Chapter: 607
In the early dawn, where prayers haven’t even begun because it’s just too early, Cardinal Cesare visits the church’s confession room.
Those who know his whereabouts say it’s thoroughness to not overlook even minor sins, but the reality is a little different. Cardinal Cesare doesn’t avoid confession.
He always considers himself a sinner, and thus, he offers repentance to Heaven every single day.
Even while knowing his actions are wrong, he petitions to be sent to hell for having to continue them.
So what’s different?
It’s what happens after the confession.
Cesare doesn’t immediately leave the confession room once he’s done.
Instead, he approaches the idol and places the Hero’s Necklace, which bears the marks of the great Lord Jushin, before it.
To see his sins with his own eyes, he faces everything directly in order to descend into hell.
“I didn’t want to see you again like this, Cardinal Cesare.”
Knowing his sins better than anyone else, the Cardinal couldn’t help but freeze at the moment he faced the Saintess’s face and the necklace hanging from her neck.
The fact that someone who truly possesses the Divine Grace has visited this place means that all of his sins have been uncovered.
“…Well, I see. I feel the same way, Saintess.”
There’s no room for excuses, but that’s fine. There’s no problem. I never intended to make excuses from the beginning.
“Why would someone so faithful do such a thing?”
“It truly pleases me to hear you call me faithful, Saintess. So, I’ll answer you clumsily. Because I am faithful.”
If he had held onto his faith only halfway, he wouldn’t have even thought of acting against it.
If he had been as wicked as those who died below, he wouldn’t have had to wrestle with such thoughts.
Because he was faithful, because he resolved to dedicate everything to God, he chose sin.
“Let me tell you in advance, I won’t withdraw quietly.”
The Saintess’s reputation, built on many accomplishments recently, soared high.
Even someone who wouldn’t normally be welcomed would be if she personally took a stand.
So if she directly vetoed this, it would cause a huge stir, indeed.
However, Cesare had anticipated this. He had known all along that it was a problem he would someday have to face as long as she bore the Divine Grace.
He had surely prepared for after being found out.
Even if she had truly become the genuine Saintess, it wouldn’t change the fact of his birth.
There are plenty of foolish trash who stubbornly cling to the past.
If he targets that aspect, dragging it out is a piece of cake.
“Are you trying to rationalize it like that?”
Seeing the knight emerge from the darkness, Cesare Cardinal found himself speechless. The knight’s white appearance was like the snowy fields of dawn, and it was the embodiment of Cesare’s sins.
“Ruel…!”
Why is the doll that should have been ruined by the Pope still intact? Could it be the Saintess’s doing?
“What changes if you keep repeating that it was something you had to do? Evil remains evil, wrong remains wrong, sin remains sin.”
In a time of turmoil that couldn’t even begin to compare to now, the words of someone who maintained righteousness carried immense weight.
That’s why Cesare couldn’t easily argue back.
Clearly, what he believed to be right, what he was certain would never waver—he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“Do you know why you hesitate to answer right now?”
That silence is shattered by Ruel’s doll, no, Ruel himself.
“Because it’s not your belief.”
“No. I stand here solely by my own will.”
“Then tell me. Prove that you’re right. That your sins were inevitable! Speak boldly!”
Cesare didn’t nod along with the Pope in a light-hearted way. It isn’t easy for someone who had hoped to be cradled in God’s embrace for life to choose hell for himself.
Yet, despite that, he was unable to give any answer because the one pressuring him was no other than Ruel.
If the person before him had been another cardinal, Cesare would have laughed and rebutted. If it had been the Saintess, whom he had come to recognize recently, he wouldn’t have faltered and would have said everything he wanted to, even if the Pope chastised him.
But the man before him is different. The weight of the words of someone who had voluntarily become a Holy Knight, a shield of God in an age where God and man were infinitely close, is too heavy.
“How dare a guy who can’t be sure of himself and leaned on the beliefs of others even mention sin!”
It felt as if the sky had landed on his shoulders, rendering him unable to raise his lips.
“Cardinal Cesare.”
Just then, a voice laden with warmth, like that of the sun, reached his ear.
“I may be lacking, but I am called the Saintess. If you truly wish for repentance, I will listen to your story.”
Hearing the gentle voice, Cesare instinctively took a step back.
If the weight he felt earlier crushed him, the light pouring from the Saintess made the shadows he harbored in his heart stand out clearly, filling him with guilt.
“Ahhh.”
Cesare tried to resist that light, but ultimately failed.
*
[Among those who say they've given up everything, there is no one who can truly throw away everything. Merely speaking of it leaves a trace of regret.]
