Free Web Novel“Thank you for your hard work, Corporal Shin Youngjun...... no.”
After all the rites had ended.
Lee Haein approached one man and spoke.
“Your Holiness.”
The one she was looking at.
Was a young man.
Pale white skin and red eyes.
Because of the berserk state and the release of energy that had occurred not long ago.
The man now had an appearance slightly more fitting of a noble.
He was dressed in pure white garments decorated with golden embroidery.
When his pale skin, red eyes, and sacred-looking clothing came together.
An alien presence flowed from him, as though he were something beyond human.
“Pope, huh.”
And.
The man looked at Lee Haein as she approached him and said,
“What a ridiculous thing to say.”
“Pardon?”
“It is a cumbersome name meaning the emperor of the Church, but even I am destined to be cast aside if an awakened one stronger than me appears, am I not?”
At the man’s words.
Lee Haein hurriedly shook her head and said,
“To say such a thing......! An awakened one who has reached a greater height than Your Holiness. There is no way such a thing could exist.”
“Who knows. The world is vast. You never know, do you? When that time comes...... well, perhaps I will remain Pope, and that someone will stand above me under some name like saint or holy one.”
“Th-that is.......”
As the man spoke with a smile.
Lee Haein lowered her head, not knowing what to do.
The man watched her for a moment, then turned his head and opened his mouth.
“I told the Legion members not to accept support requests from other Legion members for a while and to focus only on their current duties.”
“Ah.......”
“It is my order, so there is no need to worry about Legion members outside that expeditionary force swarming in.”
A small window had appeared before his eyes.
[Guild Message Settings]
[Officer Corps’ Guild Message Usage Authority - X]
A message window that blocked guild messages from everyone except the guild leader.
And allowed only him to send messages.
With this, the only one who could issue orders to Legion members through guild messages.
Was him alone.
“But the Legion has that Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok, does it not?”
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s ability was outstanding.
She thought that perhaps he could resolve even a crisis like this, but.
“He only has one body in the end.”
There was a reason he had given an order like this.
“Lieutenant General Kim’s ability is outstanding, but the amount of time in a day when he can exercise that outstanding ability is not long.”
“Ah.......”
“If Lieutenant General Kim goes personally and persuades them, the Legion members may be convinced, but the Legion members are scattered. Even if he tries to visit those Legion members one by one and rally them, it will take a considerable amount of time.”
“Ahh, I see......!”
At his explanation.
Lee Haein’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“We had no choice but to worry that, as the price for bringing you here, we would have to clash with the Legion with all our strength. We were not worried about defeat, but we feared that many believers would be wounded because of it. And yet, ah.......”
In her eyes.
There was a deep emotion that could not be fully described.
“To think you were the leader of that Legion......!”
Lee Haein possessed an ability that allowed her to grasp a certain amount of information about an opponent.
But even she could not peek into the guild system.
That man.
The fact that Shin Youngjun was the leader of the Legion.
Was something she had only learned after that “forced” coronation ceremony ended.
“Our faith was lacking. When the System arranged for you to be our leader, there is no way it would not have considered even this.......”
“Th-then.......”
And.
Having learned of that position, she opened her mouth, unable to hide her excitement.
“How about ordering those Legion members to submit under the Church entirely?”
“......What?”
“I saw them take on a dangerous operation to find Your Holiness.”
As though a good idea had come to her.
She continued speaking pleasantly.
“The sight of them even risking death as they headed straight to the entrance of the inner temple by the shortest route....... If they possess that much loyalty, would they not faithfully obey any order Your Holiness gives them?”
“......And?”
“In that case, even an order to submit to the Church.......”
However.
The man who had been listening to her.
“You......”
Shin Youngjun’s expression.
Was by no means bright.
“Are you telling me to abuse my soldiers’ loyalty?”
“......!”
***
She had been pouring out her words in excitement.
Only then did Lee Haein realize that the other person’s expression was not good.
“M-my apologies. That was not my intention......!”
Sensing that Shin Youngjun’s aura was anything but ordinary, she lowered her head deeply and spoke.
“I merely thought that, in order to spread the proper faith to them as well, that way might be faster.......”
“.......”
When those Legion members attempted to escape from the Church’s territory.
If Corporal Shin Youngjun had ordered them to return, even with a lie that he would not be hostile to them.
Half of that force...... no, more than half would have heard that order and turned back.
Even considering the coming war between the Church and the Legion.
If they could suppress that many elite troops in advance, it would bring them an enormous advantage.
“The Legion are my people, the ones I raised.”
But.
He had not given such °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° an order.
The reason was simple.
“I cannot do something that betrays their trust.”
“.......”
Because Shin Youngjun himself.
Did not want to do such a thing.
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“No. I have no problem whatsoever.”
Through the power of that sacred holy relic.
The [Crown].
Faith in the System had been planted in Corporal Shin Youngjun.
But.
As Lee Haein had said in the past.
“If that is your will.......”
The [Crown] merely planted faith in its target.
It was not an object that remodeled the person’s personality or mind itself.
In other words.
“I will have to spread the faith to them as well. That is the right thing to do, and it is something that must be done for humanity. But.......”
Shin Youngjun was originally Corporal Shin Youngjun.
The commander of the Steel Legion.
