Chapter 182 Conclusion (Part II)
“Sister Tarlasya.”
In the darkness, Captain Salamus initially felt a jolt of excitement, but then it seemed he remembered something, and his smile vanished faster than a magician’s rabbit. He took two steps back, his right hand instinctively reaching for his sword, snorting, “You’re quite the cunning one, I see. You must have predicted the situation in the town already…”
“What? Planning to wait here to k*ll me and collect my head to present as a trophy to the Northern Army? Or have you betrayed His Holiness the Pope, abandoning the justice and faith you once preached, and from the start, simply become Skarlij’s good little dog under the Church’s banner?”
While he spoke, he was on high alert, watching for an imminent attack while also scanning for a potential escape route. Despite being disheartened, the man was unwilling to d*e at the hands of such a despicable traitor. If escape was impossible, he’d fight with everything he had—even if that was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
However, he noticed the other man slowly shaking his head. “I’m here hoping you’ll still be alive.”
This response made Captain Salamus furrow his brow deeper.
“You can’t escape.”
He saw the man raise a hand, causing a sudden jolt of alarm in his chest. But there was no aggression there; he simply pointed to the pitch-black sky. “Can you hear the raven’s call? She has already found you.”
!
Salamus jerked his head upwards.
Caw—
As if to confirm Tarlasya’s words, the raspy caw echoed through the night.
Of course, the man had heard that eerie sound before.
But he’d never realized it was a method of tracking by the enemy. He hadn’t heard of any species of raven being trained to possess such remarkable detection capabilities on the battlefield.
No wonder…
No wonder those two could find him and Anseier in such a short time. They had an ability comparable to a celestial bird’s keen vision… If that’s true, escape would truly be challenging.
Most importantly, his subordinates seemed to be trapped as well…
Salamus slumped his shoulders.
“Ha—”
He let out a long breath, relaxing his guard and looking at the tall man ahead. Suddenly, he chuckled. “Should I thank you for telling me this? Knowing it should help me come up with a way to deal with it.”
“No, you can’t shake off that raven’s tracking.”
Tarlasya attempted to dash the young man’s hopes. “It’s special, an existence I can’t fully understand even now. I’ve had close contact with it, and it’s more intelligent than a bird—quite unfathomable. Once it locks onto a target, I fear even I could not escape those crimson eyes’ watch.”
“……”
Salamus narrowed his eyes slightly. “So you admit you’ve been Skarlij’s lapdog all along.”
Faced with such a biting insult, Tarlasya remained unfazed, slowly shaking his head. “I have no dealings with the Northern Army.”
“Then—”
Salamus squinted even more. “You’re one of Saint George’s pets?”
“I’m nobody’s pet.”
In the dark, the Pope Knight’s expression was calm as he spoke in a deep voice: “Like you, I act for the results I desire. However, some things will never be seen unless you step outside the circle the Church has drawn.”
“Such as?”
Salamus perked up at this, interest piqued.
“For example, someone aims to replace the deities and, in doing so, commit far more inhumane acts than those at the Gate of Truth.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“If you’re willing, put down your sword and order your men to surrender. Stop the senseless sacrifices—both here and at the Moon Mountain Gorge.”
“And what if I don’t want to?”
“Then I can’t save you.”
“What if I’m determined to d*e?”
“Wanting to d*e is one thing; what about your Fourth Knights Order?”
“……”
Salamus remained silent.
“Saving them means saving yourself,” Tarlasya continued. “I might as well tell you, the Northern Army has received reinforcements—reinforcements that are nearly impossible to defeat by any means. You’ve felt that power, but I assure you, what she displayed today was merely the tip of the iceberg. Even against Sister Kaimilante, it’s the same.”
“You cannot defeat her head-on. No one can. And should she wish to eradicate you, it would be as easy as squashing an ant. It won’t matter if you resist with everything you’ve got; the outcome will only be one—an overwhelming power I never anticipated. You’re, in a sense, resisting a ‘deity.’ I can only tell you this much.”
“You trying to turn me?” Salamus asked.
“I’m trying to save you.”
Tarlasya attempted to get closer. “Salamus, you’re talented; you shouldn’t d*e here for no reason at all. You’re not someone who craves wealth. You understand the Church wants to exploit the Empire’s wealth accumulated over the past century through this war, aiming to seize control of the Northern Central Workshop.”
