Chapter 110
[Title: Passed on the Third Try, but...
(Cathedral Knight Certification Meme)
I thought this path was my destiny and worked hard.
But is there a cliff at the end of the path? lol
I thought I'd won at life, but apparently not lol
I should've quit when the gallery doctor's job posting went up. Fuck, fuck...
[Upvotes 12] [Downvotes 17]
- lol, what an idiot
- You chose this, so grit your teeth and endure it, blah blah blah...
- Sorry, but I don't feel sorry for you at all lol
- Knight ← tax-money thief
“Phew... fuck.”
Inside the cathedral cafeteria.
Cathedral knight Colin, chewing on a stale baguette, muttered as he wiped his face.
“What am I even doing...”
A knight was what people called a job with ironclad security.
It was a position with everything: exceptional martial prowess, honor, and wealth—the most coveted post of all.
No, it had been.
Until the higher-ups picked a fight with the Head Mod by trolling.
“I'm sick of this too.”
A few shabby, stale chunks of bread.
The cathedral's IPs couldn't even use the market.
Then a knight nearby muttered self-deprecatingly.
“Isn't that what being a knight is? When they tell us to jump, we jump.”
But everyone knew.
That the current situation was wrong—deeply wrong.
Even setting honor and pangs of conscience aside, this was a serious problem.
“Sure, orders are orders. But he's the Head Mod. It's the gallery, for crying out loud. Does this make any sense?”
They were used to being hated, so that didn't matter.
But when the target was the Head Mod, it was a different story.
“We might never see canned tuna again...”
Permanently banned.
They might never be able to use the gallery again.
Everyone's expression darkened at that.
Then another knight, who had been hanging his head, began to speak.
“My little girl owes her life to the Head Mod.”
“Hmm...”
“I owe the Head Mod my life too.”
“What the hell were those inquisitor bastards thinking, shooting arrows...”
It had started with them shooting at the protesters.
That had been the inquisitors' doing.
It had only driven their already ruined image even deeper into the gutter.
Just as anxiety and discontent began to sprout in the knights' hearts.
-BANG!
“So everyone was gathered here?”
Archbishop Louis, the instigator of all this, burst through the cafeteria door.
With the inquisitors in tow.
“...”
He was so huge he could barely see his own body, and his manner was frivolous to boot.
At the sight of someone with not a trace of priestliness, the cathedral knights glared at him.
The knights had serious doubts and misgivings about this whole affair, and had refused to properly participate in the suppression.
Thanks to that, the cathedral forces had been thoroughly trounced by the gallery doctor.
“Why on earth aren't you people doing your jobs properly?”
It was an insult Archbishop Louis couldn't tolerate.
“Your Excellency, even so, your words...”
“What about my words? This is heresy, heresy! And what have you lot done?”
The cathedral was absolute.
“You did nothing but watch from a safe distance!”
His every word was law.
If he pointed at an ordinary person and said they were possessed by a demon, he could have them executed.
Wasn't he himself—or rather, his position as archbishop—practically a god?
“Must the cathedral bow this low to some shut-in loser like that!”
But not anymore.
Because a being who could overturn humanity's fate with a single gesture had appeared.
“What did you just say?”
“A shut-in loser?”
The problem was that many of the cathedral knights here had received help from the Head Mod.
Some had had their parents' illnesses treated.
Some had been given food when they were starving.
And he had established rules and policies in the chaotic gallery, making it fun enough to spend all day browsing it.
-Rattle
The knights, who had stayed seated even while they were being insulted, rose to their feet.
Looking ready to draw their swords at any moment.
“Th-this...!”
Archbishop Louis felt anger rather than fear at the sight.
‘Those things used to bow their heads and tremble at a word from me!’
This was all that Head Mod bastard's fault.
Ever since he appeared, all order had collapsed.
It was then, with the atmosphere taut enough to burst, that—
[Notice: Do Not Read This Post]
Author: Head Mod*
Out of nowhere, a new announcement from the Head Mod appeared.
