Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 227



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Episode 227. Earth for Man, Heaven for God (3)

A new pope? Isaac was shocked by the word, but was shocked again by the name that followed.

‘Your name is Juan?’

A priest who is good at profit-oriented, and bad at money-oriented.

When the name of the priest who was the lifeline of the religious sect that constantly took money but was also notorious for swinging the authority of the religious sect without hesitation and extorting money was mentioned, Isaac’s first thought was that he had to stop it no matter what.

“A new pope? Is His Holiness in poor health? I heard he’s in pretty good health.”

Isaac pretended not to know Baltsemer’s intentions and asked back.

In fact, the current Pope Horma is healthy enough to personally visit the Dawn Army. No, even if he is sick, it would be blasphemous to openly mention the ‘new Pope’. Even the person Baltzemer is talking about is, on the surface, a paladin belonging to the Code of Light.

“No way. His Holiness the Pope is in good health. He boasts that he will personally lead the Dawn Army.”

Baltsemer said with a mocking smile. In reality, to the Emperor who had been through countless battlefields and chaos, the Pope’s words were nothing more than the remarks of a Mojiri who thought the battlefield was a playground for accumulating honor.

“But if His Holiness goes to the battlefield, wouldn’t an ‘unfortunate incident’ occur? In that case, there should be at least one candidate in reserve to resolve the chaos on the battlefield as quickly as possible.”

Baltzemer spoke as if the ‘unfortunate incident’ was bound to happen.

Isaac felt certain that he had returned from the Kingdom of Elril as soon as he heard of this enormous conspiracy.

It was a story of a kind that was unimaginable in the Kingdom of Elril.

Unlike the emperor, there is no successor in the papacy. When the position of the pope becomes vacant, the cardinals vote to elect one of the bishops. Of course, the cardinal himself can run for office, but this is rare.

If there is a pope candidate supported by the emperor, he may receive considerable support within the church.

Only then did Isaac realize the emperor’s plan.

It wasn’t just the religious order that was fanning the madness of the Dawn Army. The Emperor was probably either neglecting it or turning a blind eye to it. The religious order was also swept up in religious madness, causing the Pope to take action.

Thus, when the Holy See becomes vacant due to an ‘unfortunate incident’, a new pope is installed. In the end, when a new pope is installed through proper procedures, the religious order must obey the pope’s orders. Then, the emperor can take control of the religious order without betraying it.

In Isaac’s view, this was a gamble the Emperor was taking with his life.

The problem was that the odds of winning for that gamble never seemed low.

Enough to stake the fate of the empire on it.

***

‘… … But Juan?’

“Aren’t there any other priests? I don’t think there are that many people in the church.”

“I thought you were close to Bishop Juan Riard, but it seems that isn’t necessarily the case?”

Baltzemer asked in surprise, but Isaac had nothing to say.

In fact, it was Juan who actively recommended Isaac as a candidate for sainthood in the church, it was Juan who protected him from heresy charges, and it was Juan who actively promoted him (with a gold nugget) as the saint of resurrection.

Isaac also seemed to support Juan, as he seemed to follow his teachings diligently.

‘Come to think of it, there’s nothing wrong with Juan becoming the Pope. No, but Juan… … .’

A priest who seems to have handled more ledgers than scriptures and more gold coins than rosaries becomes the Pope?

Isaac still felt a little shaky.

“One of the reasons I thought of Juan is because he is both prudent enough to listen to the ‘voice of the people’ and has the authority of a cardinal. In addition, there are many priests within the church who are ‘sponsored’ by Cardinal Juan, and the faction is quite large. Aren’t there many priests who have that much influence and have been granted the ‘Wings of Radiance’?”

Certainly, with the enormous wealth that Juan possessed, it seems likely that he could have bribed many priests. After all, it is the cardinals who elect the pope, so it is not impossible for Juan to bribe just two others, including his own vote.

When Isaac realized that there was a chance of winning, he thought quickly.

‘A corrupt and money-hungry priest VS a fanatic priest who drives his followers into war by burning them. Either way, there’s only despair.’

But Isaac was starting to feel more and more attracted to Juan. Of course, it was important that he supported him, but more importantly, Juan was a pragmatist.

Isaac would rather be associated with a greedy person who doesn’t hesitate to run around trying to get one more real-world coin than with a fanatic who is willing to sacrifice his life to follow the idea of ​​a vague afterlife.

And if it was Juan, it seemed like it would be easy to secretly manipulate him.

‘There was no choice from the beginning.’

There may be some priests who are honest and devout, like Abbot Yevhar. But the position of the Pope is not one that can be free from worldly politics and diplomacy. Just as the Emperor is trying to replace the Pope now.

It would have been better if Juan had his own faction, his own wealth, his own power, his own firm beliefs… or something.

Once it was decided that Juan was better, the next step was reality.

“Would His Holiness, protected by so many miracles, be so easily taken over by pagans?”

It was a warning that a half-baked attempt could result in the empire being torn apart on the eve of war.

The best would be the Immortal Order, but at least it would have to be seen as an act of another order. However, the miracles of the Code of Light are powerful. Even the Pope could perform miracles of resurrection.

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Baltzemer smiled.

“I guess it would be better to talk about the details later. In any case, if something unfortunate happens, just know that your intentions are with Juan.”

Isaac kept his mouth shut.

Baltsemer asked the question to see how Isaac would react to his ‘blasphemous words and actions’.

To find out whether he will stand on his side or on the side of the church.

But it was a risky gamble. Isaac had shown the Emperor that he was not a blindly religious knight, but that the Emperor also harbored religious motives.

“Aren’t you worried that I will run to the pulpit and denounce His Majesty the Emperor’s religious beliefs?”

