21st Century Archmage

Chapter 165: Bastards Who've Given Jack Shit

Translator: Lei

Proofreader: enigamination

'What now?'

There was already a mountain of things to handle in Nerman, but another thing to deal with flying onto my plate.

Duke Hardaim had given me a lumikar to send if I had something to tell him. I sent it off with a polite message warning him to stop the invasion of the Bajran Empire's lands. If the kingdoms were to be greedier than this, they would be met with the true strength of Bajran, and he would face me on the battlefield in person.

I was still waiting for Hardaim's response when an urgent communication came from the wyvern flight patrolling the Havis Kingdom border. The news traveled swiftly to my ear through the communication facilities installed in every fort. I was told that a group looking like clergymen were heading towards Denfors, bearing flags from each of the temples. When I heard that, I instantly recalled that the black information merchant, Saker, had told me yesterday that important guests would be coming.

'If they've put out every temple's flag, they must be inquisitioners.'

I already knew inquisitioners would be coming at some point. Even an idiot could suss out that this was something initiated by the corrupt Neran henchmen we'd had a scuffle with because of Aramis.

'We have to face them once anyway.'

I relaxed and waited for them in my office.

'Here they come.'

Standing at my office window, I saw a group of wyverns flying over. Quite a lot of time had passed since I received the transmission, so it was time for their arrival. I awaited the uninvited guests with an air of leisure. In another territory, the lord would have scrambled out barefoot to greet these servants of God, but I didn't do so.

These ridiculous people who wanted to inquisition me, a person who was nothing if not kind(?), were in for it now.

I was going to show them today what the true intent of God was.

* * *

'Ohh! How incredible that Nerman has developed to this degree!'

The priests from each temple hadn't believed the rumors of Nerman's rapid development. They crossed the border and flew their wyverns along Nerman Road, and on their way, their eyes were filled with the sights of Nerman's bounty. And then, when they arrived in Denfors, they came face to face with an enormous castle. Even though they were clergymen who had made pilgrimages to the empires and every kingdom, they couldn't suppress the exclamations of surprise in their hearts upon seeing Nerman Castle and all its imposing grandeur.

"Esteemed paladins and priests, please land your wyverns in front of the empty hangars!"

Someone's mana-charged shout rang out in the ears of the inquisitioners and the paladins that had come as their escort.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaa. Kiuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

The words came as a request, but around a hundred wyverns had suddenly appeared around them in the air, drawing a big circle around the inquisitioners as a warning.

Flap flap, flap flap flap.

Flustered by the first threatening situation they'd ever faced in their lives, the inquisitioners hurried to land.

"Welcome. I am the chief administration knight of Nerman, Derval."

When the party of 30 or so inquisitioners and guard paladin Skyknights landed, a one-armed knight calling himself the chief administration knight of Nerman greeted them.

"Where is the Lord of Nerman, why is a mere knight here to greet us instead?"

Still on his high horse, the priest of the God of the Light and Sun, Lassiar, looked askew at Derval.

"My liege has asked me to escort the esteemed priests to the Temple of Holy Neran. Please follow me."

Unshaken by the dubious gazes and words of the priests, Derval took the lead. Humiliated, the priests reddened as they descended their wyverns and followed him.

20 or so paladins fell into step behind them, their armor clanking.

"Hold on, please wait here, sir knights."

"W-What do you think you're doing right now?! We are paladins who must protect the priests! How dare you block our path!"

A regiment of knights had swiftly appeared to stand before the paladins. They did not falter before the paladins' tirade, standing firmly to block them.

"We are loyal knights who have been tasked to obey our liege's command and protect the territory. I ask that you do not make things difficult for us, who must follow our liege's command."

The knights refused to budge, facing the paladins with frosty faces.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

In the sky above, Skyknights flew threateningly overhead, their spears drawn.

Creaaaaaak.

'They're finally here.'

The sound of the heavy temple door opening echoed into the Temple of Neran.

"It's quite a large temple."

"But I can't understand why there's only a temple of the Goddess Neran, even though we heard Neran was being snubbed…"

The priests filled the temple with their babble, forgetting the rule that one should devoutly close their mouths and hail God when entering a temple.

Their footsteps rang loud and impatient in the temple.

"My liege, I have brought the esteemed priests."

As I prayed on my knees, I heard the voice of my loyal knight, Derval.

