15 – Preparing for the Revolution

Sarak- Sarak-

Chaejin carefully arranged Irill’s hair.

He wasn’t aesthetically pleasing, and he didn’t practice cutting his hair, but he cut it short to look as cute as possible.

Erill looked worried as he saw his own severed head through the surface of the water.

“Would you really be okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get rid of anyone who looks into your eyes and says something. And I usually wear a hat anyway.”

“Ah! That, that’s reassuring. Lol… ….”

Which one is that you will protect it or that you will wear a hat?

I was curious, but I didn’t bother to ask.

There was nothing to see here anymore.

It was really time to take the arms the dwarves gave me and go to the Holy Land.

“Now, let’s go. The place we are heading to is the Holy Kingdom.”

As Chaejin put the robe on herself, Iril’s tone of voice rose slightly as he was relieved that her body and eyes were covered.

“Why do we go to the Holy Kingdom?”

“I am betrayed by the Empire. But there was a reason the Empire couldn’t touch it. But it disappeared when I handed over the protection to you.”

“Sorry—.”

“No need to be sorry! Anyway, unlike me, you were born and raised in this world. If you are discovered that you have become a hero, and you are captured by the Empire while still weak, you will surely die of exploitation.”

“… ….”

“So, I am going to the Holy Kingdom. To ensure our safety and time for you to grow, and to multiply the Empire’s enemies. At least I heard that the people of the Holy Land are sincere when it comes to serving the goddess.”

“I see! I must hurry. It’s a pity that she can’t say goodbye to her mother and her younger siblings…… I can’t help it.”

So the two set out on a journey.

About a week’s travel by wagon.

While eating together and going to bed together, Chaejin felt a strange sense of security, and Iril just liked having Chaejin beside her.

When we went to what could be called the entrance of the Holy Kingdom, a familiar face was waiting for us along with several paladins.

“Wow, a warrior.”

As soon as she stares at Chaejin, her pale blue eyes like the clear sky are welcomed.

The braided hair of the same color matched the atmosphere of the priestly uniform with a white background, giving off the atmosphere of a priest at a glance.

She is Prim Iolite, a cute beauty who always smiles single-single, except in serious situations.

An old colleague who was pleasant in many ways felt the hero’s presence and came to meet him.

As soon as Chaejin saw her prim, she took off her hood and revealed her face.

“Long time no see, Prim.”

“Yes, long time no see! But what happened? The hero’s presence…….”

“Well, let’s go in and talk about the details. Whether it’s a saint or a saint, call someone high in the Holy Land. Can you arrange that with your position?”

“Okay. Just in time, the saintess was waiting to meet you.”

It seemed that everything had already been reported.

The presence of the hero continues to come toward the Holy Land.

After almost a minute of meeting face to face, the story ended and one of the paladins made a sullen expression as he watched Prim and Chaejin move away.

‘I wanted to hear what you were talking about… ….’

It was the sorrow of the powerless.

The saint’s audience room surrounded by white shining walls.

If you follow the designated path over the carpet, you will see a large statue of the goddess and a pure white girl praying under it.

Rather than simply being “White,” The expression “Losing color” Suits her appearance.

“Saint-!”

Even if Prim calls, the saintess is unmoved.

“Seriously, don’t sleep while praying.”

After saying that, Prim went up to the place where he prayed and grabbed the saintess by the shoulders and started shaking her so wildly that he wondered if it was okay to do that.

“Oh?”

The saintess finally wakes up and raises her head.

Even her eyes were white.

Her eyes were like those of a cataract patient, but in reality the saintess could barely see her eyes.

It was a side effect of the hereditary succession of divine power.

Their mission is to protect the power of the saint, which is treated as more sacred than ordinary divine power in the name of ‘the divine power first given by the goddess’.

Not only that, but there was also a side effect of stopping growth at about 15 years of age.

I heard that the current saintess is close to her 40s, but from the outside, she was just a girl.

The period when growth stops is said to be getting shorter as generations go by, so I wonder if her grandmother looks like a 5-year-old later.

“Ohh…… The warrior who received the protection of the goddess has finally visited our castle. So, Brother Chaejin Han? Very nice to meet you.”

“I also really wanted to meet you, saintess. Because the Empire is trying to block it, saying that it is not the time yet.”

“I mean. She is a person who has been blessed by the Goddess, but it makes no sense that our Holy Kingdom, which serves the Goddess, cannot even see her in person.”

The saintess gracefully lifted up a dress that seemed to have been deliberately made inconveniently, and greeted her like an aristocrat.

“I take this opportunity to salute the warrior who saved the world in the name of Saint Yurite. Seongguk will definitely remember this. God bless you.”

Whoo-

After briefly greeting her, the saintess sighs a little and launches her rhyme to begin her full-fledged story.

“The formal greeting will be given after all situations are over. Hero, the fact that you came here means that there is a story that must be told in the Holy Land, right?”

“Yes.”

“Listen to me. Why is the world on the verge of extinction again? About what you’ve been through.”

The story was repeated over and over again, but Chaejin confided in front of the saintess the absurdity she had experienced without any sign of getting tired of her.

Anger lingered in the saintess’ voice, which seemed like she would never get angry.

“How dare you do that to the messenger of the goddess…… The rumors are really true.”

Rumors?

What does that mean?

Chaejin tried to ask her saintess, but her questions came first.

“Is the warrior able to communicate directly with the goddess?”

That’s…….

