Cardinal Sicarii (2)

I first asked the priests.

Then I wandered through the slums asking people.

Finally, I asked ordinary people who weren’t from the slums.

About the condition of Cardinal Sicarii’s recklessly pushed plan.

About how Cardinal Sicarii was doing now.

The more answers I heard, the more failures I confirmed.

The doubts within me grew larger and larger.

“I’ve got this feeling, what do you all think?”

So I shared the reasons for my suspicion with my companions. Thinking about it alone would only lead to baseless speculation.

I don’t know much about Cardinal Sicarii. At most, I only know that he was an outstanding paladin.

Since rumors about how he acted during the war and how he died were merely hearsay, I couldn’t be certain about anything.

“Wouldn’t continuing with a plan that’s clearly doomed to fail mean he still has lingering attachments? Perhaps he believes there’s still a way.”

“That’s possible. It’s often harder to stop halfway down a path than to never start. That’s human nature—not letting go even when you know the end is a cliff.”

Claire’s opinion was reasonable.

The failure was practically confirmed. At this point, the best answer would be to properly seal the wound to minimize damage.

If he were to abandon the improvement plan now, there would be considerable pushback the next time someone tried something similar.

He doesn’t want to leave a precedent of failure. So he struggles until the end. It’s a plausible story.

“…What if failure is the goal?”

“Huh?”

That was Línea’s opinion.

She spoke with a hesitant attitude, raising her hand halfway.

Failure being the goal.

The moment I heard those words, something started to click in my mind.

But Línea seemed to have already finished her train of thought, as she continued before my thoughts could fully form.

“What happens if he fails?”

“Well, he’d lose support and, in the worst case, might have to step down from his position as cardinal. He’d have to take responsibility for acting independently.”

“But there are things that would happen before that, right? For instance, the tragedy that Cardinal Sicarii’s failure would bring.”

“There could be problems for the people in the slums.”

“People experience stress when their environment changes rapidly. When something that was always there disappears or when they can’t do what they used to do. And if that happens due to someone else’s coercion?”

“Discontent would reach its peak. Yes, I understand. I see what you’re getting at.”

I could grasp what Línea meant by wanting to fail.

If the goal was to deliberately build up discontent among the poor…

“Is he planning bloodshed?”

“…It’s just a hypothesis.”

Línea voiced her opinion but seemed skeptical.

That’s natural. We’re talking about a clergyman deliberately creating a riot to cut out the problematic parts.

It wouldn’t be unprecedented in history. The situation is difficult to resolve, yet there’s no justification to simply remove these people. Yes, this is about creating justification.

But Cardinal Sicarii is a clergyman. And not just any clergyman, but a cardinal.

Could someone like that go that far? That would be crossing a line. It’s not something the gods watching over us from heaven would tolerate.

He would have his holy power revoked.

“That must be it.”

“Titan, I don’t think you understand…”

“That guy was a traitor. Isn’t that common in the human world?”

“…”

Titan’s seemingly ignorant yet penetrating words. Right, I hadn’t thought of that.

Why would I assume Cardinal Sicarii would fear losing his holy power?

He might not.

No, what if actually…

“If he’s already had his holy power revoked, then it’s possible.”

If he had his holy power revoked, it wouldn’t be hard to understand.

He betrayed the gods.

He lost his faith. That’s why he lost his holy power and ended up like this.

I don’t know the sequence of events.

Did he do these things because he lost his holy power?

Or did he lose his holy power because he was planning to do these things?

The important point is that nobody suspected this until now.

Why? A priest using holy power is completely natural.

Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if a priest wasn’t using holy power?

Yet no one has noticed until now. Here in the headquarters?

“…It wasn’t about establishing dominance.”

When I first started gathering information.

-He’s a bit rigid during first meetings. Honestly, I wasn’t too worried or suspicious of you, brother.

That’s what the priest who guided me had said. That Cardinal Sicarii is a bit rigid during first meetings.

That’s why he tried to test me with such an intimidating voice.

I was suspicious of that from the beginning. What good would it do for a priest to make a bad first impression?

Still, I tried to accept it as his behavior due to his position as a cardinal, a representative figure of the temple.

“Titan, when you first met Cardinal Sicarii, how did it feel?”

“Anyway, an impressive guy?”

“That’s clear. Exactly.”

An intimidating presence that prevented anyone from doubting his position as a cardinal.

The behavior that followed from there.

He deliberately made an outrageous offer of 1,000 gold coins to irritate me, but when Línea easily paid that price, he flipped his attitude.

After establishing the impression of being a cardinal, he was planning to gradually change that impression.

Since Línea paid the money, he used that as an excuse to change his attitude.

Too easily. That should have made me suspicious, but…

“He also got rid of the heresy inquisitors who might have suspected him.”

