I Got Reincarnated Into a Game I Was a Top-Ranker in and I Became the Leader of a Villain Group That Will Destroy This Shitty Country - 66

Chapter 66: On the Same Boat

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The Pope’s public execution left a significant impact on the empire. Of course. After all, the church was the symbol of the empire and that symbol was completely destroyed in one night. 

I was sitting in my chair in one of the rooms at Rielle’s mansion. Leaning back in my chair, I sighed. 

“Phew…”

After the Pope’s death, the revolutionary movements in the city became much more active. The various crimes the church had committed instilled discontent in the people’s heart and now that the Resistance had emerged, people started to grow bolder. The capital was littered with posters to recruit members for the Resistance. And of course, the one leading the Resistance was none but… Me.

“I never imagined things would end up in this way though…”

I could understand why they respect me. I was the one that exposed the church’s sins, destroyed the Crusaders and also captured the Pope for the people to feast their vengeance on. On top of that, I also personally rescued the women who had been sexually violated in the basement of the church. I had taken direct actions to stop the church from torturing the people even further. I didn’t plan to make this Resistance or whatever though. Things just somehow rolled in this way. 

“Besides, that prophecy..”

The prophecy about how demons would devour this world and repaint it from scratch… That prophecy was news to me. I didn’t know anything about that when I played the game. However, it seemed that prophecy was a well-known story in this empire, so much so that the people truly believed the prophecy would come true. 

And yet… It turned out the demons they had been fearing were actually on their side… Helping them even. To those people, I must seem like their savior. 

Well, that being said, I’m only able to go this far thanks to my wonderful comrades. It’s all because I have Nia, Chloe and Rielle with me. 

I thought to myself when suddenly, I heard someone knocking at the door. 

“Kai-san, can I come in?”

“Sure.”

It was Alwyn’s voice. She, someone who could be considered as a victim in this incident, stood before me. Her expression was somewhat haggard. 

I, still seated, gave her a wry smile. 

“Are you okay?”

“I’m oka-… No, I am not.”

She smiled as she said that. Though her exhaustion was evident, I had no comforting words to offer in return. After witnessing the Pope’s purge to the end, Alwyn had said that she would rebuild the church from the ground up. The church had been destroyed, leaving her only a scorched field to work on. However, she planned on eliminating all the bad practices that had taken root in the church. Reflecting on the church’s past misdeeds, Alwyn wanted to create a church that could truly help the people. She knew that this was by no means an easy task and yet, she still chose that path.

“Are you going back to the church today?”

“Yes. I’ve finished assessing the damage to the building and the church’s assets and besides… Now that the Pope has passed away, I’m probably the only person that can act as the center of the church.”

…This girl was originally the top candidate to be the next pope. She must be feeling very responsible for the situation. 

“I will tell the members of the Resistance to not mess with the church then.”

“Fufu… Thank you… Ah, right. By the way, may I ask you just two questions?”

“Yeah, feel free to ask me anything.”

“The members of the Resistance… Where did they come from? I know the Resistance was mainly active in the rural areas and the slums, which are far from the capital.”

“Ah, well, it’s all thanks to Rielle. She used the people from her trading company to reach out to the Resistance members and make them pose as merchants selling elixirs to enter the capital.”

“I see. So they were able to enter the capital because they had the official documents from the Raudi Trading Company.”

“That’s right. Rielle has worked really hard, from managing the people and securing the funds… Oh and, I can sort of guess your second question.”

“Fufu… Alright, take a guess.”

“It’s about Kaltz, right?”

“…”

I must had hit the mark since Alwyn only lowered her gaze. The news of Kaltz’s death had already spread throughout the empire, causing a great shock to the people. However, since people knew he had chosen to side with the church, there were hardly any people mourning his death. 

“Sorry.”

“…What are you apologizing for? Despite knowing everything the church had done, Kaltz-sama still chose to protect the Pope. Kai, I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

“Still, he was your comrade, wasn’t he?”

