Episode 371

The Dark Pope was the empire's greatest enemy, the being at the top of the Dark Church. Hundreds of thousands of church members followed them due to their mix of evil and charisma. I'd also heard that for church members, the status of the Dark Pope was comparable to the six gods of disaster they served. One of the titles used to refer to them was the "Incarnation of God."

Honestly, judging from their actions, it was no wonder why the followers worshiped them. To put it bluntly, without this person in charge, the Dark Church could never grow into the huge force it was today.

The six largest factions of the demon worshipers had once been completely at odds with each other. The story of how they fought to the point of almost being wiped out still remained in the history books.

It was the Dark Pope who had united such followers. Using overwhelming charisma, political cunning, and unrivaled affinity with the gods of disaster, they had managed to unite the six factions. Despite that feat, there was no known information about this church leader.

That was the case even for me, who was deeply entangled with the church. Currently, I happened to have met as many as five of the six demon kings. Nevertheless, I had never seen even a shadow of the Dark Pope.

I couldn't help asking, "Is this information reliable?"

"Why would I lie about this?" Ozma replied.

"The Dark Pope... What do they look like? What about the gender? Are they currently alone?" Seren asked in a somewhat impatient tone.

It wasn't that strange. Anyone in the empire who heard this would have a similar reaction.

The Dark Pope was an enigma. No one knew their race, age, gender, or even name, let alone their appearance and characteristics. That meant nothing was known about the de facto leader of the Dark Church, the greatest enemy of the continent. Thus, in order to find even the smallest detail on the Dark Pope, the empire was straining its eyes looking for clues.

However, Ozma's reply was anti-climactic. "I don't know."

"Huh?"

"I wasn't the one who negotiated with the Dark Pope. It was Dorothy. She was originally the one who brought up negotiations with the Dark Church."

"Ah."

Seren seemed disappointed, but I thought I knew why Dorothy was able to negotiate directly with the Dark Pope. It was because her other identity was a Colorless believer. I wondered if Ozma knew about that, but it wasn't a question I could ask now.

For now, the witch society was holding back due to being wary of Lise, but that was all. They still weren't people I could fully trust.

I asked to test the waters, "Did she contact the church without your permission?"

"I'm just the head of the witch society, not their leader. I don't have the authority to give orders to everyone. Besides, Dorothy..." Ozma sighed with a somewhat tired expression. "She is a person who is difficult to control in many ways."

I thought so. Dorothy was the one who had impulsively kidnapped me without consulting them. The important thing was that such a capricious, unreasonable woman was holding very precious information. Perhaps Dorothy had even personally met the Dark Pope.

I was also worried about the technique Dorothy had used to vanish. It couldn't be tracked once activated. It was a trump card that could save her life in practically any situation.

The Ghost Road? I shook my head at the thought that came to me. Admittedly, my speculation could be going too far.

"By the way, can you give us this information? If they find out that the information has been leaked, the church won't stand still," I said.

"So what if they move? No one can find us if we decide to hide. There are only a few exceptions." Ozma's gaze turned to Lise. Somehow, there seemed to be respect in her eyes.

Faced with that, Lise replied with her usual indifference, "It is an amusing space. A tower built in a niche space between dimensions, each floor with its own environment. This seems to be the top of it."

"That's right. Well." Ozma hesitated before finally suggesting, "We will continue to keep in touch with the church without completely severing ties and dig out as much as possible. So can you grant me a request?"

"A request?" Lise asked.

"I want you to teach me black magic." Ozma's voice was filled with rare passion and impatience.

It seemed that her mind had been made up. Evidently, she thought she would progress more by learning directly from Lise rather than relying on the church.

It wasn't a matter for me to decide, so I looked at Lise and asked, "What will you do?"

"What else? At this moment, I'm not in a position to teach anyone but you."

That was true. She was outside for the time being, but she was destined to return to the underground library soon.

However, if we could get the witch society as allies, it could give us an overwhelming advantage in the upcoming fight against the Dark Church. It felt like a waste to let this opportunity go.

Maybe it wouldn't hold much appeal for Lise, but I decided to push a bit further. I thought about it before suggesting, "Is a meeting once every two months, even if it is short, okay?"

Surprisingly, Lise paused with a serious expression and looked at Ozma. She said, "Rather than teaching one-sidedly, I will answer questions about black magic. I'm also interested in the black magic of this era."

"Yes. Good." Ozma nodded with a bright expression.

Lise looked at me again and said, "I rarely appear on the surface. So in the meantime, you should take care of that Lua... that child. If anything happens to that child, I won't be able to see you."

The eyes of the witch society naturally shifted to me.

Ozma nodded with a serious expression, saying, "I will keep that in mind."

***

Somehow, the meeting with the witch society ended and we were finally able to escape from the Emerald Tower.

I stood in an empty alley and glanced at Seren, saying, "I feel like I've lost ten years. I'm glad it worked out. Right?"

Seren narrowed her eyes after hearing my tone and said cautiously, "You, are you perhaps..."

