245. The Emperor’s Eye (4)
The heart of Vaitas Church, ‘Adelochini’. This grand cathedral, usually referred to as the ‘Vaitas Papacy’, is a structure the size of a small town.
Every day, practitioners and pilgrims knock on the doors of the Papacy. Monks seeking knowledge. Knights who have voluntarily gathered from various places, and attendants working for the priests within the cathedral. Adelochini was a massive church equipped with all the living facilities for them.
Vaitas. The gatekeeper of the entrance to the Temple of the Gods, and one of the great deities who can decide whether to open the gates of the Temple of the Gods. Originally, the status of a god is built upon the years of divinity and the faith of the followers in the material world.
The scale of the ‘main hall’ of Vaitas Church is by no means excessive. A deep moat and towering city walls. The strong walls guarded by knights with gleaming lance blades and armor themselves proved the authority of the church.
And in the deepest and highest corridor of that massive fortress, Beorn was walking without a word.
* * *
Beorn was walking confidently with one eye wide open. Despite the long years, his robust physique still maintained its prime form, and even the simple monastic robe couldn’t conceal his build.
With neat steps and sharp eyes, he walked through the corridor, thinking. How wealthy this castle is.
For monks, frugality was not a virtue but an obligation. At least Beorn and his monastery lived by that belief. They believed that luxury and wealth inevitably lead to corruption.
-Ding. Ding. Ding.
The clear sound of bells occasionally came from outside the window. The singing of the choir practicing hymns. The soft cooing of pigeons, the shuffling footsteps of monks, and the low murmurs of prayers blended into a calm white noise that colored the corridor.
Everything seemed detached from the secular world, pristine. As if it had never been tainted by the dust of the mundane. The impression Beorn felt was sadness.
It was the sorrow of an old monk who had fully embraced the filth of the secular world, willingly staining the hem of his robe in the mud as he moved forward.
“Your Holiness. The head of St. Bartholomew Monastery requests an audience.”
His feet stopped in front of a massive door. It was a wooden door engraved with ornate carvings of biblical verses. As the attendant at the door spoke softly beyond it, a whispering sound was heard from inside the room.
“Let him in.”
The door opened, and Beorn stepped inside. Behind him, the door quietly closed.
Sometimes, cleanliness is not poverty. Even in simplicity and monotony, wealth can reveal itself. The Pope’s residence was also like that.
Never extravagant. Never excessive. But never, modest. Beorn, dressed in a pure white monastic robe, looked at the old man reading a book and thought that.
The Papacy was, by nature, a place that was the opposite of him.
“Beorn of St. Bartholomew Monastery greets His Holiness the Pope.”
“You’ve had a long journey, Monastery Head. Was there any trouble along the way?”
“Thanks to Your Holiness’s concern, the journey was uneventful.”
“What could this old body have done? Sit. Would you like some refreshments?”
The Pope smiled softly and handed him a teacup. Beorn sat by the large window overlooking the Papacy’s grounds.
“So. What brings you all this way?”
“Your Holiness. Regarding the recent series of events in the Empire, I could not report in writing and dared to come to seek your command.”
“What was the problem?”
The Pope looked genuinely puzzled. For the past 40 years, since Beorn joined Vaitas Church as a Heretic, the Pope had always maintained that expression.
The Pope is a lifelong position. The authority of the Pope, elected by the Conclave, is guaranteed until his death. And the current Pope, Paul IV, is immortal. A man blessed directly by Vaitas, the earthly representative until the Temple of the Gods closed its gates.
Therefore, the current Pope will continue his reign forever. In this era where the Temple of the Gods has closed its gates, Beorn was facing a sage god.
“Your Holiness. Vampires have been recognized throughout the Empire.”
“Not just the Empire. Aren’t they common monsters all over the world?”
“Vampires cannot be placed on the same level as ordinary trolls or ogres. Although not creatures of demons, vampires are clearly one of the diseases gnawing at civilized society.”
Vampire hunting is outside the rights of Vaitas. The ‘purification’ targets recognized by Vaitas are only demons, heretics, and witches, and their hostility is limited to demons, demonic creatures, and minions of demons.
Therefore, intervening in the political situation of secular kingdoms to hunt vampires is an internal interference on the council level and a violation of the ‘non-aggression pact’ of the Temple of the Gods Church.
“And?”
“……Also. Clear signs of heresy have been detected in the Emperor of the Empire. Your Holiness. A Heretic monk assigned to the Ribue region recently passed away.”
“May the Temple of the Gods bless him.”
