Chapter 110
Vertus didn’t mention what exactly the Order of the Holy Knights had done, or what sort of group they were. To do so, he would first have to mention how each country had taken demon prisoners of war for their own sinister desires.
Of course, even if Vertus didn’t mention it, I already knew.
I didn’t know what happened to Olivia Lanche in the original story, so I wasn’t sure if her decision to leave the Temple and abandon her faith was related to my terrorist incident or not. However, since that event had a significant impact on the Order of the Holy Knights, it was possible that Olivia Lanche, as the daughter of the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights, had also been affected.
Of course, this event could also have happened as part of the original course of events.
If she found out that the Order of the Holy Knights were enslaving demon prisoners on her own, she would have felt a tremendous sense of betrayal.
She had intended to join the Order of the Holy Knights after graduation. However, if she’d discovered through some process that the Order of the Holy Knights was committing such foul deeds to satisfy their repulsive desires, it was understandable that she would want to give up on the Temple and abandon her faith after feeling betrayed.
Devoting her life to a group only to find out that it was rotten inside would indeed feel like a massive betrayal.
Realizing that the Order of the Holy Knights was corrupt could also lead her to realize that the same could be happening within the Ouen Order.
It was definitely a plausible story. Just laying it out made it clear that she was someone with a deeply-held sense of justice, goodness, and deep faith.
That was the first possibility.
The second possibility was just Vertus making a somewhat malicious joke.
He made it at the expense of the priests of Ouen, who weren’t allowed to marry, and how their priests might supposedly want to give up their faith because they’d fallen in love.
While not entirely out of the realm of possibility, if true, it would be quite frustrating. How intense did that love have to be?
Vertus laid out these two speculations and then fell silent for a while.
“Hmm... This seems like a serious problem, Reinhart,” he finally said.
“It’s that serious?”
“I have a feeling she might stir up a big incident.”
Vertus seemed unexpectedly anxious. An incident? It already seemed that such a person voluntarily leaving the school and abandoning their faith was already a notable incident. What could be a bigger incident than that?
“An incident?”
“I can’t go into details, but if this person has discovered some corruption within the Order of the Holy Knights and is planning to leave both their faith and the Temple because of it... Perhaps, given their conscience, they might plan on exposing it.”
“Umm...”
That made total sense.
“The really big incidents aren’t caused by someone like you who’s good at manipulating people, but by honest blockheads like Olivia Lanche.”
Vertus had bluntly called Olivia Lanche, the Saintess of Eredian, an honest blockhead.
‘Wait. But what did you just call me?’
***
She had uncovered corruption within the religious order so damning that it drove her to abandon her faith. However, she was honest and upright, and so she would expose the corruption of the religious orders that the people believed in, even if it meant revealing that her own father was at the heart of that corruption.
The image of the Order of the Holy Knights and the entire Cult of the Almighty would suffer significant damage. Of course, no incident of such scale had ever occurred in the original development, because I hadn’t even known that the Order of the Holy Knights was corrupt. They had not been a main focus of the original plot.
I’d simply highlighted the existence of the Order of the Holy Knights as a group that was seen as the first choice for those aspiring to be knights and priests. And during the “gate” incident, they were only described as having participated in the battle.
Thus, this incident was either a result of the butterfly effect arising from the terrorist incident I’d caused, or it would conclude with Olivia Lanche not being able to do anything about this situation.
I couldn’t predict how this would unfold at this moment. However, Vertus was aware of this fact.
“Hmm... Although I’d like to see how this all turns out...”
Anyway, Vertus didn’t like the Order of the Holy Knights. While Olivia wasn’t an insider, it would definitely become a huge issue if a reputable saintess like her caused a commotion.
In that case, then, the issue of the demon prisoners of war being divided among the participating nations would also come to light, something that the general public had no idea about, since the deeper reasons behind the terrorist incident had never been publicly revealed.
This did not just concern the Order of the Holy Knights—it could be a critical blow for all the nations that participated in the Great War.
“I’m going to have to meet with her.”
Vertus was the imperial prince.
Even if she was in her fifth year, she couldn’t possibly refuse a meeting if Vertus was the one requesting it.
Vertus said that he would go and talk to her himself and stood up. He did not take me with him, as the discussions to be had were not suitable to be shared with me.
“Hmm...”
This felt like it was escalating into something bigger than I’d anticipated.
‘Did I just stir up a hornet’s nest?’
***
By evening, Vertus had returned, and he summoned me back to the tea-time terrace after dinner.
“How did it go?”
“... Well, it’s hard to say. She seems like a good person, but I felt oddly uncomfortable. It’s not that she did anything wrong, necessarily... Hmm... It was a feeling I’ve never experienced before.”
‘Oh, I get it.’
It seems he’d had the same feeling I’d had when I’d gone to the religious club gathering. That weird sense of discomfort that came from being around someone too pure and kind.
It felt odd, realizing that my true nature might be closer to Vertus’s.
Vertus sighed as he sipped his tea.
“Just as I suspected, a blockhead. We just couldn’t communicate.”
While she was good-hearted, from Vertus’s perspective, she was a blockhead that he couldn't get through to. I did not know the details of their conversation, but it seemed like any attempt at negotiation or some similar discussion had been futile.
