“Archbishop Handel has delivered a divine oracle from God Eolem.”
“Oh, an oracle? Then isn’t there a way to resolve the situation by continuously relying on God Eolem?”
“Our God only bestows some prophecies; he does not prevent them. He is the ‘God of Vengeance,’ after all.”
“Aha, so you’re saying the information is incomplete?”
“Yes. We barely know that the target of the calamity is Aurax’s children and that the culprit is among our revolutionary army.”
“Hmm.”
I slowly nodded my head.
It was quite important to probe how much Archbishop Handel knew.
The less she knew, the more work I would have, and the more crumbs would fall my way.
“Our Great Church of Eolem is also pursuing the mastermind behind this calamity in our own way. However, since the opponent is also among the revolutionary army, it’s as good as our movements being completely read.”
“That would certainly be the case. We don’t know their identity at all, but they must know ours well.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
This is interesting.
So this kind of thing was behind that event.
I was quite intrigued, even as I ran calculations in my head.
Indeed, this doesn’t feel like just a game; it feels like the story of real people.
“So when I received the report that the Third Prince brought up the topic of that calamity…”
The archbishop’s wrinkled eyes narrowed.
“I wondered if the person connecting us and the Empire might be the culprit. I even suspected they might be a double agent.”
“Ah. So, in the process of information exchange between both sides’ intelligence agents, information about the calamity might have flowed to the Third Prince, albeit indirectly? That’s what you suspected?”
“Yes, that’s right. You’re very accurate.”
Archbishop Handel, who had been nodding silently, had a slightly strange expression.
“But Prince, you’re quite… different from what I’ve heard.”
Her gaze at me became strangely intense.
Suddenly receiving such an ardent gaze from an older woman, I was flustered.
“What, what? What about me?”
“You’re quite intelligent? According to rumors, the Third Prince is said to be an idiot who can’t do anything but eat and drink.”
Are they skipping all the polite ways of saying “enemy agent”?
“Isn’t rudeness a sickness if it’s excessive, Archbishop?”
“My apologies.”
“In any case, that suspicion was wrong. I didn’t hear about it from someone else.”
“You mean…?”
“I just know.”
Doubt flickered in the archbishop’s eyes, but I decided to be impudent.
I could afford to be.
After all, having come this far, there’s no alternative besides me.
“They’re targeting the children at the Kisyrys Cathedral. The date is approximately one week from now.”
Both of their eyes shook wildly.
I looked them straight in the face and informed them.
“It’s an ancient tradition of Aurax, isn’t it? The Ritual of the Red Wind.”
This ‘Ritual of the Red Wind’ is a kind of coming-of-age ceremony where children aged 17 to 19 from the revolutionary army gather.
“When all the kids gather there, things will explode. Boom.”
Although they are grown children, it would be truly unpleasant for them to die helplessly.
But that was the content of this event.
[Event] One of the priests of Kisyrys Cathedral has conceived a terrible idea for the revival of the religious order.
To reduce the number of Auraxian boys who grow up and advance into other factions, they decided to kill them beforehand.
He prepared the calamity to coincide with the Ritual of the Red Wind, where all the children gather.
If no one stops it beforehand, only sorrow and screams will remain at that ritual.
Upon hearing my explanation, the archbishop and high priest’s faces turned serious.
“It all fits perfectly, Archbishop.”
“Indeed. Of all places, the Kisyrys Order…”
Karls and Tirvaen, who had been listening silently beside me, had expressions that showed they couldn’t understand it at all.
“Your Highness, you’re not perhaps letting your imagination run wild, are you?”
“How could that be? To kill off the children of their own country in advance for the growth of their own faction?”
Their expressions indicated that they didn’t even understand what the Kisyrys Cathedral was intending.
“Yes, you two probably won’t understand.”
They had lived only in the Empire, so they needed further explanation.
“All children of Aurax are educated as members of the revolutionary army from a young age as they grow up. They either become clergy belonging to the church or soldiers belonging to the army.”
