The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 150

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 150

 

Even when the system definitively declared “Sir! You’re half not human!!” I didn’t really care.

 

I mean, whether I’m human or a god or whatever, as long as I’m breathing and doing fine, that’s all that matters, right? It’s not like it’s a bad thing, so it’s okay.

 

I sipped the tea Eon had brought me while writing the messenger bird letter.

 

[May Lumensia’s light bless and be with you in your deep contemplations.]

 

=Even God can’t fix your brain level.

 

[I have received the heavy mission you sent with a trembling heart. Your appointment of inadequate me as the ‘Sword of Demon Realm Purification’ must be proof that the darkness of the western front lines is that deep.]

 

=I get it for now, and seeing how you’re sending even me, a Saint, to the very front lines, I guess you’re really short on manpower?

 

[Therefore, I will depart without hesitation to carry out God’s will. As you said, that place will need a ‘holy miracle’ that no one else has been able to achieve.]

 

=Okay. So you’re the ones sending me?

 

[However, the ‘sword’ that God has given me is not for cutting the flesh of the innocent, but for cutting ‘sin’ itself. I will not forget the virtues of a Saint and my mission as an Ascetic. I will embrace the soldiers and citizens of the western front lines, and even the Demon Race residing in the Demon Realm, wipe away the tears of blood they shed, and work to bring ‘true peace’ to that land.]

 

=But. Did you think no one would know that you plan to beat up all the demons, destroy the ceasefire negotiations, strip me of my envoy qualifications, and then try to take away my Saint position? I’m going to the front lines to act as a peace envoy without beating up the demons.

 

[I am grateful that you have already made my name known throughout the Empire. I promise to return with ‘good news’ that is greater and more amazing than the ‘victory reports’ the citizens expect. And I will dedicate my life to creating friendly relations with the Demon Realm and achieving a peace treaty to reduce suffering in this land.]

 

=You’re doing this like a notification without my permission, how nicely things are turning out. ^^ Instead of the demon head-hunting barbarian you’re expecting, I’ll achieve my goals through peace negotiations~ Yes~ Your schemes won’t work~

 

[When that time comes, I believe the Central Church will also praise this miracle of mine together.]

 

=Annoying?

 

[Finally, I will prove myself as the Empire’s sword that you have appointed. The sharpest sword is not one that cuts flesh, but one that cuts away the ‘hostility’ toward each other itself.]

 

= Sword? Yes, I’ll become a sword. But since my blade isn’t a butcher that goes around cutting demon necks and I’m a Saint, naturally I’ll go around shouting for people’s peace peace~, right?

 

[Please prepare not for blood-stained victory reports from the Central Church, but for a festival to welcome the harmony of the living. May Divine Protection be with you.]

 

=So don’t expect piles of corpses. I’ll return smiling and holding hands with the Demon Race, so don’t make faces saying “Huh? This isn’t right?” when that time comes, and prepare to scatter flower petals in advance. Got it?

 

I put down the quill pen with a thud.

 

I packaged the messenger bird letter with satisfaction and called Eon.

 

“Please deliver this to the Central Church office.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Eon went off diligently to run the errand.

 

When this letter reaches the Central Church, their expressions will be worth seeing. They set up the stage to create a War Hero, but I declared I’d return as the greatest peace activist in history.

 

Their scheme of ‘already having announced it’ will now become shackles choking their own necks.

 

The Empire, the Demon Realm, and even Centa will be watching with attention, so how will they stop a Saint who says he’ll bring peace?

 

‘If they wanted to fight the Demon Race, they should have sent an Inquisitor to commit massacres. Why did they have to mess with me specifically.’

 

Ah~ After writing a whole bowlful, I finally feel refreshed.

 

“Well, the paperwork is finished.”

 

I tried handling what I roughly call my power…

 

Or to put it in refined system terms, ‘ether.’

 

The paper fluttered even without wind, but I couldn’t crumple it or do origami with it. If anything, being conscious of it made it harder to control.

 

It felt like trying to control an arm that had gone numb from sleeping on it – rubbery and unresponsive due to poor circulation.

 

It would probably take quite a while to adapt and use it with precision. Right now, I could barely manage lifting veils and holding objects in place.

 

I contacted Antonio. I had planned not to reach out since he’d be busy dealing with the aftermath of the attack, but this needed to be handled quickly, so I had no choice.

 

‘Antonio, are you alright?’

 

-‘Yes, thanks to the Ascetic’s healing, I have no injuries and we suffered no major damage. We lost a few key supplies, but the losses were minimal.’

 

‘That’s a relief. I have an urgent favor to ask of you.’

 

-‘Please speak freely, my God.’

 

First Celestia called me that, and now Antonio too? Is everyone calling me that now?

 

‘I’m heading to the western front lines, to the Wall of Wailing. I need to provide as many supplies as possible to both sides, so I need your help.’

 

-‘Both sides, you say…’

 

‘The Demon Race as well. It’s time to put an end to this damned war.’

 

‘…’

 

Antonio fell silent for a moment. Providing supplies to the Demon Race could be considered heretical or treasonous under imperial law – enough to lose one’s head.

 

But that silence wasn’t from fear or hesitation.

 

It was because this great merchant was calculating the estimates for a massive project in his head.

 

‘Yes, then I’ll open warehouses 1 and 2 at the western branch and send everything to the western front lines immediately.’

 

As expected of Antonio! I knew I could count on him!

 

My faithful first believer and ally, who had never betrayed my trust, gave me the most reassuring responses.