“I know what they’ve told you: West Continent needs Silgaya to quickly restore its productivity from two years ago, ensuring the land’s prosperity and stability for the next five or ten years. In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken to clear all obstacles, no matter the cost…”
“But what if I told you that much of what you aim to plunder from the Northern Region—over half of it—is not to restore the agrarian south of Silgaya, not to build farms? Those who have lost their homeland, their land, still live perilous lives fighting for food, even devolving into cannibalism.”
“And the knights risking their lives are not bringing peace and prosperity but serving the Church’s upper echelons, who are determined to replace and become new deities, willing to employ repugnant methods to further torment the suffering masses, while the money you send to the Currency Exchange fuels the wicked intentions of those saints—”
“Wait a minute.”
Before Tarlasya could finish, Captain Salamus interrupted.
The young man looked at the Pope Knight who had stepped right in front of him, his expression slightly odd, a smirk creeping onto his lips.
“Sister Tarlasya, if I’m guessing right, you’re referring to the ‘Fate Project,’ aren’t you?”
“……”
The tall Pope Knight suddenly stiffened.
This guy knows…
He thought to himself as he heard Salamus say, “You don’t really think that guys like us, filled with a sense of honor and loyalty, are just a bunch of clueless fools manipulated by the Temple Church, mindlessly following orders without questioning, right?”
“You can’t possibly think we’ve all gone astray, that our deeply held beliefs are fundamentally wrong, the result of brainwashing, while I’m just ignorant, believing everything I’m told, leading the Knights Order to protect Chielis City, getting His Majesty Kaynse to sign tax agreements, and unconditionally trusting the Rodris family, thinking they’d use the tax funds to help the people?”
“Sister Tarlasya,” Salamus looked at the face in front of him, at the impressive, towering figure able to easily lift him with one hand, finding it increasingly amusing, “I’m starting to wonder if you’re genuinely stupid or just pretending to see me as a fool.”
“……”
Now it was Tarlasya’s turn to be silent.
“I don’t care whose dog you are.”
Salamus took a step back, pointing at him. “Whether it’s Skarlij, Saint George, or even the King of Ethanbel, you all seem to regard the Church as this supposedly righteous but fundamentally dirty sect… Don’t rush to deny it; your words make me think you at least believe this.”
“The upper echelons are greedy to a fault, the lower classes are stubborn and ignorant, there are heroes, but more often than not, there are just old fools, blind believers, treated like pawns… Thinking this way isn’t wrong; there are indeed plenty in the Church who don’t know what they’re doing, like Kaimilante or even the Saint.”
“If you truly are with Saint George, you might see Cardinal Nero’s actions as heroic, even if they’re extreme and inadvisable. But Saint George will tell you, that’s the so-called ‘resistance’ against destroying your understanding of the Fate Project, the inhumane Mother Deity experiments that treat ordinary people as cattle, so that someone within the Church’s high ranks can become a deity, and you already know who that person is.”
The young man tightened his cloak, his expression dripping with sarcasm. “Yes, that’s right. What you think is true. In fact, maybe you’ve seen some things with your own eyes. The Fate Project is escalating out of control, costing countless lives. We even lost a Cardinal—Lord Michel, and you might know this fact and think it’s deserved.”
“But—”
“This is merely your perspective.”
“Just as you think we’re living under deception. And you, you all are enlightened beings… believing the Church that abuses its people must be thoroughly reformed, and you’re taking action for that, thinking it’s the right thing to do…”
“But Sister Tarlasya, have you considered that perhaps the truth you believe you’ve seen is also a result of someone else’s embellishments?”
Salamus paused.
He looked at Tarlasya with an expression of disdain gradually forming. “Since you feel you know everything, have you considered this one question… Why do we do this?”
“Why do we disregard everything, sacrifice so many lives, and strive to replace the deities… Hmm, which of your mouths whispered that ‘replace’ word? And did they tell you what our true purpose is? With that many people, Cardinals, Archbishops—are they all foolish pawns duped by lies just to gamble their lives for one person’s greed and ambitions?”
“If so, how long could that high-ranking individual withstand their position? Are the owls merely decoration?”
“Haha.”
Salamus suddenly burst into laughter at Tarlasya’s silence. “Sister Tarlasya, let me tell you what you all… or rather, Saint George, is really up to.”
