◇ ◇ ◇
Around two weeks after that...
That night, Souji was in a certain pleasure quarter in the holy capital Yumuen.
Yumuen could have been called the Mecca of Lunarian Orthodoxy, but for as long
as there were people living there, there would be a pleasure quarter where they
could drink alcohol and fool around with women. Though there were no clergymen
visible in the pleasure quarter, they were probably just in plain clothes and blending
in with the ordinary customers. There was probably only one clergyman bold
enough to come here and fool around in his (already modified) priest's uniform, and
that was Souji.
The sole reason that most of the donations Souji collected went to Cardinal Gold
was to protect this freewheeling lifestyle of his. Souji had no desire for large
amounts of money himself. In order to live freely in this city of prudes, he needed a
powerful backer.
As Souji was walking down the street, a drunk old man who was drinking in front
of one of the shops called out to him.
"Hey there, delinquent bishop. How's it hanging?"
Souji turned to the old man and waved. "Hey, Pops. Thanks for all the donations."
"Well, it's not like I have anyone else relying on me," the old man said. "If the
country's gonna take it all when I die, I'd rather use it for my drinking buddy."
"Ha ha ha," Souji laughed. "Good for you. Let's drink again sometime."
He parted ways with the old man, and before he made it another ten steps, an old
lady in fine clothing called out to him. "What, you still haven't been fired yet? I don't
know why Lady Lunaria would go and make someone like you a bishop..."
"Hey, I thought I heard someone being nasty, but it's just you, Granny," Souji
bantered back. "You're still kicking? You sure Lady Lunaria isn't trying to tell you not
to stay away from her?"
"Hmph! If I die before you, you're going to pray for me, right?" she shot back. "If
an awful monk like you is the one saying my prayers, I'll get lost on my way to the
realm of the dead! I don't want that!"
"Ha ha ha. Well, live as long as you can then, you old bag."
They were saying horrible things to each other, but they were both so animated.
It was the sort of conversation they could have because they knew one another so
well.
Next, a woman in highly revealing clothes called out to him. "Sou, baby, you
haven't been coming out to play lately. The girls at the shop have missed you, you
know?"
"Right, I'll drop in next time I get the chance," Souji promised.
"You say that, but I've been hearing rumors that you've found a special someone."
"Heh, you think any woman'd come near me with this head of mine?" When he
said that and slapped the top of his smooth, tanned head, everyone nearby erupted
in laughter.
He was treated as a nuisance in the main church, but here in the pleasure
quarter, Souji was a popular guy.
While walking through the pleasure quarter like that, Souji suddenly came to a
halt. Then, turning around, he spoke in the direction of a dark alley.
"Why don't you just come out and show yourself already? I'm not into having
guys follow me around."
When he did, a man who was posing as a pilgrim with his whole body covered by
a dirt-covered hooded cape stepped out of the darkness. His face was covered by the
hood, but the pointed nose of what looked to be a male beastman was visible from
beneath it.
The man bowed to Souji without pulling back his hood. "My pardons for that.
When did you notice?"
"You've been following me since I entered the pleasure quarter, haven't you? I'm
a former adventurer, and detecting enemies was one of my roles in the party. I'm
sensitive to the presences of others."
"What is a man like you doing as a bishop?" the hooded beastman asked.
"I messed up in a dungeon one time and got hurt badly. It was in this country, and
while I was helping out the old bishop who took care of me... It just sort of happened
naturally. I built a connection with the believers then, and I've kept it up ever since
the old man passed away."
"I see..." The hooded man nodded in satisfaction, then walked toward Souji. Then,
putting a hand in his pocket, he tried to pull something out.
Souji readied himself, thinking it was a weapon, but he was less tense once he
saw the proffered item. The man held an expensive bottle of wine.
"I would like to share a drink with you. Somewhere quiet, if possible."
"...Hmm."
The man didn't seem to be an assassin sent by one of the higher-ups in the
church who wanted to get rid of him, so Souji let his guard down. There weren't
many beastmen in this country. If he wasn't an assassin hired by the church, this
man likely came from another country. What business could a foreigner have with
him?
Souji laughed. "Well, you wanna come back to my place, then?"
The hooded man said, "Yes, certainly."
And so, the two of them walked through the marketplace at night together.
Souji lived in a ramshackle house on the edge of Yumuen.
When they entered the dark room with no one else in it, the hooded man's nose
twitched. "This smell is..."
"Does it stink?" Souji asked with a laugh as he lit the candles. "I'm a man living on
my own, so sorry about that. Well, just try to put up with it."
"No, I think the place is well kept."
In fact, for someone of Souji's lighthearted and open-minded personality, the
room was meticulously clean. There was no trash left lying about, and no dust piled
up in the corners, either. What caught the man's attention more than that was...
"Is this smell... medicine?"
When the hooded man pointed it out, Souji stopped laughing. He stared at the
man for a while, then, as if giving up, he shrugged. "You've got a good nose on you."