 

-‘But that won’t be enough to feed the Demon Race as well. I’ll pull all the grain contracts I have with southern merchants, even if I have to pay penalty fees. And I’ll have to call in some debts from the eastern medicinal herb guild leader.’

 

Antonio rattled off his plans like machine gun fire.

 

-‘Transportation will be an issue, but I’ll mobilize all 300 long-distance transport carriages and mercenary groups my trading company owns. For what we lack, I’ll requisition civilian carriages with extra payment.’

 

I trusted him, but to this extent…?

 

‘That’s going to cost quite a lot of money.’

 

Besides Antonio, I had planned to visit some nobles I’d built relationships with. But for Antonio alone to go this far…?

 

-‘Ascetic. Once the war ends and trade routes with the Demon Realm open, I’ll get back hundreds of times what I spend. Think of it as an investment for the future – it’s not that much money, so don’t worry.’

 

Antonio was truly a merchant to his bones. He saw providing supplies for peace negotiations not as simple charity, but as an ‘investment’ to be the first to pioneer the vast blue ocean that was the Demon Realm.

 

-‘Above all, how could there be insufficient food at a feast hosted by my God?’

 

He was so damn reliable and trustworthy that I almost teared up. Sniff.

 

Obviously, someone like Antonio seemed a million times more trustworthy than a fake saint like me.

 

‘Thank you, Antonio.’

 

Antonio’s generosity suddenly made him seem like a real god… Though in a capitalist world, isn’t the financier the real god? Of course, this world was early-stage capitalism.

 

-‘Please don’t say such things. From the day you saved my daughter, everything I have has already belonged to you.’

 

Wow~

 

I almost lost my composure and started clapping enthusiastically. I said I understood and ended the voice transmission.

 

With the biggest task completed, now it was time for me to prepare on my end.

 

Originally, I had planned to go as an envoy to negotiate peace with the Demon Realm, but now I had to travel from the front lines all the way to the heart of the Demon Realm to meet the Demon King.

 

I clumsily fastened the sword and scabbard that Eon had brought earlier around my waist. The warning bell hanging from my waist jingled, but it made no sound.

 

Still, this was my 7th month of otherworld reincarnation…? Possession? Something like that. And I’d even been to a battlefield once during that time. Battlefields are where saints shine when there’s a war, after all.

 

I used voice transmission to contact each of the Demon Realm party members individually.

 

Tuba was the angriest here. He said if I was going to call him back in less than half a day after letting him go on free time, I shouldn’t have bothered in the first place. Since I was the guilty party here, I had to grovel a bit.

 

The problem was Cardil.

 

“Would Cardil get angry if I called him now…?”

 

He’s the best medical team member who can both heal and attack. But taking him back to a battlefield is a bit… I said we were going as an envoy, but now it’s a battlefield.

 

He’s a medical officer who was discharged from the battlefield a few years ago. He probably has war PTSD too, so dragging him to a battlefield is… do I really have that little conscience…?

 

I don’t.

 

*

 

Hehe!

 

I visited the Magic Tower again to pick up Cardil.

 

“…I was hoping not to see you for a while.”

 

“Wow, Ascetic! What brings you here without notice? Do you need my help?”

 

“We’re going to the front lines of the Demon Realm. From there, we’ll head to the center of the Demon Realm to meet the Demon King.”

 

“Didn’t you say it would take some time?”

 

“I’ve only slept 3 hours this entire week, so could you reconsider?”

 

Oh dear. I felt sorry for him and poured a lot of my ether into Cardil.

 

He reminds me of myself in college. Working part-time, campus jobs, side jobs for portfolios, certifications, maintaining grades while living on scholarships… Hmm? How did I actually survive that?

 

Anyway, you can die suddenly from not sleeping like that. I’d rather not lose a precious damage dealer-healer.

 

“Everyone we met back then is hurriedly finishing preparations and heading to the front lines. I’m really sorry for calling you so urgently… but the Central Church has been scheming.”

 

“The Central Church? Is there someone not listening? Just give me a name and I’ll…”

 

“Killing would be counterproductive.”

 

“Kill? I was just thinking, um, a light tap on the head with my staff. Just a little bonk~”

 

It wouldn’t be a bonk but a crack, and that crack would cave in the Central Church person’s skull. Then they’d go into a coffin.

 

“I’ve called for a carriage, so just prepare within an hour and come. Brother Cardil can sleep in the carriage. It’s quite a nice carriage.”

 

Cardil seemed to remember when we went to Centa. It’s the same carriage from back then.

 

The western front lines with the Demon Realm are quite far from Astrapolis. I heard it takes about 4 days by carriage.

 

“Yes.”

 

With his exhausted mind, Cardil seemed to think sleeping in the carriage would be less suffering.

 

“Will I be riding in the same carriage as you, Ascetic?”

 

“…? Yes, of course.”

 

Celestia made a fuss, then hurriedly rushed into her laboratory saying she needed to pack quickly.

 

I was bored just waiting for an hour, but I didn’t have enough time to call Professor Elara for experiments, so I tried floating sugar cubes in the air and attempting to put them in my tea.

 

Around my tea were half-crumbled sugar cubes and tea stains everywhere.

 

Since it wasn’t considered dirty enough to be purified, my purification power didn’t work, so I just wiped it with my sleeve and purified that. Good thing no one saw this unseemly behavior.

 

“Let’s go! To the Demon Realm!”

 

“Celestia, but why are you wearing a dress?”

 

“….”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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