Academy’s Barbarian

“Evil God Worship? What a ridiculous slander!”

Karnius, momentarily shaken, quickly composed himself and shamelessly denied the accusations. Admitting to it would mean his certain downfall.

“Do you think you can insult me with forged letters mimicking my handwriting? Such letters, I too could forge as many as I want if I so desired!”

Most of the evidence Lacey presented was a pile of letters without a single seal, which was somewhat fortunate for Karnius. While perfectly forging handwriting wasn’t easy, it wasn’t impossible either.

“Please, don’t raise your voice so much. It wouldn’t be good for the passersby outside to hear, would it?”

Lacey tilted her head slightly, raising one corner of her mouth in a mocking smile.

“Letters can indeed be forged… I know that well, so there’s no need to shout it at me. The letters aren’t the only evidence I’ve prepared. I didn’t bring them here to avoid making this place too crowded, but Sir Robert and Mr. Isaac mentioned here are currently undergoing a repentance ceremony at St. Eluniel Cathedral. Priest Elon and Mr. Johanson should also be meeting with our church’s paladins by now.”

If evidence is lacking, bringing in the involved parties as witnesses is enough. Lacey had taken advantage of Karnius bringing his core forces to the meeting and had quietly ordered the Special Operations Unit and some high-ranking paladins to arrest the key figures involved.

‘Impossible, I definitely eliminated Isaac…!’

Cold sweat dripped down Karnius’s forehead. He hadn’t been unprepared. As soon as he heard the news from Arvil, he had personally summoned the involved parties from his order and warned them against rash actions, even sending people to eliminate those most likely to betray him. The names Lacey mentioned were people he had received reports of being eliminated, disguised as accidents.

“This must be your first time doing something like this; your cover-up is quite sloppy, Your Eminence. If you wanted to eliminate the involved parties, you should have made sure to cut off their heads.”

Lacey smirked. From Karnius’s perspective, he had tried to eliminate them naturally by disguising their deaths as accidents, but thanks to that, Lacey had managed to capture the witnesses just before they died and kept them alive. She could only be grateful for his clumsiness.

The witnesses, who had nearly been eliminated by Karnius, were far from grateful. In fact, they cursed instead. While they had been saved from the brink of death, they were now locked in the heretical interrogation room of St. Eluniel Cathedral. At this very moment, they were screaming and wailing, enduring torture and recovery in a vicious cycle.

“Elmain Staldorf…!”

“Calm down. In the first place, there’s no point in vehemently denying it. In fact, there’s no need to.”

Lacey tidied up the evidence on the table and placed it beside her, smiling.

“You seem to be under some misunderstanding. If my goal was to bring down the Shaulite Church Order, I wouldn’t have needed to come see you at all. Just announcing this evidence publicly would be enough to shake the Shaulite Church Order to its core. The heroes who saved Arvil, with sufficient evidence and witnesses, are denouncing your crimes. Who would dare to refute that?”

Karnius gritted his teeth. The letters in his handwriting and the testimonies of the involved parties. While not perfect evidence, it was enough to bring him down and shake the Shaulite Church Order.

Under normal circumstances, he could have dismissed them as forged letters and false testimonies extracted under torture, even turning the tables to accuse his opponents. But this time, it wasn’t so simple. The fame of Elmain and his group had skyrocketed after the Arvil incident.

The incredible feat of defeating three long-hidden cult leaders and the powerful monster they summoned. Rumors spread that the gods themselves had descended to aid their daughter, and that the Empire’s Greatest Sword could split the heavens with a single strike. Even if Karnius tried to claim it was a frame-up and counterattack, no one would believe him now.

“……What do you want from me?”

In the end, Karnius had no choice but to step back.

‘There’s no point in denying it further… Still, the fact that she requested a meeting instead of announcing this publicly means she wants something from me. As long as the conditions aren’t outrageous, it’s better to accept them.’

Karnius glanced at Perrien. If Lacey presented an outrageous condition he couldn’t accept, his only option would be to use force to take control of the situation. If he could capture Lacey without causing too much commotion, it might still be possible to turn the situation around. Perrien Genes, the Shaulite Church Order’s greatest masterpiece, had the power to do just that.

