I Am Raising a Daughter in This Life

Sheep (2)

Two months ago.

Having had a private meeting with Pope Uradio III, I got to the point first.

“I have a good way to wipe out the traitors of the Church, would you like to hear it?”

The pope’s eyebrows twitched at the word traitor, and the paladins who were standing behind him sharply glared at me.

What the hell are you talking about in front of the pope?

But I had no reason to be frightened by such a thing, so I just stared Uradio in the eye.

Uradio stared at me with eyes that were particularly bright even in the middle of a face full of wrinkles.

As expected, even I couldn’t tell the depth of the eyes.

how long has it been like that

Soon, Uradio smiled quietly and calmly opened his mouth.

“First, let’s have a cup of tea. How is it?”

“… … Let’s do it.”

It was clear that if Miriam found out that she had said this right after her private meeting with the pope, she would have said she was crazy.

But I had good reasons, for I knew that the Pope’s time allotted to me was not very long.

In addition, it was clear that the words coming out of the pope’s mouth would take up a considerable amount of time while talking about being a benefactor of the church, so he decided to start with the main topic.

After each of them took a sip of tea, Uradio spoke first.

“Sir Irvin somehow seems convinced that there is a traitor among us.”

“kyung?”

“It is only natural to give the benefactor of the Order an honorary paladin, so wouldn’t it be appropriate to call it that? I haven’t had an appointment ceremony yet, but I guess you don’t like such a cumbersome thing?”

“You are correct. I was somewhat rude, but I will take it as a sign that you trust me and keep talking.”

As I said that, I took out the documents I had previously collected at the secret base of the Dark Truth Church and poured them out on the table.

The paladins had no choice but to be wary of the sudden protrusion, and I spread my arms lightly as if to confirm it comfortably and said.

“Read it first. After reading it, you will have many stories to tell.”

“Hmm.”

The pope as well as the paladins who were escorting the paper came out with puzzled eyes and took turns looking at the documents.

Uradio quietly looked at the documents and let out a drool, then picked up one and began to examine it carefully.

The wrinkles between his wrinkled eyebrows grew even more, and he quickly scanned the document and handed it over to the paladin behind him.

It wasn’t long before the paladin’s expression turned to astonishment once he had accepted it without lowering his guard.

The data they handed over contained a list of spies of the Church of the Dark Truth and the operations they had carried out in the past.

Uradio, who had gone through all four documents in a not-so-long time, quietly put his fingers together and was lost in thought before looking at Irvin again.

“Yes, let’s pretend that these things Sir Irvin has collected are true. First, where did you find this?”

“This is their secret stronghold located in Lista. I got the documents from one of two places. After that, the secret base was neatly burned down.”

“There is only one left… … A story logo that will gather pests there. Will they obey your intentions?”

“Since they are not aware of themselves within the church, it is natural for them to be on their guard. One of them even rose to the position of high priest.”

At that, the pope did not change his expression, but the paladins behind him wriggled their eyebrows.

It’s like blaming them for their incompetence.

Of course, he said this on purpose.

“I took these materials out about a month ago. And they even checked in and out of what used to be a reserve base until recently.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve been researching such things.

All of the important documents are in my hands, so there was no need to rob them right now, so I used the Golden Bird Guild to monitor them from time to time.

It was because now was the time to pretend to be calm and draw out their vigilance to the fullest.

In fact, without any doubt, they were struggling to make the place that was a reserve base look like the secret base they originally used… … To be honest, it was so easy that I almost yawned.

Is it because I have a leisurely church life?

The pope, who is at the peak of that leisurely church life, was just going through the papers again in silence. Unlike just before, when I skimmed through it in an instant, this time I calmly read and organize my thoughts for about ten minutes.

As if the allotted time had already passed, one of the paladins looked at Uradio. Still, the agenda was on the agenda, so I couldn’t get my words out easily.

“Yes, Sir Irvin. Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Why did you doubt Brother Berretnio?”

Staring at me with sharp eyes unsuitable for his age, Uradio continued to speak with strength.

“No matter how much they discovered a secret base, they wouldn’t have even thought of trying it if it wasn’t for that prerequisite. Why did you doubt him… … What made you convinced that he was a spy?”

It was a natural question, if it was natural.

If I hadn’t known about Beretinio in the first place, I wouldn’t have even suspected that he was related to the Dark Truth Church, and I wouldn’t have even started such an investigation.

In addition, even though the investigation began immediately after the holy relic was delivered to the Holy Church, the result was too fast, so the Pope is also suspicious of me.

It meant that he had been monitoring the Holy Church from a long time ago.

Well, on top of that, if you know anything more, you should tell me.

I smiled and put the prepared answer into my mouth.

“I am very worried about my daughter.”

“hmm?”

“I heard that the person who bestows the blessing of purification on my daughter, Lise, is the high priest named Berrettinio. After that, what are you worried about? What should I do if something bad happens to Rize because of that person’s lack of skill? What if I pass it on to another priest? I couldn’t sleep because of my worries.”

