The Game Difficulty
Is Crazy
Istirenne Grand Cathedral.
It was the place where all authority of the Papal State—a theocratic nation where church and state were one—was concentrated, and at present, it was regarded as the highest institution in human society.
Worthy of that status, the Istirenne Grand Cathedral boasted an overwhelming scale. Though it was called a cathedral, in reality it was closer to an imperial palace.
Because its floors and buildings were tinted white, people also called it the Sacred Land of Minise’s White Palace.
It truly was a fitting name.
Unlike other imperial palaces that flaunted themselves with extravagant decorations, this place had few ornaments. Yet, simply looking at the large, clean, pure-white buildings was enough to make faith well up in one’s heart, even if they hadn’t had any to begin with.
“Neat and beautiful, isn’t it?”
Judith spoke to Glen as they walked, glancing around the cathedral grounds.
Glen soon replied with a polite, outward-facing smile.
“Yes. It’s so beautiful it almost feels like God is close by.”
Perfect… absolutely perfect.
With an expression that clearly said that, Judith gazed at Glen with dazzled eyes.
“Ahem! A-anyway, the reception room is quite far, isn’t it?”
Sensing that his reaction had been a bit too much, Glen quickly changed the subject before Judith could start anything strange.
“Yes. Distance-wise, it would be fine to use my personal room or Sister Katrin’s, but how could I possibly do that?”
“No, I don’t really mind talking right there—”
“Ab-so-lute-ly not!! Even if you’re hiding the truth, a Saint is still a Saint! We cannot make such a noble person stand around in a lowly, insignificant training ground!”
‘…Didn’t all three of us sweat, roll around, and learn swordsmanship in that same “lowly and insignificant” training ground?’
Judith clearly wanted to give Glen, whom he regarded as a Saint, the highest possible treatment.
Glen sent Katrin a look asking if she could do something about it.
What came back was Katrin’s drained gaze, silently telling him it would be better to just give up.
In the end, because of Judith’s unstoppable stubbornness, Glen had to walk for about twenty minutes from the cathedral training grounds to a distant reception room.
And the reception room they arrived at was far more sacred than Glen had imagined.
‘What… is this place…?’
The dome-shaped ceiling was made of glass, revealing the sky itself.
Below it were pure-white walls, a gently trickling fountain, and several small, unknown birds playing in the water.
On top of that, there were tables and sofas that were simple in design but looked extremely expensive.
The place Judith guided them to felt less like a reception room and more like a small garden created by a god.
‘This is insanely stressful. Seriously, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.’
In the end, Glen pressed his fingers to his forehead.
“Hoo… hehehe. P-please, have a seat, Sa— no, Brother?”
Seeing Judith grinning in complete satisfaction with his own behavior, Glen couldn’t bring himself to ask to move somewhere else.
Katrin, too, sent him a sympathetic look that said, Just give up.
‘All I wanted was to talk a bit… I never thought he’d go this far…’
Judith seemed to harbor far more extreme affection for Glen than he had expected.
‘As far as I know, this guy didn’t even show this much enthusiasm toward the Saintess or the Pope.’
Anyway, they began their conversation while sitting in a reception room that made one feel both holy and uncomfortable just by being there.
They exchanged the usual pleasantries about how nice it was to meet again.
Eventually, exhausted by Judith’s nonstop nonsense, Katrin finally opened her mouth.
“By the way, Saint, what brings you all the way from Wordsworth to this place?”
At last, the main topic.
Judith finally stopped his endless praise of Glen and tilted his head.
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Shouldn’t you be extremely busy preparing for the Holy War around this time?”
“Well… yes, that’s true.”
Glen gave a bitter smile and steered the wandering conversation back to the point.
“There was an urgent matter, so I came to Istirenne. I arrived just a little while ago.”
“An urgent matter?”
“Please, just say the word, Saint! I, Judith Resfelt, will offer not only my life, but even the lives of all the priests of this cathedral if it is God’s will!”
“Ah… tone it down already, you crazy bastard! …Saint, please continue.”