When he said he borrowed the training ground.

Until then, I couldn’t find any heresy inquisitors within the headquarters.

There was congealed blood in the training ground, and I naturally thought it was from the heresy inquisitors’ training, but what if it wasn’t?

What if the heresy inquisitors had left the headquarters long ago?

“He knew I was a heresy inquisitor.”

That’s why he deliberately sprinkled blood on the training ground floor so I wouldn’t suspect their absence.

Making me think that someone had gathered there for training until recently.

A well-crafted design.

“I need to verify this.”

Of course, I can’t confront Cardinal Sicarii with mere suspicions.

But verification was simple.

*     *     *

My first action was to determine how to prove that Cardinal Sicarii had betrayed the gods.

I thought about inciting him to demonstrate his holy power in front of everyone, but that would likely backfire.

What would I do if he proved himself?

And what about the opposite?

If he hadn’t betrayed the gods yet, there would be backlash.

Conversely, if he had betrayed the gods, I question whether he would let the people present live.

So I needed to target a time when few people were around. But even in such a situation, if he made excuses about not wanting to use holy power, there’d be no way forward.

He could say he couldn’t treat divine miracles like a spectacle, and I would have nothing to say.

Even if I brought in a fake injured person, it would be the same.

He could retort by asking why I, an apostle, wouldn’t heal them myself.

Then there was only one way to prove it.

“Brother, could I possibly receive a proof of faith?”

“…That would require the Cardinal’s permission, Priest Lost. It’s a dangerous item. Moreover, it’s unnecessary for High Priest Lost, who is already a high priest.”

“But I’ve never gone through the proper verification process.”

High priest.

The verification ritual for that position.

It was, surprisingly, a barbaric and painful method.

“I rose to this position through His Holiness’s grace, but I’ve never once proven myself. So I’d like the opportunity to prove myself, even if just for myself.”

I’m leveraging my background of meeting Cotinus during my journey and receiving a high priest’s credentials from him.

In other words, I’m saying I’ve never used the proof of faith myself.

“…If you insist, I’ll trust you and provide it, priest.”

“Thank you, brother. If anyone reprimands you, feel free to say I coerced you.”

“That’s not necessary. It was my decision to trust you, High Priest Lost, so if anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

The method to verify a high priest.

If I could draw Cardinal Sicarii into that verification method, things would surely go smoothly.

*     *     *

I wasn’t surprised by the sight of Sicarii coughing up blood.

It was merely what I had expected.

Therefore, my question was not about him vomiting blood, but about something else.

“You seem to have expected this, yet you still accepted it?”

It was too easy.

Despite it being such an obvious ploy, he accepted it.

I had planned to induce him to drink it, but my plan was disrupted.

No, it wasn’t even disrupted.

My opponent had surrendered.

“You are the apostle of the gods, so your will must be the will of the gods. If that’s the will of the gods, shouldn’t I follow it?”

“What impressive faith.”

“Does it appear that way? Despite you coming here to confirm otherwise?”

“…”

Sicarii wiped his mouth with a grim smile.

Dark red blood stained his sleeve along with the wine.

“Proof of faith. A famous poison. It’s also the poison high priests swallow to prove themselves.”

“It’s a poison that doesn’t affect priests who carry a certain level of holy power in their bodies. And even if an ordinary person accidentally drinks it, it’s refined so that its effects are neither lethal nor prolonged—a poison made solely for testing.”

“Well, that makes it clear.”

Sicarii seemed relieved.

As if he had foreseen this situation.

I couldn’t tell whether his eyes held anger or pity as he looked at me.

Even now, facing him, I couldn’t be sure.

“Cardinal Sicarii.”

But the result was clear.

Cardinal Sicarii had betrayed the gods.

“Why did you do it?”

“Isn’t the apostle the gods’ proxy? If so, you should already know the reason.”

“I am a person before being an apostle. And people ask what they don’t know and seek understanding for what they cannot comprehend. Cardinal Sicarii, I simply want to know your intentions.”

“And if you know my intentions? Would you claim to save me? You, the gods’ proxy, saving me, whom the gods have abandoned?”

“If I could, yes. Having failed to meet the gods’ expectations isn’t a sin.”

Not yet.

He’s not an enemy yet.

At least, that’s what I think.

I could have changed countless people like him before.

So I’ll do my best to persuade them.

The relationship between people can change sufficiently through dialogue.

“Cardinal Sicarii, you haven’t committed a sin yet. I was able to find you before that happened.”

“Do you think that’s divine guidance?”

“No, this is a coincidence. And this decision is also an answer I found on my path. I’d like to request a conversation with you.”

“What good would understanding me do? You know, don’t you? Even the same words can be received differently depending on who they’re directed at.”

“That’s not a reason to not try.”

