Game Mind of a Medieval Modern Person - Chapter 186



Only Noblemtl

186. I met a friend.

A street where prostitutes roam the streets in broad daylight.

I hesitated in front of it for a while, unable to pass through it, and then people who noticed this awkwardness appeared.

Red-cloaked priests emerged from the crowd.

The number is five. Surprisingly, the first impression was good.

Unlike the green cloak I had just encountered, his gaze was relatively calm and intelligent.

Of course, this is a relative evaluation. There was one exception.

I looked at the leader who was approaching, one step ahead of the other priests.

Leading them was a priest whose bangs were not even hidden by a hood pulled down.

He stared at me with his unfocused, blind eyes for a long time before slowly becoming polite.

“Martyr, who is serving as a priest under the Congregation for Talented Persons of the Vatican. Martyr meets with His Eminence Karina and the Bishop.”

“Injaecheong?”

Even though I don’t know how the Vatican’s organizational chart is structured, I could guess what role the Office for Talent plays.

However, since it was difficult to gauge the level of influence, I threw it out there to test the waters, but received a businesslike response.

The red-cloaked priest, who identified himself as Mater, made the sign of the cross and began to introduce himself again.

“To be exact, I am a servant of the Starlight, Mater, who is in charge of protecting key figures under the Ordo Sanctus Stregos under the Talent Agency.”

Words I don’t know just keep popping out.

It’s a good thing I know how to deal with someone who spits out such a long list of adjectives.

I gave a thumbs up with a smile on my face.

“Excellent. Please guide me. Father Martyr, please lead me to His Holiness.”

“…You do not plan to hear any explanation regarding the Ordo Sanctus?”

“Excessive knowledge breeds hesitation.”

I had no intention of wasting my precious time listening to the explanation of some damn subordinate organization.

Besides, there was no reason to listen to that proud priest.

I had a human encyclopedia named Karina, who was from the mainland and had a wide range of knowledge, staying by my side.

She is a mischievous and rambunctious princess who loves to tell people what she knows.

“Hey! Listen to me for a moment.”

As expected. As soon as Karina heard the words of the priest Mater, she lifted her crow’s foot and whispered in my ear.

“The priests of the Saints wear different colored cloaks depending on the order they belong to. The Ordo Sanctus Stregos wears red cloaks. They each have different roles based on the honorific titles bestowed by the church.”

“What about the green cloak from earlier?”

“Ordo Sanctus Honorable. These are the priests in charge of borders and defense. And, don’t mess with that priest…”

“Thank you, Karina.”

I wrote down the most important names and notes in a mental memo.

Ordo Sanctus… Honorable… Never come near.

After writing down the precautions, it was time to turn our attention back to Mater.

“So. It seems like I won’t be able to see Your Majesty right away since I’m trying to stall for time.”

I didn’t notice it just by looking at Matter’s tricks.

Anyone could tell that the internal strife within the church was serious just by listening to the story told by Bishop Ganista.

It’s obvious, since they held a conclave and cried for almost a year over whether or not to admit that I am a lonely king.

Some people might not be happy about my contact with the Pope. Maybe the Pope himself might not like it.

But from here on out, it was a realm of speculation.

“I am impressed by your wisdom.”

“Let’s stop with the flattery. Then why did you come to guide me?”

I had no choice but to hear the details from Mater’s mouth.

Then, in a calm tone, Matter began to make petty excuses.

To summarize, it’s like this.

Following the sudden decision to move to the Holy See after Bishop Powis, various opinions are being expressed regarding his future course of action.

It is true that the bishop is making a great effort, but looking at his record, isn’t he being too negligent toward pagans? Isn’t he too worldly, doing something like money-making in the name of the church?

Among all these negative rumors, there was one rumor that struck deadly blows.

Isn’t the current Pope preparing various political performances to empower his close associate, Bishop Powis, and isn’t he trying to expand the influence of the Morning Star system and turn the temple into his own achievements rather than the church’s?