“Yes, the brother must have finally found the peace and tranquility he never had in life in the arms of the sanctuary. But secular society is not like that. The heretic he was tracking was found to be either a subordinate of the Emperor or at least closely connected to the Imperial family.”
So, please authorize an investigation into heresy within the Imperial family. Beorn concluded his words and looked at the Pope. The Pope still wore an inscrutable smile.
Originally, heresy investigations prioritize action over reporting. If suspicious circumstances are detected, an investigation must be conducted, and a report follows.
However, the target is the Emperor. The ruler of the entire eastern civilization of the continent. Touching the Imperial family is not just a religious matter.
It is an issue that will inevitably have political and diplomatic repercussions. Therefore, Beorn had to first seek the Pope’s opinion on this matter.
“This old body has also read that report directly. Monastery Head. Have you forgotten who the brother sent to that region earlier?”
“……Second-class Inquisitor Fernandez.”
“Yes. Our saintly brother.”
The Pope put down his teacup and turned his gaze for a moment. On the table were the books the Pope had been reading. The books had no covers. That meant they were documents requiring secret clearance.
“This old body has lived a long life. A lifespan granted by the Lord, so I have lived a life fully dedicated to Him. In the process, I have read and seen many things. Pure things, corrupt things. Without discrimination. Only as a means to preach the will of the Lord.”
The Pope handed Beorn a file. Beorn took the file but dared not open it. It might have been the kind of document that couldn’t be read without the Pope’s clearance.
“Some books I have read repeatedly. And among them, a very few books have always brought new inspiration to this old body. Like the Bible, which contains the words and teachings of the Lord.”
The Pope gestured. It meant to open it. Beorn carefully turned the first page of the report. And beneath it, familiar handwriting was visible.
“Recently, such books have increased, making me very happy.”
“It’s Brother Fernandez’s report.”
“Yes. Our saintly brother’s report from his first mission to the most recent operation.”
The book even includes reports. That document is classified as one of the highest-level secret texts of the Church.
Of course, it’s natural. Simply by documenting the existence of demons, the text is treated as a classified Church document.
Moreover, Fernandez’s reports not only contain the secrets and scandals of the secular royal families but also reveal the Church’s direct intervention in the kingdom’s affairs, and furthermore…
“What would you call this era?”
“…Huh?”
“What do you think defines an era, Monastery Head? A few major events. For example, the sealing of the Temple of the Gods. Or the outbreak of the 50-Year War. And the appearance of the Saint.”
The reason Fernandez’s report had to receive the highest classification.
“The existence of the Great Demon, and the death of such beings.”
In the folk beliefs spread among the secular world, the term ‘Great Demon’ doesn’t exist. It was a concept only circulated within the Church of the Temple of the Gods and heretical sects. The story of the five powerful demons, comparable to gods, was just that.
And no one ever thought that a Great Demon could be killed. The idea that such a being could be subject to the concept of death was unthinkable.
It was a proposition on the same level as killing a god. And if it’s on the same level, then the one who killed a Great Demon is, paradoxically, equivalent to one who could kill a god.
From the Church’s perspective, gods must be immortal. They must be omniscient and omnipotent. Therefore, the Church had to hide the existence of the Great Demon, and beyond that, events like the ‘death’ of a Great Demon.
In this era. Except for a few involved parties, no one outside the Vaitas Church knows the fact that ‘a Great Demon was slain.’ That’s the reason.
“So, does that mean we should overlook the fact that such a brother was involved in the Empire’s incident?”
“You don’t seem pleased?”
“Yes, Your Holiness. The St. Bartholomew Monastery and the Inquisition Office judge heresy with horizontal equality, regardless of the severity of the incident or the rank of the individual.”
“That sincerity is a model for all believers.”
“The mission Your Holiness personally assigned to the Saint Brother was to turn the Eastern Kingdom’s gaze toward the Empire. However, Your Holiness. I believe the mission you gave was not to recognize the existence of heresy and ignore it.”
“No, that’s correct.”
“Huh?”
Beorn looked at the Pope with trembling eyes. The Pope is not an object of faith. The Pope’s authority is recognized solely in the name of the Lord, and the Pope’s divinity is rightly treated as a worldly deity.
Among the Pope’s vast powers are the ‘Primacy’ and ‘Infallibility.’ The Primacy is ‘the universal, complete, and direct authority over all churches.’
And Infallibility is ‘the authority to guarantee that no error exists in the proclamation of all doctrines of faith and morals.’
These are powers too great to be granted to any human. If any human’s words were to be considered entirely, without a single error, as truth itself. If someone were to say that, Beorn would start a heresy inquisition.
