Chapter 80: Conversation (1)

Knock, knock—

The sound of fingers tapping on the table echoed.

I wanted to say something, anything.

But the Lord remained unusually silent.

Looking closely, he seemed either angry or troubled about something.

I sat quietly in front of him, patiently waiting.

“When did it start?”

That was his first question.

When did what start? His sudden question caught me off guard.

Perhaps sensing my confusion, the Lord repeated.

“When did you start believing in God?”

His tone was flat, as if he had already heard everything about the Hor Church from Leon Vallach.

“Before Gide went to hunt the dragons, a miracle from God came to me. From then on, I began to change.”

Up close, it looked tragic; from afar, almost comical.

Back then, everything was confusing and chaotic.

Now, recalling it, it’s quite laughable.

I was fumbling around, unsure whether to do this or that.

“Humph, God, huh.”

The Lord frowned slightly and muttered.

The real barrage of questions began afterward.

“What did that bastard do for you?”

“Why did He choose you as a Saint?”

“What kind of God is He, anyway?”

He asked, I answered.

A one-way conversation, like a bureaucratic procedure.

The clumsy exchange between two men lacking eloquence was just like this.

“Hor is the only true God.”

Though indifferent, I answered each of his relentless questions one by one.

In truth, most of my answers were lies.

From the very premise, his questions were flawed.

What a pitiful thing, the God of this world is actually me.

Even as I twisted my words, I couldn’t hide my astonishment.

The Lord, who I thought would cover his ears and refuse to listen, was actually paying close attention.

His gaze never left me for a moment.

“Is God stronger than me?”

Curiosity and rivalry flickered in the Lord’s eyes.

With it, the tension in the room surged.

Kuuu—

The window trembled, and the teacup holding the black tea cracked.

The mere aura he unconsciously exuded was already this intense.

Truly, he was a monstrous noble.

That’s why I hadn’t dared to issue any orders to the Lord.

It was fortunate he hadn’t launched a sword attack out of the blue.

Otherwise, I’d just be wasting my divine faith.

“God is not a being to be judged by such worldly words.”

“You have quite an excuse.”

Despite the smirk on his face, the dreadful tension did not subside.

This wasn’t a threat.

It was better understood as an overwhelming pressure.

I surfaced a part of my faith.

Faith surged through my body like a wild horse.

Where faith had passed, a haze-like shimmer wavered.

Only then did the pressure from the Lord ease.

“Is that power yours, or God’s?”

“It is the power God bestowed upon me.”

“Enough with the foolish games.”

Boom—

The Lord’s aura intensified even further.

Judging by his expression, he had no intention of lowering it anytime soon.

Damn.

You call me your son, yet you show no restraint.

Among those with swords drawn, there was not a single one who was as ruthlessly indifferent as this person.

“If I must say, it’s the power of God.”

“So in the end, none of it is truly yours?”

“The power God gave me—if it’s not mine, then whose is it?”

“How could Bartenberg ever beg from others?”

I heard a murmured rebuke questioning whether a Saint had become a pathetic servant who regarded what he received from others as his own.

“The relationship between a god and his servant can be shattered if the mind falters. What do you think will become of the bond between god and servant?”

“That means your power is like a sandcastle?”

Again, his premise was flawed.

I am God; so what does this “god and servant relationship” even mean?

There was no worthy answer.

Why did he ask such things?

I had a faint idea.

The Lord had already made up his mind.

Just like me.

“Even if the sky splits in two, I will follow God, and God will repay that faith.”

I raised a faith-laden aura.

My resolve blared from every fiber of my being.

“I want faith to spread throughout the continent. That is God’s will, and my own.”

“Ha. The whole continent, huh.”

He closed his eyes.

After a moment, a veil of fatigue rose beneath them.

“If that is your choice, I will not stop you.”

It was not over yet.

The real core of the matter was still to come.

I waited for his next words.

“I too will make my own choice.”

The fingers tapping on the table suddenly stopped.

“If you choose to follow God and not the sword, I will no longer treat you as Bartenberg. From this moment on, you are no longer my son.”

His voice was resolute.

But somehow—

Despite saying he wouldn’t treat me like his son, there was a faint hope reflected in his resigned gaze.

“Leave this place with those who follow you.”

From the start, I was not really his son.

So I could see Ludwig a little more objectively.

“Then go ahead, spread your faith across the world.”

He placed his hopes on ‘Richard’.

To a son who did not inherit the sword’s legacy but pursued a different religion.

The earlier questions weren’t out of mere curiosity about religion.

Ludwig’s interest was solely about the path his son intended to walk.

“Try to bring an influence greater than Bartenberg’s to the continent. If you do that, we Bartenbergs will accept your religion.”

He acknowledged the meaning and path I had chosen, but he wouldn’t give full support.

He wanted to see how far I could go.

That was Ludwig’s decision regarding his son.

A deep bitterness welled up inside him.

He suppressed it.

“I won’t forget your words.”

He challenged me to grow strength and power enough to subdue myself.

Religious freedom was already out of the question.

“Ha, how pitiful.”

The Lord sneered.

“Everything requires qualification. If you want to hold Bartenberg’s famed swords, you must first earn the right.”