'Holy Neran, from this moment forth, please close your eyes tight. I will now commence a bit of education for these wayward children.'

The golden relic of Neran was a cross enshrined in a circle. I couldn't be sure the goddess was listening to the whispers of my heart, but for the time being, I expressed my utmost respect, if you could call it that.

Drawing a cross with a swish, I devoutly concluded my greeting to God.

'Dammit, my legs nearly fell asleep.'

I only kneeled on the hard ground for a short moment while they were coming here, but my legs were pretty stiff. I quickly circulated my mana to dash the pain away. And then, I slowly turned, looking 100% the part of a solemn and pious devotee that had just finished his prayer.

"Welcome. I, the inadequate lord governing Nerman, Kyre, humbly offer my greetings to the esteemed priests of the various temples."

I greeted the priests in the manner of a Neran devotee.

"P-Priest Amorent in the service of the Goddess of Destiny, Pallan, greets the Lord."

"From the Goddess of Abundance and Festivities…"

The priests then rattled off their salutations one by one. They couldn't spit on a smiling, welcoming face, and because I had greeted them politely in the manner of the temples, they naturally could not put up airs with me. With the exception of the one from the sour-faced priest of the Goddess of Mercy, the introductions of the eleven priests were concluded smoothly, ending with the priest serving the Goddess of Wisdom and Beauty, Varshua.

"If I may, for what reason have you graced my territory with a visit in these busy times? Is there anything you need to tell me, this inadequate lord…?"

Derval had quietly excused himself, having received my orders in advance. With just us in the temple, I asked about the priests' objective with a voice dripping with the devout piety of a believer.

"I am sure you are troubled that we have come so suddenly, without notice. We have come because the proceedings of an Inquisition have been called upon Your Lordship and Nerman. If you would give us your utmost cooperation, there will be no problems."

Priest Amorent, who served the Pallan, the Goddess of Destiny overseeing the first month of the year, responded for the priests.

"The proceedings of an Inquisition? I have erected a Temple of Neran with the greatest respect I can offer in the inner castle, so I apologize for saying so, but how is it that an Inquisition has been declared on me…?" I said, looking baffled.

"That is…"

The priests stumbled, convinced by my acting.

"What nonsense are you spouting! Do you intend on hiding your evil self by constructing a temple like this even though the Cardinal in service of Holy Neran has not permitted it?! Reveal your true self at once! Stop trying to deceive God and sully Holy Neran's name with this farce of a temple!"

The Neran priest was obviously raring for a fight. We made a mess of their paladins, and they were robbed of Aramis, who they had been using like a potion-making tool, so of course they had nothing good to say to me.

"Haah, it truly fills me with regret to hear that. Is it not permitted to worship God without the express permission of the Cardinal? Did I sin when I built a temple this large and splendorous with my honest feelings?"

Looking saddened by the Neran priest's outburst, I looked to the priests from the other temples.

"……"

They were rendered speechless. They were not blind and could see that this golden temple was magnificent enough to be used as a grand temple, so they had no words to counter me. I was happy to see that they still had a little conscience left.

"Enough with your nonsense! Until now, a temple could not be constructed without the Cardinal's permission. Permission to build is restricted because of people who conduct private worship of the gods to gather donations and expand their personal wealth. That applies not just for the Neran Temple, but for the other temples as well. Is that not so, my fellow priests?"

The priest of Neran used a gentle form of speech that struck a stark contrast with the way he spoke with me. It seemed the temple had sent a particularly silver-tongued man here for today.

"That is true. I sympathize with Your Lordship's earnest feelings, but temple construction rights are the exclusive domain of the Cardinal. The construction of a temple is only permitted after receiving a revelation from God in response to a special prayer."

Priest Amorent, the priest of Pallan who had clearly been appointed the representative of the party before coming here, took the side of the Neran temple priest with an expression of regret.

"Ah… I see. Everything must receive a revelation from the gods."

I deployed the divine teachings of the manual, 'Feigning Ignorance.'

"Hmph!" The skinny priest of Neran huffed indignantly.

"Lord Kyre, on the way to Denfors, I saw that the love of the gods is rich within this land. We have come on account of an Inquisition, but we could confirm your earnest and sincere feelings to a certain degree. However, as the suspicion of heresy has not been completely erased yet, I am afraid I must ask you to show proof that you truly do not believe in corrupt beings, if you would be so obliged?"

