Vol 3 Chapter 66 – The Divine Will of God Arias

“So, are you two staying out of this one?”

A short while after we got back to our room at the inn, I posed the question to the two idiots.

They’re the type to casually go back on their word, after all.

So I asked, just to be sure.

“For the most part, I don’t plan to get involved.”

“Oh, really? I mean, that’s a relief for me, but…”

My biggest concern was that they’d declare they were going to jump into the religious war after all.

But it seemed Al had no intention of changing his mind. Yes!

“Fundamentally, if religions want to kill each other, that’s their business. They’re both fighting for their own brand of justice. There’s no room for me to intervene.”

Hmm… I have no idea what this guy’s criteria for ‘evil’ is.

But if it means I can avoid another bloody spectacle, I’m fine with it.

“However, if they start harming ordinary citizens, that’s another story.”

“From what we’ve heard, it seems the Church of Arias is causing trouble for innocent people who have nothing to do with this…”

Al’s eyes glinted.

Antares nodded in agreement. Scary.

“Hmph. We let Lusaria go because she was running a soup kitchen, but if we find any Church of Arias followers rampaging about without a care for the trouble they’re causing, we’ll kill them.”

“Indeed!”

“Could you not make such terrifying plans…?”

How can you discuss plans to murder people with such cheerful smiles on your faces?

I just don’t get it.

“Besides, if you make an enemy of a religion full of fanatics like that, won’t it be a huge pain? Those types seem like they’d hunt you down until the day you die.”

As a rule, messing with someone from an organization or a group means you make an enemy of all of them, which is a massive headache.

There’s strength in numbers, after all.

That’s why you need a group of your own when you oppose another group.

Especially religious ones. They seem like they’d become intensely exclusionary to enforce their doctrines.

But the two idiots had no such fears.

“It’s fine. Not a problem.”

“We’re the ones who will be hunting them to their deaths! They are the prey, not us. We are the hunters, not them!”

“Excellent. Well said, Ann.”

“Yes, Master!”

The two of them chirped happily.

Stop flirting, you two.

…Well, the ones to be pitied are the poor souls who make an enemy of you two. I knew that already.

When you really thought about it, even against a group, these two would probably slaughter them all without mercy and come out on top.

I didn’t need to worry.

“For now, let’s just hope nothing happens in this town… Really…”

This kind of thing is usually just needless worry, so it’ll be fine, right?

It’s fine, it’s fine.

◆

Inside a certain building in the town where Alvarado and his companions were staying.

There was an altar; it was a place of worship.

It wasn’t a grand building like a large church, but it was a sacred place where a small number of believers gathered to offer their prayers each day.

Now, that precious place had been utterly desecrated.

And a man, a follower of that religion, was sprawled on the floor with a bloody nose.

In front of him, another man crouched down and spoke to him with a foul attitude.

“Hey, I told ya, didn’t I? Over and over and over again. We don’t wanna hurt ya or kill ya. All you gotta do is nod.”

His tone was gentle, but his words were meant to incite terror.

And indeed, the follower he was speaking to had a look of pure fear on his face.

The man gave him a broad grin.

“Just nod along to my kind suggestion that you renounce your trash religion and start worshiping the Church of Arias.”

“Wh-What’s so kind about this suggestion…? To do something like this… and think you can get away with it…!”

To a believer, the religion they follow is precious.

Renouncing his faith was unthinkable.

But the man twisted his face as if he couldn’t understand.

“What’s the downside for us in attacking a pissant religion like yours? You can’t be serious. You plan to take on the Church of Arias? They’ll actually kill you, all of you. Just stop. This ain’t a threat, it’s a friendly warning, see?”

“…………!”

He wanted to retort, but the words caught in his throat.

What the man was saying was true.

If the Church of Arias truly came to crush them, they had no means to resist.

The difference in scale was just too great.

Even if they fought back, they would just be effortlessly stamped out.

The worst possible outcome—death—was all that awaited them.

“Why… why are you doing this…? We haven’t done anything wrong…”

“Why? C’mon, man…”

Isn’t it obvious? the man laughed.

“It’s the divine will of God Arias.”

We’re acting in the name of our religion. What other reason could there be?

Or so, he said aloud.

“So, what’s it gonna be? Why don’t you hurry up and switch sides? It’s not like I want to kill anyone.”

“Kgh, ugh…!”

Tears of frustration streamed down the believer’s face.

But to resist meant death.

In the end, he would cast aside his own faith.

“That went well! You’re amazing, Masado-san!”

“Shut up.”

As the man—Masado—exited the building, a subordinate ran up to him.

It wasn’t a formal subordinate relationship, but he looked up to Masado for his overwhelming strength.

“But that ‘divine will of God Arias’ line… I almost burst out laughing. As if you’d ever lift a finger for someone else’s sake, Masado-san!”

The subordinate laughed crudely.

Masado grabbed his mouth in a vice grip and glared.

“Hey. I’ll fucking kill you if you keep running that mouth. You always need a pretext for this stuff, you idiot.”

“S-Sowwy.”

Masado clicked his tongue and let him go.

Looking up at the sky, he asked his subordinate.

“So, who’s left? Is that everyone in this town?”

“That was the last of the ones of any decent size… Oh, wait. There’s just one more.”

“Hah? Who?”

Masado had been systematically crushing other religions while causing harm to ordinary citizens.

Normally, it wouldn’t have been surprising for the authorities to intervene, but he was completely protected by the power of the Church of Arias.

The Church of Arias boasted so much influence that even public institutions couldn’t carelessly interfere.

Masado’s eyes widened in surprise. There was still another religion left?

“The Church of Shannon, I think they’re called. Apparently, they have a tiny number of followers, but there’s one person in this town who’s a really zealous member.”

“Hmph.”

A religion he’d never even heard of.

Which meant it was another weak little group, just like the one they’d just crushed.

Their numbers were probably small, and they wouldn’t have any means to fight back.

It would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Masado grinned and said to his subordinate.

“Alright, let’s go crush this ‘Church of Shannon’ and then we can take it easy.”

“Yes, Masado-san!”

They were only a short time away from realizing they had just messed with something they never should have touched.