Kays Translations

Chapter 35: Malice

A few days before the exercise

This is the innermost room of the Cathedral of the Church of Rainana. Only a few people are allowed to enter this room, and it is mainly used for talks that need to be carefully monitored.

Currently, there are three people in this room

Cardinal Nemuria.

He may appear to be a mild-mannered old man, but he is a man of radical views. He is a fanatic about the first Saint, Maiha, and uses her beliefs as the basis for his outrageous treatment of evil.

He holds the second highest position in the Church of Rainana after Saint Eliza, but he is practically in charge of the church.

Saint Eliza

Saint Eliza is the head of the Rainana Church. She has saved many people by using her skill of “regeneration”.

Michael Rainana

He is a prince of the Land of Rainana, but his right of succession to the throne and his position as crown prince were revoked because of his involvement with Absolute.

The meeting is held with three members: the two who hold high positions in the Rainana church, and Michael Rainana, who is a member of the royal family.

As the three took their seats, Cardinal Nemuria was the first to open his mouth.

“First of all, thank you for accepting our cooperation in defeating the Ark faction, Michael-sama.”

Cardinal Nemuria bowed his head toward Michael and thanked him.

The Rainana Church had attempted to kill the Ark faction and possibly Absolute by making it look like an accident during a school event exercise. However, it was impossible for the Church of Rainana alone to lay the groundwork at the school and prepare information on the ArK faction. Therefore, they requested the cooperation of Michael Rainana, a royal who had a grudge against Absolute.

“No need to thank me, Nemuria, you and I are good friends. I owe you a debt of gratitude for teaching me many things as a teacher when I was a child. I am glad that you have relied on me so honestly. However, as I have been removed from the position of crown prince, all I can do is to put down roots at the school, interfere with Absolute, and provide information on the Ark faction. As we had discussed, I decided to include Princess Leone in Absolute’s group, and we also decided on the route to take.”

When Mikael was a child, he was taught by Nemuria, who was still the archbishop at that time. As Michael learned more about the Church of Rainana, he felt that it was somewhat insane and dangerous, and recently he has become estranged from Nemuria, but he doesn’t dislike Nemuria himself.

“It’s okay. As per our agreement, as soon as this matter is concluded, I pledge once again to cooperate with your restoration as the crown prince.”

“Thank you, Nemuria.”

Michael smiled. Michael’s two goals are revenge against Absolute and restoration of his position as crown prince, and that is why he accepted this request for cooperation.

“We in the Church of Rainana have the concept that good people are the chosen ones of the Goddess. Defeating the evil Ark faction is a must in order to create a better world. In addition, Absolute Ark…his power is too dangerous. If we let an evil that has more power than the hero at this time go unchecked, it will be irreversible in the future. We need to reduce his power before that happens.”

“I agree with you about Absolute Ark. He is a potential threat to the nation of Rainana in the future. It would be better if we could do something about it before it becomes a threat to the nation.”

The Church of Rainana is a monotheistic religion that believes in one Goddess, Maiha, the first saint who saved the world with the hero hundreds of years ago.

Like the first saint, the church aims to spread goodness among people and eliminate evil.

However, the scary part of the Rainana Church is that they want everything to go their way. They have clear criteria for good and evil, and even when they kill evil people, they do it to save their souls.

What Cardinal Nemuria is also saying is that they never feel guilty about killing people, they think they are doing a good deed.

Michael himself is concerned about the way the Church of Rainana preaches goodness, but in the end uses goodness as a weapon to suit its own needs. He feels it is quite dangerous to think that one day this weapon will be used against him and the innocent people of the world.

He has no choice but to cooperate with the church in order to take revenge against Absolute, but he really didn’t want to get involved with the Rainana church if possible.

Michael forcefully changed the subject.

“So, how are the preparations going? I need to hear about your plans.”

At this point, Saint Eliza, who had remained silent until then, opened her mouth.

“I will tell you about the plan. The preparation and brainwashing of the monsters has been completed as planned. All that remains is to unleash them on the day of the event.”

