In the first place this religion is suspicious. It has been existing for more than 1000 years and yet it hardly spread outside its home country. This world is different from our world because there is magic. But even if magic makes the [God's miracles] seem typical, why is the rate that this religion spreads so low?
If by chance I could use healing magic in my old world, I would immediately be the founder of a new religion. Though there might be fellows that would call me a fraud, it would still be true that I cured injuries, so the person in question at least would still believe me. In here however, I will only be thanked and my actions won't be regarded as a [Miracle of God] because it is be magic and magic in here is considered as something ordinary.
Even if they said that it is religion, wouldn't countries have no way but to accept it if it was naturally strengthened in its surroundings? Besides, this is not about believing in god or not. This is more like mind-control.
In reality, there is no other state that has an alliance with this country. Is there something that is only present in this country, or rather, this plot of land?
No matter how much I think about it, is it useless to only think and compare it with the religions and common sense from my old world? Considering all of this, I should be doubtful whether this world is even round like earth.
Unlike the religions from our world, it feels kinda crooked. I can't feel that much for something like saving a person or for the sake of having a peace of mind. I feel that anything hostile shouldn't be allowed.
I understood this very well after coming to this country. There is absolutely some sort of opposite side to this county.
[I purposely got caught because this is what I thought]
『Ha...』
I explained the reason to Kohaku who looked doubtful while we are inside the underground prison. It is really the truth. True, even if I really rampaged there, wouldn't that one-sidedly make me a bad guy? I was certain I would get some evidence if I am caught. Well, I can't deny that I have done it forcefully.
『Then, what do you intend to do now?』
[... What do you think should be good to do?]
Kohaku eyes became more and more doubtful. I got it, I am joking.
[I guess Phyllis safety come first for now. Right? After that, we are going to gather information. So we have to get out now.]
The dim underground prison is about six tatami mats. It is a sturdy prison made of stone walls and pavements. Isn't this handling of a king from another country extreme even as a joke? This is excessive even if I denied your god that much. Or are you going to pretend I am ruffian who took the name of the King of Brunhild dukedom?
That's possible, if I am going to be executed. They will be able to do whatever they like after that. No matter what our country says, will this end with these guys saying that such person didn't come?
Well, that's fine. Let's quickly break out of here.
[Mirage]
I created an illusion of me and Kohaku, and placed it in the corner of the prison. After all, it will be troublesome to deal with the commotion if they found out that we escaped.
I thought of using [Gate], but there was barrier placed. Probably it was the suggestion of that bald priest. Well, there are still other ways to get out.
[Otto, I must conceal myself first]
Using the light magic [Invisible], I become transparent with Kohaku. With this Kohaku and me can see each other, but we should not be visible to other people.
I leave the prison by warping the bars with [Modeling]. I then properly restore the bars since leaving it like that will be bad.
When I climbed up the narrow stairs, I arrived at a stone passageway with doors lined up on the left and on the right. At the end of the corridor, I can see the stairs leading further up. This is still the underground so the prison guard should still be further ahead.
There are titles with numbers on the arranged doors, and I climbed up from the door with a [4] written on it.
[Map Search. Phyllis Rugitto]
『Acknowledge. Search End』
According to the map of the Sanctuary projected from my smartphone, it is to the right side. Is it prison door number [8]?
I put out the map immediately. Though my smartphone can be hidden with magic, the image projected on the air will remain as it is. After all, it will be bad if it is seen.
I opened door number [8], and descended the stairs once more leading to the dim underground portion of the prison. The stairs were ended shortly, and there was Phyllis bowing her head in the further side of the prison. Thank god. Is she really safe? It also doesn't look like she have been tortured.
Are? Is she not alone?? There is another person, lying down on the floor.
[Phyllis…Phyllis…]
Since I can't raise my voice that much, I call her out quietly. After several tries, Phyllis slowly raised her head.
[A voice... Who? Who's there..….?]
Phyllis started looking around restlessly. Ah, that's right, I did conceal myself.
I remove [Invisible], and show up.
[Your Majesty King of Brunhild dukedom...!!]
Leaving the surprised Phyllis aside, I bent the prison bars with [Modeling]. I nimbly slip my body sideways and enter inside. Un? It is slightly bigger than the prison I was in. What's with this discrimination!!
