Side Story (5)

‘I can’t believe it’s true!’

Logger rushed back to the castle and reported to Ross with great agitation. As he listened to the report, Ross’ expression darkened.”

‘Damn it...!’

As things were, the Saint was more of a hindrance to Ross than anything. In fact, Ross saw her as an obstacle to his plans. And so, even though he was the Pope of the Holy City, he couldn’t help but frown at the birth of the Saint.

Of course, he couldn’t betray his emotions to Logger, so he faked a smile and pretended that everything was fine.

“Good job, Logger. I will soon meet the Saint as the Pope. In the meantime, make sure word doesn’t get out.”

“Yes, Pope!” Logger responded cheerfully. He then walked out as though he had nothing else to worry about.

On the other hand, Ross brought his hand to his forehead out of frustration as soon as he saw Logger leave.

‘Is that the only choice I have left?’

No matter how hard Ross tried to think of alternatives, he could only come up with one way out of this mess, which was to assassinate the Saint without Logger finding out. He believed this was the best way for him, as the Saint’s existence was essentially a poison to him.

The Pope stood up. Deep down, he wanted to order Logger, like he always did, to assassinate the Saint himself. However, he felt that ordering the highest-ranking Holy Knight to do that would be way too risky.

Indeed, it was best to take matters into his own hands. Even though age had caught up with him and his strength wasn’t what it used to be, Ross knew this was the safest option.

Of course, he had no intention of assassinating the Saint himself, as he was already well-known across the continent. Rather, he was thinking of hiring an assassin to kill her for him.

Once he made up his mind, he prepared to get going.

***

‘Damn it...’

In the middle of the night, the Pope used a teleportation scroll to get to a nearby large city. He made sure to camouflage himself well, as having someone recognize him would make things more difficult. As a precaution, he used a couple of disguise scrolls to essentially erase his presence.

Ross had used a good amount of money for this outing, but he regretted nothing. As the Pope, this was a very important matter for him.

Even though it was late at night, the city was as bright as it could be. The streets were filled with people, making the city as vibrant as it was during the day.

Once Ross arrived in the city, he hurriedly went to its darkest parts, the dark alleys that were full of thieves and assassins. He went to a store that was known to be one of the best in this part of the world. Those people had a reputation for getting the job done as quietly as possible.

The name of the store was the Eyes of the Moon. Ross considered that such a romantic name was unfit for a place that dealt with dirty, gruesome work.

Shortly after arriving there, Ross managed to meet the owner. And instead of uttering his request, he merely slipped the owner a piece of paper that contained the details of his request.

The owner promptly picked up the paper and read it. When he got to the last line of the note, Ross took out a bag full of gold coins from his pocket. He knew well that having a young girl killed would cost a lot of money.

However, the owner considered it a fair price. After all, the Pope wasn’t simply asking for Irenae’s assassination. He also wanted the entire daycare center burnt down in order to avoid any suspicion.

No one would think that the leader of the Church of Peace, revered by everyone, would plot something like this.

The store owner took the bag of coins and put it in the pocket of his coat along with the note. This meant he accepted the request.

Knowing that their deal was done, Ross immediately got up and left down the alley. He went to a dark corner where there was no one and immediately tore up another teleportation scroll.

His surroundings got blurry, and he quickly found himself back in his room. It had been a short yet intense outing. Ross sighed heavily and prayed that his plan would succeed. He didn’t realize how ironic it was that he prayed to Irene for this.

***

The next day, Ross sent someone to check on the daycare center, and to his relief, he learned that a major fire had broken out. He couldn’t help smiling at this news. He ordered Logger to bring the Saint to him right away.

Of course, Logger wasn’t aware that the daycare had burnt to the ground, so after replying vigorously, he set off with the most extravagant welcoming group that the Church of Peace could assemble.

As Ross watched the welcoming group leave, he finally burst into laughter after holding it in for what felt like forever.

“Pff-! Phahahaha!”

It seemed like all his worries would go away. Although he was still anxious about the Church of Nephram, he was relieved that nobody would take away his church. He kept on laughing as he wiped away his tears.

He then shouted to himself, “See?! This is how it was supposed to be! The Church of Peace is mine! I alone created this church and made it what it is today!”

“Do you really think so, Pope?”

Ross instantly got goosebumps all over at the familiar voice.

‘D-don’t tell me...?’