“Do not read it?”
In the tense atmosphere, Colin logged into the gallery and checked the announcement.
As if the Head Mod's words mattered more than the archbishop's.
He was just wondering what on earth had been posted this time when—
“!”
The moment Colin saw the contents, his eyes flew wide open.
[Notice: Do Not Read This Post]
Author: Head Mod*
hi, it's me
I had some questions about the cathedral ordering the violent suppression this time, so I figured I'd leave a post
The cathedral ordered you to kill people this time, right?
And then I found these memes.
(Meme of cathedral knights hesitating)
Yeah, most people would hesitate like in the meme above.
Why? Because if you're human, you can't help it.
Who would happily massacre their fellow citizens just because they were suddenly told to?
(Meme of an inquisitor beating someone)
But these bastards did.
So I did some digging.
How?
(Meme showing an IP plainly exposed in the image)
(Meme of the system searching even through deleted posts from the past)
Fuck, don't mess with me.
The gallery is God, and I'm invincible.
Anyway, I pulled the inquisitors' IPs and searched their old posts...
Six months ago/deleted) Fuck, got caught killing and looting around Adrian. Ask me anything.
Two months ago/deleted) An archbishop came to me asking if I wanted to work with him. What a sweet deal lol
One month ago/deleted) lol, my life's made now that I'm an inquisitor
A few hours ago/deleted) Alright (time to suppress the protest), let's go~
(Frog emote thinking hard)
(Frog emote as if realizing something)
(Frog emote swinging a fist)
lol
[Upvotes 9999+] [Downvotes 0]
- ????? Fuck?
- Wow, no, my head is spinning lol
- (Elf emote with its mouth agape)
- Wait, did they take death-row inmates and make them inquisitors???
- Wait, what the hell does this mean?
ㄴ The cathedral recruited criminals to seize power.
ㄴ ?? What the hell does this mean? That makes no sense.
Frederick was exiled, and most of the military forces withdrew to Kelierton.
At that time, the cathedral came up with an idea to consolidate its power.
Namely, Adrian's greatest enemies.
They recruited looters, murderers, and criminals to replenish their forces.
“Your Excellency, what does this mean?”
“You brought criminals into the inquisitors?”
The knights' expressions quickly turned cold.
- Wow lol, no wonder there aren't any more looters
- Fuck, they announced they'd successfully maintained public order
ㄴ Ah lol, they caught criminals and made them soldiers, so technically it was a success lol
Bandits were every bit as hated as monsters.
At a time when they should have been fighting monsters, these were people who preyed on their fellow humans.
Wasn't it the cathedral that had branded them heretics who had abandoned humanity?
And that same cathedral had formed an organization out of criminals and made them kill its people.
-Shing!
The knights immediately drew their swords.
“Calm down! Are you drawing your swords on the cathedral because you fell for some cheap incitement like that?”
Archbishop Louis shouted, but his stiffened voice no longer carried any force.
“Seize them.”
Knights trained as elites versus inquisitors made up of habitual looters and criminals.
The difference was obvious.
The knights approached the hesitating inquisitors and forcibly seized them.
Then, the moment they pulled off their white hoods and checked the backs of their necks—
X
“Huh...”
The mark of heresy really was branded into them.
*
“Gaaah!”
It hurts. It's hot.
But I had to do it.
My photosynthesis cooldown had come around.
“I should've gone out sooner...”
A walk I'd finally decided to take after several months.
I had come out with Penny and was sitting on a bench in the square, soaking up the sun.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
“Why do humans have to absorb sunlight?”
“Malphite, you sounded so much like a vampire just now.”
I was seriously pondering humanity when a new hot post suddenly went up in the gallery.
I can't resist gallery browsing, even during a walk.
When I logged into the gallery, a bizarre hot post greeted me.
[Title: (Breaking News) Fishnet Archbishop Gallows]
“What does this mean?”
When I clicked the post without thinking, I found a meme completely different from what I'd expected.