And yet, I couldn’t help but admire Vertus for bluntly calling someone who was adorned with grand titles like the Saintess of Eredian a blockhead.
“To give you the answer to your original question, just knowing this much is enough.” Vertus was answering the question I had asked before. “She discovered issues within the Order of the Holy Knights, and because of that, she’s planning to give everything up.
“Moreover...” Vertus tipped his teacup, wearing an enigmatic smile. “It’s not just about leaving the Temple and abandoning her faith. At this rate, she might not survive long. She might meet her end soon.”
As I watched Vertus speak of someone’s potential death with a smile, I suddenly realized the sort of person he originally was.
“Are you planning to...”
Was he considering having Olivia Lanche killed? I couldn’t bring myself to ask outright if that was his intention. However, Olivia Lanche was a person who, if left to her own devices, could stir up a significant incident, one that would embarrass the empire.
That being the case, Vertus might be considering eliminating Olivia before she caused any trouble.
“Hey, come on, I wouldn’t go that far,” Vertus said with a flash of annoyance, as if he knew what I was thinking, and showing that he was intending no such thing.
“After all, this is the Temple, right?” Vertus said, implying that I should understand his point, and I nodded in response.
Yes, Olivia Lanche speaking out could indeed be problematic. However, any harm coming to a student of the Temple’s Royal Class would also be a significant issue for the empire.
From Vertus’s point of view, creating another massive problem to cover up a potential issue would be considered the worst course of action.
Vertus might not really take any action, but to be honest, I couldn’t be certain.
“By the way, she didn’t seem to know who you were, so why did you suddenly become curious about this?”
It seemed Vertus was more curious as to why I was interested in this matter.
“... A senior I know was worried about it.”
“Oh, that person?” Vertus nodded. He knew that Adriana and I were close. “That’s unfortunate for her.”
Whether Vertus would intervene in this matter or not, his tone made it clear that trouble was looming.
My palms began to sweat.
***
I couldn’t immediately inform Adriana of this information.
The “honest blockhead” might cause a big incident... I wasn’t sure if Adriana was one of those blockheads too. If she found out, she might try to do something and end up endangering herself.
‘Damn it.’
The life of someone whose face I didn’t even know was in danger.
Vertus had attempted to have a conversation with Olivia Lanche, someone who was certain to cause trouble in the name of preserving the empire’s dignity. However, he’d realized that it was completely futile to try to communicate with her.
It was not entirely impossible that this situation had something to do with what I had done. And although the probability was low, there was a chance that Vertus might intervene.
This time, I went up to the fifth floor myself. Telling Adriana would likely just add another troublemaker to the situation.
When I appeared in the lobby of the fifth-year’s Class A dorm, those there stared at me with wide eyes, wondering what a lower-grade student was doing there.
“Excuse me, I... I’m looking for a senior named Olivia Lanche.”
“Oh... I see. Okay. Wait here for a moment, please.”
“Thank you.”
After listening to my request, the senior I had asked let out a sigh.
It seemed Olivia’s situation was definitely contributing to the somber atmosphere that currently surrounded the fifth-year Class A dormitory.
The senior, who kindly offered to fetch her, told me to wait briefly in the lobby.
A fifth-year in the high school division of the Temple would ordinarily be twenty-one years old. Since Olivia was held back a year, she would be twenty-two.
The Olivia Lanche I was about to meet possessed tremendous Divine Power, capable of casting high-level divine magic.
Whether she had talent in combat was unclear, but it was presumed so.
Soon, a person who was unmistakably the one I was looking for walked towards me, accompanied by another senior. One could see at a glance, despite the slightly rigid expression—likely due to some internal despair—her gentle nature and upright conviction...
“There seem to be so many people looking for me today. What’s the matter?”
Nothing came to my mind except for the fact that she was extremely beautiful.
***
Being given the title of the Saintess of Eredian certainly had something to do with her goddess-like appearance. Her long, rich, platinum-blonde hair was almost white, and fell to her waist. Her beautiful eyebrows and green eyes, as well as her slightly pale pink lips, all contributed to her look.
Even as I stared at her, I found myself doubting how someone could be so flawlessly sculpted. Her beauty was so perfect it almost felt unnatural.
“Uh, um... My name is Reinhart, a first-year student.”
“Ah... so you’re Reinhart. I see.”
It seemed she had already heard about me from her earlier conversation with Vertus, as she smiled and gently patted my head.
“It seems you’re worried about me, and though I don’t know why, I appreciate it, Reinhart.”
Her touch felt as if it was enough to sanctify me on its own. Of course, what I actually felt was my heart skipping a beat.
‘No, this is bad. This wasn’t why I came here.’
I found it hard to keep myself focused.
It wasn’t love at first sight or anything like that, but she seemed so otherworldly, as if she belonged in a different realm. Just standing in front of her made me wonder if this was even real life.
What was this feeling?
There were plenty of striking individuals in my year, but being face-to-face with her felt like an honor.
It was as if I was in the presence of the world’s greatest beauty.
“So, what is it you want to talk about?”
“Um, could... could we possibly talk somewhere more private?” I said, unable to meet her eyes.
This situation was ripe for misunderstandings.
To any observer, I undoubtedly looked like a first-year student who was hopelessly infatuated with a fifth-year senior at first sight, and was unsure of how to act!
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