Belanus’s blessings be with you today as well.”

“Praise Belanus!”

While accepting the greetings, I communicated with the Heavenly Demon in my mind.

-The energy of the Golden Branch is strongly felt over there.

Guided by the Heavenly Demonic Navigation, how far did I go?

A massive gate appeared.

It was heavily locked, and surprisingly, Saint Knight Johann was guarding it.

“You are… Khan, who became an Archbishop. This is where His Holiness the Pope offers his prayers, so please return.”

-The Golden Branch is inside. I’m certain.

The Golden Branch is in the Pope’s residence. I thought becoming an Archbishop would quickly lead me to the Golden Branch, but it’s become troublesome.

“Now that I’ve become an Archbishop, I would like to pay my respects to His Holiness the Pope. Please allow me.”

“Unfortunately, His Holiness the Pope has decided not to meet with anyone for three thousand days in order to communicate with Belanus.”

Three thousand days is nearly ten years.

Can the Pope, the leader of a religion, just abandon the affairs happening outside and cling only to God?

Or is there some unspeakable reason?

I sensed something fishy.

“Have you personally met and spoken with His Holiness?”

“Not really. The Saintess has already finished speaking with the Pope. I am merely guarding this place according to the Saintess’s orders.”

As expected.

My ominous premonitions never miss.

Right after the Twilight executive, Lust, had a secret meeting with the Pope, the Pope went into seclusion for ten years.

It’s clear that something happened.

The foolish Johann was completely being manipulated by Lust.

‘The problem is serious.’

No matter how strong I’ve become recently, it’s difficult to overpower Saint Knight Johann by force and push my way in.

In the first place, causing such a commotion would defeat the purpose of my undercover infiltration.

I tried to scout the inside using Taming, but since it’s the Pope’s chapel, not even a mouse hole was available for entry.

I decided to retreat for now and examine other areas.

“I understand. I’ll pay my respects later.”

“Praise Belanus.”

The next place I searched was a hidden space in the basement of the Grand Temple.

It took me a full three days to find this place.

Because no one knew about it.

“A basement in the Grand Temple? I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s completely new to me.”

“There’s a rumor that you can sometimes hear the sound of a virgin ghost from the floor. It’s just a joke we tell each other.”

The priests and bishops dismissed it as a joke.

But I had heard the testimony of a woman who had escaped from this place, so I patiently focused on the search.

Fortunately, this time the Search skill worked properly.

[Life Control]

[Shared Vision]

[Taming]

I spread mice everywhere and conducted a thorough search, eventually discovering a strange person.

It was a priest who periodically organized the warehouse, but he kept drinking alcohol while working.

‘What’s this guy doing?’

Just in case, I kept a close watch.

After drinking all the alcohol, the guy suddenly headed to the corner and turned the Belanus statue clockwise.

Then, as the statue moved, stairs leading to the basement became visible on the floor.

‘That’s where it was.’

I hid a mouse in the priest’s pocket.

The mouse, with only its head sticking out, broadcasted every scene like a CCTV [closed-circuit television].

In the basement, numerous women were imprisoned.

Their human rights were ignored, and they were treated mercilessly.

It was exactly as Merian’s sister, Lolo, had said.

“Please let me out!”

“I’m not a Saintess!”

“I want to see my family. Sob…”

The scene was so horrific that even Liang’s slave market seemed better in comparison.

The priest rebuked the women.

“Shut up, you Saintess imposters! In the Holy Nation, the only true Saintess is Repli. You are evil seeds that will plunge the country into ruin and bring chaos to the world.”

Afterward, the priest forcibly grabbed the arm of a woman trapped in the iron bars and slipped a ring from his pocket onto her finger.

Then, an astonishing thing happened.

The divine power within the woman’s body flowed into the jewel embedded in the ring!

Afterward, the priest took turns putting the ring on the fingers of other women, filling it with divine power.