Even the rumor that I was the Pope’s secret illegitimate child gave me an idea of ​​how strong the resentment against me was.

Martyr lowered his head as if he was ashamed and made the Vatican’s position clear.

“His Majesty hopes to meet you after the rumors have died down a bit.”

As soon as I heard this, I let out a sigh.

I was feeling uneasy, and then a bolt from the blue struck the clear sky.

What mattered at this moment was not whether Ethelred’s child was born healthy or not.

“So you’re telling me to spend my time in this prison-like place indefinitely?”

It was at this time that Mater’s expression, which had been more businesslike than that of the office worker who was issuing the number, changed abruptly.

Matter began to protest with sharp eyes, as if he was glaring at the enemy who killed his parents.

“Like a prison? No matter how polite you are, I think it is an inappropriate example to use to refer to Chengdu, a bastion of advanced culture where the world’s best craftsmen and technology are gathered, and an ideal city for all cities.”

“Utopia?”

This is the first time that the idea that reality is different from the ideal has sounded so hopeful.

Whatever.

The matron glared at me with the eyes of a challenger and gestured to the priests who had come with him.

“I was just about to show you to your accommodations. Let me show you. The grandeur of the greatest and best city in the world!”

***

The Saint Idea was divided into four major sections.

The first place most strangers encounter is the border area where the green cloaks have taken root and live.

The pier and all the roads leading to each area were designed to pass through the border area, making it unusually busy. Furthermore, the brothels and all kinds of lodging businesses that catered to foreigners were always bustling with customers.

The most disturbing scene here was that of the men linking arms with the women who were soliciting customers and looking for a priest.

In this crowded area, I noticed a particularly orderly line, so I looked into it and saw that it was made up of men carrying women.

At the end of the long line, a simply dressed priest was making the sign of the cross with a weary look on his face.

The officiating priest happened to be blessing a couple who had been married for one night as if he was sending them away.

“Okay. With this, you have become a couple in a formal wedding ceremony…”

“Excuse me, Priest. Then, after a day, I don’t have to do it separately?”

“The priest in charge across from you will assist you with the annulment of your marriage. Now, go…”

Let’s turn our eyes to follow that trembling hand gesture.

“Priest! Even if it was a simple ceremony, we had a wedding! We are a married couple. Shouldn’t I take you in and live with you?”

“Oh, my lord! Please do something about this man!”

Although it looked like a wedding ceremony for show to anyone, the man who wanted to live with her as a married couple was arguing with the priest.

As the suddenly depressed-looking prostitute desperately grabbed hold of her means and began to complain, the divorce priest lifted the scriptures with a sigh full of contempt and lamentation.

“Then bring a dowry appropriate for a child of the church!”

“What, what? Why would a man bring a dowry!”

“Exchanging a dowry is an act of oath that proves the union of the two families and their will to coexist. Are you, as a child of the church, not going to observe this sacred custom?”

“Who would do that to a prostitute… Tsk!”

The divorce priest’s momentary wit made the man so tired that he ran away.

Then the prostitute nodded several times in greeting and returned to work.

This is truly an amazing piece of improvisation.

It was so bad that even I, who was watching, felt disgusted.

I looked at the back of Mater, who confidently stepped forward to guide me through the city.

“Is this how you condone extramarital affairs?”

It openly satirizes the world’s attitudes, which are not befitting of the church that has always emphasized premarital chastity and purity.

But it seems that Martyr is no ordinary priest.

Matter answered simply without looking back.

“These are poor women, most of whom are orphans who wandered without even knowing their parents, or vagabonds who came here because they had no ability to make a living. If the church, which is determined to protect all humanity, turns away from them on the pretext of doctrine, they are people who will fall endlessly.”

“I heard that you seem to be using it in your own way.”

