Chapter 33

In this world, God’s will is conveyed through the Pope.

That meant Jooian had ordered the demolition of the temple in my territory?

Sorry for messaging so early in the morning, but I had to confirm for sure.

I could almost hear his crisp voice. Sharp as ever. Thanks.

This time, Jooian’s reply came a little late. He had to be just as baffled.

As expected, it was a lie.

After a brief pause, his next message popped up. Pretending to be deep in thought in front of the steward, I replied.

Jooian’s response this time was lightning-fast. Ninety percent chance he was off to thrash his underlings.

If it wasn’t Jooian, then someone had lied about God’s will to demolish the temple.

“God’s will…”

I muttered under my breath.

God’s will was on the move now, so the temple issue shouldn’t need much attention.

“What should we do? If the temple disappears, it’ll be…”

But the steward had no way of knowing that, and his face was etched with heavy worry.

It was understandable. This country had a huge number of believers in the Church of Shin-sian.

But a divine decree to demolish the territory’s temple?

That could be interpreted as God abandoning the land.

It would breed anxiety among the residents and drag the territory’s morale through the mud.

By that point, it was obvious who was behind it. The problem was having only circumstantial evidence, no hard proof…

I looked at the steward. This was a simple issue to resolve.

“Then find out who those high priests have been in contact with recently.”

The steward froze at my words.

For a freshly minted count’s family, such an order would be impossible to carry out.

But not for my family.

“You can handle it, right?”

At my confident tone, the steward bowed silently. As he did, I grinned.

These people were personally assigned by none other than Shin Jae-heon.

And Shin Jae-heon had always had freakishly fast intel back in Korea.

Information is life when you’re trying to survive, or so they say?

Though he never seemed to use it for anything useful.

At the end of the day, he was a dealer who hated using his head.

Still, the guy who always stressed the importance of intel was now on the emperor’s throne—he’d only pay more attention to it, not less.

“Of course. I’ll look into it right away.”

Sure enough, the steward replied in a firm voice. Knew he could pull it off.

After the steward left, it didn’t take long for the incident’s outline to come into focus.

A few days later.

Jooian scrolled up through the hunter chat.

His eyes narrowed slightly behind his monocle.

Propping his chin on pale fingertips, he turned his gaze outside.

The Edelweiss family’s knights must have mobilized right away after Hunter Shin Yuri did, and since we grasped the situation immediately on our end too, the culprit’s identity came to light quickly.

“Instigated by nobles…”

He murmured.

The church was just as fractured and rotten as the nobles plotting against the imperial family.

Originally, before his possession, Ariensa Xian Demar had been the type to only heed God’s will from the main temple, ignoring small local ones.

But Jooian had naturally rewritten that “Ariensa Xian Demar” character’s personality.

‘With new movements from the imperial family, we intend to act anew as well.’

It was an order he’d given to the holy knights and high priests shortly after possessing this body.

In other words, even he—the Pope—would move differently from before.

Thanks to declaring that upfront, unlike the old Ariensa Xian Demar, he’d been able to act dynamically without risking penalties.

“What should we do, Your Holiness?”

A holy knight who had completed the investigation on the Edelweiss territory’s temple asked.

Jooian glanced down at the names of the problematic high priests.

“…Have them interrogated to determine whether they heard the voice of Shin-sian or something else.”

The holy knight’s eyes widened.

Ever since Ariensa Xian Demar became Pope, the Heresy Interrogation Office had been practically dormant.

With him avoiding active external involvement, investigations and pursuits of heretics had dwindled sharply.

But this time was different.

The holy knight thought that His Holiness, who usually showed so little emotion, seemed especially sharp today.

Especially since activating the Heresy Interrogation Office would sharpen the entire church’s atmosphere like a blade.

“Understood.”

But the Pope’s will was God’s will. The holy knight bowed without further questions.

“Then what shall we tell the Edelweiss family?”

Since the temple had nearly been erased by heretics, they needed to inform Count Edelweiss of the facts.

At those words, a faint smile ghosted across Jooian’s lips. It vanished in an instant.

His expression serene once more, he spoke calmly.

“There must be a reason those who oppose God tried to wipe out the temple there.”

Of course, Jooian knew exactly what that reason was.

It was nothing more than infighting among nobles.

But turning a crisis into an opportunity was strategy, too.

He gestured.

“Build the largest, most magnificent temple in that region.”

