As soon as Luce thought of the name, he felt a surge of annoyance and rage. He recalled the enormous amount of damage he had suffered from Zich. From Zich’s past actions alone, he wished he could rip Zich’s body apart limb to limb and grind them to pieces to feed fish. On top of that, Zich had struck a new blow against them today.
‘To think he knew a method to stop a city sacrifice ritual!’ As soon as he heard these words, Luce had to swallow back his horror. He failed to disguise his face from the sheer shock he felt, but fortunately, other people were also shocked—though in a different way than him—and didn’t notice. Thus, Luce barely managed to maintain his calm till the end of the meeting, and now that he was alone, he was seething in anger.
‘I knew things failed in Porti, but to think it was because of a method like that!’ It was a very disgusting method without any respect for the sole god who would rule this world: Bellu.
‘I have to find out as soon as this is over!’ Although Luce heard about the general situation in the meeting, he wanted to know every single detail. Only then would he be able to think of countermeasures.
‘I can’t let a method that could hinder the great Bellu’s ritual exist!’ Yet, there was something more important than that.
‘There’s just one step left now!’ He would soon become a high priest. If the next high priest died, he would become one of the likely candidates to replace him, and that was how he was able to attend an important meeting like this one.
‘However, it’s not over yet.’ He was still one of the likely candidates for the high priest seat. This meant there were others who could take the seat instead of him.
‘As I thought, I really need more merits.’ He needed to take the high priest position as fast as possible. Furthermore, the high priest position wasn’t the only seat he was aiming for.
‘My goal is to become the pope.’ Luce thought and momentarily imagined himself as the pope. As he stood formidably in his seat, the saintess, high priests, the holy knights, and every one belonging to the Karuwiman influence would bow their heads deeply to him. The power and authority he would grasp excited him. Above all, the thought of those who were considered the most holy among the Karuwimans bowing their heads toward him brought Luce great exhilaration.
‘They wouldn’t be able to imagine the Karuwiman pope serving the great Bellu,’ Luce thought. Who would discover that their greatest enemy could be sitting right above them all? Luce couldn’t hold back his laughter from his imagination.
‘With that, I would be compensated for everything I have suffered.’ As a faithful believer of Bellu, it was not easy for him to impersonate a Karuwiman priest. It had been especially a great struggle for him to disguise Bellid energy as Karuwiman energy, but thanks to a special method that was gifted to him, he was able to perfectly fool everyone around him. This accomplishment alone proved the Bellids’ superiority over the Karuwimans.
Of course, this method was especially difficult and tricky so most couldn’t mimic it, but his point was still valid. Thanks to a method like that, he was able to get chosen.
‘I have to quickly be on the move.’ Although the Karuwimans had declared themselves to be neutral, he couldn’t sit still and do nothing.
‘I have to try to talk to that guy.’ Luce thought of his collaborator. ‘But will he be fine?’
He recalled Glen’s attitude after the meeting was over. Although Glen had desperately tried to act fine, there was something clearly awkward about his behavior. It looked like his soul had been sucked out of him. If he had been his usual self, he would be participating in this gathering right now.
‘His condition didn’t look good as soon as the Saintess mentioned the method to stop the city ritual.’ However, it was strange that Glen would feel so unsettled hearing about such a method. After all, he was simply their collaborator and not a member of the faith.
‘Well, whatever. I don’t care why he was so shocked, but rather if he would be able to overcome it with his skills.’
Glen was someone the Bellid pope had assigned to Luce as a collaborator, and he had shown considerable skills so far. Besides, even if Glen couldn’t do much, it didn’t matter. Luce had already decided to participate in this war.
‘All I need to do is give them a clear reason to take action. They wouldn’t be able to hold back if the reason is good enough.’ Of course, no matter what means he used, he would face disagreements since he would be overturning what the pope had already decided upon. Perhaps, some would begin to think that he was unsuitable for the pope or high priest position because of this. Yet, his plan to move them was closely tied to the group that tested the Karuwimans’ rigidity the most: the Bellids.
‘Hmph! To think there would be a day when the Karuwimans' hatred for our group would be of help.’ Of course, Luce wasn’t grateful at all. ‘Anyway, I will participate in this war and wipe away the Steelwall family. My people will come up with the fabricated evidence after the family is gone.’
Luce let out a low chuckle after gathering his thoughts. ‘Who among the Karuwimans would guess that a poisonous mushroom like me was growing among the Karuwimans?’
* * *
“There’s a betrayer among the Karuwimans,” Zich suddenly spat out while they were all drinking tea. Lubella and Weig blinked hard momentarily and gasped.
Without realizing that her teacup was overflowing, Lubella stuttered, “W-What do you mean, Sir Zich?!” She looked like she was ready to shake Zich by the collar if he didn’t answer her right away. In comparison, Weig appeared calm. It was his years of experience and time that allowed him to react not so strongly as Lubella.
