Chapter 9

◇◇◇◇

The Archbishop, having completed the naming ceremony for Luria, left the Duke’s residence and proceeded in his carriage.

“Damn it. That young fool, not even the next king, just a spare, how dare he…”

The Archbishop spat out his dissatisfaction with Luria’s father, Graf, who was not much older than him.

“Just a second prince! And yet, after losing the struggle for the throne, being granted a Duke’s title, he’s basically half an aristocrat!”

“…He dared to insult the Church…”

That second prince had supposedly been neutral toward the Church. Yet today, what did he do?

He protected that abominable red-eyed, red-haired infant! To protect a child like that is nothing short of blasphemy against God.

That’s why I, out of kindness, suggested taking in that ominous red-eyed, red-haired girl.

But what did he do? He glared at me!

I won’t forgive him for this. I will use the full power of the Church of the One True God to ruin that spare, that second prince.

“Regretting going against the Church? It will be too late. How dare that second prince—”

While the Archbishop raged alone in the lavish carriage, it suddenly stopped.

The four horses pulling the carriage were neighing.

“What’s happening!? Don’t stop! Move forward!”

The Archbishop yelled at the coachman.

“It’s… Your Grace… up ahead…”

The coachman’s voice trembled.

“Huh? What is it?”

The Archbishop peered out of the window to see what lay ahead.

“Wha… What is that?”

A black bull was standing in front of the carriage.

At first glance, it seemed like just a regular bull, but its size was extraordinary.

To put it mildly, it was at least twice the size of a horse.

“G-get out of the way!”

“The horses… they won’t listen!”

“Fix that, it’s your job as the coachman!”

In the next moment, the carriage was hit with a violent shock.

The body of the carriage shattered as though it were defying the laws of physics.

The Archbishop, unable to even scream, was thrown out of the broken carriage and rolled away awkwardly.

The movements defied physical possibility. It was clear that magic was at play.

But amidst the chaos, the Archbishop didn’t realize that magic was involved.

“…What… what’s happening?”

How long had he been unconscious?

When the Archbishop opened his eyes, he saw a massive boar in front of him.

Its large tusks were hooked on the wheel of the carriage.

It seemed that the boar had destroyed the carriage.

“W-we’re going to be eaten! Help, oh God, please help me!”

Praying to God, the Archbishop crawled across the ground, trying to escape.

“Coo, ho-ho-ho, piii—”

A large number of birds attacked the crawling Archbishop.

They grabbed his robe with their claws and lifted him up, as high as his own height.

At that point, the robe tore, and the Archbishop was thrown back to the ground.

“B-beh, why are the birds… Ahh!”

Not just once, but over and over, the birds grabbed the Archbishop’s robe, lifted him up, and each time, his robe tore, and he was slammed back to the ground.

“…God, …God…”

For the first time in his life, the Archbishop truly prayed from the bottom of his heart.

After being lifted up and thrown down about fifteen times by the birds, the Archbishop was finally left completely naked.

This was also an impossibility from a physical standpoint.

Just a small lift wouldn’t have torn his robe.

It was clear that the birds were using magic.

However, in his fear and confusion, the Archbishop didn’t think of magic.

Now, the Archbishop had nothing left to cover himself but his shoes.

Repeatedly slammed into the ground, his entire body was bruised, his face swollen.

His skin was torn, and many of his bones had been broken.

“God, God… please help this poor lamb.”

The Archbishop had no idea what was going on.

Why were there bulls? Boars? Birds?

He couldn’t understand the purpose of the animals, nor why he was suffering like this.

Crawling on the ground with arms and legs bent in unnatural ways, bleeding from his mouth, he tried to escape, naked and squirming.

“Ah?”

He bumped into a massive foreleg with hooves.

“Hi!”

When the Archbishop looked up,

“……..”

There was a golden goat.

It was a massive goat, about three times the size of a horse.

Larger than the bull and boar he had seen earlier.

Its twisted horns were as long as a person’s height, and its beard was about half the length of a person.

The goat slowly brought its face closer to the Archbishop, almost as if it was peering into his eyes.

In fact, this goat was a guardian beast.

A guardian beast is a being that, while a spirit, possesses a physical body.

Of course, the magic of a spirit is far stronger than that of a guardian beast.

However, because a guardian beast has physical strength and can exert its power in the world through its own will, its combat ability as an individual is greater than that of a spirit.

A guardian beast could be said to be somewhat similar to Luria.

The difference is that Luria has more magical power than a spirit.

By the way, the bull, boar, and even the birds were all guardian beasts.

Staring into the eyes of such a spiritual being,

“Hi!”

Despite trembling in fear so much that his teeth chattered, the Archbishop could not look away from the goat.

His eyes were swollen, and his vision was blurry.

Yet, strangely, he could still clearly see the goat.

“……..”

The magnificent, godly goat stood there, silently peering into the Archbishop’s eyes.

At that moment, the Archbishop received a revelation. At least, he believed it to be a divine revelation.

“……So this is the will of God… is it?”

The Archbishop felt as though he understood God’s will through the goat.

The Archbishop was talented enough to become an Archbishop before the age of thirty.

This was due to his affinity with spirits.

God exists, but has no direct influence on this world.

In other words, the mystical phenomena, such as miracles, that occur in this world are almost entirely the work of spirits.

Thus, ironically, many of the upper echelons of the Church of the One True God had high affinity with spirits.

“God’s will… I, this humble servant, understand.”

The guardian beasts had heard of the Archbishop’s harsh words toward Luria from the spirits and were furious.

However, the goat, one of the older guardian beasts, calmly and gently admonished the Archbishop.

“Do not torment Luria,” “Protect Luria,” “That is your duty and fate.”

“…Yes. I will engrave God’s words upon my heart.”

While not comparable to Luria, the Archbishop had a high affinity with spirits.

Thus, he vaguely understood the will of the guardian beast, the goat.

This will was not transmitted as clear, distinct words, but more as a vague sense of intent.

However, in the midst of his fear and confusion, the Archbishop believed it was a divine revelation and desperately tried to interpret it.

“Yes, yes. I will follow God’s will and not lay a hand on Lady Luria. I swear, with my life, I swear.”

“……..”

“…Thank you for granting a revelation to one as sinful as I.”

The naked Archbishop prostrated himself and kissed the hooves of the goat.

◇◇◇◇

The next day, the Archbishop, severely injured, was found in the forest.

From then on, people whispered that the Archbishop had changed.

He became merciful, kind to the people, and thoughtful.

He no longer demanded bribes.

He began to claim that spirits were messengers sent by God.

And secretly, he began to act in order to protect Luria.

◇◇◇◇