"We beastmen do have quite sharp noses when compared with humans, yes." The
man pulled back his hood to reveal the face of a wolf. He bowed his head. "I am
known as Inugami. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Souji brought a hand to his chin and asked, "I don't mind us becoming
acquainted, but... is that your real name?"
"As you have inferred, the name is an alias."
"Of course it is. If a guy's gotta hide his identity to sneak into the country, there's
no way he could honestly give me his real name, now is there?"
Even as he said that, Souji was getting things ready so that they could drink. On a
narrow table, he laid out two glasses, along with bread and cheese. The two men sat
across from one another at the table, and started with an easygoing toast.
Souji poured the contents of the bottle he'd gotten from Inugami into the glasses,
and sipping away at it a little at a time, he asked, "So, where are you from?"
"Elfrieden... though I suppose I should say the Kingdom of Friedonia now."
"The place with a hero from another world as its king, huh?"
Serving as a bishop in a closed-off environment like the church tended to make
one a little ignorant of happening in the outside world, but even Souji had heard
rumors about the Hero King of Elfrieden. He had been ceded the throne immediately
after he was summoned, then he'd pulled the Elfrieden Kingdom out of its gradual
decline, eliminated threats to his rule by both internal and external actors, and now
he had even annexed the Principality of Amidonia, turning his country into a
powerhouse that could even stand up to the Empire.
Even just hearing this much, they seemed like the accomplishments of a man of
many talents, but little was ever actually said about King Souma's personal
contribution to all of it. In other countries, all they heard about were the Silver
Captain of the Royal Guard and the Red-haired Strike Force Captain from the
military, the Black-robed Prime Minister and Lord Ishizuka the God of Food from the
bureaucracy, and all the other people doing great things around him.
If they could have seen the Jewel Voice Broadcasts, things might have been
different, but the only achievement of King Souma's that was spoken of in other
countries was his having the wisdom to hire these men. That was why Souji didn't
know how to judge the hero king.
"The country itself seems to be prospering, but what kind of guy is your king?"
Souji asked.
"Well... I do not really understand him myself."
"Oh, come on..."
"His martial abilities are no different from those of the common people," said
Inugami. "Even with training, he would only be at the level of a rank and file soldier.
In terms of his ability to command, he leaves that to his subordinates, so I couldn't
say. He seems to have a good degree of ingenuity, but he uses it for creating new
systems for the country, and to do other things that are not immediately noticeable."
"He doesn't sound that great to me," Souji said.
Inugami grinned. "However, if I can say one thing about him, it would be that,
without fail, those who underestimate His Majesty always seem to find themselves
led by the nose into a nasty situation. Even the saint of Lunarian Orthdoxy was no
exception."
"A saint? Did one of the higher-ups do something?"
Inugami told Souji about what had just happened.
He mentioned that the Orthodox Papal State had offered the Kingdom of
Friedonia a deal where they would name King Souma a "holy king" in exchange for
making Lunarian Orthodoxy their state religion. Because of the danger of them
inciting followers of Lunarian Orthodoxy in the country to rebel, the kingdom had
found itself in a position where it would be difficult to refuse.
In response to this situation, King Souma had declined to be named holy king,
and had chosen to recognize Lunarian Orthodoxy as a "state religion." Then Souma
had addressed all religions in the country, notifying them of his intention that "Every
religion which registers and passes an investigation by the country will be
recognized as a state religion," thereby declaring that religions operating in the
country would be under his management in the future.
Souji was a little taken aback at first, but he soon let out an enthusiastic laugh.
"Ha ha ha, good for him! The higher-ups' scheming sure went awry there!"
In a way, he was laughing off the way his compatriots had been beaten. Then,
after draining the rest of his glass, he put it down on the table.
"Hmm... But will the higher-ups really stay quiet after that? Those guys're
persistent. Even if it's bought you some time for now, they'll come up with a new
move soon enough, don't you think?"
"Yes," said Inugami. "That was something that His Majesty was also concerned
about. That brings us to this." He pulled a letter from his pocket and offered it to
Souji. "That is a letter addressed to you from Prime Minister Hakuya."
"To me?"
"If you read it, I believe you will understand why, but our prime minister wishes
for you to come to the kingdom and become the bishop who manages the Orthodox
believers there."
"Me as the kingdom's bishop..." When Souji skimmed through the letter, he found
more or less the same thing that Inugami had said written out in polite wording. He
finished reading the letter and put it down on the table. "That makes sense. In other
words... by putting a corrupt person like me as your bishop, you want to sever the
followers of Lunarian Orthodoxy in the kingdom from those in the Orthodox Papal
State proper."
When the Orthodox Papal State gave directions to their followers in other
countries, they first went through the local bishop who represented the believers in
that country. From there, that bishop would convey the homeland's directions to the
individual churches throughout the country. So, if the kingdom could fill that
bishop's seat with a person who was not-so-loyal to their homeland and the main
church, one who could be easily won over to their side, it would be possible to shut
out any directives from the homeland.