Chapter 60
Akion wondered if he was too easygoing.
Even if it was for defense and protection… he wondered whether he was handing out engineering for military purposes too freely.
“Hmm.”
As for the Emperor's Imperial Knights…
- Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!!
“Your Majesty, Tower Master, I believe that should be enough…!”
“Is that so?”
For now, he could only trust the Tower Master.
“Tower Master~! Where did you get that~!!”
“This? I broke apart the rocky mountain east of the capital and brought it here.”
“I see~!”
She had said she wanted to test some hardening and defensive magic,
but the Tower Master had flown off and returned carrying a rock the size of a mansion with flight magic. Someone like that was certainly trustworthy.
Akion keenly realized today that the saying about several greater demons needing to gang up on a dragon to capture it was no exaggeration.
“Hehe, can you feel my power?”
“Yes! You're incredibly cool!”
“Hmph!”
To think that someone like her still had roughly eight thousand years left to live….
He doubted engineering would be used improperly all that often before then.
- Kwoooom!!!
“Waaah!! The ground is collapsing!”
“Save meeeee!!”
“Oops. I must not have held back enough.”
“……”
In the midst of the absurd situation where testing the fabric's defensive power had created a shallow sinkhole,
“Saint Akion.”
“Yes, Saintess.”
Akion found himself facing the hesitant Saintess.
The reason she was acting like this was….
“Um… you're not angry, are you?”
“I am.”
“Ugh.”
Akion simply hadn't said anything, but he was in fact angry at those who had secretly tried to repurpose it for military use.
Just the young master of a count's family?
…That might have been the case, but Akion's own influence was already far from insignificant,
and setting Montefiora aside, the Saint and Saintess had already received enormous favors from him.
Even so… to be blunt, the Saintess, the Saint, and all the medieval people here
“Could you tell us why you're angry?”
couldn't understand why Akion disliked the weaponization of engineering technology.
They were still beset by demons and their followers, dark mages, and all sorts of threats from within and without.
Wasn't the reason citizens paid taxes to the Empire precisely so they could receive its protection from such threats?
“I don't want my engineering technology to lead to weapons of mass destruction.”
“Couldn't we just use it against bad people?”
Thus, the only people who immediately understood him were the maids who had participated in making the coilgun back in Enersis.
At the Saintess's question, Akion smiled faintly and countered,
“Do you intend to define who the bad people are every time?”
“……”
Wasn't human society one in which a slight change in wording could turn someone into either a villain or a hero?
The Saintess had experienced countless kinds of people while dealing with the Vatican's internal politics and going on expeditions here and there.
That was why she could understand what Akion was trying to say now.
“But Saint Akion, force is indispensable. You know that, don't you?”
But this was a medieval romantasy world crawling with demons, monsters, and dark mages.
It wasn't as though he didn't know that a certain amount of force was essential.
“That's why I'm restricting it. To defensive purposes only.”
That was why Akion had resolved to restrict everything to protection and defense, without exception.
He had even added the Tower Master, a brake with the power of a nation.
Even so, something was bound to cross the line eventually.
The coilgun created using the knowledge he had taught them was one example.
“And at least I placed it only in the hands of the highest authority.”
“That… is true.”
So it was better to give controlled, limited force to those responsible for maintaining public order or defending humanity's territory,
rather than let everyone use it freely.
“When would the Imperial Knights even be deployed?”
Only if a treasonous family rose up or a massive army of dark mages appeared.
On top of that, the Emperor, who held the authority to issue orders, was under the Tower Master's watch.
“And there is no chance that the holy knights would do anything wicked.”
Fighting demons was practically the holy knights' profession to begin with.
Besides, if they did anything wicked, the Heavenly Lord would say, ‘You rascal~!’ and take away their holy power.
“But thinking of entrusting that standard to the Tower Master or the Heavenly Lord… I suppose I'm ultimately only human.”
“Saint Akion….”
Of course, relying on absolute beings like the Tower Master or the Heavenly Lord to enforce that standard was rather ridiculous.
But for the sake of the peaceful, ordinary life Akion wanted, it couldn't be helped.
“I'm sorry for being a little spoiled.”
“No, I'm even more sorry. Saint Akion… you were suffering through far greater anguish than I realized.”