But not the Pope. The Pope’s words, in any case, any utterance, are accepted as truth. Powers no human can possess. Hence, he is a worldly deity.
Therefore. Beorn had to accept it. The Pope did not consider Beorn’s shock as disrespect and continued speaking slowly.
“Brother Fernandez must surely be aware of the Empire’s corruption. During the operation, he won’t directly attempt to judge the Emperor’s corruption. In other words, the operation I ordered could also be seen as condoning the Emperor’s corruption.”
“…How on earth did it come to a situation where we must acknowledge the existence of heresy?”
That topic was everything to Beorn. Everything that defined his life. Everything that directly contradicted his values.
“The Church is living on borrowed time.”
The Pope turned his gaze away from Beorn’s burning eyes and looked out the window. The clean and orderly view of the Papacy spread out before him.
“Secular authority grows day by day, while the Church’s authority wanes with each passing day. It has been over thirty years since the Temple of the Gods was sealed and the Lord bestowed His grace upon us directly. In the current situation, the ripple effects of the recent ‘Holy War Proclamation’ are felt throughout the Church of the Temple of the Gods.”
Beorn could only remain silent at those words. Since he was the one who requested the Holy War Proclamation. Immediately after reading Zephis’s report, he had no choice but to request a Holy War from the Papacy.
The demon incident that began in the north led to the summoning of a Great Demon, and ultimately, a Hell Gate opened in the north. In a situation where there was no time for cross-verification, the best alternative he could take was the ‘Holy War Proclamation.’
But because of that, the Church lost much of its reputation in the Eastern Kingdom. If someone had to take responsibility, it should have been Beorn.
“I’m not blaming you. I’m just stating the result. The secular royal families of the Eastern Kingdom are still suspicious of the Church of the Temple of the Gods, and there are royal families that continue to directly inquire with this old man.”
“I apologize.”
“No, I said I’m not blaming you.”
The Pope smiled warmly as he spoke.
“But I hope you understand that the Church had no other alternative. And Brother Fernandez, as a solution to that, proposed on the spot a plan to ‘sacrifice the Emperor to shift the Church’s burden.’ What do you think?”
“It’s extremely cunning.”
“And extremely genius.”
Beorn felt a sense of pride. Excluding the special status of being a Saint, Fernandez was one of his direct subordinates.
“That brother is not even twenty years old yet. And the information he had was limited to his childhood in the Sernerd Barony and the two years he spent in the monastery. Simply put, he already knew information beyond what he could have obtained and acted beyond what could be expected of someone his age.”
“What does that mean…?”
“Even if we assume there’s an unparalleled genius. Even if we say the Lord forged that brother as a sword to save this fallen, apostate era, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”
The Pope pointed at the report and said.
“In his first mission, he killed a demon. Using the information obtained from that demon, he deduced other cultists. In the process of exterminating those cultists, he saved the Phaeirn royal family, and immediately after, he seized the most outstanding port city in the Eastern Kingdom’s trade ports from the elves and gifted it to humanity.”
“…”
“In the Dane Kingdom, he recreated the legend of an ancient king and saved a fallen royal family. In the Great Wilderness… Haha. He broke the seal of the Great Demon and directly destroyed that being within it.”
As the Pope flipped through the report page by page, he continued.
“In the north, he crossed the demon gate, killed demons directly, and rescued the gods of the Northern Temple of the Gods, bringing one of them to the continent. How many years did it take to get this far? Even if only half of what one person achieved were successful, it would already be a lifetime achievement worthy of sainthood.”
“It was two years.”
“Yes. Just two years. Just. The time it takes for a toddler to call their mother for the first time. In that time, that brother killed two Great Demons and completely overturned the continent’s political landscape. It’s not an achievement that can be accomplished at that age. It’s not an achievement a ‘human’ can accomplish.”
“What you’re saying is…”
“An individual’s genius and abilities can transcend age. If the Lord forged a Saint, it’s entirely possible. But information is unbiased. How should we interpret the fact that he already knew information he couldn’t have obtained?”
As he closed the last page of the report, the Pope declared.
“Brother Saint is a prophet.”
“A prophet… Are you saying?”
“If he already knew future events, then that’s what it means. Brother Fernandez can only be a prophet. And if a being with foresight also possesses the sense to use that foresight to establish strategies.”
And if that being said, ‘I will bring down the Emperor.’ Then it will surely happen. That was the Pope’s judgment.
“Therefore. Brother Beorn. It’s not yet time.”
It’s not yet time for the Church to judge the Imperial Family. That ‘time’ will be announced by their Saint. And on that day…
Justice will finally stand upright.
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