‘He’s been exploiting divine power with that magic tool.’

Afterward, that ring would be delivered to Repli.

In short, Lust was pretending to be a Saintess with the divine power of other women.

Facing the ugly truth made me feel disgusted and filled with rage.

‘Should I go to the basement right now and free the women?’

The impulse arose, but I barely managed to restrain myself.

Of course, even if only the women in the basement were released, the Holy Nation would be turned upside down.

But that’s it.

After that, there’s a high possibility that Repli’s thick wall of trust, built up over time, would become blurred.

‘Now is not the time.’

It’s most effective to detonate the opponent’s weakness when the atmosphere has shifted.

Just like with the Hilton family in the past.

Anyway, Merian is becoming increasingly famous as a true Saintess.

Her influence is also growing.

You can’t cover the sky with your palm, so soon the public will compare Merian and Repli.

That’s the right time to release them properly.

‘Before that, let’s deal with that priest.’

[Shared Vision Deactivated]

[Taming Deactivated]

I left the chapel and headed to the warehouse.

The priest, his nose red from drinking, was walking from the opposite side, holding the ring filled with divine power in his arms.

Just as we were about to cross paths in the narrow hallway,

“Stop for a moment.”

I called out to the priest.

“Greetings, Archbishop. Praise Belanus. What is the matter?”

“Were you drinking?”

I had witnessed every scene vividly through Shared Vision, so of course, I knew he had been drinking.

Besides, his red nose was the most definitive evidence.

Yet, the detestable priest feigned ignorance.

“I am a servant of Belanus. Would I have been drinking inside the temple?”

“I can smell alcohol on you.”

“That is blasphemy!”

The guy jumped up and strongly denied it.

A strong denial is an affirmation.

“Absolutely not. I hate alcohol. Even one glass gives me hives all over my body.”

“Then why is your nose so red?”

“It’s been like this since I was born.”

“Did you swear to Belanus that you didn’t drink?”

“Of course. I swear to God.”

A clergyman is lying while invoking God. At this point, I should consider him a Twilight follower.

“If you didn’t drink, what were you doing until just now?”

“I was organizing the warehouse. I am in charge of managing supplies.”

“Really? Then can I go inside the warehouse?”

There are bottles of alcohol that he didn’t finish drinking in the warehouse.

I had already confirmed this through the mouse.

The corrupt priest’s face turned pale, as if he remembered this.

“Ah, no!”

“What do you mean no? Let’s go right now.”

“Even if you are the Archbishop, you can’t force me like this… Ugh!”

I grabbed the back of his neck and dragged him.

The frail priest was dragged back to the warehouse by my strength.

The warehouse was locked.

“Hand over the key.”

“I cannot. Only authorized personnel are allowed to enter. Please get permission from the Saintess.”

“You’re really making this annoying.”

Wham!

I crushed the lock with force.

The warehouse keeper’s mouth dropped open at the monster-like strength.

I kicked the door open and went inside.

The warehouse scene was a mess, as expected.

Bottles of alcohol rolling on the floor with their lids open.

I even found tobacco leaves in the corner.

I shook the empty bottle in front of his eyes.

“You said you just organized the warehouse? Didn’t you see the bottle? It was right here in front of you?”

“That’s…”

“Answer me. You clearly swore to God to me.”

He couldn’t answer.

“A priest lied while invoking God… And I can still smell alcohol on you.”

“I am truly sorry. I will confess my sins directly to the Saintess and receive judgment.”

Since he’s at a disadvantage, he keeps bringing up the Saintess.

“No. Why bother going that far? I’ll punish you directly.”

As I raised my fist, fear seeped into the guy’s eyes as he grasped the situation.

“How can you use violence against a clergyman!”

“From the moment your lies were exposed, you are no longer a clergyman. So, accept your judgment.”

“This can’t be… Cough!”

“You’re being dramatic. This is just the beginning.”

“Aaaaaagh!!”