It was not really like a god, but from the point of view of those who sincerely serve the goddess, there was nothing good in beating the goddess down, so she decided to pretend to be moderately loyal.

“Even as a person who has received divine protection, free communication is impossible. But sometimes he appeared in my dreams and showed me the way to go.”

“As expected, the hero hears that voice.”

There was a bit of sadness in the saintess’ voice.

That’s what she was. She was very upset.

They work hard for the goddess like this, but it’s all about giving them an oracle every few years.

It’s unfortunate, but it really can’t be helped.

What should she do when a goddess has little interest in humans?

It was a yard where I couldn’t tell the truth.

“Then you might know. Why did you send the summoning squad to be summoned to the Empire, and not to our castle?”

“… ….”

After hearing it, even Chaejin had doubts about it.

Why did the empire summon itself when there is a holy kingdom that serves the goddess without any problems?

Let’s think about it for a moment.

‘Um…… No matter how much I think about it, that’s all there is to it.’

Goddesses don’t have that much interest in the human world.

It seemed that the hero was summoned to the greatest force.

There may have been other reasons, but with the information Chaejin had now, it could be said that that level of inference was the limit.

‘But I can’t tell you this as it is.’

She is a goddess who seemed to have no interest in anything except for the world being eaten by the body of the demon.

She won’t have any problems even if she distorts her will properly.

Chaejin decided to tell her what she just made up.

“The benevolent goddess put too much trust in humans. She didn’t know that even if it wasn’t the brothers of the Holy Kingdom, they would betray the hero. That’s why she sent me to the greatest power…… This is how things turned out.”

“…… Something like that.”

“The Goddess made her protection while suffering damage to her divinity in order to save all races living on the continent, including humans, and she gave it to a warrior from another world to protect the world. However, as if the Empire had no intention of keeping its promise from the beginning, it exiled the hero as soon as he thought he had completed his mission, causing disaster to resurface. The Goddess is greatly disappointed in that.”

Since I was talking about it, I exaggerated a bit.

“Haa… ….”

The saintess sighed heavily when she heard that the goddess was disappointed.

“I’m sorry I put you in a bad situation, hero. This happened because the Holy Kingdom lacked power. She requested a visit to the holy land of the warriors for the ceremony of blessing, but all that came back was a refusal, saying that was the will of her goddess. In fact, she was summoned by the Goddess to her empire, not her Holy Land, so she couldn’t take any action as we serve the Goddess.”

I also know the history of the Holy Kingdom because Elua briefly told me about it.

The reason the kingdom was able to survive in the imperial war of conquest that took place about 20 years ago was because of an unfair treaty.

Do not gather troops beyond a certain amount.

Do not interfere with the affairs of the empire.

Instead, I will acknowledge the faith itself without suppressing it.

There was a threatening that if she didn’t do that, she was a goddess and her holy kingdom would be erased from her map, so she had no choice but to accept it.

At the time, the emperor’s desire for conquest was close to madness.

In the end, the nation of the different races became a fortress blessed by nature and could not break through.

At this point, the only countries on the continent are empires and castles, except for weak countries and heterogeneous tribes that can be conquered at any time.

It was an empire that tried to completely cut off contact between the hero and the different races, but at least the seongguk recognized it as an ally, so Prim was able to be dispatched.

As an aside, the reason why the party of warriors was able to establish a brief relationship with the elves was because they got lost in the forest and found a village in the deep forest that was being attacked by chance.

“Originally, I was going to be the member of the warrior party myself, but due to the Empire’s conditions, Sister Prim had no choice but to go here.”

“Hmm.”

When he talks about himself, Prim straightens his back and sticks out his chest with an elated expression on his face for some reason.

I don’t know the meaning, but it was cute.

“Since this has happened, the Seongguk cannot stand still. The rumors that are currently circulating among the people of the Empire will be recognized as true in the Holy Land. Based on the testimony of the hero, I added a bunch of blasphemy and dishonest acts.”

“Thank you for recognizing my injustice, saintess.”

“No. As one of those who lead the Holy Kingdom, this is the right thing to do. However, if this happens, there is a possibility that the empire will declare war and immediately advance to the castle. What is needed here is the presence of a warrior. No matter how strong the power is, if the people stand up with one heart and mind, it will eventually collapse. If the world’s most famous and accomplished hero is at the center, he will be able to plunge the empire into great chaos.”

Chaejin was no longer a hero, but it didn’t matter whether he was a current or former warrior when it came to leading the angry people.

The focal point that will clearly testify and prove whose fault the world is now on the brink of destruction.

The hero who suffered unfair treatment was a very suitable person to be the center of the revolution.

“I will do my best to reach where I can.”

With that answer, Chaejin made up his mind in his heart.

It was unexpected that such rumors had already spread, but anyway, this is within the expected range.

From now on, countless lives will be lost and rivers of blood will form.

Revolution is originally like that.

A new flag rises above the corpses piled up like a mountain.

‘Those innocent people die not simply by destruction, but by my revenge. These are the lives that wouldn’t have to die if I had saved the world without taking revenge.’

Suddenly, I had an idea.

‘But you shouldn’t avoid everything just because you hate feeling guilty. The cause of destruction lies not with me, but with the Empire. As long as the empire doesn’t fall, I won’t have the will to save the world. So…… It’s only right to give them a chance to choose their own destiny.’

Now I won’t hesitate like I used to.

No matter how many lives weigh on your shoulders.