Soudouki Chapter 182

Chapter 182   Breakdown

According to Europa religion’s teaching, beastmen were the  descendants of people who fell into depravity and sold their soul to  devil.

And then the miasma of hell leaked out from the beastmen whose souls were polluted, leading this world to destruction.

It was the owner of King’s Gate who served the role as being the impetus for that.

Therefore, the church had continously erased anyone who showed the  sign of possessing King’s Gate in the shadow of history until now.

Maggot and Gina weren’t assassinated in large parts were thanks to  Nordland Empire had few believers of Europa religion and it was a nation  that protected beastmen.

If the time was a hundred years earlier, the possibility that Maggot and Gina wouldn’t survive for that long would be great.

The past believers who died believing that god’s love would save this  world. And then the clergymen who lived in honorable poverty and  offered their life for missionary work.

Who could possibly tell all those people who had made such sacrifice  that actually everything was just nothing more than cleaning up the mess  of the ancient otherworlder people.

「But if you do that mankind will――」

「To be a martyr for god is a believer’s honor. Also there is no problem no matter how many heretics die!」

「You are saying that even knowing that they all actually only died a dog’s death that isn’t for god’s sake?」

「All human die for what they believe in. This religion isn’t an exception!」

「That’s-!」

Shue realized that she had misread the pope’s resolve and turned pale.

It was different for someone like her who had the memory from her  previous life, but the power tradition and feeling that came from the  accumulation of long record and history from the past could sometimes  outweigh the truth.

For the pope, if it was possible to seal the dimensional boundary without doing anything then he would do that.

「Do you have the right to choose destruction for the church?」

「It’s exactly because I’m someone with the qualification as pope that I can give the order to die for the faith.」

「In the end were the previous popes also thought the same I wonder?」

The pope was hard pressed to answer Baldr’s question.

Because the pope had been warned by his predecessor that he would  surely suffer if he learned of the church’s dark history. Even so, the  pope had responsibility that he had to fulfill.

「There are things that cannot be compromised. There are things one  has to take responsibility for. Even so you will betray everything if in  the end you don’t advance forward. At the very least that’s what I  think.」

「――Perhaps. Occasionally thing that you can’t compromise  and thing  that you have to take responsibility of can’t coexist with each other.

Things to cultivate, things to entrust, things to aim for, things  that you wished for, it was impossible for all of them to be fulfilled  perfectly.

「O king of Trystovy. What are you wishing and where are you heading?」

「To a world where this continent’s people don’t need to fear hunger,  sickness, and war. There are various things that I want to do but, the  objective of a nation is ultimately that.」

「Haven’t you considered trying to save the people’s heart?」

「I’m not that conceited.」

An absolute monarch saving and guiding the heart of the people. Baldr  thought of something like that as a malicious brainwashing.

「What is the meaning of life without being able to receive salvation in their heart.」

「There isn’t any persuasiveness at all in that argument when the pope himself never received that salvation.」

「Unfortunately it’s the nature of this world for people who are in  the position of saving to be beyond saving themselves. You should  understand that if you are a king right?」

「Unlike the priests, I’m thankfully blessed with family.」

The position a king, a statesman was placed in was lonely and harsh.

They had to perceive people’s death as number and if necessary they  had to order other people to die. That was the position a king was  placed in.

However Baldr wasn’t alone.

He had two personalities who absolutely would never leave him no matter the situation.

His beloved wives were also his important allies but, they weren’t  one in heart and body with him by any means. Originally that should be  the natural way of human to exist, but for good or bad, Baldr always had  allies inside his heart in all time.

「What a repulsive man. You are already an enemy of the faith but, right now I envy and hate you from the bottom of my heart.」

「I’m used to getting hated.」

「Hmph, how about acting a bit meeker if you want to get your hand of the orb of sealing?」

The pope cursed in irritation and gulped his wine.

Both of them were exchanging cheeky lines to each other, but in  actuality what the two were doing were just confirming everything so  they could come to term with the situation.

They confirmed whether the tradition of the past and the direction  this world was heading suited their own imagination, or whether they  could believe in it or not. Baldr and the pope were conversing so they  could come to their own term.

「――Now then, I guess it’s about time we put down all the pretensions.」

「I guess.」

「Eh? Eh?」

Shue who couldn’t keep up with the two’s conversation looked back and  forth in bewilderment. It made Baldr wanted to interrogate the people  of Kadiros Kingdom who were in charge of this girl’s education as a  princess.

「Can’t you hand over the orb of sealing so we can have a cease-fire for the time being?」

「Out of the question. In the worst case the church can become split  between Answerer Kingdom and Soldividian. Besides the faith of the  believers won’t last if we bend our knees here.」

「You are saying that the believers’ heart will still be protected even if they fight and get annihilated?」

「Trial exist to temper one’s faith. Rather it’s peace that make faith  far from people’s heart because they indulged in being well-fed and  well-dressed, as ironic as it sound.」

「The saying that there is no true believer among the rich huh.」

「That’s not something that I can say right to their face though.」

Shue couldn’t hide her bewilderment. These two looked like they were getting along relatively well with each other.