“Kuhuhu.”

Cardinal Sicarii laughed.

A sneer as if it was absurd.

But still, I didn’t want to get angry.

He had made an effort.

Whatever he was plotting, that much was sincere.

He was in a position where he could have used dirty methods, yet he was giving his best on a path destined to fail.

Like a pilgrim waiting for his end.

“Since the apostle is so zealous in trying to persuade me, sure, there’s no reason not to have a conversation. But you should know this: you’re giving me time.”

“How that time is used is up to Cardinal Sicarii.”

“Is that so? We’ll see.”

Cardinal Sicarii shrugged and leaned deeply into his chair.

*     *     *

Sicarii was one of the paladins who had protected the headquarters for many years.

He knew from that time what the problem with the headquarters was.

He remembers the looks from people when he returned after exterminating a horde of magical beasts.

-Captain.

-Don’t make such a face. Isn’t it natural? With all this blood and flesh stuck to me.

Their disgust. Their fear.

He understood. He was trying to understand.

After all, the looks heresy inquisitors received were even more dreadful.

That didn’t mean the looks they received weren’t painful.

-It’s unreasonable to ask them not to be afraid.

That was bearable.

After all, they were people who followed the gods’ will and practiced their teachings.

He thought that things would change someday, that people who understood their hardships would appear one by one.

And they actually did.

Although looks of disgust and fear were still common, such small comforts and praises were enough to endure.

And as time passed, Sicarii, who retreated from the front lines, became a cardinal.

He could ascend to that position by being recognized for his merits and piety over the years.

-Haha, I thought many things would change if I ascended to this position.

The first issue he had to deal with after becoming a cardinal was a petition asking if the Paladin Order could be driven out of the headquarters.

Ignorant fools. Truly ridiculous people. There were many people who claimed it was their right to tell the owner of the house to leave.

What’s even funnier is that those who had nothing and only received tended to show such tendencies more.

They were too busy tearing down others because they didn’t know pain and hardship.

Hatred sprouted in Sicarii’s heart.

-Lord, I know that’s also their own defense mechanism. I understand. I will forgive them.

Still, Sicarii endured.

He was someone who followed the gods’ will and proclaimed their teachings.

He understood them.

He tried to understand.

In reality, Sicarii neither discriminated against them nor expressed his discontent.

He buried that disgust in his heart and tried to embrace them.

-Ah…

But the gods seemed to think differently. Even though Sicarii vowed to forgive and embrace them.

It seemed different in the gods’ eyes.

-How could you do this?

Sicarii lost his holy power one day. Despite enduring and tolerating everything, he was abandoned by the gods.

-Wasn’t it not about the heart but the teachings?

He couldn’t control his heart.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how he tried to prove it through attitude and action.

Despite his conflicting heart still harboring hatred for them.

He was abandoned by the gods.

All his efforts were considered mere hypocrisy.

-Did you think I wouldn’t endure? That I would eventually be consumed by this heart and harm them?

Yes, if that was inevitable.

-Still, I will follow your teachings. Until that day comes, I will still try.

Sicarii wanted to at least try to make an effort up to that point.

*     *     *

He thought about telling him.

He considered pouring out these worries and asking for understanding of this pain.

“No… I think it’s better to forget about this conversation.”

But he stopped.

Because the boy in front of him wasn’t trustworthy?

No. It’s because he had decided to shoulder this future.

Because there’s no answer in the heart.

He would eventually betray the gods’ expectations and betray them.

“The gods took away my holy power. They knew I would betray them someday.”

One walks alone in the darkness.

At the end of that path is a monster that devours people. Without knowing how far it is or in which direction it lies, he only knows that it’s moving towards him now.

The name of that monster is ‘self.’

“Then I’ll follow that predetermined outcome. So you too should do your job, apostle of the gods and heresy inquisitor of the Pantheon Temple.”

Sicarii feared that monster.

Because he knew he would become a monster as he got closer to it.

But there before him stood a hunter with a lantern, someone qualified to take his life.

‘Rather than becoming a monster, I’ll die as a human at the hands of a human.’

Sicarii picked up the sword he had set behind him.

He had made up his mind.

He accepted the mark given by the gods.

Even if he would betray them, he didn’t want to become a monster.

This was his selfishness and tantrum.

“Cardinal Sicarii…”

“Enough. Don’t call me cardinal anymore. It’s a position far too grand for me now.”

Sicarii. That was the baptismal name given to him by the gods when he dedicated himself to the Pantheon Temple, discarding his original name.

Once the strongest paladin in the Pantheon Temple and once a cardinal.

But now, just a man who has lost his faith and had his holy power revoked—an apostate.

“I am merely Judas the apostate. The villain you must punish.”

Judas Sicarii.

He drew his sword.