In a solemn church with stained glass and sculptures, the leader of a religious organization in extravagant clothing and a man who took up the position known as Pope, Warvaal was talking to a beautiful woman in private.
「Well then Elizabeth, how was the drug from the dark guild?」
「Yes Father, the drug sold by the dark guild 『Moonlight Owl』 is undoubtedly a powerful medicine like they had explained. However, should we reduce the dosage, it could be used on a believer if their body is clad in a certain amount of holy energy.」
Pope Warvaal’s conversation partner is his daughter, First Imperial Princess Elizabeth.
She commands the Kamui unit to punish the pagans and heretics of the rival gods. The management of Jinguji Akira and Taiga Yamato, two of the summoned heroes, is also Elizabeth’s job.
And the intelligence division of the Kamui unit that Elizabeth leads made contact with the dark guild. That dark guild, 『Moonlight Owl』, sold them the drug that raises a body’s physical capabilities abnormally. Capable of making a soldier fight without feeling pain, that drug currently has many demerits, but the result of their experimentation shows that if they reduce the dosage on a person clad in dense holy energy, it wouldn’t lead to the breakdown of their body.
The “holy energy” they are covered by is actually miasma, but as they are worshipers of an evil spirit, it could technically be called holy energy.
The miasma-encroached Kamui unit (Zealots) have now devolved into beings closer to monsters. They’ve come to have sturdy bodies that can effectively consume a small dose of the physical ability-enhancing drug that the 『Moonlight Owl』 supplied.
「Fumu, then it appears to be useful. Could you tell them we will buy all they have?」
「Yes, since I feel it requires a slight bit more improvement for the heroes to use it, I will convey to them to continue improving the drug.」
Lately, the movements of the Divine Empire of Sydnia, or rather, the Light God Church have been difficult to state. Things were not going well for Kamui’s mission against subhumans and heretics. An unusual Barrier MD has appeared on the market, and for some reason, it targeted the Kamui unit of the Light God Faith and repelled them. It’s not as though they couldn’t forcibly tear down the barrier, but the damages to their troops were many.
Therefore, their enactment of divine punishment towards Lomaria Kindom and Valkyra Kingdom was put on hold. Because of this, disputes have become violent in the borders of Samandour Kingdom and Gnomstoll Kingdom. However, invading Gnomstoll Kingdom which practically only has Dwarves has been difficult, moreover, as warriors, the brawny Dwarves are formidable enemies for the Kamui unit. And for Samandour, because it is a trading nation, there were many high ranking adventurers and the links of the country’s soldiers were tight knit, Sydnia could not flaunt their God’s majesty as they please.
The Divine Empire of Syndia is the smallest in size among the countries in this continent, so the believers of their creed were also smaller in comparison to the believers of the Genesis Faith. As such, increasing the members of the Holy Knight Order and Kamui unit was urgent business.
Nevertheless, for some reason, the hero summoning magic circle had become impossible to use. As a result of a variety of inspections, they learned that the magic formula would never again activate. The reasoning was unknown, however.
「So how are the heroes?」
「Yes, if we look at it from the standards of the Holy Knight Order and Kamui unit, they’re already nearing the top class. As proactive as they are with training, they also actively participate in handing down divine punishment on heretics.」
「Fumu, things are quite favorable.」
They do not have a close relationship with the dark guild 『Moonlight Owl』 whose headquarters are located in the outskirts of Triaria Kingdom, however, they have been asking the guild to do their dirty work over many years. Despite being incomplete, the boss there had approached them with an interesting drug. These recent years, the believers clad in holy energy have begun increasing, their physical capabilities were rising and their stamina have increased to the point it could no longer be compared to before. The supply of drugs from the 『Moonlight Owl』 marked the time of their religion’s propagation in the continent, and to Warvaal, it was truly a godsend.
◇
「So, what about the Divine Empire of Sydnia?」
「Sir, the Pope has decided to buy the medicine. But they said to continue improving it.」
In the cellar of a building in a town in the borders of Triaria Kingdom, two men stood under an illuminating magic device.
「Hmm, they said to improve it, but we wouldn’t have had it hard if it was that simple.」
「Even so, because the Light God Church’s purchase, the drug wasn’t for nothing. Aside from narcotics, it would become another mainstay for us.」
「Fumu, that drug……… let’s call it Demonicine[1]. It would sell even more if it’s as addictive as narcotics. Well, we need to think about how to improve on that too.」
A messenger from the noble that requested Takumi’s assassination was pressing them about it, but the target was extremely elusive, and his actions were unpredictable. Because of this, the guild wanted a substantial retainer fee. It wasn’t too much, but Forbach judged that the target’s abilities weren’t worth the current pay.
「Leave the target be for now. Prioritize improving the drug and increasing production.」
「True, that target doesn’t seem to be in Volton all the time, so that’s good idea.」
Unlike his appearance, the guard covered in armor-like muscles with scars all over his body has actually been in the intelligence faction supporting Forbach as his right hand man for many years .
By supplying Demonicine to the Light God Church, the『Moonlight Owl』 had given birth to the wars between the countries with creed on racial harmony and Human supremacist countries.
***
Footnotes:
1. 魔薬- Mayaku / sort of a play on words with 麻薬 Mayaku which means narcotics/opium/drugs etc. Can’t really translate it into english well.
2. Also, the contradiction between what they said before and now about associating with Sydnia… lol
Sphy’s Note: And so, this is the end of Volume 4. Thank you very much for reading! As always, now that I have finished a volume, I will have a week off updates, and will be back 3 updates from now.