“So you’re saying you did a background investigation on High Priest Berrettinio? If it was that much of a concern, wouldn’t it have been necessary to investigate it so thoroughly?”

“As I said, I am very worried about my daughter. In addition, during the background investigation, suspicious parts were found, so I dug more thoroughly. result… … As you can see.”

Uradio listened to my answer and slowly stroked my chin.

Even so, the clear eyes continued to stare at me, as if they saw right through me.

Of course, there was no way I was shaken there.

“Maybe we should reconsider making Sir an honorary paladin. It’s only when your tongue is so smooth that even Lunara will hate it.”

“Since it started with the pure heart of a father who cares about his daughter, won’t Lunara look down on you too?”

“If you’ve prepared that end in advance, it would be right for me to let you go at this point, hee hee.”

Should I say that he is also the head of a church?

Even though he knew there were many things I was hiding, he seemed to turn a blind eye to normalization of the church.

The story didn’t go in a bad direction, but I liked that I didn’t get involved with this person often.

While hiding that thought and answering with an ambiguous smile, Uradio opened his mouth again while collecting the documents that were scattered on the table one by one.

“First of all, I will do one more investigation on these materials separately. I promise that no information will be leaked to them in the process.”

“I will believe you.”

“and… … Don’t you have one more thing to explain to me?”

“Are you talking about how to hide dark magic and accept divine power?”

At those words, the paladins’ eyebrows twitched.

Probably because it made no sense at all to them.

On the other hand, the pope put the papers back on the table with a calm face and a satisfied smile on his face.

“As expected, it wasn’t written in the materials, but I thought you would know about it. If they’re really a bunch of bugs who wouldn’t mind chewing on them… … He must have been baptized in darkness. If you have dark magic in your body in any way, it is impossible to accept divine power.”

Divine power and dark magic are opposites.

Therefore, those who were baptized by the Dark Truth Church could not use divine power, and vice versa.

It was natural that he did not understand that he was displaying divine power as long as he held the position of a priest in some way.

“It’s simple. Dark magic is sealed deep inside the body.”

“It’s a seal… … Huh, indeed… … .”

“I don’t know the details of the sealing method, but if it succeeds, you won’t find even a trace of dark magic. Instead, conclusive evidence remains in the body.”

“I mean, let’s use it. If Sir is right, nothing is more certain than that. However… … .”

Uradio, who was shaking his head, soon put on an expression of incomprehension and added something as if muttering.

“Why were those people able to deceive Luna-sama’s eyes and accept the divine power… … I wonder.”

As if it was the same for the Paladins, he couldn’t say it openly, but he had a dissatisfied expression on his face.

The feelings I felt when I saw them like that were absurd.

“You really don’t know?”

“Hmm? that’s it… … Lu Nera controls the light and shines the darkness brighter than anyone else. No matter how much darkness was hidden inside, I thought that even that would be revealed, but according to your words, I was just fooled by the pests.”

“Isn’t the light shining on everyone equally?”

In order to edify me in my previous life, I weaved together the words of countless priests.

“They say they have darkness inside, but Lunara doesn’t discriminate even against them. Even to them, he willingly bestows his power. Isn’t that what the grace of light is like, Pope?”

“… … !”

At my words, Uradio showed a shocked expression, and the Paladins were no different.

After waiting for a while, the pope immediately closed his eyes, calmly made the sign of the cross, put his hands together and prayed quietly.

In addition, the paladins also closed their eyes and slightly raised their heads while muttering a prayer.

I didn’t expect a reaction like this.

After waiting for a while while watching those who were more upset than I thought, Uradio opened his eyes and saw me with a warm smile.

“The Lord has awakened me, who has grown old and my sight has narrowed before I knew it. Instead of being an honorary paladin, how about officially becoming a paladin of our church?”

“I’m sorry, but Lunara hates me.”

“Heh heh, I guess you’re good at joking. Didn’t the Lord say that all people are equal, heh heh heh?”

It’s true.

There was a time when I only prayed for years, but no one answered.

Is it because I prayed evenly to various gods?

Is it because I didn’t pray fasting?

Is it because they did not prepare an altar and pray solemnly?

Even those questions have been tried once upon a time, but none of them worked.

It was clear that the gods really hated me.

Those gloomy thoughts sneaked up on me, so I decided to finish the story after quickly exterminating them.

“Anyway, if they are confirmed as spies, can you follow my plan?”

“Of course. Of course I will review it, but I promise to respect your opinion as much as possible.”

“That’s enough. Shall we talk about the preliminary plan for the blessing of purification to be given to Rize?”

“That’s a quick change of personnel if you’re prepared… … .”

As we talked about the blessing of purification, I was already drawing a picture in my head of how things would unfold.

until that ending.

I could already see Beretinio rolling on the floor in agony, coughing up blood.