Chapter 75
Chapter 75
An office bathed in the brilliant glow of golden candlesticks.
At the center, on the grand desk, a small sheet of parchment lay stiffly in place.
It was a summons for a meeting of cardinals personally convened by the Pope.
Cardinal Barneo was quietly looking down at the parchment with a serene smile.
He looked like the very model of a benevolent clergyman, but a bead of cold sweat was sliding down his back.
"Your Eminence."
The nun who had been standing demurely before the desk spoke carefully.
She was watching Barneo so closely that she was even careful about her breathing.
Barneo gently slid the Pope's notice into a drawer with a soft hand.
"Sister."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
"It seems best, in every way, to act as though I never received this communication."
Barneo clasped his hands together and smiled piously.
"Would you be so kind as to remember it that way?"
"Yes. I will remember it as a letter I received today but could not deliver to you because you were out."
There was not the slightest hesitation in the nun's reply.
She was the very model of flawless conduct, and Barneo nodded in great satisfaction.
"Thank you. Would you tell the Commander of the Eastern Cross Knights that Barneo is looking for him?"
"I shall bring him to you discreetly."
The nun bowed politely and left the office with quick steps.
Creak, thud.
Once the door closed and he was alone in the office again, Barneo took a deep breath.
Ignoring a summons from the Pope.
Even for a cardinal whose power reached the heavens, it was not something he could do unless he was outrageously brazen.
'But there's not much time.'
If the Pope began to intervene in earnest now, the variables would become far too tangled.
From that point on, the matter would be dragged fully into the public eye.
'Of all times, right after that prayer. God can be quite mischievous.'
Barneo wiped his forehead with the end of his ornate sleeve.
The chances that some Academy rabble would dare peek at the Saintess's body without the church's permission were extremely low.
But you never knew what people might do.
'If someone from the Academy saw something on that girl's body.'
Barneo clicked his tongue lightly.
Of course, he wasn't especially worried that it would officially be recognized as abuse.
After all, it wouldn't be hard at all to prove that it was a prayer to descend to the lowest place in the name of sacred doctrine.
'But if that matter leaks out noisily, I'll be a long way from the next papacy.'
Whether or not a crime was officially established was a completely separate matter.
No matter how you looked at it, politics was all about image.
Once his solid base of support among the cardinals started to shake, there would be no stopping it.
'If I get branded as the cardinal who failed to properly protect the Saintess, who would ever back me at the conclave?'
Falling out of the running for the next pope was, for Barneo, no different from losing everything in the world, including his life and authority.
He had firmly believed from birth that he was destined to become Pope.
A life of defying fate?
It was unthinkable for a servant of God.
Knock, knock.
Then a heavy knock broke the silence in the office.
Next came the crisp metallic clink of silver armor as a holy knight strode in with a proud bearing.
It was the commander of the Eastern Cross Knights, Saint Abel.
"You called for me, Your Eminence?"
"Oh, Commander Abel. Welcome."
Saint Abel bowed at a perfectly precise angle, not a single degree out of place.
His eyes shone crystal clear with blind devotion.
"Let me be blunt. Saintess Lily is currently being kidnapped and detained by elements within the Academy who do not understand the will of the church."
"…Tell me what must be done."
Barneo relayed the situation with a grave expression.
"If this matter is formally taken up at the cardinal meeting presided over by His Holiness the Pope and goes through the church's official decision-making process..."
"…"
"The vile people at the Academy will surely destroy the evidence and make us miss our chance to rescue the Saintess."
He hadn't said it outright, but the very fact that he brought it up was the key.
It wasn't hard at all to understand the implication: they had to crush the Academy with force without going through official procedures.
But Barneo completely trusted the knight commander before him.
'That is exactly why I called Commander Abel.'
If it was to raise the church high and make the world shine with a more dazzling light,
he was a faithful servant who would gladly stain his own hands with blood and sin, and would consider bearing that heavy cross only natural.
He was one of the few precious people in the church who shared Barneo's lofty political philosophy.
"I see. So the reason you sent such a forceful message to the Academy in the church's name was because you had a deeper purpose."
"Oh?"
"I understand now that from the beginning, you intended to keep them from even having time to grasp the situation, and to throw them into confusion by shocking them."
Saint Abel clenched his fist and exclaimed in an admiring voice.
Barneo nodded with great satisfaction.
As expected of the musclehead knight commander he cherished, he understood exactly what was meant.
"Exactly, Commander. In a nest of scholars like the Academy, even if it's not the imperial palace, it would be impossible to fully grasp the weight and substance of this ultimatum in just a few hours."
"Indeed. They're too busy with armchair theorizing."
"If we go in like lightning and bring the Saintess back safely, I can handle all the procedural issues myself."
Barneo placed a hand over his chest with a merciful smile.
"Then all I need to do is confess and repent that, given how urgent and sudden the situation was, I was blinded by concern for the Saintess and made a minor procedural mistake."
"Ah, what a holy sacrifice."
Saint Abel was so moved that his eyes grew moist and reddened.
To think he would risk tarnishing his own honor just to save the Saintess—such a noble attitude.
He steadied his surging heart and asked:
"I'll lead the vanguard. Is there anything in particular I should be careful about during the process?"
"There is one important thing."
Barneo lowered his voice and whispered conspiratorially.
"Make sure she's guarded so tightly that no one can lay a hand on the Saintess's body, and take special care that no one's eyes ever fall on it."
"…Ah."
That alone was enough for Saint Abel to understand everything perfectly.
He nodded deeply and answered with solemnity.
