The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 219

Immediately after the war ended,

A requiem mass for the fallen was held at the Gaia Church’s main temple.

All the priests who had not participated in the war gathered, and all the Holy Knights and priests who had participated also attended if they were able to move.

This prayer was a ceremony to grant rest to the heroes.

Warm sunlight illuminated the open space, and the Holy Knights stood in rows on both sides.

At the center, Pope Chun Ma offered prayers on behalf of the church.

“In the name of the Gaia Church and the hero Rael, you became our shield and the sword of freedom, defeating Alheim. We inscribe those who will become legends and myths in the sacred hall.”

The Holy Knights simultaneously drew their swords and pointed them to the sky.

The light reflected off the blades flashed and reflected inside the church.

“May your souls find eternal rest. May they have eternal peace….”

Pope Chun Ma’s hands came together as he continued his prayer.

The Holy Knights placed their remaining hand on their chest, and the priests followed the Pope, bringing their hands together.

“But you will live forever in our memories. Gaia-men.”

As the prayer ended, the Holy Knights lowered their swords in unison.

The prayers of the priests and Holy Knights continued, and Pope Chun Ma slowly turned around.

Step. Step.

Behind the Pope, Cardinal Angelo approached.

The two walked to the Pope’s prayer room without saying a word.

“Your Holiness.”

Angelo was the first to speak.

“What is it?”

“…Are you really going to step down?”

“Isn’t it already decided? The one chosen by the main god Gaia is not me, but the hero. My job was to prevent the church from collapsing until the war ended, and that mission is already over.”

Pope Chun Ma.

He had grown up in the church since he was a child.

He had received the teachings of the main god Gaia throughout his life, and he had lived to spread those teachings.

From the day the boy who believed in Gaia became a priest, a cardinal, and then the Pope.

Chun Ma had never doubted himself even once.

That is how clergy are supposed to live.

Those who believe in God do not doubt.

They simply follow God’s teachings.

Chun Ma thought he was faithfully following Gaia’s teachings.

“…”

“How can I not let go of my greed even after knowing that I was wrong? I must follow Gaia’s teachings even at the end.”

Pope Chun Ma. He was wrong.

Something was already broken in his mind.

Now that he knew the truth through the hero, he could no longer ruin the church.

“I will follow you too, Your Holiness.”

“…The church must also face change now.”

For Gaia.

And for the new hero, he had to step down.

A few days later.

The underground prison of the church headquarters.

The door to the prison, where those who betrayed the main god Gaia were imprisoned and where not a single ray of light entered, opened.

Step. Step.

The man, feeling the cold air of the underground prison, raised his head at the sound that had been heard in a long time.

Gideon Garcia.

Once the best swordsman in the Empire and the leader of the Carmen Knights.

The man who brought in the demons to unite the Empire looked at the approaching figure.

“I thought you had given up, but not yet. Today, you even brought the Inquisitor General and the Cardinal. But nothing will change.”

Gideon looked at the man standing behind Pope Chun Ma.

Familiar faces were visible in the dim torchlight.

Cardinal Angelo and Inquisitor General Amadeus.

Both were leading figures in the church.

Perhaps they came with the Pope to persuade him.

He hadn’t seen them for the past month or two, and now they were probably going to recommend him to return as an Inquisitor.

‘I live only for the Carmen Empire.’

But his will was firm.

He would always act for the sake of the Empire.

He had no intention of becoming the church’s dog….

“What nonsense are you talking about, Gideon? These are criminals who will be staying with you.”

“What?”

Then, Amadeus put Pope Chun Ma and Cardinal Angelo into separate cells.

Gideon blinked as he saw the Pope and Cardinal entering next to him.

“Gaia-men [followers of Gaia]. Please take care of me, Sir Gideon.”

“……?”

Gideon had no idea what was happening outside.

*

Rael took a long week’s rest at the orphanage immediately after the war ended.

He wanted to rest leisurely for the rest of his life, but as a hero, he couldn’t do nothing.

The first place he visited was the main temple of the Gaia Church.

He had been receiving requests to visit for several days, and he also wanted to personally confirm the absurd rumor that Vernando had become the Pope.

“Hero! Have you finally arrived?!”

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the main temple,

Vernando ran over with his massive body and grabbed Rael’s hand.

Rael looked at him with a dubious expression.

“Yes. Well. Long time no see, Cardinal Vernando. Or should I call you Pope? There must be many people to take care of besides me, so why bother coming to greet me.”

“Hahaha. I’m not the Pope yet. I plan to hold the Pope’s enthronement ceremony grandly after the festival.”

Surprisingly, Vernando looked even better than before the war started.

It seems that the next Pope is indeed him, which is quite surprising.

‘If he hadn’t participated in the war, I would have vehemently opposed it….’

Even though he looks like this, he prayed diligently with the Saintess during the war.

According to the priests’ testimony, he even fainted while praying… Looking at those desire-filled eyes, I doubt if that’s true.

“…Cardinal Vernando as the Pope. It’s hard to believe. Well, I trust you’ll manage the church well.”

“Don’t worry. I, Vernando, am confident that I can manage it better than anyone else. More than that, Hero! Are you alright?! If you had rested at the church, I would have taken care of you with utmost care! To prioritize the treatment of other injured people and not take care of yourself for a week. I, Vernando, understand that heart for sure!”

“…Um.”

Rael nodded appropriately.

Actually, he didn’t come because it was a hassle.

Immediately after killing Maledrakse, Rael’s body had mostly recovered just by receiving first aid from the Saintess.

Even at this moment, divine power was pouring into his body, so his condition would be fully restored just by taking a nap and waking up.

“I am deeply moved by the Hero’s heart. If there is anything you want now, please tell me anything!”

“Really? I have something to ask anyway, so that’s good.”

