(Th-this is bad, he suddenly cut right to the heart of it——!)
Luna, inside the armor, is breaking into a cold sweat, when her capable retainer immediately steps in to help.
“The Silver standing here is without question a member of the Saint’s party, and a companion who traveled with them three hundred years ago. That I will personally guarantee.”
He is not merely a member of the Saint’s party but the Saint-sama herself——but of course, there is no way to say that.
Meanwhile, the words of the great swordsman Zel appear to carry great weight with the Saint Faith, and the priests attending Wembley exchange hushed words with each other.
“If Zel-sama states it this plainly, then the ‘hidden hero’ really must have existed……”
“I agree. I can’t imagine a hero of his stature telling a lie. And our own investigation was hardly perfect.”
“According to the latest statement released by the Saint Studies Association, Silver-sama is supposedly ‘the No. 2 in the Saint’s party.’ Deceiving our eyes and concealing himself behind history——that would be trivial for someone like that.”
As the three settle into agreement, only the Pope continues pressing Zel.
“B-but——! In three hundred years of investigations conducted with the full force of the Saint Faith, no entity called Silver could be confirmed! Literature, murals, oral traditions, folklore, dance——we combed through every medium, and there was not a trace of full plate armor anywhere! Doesn’t that strike you as strange!?”
“Nothing strange about it. Silver was carrying out an ‘extremely particular duty’ at the Saint-sama’s personal command.”
“An——extremely particular duty……?”
“Should anything befall the Saint-sama, to quietly investigate the matter and pass appropriate judgment——what one might call ‘behind the scenes’ work. To fulfill this duty, Silver wore armor to conceal his identity and moved independently from the rest of us. He was thorough in ensuring that no record of himself would remain, so it follows naturally that no trace of him appears in history. Most likely even the Demon King’s army has been unable to identify him.”
Receiving Zel’s plausible fabrication, the priests shudder.
“As expected of the Saint-sama——! She anticipated every contingency and prepared a perfect response to each!”
“What unfathomable wisdom……! Truly, she is the one worthy of ruling this world!”
“Specialists say that ‘the most fearsome thing about the Saint-sama lies in her exceptional saint brain’——it would appear that claim is entirely accurate!”
As they heap sincere praise upon her——
(Zel really is brilliant……)
——Luna is sitting with her mouth hanging open, thoroughly impressed by her deputy strategist’s powers of argument.
“The Saint-sama places her complete trust in Silver and holds his work in the highest regard. He is, in the most literal sense, ‘the Saint-sama’s representative,’ and the words Silver speaks are the Saint-sama’s true intentions. Please bear this clearly in mind.”
“B-but, still——! In the memoirs of the founding Pope there is nothing about any of this——!”
Against the hesitating Wembley, Zel delivers the finishing blow in a sharp tone.
“What, then. Is the Saint Faith saying it cannot understand the Saint-sama’s true intentions?”
In that instant——
“””””……!?””””””
Wembley and the three priests all choke on their words.
Unable to grasp the Saint-sama’s true intentions——that is, in other words, equivalent to being a ‘heretic,’ the very thing they hold in contempt.
“I, I, I, I……I am……a devout believer, in service to the Saint-sama……!”
Wembley loses all composure——
“……No, no no no no no no! I am the Saint-sama’s loyal servant, I am emphatically not a heretic——!”
“I must understand, I must properly grasp the Saint-sama’s true intentions……!”
“My daily prayers have been insufficient, I must offer more and more and more faith——!”
——and the three priests look as if they might shatter at any moment.
“H-hold on, Zel, that’s enough——don’t drive them that far into a corner.”
“My apologies.”
Corrected by his master, the loyal retainer steps back one pace.
To settle the chaotic atmosphere, Luna clears her throat and moves the conversation forward.
“Wembley-dono, I understand your position. However, as a practical matter, I am here and I exist. And the great swordsman Zel affirms Silver’s existence as well. How do you account for this contradiction?”
Whether his own existence is a falsehood, or the Saint Faith’s investigation is in error.
The answer can only be one or the other.
Looking at the present situation objectively——with Zel, a living witness to history, affirming Silver’s identity, the argument tilts in Luna’s favor.
“…………”
Wembley keeps his eyes downcast and falls silent for some time, then slowly raises his face.
“Silver-dono is connected to the Saint-sama and is capable of communicating with her——is that understanding correct?”
“Yes.”
She swallows hard the words because I am her and keeps them down.
“Silver-dono is capable of bringing a matter to the Saint-sama for consultation here and now, on the spot——is that the right understanding?”
“Yes.”
She swallows those same words down a second time.
“Then there is ‘a way to confirm it.'”
“Confirm?”
“Please allow me to ask just one question. If you are truly the Saint-sama’s representative, if you are truly in communication with her and capable of consulting her, then you should be able to answer on the spot, right here!”
“……Hmm. Is this question of yours something the Saint-sama would be able to answer?”
Luna’s words lack their usual force and carry a certain faint weakness.
She doesn’t have a great deal of confidence in her own intelligence, when all is said and done.
She doesn’t think she is particularly dim——she actually thinks she’s quite sharp——but if asked something of high academic specialization, she cannot say with certainty that she could answer reliably.