Nonstop fist barrage.

I made him pay dearly for the crime of abusing innocent women.

* * *

Recently, Crimson had been feeling uncomfortable.

The reason was Khan.

The orichalcum [a mythical metal] adventurer who suddenly appeared in the Holy Nation dropped his mood to the bottom.

‘Damn bastard.’

After Archbishop Francis died, Crimson was able to become the right-hand man of the executive Lust.

He was satisfied with his position.

In the light, he was respected as a Saint Knight of the Holy Nation, and in the shadows, he wielded power as Lust’s confidant.

His position became precarious with the sudden appearance of the Shadow Saintess.

At first, he didn’t think much of it.

He had captured countless women who exhibited divine power before, so he thought this would be similar.

But it was a complete misjudgment.

The Shadow Saintess was like a elusive ghost.

Lust, who had become edgy, took her anger out on him every day.

The appearance of Khan put the final nail in the coffin.

He brought good information and quickly took the position of Archbishop, and to top it off, he bothered him at every turn.

‘There are too many secrets to hide from that guy.’

Starting with the fact that Saintess Repli is Lust, the fact that he is a Twilight follower, and even the existence of the basement.

He didn’t even want to imagine what kind of disaster would occur if even one of these things reached Khan’s ears.

So, Crimson had been monitoring Khan’s movements by tasking a trustworthy subordinate.

“What? Khan headed to the warehouse?”

“Yes. He got into an argument with the warehouse keeper.”

Of all people, it had to be the warehouse keeper.

Wasn’t that the guy who managed the basement?

Crimson’s head throbbed.

“I understand for now.”

He ran with all his might to the scene of the incident.

The warehouse was already a mess.

A broken tooth was rolling around, and it was difficult to recognize the warehouse keeper’s facial features.

Every time Crimson walked, he squelched in the blood that the warehouse keeper had shed.

“Oh, you came?”

And Khan, who had caused this disaster, greeted him nonchalantly.

As if what he had done was nothing.

That sight made Crimson even angrier.

“What on earth is going on here?”

“I was judging a heretic.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why is the warehouse keeper a heretic?”

“Whether he’s a heretic or not, he lied while invoking God.”

After hearing the explanation, he was dumbfounded.

He denied drinking, but a bottle of alcohol was found in the warehouse.

If he could, he wanted to beat that stupid guy himself.

‘But the existence of the basement wasn’t exposed, right?’

Crimson’s heart sank as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the ring was on Khan’s finger.

It was an important magic tool that Lust used to replenish divine power.

“That ring…”

“Ah! This? It seemed like too precious an item for a heretic to have, so I confiscated it.”

“Please return the ring. That is the Saintess’s personal item.”

“The Saintess’s personal item is in the possession of a mere warehouse keeper priest? That doesn’t make sense?”

Crimson regretted it even as he spoke.

“That’s… The heretic must have stolen it.”

In the end, Crimson also turned his back on the warehouse keeper.

The warehouse keeper’s eyes widened.

“Crimson!”

“Dare to steal the Saintess’s item? Summary execution is the only answer. I’ll kill him and deliver the ring directly to the Saintess.”

“Damn it! In this case, I also have a top secret to reveal. In fact, the Saintess’s real identity is Hwa…”

Slash!!

The warehouse keeper’s head flew off from the sword swung by Crimson.

He almost caused a big problem.

Looking at Khan, he was wearing his signature sly smile.

“Your sword is quite fast? If you had swung it like that when you attacked me, you wouldn’t have been defeated so easily.”

That vexing guy.

Crimson’s insides were boiling.

“Give me the ring. And get out of the warehouse.”

“Here it is.”

Khan flicked the ring with his thumb and left without any regrets.

His attitude was as if he had finished all his business.

His subtly relaxed attitude seemed to anticipate that he would come here.

How much does he know?

Crimson’s gaze, watching his back, became complicated.