“Yes! I will grant any request from the Hero!”

Vernando thumped his chest.

His gold bracelet and gold ring trembled.

“I’m planning to give a huge reward to the heroes who participated in the war and their bereaved families, but I don’t have enough money. I’m going to use some of the church’s donations.”

“Yes? Why the church’s donations…?”

Vernando instinctively asked back.

In his mind, the church’s donations were now as good as his own property.

“Cardinal Vernando. Did you just say ‘Yes?’? Are you saying that the money given to those whom I personally called legends is a waste?”

“No. No. How could I ever think that! It’s okay for the Hero and the warriors who participated in the war to receive donations…! But that money is also for the priests and Holy Knights… Ahem. There are many orphanages and poor people managed by the church….”

“Cardinal Vernando.”

“Yes! Hero!”

Expectation filled Vernando’s eyes.

The hero Rael is from a commoner background and acts for the commoners.

His appeal worked on him!

“I heard that each country is extorting donations from the Gaia Church on the grounds that the hero who led this war to victory belongs to the Gaia Church.”

“H, how did you know that…? B, but I didn’t extort it! Really!”

Vernando’s face turned white.

It was true that each country was sending donations because he was close to the hero.

Actually, they weren’t that close…! But Vernando didn’t bother to point it out. But he didn’t extort it on purpose!

“I believe Cardinal Vernando too. So, what I said is, please take good care of it.”

“Ah… Yes. I understand…”

Vernando made a tearful face and took off his gold ring and gold bracelet.

If it’s compensation for the entire Allied Forces, he should sell these first and then think about it.

If the hero gets angry, there’s no Pope or anything. He might even have to give up his position as a Cardinal….

“Come to think of it, Cardinal Vernando. Where is the Silver Cross Knights?”

“They must be at the training ground. Hero….”

“How long has it been since the war ended that everyone is at the training ground? Thank you.”

“Yes. Yes….”

Vernando dragged his heavy body back to the Cardinal’s office.

First, he had to find things in the church that could be turned into money….

Rael entered the main temple to find the Silver Cross Knights.

“Hero! Good morning!”

“I prayed to Rael this morning too!”

Every Holy Knight and priest he encountered greeted Rael happily.

After hearing from Zenith that Pope Chun Ma and Cardinal Angelo had been imprisoned, he was worried that the church might be shaken, but it didn’t seem like that would happen.

After a while, when he entered the training ground, he heard a familiar voice.

Carlson, who had climbed onto a low platform, was holding a sword and explaining something.

“Now, at that moment! The Demon King Mistra hid himself in the darkness! But I, Carlson, didn’t give up. I kept an eye on Mistra, who had become one with magic, until the end, and then with this Holy Flame Sword…!”

Whoosh-!

A divine power sword aura swirled around Carlson’s sword.

The divine power sword aura, which had been layered several times, shone like a holy flame.

“…Wow….”

“…Amazing. Sir Carlson.”

The Holy Knights who were listening to his story sighed and applauded.

The reaction was not very good.

“Rael. You’ve come. It’s been a week.”

Then, Marco, the leader of the Silver Cross Knights, approached Rael and greeted him.

He was bandaged up as if the wounds of the war had not healed.

“Commander. You were here. Are you okay? It doesn’t seem like you’re in a state to train yet.”

“The Silver Cross Knights are currently taking a break. However, everyone is just gathering at the training ground because there is nothing to do.”

Listening to that, there were hardly any knights training properly.

Most of them were gathered in groups of three or five, chatting.

Since they are religious swordsmen, they had no place to go, so they seemed to be playing here.

Unless they were crazy like Carlson, there was nothing for the Holy Knights to enjoy other than chatting.

“But why are the Holy Knights around Carlson like that? Everyone’s reaction is not good?”

“They’ve heard that story more than 10 times. I think I’ve heard it 20 times.”

“Ah…”

That tough guy. He’ll have memorized it all by now.

Rael shook his head and approached Carlson.

“And with this Holy Flame Sword, I cut off Mistra’s head…! I split him in two!”

Carlson swung his sword around with an excited voice.

“Carlson.”

“Huh? Oh! Brother Rael! What’s going on? You’re even coming to the church?!”

“Just. I was thinking of wandering around. More than that, I have a question, wasn’t it Lucas who cut off Mistra’s head? Come to think of it, I heard that Lucas was the one who found Mistra….”

“Hey! Brother Rael! Don’t say strange things. Come on, come here. Everyone, gather around! Hero Rael is going to tell us the story of how he killed Maledrakse!”

Carlson grabbed Rael and pulled him up onto the low platform.

Then, the Silver Cross Knights who had been scattered around began to gather.

“Oh, oh! Really?!”

“It’s the Hero’s story! Everyone gather!”

“…These guys didn’t come when I was telling my story. Tch.”

Carlson crossed his arms and looked at the knights who had gathered.

When the break is over, he’ll have to punish them with divine power sword aura sparring.

“Now, Brother Rael! Tell us the story!”

“What story? It would have all been shown on the screen magic [magical broadcasts].”

Rael shook his head.

In the first place, it was such a difficult fight that he doesn’t remember it well.

“Ehey. Still, we have to hear it from the person involved. We couldn’t see it properly because we were fighting at that time. Besides, Brother Rael. Look at those curious eyes!”

When he looked around at Carlson’s words, he could see the Holy Knights’ eyes shining.

As a hero, Rael couldn’t refuse those eyes.

“Rael. I’m curious too.”

“….Even the Commander?”

Rael shook his head and chuckled.

Is that why they say all men are the same?

“Ahem. Then should I start from the beginning? When I first met Maledrakse. Do you know what that bastard said? Hero of the human race. You’ve finally come this far. That’s what he said….”

Rael smiled without realizing it and began to tell the story.