Chapter 153
"As expected, they're nothing more than outlaws. Godless atheists abandoned by the divine... I should never have relied on them."
While the gang was being taken down, the mastermind—Carmine Imari, a bishop of the Holy Nation of Shinecross—was attempting to cross the border.
Thanks to a report from a spy in the royal palace, he had already been informed that the gang had been captured.
Contact had also been lost with the intermediary named Girael.
Carmine was trying to quickly wrap up his conspiracy in this country and return to the Holy Nation of Shinecross.
Carmine was riding a carriage through the mountain pass at the border.
Since it was a covert entry, he had only a few companions... Still, a handful of mounted guards surrounded the carriage.
"It seems kidnapping won't work. I suppose we'll try another method next time."
Though Carmine had failed, he had not given up on obtaining Reina and Clael.
This time had simply gone poorly by chance... Next time, it would surely work. Carmine had unfounded confidence in that belief.
(I am a chosen one. Born into a bishop's family in the Holy Nation of Shinecross. A chosen being. There's no way someone like me could be wrong. As one chosen by God, I will inevitably succeed in the end.)
He believed he was chosen by God.
Therefore, whatever he did was forgivable. He was not in the wrong.
In the end, he would gain everything... He was born under such a star.
It had to be that way. There was no other possibility.
That belief was the source of Carmine's confidence.
"Yes... Perhaps next time I should try a honey trap."
The man named Clael had recently proposed arranged marriages to various women.
Saint Reina is, after all, just a woman. If she's presented with a handsome man, she'll surely fall for him.
"Tools should behave like tools and obey quietly. Saints and holy men only have value when used by clergy like me..."
Carmine grinned slyly with a foxlike face.
Without giving up, he continued to imagine various plans in his mind.
"Halt that carriage!"
"Wha—!?"
However... the carriage he was riding in came to a sudden stop.
It was just as they crossed the border leading to the Holy Nation of Shinecross.
Due to the abrupt stop, Carmine tumbled off the carriage seat.
"W-What is the meaning of this!? What if this divine body were injured!?"
Carmine shouted in anger.
What would happen if someone chosen by God like him were to be hurt?
"W-We're terribly sorry. It's just... soldiers from the shrine...!"
"Huh?"
Carmine furrowed his brow.
Soldiers from the shrine? What about them...? As he wondered, the carriage door was opened from the outside.
"You are Bishop Carmine Imari, correct?"
"Y-You... How dare you be so rude...!"
"Step outside! This is a divine command!"
The one who entered the carriage was a Temple Knight from the Holy Nation.
Carmine was dragged out of the carriage by knights from his own country.
"Guh... Y-You! Do you think you'll get away with this!?"
Carmine opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
Outside the carriage, more than a dozen Temple Knights surrounded him.
All of his guards had been restrained... The Temple Knights wore stern expressions, like they were looking at a criminal.
"Hear this! I deliver a command from His Holiness the Pope, the representative of God!"
"Wha—!?"
Carmine was left speechless.
In the religious state of the Holy Nation of Shinecross, the Pope is the highest authority, regarded as God's representative.
The current Pope is young and lacks political power... but their reputation is overwhelming.
Even Carmine, born into a distinguished line of bishops, could not interrupt such words.
"Bishop Carmine Imari stands accused of conspiring with outlaws within the Kingdom of Saintcl and attempting to kidnap important figures of that nation. As such, your title of bishop is revoked. You will be taken into custody as a criminal!"
"Wha—T-This is absurd!"
Impossible... They had found out what he had done.
"W-Wait! Those charges are baseless!"
"Baseless? To doubt the words of His Holiness is to deny the words of God. Are you saying this with full understanding?"
"N-No, that's not what I meant... But still..."
Carmine turned pale.
Yet he couldn't admit guilt and desperately tried to defend himself.
"I-I only stayed in this country for certain reasons... I had no dealings with those outlaws..."
"Is that what you claim?"
"D-Do you have any proof...?"
"There is no proof... However, many people saw what you did."
"Huh...?"
Carmine blinked in confusion.
Even if they said they saw it... Carmine knew that was impossible.
To avoid suspicion, Carmine had pretended to return to the Holy Nation while secretly hiding in the Kingdom of Saintcl.
"It was a divine revelation. Many priests in the Holy Nation... including His Holiness, had the same dream. A dream of you gathering and directing the gang."
"Wha—!?"
"It seems you tried to abduct Saint Clael Byrne and Saint Reina Laurel, didn't you? Everyone saw that scene."
"T-That's absurd..."
That they had seen his crimes in a dream... That was utterly ridiculous.
To Carmine, this situation itself was a nightmare.
"A-A dream can't be used as evidence..."
"Normally, no. But over a hundred people had the exact same dream. What else could that be but divine revelation?"
A Temple Knight tied Carmine up with rope.
Though Carmine had a slender build, he was easily restrained by the strong men.
"The trial is already prepared. Though you held the title of bishop in the Holy Nation, you have tarnished it. Prepare yourself."
"No way...!"
Carmine was stunned.
He was supposed to be a chosen one. Someone loved by God.
Even if he committed sins... even if he killed or raped, his power should have been enough to cover it up.
Could it be... that someone like him was now being judged based on something as vague as a dream?
"Damn... Damn it, damn it, damn it! Damn youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
Dragged away by the Temple Knights, Carmine screamed curses.
〇 〇 〇
"Kuma—"
Watching Carmine from the sky above.
A muscular bear with angel wings nodded in satisfaction, his face showing the look of a job well done.
Carmine Imari was a person of considerable power in the Holy Nation.
If he went missing or died, it would set many people into motion.
So... the bear angel showed Carmine's misdeeds as dreams to a large, unspecified number of people in the Holy Nation as a divine revelation, leading to his capture by their hands.
Thus, the enemy known as Carmine was eliminated.
Furthermore, it served as a message to the ambitious within the Holy Nation: 'Reina (and Clael) are protected.'
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Kuma kuma."
With a sarcastic grin at the screaming man, the bear angel flew off somewhere at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.