“Now we can finally get to the main point.”

Lacey took a sip of her tea, moistening her throat, and placed her clasped hands on the table.

—

Lacey’s demands were fourfold.

1. Include Elpinel Church Order priests in the relief efforts for Arvil’s victims, with the Shaulite Church Order bearing all the costs.

2. Dissolve the Holy Sun Alliance.

3. Fully support her in discussions regarding the Imperial Diocese.

4. After the first three conditions are met, Cardinal Karnius, the mastermind behind this incident, will step down from all his holy positions and retire.

Except for the last condition, the demands were somewhat acceptable to Karnius.

“If you agree to these conditions, I won’t hold you responsible for this incident. I swear by Elpinel.”

Karnius pondered for a long time.

‘How did it come to this… Do I have to step down now?’

For Karnius, it was an unbearable injustice. He had thought the cultists were only hiding someone like Diraid, but who could have expected Belcus to appear? And to think they would destroy all of Arvil. He had expected them to take over part of the city and create a den of depravity, but he never imagined things would escalate this far.

‘Just one more step, just one more step…!’

The ambition he had pursued endlessly since his youth was within reach, but the image of the dazzling throne he had envisioned was fading. The head of the Holy Kingdom. Since his youth as an ordinary priest, his only goal had been to rise higher than anyone else.

For decades, he had hidden his true intentions behind a smile, playing the role of a devout, benevolent, just, and cautious man… He had finally become the head of the Shaulite Church Order.

But to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming the head of the Holy Kingdom, there were many obstacles to overcome. Maintaining his hypocritical facade while navigating the power struggles between church orders was no easy task.

Of course, Karnius didn’t give up. After much hardship, he had succeeded in making the Shaulite Church Order the strongest force in the Holy Kingdom. Though it was more due to the weakening of the Elpinel Church Order than his own efforts. However, that advantage began to waver not long after Lacey returned to the country, and now it was on the verge of collapse.

‘I can’t fall like this. How many sacrifices have I made to hold this position!’

The deeds he had committed, the atrocities he could never reveal to anyone, flashed through Karnius’s mind.

The bishop who had been suspicious of his actions had received a Holy Mark, forcing him to assassinate her to avoid impeachment.

Securing the collateral lines of the Bien family and, through generations of inbreeding, creating a ‘thick-blooded’ individual.

Supporting criminals to build his reputation and influence, only to eliminate them at the right time in this self-staged incident.

The sacrifices weren’t his, but those who had died by his hand. Yet Karnius believed all those deaths were his sacrifices. Sacrifices he had made, prepared to be forsaken by Shaulite.

In reality, he had long been unable to manifest Divine Light since assassinating the Shaulite Church Order’s saint candidate, though he had avoided detection by not taking the forefront.

“What do you intend to do, Your Eminence Karnius? Will you accept my conditions and retire quietly? Or will you refuse and choose to fall with your church? Just in case, let me remind you that detaining or eliminating me won’t help. As long as the witnesses are in our church’s hands, eliminating me will only deepen your crimes.”

Overcome with anxiety, Karnius gulped down the lukewarm tea.

‘…A dead end. For now, I need to show that I accept the conditions. There’s still some time before I have to fulfill the last condition, so I’ll look for an opportunity in the meantime.’

Though he was asked to retire from his position as cardinal, as long as he didn’t have to step down immediately, there was still a chance to counterattack.

Karnius decided to make a false oath to escape this situation. Rather than risking everything on Perrien’s strength in front of the oddly confident Lacey, it was less burdensome to feign compliance and wait for an opportunity to strike from behind.

“……Very well. I accept Archbishop Elmain’s conditions and swear to Shaulite that I will take responsibility for this incident and step down. Are you satisfied?”

He had no hesitation in selling out Shaulite’s name. After assassinating the saint candidate chosen by the goddess, he had no reason to fear Shaulite’s wrath now.