“…”

“Alwyn, I-“

“I’m grateful to you, Kai.”

I was about to say something but her voice interrupted me mid-sentence. 

“I am truly grateful to you, you know? Even if you killed my life savior and my comrade… I’m still grateful to you.”

“..Alwyn…”

“After all, this is how it was meant to be from the beginning.”

Alwyn said, giving me a beaming smile. Although I could tell she was forcing herself to smile, but her smile really conveyed her true feelings. 

“Compared to always living in lies, the current situation feels more right. Perhaps… This is also part of God’s guidance.”

“..Is that so?”

“Yes. I don’t resent you at all. In fact, I’m grateful to you and also… Fufu…”

“Hm?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Alwyn chuckled, as if something was tickling her. Her sudden laugh caused my eyes to widen in surprise. Seeing my reaction, Alwyn only shook her head and sighed. Then, the next words that came out of her mouth showed her strong determination as a member of the clergy. 

“The royal family must have known about the church’s misdeeds too.”

“…Yeah. After all, the royal family and the church are tightly linked together.”

“…Indeed. That’s why, please, Kai…”

“…”

“Just as prophesied by God, please rebuild this evil infested empire from the ground up. If the royal family is also a nest of evils just like the church, then please… Crush the royal family as well.”

It was something a cleric like her shouldn’t say, but Alwyn’s voice was filled with great confidence in me. 

“I will always support you… You and Shadow. Forever.”

“Yes. Thank you, Alwyn.”

She would never step into the shadow, but that was fine. The fact still remained that she was one of our comrades. 

I stood up and offered my hand to her first. Smiling, Alwyn took my hand and shook it. 

I also shook her hand back and then… I pondered. Just what were we doing exactly? The Pope was dead. The Hero was dead. A revolution was happening. Just what was the royal family doing now? What were they plotting? What were they up to now?

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Three days after the Pope was purged in the square. 

“…”

“…”

Inside the imperial audience chamber, renowned nobles were gathering there. They were waiting for one person to come. All of them looked anxious.

The day after the incident, they had received a notice to gather in the imperial audience chamber at this hour today. No matter how high the status of the sender was, high-ranking nobles like them wouldn’t have gathered together so easily like this. However, over thirty nobles had gathered in this audience chamber. From dukes to earls, everyone was here, leaving no single chair empty. 

Everyone was here because they didn’t want to become the victims of the revolution.

“…Phew..”

One of the nobles sighed wearily. The room was reeking with fear. Their fear was not unfounded though. In just one night, the Crusaders were crushed. The Pope was purged in public and even Kaltz, the hero, was squandered by the demon. The people’s bottled up dissatisfaction had exploded. Anything could happen now. 

On top of that… Those demons, Shadow, were siding with the Resistance. 

“…”

“…”

If a full-fledged revolution were to occur, they knew their heads would be the first thing to roll on the grounds. They knew they were easier to target compared than the royal family, especially considering all of their sins they had accumulated. 

“Whe-When is he coming..?”

“Tch… Don’t tell me, he ran away… Is he leaving us alone in this mess?!”

“Count Gran, are you trying to say that you don’t believe in that person’s words?! He said the experiment is a success…!!”

“How can you talk about experiments in the middle of this mess, Count Ganie?! Don’t you understand?! A revolution is happening right in front of us!! Right here, in the capital! The demons are here!”

“That’s precisely why we need to put our faith in him! That person is the only one that can fight the demons-“

“That’s right~ Only I can fight them~”

At that moment, a man entered the audience chamber, effectively breaking the tense atmosphere. The man looked oddly confident. This man was Adolf. 

“Now, we’re on the same boat now. Fate has truly brought us together.”

Adolf was the second prince of this country and he was also the person that promised eternal life to the nobles gathered here. 

“There’s no turning back now, is there? Hahaha!~”

He laughed heartily while staring at how tense the nobles were.

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T/N: Time for the nobles to get executed?? LET’S GOOO! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و