Chapter 7
Chapter 7: The One Blessed by God (4)
“Hmm hmm.”
Having lightly dealt with the ‘mere archbishop’ who visited the church, Ruelle headed to the shopping district in good spirits to meet Erik.
‘How does Erik have the Chancellor’s token of gratitude?’
The item Erik had entrusted to Ruelle was a token of gratitude (報恩牌) provided by the Imperial Palace, with content guaranteeing rights to Ruelle’s orphanage and church, as well as a statement of support for tithes engraved on the back.
The date was from five whole years ago.
It was content the archbishop couldn’t find fault with no matter how hard he tried.
Five years ago would be before the possessor even surfaced.
‘If I do some shopping, he’ll come looking for me.’
As always, when she was picking out items and ran short on money, Erik would come looking for her.
“Huh…?”
But something was strange.
A massive flag was fluttering in the middle of District 2’s shopping area, and somehow it was the same design she saw daily from the castle walls.
Red earth, black sky, and silver moon.
‘The Imperial Palace?’
Moreover, everyone around was kneeling on the ground with their heads bowed.
Out of habit, she turned her head in a familiar direction.
[Jean’s Magical Tool Shop]
A heavily armed knight order was surrounding Ruelle’s regular shop.
‘What’s going on?’
For now, Ruelle tactfully lowered her posture and looked around.
“Mmm…?”
The knight order was surrounding a giant man standing in front of the store.
As Ruelle tilted her head in confusion.
“Priestess Ruelle! This is terrible! R-right now-!”
An annoying woman appeared.
It was Erica, the second daughter of a ducal house who kept bothering Erik.
Though she was a woman Ruelle disliked, she tried to hide her true feelings and greet her.
“May Astia’s grace-“
“R-right now Erik is about to beat the 3rd Prince to death!”
But suddenly she was spouting crazy talk.
“E-Erik is beating whom?”
“The 3rd Prince!”
Who was the 3rd Prince?
He was the Empire’s shame, a villain who tormented the Empire’s subjects.
But to beat up royalty?
“Erik?”
That sounded plausible.
Ruelle felt a chill.
That’s when it happened.
Kuguugugugu!!!
A magnificent pillar of divine power shot up, shaking the very earth!
“Eek-! I-I’ll go ahead”
Erica showed a traumatic reaction and ran away without looking back.
Left behind, Ruelle stared blankly at Erik’s divine power.
“Ahh… th-this warmth! This is the power of Lord Astia.”
“…Is he bestowing a blessing upon His Highness?”
The citizens who knew nothing were intoxicated by the divine power and looked up at the sky.
Ruelle’s eyes were directed elsewhere.
“Stop him!”
“No, kill him!”
“Th-that monster!!”
It was Erik, surrounded and under attack by the Imperial Guard.
Because he had concealed his presence with divine power, ordinary people couldn’t notice.
‘Fighting the Imperial Guard?’
She knew he was strong, but facing the Imperial Guard was another matter entirely.
“E-Erik!”
Ruelle was startled.
“Huh?”
Then she became puzzled.
“Erik?”
Then composed.
‘Revealing his power?’
Who were those swinging swords at him?
Those in golden armor were the Empire’s Imperial Guard, and assisting them was the Security Bureau’s knight order.
The Empire’s renowned strongmen were trying to kill Erik.
Yet Erik did nothing.
He simply walked.
Ting! Clang! Ting!
All the blades bounced off the golden light surrounding Erik.
Ruelle sighed in relief and looked around.
‘Who’s that?’
Some fat guy had collapsed on the ground and was crawling backward.
“Ahhh-! P-please don’t come closer!”
Woooong! Kuung.
She felt the heavy resonance of divine power.
‘That’s the new ability he gained.’
Ruelle recognized the true nature of that power.
‘Erik, what exactly are you trying to do?’
Then.
“Kyaaak! Guard Captain!!! Kyaak!”
The plump fatty floated high into the sky.
Silver hair shining like moonlight and striking red eyes…
‘Huh? He really is a prince.’
From his eye color, hair, and build, she recognized him as the notorious good-for-nothing 3rd Prince.
She should have stopped it, but it was already too late.
From a distance, Erik recited in a heavy, low voice:
“My Father, Lord Astia, says that sacred fire burns the impure.”