The Saintess felt sorry for Akion, who had fallen into such a dilemma.
It was because he seemed to be fighting all alone.
Akion desperately struggling by himself to find a middle ground where everyone could win…
“Um, Saint Akion.”
As a saintess, she wanted very much to help him.
At the very least, she wanted to ease his dilemma to some degree.
“If you wish, shall we seek an oracle from the Heavenly Lord?”
“Pardon?”
An oracle, right away.
It meant receiving the Heavenly Lord's opinion through a ritual.
“……Why?”
“Because I want you to find peace of mind.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for your consideration, but….”
Every once in a great while, with a very low probability, the Heavenly Lord did grant an oracle. Anyway.
“I heard it takes an enormous amount of preparation. And wouldn't the Vatican and the Saint have to approve it as well?”
“For the sake of your accomplishments, both of them will gladly approve it. And… aren't you also a son of the Heavenly Lord?”
To put it plainly, she was saying, ‘Why don't you go consult the Heavenly Lord?’
* * *
The next morning.
“Young Master! The Saintess is here!”
“Ghk, ack.”
Goldie woke Akion, who had only just managed to fall asleep after agonizing over the matter all night….
“Saint Akion! We have permission!”
“……Why already?”
The Saintess, who had followed her in, was making a fuss about how permission for the oracle ritual had been granted.
The news had only reached them yesterday, so how had she already brought back permission first thing in the morning?
“Why? Do you know how popular you are at the Vatican, Saint Akion?!”
“W-wow! As expected of Young Master! You're even incredibly popular at the headquarters!”
According to the Saintess's explanation,
“What!!! Saint Akion is suffering over the peace of humanity?!!!”
“What could we possibly refuse Saint Akion, who has helped us defeat countless dark mages, demons, and other wicked things?!”
“CALL AN EMERGENCY MEETING!!!”
…an emergency meeting had been convened along those lines.
And it had passed unanimously.
“Young Master, you need to get dressed!”
“Quickly, as quickly as possible!”
With overwhelming support, they had decided to hold an oracle ritual for Akion.
Once Akion had heard the full story, he felt a chill run down his spine.
There was going to be a completely overblown welcome, one hundred percent.
“Can't I just not go—ow! Ouch!”
“What do you mean, you're not going when everything's ready?! Take off your clothes! Goldie will strip you naked if you don't hurry!!”
“G-G-Goldie! I-I'm here too!”
Naturally, his wishes were ignored. Goldie's signature forced change of clothes had begun.
Akion began washing his face and changing clothes himself with tears in his eyes.
*
And so Akion headed to the Vatican in the capital.
At the broad front gate of the Vatican, which he had seen once before, there stood….
[Wel★come, Saint Akion, to the Vatican★!]
“Good heavens.”
a group of clergy waiting with homemade placards held high.
“There, there! It's the Saintess's carriage!”
“Everyone!! I've brought Saint Akion here!!”
“Waaaaaaah─!!!!”
Akion suddenly wanted to go straight home.
“Long live Saint Akion! Long live the Heavenly Lord!!!”
“May the Heavenly Lord's grace accompany Saint Akion on his path ahead!!”
The army of clergy filling the grand plaza in front of the Vatican left Akion overwhelmed.
Akion had no idea why they liked him so much,
“Thanks to Saint Akion's flashlight and holy-vessel investigation device, we have saved countless people from evil.”
“That was just because all of you worked so hard—.”
“We've also been using the holy-vessel investigation device for medical treatment. It works wonderfully on burns and necrotic skin!”
only belatedly learned that they had benefited enormously from the devices he had created.
“We're using it experimentally at the Vatican headquarters' clinic, but later we plan to supply it to clinics throughout the Empire!”
On top of that, hearing that they were using the holy-vessel investigation device, which had originally been intended as a weapon, for medical purposes…
eased some of the worry in his heart.
“That's good.”
“Hehe, Young Master. That's wonderful!”
Thus, Akion and his companions made their way deep into the Vatican amid the welcome of countless clergy.
In the deepest cathedral of the Vatican stood….
“Welcome, Saint Akion.”
an elderly man with the Saint standing at his side.
Akion had been told that this ritual was conducted only by the Saint, the Saintess, and the Pope.
Therefore, this man had to be….
“It is an honor to meet His Holiness Pope Gabriel VII.”