「In conclusion, in order for Europa religion to survive in the new  era from here on, it’s necessary for us to fight and die gloriously.」

「Aren’t you going to drag too many people with you to hell?」

「Rather than too many it’s too few instead. Just how many believers there are in this continent do you think?」

In fact, the number of Europa believer in even Baldr’s Trystovy  Kingdom was the majority of the populace. They simply had no intention  to oppose Baldr. The situation was similar in the other countries.

The pope was saying that in order to drive a wedge between the  peaceful Europa believers who didn’t obey the church’s direction, the  coming sacrifice would be necessary. Furthermore that sacrifice had to  be a colossal one.

「Well, I won’t complaint if we can win though.」

「Don’t look down on me. I’m not so soft that I’ll let you reverse the situation at this point.」

「Ha-ha-ha-! If only you will let your guard down like how a god’s enemy should be.」

The number of soldier, morale, strategy, equipment, financial  strength, political power. Baldr and the allied army surpassed the  church in all those respects by an overwhelming degree.

No matter how much of an iron wall the believers’ faith was,  Soldividian wouldn’t be able to avoid defeat if an all-out battle broke  out.

It was something so clear that even the believers with only some  degree of knowledge about strategy could see the writing on the wall.

Naturally the pope was also aware of that.

They would lose if they fought. And they would lose their life if they lost.

「Even someone foolish with nothing but ambition like me have  something that I can’t abandon. That makes me feel happy now. It made me  recalled the day when I received my baptism as a monk in my youth.」

Yes, even the pope had pure youthful days when he wished to offer his life for the faith.

Before he realized it he had gotten imprisoned in success and riches.  Was it since the time he got appointed as bishop he wondered.

「So the most troublesome man got awakened to faith huh.」

「That is only possible because there is an enemy of the faith.」

「……So, can I take it to mean that you won’t listen to our demand at all?」

Shue asked the pope anxiously.

That was the most important problem for Shue since the time it was  decided that they would meet with the pope. But, the pope and Baldr  could only smile wryly because her question was just too blunt.

「Young lady, when making a request, the society isn’t so simple that  the answer can simply be yes or no. That’s why human can’t help but pray  and ask the god.」

「A building of extremely advanced building blocks won’t collapse no  matter which part of the building block got taken out. What’s important  is that selection.」

Shue kept looking bewildered while she shook her head like a child throwing tantrum.

She only had the personality as a researcher even in her previous  life, so this was something that was hard to comprehend for her.

「I’ll open the encirclement at the north. I already said before but, I  have no intention to boycott the religion. The believers’ right will be  protected as long as they conform to the law.」

「That’s only the natural thing to do――is what I want to say but, I’ll  accept that concession gratefully. I’ll have to do some harassments to  your side but, please overlook that.」

「The pope shouldn’t do harassment or the like.」

「I’ll only keep it at the level of harassment even though my opponent  is the beastmen’s king. Shouldn’t you thank me tearfully instead?」

「I’m going to cry from the stubborn monk’s harassment here.」

Actually the two of them understood what was the best thing to do.

However it was a matter of the best for what.

In the end the pope chose what was the best for the way of life that  he believed in――even if it would cause the worst sacrifice to result  from it――but Baldr didn’t try to deny the pope’s decision.

「――Why are you choosing the path of destruction!」

Shue couldn’t come to term with it and yelled. But she was stopped by the pope’s unexpectedly kind smile.

「That’s obvious. I who once abandoned even the name that I received  from my parents, is the one and only pope of Europa religion. Dying as a  martyr of the religion is my duty. Besides perhaps a god’s miracle will  occur unexpectedly and everything will be resolved nicely.」

Shue still looked unable to come to term with it even then, but she understood that the pope was already beyond any persuasion.

「I don’t understand……even though there should be only one answer every time.」

For Shue, her past life’s memory was an absolute fact that was beyond  any doubt. She couldn’t understand the reason of trying to protect  one’s own small world even though there was a danger that might destroy  the whole world.

「Young lady, remember this.」

The pope put on the face of a clergy giving a sermon and said to Shue.

「In the end a religion isn’t something for seeking answer from god.  It’s for continuously questioning yourself. God isn’t something  omniscience with the right answer, it’s something that kindly watch over  all of us fools. You better remember that if one day you wish to devote  yourself to a faith.」

「――Both this man, and also me, we are simply fools struggling so that we won’t be ashamed of the way we live.」

Baldr spoke in the place of Shue who couldn’t respond.

――I don’t understand.

The only thing that she understood was that even though she didn’t  understand, it was something that both Baldr and the pope understood.

.

「Then, let’s meet in the battlefield next time.」

「God’s love will surely be bestowed without reserve even in the  battlefield. Although, it’s unknown whether god’s love will also reach  the beastmen or not.」

「There is the divine protection of the beast god Zoras for us.」

「Hmph, you say that even while knowing that such thing is also something artificial?」

Baldr arrogantly held his head high at the pope’s ridiculing words..

「――That’s how human is, right?」

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