“No one can be persuaded by pure good intentions alone. Cooperation is only possible when we need each other. If they were useless, who would say that we should continue to help them, even against our own doctrine?”

…it’s cold.

Behind the pride he had for the saints of Mater, there was a strange feeling of cheapness.

Above all else.

“Lady Karina, Priest Materan. Don’t you know who he is?”

When I asked Karina, avoiding Matter’s gaze, the response I got was not ordinary.

“I, I don’t know. I don’t know? I don’t know at all.”

“….”

Karina’s rolling eyes are clear evidence.

Somehow, he became much less talkative, and I knew that Father Mater was definitely not an ordinary priest.

Even as I felt cheap, Mater’s city tour continued.

After passing the border area, which was the entrance and exit for foreigners, the next place we arrived at was surprisingly a commercial area.

I never imagined that a city full of these gloomy buildings could have such a vibrant commerce.

But as expected, Seongdo is the city with the best royalties.

They were handling completely different items from those of ordinary city merchants.

“A whip created through the hands of countless craftsmen! Welcome the beautiful flower petals that will bloom from your body!”

The merchant, who had set out to solicit customers, began swinging his whip with expert skill as he spoke.

There’s no way you wouldn’t notice someone whipping the air in the middle of the road.

Everyone who was carrying the genie stopped and watched the merchant whip his whip, but somehow the reactions were a little different from what I had expected.

“Oh my god, Rose Whip!”

“That whip that’s supposed to make you lose your shit after one hit is on now?”

Our proud guide, Matter, calmly answered my gaze as I demanded an explanation.

“I don’t like it, but pain does have the effect of clarifying the human mind.”

It’s a very, very horrible fact, but surprisingly, the penance for manifesting the stigmata is effective.

It is said that the stigmata manifested in approximately one in 10,000 to 20,000 people, but in the saints, it appears in as many as one in a thousand people.

Of course, the majority do not surpass the first level of devotion, but since most of the stigmata that the church currently needs are filled by the saints, it is not completely ineffective.

I was surprised because the number was much larger than I thought, but I was even more surprised when I heard the rest of it.

“However, the side effects are also quite significant.”

I thought that the only priests of the saints were those who cried out like crazy and ate their own flesh, but I guess that wasn’t the case.

The priest Martyr frowned at the ascetic practices prevalent among the saints.

The distorted faces of those who passed the line of people waiting to buy whips and who met the procession of ascetics were proof of this.

Crunch-. Crunch-.

It was a moment when the sound of whips slashing flesh filled the streets.

“I will groan, I will cry out in supplication!”

“It is not whipping, but pickling, and not blood, but molten iron flows…”

People with their upper bodies exposed were whipping their own backs with great force.

Yet, strangely enough, there was no disruption to the line, and the people gathered on the roadside looked at the ascetics and murmured as if they were watching a festival procession.

“Hey! That petal-shaped scar!”

“Rose Whip! Oh my gosh, are you enduring that painful whipping?”

“There’s also a flesh-stained thorn whip. These ascetics are formidable. Maybe a stigmata manifestation will appear…”

I couldn’t stand the people’s muttering and approached the mater.

Are those guys going to become stigmata like me?

Wasn’t it the case that I, like you, had to live a life of integrity, of being busy, of working for the people, in order to manifest the stigmata?

This was an insult.

“Do these people pass a vow of abstinence or something?”

Then, Matter looked at me with his unfocused, blind eyes and wiggled his index finger.

“Hahaha, no. Of the five vows that the Starlight of Humanity watches over, there is no vow that is evaluated as strictly as temperance. How could it be possible with just a few painful blows?”

“then…?”

“This is the oath of the temple.”

As he said that, Mater smiled gently.

“Isn’t it much better to sacrifice one’s life to defeat the enemies of man than to live a hopeless and meaningless life, without knowing how to save one’s own life? It’s also more utilitarian.”

“….”

This kid.

The condition is a bit strange?

Episode 187