“Could I hear about it more in detail?” Weig asked sternly, unfitting of his usual leisurely manner.
“Lady Lubella, please calm down. If you’re so agitated, you won’t be able to listen properly.”
“Ah, all right.”
“Please put down your teacup first.”
Lubella’s teacup was already half empty and barely any tea had passed her lips. Most of it had dropped to the ground. Normally she would have been embarrassed, but she didn’t care about it in the slightest. Lubella put down her teacup and looked at Zich. Her eyes were urging Zich to explain.
“It is as I said. There is a traitor among the Karuwimans—and a Bellid at that.”
Lubella closed her mouth with her hand. Weig couldn’t maintain his calm exterior this time as well. The fact that there was a Bellid follower among the Karuwimans was completely different from having a traitor among them.
“…Sir Zich. First of all, do you realize the full extent of your words?”
“Of course. Didn’t we thoroughly discuss that topic earlier?” Just a few minutes ago, the meeting’s atmosphere had grown extremely tense because of Byner’s accusation that Zich was a Bellid supporter.
“Sir Zich, you were just accused of being a Bellid supporter and now you’re saying that there’s a Bellid among us…”
“Yes, I know it’s not the best timing, but even then I can’t keep my mouth shut. It’s an extremely important matter.”
“Yes, that’s true but…”
“Since you two are already shocked, let me reveal one more piece of shocking news.”
“I’m afraid of what you’re going to say now.” Weig wasn’t exaggerating; he really felt this way, and the words that Zich said next didn’t betray his expectations.
“Glen Zenard, who is a Karuwiman Honorary Knight, is a Bellid supporter.”
Silence fell between them.
“…Sir Zich, do you recall what His Holiness said in the meeting just now?”
“Yes, I do. He roughly said that he doesn’t believe that a Karuwiman Honorary Knight would collaborate with the Bellids.”
“Then, you must also realize that the words you’re saying completely shatter what His Holiness said to us all.”
“That’s why my heart severely hurts. It’s so heartbreaking to know that His Holiness’ good trust was betrayed.”
“…Ugh!” Weig was no longer able to maintain the calm façade he had on; he deeply sighed and pushed his body back. Then, he didn’t say anything for a while and after firming his resolve, looked at Zich.
“Like you said, since we’re already all so shocked, let us hear everything. Who is the traitor?”
Weig and Lubella waited in anticipation for Zich’s next reply.
Zich said, “The traitor is the person you just saw—Priest Uruwon Luce. He is the person the Bellids have planted among the high-ranking Karuwimans.”
“Damn it!” Weig couldn’t help but swear. Uruwon Luce was someone in line as the next high priest, and if he earned more merit and experience, he could potentially aim to be the next pope. But how could someone like that be a Bellid?
“Is that true, Sir Zich? This isn’t something to joke about!” As someone who extremely trusted Zich, Weig couldn’t help but ask again. He desperately wanted Zich to say that he had been lying or just joking. As Weig said, even though this wasn’t a matter to ever joke about, Weig had full intentions to forgive Zich if he said he was joking this one time. However, Weig’s hope was shattered into pieces.
“I won’t ever joke about something like this. I’m certain that Uruwon Luce is a Bellid. He is aiming to become the high priest and even has the desire to become the next pope if it’s possible. I guess I don’t have to explain the reason why he’s aiming for these positions.” The reason why an enemy would plant a spy was obvious.
“B-but Sir Zich! If Sir…Uruwon Luce really is a Bellid, then there’s no way we could have failed to catch him!” Since Lubella couldn’t mark him as a Bellid with complete certainty yet, she still addressed Luce as ‘sir.’ However, judging by how she stuttered before calling Luce’s name, Lubella’s heart wavered.
“It’s because he used a special method. A method that allows Karuwiman energy to cover up dirty Bellid energy.”
“How can there be such a method!” Lubella’s voice almost changed into a scream. If Zich’s words were really correct, it would be extremely terrible for the Karuwimans. Weig’s face also stiffened.
“And what is that method?” Weig hurriedly asked Zich, but Zich shook his head.
“I apologize, but I don’t know yet.”
Lubella’s expression became gloomy. They didn’t even know the method by which a Bellids could fake being a Karuwiman. She asked, “Is there a solution?”
“I also don’t know that yet either.”
Lubella became even sadder. However, contrary to Lubella, Weig noticed a keyword in Zich’s sentences.
Weig asked, “By yet, are you saying that you can figure it out with more time?”
Lubella lit up; her hopeful eyes darted towards Zich.
Zich did not betray Lubella and Weig’s hope this time. “Yes, I can figure it out.”
Then, Zich thought, ‘ I’ll fish out that information from the Princess like the information about the Bellid traitor.’