It was a dubious attitude. I thought there would be no progress if I stayed hidden, so I removed my mask. For the first time in ages, I returned to my original body.

Seren exclaimed, "As expected, it's you."

"Wait. Ugh. I'm really going to die of stiffness," I complained. It had been so long since I was Luan that my body was stiff to the point of cramping. I stretched in the dark back alley and loosened my stiff muscles and joints.

Seren watched the situation before saying with a serious expression, "First of all, I will pretend that I don't know you have such a hobby."

"No, that appearance was the default one of the magic tool, so it can't be helped."

"I see. In any case, it has been a while."

"Yes."

Seren finally sighed with relief.

It was nice to see each other again, but neither of us was the type to greet others with warmth. We just exchanged rather dry greetings.

Seren's gaze shifted to Lise and she said, "By the way, she..."

"Didn't you hear it earlier? She is Lise Ladygoth Ol Haimud. You can roughly understand her as an elder of the Badniker family." I gave a brief explanation about Lise, not wanting to drag the conversation on for too long.

"Really? As expected." Seren seemed to be convinced without any doubt.

It was probably due to Lise's appearance. Her black hair and purple eyes, characteristics typical of a Badniker, seemed to have kept suspicion away.

"You and I have a lot to talk about, right? But I have to attend to Lise today, or rather, until tomorrow afternoon. So let's save our conversation for tonight," I said.

"Yes. Ah, I have a question before that."

"Go ahead."

"Does the fact that the Iron-Blooded Lord came to the south have anything to do with you?"

"For now."

"I see."

Of course, I planned to hide Delac's memory loss from her. Putting aside my trust in Seren, it wasn't a good thing for that to be widely known.

"So come to the tavern called Gloomy Sunday in the evening when you have time," Seren said.

"Yes."

Seren left first. Lise and I were left alone again. Despite the commotion, Lise's expression didn't change much.

I told her, "I almost got myself killed. I survived thanks to you."

"Good. It was a fun experience for me after so much time."

"Fun experience?"

Lise chuckled. "Yes. It has been a long time since I've competed with someone directly. It was a good stimulus. I felt a bit stiff."

Even with her strength sealed to less than half, she hadn't reached that limit. At this point, I found it hard to estimate the extent of her true power. I also couldn't help wondering just how formidable the seal was to confine someone like her in the underground library.

"By the way, you seem to be deeply entangled with the church again," Lise remarked.

"It happened to turn out that way."

"Hmm... Yes."

"Shall we wander around a bit more? We haven't seen a large portion of Airuga yet," I suggested.

Lise nodded and I took her out onto the street. We stopped by the De Marlin Refreshments store again, bought a lot of desserts, and walked the streets while snacking.

Lise wasn't as picky as I thought. She did have a bit of an appetite, but she didn't seem particularly interested in expensive clothing or jewelry. Rather, what caught her attention was a narrow alley where street vendors sold miscellaneous goods. She spent a long time browsing but had no intention of buying anything.

By the time we finished, the sun had already set. We grabbed a quick meal and returned to the inn.

"Didn't I say that I don't want to sleep? It has only been twenty-four hours..." Lise complained as she lay on the bed under the blanket, grumbling like a spoiled child reluctant to go to bed. I tried not to think of her as a niece throwing a tantrum.

"You just have to get up early. Fundamentally, quality of life comes from sleep. We have until tomorrow morning, so close your eyes," I replied.

"Umm..." Lise looked dissatisfied, but eventually accepted my words. Actually, she had been rubbing her eyes and looking strangely drowsy. It seemed that competing with the witch society in magic had consumed a lot of mental energy.

On the other hand, I felt surprisingly fine. Ever since coming to the south, my body had always been full of energy and I needed less sleep. Perhaps it was due to the good synergy between the climate nd the First Fire Technique.

—It is thanks to the grace of this Vulcanus!

To no surprise, Vulcanus made his presence felt without warning. I felt like he had been a lot quieter lately, though. I replied, Shouldn't you stay hidden when I'm not in Luzard form?

—I can't do that! We became comrades of destiny from the moment you took the Black Dragon Fang!

Comrades of destiny?

After exchanging such trivial remarks, I left the inn and arrived at the tavern I had been told about beforehand called Gloomy Sunday. Southern taverns in the evening were normally always bustling no matter where I went; however, this place had a very quiet and calm atmosphere.

If the place had been called Happy Sunday, maybe business would be much better. That was why even stores had to pick their names carefully, I figured.

However, I couldn't see Seren. I went to the counter and threw a silver coin at the person who seemed to be the owner, saying, "Master, the usual for me..."

"Just come inside."

Suddenly, I heard Seren's voice from behind the counter. I looked around and realized that most of the people here were under Seren's command. They were probably members of the intelligence guild, Bastard.

Not bad, I thought. They weren't to be underestimated. Putting aside their skills, their true value was different.