The fat priest who served the Goddess of Blessings, Semire, asked for proof with a glint in his eyes.

"By showing proof, what do you mean…?"

I had long since seen through their black hearts. But because I wanted to see their pathetic dance to the end, I put on a clueless expression.

"Ahem, ahem… I am certain this has all arisen due to the absence of the temples, the way by which one worships the gods. So if you were to open your coffers and construct temples for each of the virtuous gods in Nerman, that would serve as sufficient proof. While you are at it, if you were to build the temples with a similar scale as this Temple of Neran, the gods would be mightily pleased."

The priest who said he served the God of Truth and Justice, Siportyne, filled his mouth with bold-faced words without a hint of shame.

"Ah! I see…"

I nodded, making an expression of understanding. At my gesture of affirmation, unlike the priest of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, whose face was growing dark, the other priests looked eagerly at me like wolves drooling over prey.

"But if I may be so bold, there is something I don't quite understand," I said, looking at the priests with a questioning gaze.

"If there is something you wish to ask, please go ahead, Lord Kyre," said Priest Amorent, flashing me a benevolent smile.

"May I ask if all of the esteemed priests here received revelations from God before departing for this place? From your words, I am under the impression that you are imbued with enough holy spirit to be involved in temple construction…" As I trailed off, I narrowed my eyes at the priests.

"T-That's…" Unable to answer my question, the priests stuttered.

"I'm afraid I have another question."

"……"

The priests stared at me with a mix of exasperation and disbelief.

"Is there anyone among the temple priests who has prayed to the god they serve even once for our territory? Or perhaps purchased goods made in Nerman to assist in our development or delivered a bottle of holy water for our people?"

My voice grew more and more emphatic as I spoke.

"W-Well, that's…"

"……"

When I directed my guileless expression to the priests, they turned their heads away in a panic or flushed.

"Lord Kyre… But why are you asking such questions…?"

Despite his bafflement, Priest Amorent, the one that had definitely been named the representative for today, hesitantly probed me. To him, and the other priests, I flashed a big smile. And then, I opened my mouth.

"You shitty dogs! Oi, you sons of bitches, you think money grows on trees? You bastards have done jack shit for Nerman and you want to threaten me? Do you guys know who I am? I'm the Lord of Nerman, Kyre! Emperor Poltviran of Bajran and Emperor Hadveria of Laviter shit themselves in their sleep when they hear my name. What did you say? Build temples like this and offer them as tributes? If it were you, would you do such a braindead thing, unless you had an arrow in your head?! You might be unarmed, but you shitheads are all shameless robbers, each and every one of you!"

My enraged diatribe echoed loud and clear in the temple. As soon as it ended, the priests blanched.

'Huhuhu…'

I gave a fierce grin of satisfaction to the priests standing there dumbly like statues. These little puppies that came begging me to eat them up would experience a new world today.

I would make them realize the gravity of their sin of selling God's name, down to their very bones.

* * *

'Something's gone wrong.'

As priest with the most seniority among them and the one in service of Pallan, the Great God's firstborn son, Amorent felt himself growing faint at the lord's tirade. In fact, on his way here, he was mostly opposed to the Inquisition. It was said that the Lord of Nerman treated the gods like a cheating orc, but because the people of the continent could not live without faith, he believed that the people of Nerman would not have meekly accepted his rule if the lord was such a corrupted person.

Also, according to the information independently sourced by the Temple of Pallan, the priestess serving the Goddess of Mercy, Neran, had moved to Nerman voluntarily. The only reason why he did not reveal that fact to the others despite knowing it was in order to use it as a tool to threaten Nerman, which had developed to the point of being able to win battles against empires.

That was his plan, but when he saw the Nerman Lord raining down curses like a foul-mouthed mercenary at them, Amorent could feel the situation going off the tracks.

'Come to think of it, the paladins were also…'

Before they landed in the huge covert, the threatening actions of the Skyknights and the Nerman knights divided the priests from the paladins that had been dispatched to protect them. Amorent had a bad feeling, and upon seeing the Lord of Nerman switching from leading them on with an innocent expression to spewing vitriol like an ogre rampaging upon its mate having an affair, he had the feeling that everything had been planned.