The Pope slowly turned his head, hoping he was wrong, and to his horror, he wasn’t. He was instantly overcome with despair as he saw who was in the room with him.

Henry Morris was staring at him with an expressionless face.

Ross turned ghostly pale.

“I asked if that’s what you really think, didn’t I, Pope?”

“Oh, Archmage...!”

Ross almost collapsed to the floor at Henry’s appearance. The man who had caused him to suffer from anxiety and sleepless nights for the past few years was sitting right in front of him. He had no clue how Henry had come in without making his presence known.

Henry’s expression didn’t betray any emotions, but his sharp gaze felt like a well-forged spear, stabbing Ross in the heart.

The Pope gathered all of his strength to stand upright. Then, with a barely audible whisper, he managed to ask, “Wh-what brings you here, Archmage? Why’d you come here without giving me notice? I could’ve...”

“You don’t seem to listen, do you?”

“S-sorry...?”

“I’m certain I’ve asked you twice already... If that’s how you really feel about the official religion of the empire,” Henry said in a cold voice, repeating his question as though scolding Ross.

At this, the Pope remained silent. He then slowly went through his memory, trying to figure out since when this damn wizard had been listening to him. He quickly came to the conclusion that he couldn’t have committed a big sin, as he had just talked to himself in his room with a slightly arrogant attitude.

In fact, based on what he had said, Ross realized that he shouldn’t even be brought under question. And so, he thought he could just get away without having to explain anything to Henry.

More than that, Ross suddenly got angry, wondering what right Henry had to corner him all the time. He didn’t understand what made Henry so great that he could just treat him like that.

This train of thought quickly turned into fury, causing his pale complexion to turn red. He was fuming with anger.

“Archmage.”

“Go ahead, Pope.”

“Don’t you think you’re too harsh on me sometimes?”

“Excuse me?”

“You always come into my room unannounced! What you heard earlier was just me saying nonsense. I was just repeating a line from a novel I’ve been reading! And to be honest, your habit of coming here unannounced makes me very uncomfortable!”

At his shouting, Henry couldn’t figure out where Ross suddenly got the courage from. He was venting at him.

Ross was acting this way because he knew the Saint was now dead, and the Church of Nephram hadn’t been discovered yet. All the Holy Knights had failed to find the Nephrams, and he doubted that Henry would have better luck.

In fact, not a single trace of the Church of Nephram had been discovered, which gave Ross the confidence that Henry would also be unable to find them.

Moreover, Ross thought it was unreasonable for Henry to keep condemning him for that incident from several years back when he didn’t even have any evidence against him. As a result, the more Ross talked, the more his fiery anger clouded his judgment.

Henry was quietly listening to the Pope, but he eventually burst into laughter.

“Haha! It seems like you’ve been very uncomfortable with me.”

“That's right! I mean, it’s been years since I made that mistake! And ever since then, I’ve done nothing but pray and serve the people as hard as I could, with love and a heart of repentance...!”

Ross’ voice grew louder as he spoke passionately about his efforts. However, Henry was done listening to him.

“Shhh... Enough already,” said Henry as he brought his index finger to his lips.

At this, the Pope went silent, utterly stunned by Henry’s audacity. His face went from red to a purplish hue.

Henry proceeded to take something out of the substance and throw it in front of the Pope. It rolled on the floor after landing with a dull sound. The Pope’s pupils dilated as he realized that he was staring at a human head.

“This is...!”

The tangled hair and the blood made it difficult to see the face clearly, but Ross was sure it was a human head. He glanced back and forth at the head and Henry with a baffled expression.

Henry pointed at the head with his chin, and Ross had a chill down his spine.

‘No! It can’t be...!’

The Pope crouched to the head, his hands shaking. He slowly brushed the tangled hair, which had hardened due to the blood, away from the face. Once he realized whose head it was, he fell on his bottom.

“Ho-how?! Ross shrieked. He dropped the head, causing it to once again roll on the floor.

The head belonged to none other than Hoosler, the leader of the Church of Nephram.

“Didn’t you tell me that you found and eliminated the Church of Nephram? Ross Borgia, you’ve been shamelessly deceiving me for the past years. And so, I’ll make you pay for all your sins, including the sin of humiliating me, the sin of insulting the emperor, for which I tried to punish you years ago, and the sin of trying to disrupt the peace of the empire.”

