"Chaos Girl? What's that? "
After my usual information gathering, I actually found an interesting rumor, or rather, a rumor.
The general idea was that Empress Maria was the reincarnation of some powerful demon in the Chaos Abyss, which was why she was born with an incredibly high affinity for the Chaos Abyss and became the strongest demon warlock in the world.
And as long as she successfully ruled over San Antonio, there would be a demon invasion, the world would be destroyed, and so on and so forth.
Nobody would believe such a rumor. Even the street peddlers believed that Prince Winston was the one who spread this rumor.
After all, there had been far too many rumors about Maria being a demon's daughter and a demon conspirator in the past few years.
But someone just happened to believe it. Pope Caloma the First believed it.
"I, the most devout priest of the Holy Light, Pope Caloma the First, declare that Maria is Solain, the enemy of the Holy Light. Solaine is the enemy of the Holy Light. All believers of the Holy Light must purify this filthy woman. "
The next day, early in the morning, such notices were posted everywhere in San Antonio's capital city.
"Isn't this way too unsightly …?"
I felt rather helpless. Wasn't it already noisy enough for them to do such a thing at a time like this?
San Antonio had the word "Holy" in front of its name, which was a clear indication of its religious orientation. Most of its citizens believed in the Holy Light. Using divine authority to suppress royal authority was indeed a good idea.
Having the pope declare Maria a heretic would strip her of her royal authority. This would be an excellent move in a political battle.
But there was still a war going on. Weren't they worried that she would really join the Chaos Abyss out of anger?
Even if she was going to kill the donkey after it left the millstone, she should at least wait until she was done grinding the rice. She still controlled half of San Antonio, yet you didn't follow the rules at all.
Demons wouldn't accept humans' surrender. But she was a demon warlock, a mage with demon blood flowing in her. She could completely transform into a demon through a demonization ritual. That would be completely impossible to deal with.
If things really reached that point, and the rumors became true, that was probably what Pope Caloma and Winston were hoping for.
"I, the diviner of pure Holy Light, Estrada's successor, the strongest Holy Light Knight in the world, Roland. Haze, declare Maria. Solain, a devout believer of the Holy Light. "
So, at noon that day, I flew into the sky shamelessly. While cosplaying as an artificial sun, I roared at the audience.
The Southern Sect's belief in pure Holy Light was already widespread in this world. There was no lack of believers in San Antonio. I then wrote a letter to the Southern Sect. I estimated that Maria's title of Holy Light would arrive in a few days.
Between the two sects, one accusing someone of heresy, and the other praising someone as a pious saint, it had become a conflict of beliefs between the two religious branches.
When I landed, Pope Caloma looked at me as if he wanted to eat me alive. However, I shrugged, indicating that it had nothing to do with me.
"I … I really received trustworthy information. That heretic is an extremely evil Abyssal Girl!"
It was quite amusing to see the old Pope glaring and blowing his nose in anger. I replied sincerely.
"I've also received reliable information. Queen Maria is indeed a devout believer of the Holy Light. I swear by the Holy Light."
My pure Holy Light proved that I wasn't lying. According to my private information sources, this demon warlock was indeed an incredibly strange believer of the Holy Light. He wouldn't have come up with such an excuse if he didn't want to go against the Holy Church.
Pope Caloma was so angry that he wanted to lead an army to fight me to the death. However, one of his Cardinals stopped him. Pope Caloma was probably worried that he wouldn't be able to defeat me.
Actually, I wasn't really afraid of a powerful Holy Light user. As one of the strongest Holy Light users in the world, I wouldn't be afraid of most Holy Light Divine Arts. If worst came to worst, I could just turn around and run away if Pope Caloma used a God's Descent.
No, perhaps this was a good opportunity for me.
"Pope Caloma, I really want to see the God of Holy Light's fourth incarnation. One was killed by Aillé, one was killed in another dimension, and one was blasted to death by a forbidden spell. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You must have used up a lot of divine power. "
Pope Caloma was so angry that he almost had a brain hemorrhage as he watched me blaspheme a God.
In the end, Pope Caloma, who would get so angry that he would start stuttering and wheezing whenever he saw me, went to the frontlines as planned. I was quite happy to have some peace and quiet.
Meanwhile, I had originally thought that Prince Winston would kick me out for talking about Maria. However, he actually treated me even more kindly, and even invited me to talk to him in private many times.
"Don't misunderstand. I really wasn't the one who spread those rumors. That Pope Caloma's unauthorized actions gave me quite a headache as well. As a soldier, I still have common sense. If I start another civil war at this time, I'll become the entire country's greatest sinner."
He spoke quite sincerely, but it was fine to just listen to politicians. I had seen many more ridiculous and foolish decisions for the sake of power and benefits.
"Your Highness, I'm telling the truth. No matter who spread such rumors and even caused that Pope Caloma to declare Maria to be a heretic, not only is he trying to take Maria's life, he's even trying to shake the foundations of all of San Antonio."
It seemed that even my overly perfunctory expression had been seen through. I hurriedly nodded.
"Yes, I understand. I believe you."
"… Your expression shows that you don't believe me at all. I'm really telling the truth. Even if there's going to be a civil war, it should wait until the Holy War is over. "
"Yep, yep, the truth."
The old handsome guy was so depressed that he wanted to cry. I was actually praising his excellent acting skills in my heart. His expression and attitude were so perfect that I almost believed him.
How much was the difference? The difference was probably more than three hundred years. The 14-year-old me would definitely have believed him.
I didn't intend to stay in the capital for long. I finished comparing the geographical information from the royal palace and confirmed the most likely locations for the ruins. Then, I immediately said goodbye and left.
My only regret was that I would have to put the matter of the allied army on hold. Judging from San Antonio's current situation, they couldn't even take care of their own matters, so there was no time to worry about anything else.
However, before I left, I unexpectedly received a thank-you letter and an invitation from Maria. She probably wanted me to visit her and thank me for my assistance.
Of course, I wouldn't refuse such an invitation since I would be able to establish a relationship with one of San Antonio's true rulers. Even if I had to take a roundabout route, I would still go.
Especially now, San Antonio was still the number one food stockpiling country in all of Eich. Meanwhile, the Mist Alliance behind me was the number one military weapons exporter in all of Eich. As long as we worked together, it would naturally be a great deal.
What? Why didn't she try to sell them to Winston?
Winston had a kingdom Knight, the Holy Church's assistance, as well as Pope Casimir and Cardinal Roland's personal assistance. Why would he possibly use our weapons and equipment?
It could be said that the moment that the Holy Church declared Maria to be a heretic, the enemy of an enemy had the potential to become a friend. She thus became our natural ally.
However, I noticed that something was off as I traveled.
"The rumors about this Chaos Girl are spreading far too quickly and too widely."
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