Deciding precisely where they will go, their specific affiliation, happens after the coming-of-age ceremony.
This alone made it difficult for the two of them to understand.
“No? Then couldn’t boys also become clergy of the Kisyrys Cathedral?”
“Right, why would they try to kill innocent children who could be the future of the church?”
“That’s…”
It was old man Varmilo who poured cold water on the two indignant individuals.
“The Kisyrys Church does not accept men as clergy.”
“…Eh?”
“Why not? Men are people too!”
“Because that is their law. The Goddess of Deceit desires only women or castrated men as her servants.”
“Ca-castrated?”
I chuckled, seeing Karls’s face stiffen.
“Yeah, dude. You have to cut that off. So, would boys want to go to the Kisyrys Church as clergy?”
Of course, that’s ridiculous.
Even if they liked the Kisyrys Church, they’d just choose to be a soldier and occasionally go to church for worship.
It was extremely rare for someone to try to become a cleric even by removing their ‘parts’.
“So, you mean… because it’s a church that only accepts girls, they think it’s okay to kill boys?”
“Precisely. To be more accurate, to them, boys are merely future resources for other factions.”
“This is insane! What kind of crazy group like that exists in the world?!”
Karls began to rampage as if he was about to charge into Kisyrys Cathedral with a sword in his mouth.
“Let go! Let me go! Your Highness!”
“Whoa, whoa, Karls! Calm down. No one’s dead yet, right?”
“They’ll be dead soon!”
“No, I think you’ll die first, you six-star rookie.”
“Argh!”
Then, Archbishop Handel, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly spoke.
“It seems it was the right decision after all.”
Her voice had a peculiar resonance, and I turned to look at her.
“It was the right thing to do to help the Third Prince escape.”
Handel gave me a faint smile.
“Though I don’t know how you know our internal affairs in such detail.”
Sorry, that’s a trade secret.
The Archbishop spoke in a calm voice.
“As the Archbishop of the Great Church of Eolem, I respectfully request of His Highness, Prince Gilloshian III. Please help prevent our children from being sacrificed to the misguided faith of adults.”
Along with her words, a message appeared.
[Quest ‘Savior of the Sons’ has been given.]
[Quest] Stop the Kisyrys Cathedral’s plan and protect the children.
Special: Linked to Quest ‘You’re the Escapee, I’m the Archbishop’
Expected Reward: Sacred Relic of the Great Church of Eolem, and 2 other items.
I nodded.
Once I possess a sacred relic of the gods, I’ll be recognized as a member of the church.
If I also get the city’s pass, which is the reward for the quest ‘You’re the Escapee, I’m the Archbishop’…
‘I’ll be perfectly settled within the revolutionary army’s territory, even as the Empire’s Third Prince.’
Then the path to the Dragon’s Nest will also open.
In fact, thinking about it, this was quite amusing.
‘The Empire’s Prince is doing this to mingle with the rebels.’
But if I successfully complete the quest and prevent the boys from being massacred?
Not only the Eolem Church, but also the City Guard and Border Patrol will show me favor.
Junior soldiers are that precious.
‘Unfortunately, the Special Forces guys are a bit of an exception.’
Anyway, I gladly accepted the quest… Before that!
I almost forgot about this.
“By the way, Archbishop.”
“Yes?”
“Everything’s good. But remember when you tied me up earlier?”
Archbishop Handel pressed her lips together, seemingly flustered.
But I continued my verbal assault without hesitation.
“I was in so much pain then, really, really much? But Your Grace just glared at me without saying anything, very scarily? Do you remember?”
“Uh, that…”
“At that time, I was in so much agony that I thought, ‘Did I come to Aurax for this?’ Ha, even thinking about it now makes me want to cry, you know?”
“Pr-Prince?”
“Of course, Your Grace wouldn’t have known, right? You were too busy glaring and creating a fearful atmosphere. Ah,”
“No, Your Highness! That was truly unavoidable.”