[So, after recognizing regret through Ruel's authority and providing a place to escape, there’s no choice but to lean on it. It’s a method I've used quite a lot before, and it still worked.]
[Even as time passes, humanity remains humanity, doesn’t it?]
[That’s a fine saying, but it’s not something the one who borrowed the Power of Darkness to endanger their mind can say.]
<…Shut up! Didn’t you agree too!>
While grandpa and Garad, kneeling, sobbed and confessed everything, I casually chatted with them, but I couldn’t bear to watch that!
Initially, I had expected the old man to come whining like “Maman~,” but ended up with a scenario too biblical!
Phoebe, addressing Cesare, says he committed great sins, yet the great Lord Jushin embraces even that, offering him a chance to confess his sins. It should have sounded something like, “Confess your sins!” and Cesare, feeling sorry, cried tears of repentance! That phrase should be in there somewhere!
Boooooring!
[Aren’t you just a little jealous? You could never do something like that.]
[Regardless of being an Apostle of God, I can’t hear a confession. I’d feel like brandishing a weapon rather than begging for forgiveness.]
“I already know without you saying it!”
Eh♡ For being an adult, crying over that? ♡ What a total shoddy situation~ ♡ It’s like running away from reality? ♡ How pathetic~ ♡ Such remarks in a confessional? Who would like that!
Cancelled! I guess someone would like it! Contrary to the original intention, it’s become a place for perverted freaks to gather!
“You’ll see! I won’t forget this resentment!”
[What does it matter? My dark history is already in the past. Do whatever.]
[It’s great for me; I’m actually bored.]
Damn! Usually, they can’t kill each other, but when it comes to this, their connection’s perfect! Is that what companions are?! Annoying!
While I squabbled with my two grandpas, Phoebe finished up with Cesare’s persuasion.
I shouldn’t trust him completely, but nevertheless, I’ve successfully distanced him from the Pope.
“I never imagined you’d bring your friends here because of this place.”
Unlike our initial meeting, Cesare, who bowed respectfully toward us, answered Phoebe’s question politely, but there wasn’t much useful information among it.
“I’ve been in continuous contact with His Highness, but I don’t know his exact location.”
“I know about His plan, but since the oath is enforced, I can’t say much.”
“I’m sorry. Those beneath His Highness are all dependent on him, so I can’t…”
Let me correct that.
There wasn’t any useful information.
Even as an insider, I knew more than he did.
There’s probably much more I know about the parts he couldn’t say due to the oath.
It’s good that I have a collaborator with the title of Cardinal.
But…
Let’s put it bluntly; this guy is useless!
He must have been a much more complicated character when he showed up as an enemy in the game! Is this the law of ally weakness?!
“It would be right for me to abandon all positions immediately, but it seems there are still things I can do for you, Saintess. Once everything is over, I’ll humbly accept punishment.”
In conclusion, this matter turned out well in many aspects.
My Divine Grace has also been significantly restored, I’ve gained a new collaborator within the church, and I even gifted Phoebe a necklace.
Although I’m annoyed that the Cardinal is useless, that’s an unanticipated extra profit, so I can’t complain too much.
After parting with my friends, I made my way to the Allen Mansion, thinking about the next agenda.
Rest for a day, then visit where the Hero’s doll is located, and finally head to the island. That was my plan.
“Where the heck are you wandering around?”
An uninvited guest showed up at the Allen Family mansion, causing trouble.
“Is it fun to run around with friends, attaching the word ‘fool’ to people?”
Rene, who I had parted from with no intention of ever meeting again, remained unfazed despite Benedict glaring at me from behind.
How big is her guts? With that troll showing hostility, she should at least feel a little scared, right?
“What a foolish question. She must’ve enjoyed it. Her memory isn’t good enough to forget what we talked about before, so she would’ve erased me from her mind overnight.”
Wow. She’s speaking in a deadpan manner, but the emotions contained within her words are so explicit.
It’s not just damp; it feels like mildew in a musty basement during the monsoon season!
In simple terms, it’s disgusting!
“After that day, I was frustrated and thought it over a lot. I can’t stand the idea of suffering alone. I can’t let that slide.”
“You keep talking endlessly. Do you want an apology that badly? Should I just say, ‘I’m sorry’?”
“I don’t need that kind of apology. I just want to get on your nerves.”
Rene’s smile, which seemed to want to make her equally furious, sparked chills in me like blackened broth.
“Doomed!”
As I witnessed the fox’s kick fly out from hiding, striking Rene’s cheek, it became nothing less than a past event.
“Hahaha! How is it! You perverted bastard! This is the hammer of justice!”
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