As soon as he finished speaking, flames erupted from the 3rd Prince’s body.
“Kyaaaah… Shiiiit-! You damn NPC-“
Erik clenched his fist.
Crack!
“Kyaaaak!!!”
The 3rd Prince, crushed by divine power in midair, was clearly visible.
The 3rd Prince’s mangled body was burning with golden sacred fire.
‘Erik… What exactly are you doing?’
Oh, dear Lord.
Ruelle clutched the back of her neck and recalled God’s voice.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
【Accept and understand whatever he does. It will benefit your life.】
‘I ask the Father who art in heaven.’
How exactly am I supposed to accept him squeezing the 3rd Prince to death?
Her head was spinning.
***
“…Brother? Was getting locked in the Imperial prison part of the plan?”
Jang Du-sik asked from the deep underground prison of the Imperial Palace.
“Du-sik, wait.”
“It’s already been ten whole days!!”
“Since my head hasn’t been cut off yet, things will work out.”
After burning the 3rd Prince, Erik ordered the stunned guard captain to arrest him.
Then he was immediately dragged to the Imperial underground prison.
“Goodness gracious. For ten whole days, you’ve just been frowning with your eyes closed… I don’t know what to say.”
“Du-sik, stop worrying.”
Erik was calmly cultivating his mind and body.
The Empire’s 3rd Prince or whatever.
He had killed a crazy black mage class, but being in a position where he had to stand trial made him too angry.
‘The immediate execution law for possessors hasn’t been abolished yet.’
Ah, are royals an exception?
They exist above the law.
Even if the inside was a possessor, he had carelessly eliminated that body.
“It should be about time.”
“What time? If you’re talking about the execution…”
Erik was confident things would work out well somehow.
As expected.
“Visitation.”
“What?”
“V-visitation…”
“What did I tell you I was?”
“You said you were Riferoze Astia’s successor and direct disciple!”
“Then why are you speaking casually?”
“S-sorry!”
Erik was reigning like a king in prison.
Thanks to displaying tremendous divine power, he had been witnessed by an enormous number of citizens, and an archbishop from the religious order who had been looking for Ruelle noticed Erik’s presence.
‘The old men must have handled things well.’
According to what he heard from Ruelle, who came to visit, the religious order had also realized the seriousness of the situation.
Fortunately, they seemed to have handled the aftermath well.
“Du-sik, see? Didn’t I tell-“
Thud.
Suddenly, Jang Du-sik, who had been grumbling beside him, collapsed to the floor.
The soldier guarding the corridor stood looking at the wall with unfocused eyes.
‘What’s this?’
In the quiet corridor in front of the iron bars, orderly footsteps could be heard.
“Hmm… I never would have thought Riferoze had such a successor.”
A man with a hazy impression approached the cell where Erik was imprisoned.
“Lord Astia… Is he truly fifteen?”
His dim gaze swept over Erik, and exclamations kept bursting forth.
“…How does he possess such tremendous divine power!”
Erik straightened his clothes and stood up.
With a snap, the adamantium shackles around his hands and feet broke.
Erik respectfully drew a long cross-shaped sign and bowed his head.
Then he said:
“I greet His Holiness the Pope.”
In Erik’s view, he was both old and young.
His back was both bent and straight.
His divine power was both very intense and almost nonexistent.
It was contradictory.
“I never said I was the Pope…”
“Besides His Holiness the Pope, who else could be the master of divine power that surpasses my sight?”
“Is that so? Yes, that’s right. This is how a disciple of Riferoze should be!”
Erik tried to pierce through that contradiction by channeling divine power into his eyes.
[10,000 Gold used to fully restore Divine Power.]
It had been quite a while since his divine power hit rock bottom.
Erik used the money stored in his [Inventory]. He continued to press the restored divine power into both eyes.
The Pope watched intently what Erik was doing.
Then he sighed.
“Hmm… You too are a monster. No, since you’re fifteen, I should consider you an even greater monster than Riferoze.”
Erik caught a hazy glimpse of the Pope’s true form.
‘A child?’
The power of God was truly ambiguous.
“Let me give you a teaching: direction is more important than the quantity of power. Divine power isn’t just about destroying and killing. Well, Riferoze wouldn’t have taught you such things…”
Erik understood the Pope’s meaning.
