The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 168

Rael momentarily doubted his ears.

“Ah, Aaa, Amadeus. What on earth are you talking about?”

Marco felt the same way.

He trembled and grabbed Amadeus’s arm.

“Gaia’s will should be singular. Either the Hero or the Pope is wrong and must die. Since the Pope is wrong, we must kill him.”

“What are you talking about! The wrong one must die?!”

“Marco, what are you even saying? Isn’t the fact that the Carmen Empire’s state religion is the Gaia Order proof enough? We remove and kill anything that gets in the way. That’s how the Order became the state religion of the Empire.”

‘There’s no need to bring up such a massive event like the state religion.’

The Gaia Order has been doing countless things behind the scenes to maintain their power.

The living proof of that was Inquisitor Amadeus.

“…”

Marco looked into Amadeus’s eyes and closed his mouth.

Not even knowing the truth of the Holy Land, he had no right to speak to Amadeus.

“The Hero of Extermination, Sir Rael, who has truly been chosen by Gaia, is standing next to me. The Pope, who sells Gaia’s name, must die.”

“… Uh.”

Rael blinked, looking at Amadeus.

‘Does this guy not have a middle ground?’

The Pope’s hidden sword is telling him to kill the Pope.

His change of attitude is suspicious.

However, his sincerity was soon revealed.

“Hero. There’s less than 30 minutes left until the summons, so there’s no time to plan a strategy. Pope Chun Ma is quite strong, but… with the veteran Hero Rael, we shouldn’t lose. Besides, if Marco and I help, we will never lose.”

“Now, now, Sir Amadeus. Calm down first.”

“Fortunately, none of the Cardinals are skilled in combat. And the Inquisitors, except for me, don’t even reach the Hero’s toes. Even if they attack, I can subdue them with just an order. I trained them, so I can subdue them easily.”

“Wait a minute, Amadeus.”

“We must think even after killing Pope Chun Ma. I know that the Hero has a deep connection with Cardinal Fernando. If the Hero wishes, we can make Cardinal Fernando the next Pope…”

Rael frowned.

Ignoring his words twice meant that he was being ignored.

“Hey, you son of a bitch. Shut your mouth!”

“… Yes?”

When Rael couldn’t stand it and revealed his true personality, Amadeus finally stopped talking.

He blinked, as if he couldn’t believe that such profanity came from the Hero of Extermination.

“Hoo. Sir Amadeus. I’m sorry, but I have no intention of going along with your justice. In other words, I have no intention of killing the Pope.”

“…Why? Pope Chun Ma has been doing wrong under the guise of Gaia’s will. Isn’t Sir Rael also angry about that?”

“That’s right.”

“Then we must kill the Pope. Sir, you know what the Gaia Order did in the Holy Land, don’t you? We have a duty to normalize the Gaia Order.”

Marco’s eyes burned like fire.

“…Don’t look at me like that. I can’t kill him even if I want to. I probably want to kill Chun Ma more than you do.”

Rael sighed.

Rael met Jeremy in the Order’s Holy Land.

When he first saw him, Rael couldn’t contain his anger.

Even if he destroyed the Holy Land so that this never happened again, his anger would not disappear.

But, he must not kill the Pope now.

“The war with the demons is just around the corner. If we kill the Pope in this situation and elect a new Pope, the Gaia Order will never be able to unite properly.”

Aside from the revenge Rael had against Pope Chun Ma, Chun Ma was a perfect clergyman.

He is a clergyman who has devoted his entire life to the Gaia Order and is a Pope respected by all priests.

The moment Chun Ma is killed, the Gaia Order will be in great chaos.

That is not in line with Rael’s goal of protecting the Empire, where his home is.

‘I realized it after putting Gideon Garcia in prison.’

The Carmen Knights, who lost their leader, faltered so much that the name of the Empire’s strongest was tarnished.

If the Gaia Order, which is much larger than the Carmen Knights, were to be shaken, it would be a huge problem now that demons could invade at any moment.

“But they…”

“Sir Amadeus. Didn’t you say you would follow my words even if I was wrong?”

“…Yes. I swore I would.”

“I will question Chun Ma and the Cardinals for their sins, but I will not kill them. For now, I will focus on normalizing the Order, as Sir Amadeus wishes. At least until the war with the demons is over.”

Rael frowned.

Of course, that was only until the war with the demons was over.

After the war, Rael would be the first to draw his sword.

“…Then at least let me test him.”

“What do you mean by test?”

“Pope Chun Ma. I want to test if he truly believed in Gaia. I have lived looking at that man’s back.”

“Is there a way to know that?”