“A large and magnificent temple, you mean…”

The holy knight asked cautiously. Jooian pondered briefly before replying.

“The scale of a Third Temple would be ideal.”

“…!”

The holy knight startled, freezing in place.

A Third Temple was the next largest after the main temple and the Second Temple in the imperial palace.

It could house vast numbers of believers and elevate the territory’s prestige.

It was tantamount to declaring that powerful divine might stood with Edelweiss territory.

“You mean a Third Temple-scale shrine there?”

Even after this incident, it seemed overly generous for Edelweiss territory’s size, in the holy knight’s view.

Moreover, the Edelweiss family was a confirmed pro-emperor faction, selected at the swordsmanship tournament.

Empowering such a house wouldn’t benefit the church.

“May I humbly ask the reason?”

In the end, the holy knight dropped to one knee and inquired.

Jooian regarded the knight through his monocle.

Emperor.

Murmuring soundlessly, he thought of Shin Jae-heon.

Faced with such a question, Emperor Shin Jae-heon would either fabricate a reason or sever the asker’s head.

That fit the tyrant image he’d seized in this RP dungeon.

But the Pope was different. Jooian smiled.

“I saw it in a dream.”

That one phrase was enough. Revelations received by the God-connected Pope usually came in dreams.

And dream revelations were typically warnings.

In other words, monsters might soon overrun Edelweiss territory.

“Elevate the Edelweiss territory’s temple to Third Temple status and dispatch First-Class holy knights to guard its surroundings.”

Her land being filled only with Shin Jae-heon’s people irked him in a strange way.

His eyes narrowing, he issued the command.

“Will the Edelweiss family comply?”

The holy knight asked cautiously. A pro-emperor family wouldn’t welcome church forces.

Especially with the emperor watching hawkishly.

But his master replied with utter certainty.

“Yes. They will permit it.”

Shin Yuri wouldn’t refuse.

Jooian turned his gaze to the name “Shin Yuri” in the hunter chat window.

A smile bloomed naturally.

“In the real world, things never go exactly as you want.”

That was my conclusion after reviewing all the events since becoming Count Edelweiss.

I was S-rank, so I usually had the power to set things right when they went awry. But some people just couldn’t be fixed.

Like the ones who’d tried to discipline me and ended up getting wrecked instead.

Those guys exactly.

They’d tried to inflict temple-less misery on me, only to suffer it themselves.

Plus a complimentary service of shaking off even nonexistent dust.

I could almost hear Seo Yeri the hunter giggling in my ear.

Draw huge crowds? Even without territory management experience, I knew that was prime real estate news.

It meant massive potential for development.

What was their names again? Whatever—thank you, noble sirs!

The priests who’d taken secular gold from them and tried to delete my territory’s temple had been hauled off to the Heresy Interrogation Office under the pretext of “a high priest heeding the devil’s voice to plot wicked deeds.”

Should’ve toed the line. Tsk tsk.

“Places with real religious influence are on another level.”

Something unimaginable back in Korea.

I thought of Jooian the hunter.

Picturing his gentle face as he shoved priests into the interrogation office… it just didn’t fit.

“No wonder the guy’s only skill is healing.”

Even houseflies got chased out instead of killed. That was Jooian.

Probably why he had zero damage skills despite his personality.

Yet he was sending people to the Heresy Interrogation Office?

And a guy with no religion—where’d he pull “devil’s voice” from?

Like that exists? I snorted even as I typed.

But surprisingly, Jooian pondered before replying.

“?”

For real? It actually exists?

I half-rose from my desk, kicking back my chair.

Papers on Edelweiss territory fluttered to the floor.

Jooian originally didn’t believe in ghosts or devils.

Maybe it’s unique to this world? Like monsters?

“Then you heard it in Korea too?”

I blinked. Just then, sunset light flooded through the window.

For the record, it was 11 p.m. right now.

“?”

Sunset at this hour? Baffled, I turned to the window—and saw some kind of… firebird plastered against the glass.

“What the hell is that?”

Devil’s voice, and now a phoenix? Am I the one still not adapted to this fantasy world? Huh?

―Kkieeeek!

The firebird looked majestic but let out a pathetic screech.

As I grimaced,

“Family Head!”

An urgent voice called from outside. The steward’s voice, familiar these past few days.

The moment I said to come in, he burst into the office with a shocked face.

“A-a message from the Magic Tower!”

He pointed straight at the window as he entered. That thing?