The Blood-Soaked Archbishop

"This is… surprising."

Two days after Finn returned home.

Finn had woken from a long sleep and written up a report on the incident she was involved in, and reading it had him holding his head in his hands.

Security lapses in Princess Tianis's protection, an assassination attempt by a maid.

The mastermind was a noble, and despite being a child, he had apparently been establishing an assassin's guild.

The opponent had started a fire during combat, and that noble's house had burned to the ground.

Even trendy novels wouldn't use such a preposterous setting.

Truth is stranger than fiction, they say, but if he hadn't heard it from Finn, he could never have believed it.

"I wasn't sure how much to write, but there's no point in hiding things awkwardly, so I just wrote the facts."

"I see… Thank you for your hard work."

"It's been a while since I did that kind of thing, but I'm retiring from it now. My body can't handle it."

"That's fine, isn't it? You can make a living doing regular work, Finn."

"Well, I do have you as an employer."

In any case, it seemed to have been resolved, which was good.

Looking at the report, the opponent was someone who deserved to die, but even so, it must have weighed on Finn.

As long as she stayed here, she wouldn't have to do such things anymore.

"So this is the rosary that was in that noble's house? It's pretty old-fashioned."

"It's made of silver but tarnished, and it's definitely an antique. The shape aside, I've never seen this design before."

"True. Well, for something like this, calling in an expert would be fastest."

So he called Elza.

She entered the room with her usual bright "Yes?" but the moment she saw the rosary, her expression clearly changed.

"Where did you get this…?"

"It was in the house of a perverted noble who tried to assassinate the princess. The previous owner apparently taught various techniques to the perverted noble. To think a clergyman would do such things, given that they had a rosary. What a terrible person."

"While the Church of the Creator King didn't have any, I've heard that some other churches had organizations specializing in such things. This is probably a remnant of that."

"Churches are pretty ruthless, aren't they. But thinking about those guys, they definitely would do it."

Elza picked up the rosary and gently held her right hand over it.

The grime on the old rosary vanished, and its silver luster returned.

"As I thought, this belongs to Archbishop Gregorios…"

"Who's this Gregorios?"

"An archbishop of the Church of the Sun God and the person who commanded the inquisitors. He was probably the person who killed the most infidels on this continent."

"Ugh, inquisitors are those people, right? The ones who fabricate crimes against people inconvenient to the church and execute them."

"… Originally, inquisitions weren't like that. They were more like courts for when problems arose within the church. Not meant to sentence anyone to death; at most, excommunication was the heaviest punishment."

The inquisition of the Church of the Sun God had become notorious for a time.

This was before the Church of the Sun God itself became viewed as problematic, but there had been a child who stole from the church.

When the child was caught, it was discovered that they believed in a god different from the Sun God, and they were subjected to an inquisition.

The result was flogging, followed by service to the church until the god granted forgiveness.

The child had no parents or relatives, but criticism arose that this was too harsh for a child.

In retrospect, that child was probably made into a sacrifice.

The proof was that the child had never been seen since.

"But this is strange. Archbishop Gregorios should be a figure from quite long ago… If he were alive, he would be over a hundred years old."

"Maybe someone used his name falsely when giving it away?"

"Who knows? Either way, I don't think we should keep this. Even after purifying it, something like resentment remains. Let's dispose of it."

"Well, if you say so, Elza, that's fine. You're okay with that, right?"

"I don't care. Even being silver, it probably wouldn't fetch much money."

"Then…"

Elza was murmuring something.

It seemed to be a sacred utterance recited with prayer.

Then, little by little, black stains began to appear on the spotless silver rosary.

It was as if it were being contaminated.

As Elza's power intensified, cracks appeared in the rosary, and finally it shattered.

However, the moment it broke, the black stains transformed into a skull shape and rose up.

"Death is the most fearsome terror."

"What the, it spoke. It's not a monster, is it?"

Finn pulled Yohane behind her and readied her weapons to face it.

"It's probably Archbishop Gregorios's will that was contained in the rosary. From what I can see, it seems to be something like resentment."

"O my God. I piled up corpses for you. Please, keep death away from me. Make me immortal."

"I can't bear to listen."

The smile had vanished from Elza's face.

She was looking at the skull with contempt.

"It wasn't even for the sake of faith, yet he sacrificed so many people, and what he wished for was his own immortality…"

The moment Elza finished reciting the sacred utterance, the skull also vanished.

And the rosary completely disappeared as well.

"It's clear he was a terrible person. That perverted noble was probably influenced by him."

"He probably became immortal through some method and was doing something in the Kingdom with the position of archbishop. It might be good to be cautious."

"He might also be involved in the princess's assassination… The Kingdom's situation might be quite shaky. In times like these, you'd want a king to take charge, but Princess Tianis is going to be that king. Rather than leaving it to others, it's probably better for me to support her myself."

He thought it would be nice if King Izard were around, but saying so would be rude to Princess Tianis.

For now, he would have to be mindful of her safety.

But how should he convey this?

It might be better to consult with Lady Anatia first.