Chapter 50

Flam and the others, leading dozens of surviving Origin cult followers, left Sheol.

Soon, Nektor would inform the church that this village had been destroyed.

If that happened, a large number of church knights or others would come, erase the traces, and possibly even deal with the survivors.

No matter how they were Origin cult followers, they couldn't just leave them.

This was an action taken after careful consideration.

Tia's body was wrapped in Eterna's water magic to prevent damage and transported to the guild for delivery to the capital.

Kinder and Claudia's bodies, which had been completely obliterated by her, did not need to be recovered.

The group was heading to the nearest town with a guild, "Meer," a town with a population of about 2,000, where they might be able to protect the survivors.

On the other hand, Gadio parted ways with Flam and headed to the capital alone.

In his hand was the document entrusted to Milkit by Dafiz.

The church would likely try to quickly cover up the incident.

They needed to make everything public through Velsie before the church took action.

Marching with the survivors would take time, but he could return to the capital faster than a carriage alone.

He delivered the documents to Velsie and explained the situation by midday.

From there, articles were written, printed, and scattered throughout the capital by night, and by the next morning, everything that had happened in Sheol would be known to the people of the capital.

◇◇◇

In the evening, Gadio returned home.

As he passed through the gate and walked on the stone path leading to the mansion, he saw a woman sitting in front of the entrance.

It was Kereina.

When she noticed Gadio's footsteps, she looked up and smiled.

However, her lips were trembling.

Her eyes were moist with tears, and the words she had prepared could not come out.

So, she had no choice but to greet him in a cliché way.

"Welcome back..."

These words pierced Gadio's heart more than any well-thought-out speech.

He wondered if he even had the right to respond.

Even after returning, he couldn't cut his lingering feelings for Tia but only strengthened them.

However, to not repay the earnest Kereina out of guilt would be nothing more than self-satisfaction.

If he truly felt bad, he should tell her what she wanted to hear.

No matter how much it would make him blame himself, that would be the greatest punishment.

"Welcome home, Kereina."

Upon hearing Gadio's words, she stood up.

Then, with unsteady steps, she approached and buried her face in his chest.

His arms embraced her back.

While feeling each other's warmth, Gadio wore a somewhat pained expression.

◇◇◇

The next morning, Flam and the others, four in total, returned to the capital late.

As they walked down the main street of the central district, they noticed a different atmosphere from the usual hustle and bustle.

The people they passed were holding and talking about the newspapers scattered by Velsie and her team.

It seemed their plan had worked.

Then, the church was expected to immediately issue a rebuttal statement, but there was a reason they couldn't.

The numerous documents recovered from Satyrus's secret room.

The church-sealed documents entrusted to Milkit by Dafiz.

The testimonies of the Origin cult followers who had escaped from Sheol.

These three pieces of evidence gave the articles strong persuasive power.

Some people, who already had doubts about the Origin cult, incited a demonstration surrounding the church.

There were even incidents of violence against priests, leading to clashes between church knights and participants, resulting in numerous injuries.

As time passed, the situation became more urgent.

The upper echelons were forced to respond, and on the afternoon of the second day after the articles were published, Cardinal Satukhi Lanagarki issued a statement in the chapel of the cathedral in the northern district.

He acknowledged the existence of necromancy and the human experiments conducted by the church on corpses, swore never to repeat them, and deeply apologized.

He also revealed that the responsible person, Faro Fimio, and Satyrus, who had illegally purchased drugs, had already been punished.

The punishment included the revocation of their cardinal status and ten years of imprisonment.

The severity of the punishment, beyond what was expected, satisfied the participants of the demonstration.

However, Satukhi's speech did not end there.

He declared that the incident was caused by the "arrogance" that had permeated the church.

He also promised to lower the fees for medical services provided by priests and nuns, which were symbols of that arrogance.

Some people criticized it as a performance to avoid criticism.

Others wondered why the statement was made by Satukhi and not by the Pope Fedro Maximus or the rumored next Pope, Tizto Turrchio.

However, for most people, what happened in a small town like Sheol was of little concern.

The demonstrations were also changing from complaints about the incident to general dissatisfaction with the church.

They obtained the church's apology, the punishment of the cardinal, and the reduction of medical fees as their spoils.

Satisfied, the demonstrators calmed down, and the turmoil subsided.

◇◇◇

Flam and the others, gathered at Leach's mansion, sat on the sofas in the guest room, waiting for Velsie to return from the cathedral.

When they heard the content of Satukhi's statement from her, each of them wore a thoughtful expression.

Ink, who didn't understand well, tilted her head next to Eterna.

Among them, Leach seemed particularly surprised by the punishment of the two cardinals.

"What is Satukhi thinking, to imprison two cardinals...?"

"The punishment was harsher than expected, and by emphasizing that necromancy was experiments on corpses, not on living humans, he minimized the damage to the church's image."

Leach, perhaps out of anxiety, responded a bit quickly to Eterna's calm analysis.

"But cardinals are the highest officials of the church. The organization's functions will inevitably decline with two of them missing. I can't think of any other purpose for this."

"It might be a factional struggle. There were conflicts among the cardinals, right?"

Velsie, standing, glanced at her notebook and said,

"Hey, Leach, wasn't Satukhi Lanagarki the one in charge of the church knights?"

"Yes, that's correct. He is said to have strong ties with the kingdom's military."

