Chapter 80 - Episode 23: "I Shall Not Burn the Cathedral"
Good day! I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
Since I missed the chance to burn the mansion, I have decided to burn a human!
Dying quietly in a cell is boring! And the guillotine is also a bit lackluster!
Yes! Now is the time for execution by fire! They shall be burned at the stake!
Come to think of it, I burned the Fruitier bastard in a carriage! The Hornbone bastard is also worth burning! Oh yes!
"If it's under the jurisdiction of the Cathedral, won't it be difficult to interfere with Fawn's treatment from the side?"
"That is right. That is the problem."
Now then. Although I thought of doing it, it is difficult. This is the reality. I think it would be very fun if I could achieve it, but to achieve it, I must first do something about the Cathedral.
The Cathedral in Elsemarin is positioned as an independent institution, despite being in Elsemarin.
The ones running it are the religious organization of this country. At the top reigns the Saint, who is a symbol, and several high-ranking priests who actually run the place.
Incidentally, the financial resources of the religious organization are said to be mostly donations. Whether the reality is so is another matter.
And when a criminal involved with demons or forbidden spells appears, if it is judged to be beyond the Royal Family's control, that criminal is placed in the custody of the Cathedral. The Cathedral is, after all, the place where the top religious figures of this country gather. Exorcism and sealing forbidden spells are their specialties. Regarding that kind of "holy magic," the Cathedral is much more advanced than the magic research institutions around here.
And the Cathedral also makes several suggestions to the country.
Relief for the poor, tax reduction... well, they are a force that moves politics toward the direction of the weak, so to speak. On the surface, that is. Whether the back side is different is another matter. Yes.
...And so on.
In short, the Cathedral in Elsemarin is a kind of power that possesses rights independent of the royal authority!
Financial power obtained through donations and other means! Military power through unique magic! Political power to interfere in politics!
The Cathedral, which combines all of these! It is truly impregnable!
"The Cathedral? I hate that place."
Incidentally, Chesta seems to have a bad impression of the Cathedral.
"They're always trying to crack down on me."
"Ah, that prosthetic arm is a forbidden spell, isn't it?"
Now that I think about it, Chesta's prosthetic arm moves normally, but if I think about it carefully, it is a product of a forbidden spell.
I wonder if he is using magic related to golems? If so, would it fall under magic that creates monsters? I wonder if I should let him disassemble it later...?
"Also, they're strict about alcohol and drugs."
"Chesta is exactly the target of the Cathedral's crackdown, isn't he..."
Well, it is the Cathedral. Alcohol is forbidden, and drugs go without saying.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks to that, I was chased around quite a bit, so I don't have a good impression."
...I shall refrain from asking what happened in the past. Yes.
"Violia. In other words, do you intend to bring the Cathedral into your hands as well?"
"Well, that is how it will be. Eventually. But that would be too late. I want to make a roast of Fawn right now!"
Just as I did with Elsemarin, I want to turn the Cathedral into a puppet, and I intend to do so eventually! But that would be too late!
If I am not careful, Fawn might commit suicide in prison! I will not let that happen! I want to burn him properly!
Therefore, I want to move the Cathedral immediately... and somehow bring it to the point where the great criminal of demon summoning is sentenced to execution by fire, but...
I shall think about it step by step.
"I think the first step to interfering with the Cathedral is to corrupt it from the inside."
Or rather, in reality, I think the inside is already corrupted to some extent. Otherwise, do you think such a grand Cathedral could be built with just donations? Absolutely not!
"I shall corrupt the inside and move the upper echelons of the Cathedral with money or weaknesses. That would surely be the quickest way."
"Hmm. I see. I also thought about just blowing up the Cathedral itself."
"That would also be wonderful, but if we do that, the scenery of Elsemarin will be ruined..."
The beauty of Elsemarin is the blue sea and the white Cathedral that stands out particularly well in that blue! It would be a bit of a waste to blow it up.
It is the town of Elsemarin that I have finally made mine. I want to maintain its beauty. Therefore, blowing it up is out of the question!
"Then, money?"
"Yes. The quickest way would be bribes in the name of donations. With that, we sentence Fawn to execution by fire. That would be the shortest path. Or perhaps, inducing public opinion is also a possibility depending on how we do it?"
Since the Cathedral is also a facility that advocates for the relief of the weak, if those weak... that is, the commoners, clamor to "burn the Hornbone clan at the stake," there is a high possibility they will be moved by it. Honestly, it is a hassle, though.
"The Cathedral is also an institution where power is involved. I honestly think it's best to just do something about the top."
"But we cannot reach the top..."
The top of the Cathedral would be the several high-ranking priests and the Saint. Among them, I feel like I can do something about the priests. It is a hereditary system and they are collecting donations like crazy; they are definitely corrupt.
However... the Saint is, if I recall correctly, born through an interesting system of selection for each generation.
For example, the previous Saint was supposed to be an ordinary girl from a farming village. She was chosen through academic exams, voting, and either a divine revelation or the preference of the priests, and she has become like a symbol of the Cathedral.
Therefore, even if you bribe the Saint, it generally does not work. Yes. Thanks to the wonderful system where the term is only for one generation, and also "only while the Saint is young and beautiful," the turnover is rapid, so there is no room for corruption.
"The Saint... isn't the current one already of a certain age, Milady?"
"Let's see... was she three years older than Onii-sama?"
"...Ah, then it's still too early for retirement."
Let's see... could it be that what Giovan is concerned about is...
"Does that mean we should push our own candidate for the next Saint and have that Saint manipulate the Cathedral to make a roast of Fawn?"
"Yeah. I thought of that for a bit, but well, that would also take time... yeah."
...If it is just for Fawn's execution by fire, it would be better to just move the priests with bribes. Yes.
However... I have thought of something good!
"Then I shall assassinate the Saint! And I shall make Keeb the next Saint!"
"No."
Keeb rejected it the moment I said it.
"Do not be selfish."
But I shall not give up.
"Who's being selfish here!"
I shall not give up!
"I will not let you complain about cross-dressing! That was the promise!"
"I don't remember making such a promise! Certainly, regarding the fact that I'd listen to one thing you say, 'don't make me cross-dress' was excluded from the conditions! But no one said I'd cross-dress as much as you want!"
Oh, was that so? ...But it does not matter! I shall still make him the Saint!
Keeb as the Saint! He would surely be cute! Besides, don't you think it would be wonderful for Keeb's position to be established?
I want Keeb to move in the public eye from now on. Therefore, I would be very grateful if he could acquire a public position, but...
"...Oh, that's right. Then I'll use that 'listen to one thing I say' thing right here."
"Oh, what is it?"
"I will not pretend to be a member of the clergy at all."
...Certainly, with that, he would refuse regardless of "cross-dressing"...!?
I am shocked. It is too much. I only wanted to see Keeb wearing the white, fluffy robes of the Saint, smiling and waving to the people from the terrace of the Cathedral. It is too much!
"...Making Keeb the Saint is a bit much, but I think the direction is not bad."
Oh. But such an affirmative opinion came from Doran!
"You wanted to avoid blowing up the Cathedral, right?"
"Yes. That building is beautiful."
Doran nodded at my words... and said.
"If the life or death of the people in the Cathedral doesn't matter, I think it's possible for us to break through by force, take Fawn out, and burn him at the stake for no particular reason."
...That is right.
There was no need to cozy up to power or move the Cathedral.
What I want to keep is only the white, beautiful building of the Cathedral. The contents do not matter!
In short! I should just remove all the contents! And Fawn! Regardless of the Cathedral's will! I should just burn him with my own hands!