“By qualification, I mean being worthy under the name of your God, and the famed swords each have their own will.”

“I am questioning the Hor Church, and your right as its representative. Above the swords’ will stands my own.”

The faith I sensed from the man before me could not be swayed by mere stubborn words.

The decision made by the Lord of Bartenberg was too firm.

Regrettably, it was an unavoidable law.

The famed swords scattered throughout this household could not be wielded without the owner’s permission.

With the power of Bartenberg, it would be only a matter of time to swallow the Northern Continent whole.

“Don’t think you can play tricks. A knight engraved with the Bartenberg crest serving a God unheard of by us is unacceptable.”

His dissatisfaction boiled over.

This man who had become a stranger to me was truly vexing.

Then I might as well treat him as an outsider.

Honestly, that was a million times easier.

“Then let’s make a deal.”

The Lord nodded, inviting me to speak.

“The Bartenberg crest pinned to this room. I want to borrow it, just once.”

***

The terms of the deal were simple.

I would repay a small portion of the debt owed here through the crest.

In return, I wanted a very, very small reward.

After repeated persuasion, the Lord accepted my proposal.

“It’s not that he has a wicked heart… it’s just that he was truly at a loss.”

Only ‘emptiness, emptiness, emptiness…’

His mind was filled with ‘Emptiness.’

The noble hoped Bartenberg’s household gods would overcome the Demonic Energy themselves.

If that happened, the pressure of the debt could be broken and lifted.

But the way he watched me so quietly was exactly like that.

“How could knights, let alone servants or retainers, overcome this?”

It’s not a matter of will and fighting spirit alone.

So it was no wonder even I was left out of the loop.

I could not ignore those desperately seeking the light.

This is why one can’t be stubborn.

One must have an open heart.

“Young Master!”

Gide bumped into me as I was returning to my room.

No, he had been waiting for me.

“Did you talk well with the Lord?”

He looked quite worried, his eyes darting about.

Yeah.

Now the one I had to convince was the old man.

“I was kicked out.”

“Goodness! He still hasn’t calmed down…”

“No, that’s not it. I was kicked out of the house.”

Silence.

Gide stopped.

He looked at me, bewildered as if he couldn’t understand.

“You mean from the ancestral home?”

“Ha, ha…”

He took a deep breath but looked like he might collapse from a heart attack.

I dragged him into the room.

“It’s actually for the best.”

The household was already set on throwing me out if things went wrong.

Bartenberg’s talents were coveted, but it was only a matter of rank.

Someday, I would take it all.

Rather, it was fortunate to have extracted even this much from the Lord.

‘As long as the conditions are met, Ludwig will also serve God.’

Our Bartenberg will accept your religion—

That included the Lord himself.

He had said so with his own mouth, so he would keep his word no matter what.

Things had gotten complicated, but the reward would surely be sweet.

I chose to think positively.

“Say it again. Did the Lord really kick you out, Master?”

But my household was acting strangely.

“No, no, it must be a joke. Young Master is a likely candidate for heir…”

Hah.

What’s an heir compared to this?

I see not this small household but the entire world.

No single Northern Continent can withstand the Demon Realm’s assault.

Of course, the Southern Continent alone is also insufficient.

In such a situation, nobles and Mage Houses compete with each other for dominance.

My task is to unify these two continents tirelessly.

The key link is religion.

“Gide. Do you believe in God? You must have heard everything from Aaron.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

I stared at Gide, surprised by his sudden voice.

“Do you think I’m crazy?”

“To be honest, when I first heard about the Hor Church…”

A smile came to his lips.

“What about now?”

“At least I don’t think you’re crazy anymore. Otherwise, the entire Third Knight Division must be mad.”

“That’s right. Even they believes in God.”

This is why power is needed.

One’s defense is stronger with allies than standing alone.

“Gide Meyer. What will you do?”

“As long as I’m with you, Master, I will go anywhere. But…”

I saw an old man’s grimace.

Everything seemed sudden and puzzling to him.

“Think simply.”

“How can this be simple?”

“Then stay here.”

What I wanted were comrades who shared the same will—not butlers who valued their loyalty to ‘Richard’.

I felt the need to cross this bridge here.

“I’m no longer the fool you knew.”

“You’ll feel strange too. It’s not that I changed, but that I’ve become a completely different person.”

Gide was the only one who had formed a bond with ‘Richard’.

He had risked his life to rip out a dragon’s heart, so there was no doubt about his feelings.

But those feelings were for ‘Richard’.

The affection that old man showed wasn’t for me, but for ‘Richard’.

The Third Knight Division and Aaron looked at me as ‘Richard’, but Gide only looked toward ‘Richard’.

There was nothing more uncomfortable to me than that.

…If I could, I wanted to tell them everything.

That I was not Richard at all, but an entirely different person.

But I could never say such a thing.

“If you decide to follow me, cut off your old ties. Think of it as serving a new lord.”

So of course, this ridiculous horseplay was inevitable.

A selfish, cowardly excuse to avoid the burden of conscience.

“Young Master…”

I turned my head.

It was hard to meet the gaze of the wounded old man.

The Lord and Gide both.

Neither really saw me as myself, and that made me a little angry.