“I don’t ask for much. Show the Pope the divine power you showed me. If he really believed in Gaia… he would have no reason not to believe in Sir Rael even after seeing that.”

“It’s much better than killing him right away. Besides, it’s a sure way.”

Marco also nodded at Amadeus’s words.

In fact, Rael couldn’t understand it well, but it seemed like a good idea since Captain Marco also agreed.

“Okay. Let’s go then.”

*

The Gaia Order’s waiting room.

A sacred space that only the Pope can use unless it’s a special day was crowded with people today.

“Saintess. I hope you’ve been well.”

Fernando greeted the Saintess sitting next to him.

“Yes. Cardinal Fernando.”

“Haha. I told you that you can call me Fernando comfortably. Both the Hero and the Saintess seem to be shy.”

“Haha…”

Cecilia smiled bitterly and brushed off Fernando’s words.

Then, she looked around and looked for a topic of conversation.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the waiting room. Besides, it’s an important meeting where all the high-ranking clergy of the Order gather.”

“Yes. Except for Giovanni in the Vanessa Kingdom branch, everyone is here.”

One of the three Cardinals of the Gaia Order.

Cardinal Giovanni.

Cardinals Angelo and Fernando, excluding him, were summoned by the Pope and gathered at the same time.

In addition, the Commander of the Silver Cross Knights, the Head of the Inquisitors, the Saintess, and the Hero of the Order.

It was a place where all the pillars that maintained the Gaia Order gathered.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a meeting like this. We should also put our heads together on how to deal with the Arconia situation.”

Fernando made a sign of the cross as he looked at Chun Ma, who was praying to the Gaia statue.

His Holiness the Pope was a true clergyman who prayed to Gaia whenever he had a chance.

Cardinal Angelo was also seen behind him.

Squeak-

At that time, the sound of the door opening was heard, and three men entered the waiting room.

“Sir Rael. You’re here!”

“Fernando. Sit still.”

“Ah, yes.”

Rael, who entered the waiting room, went straight to the center of the waiting room.

At the end of the table in the large room sat the gray-haired leader of the Order.

“Hero. It’s our first meeting since returning from Arconia. Congratulations on surviving even after encountering the Demon King. This is also Gaia’s blessing.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Rael naturally sat around him.

After Amadeus and Marco sat in their seats, the meeting naturally began.

“Hero. I would like to hear in detail what happened in Arconia.”

“…I saw something terrible in Arconia.”

Rael slowly opened his mouth.

And he told the whole truth about the Holy Land he saw in Arconia.

It was the story of the priest candidates who were deprived of their divine power in the Holy Land and the artificial divine power.

“I can’t believe it… a machine that extracts divine power… I can’t even imagine it.”

Fernando trembled with his heavy body.

In fact, he was focused on making money in the Empire, so he didn’t know anything about the truth of the Holy Land.

If he had been caught in the Holy Land, he was even more afraid that his mind would still be alive even after decades of being deprived of his divine power.

“Gaia-men. Thank you for your hard work. Hero. After that, you encountered the Demon King Calliope.”

“Yes. But Your Holiness. Before that, there is something I want to ask.”

“Ask me anything.”

Rael looked at Pope Chun Ma.

“I saw disgusting and artificial divine power in the Order’s Holy Land. But why… do I feel that disgusting divine power from Your Holiness?”

“…The Holy Land’s disgusting divine power.”

‘Is he still the old tiger of the Order?’

Chun Ma was not flustered even by Rael’s sudden words.

“Did the Hero judge that power to be disgusting?”

“Yes. The process was disgusting, but I also found the result disgusting. Accepting that divine power is like being covered in filth.”

Buzzing-

[Rael! Be sure to tell them not to cross the line! You guys were trying to covet Gaia!] Saint, who remembered the Order’s Holy Land, was also furious.

They abandoned Gaia’s teachings and artificially created divine power.

“That power is a power that Gaia did not allow. Why do I feel that energy in Your Holiness’s body? Please answer. Your Holiness.”

“…”

Chun Ma closed his mouth.

Strong divine power was an essential power as the Pope.

Besides, he didn’t feel that this divine power was disgusting at all, so he didn’t know what to say.

“Because His Holiness took the divine power created by driving the priest candidates to their deaths.”

At that time, Amadeus opened his mouth.

Chun Ma looked at Amadeus, who answered instead of him.

“…Amadeus. Is that your answer?”

“Yes. I thought the Hero was right, not you.”

“Haha… I see.”

Chun Ma laughed helplessly.

Soon, he looked at Amadeus with eyes as empty as his laughter.

