Because of personal trauma from my previous life, I tended to view religion with suspicion. Still, I understood that it was necessary to human society.
More or less.
Really.
In the modern age of this world, royalty and nobles steered their countries, but for a very long time before them, the religious organization known as the Spirit Temple had guided the people.
Priests possessed extremely powerful mana and earned awe and respect by protecting people from monsters and demons. At the same time, they spread the teachings of the Spirit Scriptures while teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. Over time, they unified the people’s values and ethics.
Even in the present age, those teachings were so deeply embedded in everyone’s unconscious minds that they were treated as “common sense.”
But no matter how wonderful the doctrine, the priests themselves were only human. If humans operated an organization with absolute power, it would inevitably become corrupt.
The powerful mana the temple organization supposedly monopolized leaked into the general population as the priests’ ideas of chastity loosened. Eventually, people possessing that power became the center of movements seeking independence from the Spirit Temple’s rule.
“And so… the world passed through the Age of Ancient Kingdoms and the Temple Age before reaching the present Noble Age. Except in the Spirit Nation of Nanaria, your stronghold, the Spirit Temple’s influence was generally placed beneath local political organizations.”
Before me, as I spoke, five bound Family members trembled with pale faces. Every one of them was a man serving as a spy for the Spirit Temple.
They’d been holding a suspicious discussion a short distance from the stopping point, so we bound them together, threatened them with mana, and invited them into my subspace.
Yes. We were inside a subspace, so there was no need to worry about our surroundings.
I uselessly released the mana I ordinarily kept contained inside my body, moving it roughly in the swaggering manner yakuza often used.
This was a little fun.
If I gave it a name as a mana-control technique—a skill—perhaps it would be Mana Intimidation. I had no intention of using it constantly to act important, but during this tour, Resina had taught me that sometimes, forcefulness was important.
In short, one needed to use different approaches according to the time and situation.
“—There are several reasons you weren’t eliminated completely when the Temple Age ended.”
Now then. Time for a history lesson.
There were various reasons the Spirit Temple survived as an organization after power shifted to the nobles. At the time, no alternatives existed to it as an educational or medical institution. Purification barriers were the lifelines of villages too. Moreover, while the temple readily abandoned political privileges, it stubbornly refused to relinquish religious interests.
From birth to adulthood, marriage, death, and burial… At every stage of life, ordinary people, their parents, and their siblings all depended on the temple. Priests also possessed the knowledge required to conduct seasonal festivals and rites. Even the nobles who seized power couldn’t forcibly strip the common people of their faith.
“—But you mustn’t forget that the Spirit Temple is permitted to exist only on the fundamental condition that it benefits the people.”
Admittedly, the person saying that was a candidate for the next underboss of a yakuza organization. There were several obvious retorts available.
Now then. I’d talked pointlessly at considerable length, but the content of the speech itself had little importance. Everyone already knew it.
What mattered was spending plenty of time intimidating them with mana, pushing them to their limits, and mentally exhausting them. That would make the negotiations afterward easier.
Resina had taught me that technique.
As expected of someone who was always threatening me.
“Which of you is the leader?”
“…………I am. My name is Ondoro.”
“I see. Then you’re my negotiating partner. Let’s speak honestly. There seems to be some misunderstanding between us, and this concerns something beneficial to the people. There should be no reason for us to oppose one another.”
There were many kinds of traitors, but if possible, I wanted this group to return home peacefully.
Ondoro was a man in his thirties with gray mixed into his hair. Ordinarily, he worked hard in the yakuza trade as a Cineraria Family member, but in truth, he was a genuine undercover investigator trained in the temple’s teachings from childhood.
Apparently, he’d been leaking the Family’s information to the temple for many years.
Hmm.
I took two chairs from Storage and sat opposite him.
“May I confirm the events that brought us here? First, the temple secretly dispatched you five to infiltrate the Cineraria Family and investigate its internal affairs. Then you heard that the tour party led by Resina was apparently doing something strange to the purification barriers, so you came to investigate.”
“Yes… We heard that you were replacing the barriers with counterfeits.”
“I don’t know which faction gave you that information, but honestly. We gain nothing from destroying villages in our own territory. Why would we tamper maliciously with their purification barriers?”
If anything, we were doing something good.
We’d greatly improved both performance and durability.
“You saw no destroyed villages during the journey, did you? Think about it. Do you truly believe yakuza who aren’t priests could replace purification barriers in moments while casually passing through on tour, when specialized priests require an entire day of ritual?”
“…No. I believe that would be impossible.”
“That’s the natural conclusion. As you know, the succession struggle inside the Cineraria Family is currently intensifying. Resina and I have been entrusted with important work by the underboss… and some people must resent that. Unfortunately, everyone is constantly trying to drag everyone else down.”
I carefully chose my words, never telling a lie, while manipulating his impression away from the truth.