"For fools, it's impossible to understand what it means to bear sin or what a prayer to descend to the lowest place signifies."
"That's right. They may see the traces of prayer left on the Saintess and dare to make blasphemous misunderstandings."
As Barneo let out a sigh, firm resolve flashed across Abel's face.
In the first place, the stone-slab seated prayer technique Saintess Lily had performed last night
had been something Saint Abel himself had twisted from the arduous training methods of holy knights and devised and proposed.
"Do not worry, Your Eminence. I swear to God that I will not let the ignorant, blind fools of the mortal world defile the traces of faith left on the Saintess's sacred body."
"You are truly reassuring, Commander."
Cardinal Barneo rose from his seat with a broad smile.
Things were moving along incredibly smoothly.
"I shall accompany you, Commander, on this glorious path as well."
If they simply smashed through the Academy's front gate and whisked Lily away, every label would be wiped away perfectly.
"Commander of the Eastern Cross Knights, Saint Abel. I will gladly serve under Your Eminence."
* * *
The way I held the spoon felt perfectly natural.
Lily seemed to have completely gotten used to being fed so readily now.
She was like a baby bird waiting for its mother in the nest.
"Ah, open wide."
"Aah—."
Chomp.
Munch, munch.
Watching her chew the fried rice with her cheeks bulging, I let out an involuntary chuckle.
At first, I was sure she was a pink retriever, tail wagging as she tried to read the room.
'The way she quietly accepts it also makes her look like a bird.'
Have I gotten too addicted to moe-fying things?
She's not even that young; she's a twenty-year-old adult who should be taking care of herself.
But well, what of it?
'Watching her grin while eating what I gave her really does make me feel good.'
Anyway, every time I looked at her, I'd half-jokingly, half-seriously think I wanted to really kidnap her.
"I really did it."
That's why words are scary.
"Huh?"
At my mutter, Lily opened her eyes wide and tilted her head.
Without a care, I scraped up the remaining fried rice with my spoon.
"No, it's nothing. Here, this is the last bite. Open wide."
"Ah, yes! Aaaah."
The last spoonful of fried rice went neatly straight into Lily's mouth.
Just as I snapped the lunch box shut and lowered my head,
I felt some extremely adorable stares from below.
Three little bandits were eyeing the jerky hungrily.
Their eyes were sparkling brightly.
Or rather, they were sparkling in a way that made their intentions utterly obvious.
"I haven't seen these guys in a while, either. I guess they're not the ones you carry around every day?"
"I don't really know either. They seem to be following me because they like Sir Cassian too."
Lily answered with a bashful smile.
"Huh? Me, not Lily?"
"Yes! They seem to really like Sir Cassian!"
"They're probably following Lily."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Lily propped up her chin and put on a serious, thinking expression.
Now that she said it, that did seem possible.
Those three little critters didn't look like they had low intelligence at all.
'They must have seen through the fact that I'm the source of all this delicious jerky.'
As expected, whether beast or human, you have to choose the right side if you want to eat well.
I reached into my pocket, took out a few pieces of jerky, and tossed them onto the floor.
Of course, since it was Lily's stuff, strictly speaking I was just taking it and giving it back, or making a show of someone else's property.
And asking her to hand-feed them herself would hurt her arm.
Nibble, nibble!
The bandit trio started gnawing on the jerky excitedly.
Watching that heartwarming scene, I began the real briefing for Lily.
"Alright. Now that you've eaten a good meal, let's go over what I explained earlier once more."
"Yes!"
"For the rest of today, there will be a very noisy conflict between the Academy and the church outside this laboratory."
"Okay."
"But what did I say you should do, Lily?"
"I was told not to pay any attention at all, and to wait quietly until Sir Cassian tells me the problem has been resolved."
I nodded in satisfaction.
"Excellent. Once the problem is completely resolved, you can walk out confidently then."
"Yes. I'll remember that."
"Mm. And there's one more very important thing."
I lowered my voice a notch and met her eyes seriously.
"There may be a chance that I come to find you myself, or come with someone else, and ask for your testimony."
"Testimony?"
"Yes. In that case, absolutely do not start overthinking and trying to figure out what would help me."
"…"
Look at those eyes.
You were going to do it.
But no.
We didn't do anything wrong, and we already hold the moral high ground, so why would there be any reason to embellish things?
I had no intention of giving the other side any opening to spout nonsense.
"You only need to tell them everything Lily actually experienced, exactly as it happened, without adding or leaving anything out. Can you do that?"
Lily's light green eyes rolled slightly for a moment before she nodded vigorously.
"Good. That's all you need to do."
"But, Sir Cassian. May I ask one thing?"
"Not just one—feel free to ask two or three if you want. Ask whatever you're curious about. What is it?"
Lily clasped both hands neatly together and asked her question very carefully.
"The church's decision-making is incredibly complicated and arduous."
"I suppose so."
"It's the final boss of rotten bureaucracy." I couldn't say that in front of the Saintess, so I swallowed the rest.
"Yes. That's why even sending a single letter often requires days of discussion and meetings at the top."
"…"
"So the conflict you mentioned, Sir Cassian, might not come today at all, but much later instead."
"Ah, that?"
By ordinary common sense, Lily's concern was perfectly reasonable.
A religious organization that was as huge as it was sluggish could hardly move an army overnight.
"There's no way that would happen."
"Really? I've been in the church for a long time, and I know it—they're really slow."
"Yeah. Even taking that into account, there's absolutely no way that's happening."
Because I'd already fired off a reply that drew maximum aggro at the speed of light, heh heh.