The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 33

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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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Fire

The end of a swordsman who loses his sword is common. No matter how Cardil had just awakened, it would be easy enough to drive a magic sphere into someone right in front of him.

The one who took the hit to the head went flying. Cardil, gasping from mana exhaustion or something, glanced at the Knight Commander who was embedded in the wall.

“Has he returned to God’s embrace…?”

No, don’t kill him…

I quietly left the tanghulu skewer alone, having become somewhat accustomed to it after two times. Since I was already struggling just to regenerate my arm, it would be troublesome if blood started gushing out like a fountain again.

The sword would be fine as long as I didn’t pull it out. Of course, I couldn’t move.

“You… I told you not to do such things again.”

“But there was no other way.”

“…Stay there and don’t move.”

Cardil left me alone and headed toward the Knight Commander who had completely fainted. He was buried under a pile of stones, having been knocked unconscious when he crashed into the wall.

Kicking and pushing aside the stone pile with his foot, then pressing down on his abdomen, the Knight Commander groaned.

“Grrrraaahhh…”

“He’s not dead. That’s fortunate. Hmm, from what I can see, there’s a high possibility of intraperitoneal bleeding and cerebral hemorrhage…”

Various medical knowledge spilled from his mouth. Cardil, who had roughly dragged the Knight Commander out from between the stone pile – completely opposite to how he treated patients – came to me.

While he was taking care of the Knight Commander, my other hand had grown back. I could see golden and green light shimmering as it filled in the flesh in my abdomen.

“That was reckless. What would you have done if he hadn’t let go of the sword?”

“He would have let go.”

It seemed the adrenaline had calmed down a bit, so the pain came rushing in like before. Ah wait, this hurts more than before?

It hurt like when I had gastroenteritis, but this was in front of Cardil. I couldn’t clutch my stomach and roll around on the floor. I had to maintain the dignity of a cult leader…!

“Phew, because he was… afraid of me.”

Cold sweat that hadn’t appeared before seemed to be pouring out. I couldn’t tell if what was flowing down my chin was blood or sweat. Since sweat is unpleasant, I hoped it was blood.

“He was afraid of you?”

“Yes.”

Cold sweat flowed out. Having my arm cut off was so instantaneous and unreal that it hurt less, but now that the battle was over, my stomach was throbbing and hurt so much…!

Ugh, next time I really need to take better care of my body. Especially since I’ll be receiving the Sacred Relic non-recovery penalty in a few days, I should treat it better.

“Why… no, hmm. That’s an understandable part.”

Cardil, who had been puzzled for a moment, looked confused but quickly understood on his own.

The reason he was afraid of me was, well, just visible in his expression. He was staring at me like he’d encountered a ghost, so it would be strange not to notice.

Such a guy rushes at the sword like he’s diving in, becomes a skewer, and then smiles nonchalantly while glaring at him? He’d want to distance himself immediately.

Moreover, when I didn’t cover my face with a robe or veil, everyone else was busy being scared. Furthermore, the more combat experience and sharpness one had, the more sensitively they might react to that aura and feel greater tension…

Moreover, he was someone who knew information about Sernuan Lumiere that I didn’t know. He would have been more afraid, not less.

The victory in this battle was almost half due to luck, but in actual combat, one mistake leads to defeat and death.

The points that Cardil was dismissed as just a healer, and that I was excessively guarded against, led to the Knight Commander’s defeat.

“Are you alright? My mana is depleted so I can’t heal you right now…”

“Yes, I’m fine. Would it be okay to stay like this for just 10 minutes?”

“Moving right now is also dangerous. …Are you cold?”

“Pardon? No.”

“You’re shivering. It’s hypothermia from blood loss. Oh dear… I’ll bring something warm and call for people. I’ll bring Austin and Kalebrin, so just stay still and don’t move for a moment.”

I’m shivering?

Looking down at my hands, they were trembling. I didn’t feel cold though. Even the pain seemed to be getting better as it was gradually fading away.

Cardil seemed to go somewhere, then hurriedly tore off a flag and covered me with the stiff cloth.

“Stay right here and don’t move. If you don’t follow my words this time either, you’ll learn why doctors are scary.”

Since it was really scary, I decided to stay still.

*

“Ascetic…!”

“A-Ascetic…!”

Oh, what welcome faces.

“K-Knight Commander?!”

I watched Kalebrin restlessly circling around me. Austin Gerard was shocked to see the Knight Commander knocked unconscious against the wall.

“Bishop Cardil went to the Imperial Administrator to prove the matter regarding the Lord’s murder.”

“I see…”

“Ascetic, your v-voice…”

“It’s n-nothing… serious. Cough… I just got stabbed by a sword.”

“Th-that’s not nothing serious, is it?”

I decided to keep the fact that my arm was cut off a secret.

“Why are the handcuffs on the floor…?”

…I decided to keep it a secret!

Anyway, the arm I had dropped had turned to light and disappeared, so no separated protein mass remained. There were just some bloodstains that hadn’t been purified yet.

Now that it seemed mostly healed, should I pull out the sword? If I keep it like this, it won’t heal and it’s uncomfortable.

When I put my hand on the sword handle, Kalebrin was shocked.

“Uh, uhhh…?”

“D-don’t pull it out!”

Blood oozed from my abdomen with a squelching sound, and at the same time, the light particles that had been calm began bustling again to fill my abdomen. The blood flowing out was purified white and disappeared.

When the clean sword was pulled out, they stared at me in shock.

Clang.

“Phew…”

I’m tired. So incredibly tired that I feel like I could sleep just by putting my head on the floor. Ah, I think I’m going to faint. Having been stabbed by a sword once before, I was starting to understand.