For that reason, it was necessary to properly confirm what sort of question Wembley had in mind.
“My question is deeply rooted in the Saint-sama’s private life. If you consult her, the answer should come back immediately.”
“Hmm——very well. Please, ask whatever you like.”
Anything about herself, she can answer no matter what is asked.
Luna recovers her confidence and becomes visibly bolder.
And then——Wembley lets out a small breath and asks his question with a serious expression.
“Three hundred years ago, the Saint-sama was a certain kind of——”
He gets that far when there is a rapid knock at the door.
“I am deeply sorry to interrupt! I am Tselli Randoll, priestess of the Saint Faith!”
The Saint Faith priestess who visited the Holy Kingdom’s log house just recently.
“Please, come in.”
Given Luna’s permission, Tselli——
“E-excuse me!”
——immediately opens the door, bows, and hurries to Wembley’s side.
“Hey, this is an important dialogue. What on earth is the matter?”
“Pope Wither, as it happens——”
Tselli leans in and whispers, and Wembley’s expression floods with shock.
“What——that filthy cult!?”
“Yes, the northwest district is already completely devastated……”
“Ngh, what is the extent of the damage——!?”
“Fortunately, most believers had gone out for the ‘midday prayer,’ so it seems there are almost no injuries. However, the saint statue that serves as the principal icon was destroyed, and the cherished reproductions of the Red Book were also burned……!”
“Damn those heretic filth——!”
Wembley bites down with a look of furious rage, while——
(Ni-nice——! I don’t know who you are, but well done! At this rate, burn all the reproductions!)
——Luna gives a standing ovation deep inside her heart.
“I’ve had enough——this time I’ll wipe them out completely!”
Wembley leaps from his seat and turns his gaze to Luna and Zel.
“I sincerely apologize. I must deal with these heretic scum, so I will take my leave here.”
He exits at a rapid pace, and the three priests and Tselli hurry after him.
“……They’re gone……”
“That they would delay their discussion with us suggests something quite serious has occurred.”
“Yeah, it seemed like a genuine emergency.”
“Well, our matter is not so pressing that it needs to be settled today or tomorrow. We can speak with them again when we reschedule.”
“…………okay.”
Luna nods with obvious reluctance and a clearly unhappy expression, and begins taking off the heavy plate armor.
“Oh, this has been on my mind from the very beginning——Wembley-san is probably what we think he is, right?”
“Yes. I had been thinking ‘could it be’ partway through the investigation——and today, after seeing him in person, I became certain.”
“Right, he has to be a descendant of ‘Lord Wither’! His face and voice and way of speaking, they’re all identical!”
Johannes Wither, commonly known as Lord Wither.
He was the head of the Wither noble family——a great house stripped of its peerage three hundred years ago——and one of the ‘Three Blades’ that the emperor of that era trusted above all others.
Wither was a devoted——no, fervent devotee of the Saint.
He deified Luna’s existence and affirmed her in everything.
His faith was intense enough that he sometimes drove himself to radical action——and yet he was a man of such character that he was called ‘the conscience of the Empire,’ earning the absolute trust of his people.
“That the Wither name carries on in the role of Pope suggests that Lord Wither was the founder of the Saint Faith.”
“That’s probably right.”
Luna and Zel’s deduction is correct, and the founding Pope of the Saint Faith was indeed Johannes Wither.
“Lord Wither’s loyalty was genuine. Like the first Reinhardt, he was a man one could rely on.”
“That’s true, but……”
Three hundred years ago, when the entire world called for Luna’s execution and even the Emperor assented——Wither alone raised his voice against it.
But one man’s power was not enough to change a runaway public opinion, and the burning proceeded regardless.
Wither was furious, and with ten likeminded comrades who revered the Saint, he left the Empire.
Wielding his overwhelming charisma, political acumen, and powers of negotiation, he built an ‘enormously large organization’ from scratch.
That was——the Saint Faith.
Wither was a man who weighed one Saint against the entire Empire, and chose Luna without a moment’s hesitation.
His loyalty was not the slightest bit inferior to Zel’s.
“Judging from today’s exchanges, Wembley appears to be the same. And the loyalty of the Saint Faith’s believers also appeared to be something truly out of the ordinary.”
“Everyone’s ideology was pretty intense……”
As Luna gazes at somewhere far away, Zel offers his own thoughts.
“As the Saint-sama is well aware, the Holy Kingdom is struggling severely with a labor shortage. If we were to designate the Saint Faith as the state religion while correcting the excessive praying and proselytizing——and make use of them as a labor force. This would be the most flavor-rich move available.”
“Mmm, mm-hmm……I’ll consider it positively……”
And as the Saint Faith conversation reaches a natural pause, Zel strikes his hands together as if he has just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, tomorrow Leticia-dono and Ramza-dono will be coming to visit. If you are willing, would you care to attend as well, Saint-sama?”
“Leticia-san and Ramza-san? What are they planning to do?”
“The intention is to demonstrate the connection between the Holy Kingdom, the Godba Territory, and the Kasorla Territory to the world, while discussing future exchanges of personnel, technology, and resources. Since it is the first meeting, the primary significance is introductory.”
“I see……. It sounds sort of nation-building and interesting, so I might as well join.”
“Yes, understood.”