Aphrodite, the capital of the Church of Crimiana. A man gazes out the window from his room in the Papal Temple on top of a small hill.
Under a cloudless blue sky, the entire city seems to glow in the brilliant sun. Compared to the scene of the past, when half of this city was burnt to ashes, the current cityscape is truly functional and well thought-out in terms of its appearance.
The man continues to look at the cityscape with a wry smile on his face. He looks out the window at the pleasant sea breeze coming in, and looks beyond the horizon.
"Excuse me."
I heard a man's voice. I hear the door open and footsteps approach.
"Mr. Ron Esrotel."
At the call of his name, the man slowly turns on his heel.
"Mr. Josef is here to see you, sir."
Let me through.
Upon hearing Ron Esrotel's words, the man standing in front of him bowed and left the room. He was replaced by an elderly man with a mustache who entered the room. He walked up to Ron Esrotel and bent down deeply.
"I'm sorry, sir."
"...... I see. Then I guess I don't have a choice."
Ron Esrotel smiled as he said this.
Pope Vieille's plan of attack was perfect. But at the last minute, he made a mistake. He had not expected Poseidon to take her away. She had a bow and arrow with an arrowhead made of Goolif stone lodged in her arm. Under normal circumstances, she would have died, but with Posehaye there, there was no doubt that her destination was Agartha. If it was Agartha, that country with the great sage Meilias would be able to remove the poison from the stone of Goolif.
Joseph, the man who is now bowing in front of me, was one of the best users of spiritual magic in the Crimiana cult. It was thanks to the shadowy work of this man that Vieille had been able to live until now in perfect health. The plan was to infiltrate the Lamaronic Empire, cause chaos, and kill the Pope while the nations of Agartha were looking to Lamaron. Joseph had sent a letter to inform us that the plan had failed.
"The activity in Lamaron has been suppressed much more quickly than expected. By now, perhaps a strike force is being organized against this Aphrodite."
Ron Esrotel remained silent as he listened to Josef's report. Then, without saying a word to anyone, he spoke in a quiet tone.
"I knew it, Your Holiness, the Pope is loved by the Lord God. Our plan was perfect. But with Posehai by our side that day, we missed him at the last minute. ....... It was a coincidence: ....... But because of that coincidence, he was spared."
"I'm going to let nothing happen to you. ...... Sorry about that. If it had been in our hands, His Holiness the Pope would have become a god. It's a shame."
Even Ron Esrotel had no intention of attacking Vieille from the beginning. He was the type of man who could only show his true value in the shadows, and he wanted to manipulate Vieille at will behind the scenes.
However, the situation changed drastically when the "Flower of Friendship" spread to the countries that believed in the Crimiana religion. Vieille's explanation was that the joint development with Agartha had produced a rat that would exterminate the flower, but she demanded an exorbitant amount of money when she shared it with the tribes.
Of course, the countries that wanted to stop the damage of the flower of friendship, in spite of their difficult kitchen situation, continued to pay the money. In addition, heavy taxes were imposed within the Church, and the lives of the believers began to be squeezed. The people believed. With the money they were paying, a more efficient method of exterminating the flowers could be established. However, Vieille did not invest the money he earned in the development of the eradication of the Friendship Flower, and in fact, the huge amount of money collected from all over the world disappeared at any moment.
Ron Esrotel and other cardinals tracked the whereabouts of the missing money. When they asked Vieille himself, he only dutifully evaded their questions. However, even with all their efforts, they could not trace the whereabouts of the money.
Vieille was also occupied with paying the money Agartha was demanding. The rate that changed with each transaction was always set at the very limit of what the Church could afford, and it was truly an admirable practice by the enemy.
However, Vieille was secretly planning to make money while she was busy with her financial schemes.
She was using a medical research institute to develop a special medicine for stomatitis, which is said to be an intractable disease. This disease causes symptoms similar to those of heart disease, and many women over the age of 30 have been affected by it. In fact, Vieille's mother had this disease.
Vieille had secretly invested a huge amount of money in research to hasten the development of this drug. Once it was completed, he would ask Meilias to pay a high price for this medicine. He was confident that he could convince her. He knew that Saint Meilius was a money-grubbing person when it came to medicines that had a high chance of saving lives. If he could get her to agree to this, she would advise the King of Agartha. The king would not be able to refuse the word of the saintly Maelius.
But her thoughts were not conveyed to her men. Normally, she would have persuaded her men with her skillful eloquence, but Vieille was too busy at this time. She had been so busy with a large amount of work that she had lost the opportunity to talk with her subordinates at length.
Ron Esrotel and the others began to doubt Vieille's actions. Had the man forgotten his original intentions and become a philistine?
Vieille had been a godly man until he took the papal throne. He was merciful and attentive to everyone. He remembered even the smallest promises and carried them out. When a mistake occurred, she never blamed the person who made it, but rather laughed it off, saying that she was glad it was only a mistake.
Recently, she has been trying to do something behind the backs of her subordinates. What exactly is it? Just when everyone's suspicions were reaching their peak, Vieille made an unexpected announcement. It was to expand the medical institute.
Instead of expanding the building that had been built right next to the Pope's temple, a new building would be constructed in a new location, and the site designated for the move was a large courtyard within the grounds of the Pope's temple. Moreover, the construction was to be done in a rush, day and night, and all the members of the congregation living in Aphrodite were to be assigned to some kind of mission.
As expected, the cardinals opposed this order. There was no need to expand the medical research center at this time, even if it was to create a medicine to eradicate the flower of friendship. Moreover, there is no need to destroy the courtyard, which has been a place of relaxation for the faithful for hundreds of years. Moreover, it was a terrible idea for the congregation to have to work day and night. It was obvious that Aphrodite would be confused if this was made public.
But Vieille did not back down. She declared that she would issue a papal decree. Once it was issued, the congregation would have no choice but to obey. Ron Esrotel and his colleagues proposed to postpone the construction for three months due to the lack of materials.
It made sense. Vieille reluctantly accepted the proposal. Of course, he did not forget that he would not allow any further extension.
Having bought some time, Ron Esrotel and his group started to eliminate Vieille. They no longer worshipped Vieille as a messenger of God. And their actions were surprisingly dignified.
This action, which could be described as a kind of abandonment, was a major factor in snatching Vieille's attention. .......