(Meme of Archbishop Louis being executed, surrounded by knights)
(Meme revealing the inquisitors' true identities)
(Meme of an inquisition burning someone at the stake)
Wow, an execution! Wow, an event!
It's happening in Adrian's central square, so come watch, everyone, yeah.
Time: Now
[Upvotes 5352] [Downvotes 0]
- Where's the fishnet-stocking Head Mod meme?
- Ah, fuck, I came here expecting that.
- You asshole, it's the fishnet archbishop gallows.
- What a fucking title lol
It was a post about Archbishop Louis's execution.
“Huh, that was faster than I expected?”
I thought it would go up around tomorrow at the earliest, but things had moved faster than expected.
I'd already thought the inquisitors were acting strange during the protest, and it turned out they were a criminal gang.
They had recruited criminals as soldiers to seize power.
But thanks to the system that could extract IPs even from memes, I discovered it immediately.
“Wait, they're going as far as execution?”
Using heretics and criminals could have been a problem.
But Louis was an archbishop.
With no cardinals, he was essentially second only to the pope. How could this happen?
But I soon found out from another hot post.
[Title: Video Evidence of Archbishop Louis's Statements...jpg]
(Video of Archbishop Louis being seized and dragged away)
“Let me go, you uncivilized savages!”
“I'm the archbishop. I am the law and God! Don't lay a hand on me, you filthy bastards!”
Ah.
[Upvotes 9999+] [Downvotes 12]
- lol, an absolute fucking legend
- This... is an archbishop?
- The expression when he realizes he fucked up after saying it is the best part
- lol, well, people are people
ㄴ –Elf-
ㄴ (Human emote pulling an elf's ear)
“He let that slip.”
Under normal circumstances, he might have merely been dismissed and thrown in prison.
But apparently, while being dragged away and worked up into a rage, he had blurted out what he truly thought.
From there, it went straight to the beheading execution show.
[Title: Notice of Major Cathedral Reforms]
Author: Colin
Following the execution show, we intend to reform the cathedral, which has rotted from within.
1. Reduce the number of inquisitors
2. Reduce the number of personal guards for ranks of archbishop and above
3. Make the use of donations transparent
4. Make donations voluntary
5. Make prayer-meeting attendance voluntary
If you have any additional suggestions, please let us know.
[Upvotes 6212] [Downvotes 5]
- Now this is what I'm talking about~
- The cathedral has been normalized
- Fact: This is normal.
- Isn't the pope getting a beheading show too?
ㄴ Author) We're investigating whether he participated in the violent suppression.
ㄴ Kyakyakya lol
ㄴ Just watch—the pope's probably even more rotten than the archbishop.
- Where's the statue of the beautiful-girl Head Mod, our benefactor?
ㄴ Author) We're considering it positively.
ㄴ Kyakyakya
ㄴ Elevate her to sainthood!!!
The cathedral's normalization, which the people of Adrian had only imagined, had actually begun.
The winds of change had begun reaching Adrian as well.
“Good. I hated looking at it.”
Personally, I believe in God.
I mean, I was a transmigrator myself.
The problem was the organization that believed in and followed Him.
Just as I was thinking that, if the reforms succeeded this time, they might prove a great help to Adrian—
“Ugh...”
“Hmm?”
A groan came from beside the bench, where someone was sprawled almost flat.
I turned my head and saw a vagrant collapsed in front of my fake TS statue.
“I'm... I'm so hungry.”
He was a boy who looked about high-school age.
He wore ragged clothes and was shivering in the cold, apparently with a story of his own.
After a brief moment of thought, I handed him the coat I was wearing.
“Here, take this.”
“Ah...”
I also took out a few cans of tuna and set them down in front of him.
I wasn't going out anyway, so I didn't need the coat.
If a few cans of tuna could turn someone into a gallery regular, wouldn't that be a good deal?
The man, who had been hunched over as he stared at the tuna cans, suddenly raised his head and looked at me.
“H-Head Mod?”
“What?”
And, looking me straight in the eye, he recognized at once that I was the Head Mod.