“No, no...! This can’t be! When I tried to find them, they were already...!”

“

Tsk

,

tsk

... You’re finally telling the truth.”

Henry frowned and snapped his fingers. Then, shackles come out of his subspace, flying at Ross like a hawk, instantly binding his neck, hands, and ankles. At this, Ross lost his balance and fell flat on his back.

“Ross Borgia, I swear on my name that your death will be long and painful.”

It was that day that Ross Borgia I, the first leader of the Church of Peace, the largest church on the continent, and the current Pope of the Empire, was arrested for the crime of colluding with a group of Warlocks serving the Demon King.

***

After arresting Ross, Henry brought him to the imperial palace, where preparations for his trial were swiftly arranged.

The trial was held publicly in the capital’s square to ensure that everyone could witness it. Additionally, to make sure that many people could see it, Ross was tied up and exhibited in the square for the one-day grace period before the trial officially started.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

A huge throng flooded the capital. People from all over the empire were shocked to see Ross tied up in the trial court.

It was simply unbelievable that Ross, the man who was supposed to be the holiest figure in the empire and the most devoted servant of the goddess of love and peace, was being accused of colluding with a group of people who served the Demon King.

The Pope was strapped to a pillar at the very center of the court. He had a gag in his mouth, and his eyes were covered with a blindfold. The only thing he was allowed to do was listen to the voices of those rebuking him.

Ross felt humiliated. He wanted to bite his tongue and die immediately, but the gag in his mouth prevented him from doing that. Realizing how hopeless his situation was, Ross started sobbing, but he eventually burst into maniacal laughter as though he had lost his mind.

Indeed, after living in fear and torment for all those years, his wrongdoings had come to light. However, Ross knew better than anyone that those wrongdoings would cause the Church of Peace to lose its status as the state religion.

‘The Church of Peace belongs to me! No one else can own it except me...!’

This was the only consolation that Ross felt in the moment.

The grace period eventually passed. The rope that tied Ross to the pillar felt like it was digging through his skin, and the incessant jeers had made his blood boil. But everything would soon be over.

The trial proceeded, and the judge sentenced the Pope to spend the rest of his life in Killive. At this, Ross laughed maniacally, realizing that there was nothing he could do.

He was soon taken away into the dungeons of the imperial palace, where he would stay temporarily before being sent to Killive to rot there.

“Hehehehe, so things have turned out the way you wanted, haven’t they? You happy now, you fucking bastard?”

Ross spat nasty insults to Henry from behind bars. Henry merely looked down at him in silence. After a while, he arched an eyebrow and said, “Of course. You were getting troublesome.”

“If I was that troublesome to you, you should’ve locked me away earlier. Why’d you leave me alone for so many years?”

“It was too early then. To be frank, this wasn’t my first time checking. I check from time to time just in case, but this time, I was lucky to get something.”

“You got lucky? What in the...?”

Ross was confused by Henry’s calm response.

Henry got closer to the bars and continued, “You don’t really think I’m going to abolish the state religion, do you? After all, we’re going to have a great leader, namely the Saint.”

“What...?”

“To be honest, I wanted you to pay for trying to destroy the daycare center in Milean Village... But one way or another, you were destined to rot in Killive for the rest of your life, which was why I didn’t mention that at the trial. I needed something as the finishing touch. Like a cherry on top.”

“Wh-what? The Saint? Don’t tell me...!”

“Your servant, Logger, is going to be punished in a different way, and the Church of Peace you established will continue to exist. To conclude this, I’d like to say one last thing.”

Henry took a few steps away from the bars. He then took out Hoosler’s head from his subspace.

“I can’t believe that you, the Pope, were fooled by this... Let me tell you one thing about divine power. It disappears when you don’t have enough faith.”

Henry shook the head from side to side. The head became blurry for a moment, only to turn into a scarecrow’s head made of straws.

“Ho-how...?!”

Ross slowly realized that he had been under an illusion.

“

Tsk

,

tsk

... You would’ve received so much graceful support from the kind Irene if you’d just kept your faith... You’ve brought it all on yourself, Ross. Now, you’ll disappear from my life forever.”

With that, Henry set the scarecrow's head on fire and left the dungeon without looking back. He could hear Ross wailing desperately behind him, but he kept walking resolutely.

“I guess there’s no one else I need to deal with...”

Feeling refreshed, Henry stretched out to get ready for his next plan.