“That process will never be carried out in such a cowardly way.”
His affection for the Legion.
Still remained.
“But they will not submit easily. Rather, they will be furious, thinking their leader has been stolen from them, and will try to take you back.”
“If they reject the proper faith...... then I suppose there will be no choice but to wage a holy war. But even that will merely be a result following the laws of this world, where strength clashes with strength and the stronger one survives. It will not be done in a way that exploits their trust.”
At those words.
Priest Lee Haein lowered her head and thought.
'The reason His Holiness ordered the Legion members to reject other people’s requests for support was also.......'
In truth.
The easiest method would have been to designate the expeditionary force gathered there as rebels.
As Shin Youngjun had said.
It was also true that, while they were scattered from one another, it would be difficult for Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok to rally his forces.
If they gathered in one place, those who had gathered might be swayed by Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s persuasion.
But aside from that.
'It must also be because he does not wish to see the Legion split apart.'
Until Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s persuasion took effect.
A civil war would break out between the Legion members of the expeditionary force and the Legion members spread throughout the Legion’s occupied territories.
His intention of not wanting to see such a civil war must have played a part as well.
'Ahh.......'
Someone else.
Might think he was taking an unbearably roundabout path when he had a situation where he could easily annex the Legion.
But Lee Haein did not.
'His Holiness is different from the Cardinal.'
In this ruined world.
Many powerful awakened ones were people who had not hesitated to use any means necessary to grow stronger.
The Cardinal, who had served as the Church’s leader for many years, was the same.
Both before he became a believer and after he became the Church’s leader.
He had committed countless cruel acts, enough that they had to be hidden even from fellow believers.
'Even though he holds such great power.'
But.
This man was different.
'To think even his nature is so admirable......!'
He was not a strong man who had taken power by any means necessary.
Even while walking the proper path to the very end.
He had seized a power greater than those who had committed every kind of evil practice.
It was obvious which path was more difficult.
He was truly.
'Someone worthy of being Pope.'
She finally.
Trembled at the thought that they had found a leader worthy of the Church.
“The annexation of the Legion will proceed according to my intentions. That does not mean I will not spread the faith to them, so do not worry.”
“I shall follow Your Holiness’s will......!”
She lowered her head respectfully and spoke.
“If Your Holiness has a holy war in mind, there are things I must show you.”
“Things to show me?”
“Yes.”
She opened her mouth with a confident expression.
“Since Your Holiness has converted to the faith, the System must be greatly satisfied.”
“......?”
“Therefore.”
Smile.
“Let us meet the System and receive its grace.”
***
After that.
Lee Haein led Shin Youngjun somewhere.
“It is that building.”
It was quite large.
But from the outside, it looked ordinary.
However.
Upon seeing the building, Shin Youngjun murmured quietly at its familiar appearance.
“......The inner temple.”
“Yes. Its entrance.”
Not long ago.
The place he had been forcibly transferred to by the Church had been beneath that building.
Creeeak.......
Lee Haein opened the door and guided Shin Youngjun down into the basement as she spoke.
“As Your Holiness knows, through that coronation this time, you became a member of our faith.”
“......That is true.”
“As Your Holiness must also feel, regardless of what the intention was, that was not the right thing to do.”
At those words.
Shin Youngjun answered, a little surprised.
“You think so?”
“Yes. To force faith upon you...... it was a great discourtesy to Your Holiness.”
It was a somewhat awkward thing to say for the very person who had placed that crown on him.
However.
There was no lie or falsehood in Lee Haein’s words.
“His Eminence the Cardinal was a suspicious person. Because he could not easily trust others, he ordered the coronation to be carried out like this.”
At those words.
Shin Youngjun suddenly recalled the conversation between Lee Haein and the Cardinal in the past.
“I opposed His Eminence the Cardinal’s opinion.”
Certainly.
Even in Shin Youngjun’s memory.
She had not looked favorably on the Cardinal’s opinion that they should hold the coronation.
Thinking about it, it was quite strange.
“You must also have wanted to make me the leader of this Church...... so why?”
Whatever that Cardinal’s true nature or temperament had been.
By placing the [Crown of Ordromineum] on him, they forcibly injected faith into him.
And by doing so, they enthroned Shin Youngjun, who had become a believer, as the Church’s new leader.
From the Church’s perspective, the Cardinal’s plan was not particularly wrong.
In fact, as a result, Shin Youngjun had become the Church’s leader like this.
But.
“I believed there was no need to use such a coercive method.”
“......?”
“His Eminence the Cardinal had an ugly nature himself, so he must have assumed that others were the same....... But I believed Your Holiness possessed an upright nature. Therefore.......”
Smile.
“I thought you were someone who would come to hold the proper faith, if only you were told the truth.”
At those words.
Shin Youngjun recalled the conversation he had had with her in the past.
'When I doubted whether faith in the system...... the System was right.'
Lee Haein.
Had not denied his doubts.
Rather, she had answered that it was only natural to question it.
That they themselves had held the same question.
And.
When he had asked how they had obtained an answer, if they had such doubts.......
“Now, let us go.”
After visiting their sacred ground.
“The [System] must also be looking forward to meeting Your Holiness.”
She had said that simply showing him something.
Would be enough.
