Paladin - 1

I don't know what religion is like in reality, but the religion here—the Order—was characterized by two things: deprivation and a sense of mission.

“In short, it’s a bunch of hungry people brought together by war, working passionately without pay.”

Listening to Liana’s explanation, I looked at the Order’s building. Not everyone, of course, but most of those who joined the Order were said to have gathered to alleviate the suffering caused by war and to heal each other’s wounds.

“That’s why their solidarity is strong, and even if a serious problem arises within the Order itself, they often pretend not to see it and move on.”

However, even with such strong solidarity, the rumor that the Order’s Key Figures, whom they had barely met, were colluding with the Dark Mages who had driven them to their deaths, proved too much to bear. The cracks that appeared were far greater than imagined.

I saw Holy Knights and ordinary Worshippers of the Order raising their voices and fighting. The once clean Order was now dirty and unkempt. And most of all, seeing the buildings I had previously terrorized still unrepaired, I smiled with satisfaction.

“This is how it should be.”

At my words, Liana, who was beside me, looked at me with a bewildered expression. I nodded, ignoring her, and said,

“It’s a stranger world when bad guys pretend to be good and are treated as virtuous.”

“That’s true, I suppose.”...