[Why are you here…..!?]
[I came to help you because I considered that it was my fault that you would be executed]
[No! It isn't His Majesty's fault! I am…..!]
[Shi~ your voice is too loud]
I panicked and quickly covered Phyllis' mouth with both my hands.
...... Fuu, is it alright? Did they(tlc: the guards) thought that she was still talking to herself or did they thought that she's not alone? There is no sign of a prison guard coming here.
[By the way, who is that person sleeping there? Is that person a woman? ]
[This person... no, this lady... is Her Eminence and the Pope of this nation, Elias Orutora-sama ~degozaimasu…..]
[Eh!?]
I unintentionally shouted, and covered my own mouth with my hands this time.
Elias Orutora!? The Pope....!? Eh, then who is the granny that I have met in hall a little while ago, the one with intense look !? …No, she is not the same. This person is completely different. I peep at the sleeping face once more. Though she is about the same age as the granny from before, this person here has softer expression.
[Eh!? This person is Elias Orutora!? I thought I have met the Pope just a little while ago]
[... That is probably another person. Is she about the same age as this person, but with sharper eyes?]
[Un, it felt like that]
[That person is probably Cardinal Kyurei. She is Cardinal Zeon's older sister]
So she is the elder sister of that annoying dude with a short mustache. Then, just wait a minute. Did they prepare a fake pope and made her do the audience with me? Does that mean that all the guys there were accomplices?? How did they come up with this?
[Sorry, I can't follow up with this story. Can you explain it properly?]
According to Phyllis story, it happened after she returned back home and told the details of what occurred to the pope and others. Having their own god denied, the cardinals got angry towards her for objecting against the teachings and ordered for her immediate execution. However, the one who intervened was the pope, together with some of the priests who also objected towards that decision.
Even if their surroundings did not think that the Pope denied their god by protecting her, Phyllis was still surprised. Nevertheless, it seems she was still brought here.
And after several days passed, the weakened Her Eminence The Pope was brought here.
[However, why was even the pope put in the prison...]
[... that is, in order to protect the secret of this country, ~desu...]
Her eminence the pope opened her eyes, and looked at me. Was she awake? The pope's right eye is blue and the left eye is light green. Don't tell me she possess magical eyes like Yumina?
[His Majesty the King of Brunhild, right?.... I am called Elias Orutora ~desogzaimasu...]
Her Holiness the Pope dejectedly raised herself up and named herself, but she seemed considerably weak. I need to have her recover first.
I cast [Recovery] and [Refresh], restoring her physical condition. And then I cast [Cure heal] as well. Though I was thinking why she didn't do it on herself, say because you don't particularly believe in god of light, it shouldn't restrict you to use the light magic, right ? Someone said that people possessing light or dark attributes are rare.
If it was similar to a fantasy game, the one who used healing magic would be someone like priest. Someone that healed by borrowing the power of god, which is kinda standard. If it was like that, the faith might have spread further more.
[... Thank you very much. I am all better now]
[I am very glad to hear that. And, why were you brought here? You said something about the country's secret]
[...]
The pope stayed silent for a while, and then she raised her face looking determined.
[It is a secret related to the founding of our holy country, but there is no meaning to hide it from you guys anymore as well. As Phyllis said, god of light Lars doesn't exist.]
I am surprised. For the pope herself to deny the supreme god, even Phyllis who is next to me is surprised.
[All the cardinals know about this. Even when I was a priest and became a cardinal, the previous pope told me of that as well]
Then it means the higher-ups knew about this, and yet they kept behaving like that god really existed. Is that it?
No, this is still strange. We know about this because we have actually met with Kami-sama, but it should be impossible for them to verify whether the god exist or not. How they can be sure the god of light Lars doesn't exist?
[Originally this area was the domain of magic beasts, demonkin and evil spirits. The one that appeared here was a priest of light referred to as Ramirez-sama. However, Ramirez-sama wasn't a priest]
[Was—not a priest…..?]
Is that the Ramirez guy who they said to have founded Ramisshu? What's going on?
[Ramirez-sama wasn't a priest, but was in fact a summoner magician. He was a magician with a dark attribute]
[Wh....!]