Leach answered Flam's question, adding an explanation.

Satukhi had strong ties with the military and was often called "not a typical church person."

He was a realist, for better or worse.

His ideology did not fit a religious organization that worshipped a deity, but his existence was essential to the church.

"By coming forward, does that mean he decided the content of the statement?"

"Perhaps, but I can't say for sure... However, it's possible."

Leach paused before continuing.

"Pope Fedro and Cardinal Tizto created the current church system. It's not like them to easily acknowledge the existence of necromancy. Also, the remaining cardinal, Tarch, oversees the medical field, so he wouldn't want to lower fees."

"So, by process of elimination, it was Satukhi who led this, right?"

Gadio's words were met with a nod.

"Does that mean Satukhi is trying to kick out his rivals to become the pope?"

Milkit spoke in a thin voice.

Velsie, not Leach, responded.

"I think the possibility is high. His presence has increased by giving the speech."

"But Tizto is still there, so it would be difficult for Satukhi to become the pope in the current situation."

"Maybe he's planning to kick out the remaining cardinal at some point. And there's something else that's bothering me."

Velsie looked at a certain page in her notebook, tracing a name with her finger.

"The woman who sat next to him. Everyone else was familiar, but there was no information on her."

"Her name?"

Leach asked.

"Echidna Ipeira."

Eterna, who heard the name, reacted with a slight tremor in her hand.

She glanced at Gadio, who was staring into space with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Echidna... the leader of Chimera..."

Gadio said in a low voice.

In other words, the enemy of Tia and her companions.

"Chimera, right? I remember it from the documents you brought from Sheol."

"Yes, it's research to embed cores into the bodies of monsters to create powerful weapons."

"Hmm, that's strange. Everyone else was closely connected to Satukhi, so why is this Echidna involved in the research? And it was Satukhi who exiled Faro, who was in charge of the research."

If Faro was gone, the remaining Children and Chimera would lose their position within the church.

They would have reasons to resent but not to feel grateful.

Moreover, by sitting next to him during the speech, it means Echidna had Satukhi's trust.

"Weapons... Perhaps Satukhi is planning some kind of revenge."

Leach's words drew everyone's attention.

Flam tilted his head and asked,

"Revenge?"

"Yes, he inherited his current position and influence from his father. I've heard that his father was involved in the start of the human-demon war."

"So, he's planning to use Chimera to take revenge on the demons?"

"Just a wild guess, but for that, he needs to have pope-level power."

That is—human desire.

At least, to Flam, Satukhi's actions seemed to be heading in a different direction from the will of Origin.

"Well, there are suspicious moves, but with two cardinals punished and the church's credibility damaged, I think we can be straightforwardly happy about it."

Flam and the others' actions weakened the church.

Necromancy was eliminated, and without Faro, the Children would find it hard to move.

That was a fact.

"By the way, I've arranged a luxurious dinner for today. Would you like to join, everyone?"

"Brother, can I join too!?"

"Of course."

"Yay!"

Welsie raised both hands in joy.

"Of course, as the host."

"Uwaan!"

But she was immediately knocked down, and her hands remained raised while her face turned teary.

Her cheerful demeanor lightened the mood, and Flam and the others couldn't help but chuckle.

There was no reason to decline the invitation.

They all enjoyed the party and partied until night.

However, Gadio occasionally showed a dark expression, but for now, they could only leave him be.

◇◇◇

As night deepened, Flam and the others returned home.

They seemed to have finally relaxed after the necromancy incident.

After getting ready for bed, they separated into their respective rooms—Ink sat on the edge of the bed, and for some reason, Eterna was hugging her from behind.

And for some reason, Eterna was sniffing Ink's scent.

"...Eterna, what are you doing?"

"Sniffing."

"What's the purpose of that!"

"It's a habit."

"You're definitely a pervert!"

Despite saying this, Ink didn't resist.

She understood that it was futile.

Eterna, despite her appearance, was quite strong.

She said she was "not as strong as Flam," but compared to the frail Ink, it was like heaven and earth.

"Since the incident in Sheol, do you feel like Eterna's personal space has gotten closer?"

"I don't think it's just me; she really has gotten closer."

"You're aware of it..."

"It's because I'm lonely."

Kinder and Claudia, who had been revived.

The time spent with them might have been a fake.

But if the complete recreation of their personalities had succeeded, it wasn't "impossible."

If Eterna had continued to live in the capital without parting from them.

If Eterna had visited them before they died.

Such a reenactment of possibilities.

It was too well-made to dismiss as a lie.

"But you were pretty ruthless, weren't you?"

The bodies were completely gone.

Ink only heard the sound, but Eterna, by her own will, had eliminated Kinder and Claudia before they could go on a rampage.

"Because Ink was there. The sound and smell of a living person reminded me. And... maybe the visit to the grave helped."

"What do you mean?"

"At that point, I had already said goodbye to my father and mother. I had a sense of closure."

That's why she could accept death as death.

"But loneliness is still loneliness. Are you trying to fill that loneliness with me?"

"That's what it comes down to."

As she said this, Eterna pulled Ink down to lie on the bed, wrapping her in her arms.

"Hey, that's too forceful!"

Before she knew it, they were in a position where they were hugging each other face-to-face.

"Spoiled fifty-year-old."

Ink poked the forehead of the