The Archbishop was uncharacteristically sweating nervously.
Of course, I knew why they tied me up.
‘They were just playing along with the Titan Special Forces and Kisyrys Cathedral who wanted to finish me.’
But I was gently badgering the Archbishop using this as an excuse.
Should I drop the main topic around now?
“Alright, in that sense, if things are handled well, please add 50 more gold coins. Can you do that?”
“…Gold coins, you mean?”
“Yes. 50.”
How dare you try to end this by just throwing a sacred relic and a few junk items at me!
‘I can’t just let this go.’
In the end, Archbishop Handel reluctantly nodded her head.
“Understood. I’ll do that.”
[Negotiation with a friendly NPC has succeeded.]
[New title ‘Novice Negotiator’ has been acquired!]
[50 gold coins have been added to the expected rewards for Quest ‘Savior of the Sons’.]
“Then, farewell.”
The Archbishop, having been thoroughly fleeced by me, hurriedly disappeared.
‘Satisfied, so satisfied.’
This is the vibe that comes from experience.
When performing quests with NPCs you have a grievance with, you absolutely must negotiate like this.
Otherwise, you’ll just live at a loss.
Of course, Karls and Tirvaen didn’t seem to think so.
“Your Highness, have some dignity!”
“It’s embarrassing. Why is the guy who used to spend money like water suddenly doing this?”
“Alright, let’s move past the trivialities!”
I walked purposefully, organizing my plans in my head.
By the time we exited the dungeon, it was already midnight.
The Archbishop seemed to have somewhat anticipated that I would move at dawn.
There were 7 days left until the Ritual of the Red Wind.
‘Then they must be spending that time getting to know each other.’
The Ritual of the Red Wind wasn’t a simple event where you just offered a prayer and that was it.
It was a rather tiring event that was only completed when participants found their assigned targets.
They said that was proof of becoming an adult.
Anyway, by now, the children would probably be gathered together, going through the preparations for the ritual.
‘Thanks to that, I’ve also gained some time to prepare.’
First, I needed a proper weapon.
Karls’s sword wasn’t bad, but he kept whining for his ‘lover’ back.
And most importantly, a sword isn’t enough for this quest.
“High Priest Varmilo.”
The old man, who was about to disappear after wishing me good luck, flinched.
He seemed to sense something unsettling.
But I grinned.
“You remember, don’t you?”
“…Remember what?”
The old man tried to feign ignorance.
“You promised to get me anything if I safely rescued the priests, didn’t you? In the name of God Eolem.”
When I mentioned the name of God, he sighed deeply and nodded.
“You’re truly excellent at collecting debts. You could be a loan shark.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“As I said then, anything I can’t obtain just becomes the domain of the gods. Understand?”
However, his resigned face didn’t last long.
“Go and get me ‘Walakas’ Eyeball’.”
“What did you just say?”
“WA-LA-KAS’S EYE-BALL!”
I smiled brightly, seeing his bewildered face.
“I know it’s possible, so don’t talk about the domain of the gods.”
Saying “eyeball” sounds gruesome, but it was actually the name of a pair of glasses.
‘Magical glasses that must be somewhere in Aurax.’
[Accessory] This round, cute pair of glasses was surprisingly born from the hands of a demon.
Surprisingly, it has the effect of easily showing the trajectory of a weapon that will be fired.
I planned to use this to learn archery.
With no relevant skills right now, this item was desperately needed.
The problem was the location where these glasses were stored.
Varmilo knew where they were, but he couldn’t help but look despairing.
“Prince, are you telling me to raid the Commander-in-Chief’s study…?”
His expression was even more distorted because he knew where the glasses were.
Yes, ‘Walakas’ Eyeball’ was an item belonging to the revolutionary army’s Commander-in-Chief, who was currently absent.
I smiled broadly.
“Just think of it as borrowing them for a moment. For the children!”