Unable to endure any longer, Katrin reverted to her original personality and smacked Judith on the head with her fist.
At this point, it felt like Judith had developed yet another mental illness during the time they hadn’t seen each other.
“Yes… First of all, I came to report to the capital regarding my father, Count Henry Wordsworth.”
Although it was almost certain that he had been killed by Muta, a subordinate of Penelope, the Papal State still officially listed him as missing.
Rather than searching for someone who no longer existed, it would be far better in many ways to seat Tris in that position.
Of course, that was only a very superficial purpose, and there was no need to tell these two that.
“That matter isn’t under your jurisdiction anyway, so let’s put it aside. I came to speak about something important.”
“Yes. Please go on.”
Katrin nodded.
She seemed to have realized that he hadn’t come just to exchange greetings.
“In truth, God has granted me a revelation. He told me to destroy the enemies of the faith.”
The somewhat chaotic atmosphere gradually settled as Glen’s gaze grew serious.
“At first, I thought He was referring only to the demon race. And in truth, that was part of it. But God showed me another enemy.”
“…Another enemy, other than the demon race?”
At that moment, Judith’s eyes widened.
“The Black Order!”
Madness began to swirl in his eerily opened red eyes.
He really did have sharp instincts in situations like this.
“…That’s correct. When I followed the path God revealed to me, what I found there was none other than the Black Order.”
“I judged them. And after that, another revelation descended.”
Haven of the Wordsworth territory.
Next, Veronia of the Veronia territory.
Then, Honello of the Langlois territory.
Glen told them of everything he had experienced while dealing with the Black Order.
Judith and Katrin, who had searched for them for a long time only to come up empty-handed, soon changed their expressions and nodded repeatedly.
“And recently, God entrusted me with an important task.”
That task was the annihilation of the Black Order.
Glen said that this time, God had revealed to him the locations of all Black Order members hiding in Istirenne.
“He has given me an important mission, but unfortunately, I am still lacking. That is why I came to request help from the Heresy Inquisition, including the two of you.”
“I’ll help.”
As expected, Judith answered without hesitation.
“……”
On the other hand, Katrin hesitated.
She was considering Glen’s request realistically, from a realistic standpoint.
‘If the Saint truly said that, then this must be the perfect opportunity to wipe out the Black Order completely.’
“I also support you, Saint. However, when we consider various practical circumstances, it won’t be easy.”
The biggest issue was the lack of deployable forces.
The Papal State was on the verge of a Holy War against the demon race.
Because of that, not only the front lines but also the rear, including the capital, were heavily consuming manpower and supplies to prepare for war.
“In that situation, it will be difficult to strike more than 250 Black Order dioceses at once—over 50 of which are in the capital alone. And also… um…”
Katrin hesitated.
The issue she was about to mention was even more serious than the previous one.
“It’s fine. Please say it.”
“Most high-ranking priests probably won’t believe the Saint’s words.”
Glen nodded slowly, as if he had expected this.
“You may not know this, but Saint, you’ve recently become a hot topic in the Grand Cathedral.”
Recently, among the cathedral’s high-ranking priests and nobles, the name Glen Wordsworth had been frequently mentioned.
The reason was, of course, his near-impossible achievements at Aveneu Fortress.
“There were many stories—about you piercing the enemy commander after breaking through an army of the dead, or holding back ten times your numbers with only a thousand soldiers.”
Whether people believed those stories or not, the fact that he had become a topic of discussion itself was significant.
And that significance was likely not positive.
“That also means you’ve gained enemies.”
With two perfectly legitimate Saints already in the capital, there was no way the powerful figures there would look kindly on a Saint appearing in the provinces.
“And above all, Cardinal Grazia doesn’t seem to view you favorably either.”
Cardinal Grazia Deleda.
The highest-ranking priest after the Pope, and the head of the Heresy Inquisition.
“Although Judith here declared you innocent, it seems she’s still keeping a close eye on you.”
“I understand. Cardinal Grazia has always been that kind of person.”