“Absolute’s faction is divided into two, and one of them will be attacked by a horde of monsters. This leads to Absolute Ark being held responsible for the death of the Ark family faction, and the Ark family is destroyed. Since he was negligent in failing to protect the royalty of another country, he could be executed. Even if he doesn’t go to help them, the hordes of monsters will kill them and reduce the power of their faction. This is the plan. As for bringing in the monsters on the day, we will have a priest from the Rainana Church standing by in the path of the Ark faction, and when night falls, we will use the church’s unique magic to release the monsters.”

“Oh…that’s not bad. But why would he go out of his way to help his faction? That is the question.”

Michael has a rather ruthless and cold image of Absolute.

“It’s a 50-50 chance. I didn’t have enough information to make a judgment, so I made a plan that could have gone either way.”

At this point, Nemuria, who had been quietly listening, joined the conversation.

“The plan was worked out by Saint-sama and myself, after many discussions, so I don’t think there will be any problems. The price was quite expensive, but we have prepared several “enhanced” monsters that even knights can’t beat, so don’t worry.”

In order to become stronger, monsters eat other monsters. In this process, a “higher species” is born. The appearance of the normal monster mutates and its abilities increase dramatically.

“I see, I have nothing to say about the annihilation of the Ark faction, but Princess Leone is not evil, is she? And killing the royalty of other countries is a problem, so please stop it. It wouldn’t be the Church’s intention to increase the number of victims by starting a war, would it?”

Michael is afraid that if anything happens to Princess Leone, it will not only be sparked by the Ark family but also by the royal family and the country. If the royal family of another country dies in the country of Rainana, it will become a problem between nations and war will be unavoidable.

“No, she is evil too. The royal family of the Suiroku Kingdom is connected to a dark organization and supports its activities behind the scenes. Like the Ark family, this is unforgivable. But if the royal family of another country were to die in the country of Rainana, it would certainly be a problem. This time, we will spare her life at least.”

Michael thought that she had backed down so easily, but the saint had no intention of killing Princess Leone from the start, and from the beginning she had wanted to injure her so badly that she couldn’t be cured by recovery magic. They dared to put forward opinions that would not pass and made it easier for the latter to pass.

If she couldn’t be cured by recovery magic, she would have no choice but to rely on the Saint who possessed skills that went beyond that. The Saint was thinking of selling her favors to the royalty of another country.

“…Even so, I’m honestly surprised. I didn’t think you, a saint, would show hostility toward Absolute. Moreover, your eyes filled with hatred that you sometimes show…. What did he do to you?”

Michael had met the Saint at the school, but he had never thought she hated Absolute that much. He was slightly curious about what had happened to her.

“I am sorry, Your Highness, but could you not pry too much into a woman’s past? It’s something I don’t like to remember.

“Well, excuse me for that, saint.”

The saint laughed off Michael’s question, and he himself didn’t pursue the matter further. If revenge and the return of the crown prince were to be achieved, her past would be of no concern.

Michael has been compared to the superior Absolute since he was a child and has developed a sense of inferiority. From there, the bad elements such as the birthday party, the attempted murder at the royal castle, and the bad impression created by Absolute’s skill “absolute evil” were intertwined, and a malice was born.

Michael has a malicious intention to drive Absolute away, not for fun like when he was a child, but to clearly drive him away.

The saint adds to Michael’s explanation.

“Let me give you a word of caution. On the first night of the exercise, we are planning to unleash monsters on the route where the Ark faction is located, so please stay away from them. Even if they have been brainwashed, they are still monsters, so there is no guarantee that they will not attack you.”

“Don’t worry about that. My group’s route is away from Absolute.”

“That’s superimposed. The brainwashing was done by a priest with tamer skills. I can strengthen them, but I can’t make them listen to me. I don’t want to think much about it, but if something happens to him, his skills will be broken and they will lose control. My group will be by the priest’s side as an escort, so I don’t think there is anything to worry about, but if something does happen, I will give the signal and you should retreat.”

“I understand. I will leave that to you and the Rainana church.”

After a few more confirmations, the meeting was adjourned and Michael returned to the royal castle.

Michael looked out the window of his room. He could only see the courtyard, but he imagined Absolute and the Ark faction people being attacked and overrun by monsters, and he scoffed.

“Come on, have fun, Absolute Ark.”

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