“Brothers and sisters, I think… I’m about to lose consciousness. Don’t worry. It’s just sleeping…”

“Y-you can’t sleep. You can’t sleep here.”

“I leave the rest to you.”

Getting up and going straight to prison, then fainting when it’s time to get out of prison….

Anyway, there’s Kalebrin who’s also a bodyguard, and there’s reliable Cardil with Austin Gerard who will become the next Knight Commander, so it should be fine.

And so I lost consciousness.

*

“Lord’s murder?”

People in fancy clothes chattered at a long table. The long table was full of luxurious plates, chalices, and food.

“This is an issue we cannot overlook.”

“Who was controlling the Knight Commander?”

“…It was me.”

“Sigh. Fine. What’s done is done. This time, put someone more gentle and obedient in the commander position.”

“How about Austin Gerard? He’s the vice-commander, has skill, and being of commoner origin, he listens well.”

“You want to put a commoner in the Lion Heart Knight Commander position?”

“Since a noble caused trouble, wouldn’t it be fine to elevate a commoner? At a time when we need to take a different line from the Pope, showing commoners opportunities for advancement would be good.”

“Hmm… that makes sense.”

“Then let’s put Austin Gerard in the Knight Commander position.”

Ding. Someone who struck a chalice with a teaspoon spoke up.

“Then for the next agenda, we’ll discuss who to make the new Lord.”

“Wasn’t there a Lord’s son?”

“He’s been bedridden for a long time already.”

“Oh dear. Is there no suitable material for a Lord?”

“It wouldn’t be bad to first check if he’s in a state to handle affairs from his sickbed. Hasn’t that Lord been taking quite annoying actions lately? We could give the son temporary lordship, then designate one of our people as the next Lord for health reasons, couldn’t we?”

“Good idea.”

Ding. The chalice was struck again. The clear sound echoed through the luxurious architectural hall.

“Next agenda, we’ll discuss Sernuan Lumiere.”

“Hmm? Didn’t he die last time?”

“After the Sacred Relic was stolen, I thought he was surely dead, but since he’s alive, the Knight Commander didn’t pursue him. The current situation is essentially caused by that bastard.”

“There’s nothing particularly to discuss. We just need to put a bounty on him again and kill him.”

“That’s… slightly problematic…”

“What is? Speak up.”

“He’s made a name for himself as the one who stopped the monster attack on Astrapolis and beheaded a demon. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that half the citizens of Astrapolis follow him…”

“Hmm?”

The hand cutting the appetizing steak slipped. A sharp screech rang piercingly in their ears.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Literally that he has become a hero of Astrapolis. If we kill him now, public sentiment toward the Empire will surely turn sour. Astrapolis is a strategic point necessary for war. If we stir up the public sentiment in such a place, side effects will surely come.”

“Well, this is…”

“It would be better to postpone the execution for a while. Moreover, wasn’t his mistress executed in Astrapolis not long ago? Even if we frame it as a witch execution, we mustn’t overlook the fact that rumors spread quickly.”

“We cannot leave a heretic alone!”

“That bastard Sernuan not only stole the Sacred Relic but also knows important secrets of the Empire. To leave such a person alone without executing him as soon as possible is unthinkable!”

“I don’t mean to leave him alone. Since it’s right after the attack, we can execute him in about a month. If necessary, we can attach an Imperial Inquisitor as a supervisor so we can cut off his head at any time. After all, there’s nothing worse than him falling into someone else’s hands and blabbing information.”

“Ho… attaching an Inquisitor as a supervisor. That’s quite a good idea.”

“The risk is too great to execute him right now…”

“Of course. We can’t leave someone who knows secrets alone, can we? We need to get the Sacred Relic back too.”

Everyone nodded. As all agenda items ended, those dressed in splendid clothes each moved their utensils gracefully.

“Then we must attach someone most loyal who won’t fall for that bastard’s silver tongue as a supervisor.”

A hand wearing black veil gloves was raised.

“Then I know an Inquisitor who’s doing well these days… may I make a recommendation?”

“Of course, aren’t you the ‘Widow’?”

“Ah, surely you mean that Inquisitor? The one who cut off heretics’ heads a hundred times! The name was definitely…”

“Elena.”

“No surname?”

Another person glanced at the one called ‘Widow’ and answered instead.

“I heard she has none since she’s of commoner origin. However, I heard her martial prowess is so excellent it’s hard to believe she has a woman’s body, and her character and loyalty to God are also impeccably excellent.”

“Hmm… not bad as a supervisor. There wasn’t really anyone else to attach besides that Heresy Inquisitor anyway.”

“Then we’ll contact the Central Church immediately…”

“No, that won’t do.”

The person with red lipstick and black veil covering her eyes put down her fork. She was the one who had recommended ‘Yelena’ earlier.

She lightly wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and tapped the table with her fingers.

“The Central Church, when the Emperor should occupy the Pope’s position? We should handle this among ourselves.”

“Heretics aside, shouldn’t elevating imperial authority be the top priority?”

“Now that the Pope’s seat is vacant, the Pope is the Emperor, and the Emperor is the Pope. Is there really a need to contact the Central Church?”

Thunk.

The fork was savagely stabbed into the steak. Meat juices flowed out from the pressure.

“Sernuan Lumiere can be killed at any time. But hasn’t he become too valuable a card to use that way? Good ingredients must be well-prepared before being put to use.”

Slice.

The meat was cut away with elegant knife work.

“While attaching an Inquisitor as supervisor… let’s have him brought to the banquet hall. The secrets, the interrogation about the stolen Sacred Relic, and his future fate will all be decided then.”

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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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