‘He’s telling me to gather a billion to raise to 4th Tier.’
It was daunting.
But it probably wasn’t too far off either.
Because.
‘The Pope came to find me.’
The fact that the pinnacle of the religious order had come carried that much significance.
“As Pope, I ask you.”
The Pope spoke in the form of a serious middle-aged man.
The childlike casual speech and elderly appearance had all disappeared.
“Direct disciple of Riferoze Astia, and bearer of the pilgrim’s proof…”
“Hmm.”
“Mmm.”
The serious demeanor was nowhere to be found, and the Pope began shaking his head indecisively.
‘What’s this…?’
Like his master, the Pope also seemed to have a screw loose somewhere.
“This is difficult. By distribution, Erik, you would be in a position equivalent to an archbishop.”
No wonder he was indecisive.
Erik immediately understood.
‘A fifteen-year-old equivalent to an archbishop?’
He managed his expression but smiled inwardly with delight.
How could he not be pleased?
‘The tithes will be duplicated.’
Churches exist in the Empire, the three kingdoms surrounding the Empire, and even in stateless conflict zones.
Though not as much as South Korea, this world also has quite a few churches.
With a position equivalent to an archbishop, he could freely reform the religious order’s system.
If he gathered money that way…
‘I could quickly reach 4th Tier-‘
He was thinking such thoughts when.
“Since you haven’t fulfilled your duties to the Astia Religious Order, I cannot transfer the pilgrim’s status to you.”
Cold water was poured over him.
“I have been recognized in all qualifications by my master.”
“Ah yes, that’s right. He has the qualification to do so. But you don’t.”
Why exactly?
“Strictly speaking, aren’t you an outsider who hasn’t even been registered with the religious order?”
The religious order was a place with a system based on positions.
All in the name of God.
Even if a superior had designated someone as their successor, they couldn’t immediately rise to a high position.
“The point is, build achievements. Even though I and Riferoze have permitted it, you’re too young. You’re only fifteen, aren’t you?”
It was a reasonable statement.
What would happen if a fifteen-year-old kid appointed from above suddenly inherited the pilgrim’s position?
Being treated as a parachute appointment would be natural.
‘There would be internal uprising.’
There might be chaos claiming the religious order was corrupt.
The Astia Religious Order was a religion that advocated integrity and honesty.
It was different from other religions where you could become a priest just by paying money.
“If you build up step by step starting from the paladin examination… Do you have something to say?”
The Pope stopped speaking when he saw Erik’s bright, eager eyes.
“What if I first receive recognition of my position, then prove myself through a high-difficulty method?”
“Denied! There are proper procedures. Gain recognition as a paladin, enter the labyrinth, and build achievements. Only then can we discuss the pilgrim position.”
A pilgrim was someone who could break free from the religious order’s constraints and act independently.
A kind of strategic weapon who could wander the world freely and use the religious order’s power at will.
‘Officially it’s for continental peace.’
Pilgrim was a unique position that existed only in the Astia Religious Order.
The main purpose was:
“I will retrieve a sacred relic.”
“…S-sacred relic?”
Securing sacred relics.
“Isn’t the greatest problem of our religious order the absence of sacred relics?”
The paladin examination was conducted at sanctuaries built in remote areas outside the Empire.
It was work that took at least five years, a period to prove tasks of salvation and slaughter.
‘Five years is too long.’
Erik had absolutely no intention of accepting it.
The alternative was conquering labyrinths and securing sacred relics.
With achievements like these, the paladin examination would become nothing.
‘The labyrinths have completely changed from the game too…’
Nevertheless, Erik was overflowing with confidence.
“Sacred relics, sacred relics. Riferoze said something useless…”
As the Pope pondered:
“If you recognize my position first, I will bring one sacred relic within a month.”
Erik drove in the wedge.
“Ha! One month?”
The Pope was speechless.
He was simply dumbfounded by the audacity shown by fifteen-year-old Erik.
‘He’s drunk on power and doesn’t know his place…’
That Riferoze took over half a year to find his first sacred relic.
Erik, who was only fifteen, in one month?
It was unbelievable, but:
“I will swear by the Father.”
That damn Erik was invoking the god Astia.
The Pope smiled bitterly.
“My Father is your Father too. Keep this fact in mind.”
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