Apparently, the Spirit Temple strictly concealed certain magic arts and magic tools under the label of “sacred arts.” Rumor claimed that among them existed a magic tool capable of discerning lies, much like Resina’s magic.
They didn’t appear to possess such a rare tool, but as a precaution, it was safer to skillfully cut and paste only true facts together here. I was probably worrying too much, though.
As I spoke, I took out a magic tool.
Its tip resembled a toilet plunger, and in appearance, it was extremely similar to the Barrier-Replacement Rod I’d given Jairo’s Chivalrous Band. Its function, however, was completely different.
“The Barrier-Inspection Rod. It examines wear and corrosion in a purification-barrier core and predicts the remainder of its service life.”
“Predicts its service life…?”
“Have you heard stories like this? Renewing a purification barrier costs a great deal of money. Every village therefore wants to delay replacement until the last possible moment. As a result, the barrier sometimes breaks before it can be renewed, the village sinks beneath miasma, and the land becomes uninhabitable.”
We’d heard such stories repeatedly during our travels.
Still fine. Still safe…
Some villages delayed their decision until miasma invaded them and the residents had no choice but to flee. Apparently, it happened especially often in poor villages. The men before me surely knew that too.
“Predicting a purification barrier’s lifespan makes the proper renewal time clear. This work benefits the people. Considering the temple’s profits, replacing them on a short cycle might be more lucrative… but the temple doesn’t want villages destroyed either.”
“Y-yes… That’s true.”
“If we share the desire to work for the people, then I believe there’s no reason for us to be enemies.”
That didn’t necessarily make us allies, but I thought we could find some kind of compromise.
“It appears I misunderstood you.”
“I’m glad you understand. Now, this is where we reach the subject I’d like to negotiate.”
I handed him the Barrier-Inspection Rod.
“Ordinarily, donating to the temple is virtuous, but I’m reluctant to provide these tools free of charge… So I want the temple to purchase the Barrier-Inspection Rods.”
“Purchase them?”
“The Cineraria Family is urgently addressing the purification barriers inside its territory. But for territories belonging to others, the temple should take the lead in predicting their lifespans. I’m asking you to let me assist with that… a proposal that benefits the people.”
Ondoro listened with a serious expression.
Accurately understanding when purification barriers needed renewal should also provide the Spirit Temple with many advantages. It would become easier to adjust the production of replacement parts and arrange the dispatch of priests.
“I prepared approximately five thousand Barrier-Inspection Rods. I want the Spirit Temple to purchase them. The empire’s western region probably lacks the necessary financial room, so… the Spirit Nation of Nanaria. I want you to sell them in your homeland. My desired price is one gold coin per rod.”
“Th-that’s far too cheap!”
“If you think so, you can keep the difference. I’ll give you these five thousand magic tools—and a debt of five thousand gold coins. The debt will be in your name.”
“D-debt…?”
Yes. Quite understandable.
Borrowing from yakuza was ordinarily terrifying.
“There’ll be no interest. Sell the Barrier-Inspection Rods in the Spirit Nation of Nanaria for whatever price you choose, then repay only five thousand gold coins to the Cineraria Family… The entire difference will belong to you. Hehehe. It’s a tremendous gamble with your life as the stake. Now then, what will you do?”
When I said that, I thought I saw motivation kindle deep in Ondoro’s eyes.
In truth, he was rather worldly. He’d become thoroughly steeped in the yakuza life and loved gambling. That made his behavior easier to predict, so it was fine.
Incidentally, I’d gathered every material used in the tools myself, so my initial cost was zero. Even if they fled with everything, I wouldn’t feel the slightest pain.
“Think of this as the final opportunity offered to the five of you. Normally, once we discovered you were temple spies, we’d cut off your heads. We’re sparing you because you may produce profit for the Family. You’re free to reject the offer and die.”
“No. I’ll do it. Please let me do it.”
“Is that so? Understood. Then sign this loan agreement… Now, the five of you under Ondoro’s leadership will leave the tour here. The Spirit Nation of Nanaria is far away, so I’ll give you a carriage. You can keep the horses as well.”
If they succeeded, the Cineraria Family would profit. If they failed, then so be it.
After all, the true purpose was to muddle any information about Jairo’s Chivalrous Band replacing purification-barrier cores. With bait this large, we should be able to misdirect the temple for at least the rest of the winter.
Excellent.
“The Barrier-Inspection Rods are already loaded into the carriage, along with necessities for the journey… I’ll leave everything from here onward to you.”
“Yes, sir. Leave it to me.”
If this scheme succeeded, priests carrying toilet plungers would eventually travel throughout the world.
I looked forward to it.
And so, our response to the temple faction ended peacefully. He’d gained an opportunity to become enormously wealthy, so I thought we’d made quite a good deal.
I prepared the carriage inside the subspace, pushed them into it, released their restraints, and sent them on their way.
Now then.
—That was probably the end of anything peaceful.
I’d left the other groups of traitors to Resina and Penne for the moment.
How were they doing?