Chapter 69

Chapter 6: In the Name of Glory (5)

***

If one were to choose the most difficult profession to persuade in this GG world, everyone would agree that the top spot goes to mages. These people believe that their understanding is closer to the truth than visible facts. They twist reality based on such understanding to wield magic, so it’s no surprise that persuading them is an incredibly difficult task.

In fact, mages shouldn’t be easily persuaded. For instance, if a mage uses the insight that "water is cold" to cast a spell, and someone suddenly appears and proves with a grand theory that it’s incorrect, what would happen if the mage were persuaded? The mage’s mental image would collapse, and they would no longer be able to cast spells derived from that insight. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, mages tend to be a bit ignorant and somewhat oblivious to the ways of the world. Living in their own world is safer for maintaining the insights they’ve built up so stubbornly.

What about religious figures, then?

“Wait, just a moment! I, I really don’t know why I’m here!”

“What heresy... You have committed so many sins that they cannot be counted.”

“Cut the tendons of the limbs and dry them in the sun on the roof of the temple for a hundred days...”

“Rathura, Ro Haram... Forgive me for listening to the words of this heretic...”

‘Shit! Just listen to me, anything! Please!’

To be blunt, religious figures are a 0th priority. Once they have firmly decided on something, especially if it involves their deity, they are completely impossible to persuade.

Just like the spell binding my tongue, the reason why the power derived from divine energy is called divine ‘magic’ is that its basic principle is the same as magic.

In the case of magic, one gains a strong belief that "I am right, no matter what anyone else says" based on a firm understanding of a certain subject and the insight they have established. Through this belief, they ignore others' common sense and construct their own rules to form magic.

On the other hand, divine magic? In the process of [Understanding -> Belief -> Establishment of Rules -> Manifestation of Power], the step of ‘Understanding’ is missing.

Religion is based on pure belief, where rational logic does not apply.

“Ro Haram, who wielded the primal light, illuminated the world for mortals.”

Believers do not question this sentence with a ‘why.’ That is what they call ‘faith’—they do not doubt their beliefs.

Just as the sun rises in the east and the stars twinkle, their faith is an unquestionable component of the world, a pure belief that does not allow any room for logical understanding. This is the foundation of divine power.

Many religions strive to expand their influence for this very reason. The more people believe and serve their doctrines, the stronger their influence on reality becomes.

‘They said a divine message was received. From their perspective, a divine message is always correct and must be fulfilled in some way. The city with a dagger stuck in it is clearly Tovrun, but the part about the darkness settling in the back is quite ambiguous. I got caught in their radar while they were trying to interpret it. Since they can’t deny the divine message, they have to twist its interpretation somehow. And before they start spouting other nonsense, I need to establish my defense!’

If I let them continue talking, they will likely determine that I am the evil one and proceed with the trial. I need to change their stance on me right here and now.

‘First, I need to figure out what facts they used to identify me as the subject of the divine message, as Mute’s spy. I need to know what to refute to either turn the tables or dismantle the situation!’

The professor swallowed hard, his throat parched. It’s still reversible. It’s still possible!

“Very well. The sinner requests to hear their own sins in the presence of the Lord, so as a believer, I will confess each and every one of them under the sun and moon.”

The professor listened quietly to the words of the bishop.

“Last night, a terrible incident occurred in Tovrun, something that should not have happened. As is well known, it was a gruesome act carried out by the monstrous ‘Red Mute,’ a creature that can speak and think like a human. Many people died, many citizens suffered, and we, who are too blind to see the Lord’s will, could not prevent this tragedy.”

“Oh, Rathura, Ro Haram.”

“Forgive us, forgive us, forgive us!”

The professor, feigning calmness while trembling inside, listened intently to the bishop’s words. If they had identified the escaped professor as the Red Mute, the game would be over. The moment those words are spoken, I need to flip the situation and escape.

“When the church grasped the situation and hurried to the Lead Flow Tower, the evil one had already committed the atrocity and fled. Before we whipped ourselves in front of the statue of Ro Haram, we swore that we would find every person involved to ensure such a tragedy never happens again and prevent them from ever committing such acts again.”

The bishop paused, gathered her hands in prayer, and then continued, as if scolding herself.

“We captured everyone related to the tower. We found unusual traces on the body of the 6th Circle Mage ‘Isaac Mandalius,’ such as tentacle-like marks piercing his neck and head. We also confirmed that his disciples were conducting heretical research of a level that is too obscene to mention.”

Rustle—

El Senadis, wearing a white robe that was clearly damp but now dry, pulled out a few parchments and laid them in front of the professor.

“Isn’t it clear that your traces are clearly written on the evidence found there?”

‘Wh-What? That’s...’

The professor didn’t expect to see this here. After all, the parchment in Senadis’s hand was a type he was very familiar with.

[item: Isaac Mandalius’s Soaked Research Journal]

It was the research journal of Isaac that he had personally scattered in the air to expose the tower’s corruption.

***

[What are you going to do? Can you escape alone? Need help? I can handle these guys if I go outside.]

‘Can you come to the surface without going berserk?’

[Not yet. Physically, all the infection agents in my body need to be activated, and mentally, you need to lose consciousness or hand over control. The Mute blood issue... If I can shake these guys off and run out of the city at full speed, it might be resolved. Tovrun is now the front line. There will likely be a few Mutes around. I’ll find a way to buy time before I die.]

‘...No, it’s too dangerous. And it’s not completely over yet.’

The most important point: I just confirmed that they don’t know I’m the Red Mute.

‘If they identified me through the research journal, it’s certain. It contains all the days I was captured and experimented on. They were looking for me as the “escaped professor” when I entered Tovrun, so they know the mage confirmed I was human in front of the guards. The most important issue is now resolved!’

If they suspected me as an experiment subject rather than the Red Mute, I had a hunch.

‘Of course, I need to pretend to be flustered for now.’

I need to carefully guide the conversation. Like building a tower of cards, I can only speak the truth, so I have to deceive them with the truth.

“That...!”

Seeing the professor visibly shaken, the bishop spoke with a more agitated voice.

“I don’t know if the foolish Isaac and his disciples collaborated with the Mutes. They died in the Mute attack, but if they had collaborated with the evil creatures, it was only natural that they would eventually be betrayed. Even if they didn’t collaborate, they were tainted by the blood and would eventually become monsters, like Isaac, who had something deformed pierce his body. The ones who paid with their lives are not important. What’s important is the survivors involved, like you!”

The professor, with a look of fear, struggled to speak.

“That’s... That’s absurd! If you saw the research records, you would know! I was just their experiment subject! I was a victim! A good citizen!”

His words were muddled by the sticky sensation in his mouth, but everything he said was true, so it seemed to be within the allowed range.

‘Good. I’ve brought it this far. If I play the victim here—’

.

.

.

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“A victim. A good citizen... Yes, to be precise, someone who was a good citizen. Then, Professor, I have a question for you.”

As she spoke, I felt the aura surrounding me grow stronger. The confession spell. She was pouring more divine power into the spell that seals the mouth if the words spoken are not true.

“Professor. If you were just a mere ‘experiment subject’ who suffered in the mages’ experiments, how did you manage to escape from Turan, which was occupied by monsters? You, a mere experiment subject, not a powerful knight or a high-ranking mage?”

‘Here it comes! They took the bait! I knew they would come at me this way if I played the victim!’

If they traced my movements, they would have noticed a gap between when I was an experiment subject in Turan and when I was captured by Tovrun’s guards. Naturally, they would be suspicious. What did the man, who was brutally experimented on by mages, do during this gap? Could the daily pain of