Cardinal Dominic let out a deep sigh.

These days, there wasn’t a day when worry didn’t cloud his face.

Back to the empire after a long time!

The place was way more developed than the kingdom he managed.

But he didn’t have the time to admire the scenery or experience the various things around him.

Walking around in his clerical robes in the capital made all eyes turn towards him.

However, the gazes he received were nothing like those from his kingdom.

They weren’t filled with respect or awe.

Whenever he had the chance to wander around treating the sick, those glances were completely different.

People shot him sidelong looks, mumbling something disparaging. Their eyes contained clear contempt.

And it was painfully obvious what they were gossiping about.

The footage of the Black Fangs.

The footage that brought the Holy Church’s corruption and endless accusations to light.

It was precisely that reason which brought Cardinal Dominic here. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t know that.

‘What on earth am I supposed to do about this?’

Staring at the small artifact in his hand, Cardinal Dominic asked himself that question internally.

But there was no answer to be found.

Well, that wasn’t too surprising, he thought with a bitter smile.

[What is the Holy Church that does not fulfill the will of the gods for?]

The words the leader of the Black Fangs said in that video.

Dominic couldn’t refute that statement. The Holy Church was indeed corrupt.

Filled with people acting not to execute the will of the gods, but to satisfy their own selfish desires.

And he himself had turned a blind eye to it.

He hadn’t always behaved like that. At the beginning, he tried hard to eradicate corruption.

But no matter how severe the punishments handed out were, the methods just became trickier.

No matter how thoroughly they investigated and punished the culprits, another dishonest act would take place by someone else.

A huge scale.

A group influencing the whole world.

Corruption was simply unstoppable in such a place. That was Dominic’s judgment.

Thus, he had set certain limits and managed his kingdom’s believers to prevent them from crossing the line.

He thought that was the best approach.

But…

That was merely an excuse.

Dominic had seen in the footage of the Black Fangs.

A child suffering and dying.

Clerics ignoring their cries for help.

This couldn’t be the right way to be.

He had sworn to follow the God of Light, pledging to dedicate his life to fulfill His will.

Yet, in the name of the divine, Dominic had turned a blind eye to such things, claiming he couldn’t help it.

‘A group of apostates who prioritize their own selfish desires over the will of the gods.’

Just as the leader of the Black Fangs expressed.

Perhaps the reason he couldn’t hear the voice of the gods despite his prayers was that the gods were turning their backs on them.

It could be that they despised those committing such ugly acts in their names.

So…

‘Indeed, change is needed.’

Change was essential.

How on earth could he resolve all this corruption? How could he restore the lost trust?

As for how he could atone for the wrongs committed thus far, he still didn’t know.

But one thing was for sure: it had to change.

At today’s meeting, Dominic would make his case.

Even if something is irreparable, we must attempt to fix it!

No matter how impossible it might be, we must not cease our efforts to do what is right after swearing to carry out the will of the gods.

With that determination, Dominic rose from his seat.

The morning sun began to rise beyond the window.

Soon, a meeting would take place in the temple, determining the future of the Holy Church.

Cardinals and archbishops from various branches, including Dominic.

The higher-ups of the Holy Church would gather in one place.

‘For some reason, I haven’t been able to get in touch with Cardinal Karon since yesterday….’

Well, he was the one dealing with the situation in the empire where the Black Fangs incident had occurred. It would be odd if he wasn’t busy.

Given how the video had spread like wildfire throughout the empire, it must have been a nightmare.

And he also had to prepare for the meeting.

Not being able to reach him wasn’t particularly strange.

Dominic brushed away pointless worries from his mind and moved his feet towards the temple to join others.

*

[If the recruitment quest is not completed by the designated time, the ‘Corruption’ quest will proceed.]

[‘The Righteous Knight’ Lucy merges with the twisted soul.]

[Lucy’s recruitment will become impossible.]

[Lucy’s stats will momentarily spike, but once revenge is complete, she will take her own life.]

[If you head to the temple, you can hear her last words. Be careful not to get caught up in Lucy’s rampage.]

[…… A serious error has occurred.]

[The death of the hidden boss ‘Revenge-seeking’ Lucy cannot be confirmed.]

[A partner in an un-recruitable state has been recruited.]

[The deviation from the fate path is severe.]

[The difficulty of restoring the fate path has skyrocketed exponentially.]

[Warning to the user.]

[Please refrain from intentionally blocking my messages.]

[I am on your side.]

[The fate path is for your survival. I kindly advise you to stop taking actions that destroy it intentionally.]

[The path to saving everyone is fraught with difficulties.]

[Prioritize your own survival.]

[To survive, you must trample on others.]

*

A bunch of notification windows popped up in front of me.

Naturally, like always, they flickered for a second and disappeared, doing nothing but straining my eyes.

At this point, it wasn’t anything new, and I couldn’t even muster up annoyance at such antics.

I had already half-ascended to a state of enlightenment.

They say if you don’t expect anything, you won’t be disappointed; that saying fit this situation perfectly.

I pushed away the useless status windows in my head and looked at the girl in front of me.

The one who had kneeled in front of me declaring she would be my sword is now lying sprawled out before me.

Well, it wasn’t like it was a life-and-death situation.

She just suddenly collapsed while trying to get up, so I caught her and checked her condition. She was breathing fine.

Probably just exhaustion taking its toll on her body. After a good nap, she’d be good as new.

So for now, I set her down in a safe place.

Though to be honest, given that I had just cleared away a corpse and the place was drenched in blood, whether ‘safe’ was the right word here was debatable.

But that was just karma coming back to bite her.

Viscera, eyeballs, all kinds of organs were scattered around, making it impossible to find a clean spot.

‘Sure does look a bit grim here.’

Until now, seeing Siel and Lien, I thought these kids were a bit too intimidating for supposed heroes.

But when standing in front of actual named villain’s heinous acts, those thoughts went out the window.

Naturally, doubts crept in about whether I could truly handle this child, or if rehabilitating a villain was even a thing…

But I quickly dismissed those thoughts from my mind.

That vow the kid just made.

It wasn’t a meaningless performance.

Gias.

The act of a knight binding themselves with a vow.

That girl swore to become my sword. Even if her personality changes, she wouldn’t escape that vow.

It was probably her way of figuring things out.

‘Having a dual-personality killer is a bit intense, though…’

But at least I had a solid means of control.

In a situation where I might face unknown dangers ahead, gaining such a powerful ally was worth a bit of creepiness.

‘Definitely, accepting Lucy wasn’t a bad choice.’

I concluded that as I lifted my hand off the ground.

I poured my Mana into the earth, erasing the memories inscribed on it.

That task was just successfully completed.

This would help block any tracking from the empire to some extent.

Now, there was no reason for me to stay here.

‘I am curious about what went down here, though.’

Actually investigating the temple was among the worst ideas at this point. The sun was just coming up.

Soon enough, this place would be bustling with people. If I happened to run into someone in this murder scene, things would get awkward fast.

Instead, it would be much more efficient to hear the details from Lucy.

I picked Lucy up.

Since there wasn’t any kind of lock on the door, all I had to do was walk back to the mansion.

A trivial task compared to what I’d faced today.

So with little ado, I threw open the doors to the temple and headed back to the mansion.

…Except.

I should have gone back.

As soon as the door swung open, the sight that greeted me sent my mind into a whirl.

There were people around.

And definitely not just a few.

Dozens of folks in clerical robes.

Each exuding a remarkable power welcomed me.

In other words…

Something definitely went haywire here.

*

[The absorption of Divine Power has been fully completed.]

[Physical changes due to increased spiritual status will occur in 3 minutes.]