"Your words are excessive. I am aghast that you would denounce our proposal, which we have put out to cleanse you of the accusation of sacrilegious insult you have been charged with…"

This may have been planned, but Amorent could not take the offense laying down. Even if the Lord of Nerman was a ruler who could wage war with empires, he wouldn't be able to make light of the gods and the temples that served to stabilize the minds of the people, just as the history of the continent had demonstrated so far.

"Indeed! The rage of God will return to punish these rough words that should not be spoken to sacred servants of God such as ourselves! Repent at once!"

"Yes! If you do not take back what you have just said… You will not be able to avoid an Inquisition judgement!"

Bolstered by Amorent's words, the priests unanimously put pressure on the Lord of Nerman. However, the black-haired demonic Lord of Nerman, Kyre, didn't even blink at their scathing remarks, his dark smile unfaltering.

"……"

When their blows hit cotton and Kyre continued to emanate a strange aura, the priests fell into silence on their own.

"Done yapping now?"

A heavy voice rang quietly in the temple.

"A-Are you proving your heresy on your own right now?!" Amorent asked, as if to confirm his fears.

"Proving? What laughable dingbats you guys are. Let me ask one more thing. Do you know why the gods you are so quick to mention are gods? And do you really think that the gods would be moved one whit even if you pigs rotten to the core with greed threaten to punish me?"

Kyre dared to ask priests why god was god, as if he knew better.

"Impudence! How dare you ask devout servants of the gods how a god is defined! A god is a noble and almighty being that a corrupted soul such as yourself should never speak of. Yet you call the priests serving such mighty beings… rotten to the core with greed…"

Amorent couldn't bear to say the word 'pig'.

"This is how he's always been! He's the one who kidnapped the naive priestess of Neran and imprisoned her. There's nothing more to say. We must return at once and punish this evil soul in the name of God under the banner of the Inquisition!"

Spittle flew out of the Neran priest's mouth as he emphatically brought up punishment. Even if the other priests hadn't said as much, they had no mind to forgive the Lord of Nerman who had called them dirty pigs.

"Indeed. Let's hurry and go back. We cannot continue to converse with the devil's hound."

"Hmph! You will soon see the true rage of God!"

* * *

'These guys still haven't realized their place.'

The strength of a group was a terrifying thing. The priests were hopping up and down, not even realizing that this was my land, a place you could pretty much call their graves.

If they wanted to return, I would send them back. But I wouldn't do it nicely.

"Kuhahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

I put strength in my lower abdomen and let out a loud, refreshing laugh.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

At the same time, I activated the new unique-grade item I'd gotten recently, my 7th Circle mana core.

Sizzzzzzleeeeee.

Dense mana that any old mana user could detect at a single glance came rushing out.

"Ah!"

"T-This is…."

These people were priests, not mages, but they could use enough holy power to qualify as inquisitioners. Holy power could be called a variant form of the fundamental energy of the world, mana, so it was only natural that cold sweat began to drip down their faces upon sensing the fearsome mana that was filling the inside of the expansive temple. I was engraving in their bones the fact that I was strong enough to make trash like them disappear if I wanted to, and that there was a reason why the empires had lost successive battles to the tiny Nerman.

"Kneel…"

One word fell quietly from my lips.

"……"

But the priests staggered backwards into each other, losing their minds with fear after reading my bloody intent bristling in the mana.

"Didn't hear me? Kneel and bow! You shitbrained bastards!!!"

The priests looked dumbly at me as if their brains had ceased to function.

"Those who choose not to kneel, do as you please! I'll do you the kindness of letting you cry yourself to sleep in the arms of the god you serve, wailing that the evil Lord of Nerman turned you into mincemeat and left you without a body. Huhuhu."

Since I was already on this track, I continued playing the devil role. With an ominous smile and coarse, terrifying words, I slowly approached the trembling priests. Bloodthirsty 7th Circle mana that could be activated at any time was wrapped around me like a multi-layered Shield.

The priests were dumbly watching me approach, having given up any will to resist. I began to gather mana in my hand to teach them a lesson, when I heard a quiet voice.

"Stop, please stop…"

My head turned to the source of the sound.

And then, I saw her. She wore a saintly white robe, a virtuous smile that had no equal in this world was upon her lips, and her body was wreathed by a sacred aura.

'Aramis…'

I had forgotten. The master of the temple I was standing in wasn't me, but her…