How the Cult Saves the World

At Terdius's words, I was briefly silent. Since he had been going around with me all this time, he knew very well what lay ahead.

And so he would have known that this holiday too was the last rest. That was surely why Terdius had brought Ivan along for this rest.

Before answering Terdius, I wet my throat with a sip of tea. Then I gave him a nod and opened my mouth.

"Yes. That's right."

"......As I thought."

"From today onward, we'll be very busy. A very large war will break out, and perhaps...... there may be an even larger fight we must get through."

I said while looking Terdius earnestly in the eyes. At that, Terdius too looked back at me seriously rather than with his usual blank manner.

"And at the end of it...... will only one of Diego Church or Kyros Church remain?"

I hadn't spoken of that part before, but Terdius had apparently anticipated it to some degree. I slowly nodded.

"......Yes. It will come to that. At the end of the war that's about to break out, a conclusion will be reached one way or another."

Before all of the three years given by the main quest had passed — but at the end of this coming fight, things would surely come to a head with Diego Church.

'Of course, this too was moved up in time because of hidden route variables......'

It wasn't as though there were no shortcomings before the final battle. But I had put in as much effort as I could.

"Leviathan, no — Revelof Holden."

At that, Terdius called me by my real name. It was the first time that name had come from his lips, so I was a little taken aback.

"Ah, yes?"

"What are you planning to do going forward?"

"Hmm, is that asking the 'Holden' family's youngest child?"

"......Both. I want to hear the Kyros Church leader's thoughts, and I want to know your personal ones as well."

At Terdius's words, I was briefly quiet. Then after a short reflection, I spoke.

"As the Church Leader...... always the same. To gather as many believers as possible, and to prevent the war that's to come."

"And as Revelof Holden?"

"Hmm......"

I took a sip of tea and continued.

"My plans as Revelof Holden don't differ greatly from the Church Leader's. But there is one thing that's different."

"And what would that be?"

"......I simply want to know the truth."

"The truth?"

Terdius looked at me with questioning eyes — but about this part, I couldn't tell him in detail.

The truth I wished to know was a secret that couldn't be spoken to Terdius. Because it was the truth about this world, and the truth about myself.

About the problem I had been pondering alone ever since coming to this world, for which I couldn't easily reach an answer.

'Just what is this world...... and why did I come here?'

Of course, there was a high chance I would find out when I resolved the main quest. What the main quest's success reward was hadn't been revealed, but somehow I felt that way.

'But in order to resolve that main quest, there's a great mountain to overcome......'

Namely the war right before my eyes, and Diego Church. As I was thinking that, Terdius let out a faint sigh.

"It seems you can't tell me that part."

"Ha ha, even I am allowed to have one secret I can't speak of."

"Right. I understand. If it's your personal matter, it can't be helped."

"Thank you for understanding, Brother Terdius."

Speaking to Terdius playfully, I watched his mouth relax slightly. I asked Terdius in turn.

"By the way, what are Brother Terdius's plans?"

"I, well — you already know, don't you? Your plans are my plans. If war breaks out, I'll fight to protect you, Ivan, and Kyros Church."

"And after that?"

"Naturally Diego Church must be removed from this world."

"And after Diego Church is gone?"

"Well...... I haven't thought that far."

At Terdius's pondering expression, I laughed low.

"You should think about that part too, Brother. It'll probably come sooner rather than later."

"But war is something where you can never know how long it will take."

"Yes. That's true. But at least within a few months...... everything will be over."

At my words, Terdius stared at me intently. That deep gaze felt almost like observation. Then Terdius opened his mouth.

"You have always known much and done much. But why do you have eyes like that?"

"What kind of eyes do I have?"

"You look like...... you're ready to leave for somewhere other than here at any moment. For somewhere endlessly far away."

"......Is that so?"

"Yes. You may not know it yourself, but you have eyes that sometimes look as though you could leave even Kyros Church, which you love dearly."

Was that how I looked to Terdius? I still liked this world, and while going through various turmoils, I thought of myself as a "stranger" here — and perhaps that was why.

Because for me, this world still felt like being inside a game.

"And at the same time, it looks as though you're waiting for something."

"You've been observing me quite carefully."

I spoke as casually as I could manage at Terdius's words. Because I hadn't expected this man to have been observing me this closely. Managing not to let my surprise into my voice, I said:

"......But what does that matter right now. There are things about to come that are right before us."

I tried to change the subject as naturally as I could. Terdius nodded without further comment.

"Right. Resolving what's important first should come first."

At Terdius's manner, I quietly breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. Because if this man had dug deeper, I'd have been in quite a spot.