“Why, why did you side with the Hero?”

“Because I saw the real grace of Gaia in the Hero.”

Rael drew his holy sword without saying a word.

The divine power that burst out from the holy sword along with Saint’s will dominated the waiting room.

“This is…”

Chun Ma unknowingly widened his eyes as he looked at the divine power.

A brilliant and holy light began to wrap around Chun Ma’s body like silk.

At that moment, Amadeus looked at the expressions of the Cardinals and the Pope.

First, he saw Pope Chun Ma with a hollow expression and Cardinal Angelo mumbling as if he was flustered.

And, he saw Fernando, who entrusted his body to the divine power without paying attention to his surroundings.

“Cardinal Fernando. I didn’t expect you to have the most sincere faith…”

“Yes? Me? What do you mean?”

Fernando opened his eyes at Amadeus’s words.

He was so surprised by the sudden situation that his body was completely stiff.

“I think I’ve misunderstood you so far. Did the Hero see through this too… He’s an extraordinary person after all.”

“…?”

Fernando’s head was full of question marks.

He attended because he was told there was an important meeting, but he had no idea why this was happening.

He was stuck to the chair like a dead man without knowing anything.

“Your Holiness. Do you have no answer?”

Rael looked at Chun Ma, still blinking as if he was possessed, after collecting the divine power.

“You bastard! Do you know what His Holiness is doing!”

At that time, Cardinal Angelo shouted out loud.

It was a distorted face that was completely different from his usual gentle appearance, who was called the future of the Gaia Order.

“His Holiness is living every day thinking about the Gaia Order. What have you done for the Gaia Order to do this!”

“Stay still. Angelo.”

“Your Holiness!”

Chun Ma stared blankly at the air.

He slowly raised his fist and pulled up his divine power.

“…”

Rael gripped his holy sword tightly as he watched the scene.

He didn’t think he would lose if he fought Chun Ma, but he was an opponent to be nervous about.

“Hero. Answer me.”

However, the old tiger of the Gaia Order soon lowered his fist.

He always followed Gaia’s teachings and pursued the development of the Gaia Order.

Fighting the Hero in this place would not help at all.

“Our… no, is my faith wrong?”

Where was it wrong?

He has devoted his life to the Gaia Order.

In order to become stronger, he created the Holy Land, and efficiently used the talentless people who could not become proper priests to increase the power of the Gaia Order.

“Is everything I’ve done so far against Gaia’s will? Then why didn’t Gaia stop me?”

Divine power.

The power that represents the Gaia Order and the power that Chun Ma wanted and wanted.

Chun Ma coveted divine power in order to get closer to Gaia.

“Is it a problem that I sacrificed the priest candidates? They were bodies that couldn’t become priests anyway. I’m doing things that they can’t do with their talents. Thanks to their sacrifice, the Gaia Order has reached its unprecedented heyday.”

However, Chun Ma’s divine power, which he had gathered in that way, was pushed back by a young Hero who did not think about the Gaia Order at all and did not believe in Gaia.

It was not himself, but the Hero who was close to Gaia.

Chun Ma was despairing at that fact.

“Answer me. Hero. The Gaia Order has become bigger and stronger than ever before. Was what we… what I did so wrong? Then why didn’t Gaia stop me?”

Because of the Order’s strong power, there were fewer unhappy people in the end.

The Gaia Order was able to reduce the number of dying children by creating nurseries in the Empire and filling them with priest candidates.

They were able to distribute food to the hungry and spread Gaia’s blessings.

Everything was for the happiness of many lambs.

Chun Ma sincerely thought so.

“…It’s a difficult story.”

Rael sighed.

The sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many.

Even Rael had never really thought about such mind-boggling ideas or philosophies.

“I didn’t like the Order’s Holy Land. That’s all I can say.”

What Rael wanted was always just one thing.

That the orphanage where he was born and raised would have another peaceful day today.

For that, he could turn the Empire or the Order upside down.

“…I see.”

No one can judge what is right and wrong.

However, Gaia, who could not get close no matter what he did, chose Rael instead of himself.

With that alone, Chun Ma’s life became meaningless.

“If that’s what you think, I can’t help it. Kill me. Or you can imprison me like Gideon.”

“Your Holiness! How can you say that! We are all living relying on Your Holiness’s back!”

“I will bear all the sins. Angelo.”

Chun Ma lowered his head.

He, who had lived for the Gaia Order, could die for the Order.

“Sorry, but that’s not allowed. Who said you could die so easily?”

“…?”

Rael snorted at Chun Ma’s blank face.

‘Why do all the medieval fantasy guys try to escape with death?’