Chapter 246: What is offered

Arnold carried her to her room and forced her to rest.

Arnold usually listened to Rishe’s wishes.

But this time, he dismissed her offer to help him clean up a bit, or even her request to check on Miss Myria’s condition.

She had no choice but to rest quietly. After she recovered her strength early in the morning the next day, she and Arnold listened to what Schneider had to say.

“Originally, the Order’s cardinals were divided into several factions.”

Schneider combed his gray hair back methodically today.

There was fatigue around his eyes. It was obvious that he had gone through a great deal of trouble from yesterday until now.

“There’s a faction that wants to hide and raise Myria-dono and keep her existence a secret from Garkhain. And then there is the faction that, like the Archbishop, fears Garkhain and believes that Miss Myria’s should be erased.”

Rishe raised an eyebrow at the painful truth.

“So there are multiple people who wanted to harm Myria-sama?”

“Yes, but they’re also a very small minority. A Maiden Priestess with the blood of the Goddess is an object of worship for us.”

Rishe was more than a little relieved to hear those words.

However, she wouldn’t trust Schneider’s claims before them so easily. Arnold, who was sitting next to her, seemed to be of the same opinion.

“For someone you claim as an object of worship, she sure seemed like a decoy for the Maiden Priestess, don’t you think?”

Arnold sat on the same couch as Rishe and rested his cheek on the armrest.

His sword was propped up beside him. He should have left it with Oliver, who was waiting in the corridor.

“If you wanted to protect the Priestess, you shouldn’t have taken her out where the Archbishop could reach her. If the faction that hides and nurtures the Maiden Priestess is in the majority, it would have been easy to proceed with a policy of keeping her out of the public eye.”

Arnold was right.

If Schneider, the Archbishop’s assistant, had been aware of the Archbishop’s plans, he should have acted to prevent such a situation from occurring in the first place.

“The faction that hides and nurtures the priestesses and the faction that says they should be eliminated. ―― May I know which faction you belong to?”

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“Neither of them.”

“Huh?”

Arnold regarded Schneider indifferently.

Schneider laced his fingers on his knees and leaned forward, saying.

“I am certain that my measures were meant to put Miss Myria in danger. However, the Archbishop should be eliminated as soon as possible. To do so, I had to prove that the Archbishop wanted to get rid of the priestess and that he was going to carry it out. I must provide conclusive evidence.”

“…So that’s why you had Miss Myria attacked by the Archbishop, and why so many priests witnessed it?”

Schneider bowed in response to Rishe’s question.

“To be honest, I can only say that it was a miscalculation for the Crown Prince of Garkhain to visit the Grand Shrine under these circumstances.”

That must have been Schneider’s true intention.

“The Archbishop is our enemy, but you are too, at the same time. No matter how hard we try to expose the Archbishop’s scheme, everything will end if the Crown Prince of Garkhain discovers the existence of the Priestess.”

“…Is that why you sent Leo to me then?”

“I received a report from that child that Rishe-sama has some knowledge in martial arts…I didn’t expect that the most talented child in our orphanage would be so easily defeated.”

Then he chuckled, “That child still has a long way to go, right?”

From the way he said it, it seems that Leo was telling the truth when he said that he was not a substitute father. If anything, Schneider was akin to a mentor watching over his student. The Archbishop probably didn’t know that the orphanage was such a training institution.

“Why was Leo going in and out of the forest where the traps were set?”

“The purpose is to find out the locations of the traps the Archbishop has set and report it. I can’t easily enter the forest where the Archbishop has forbidden us to go.”

If it was a young child like Leo, it would be overlooked as a simple mischievousness. It was not hard to understand what Schneider was trying to say.

But whether or not to take it in stride was another matter.

“…The Archbishop, assuming that the tomboy, Myria, might enter the forest, probably prepared the traps to make it look like an accident and kill her. But the fact remains that Myria-sama was in danger in the forest. Did you let the trap go unattended when you knew there was a chance of that happening?”

“Leo was supposed to protect her just before she gets in danger…But the moment he took his eyes off of her, Miss Myria headed into the forest and put herself at risk.”

Schneider looked at Rishe calmly.

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“――In the unlikely event, I would have punished Leo with my own hands and apologized to the Goddess with my own life.”

“…”

Rishe raised an eyebrow.

In the future, as Rishe knew it, Leo was severely punished and wandered between life and death, losing one of his eyes.

There was no man named Schneider among the leaders of the Krushade Order, and the position of Archbishop was occupied by someone else. That must have been the result of the “unlikely event” that Schneider mentioned.

“Enough of this nonsense.”

Arnold told Schneider in a low voice.

“The only question you need to answer is what your intentions were in creating this situation, including whether you intend to let the Maiden Priestess live, and how you will treat Father Emperor.”

“Are you willing to listen to my thoughts?”

“How audacious. You’ll probably be the next Archbishop anyway, aren’t you?”

“That’s up to Your Highness, Arnold.”

Arnold frowned at his response.

“As I mentioned earlier, there are several factions in the Order, either to hide the Maiden Priestess from Garkhain and nurture her, or eliminate her before Garkhain knows about her…I was, of course, the former, but now I am not.”

“What are your plans, Schneider-sama?”

“I’d like to establish an alliance with you.”

When Rishe’s eyes widened, Schneider exhaled and smiled bitterly.

“Not with the Garkhain Kingdom or His Majesty, but with Crown Prince Arnold Hein…And with your soon-to-be Crown Princess, Rishe-sama.”

“That’s…”

“I would like to ask you to keep Miss Myria’s existence hidden from His Majesty. And when I become Archbishop, I will return the favor to Your Highness Arnold as best I can.”

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It was an offer Rishe hadn’t expected.

In the first place, the reason Rishe visited the Grand Shrine at this time was to establish a connection with Myria.

If she could establish a relationship with Myria, the Maiden Priestess of the Krushad Order and a world-renowned authority, it might help in avoiding war.

She hoped that she could prevent a future like the one that would eventually come, where Arnold would burn down churches and try to kill Myria.

In all my lives so far, His Highness and the Order have always been enemies. If this cooperation is realized, the future will surely change. However…

Rishe glanced up at Arnold next to her.

“What kind of alliance?”

Just as she had expected, Arnold looked at Schneider with deep displeasure.

“You seemed to have misjudged your position, Schneider. No matter what you wish, I am already aware of the existence of the Priestess.”

“You’re right.”

“The power of the Order is of no concern to me. For you, on the other hand, this is a top-secret matter with lives on the line. ――If you have time to make such a long-winded offer, you’d better bow more deeply.”

“Your Highness Arnold.”

Rishe cast her eyes down, but Arnold did not even glance at her.

Schneider turned pale and looked up at Arnold.

“I told Your Highness that my fate depends on your will.”

Schneider bowed to Arnold as if he were offering him his head.

“If you can accept my bow, I don’t care if you leave my body and crush me to the ground. I beg you to help us.”

“You’re shivering. Your Goddess whatsoever isn’t going to help you like that.”

“For me, faith is not about seeking salvation from the Goddess, but about devoting my life to her. If my life can save the Goddess’s child, then so be it.”

“―― ……”

Arnold was about to say something, looking down at Schneider, when a voice interrupted.

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