The picnic with the children was enjoyable in its own way. Because after talking with Terdius to some extent, I also played with Grandmother and the children.

It was fun enough that I ended up playing with gleeful abandon as if I'd returned to childhood for the first time in a long while.

After that, we returned to the temple in Rovel only very late at night. Kyros in puppy form returned to being a spiritual entity then, and after exchanging farewells with the officers, I went straight to the Church Leader's office and went to sleep.

And when the early hours of the morning came, I snapped my eyes open at a voice that suddenly reached me.

[Church Leader!]

The owner of the voice that came to me was Troy. Troy called me urgently. I immediately rubbed my eyes and responded to him.

"Troy? What is it?"

[I need Church Leader's help!]

The moment I heard Troy's words, I instinctively knew that what I had been expecting had come. Finally, the fuse of war had been lit.

And so I immediately got out of bed and asked Troy:

"Troy, tell me exactly what is happening right now."

[For the past few days, I've been watching over the beastkin of Hanlim and doing my best to protect them. As Church Leader said. And now I understand why Church Leader sent me here.]

Troy spoke to me in a sunken voice.

[The number of beastkin remaining on the continent is not very great. And for that reason, there are those who target such beastkin. Of course, for powerful beastkin like our Mont Tribe it's not something that applies so greatly — but the beastkin of Hanlim are different.]

"......Right. Because there are also weaker beastkin there."

[And targeting those weaker beastkin...... human trafficking is occurring. I've mostly handled the trafficking rings and returned the beastkin to safety, but...... in the current situation I couldn't step forward.]

At Troy's words, I briefly closed my eyes.

[The person who appears to be the leader of the trafficking ring...... is a Diego Church Archbishop.]

Before Zain and Troy had left Rovel, I had made a point of telling them something. As much as possible, not to get entangled with Diego Church when alone.

And Troy had kept that in mind, which was why he had contacted me now.

"All right, Troy. Understood. I'll head to Hanlim as quickly as I can, so stay safe and keep watch on the situation."

[......Right, understood.]

After cutting off contact with Troy, I washed up and organized my thoughts.

The human trafficking incident that had taken place in Hanlim.

This too was something I had anticipated. It was an incident handled with considerable weight in the main route as well.

And Troy had said the leader of the trafficking ring was a Diego Church Grand Bishop — but the reality was different.

'The real ringleader is...... Cornelon.'

The Grand Bishop was merely a cover. The true instigator of this incident was Cornelon, the Fourth Apostle of Diego Church.

On the surface, a handsome man in his mid-thirties with straight golden hair and beautiful features, looking like a sincere Diego believer — but inside, he was darkened to the core.

Cornelon was an inherently evil being by nature, no different from the human version of Diego himself. And so he committed serious crimes like human trafficking.

But Diego, recognizing that Cornelon's nature resembled his own, had been quietly turning a blind eye.

Diego simply needed the human population to maintain itself — that was all.

And the cause of the Continental War was precisely this "beastkin human trafficking."

Because Duke Kilias — the younger brother of the late Beron Kingdom king and current regent — had captured one of Hanlim's beastkin as a slave.

And when Hanlim discovered this, they naturally couldn't remain silent — and when opinions between the two nations couldn't be reconciled, it had eventually escalated into war.

'And laughably, in this world, human trafficking is not regarded as a heinous crime on the level of murder.'

But for me, absolutely not. Human trafficking destroys a person's life — how could I feel otherwise?

And that was why I intended to stop this state of affairs by whatever means. To root out human trafficking, and to prevent war from breaking out.

"Alphi, I'm sorry but I'll need to be away for quite a while."

[Ah, yes! Church Leader. Understood!]

With my preparations to leave complete, I conveyed the message to Alphius immediately. Then I moved quickly to meet the two people I had contacted in advance.

"You're here, Leviathan."

"Levi!"

At the hour before the sun had yet to rise, in front of the darkened temple gate, two people in robes with hoods up — just like me — were waiting.

The tall Terdius, and Rawin whom I hadn't seen in a while. I had been having Rawin train in preparation for war during this time, which was why I hadn't seen him often.

'Even so, he's clearly in much better shape than before.'

I greeted the two and immediately set off.

The reason for bringing not only Terdius but Rawin as well was simple. The two were fellow apostles of Cornelon.

I knew Cornelon to some degree myself, but Cornelon was a character who had appeared almost not at all in the original story.

His illustration, personality, and fate were about all that had been depicted.

And so I needed someone who knew Cornelon well.

"So where are we going?"

At Terdius's question, I answered briefly.

"Hanlim."

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