“Why? Didn’t you tell me that the affairs of the earth should be decided by the people of the earth? That really inspired me.”

Isaac was speechless. He wanted to tell a man of his age not to fall for the words of a Grail Knight who wasn’t even twenty yet.

But Baltzemer’s words were in line with Isaac’s thoughts. He too would have supported Juan, believing that a corrupt priest was better than an honest fanatic.

Even looking at the leadership of the religious order, they don’t seem particularly clean. As they say, if you look at the water below, you know what’s above, and it was obvious what the Pope would be like.

However, this does not mean that angels punish the leaders of such sects.

As we can see from the events of the Treaty of Licht, they do not touch anything unless the entire sect is in danger of collapsing.

Because the teachings and ethics that remain in the Code of Light are only those left behind by angels and saints.

The Code of Light merely preserves a rigid order.

***

Isaac learned that the conflict between the Emperor and the Pope was serious, but nothing changed immediately.

In fact, this only confirmed that what had been nothing more than a vague emotional battle was moving into the actual planning stage.

Baltsemer and Isaac were just checking each other’s intentions. It could have just fizzled out, and there was still no basis for developing anything realistic right away.

Therefore, even if one of them betrayed, the possibility of harm to the other was slim.

Even in such a chaotic situation, I could only admire the strength and solidity of the empire that was able to form the Dawn Army.

‘But just as the Emperor sharpens his sword against the Pope, the Pope may also be planning something against the Emperor… … .’

The power of the empire ultimately comes from the solid order that the Code of Light has built up over a long period of time. The Pope could not afford to be made fun of.

Just like the Imperial Knights, the Inquisition is not an easy organization.

‘Yeah. You two fight hard. Depending on the situation, I guess I’ll have to root for the one who seems like they’ll listen to me.’

In fact, Isaac was confident that either way, he would win if only the angels did not intervene.

To him, the power of the body was power, but he had the support of the Salt Council and the symbol of the great warrior of Elril.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Isaac holds the casting vote in this fight, as he is already familiar with the Sword of May.

As soon as Isaac finished his interview, Dietrich came to see him. He too was curious about Isaac’s thoughts and judgment.

Isaac said it as a sigh.

“I heard about it in advance, but I didn’t know you were thinking about it so seriously… ….”

The two of them cleverly left out the subject of their conversation in case anyone was listening.

“Your Majesty has always had great ambitions since he was young. Ambition is a virtue for an emperor. No matter how capable a person is, if he does not have ambition, he will be overtaken by an incompetent and ambitious person.”

Dietrich’s words made Isaac think of those who had previously opposed the Emperor Waldsemer, the brothers of Waldsemer. People held up those brothers as symbols of pride for opposing the Emperor in the form of the Holy Eucharist.

Because no normal person would fight a guy with light-emitting antlers on his head.

“I wonder what the circumstances were like when His Majesty the Emperor ascended the throne. Was His Majesty the Emperor this active in his ambitions then?”

If you were to find the most similar case to the current situation, you could think of the Imperial Civil War. At that time, the civil war over the throne broke out while the 12th Dawn Army was just around the corner, so it could be said to be similar to the current situation.

At Isaac’s words, Dietrich smiled bitterly and began to tell his story.

“In fact, His Majesty the Emperor was the weakest before ascending to the throne. He was the youngest of the seven princes, and he was also small in stature. Before his incarnation, no one considered him a rival.”

This is another story I didn’t know. It was when Baltsemer was still a child.

“But unlike me, who belonged to the collateral line, the royal family was thorough. From childhood, Balt was caught up in many assassination attempts. However, he survived until the end, even while three of his brothers died. His line of succession gradually rose… … but still, not many people thought he would become emperor. Including me and the other nobles.”

Dietrich stared at Ultenheim for a moment, his eyes looking into the distance as if reminiscing about the past.

“Then one day, a great fire broke out in his house. It was a great fire that swept away all of Balt’s small fortune, his maternal family, and his servants. I witnessed that fire, too. I can still clearly see the flames burning like a mansion, and Balt calmly walking out of it, with the horns rising above his head.”

“… … Did you awaken in the Holy Spirit during that fire?”

“Yes. It was later discovered that it was the work of the second son’s servants. It was at that time that the war of succession to the throne surfaced. Up until then, the eldest and second sons of the emperor had been fighting fiercely, but then suddenly a supernova fell from the sky.”

“But instead of submitting to God-given authority, the brothers chose to fight.”

“The Holy Eucharist is merely a tool given to humans by God. It is up to each individual to overcome the trials they face with that tool. If the Light Code had wanted to do as it pleased, it would have simply struck down the other heirs to the throne.”

That’s a simpler and easier way.

But the Code of Light prefers a subtle way to display its power.

There may be various reasons, but Isaac thought that it was because he did not want to show the limits of God. If he failed even though he clearly showed his intention, that would be God’s limit. However, if he failed even though God sent down the Eucharist, it would be an excuse that it was because of a lack of effort on the part of the individual.

This meant that even if Baltsemer was killed by his brothers, God would not intervene. Thus, Baltsemer faced the ordeal of being a brother, and his brothers faced the ordeal of being a saint head-on.

… … These are the facts known to the world on the surface.

However, Isaac heard the secret of the sword through Elil.

The gods never want humans to come close to the power they monopolize. So, perhaps the desires, longings, and efforts that Baltsemer had were suppressed and manifested in the form of a saint.

Seeing Baltsemer rebelling against the church on every issue, it seemed plausible.

“As soon as I heard about the apparitions of the Holy Eucharist to Balt, I went to see him with Delia Lyon with my father’s permission. We talked all night, and at sunrise, we swore allegiance. The Brandt family will do everything in their power to make Baltsemer the emperor.”