The most important thing when establishing an intelligence guild was securing talent. The more valuable talents were ones that could be trusted, because they lived and died on trust. In other words, everyone present here was ready to throw their lives away without hesitation if it was an order from their master, Seren.

Achieving that in such a short time was great. Well, without this much ability, she wouldn't be able to establish herself in a major city like Airuga in the first place.

I stepped further inside and saw a shabby food warehouse. Seren's figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Come down," came her voice.

"Huh?" I had been wondering what to do. Now I saw a staircase leading down behind the stacked boxes.

Oh, I thought. This was an intelligence guild, after all. I smiled and went down the stairs.

After I descended, I found a fairly large space with dim lighting. One entire wall was lined with bookshelves, filled haphazardly with old books and documents. There was a large map on the other wall. At a glance, it was a map of the south. It was covered with countless annotations and symbols, but honestly, I couldn't make any sense of it. Perhaps it was encrypted, since this was an intelligence guild after all.

What surprised me the most was that there was someone else in the room besides Seren.

"Hello," I said.

"We meet again," the person replied. It was Ozma.

I wondered what was going on with this woman. I felt puzzled as I sat in front of her.

Seren said, "She has something to say."

"Something to say?" I repeated.

"Yes. It felt like our conversation earlier wasn't completely finished. I'm here to tell you a few more things," Ozma replied.

"What is it?"

"First of all, your purpose is to thwart the church's plan and prevent the descent of the demon king, right?"

"That's right."

"But the church has been preparing for this for at least ten years, maybe even longer. A tower that has been painstakingly built won't collapse if a few foundation stones are missing. Besides, it is about to be completed. Even if impurities like you get involved, nothing will change."

I paused for a moment before saying, "The labor camp is managed by the Golden Lord, the ruler of Airuga. Wouldn't a few impurities like us be enough to bring down the tower?"

"That would be difficult." It was Seren who replied this time. "For the Golden Lord, the most important things aren't the city's peace or the lives of its citizens. She also isn't particularly loyal to the empire. It is only money that moves her."

I remarked, "She's like this even though gold will just become yellow, shiny metal if the empire falls?"

Seren sighed. "Money makes people stupid. I wasn't just standing by either. I didn't know the detailed plans of the church, but I knew they were scheming something in the labor camp. I intentionally leaked the information to the Golden Lord, but there was no response. On the contrary, the number of prisoners has only increased."

"Is she blinded by the artifacts and pretending not to see the work of the church?" I wondered with a bitter laugh. The Golden Lord was one of the five grand dukes of the empire. How could she be stupid?

Then Ozma said, "It isn't that the Golden Lord has no thoughts on the matter. On the contrary, she seems to have made a plan to definitively prevent the demon king's descent."

"Huh?" I exclaimed.

"What does that mean? Didn't you already say that the demon king's descent has progressed to a stage where it is difficult to stop?" Seren asked.

"Yes. That's right. For example, if the Dark Pope were to step in right now and recite the Evil Scripture, the Green-Tongued Demon King would descend upon this land, even if it is in an incomplete form. The reason why they aren't doing so is because the church wants to conclude the ceremony more definitively."

"Then how is she going to stop it? Enough sacrifices have already been offered and there is no clue about the leader's true identity."

"It is simple. Mix impure blood into the Chalice of Pure Blood."

"Impure blood? What do you mean?"

"Do you know? Recently, the Golden Lord has been imprisoning a lot of lesser races at the Rahild Labor Camp. For some reason, sponsors are also lobbying for lesser races."

"That... I see." Seren knew the backstory and nodded.

"After hearing this, do you have anything to point out?" Ozma asked.

Seren looked confused, but I froze. The words Verita had said in the past crossed my mind. I muttered, "The church can only use the seven races as sacrifices."

"Yes. The blood of lesser races actually makes the gods angry," Ozma answered.

The reason why the church was so intertwined with the empire was because the only beings that could be offered as sacrifices for summoning a demon king were the seven races that contributed to the founding of the Nameless Empire: humans, fairies, dwarves, giants, beastmen, the winged race, and finally dragons. Conversely, the lesser races had no value as sacrifices.

"The Golden Lord intends to kill all the lesser race prisoners in the Rahild Labor Camp. They number at least 5,000. At this rate, the Chalice of Pure Blood will be defiled and the ritual will end in failure." Ozma's expression was calm as she continued, "Even if she is rotten, she is still one of the five grand dukes. If the Golden Lord's plan goes as intended, the church's scheme will be disrupted, leaving them with massive losses. Distributing divine relics isn't exactly profitable, even if they are replicas."

Seren and I were silent.

"So don't get involved. Just watch and look for clues about the Dark Pope. That would be much more efficient," Ozma concluded.

Her words were undeniable. They were probably true. Based on this, I could understand why Delac was cooperating with the Golden Lord. For nobles, the lives of lesser races didn't matter much. If 100 imperial citizens were asked about the situation, they would probably all give the same answer too.

Damn.

And yet, why was I so pissed off?