[They say Ramirez-sama called the god of light Lars-sama in order to cleanse this land. But the truth is different. What he called were the spirits of darkness using the summoning technique. And after using their power to subdue the magic beasts and demonkins in this area, Ramirez-sama thought of an idea, and put it into practice]
It is exactly as Kami-sama said, did he summon the spirits? Furthermore, not those of the light attribute, but of the darkness attribute. Either way, the one called Ramirez should have been a considerably strong person to summon a spirit. However, he had a plan?
[Ramirez-sama thought of building a kingdom on this land using the ability of the spirit of darkness to interfere with the minds of the people. Therefore, he made Lars religion. The spirit of darkness meddled with the minds of the people who were living in this area, and made them sympathize with Ramirez-sama's way of thinking. The majority of people accepted Ramirez-sama teachings without a doubt, and the country called Ramisshu Holy Kingdom was created]
OiOi, what's with that? Isn't this brainwashing? Well, it still might be different from direct brainwashing. But to make them sympathize with his ideas... wouldn't that be hypnosis?
[Was the mind interference of the spirit of darkness that strong?]
[It made it easier to accept Ramirez-sama ideas, but the effect seems weak against people that have magic resistance. For that reason, the existence of god of light Lars was invented. Mind Interference and God. By using those two, Ramirez-sama grasped the people's hearts]
What a horrible guy, this Ramirez fellow. This is definitely a secret that is not allowed to be leaked outside. The existence of the religious organization itself might collapse. The religious society who believes in the god of light was in fact founded by the power of a spirit of darkness.
[...I understand the secret of religious community, but why was Her Eminence The Pope locked here?]
[Since I protected Phyllis, they suspected that I might try to leak the secret. Also, Cardinals Kyurei and Zeon siblings were originally aiming for the pope position, so using this opportunity, they impeached me. Before long, I was made to take strange medicine. By the time I noticed, I was already in this state. It seems they didn't kill me in order to have me abdicate the Pope position]
I see. Since they were not sure for what reason I came to this country and in addition to the Pope not being there as well, did they decide to use a trick and see how things will go when I made a visit earlier? There is also the matter of Phyllis. They were mostly likely cautious. However, they handled it very carelessly and sloppily.
[But why did her Eminence the Pope protected Phyllis? From the standpoint of the pope, was there a necessity to save her who could shake the existence of the god with her speech?]
That's it. If I consider the viewpoint of the pope, the existence of Phyllis should only be a nuisance.
[... I believed in god, and became a priest. Furthermore, I could work really hard believing it was for god. But when I eventually became a Cardinal, I was informed of the truth that god didn't exist. After that, I was simply working for the religious group sake. For me who came to know the big secret, it was no longer possible to turn back]
Wow, so it was like that. You will absolutely be silenced if you try leaving the religious group. The dead men tell no tales. Now that I knew the secret of this religious group, I would share same fate.
[And by time I noticed it, I was suddenly on the Pope's position. It was an empty position, yet I couldn't abandon it. Then a few days ago, I heard Phyllis's story, The story that the god exists]
After saying that, the former pope turns her gaze to Phyllis. Then, the Pope addressed me with lively voice while being delighted and smiling.
[Do you understand my feelings at that time? The god of light Lars doesn't exist. However, a god definitely exists, and there is a girl that have met that god. The words of god that the girl heard, there was no wonder that I wanted to hear more. Don't you agree?]
[But didn't you even think that Phyllis might be lying?]
When I asked, the former Pope pointed to her left eye. The light green color of her pupil became dense.
[I have a magical eye that can see through person's lies. It's also one of the reasons why I was chosen as pope... I immediately understood that Phyllis wasn't telling any lies. I got to know that a god really exist. I was very happy and I was also very envious of her because I also wanted to meet god...]
Her eminence the pope muttered sadly. Ah, somehow, I can read just how things will develop after this. Just now, I clearly saw the risen flag!
I look at Kohaku on my side. See! He totally stopped!
[Did anyone call me~?]
Cladded in dazzling light particles, Kami-sama descended in this dark dungeon.
Like I said, this Kami-sama jumps in too easily!