“Hehe, Saint Akion, there is no need for formalities. Thanks to you, we have eradicated countless evils….”
These three represented the separation of powers in this world's Catholic Church.
And with the Saint and Saintess excluded… only the Pope remained.
“W-wow….”
“Hehe. What an adorable young lady. Fererti?”
“Yes, Your Holiness. Please come this way.”
“Wha, yes!”
The Pope's unexpectedly friendly image surprised Goldie as well,
and with a benevolent smile, he instructed the nun beside him to escort Goldie outside.
- Thud!
And so only Akion, the Saintess, the Saint, and the Pope remained in the innermost cathedral.
After a brief silence, the Pope moved first.
“Saint Akion.”
The Pope climbed onto the dais and called out to Akion.
The Saint and Saintess followed him and took their places on either side of him.
“Come forward.”
“Ah, yes.”
Akion hadn't expected them to begin immediately.
He hurried to the front of the dais and knelt before the Pope, Saint, and Saintess.
“In truth, these formalities are unnecessary, but this procedure is performed as a sign of respect for the Heavenly Lord… I ask for your understanding.”
“Yes.”
- Trickle.
- Jingle, jingle….
The Saint and Saintess sprinkled holy water around Akion,
while the Pope shook some sort of ornament back and forth.
As Akion's eyes darted around in the solemn atmosphere,
“Akion Enersis. Are you prepared to receive the Heavenly Lord?”
“Yes.”
“If so, prepare your heart. The Heavenly Lord sometimes delivers oracles in unexpected ways.”
The Pope explained several ways the Heavenly Lord could deliver an oracle.
He might speak directly inside the recipient's mind.
Or a parchment might suddenly appear from thin air and reveal the answer in writing.
Or he might bring the person undergoing the ritual to his side and speak with them directly.
“Therefore, please organize the questions you wish to ask the Heavenly Lord in your mind beforehand.”
Akion was thinking to himself, ‘That's rather impressive,’ when
- Pfft!
“Ah! A parchment suddenly appeared!”
“Good heavens. So soon….”
a sacred parchment suddenly appeared before them.
“Saint Akion, concentrate!”
“Yes, yes!”
Following the Pope's words, Akion began concentrating on organizing his questions.
He repeatedly went over the things he had desperately wanted to ask the Heavenly Lord, and whose answers he had longed to know, until his mind was spinning.
- Crackle, crackle.
“O-oh, Heavenly Lord….”
“Amen! Aaaaaaaaaameeeeen!!”
A sacred pen appeared over the parchment and began writing down answers to Akion's questions one by one.
After more than ten minutes of ritual….
- Plop.
The sacred parchment fell in front of Akion.
“Amen….”
The Pope made the sign of the cross one last time.
In response, the Saint came over to Akion and sprinkled the remaining holy water.
“Now, let us read what is written on the parchment.”
Akion, having completed the ritual, and the three powers of the Vatican
brought the parchment to the table inside the cathedral and unfolded it,
“This is a language I've never seen before. Pope?”
“I have never seen it either, Elder Saint. Saintess?”
“I don't know it either. Still… it does look somewhat like writing from the Eastern Continent….”
They tilted their heads at the completely unintelligible writing.
“This couldn't be….”
“Saint Akion, can you read it?!”
“Yes.”
It was familiar to Akion, however.
“Good heavens. Even I, the Saint, don't know this language, yet you do.”
“Perhaps the Heavenly Lord wishes only Saint Akion to read it. Ho ho.”
Because……
[Akion Enersis. My precious singularity.]
It was the language of Akion's previous life.
In other words, it was written in Hangul, the Korean writing system.
Of course, he had understood this world's language and writing before awakening the memories of his previous life, so it felt strange, and he had no idea why he could read Hangul….
“What does it say—mmpf!”
“Ahem, Saintess. It is rude to ask so thoughtlessly in such a situation.”
“Ho ho, Elder Saint. Please let her go.”
Akion felt strangely glad to see Hangul again after so long.
And so the oracle he read was….
[I shall answer your first question. To answer using a term from your previous life
─
I coded it properly, you goddamn bastard.]
“……”
It was an answer to the question, ‘Why did you coat it like shit?’
It began with a hearty insult aimed at Akion.