A Wish to Grab Happiness - Book 13: Chapter 354

Chapter 354: The Narrator of Justice

…Demonic beings. Enemies of the human race. Manifestations of calamity. Beings baring the name evil.

They were once said to have crushed humans by annihilating many cultures and civilizations. Demonic beings were a threat that managed to break the spears of many heroes. They even gouged out their hearts.

Ann said that such walking disaster had begun to walk on this land again. It was the beginning of the end.

In an instant, a past scene in the city of Philos clearly appeared behind my eyes. A figure that wore flames in its hands and feet, flames that were different from magic and sorcery that easily tore a human’s body apart.

In fact, there were several of them. And in each country. I could imagine how bad things could be once again just by thinking in my head.

Back then, they simply teased with people’s hearts, made them suffer endlessly, and used them as tools. What exactly was a demonic being?

Even before, those devilish creatures often took the leader position by leading the magical beasts. There should’ve been some who acted alone, but there was no doubt they were a superior species of magical beasts. In that case, it wasn’t strange when getting why the magical beasts suddenly began to act as if they had a will.

「Demonic beings, huh…I don’t know how much of a threat they are. Anyway, what’s important now is to select a path. Should we just wait and see what happens? Should we tie hands with the Gharast Kingdom?」

Or do you see it as an opportunity to invade their territory? Caria added. I could see her silver eyes wide open.

She usually didn’t intervene in matters involving the Heraldic Order, but something changed in her mind when she heard the Protector’s name. She showed a little hardness in the words she professed.

Saint Matia responded by carefully choosing her words while looking at the members of the Heraldic Order.

「…We can’t just wait and see. If we don’t do anything, the organization we call “Heraldic Order” will die slowly.」

I could see Matia’s eyes tightening slightly at the same time as she said those words.

It was rare for her to speak so carefully. Perhaps she was conscious of her strong presence within the Heraldic Order.

The words spoken by the Saint became the will of the Heraldic Order. If something appeared to oppose that will, the organization would naturally split. Many organizations perished because of internal dysfunction.

If the current Heraldic Order caused a large-scale internal conflict, then it would be difficult to maintain its power.

Rather, it was better to say that the Heraldic Order itself actually existed in a very dangerous equilibrium.

The organization known as “Heraldic Order” was undoubtedly reliant on the charisma of Saint Matia to exist. The organizational structure was still far from perfect, and the expertise system of the army corps placed in each city was probably not well organized.

Actually, a common organization had a structure in which there were subordinates under the highest power, and under those subordinates, there were further subordinates. The Heraldic Order was different.

There were still many powers and chains of authority surrounding Saint Matia. Its organization had not kept up with the rapid expansion of power.

Matia should have been working on that maintenance first in Garoua Maria but couldn’t do it giving the current circumstances. That’s why the organization itself was far from perfect.

And that’s why once it breaks, it would be completely over. The Heraldic Order, which had only a weak chain of command, didn’t have the physical strength to deal with internal conflicts. In the unlikely event that happened, its power would return to a mere crowd of people.

Matia was more careful than ever when choosing her words, probably because of her organization’s unstable situation.

「Regarding our negotiations, we have sent several messengers to the nobles of the Gharast Kingdom’s secular faction…However.」

Ann continued, trying to receive the words from Matia. Emotions radiated from her expression, and something bitter was clearly visible in her eyes.

At the very least, everyone in the room, including me, had guessed that a bad information was about to be spewed out.

Oh c’mon. It felt like they’ve been putting only moldy bread on the table since a while ago.

「There’s also a talk that the Gharast Kingdom entrusted the handling of the Bastion Beast Zebrililith and the magical beast disaster to the Great Holy Church. 」

The information was more and more helpless. I could see several people in this room letting out their quiet breaths as if they were expelling something heavy from the bottom of their lungs.

Zebrililith. It was once named the Great Devil by the Great Holy Church. This giant beast, which ruled over magical beasts and devoured everything at random, was once an unmistakable symbol of the catastrophe.

Just hearing that name made me feel like I had been directly swallowed by iron. It taught me, on a ridiculous scale, just how helpless the human body could be.

Come to think of it, the Great Holy Church used to be a rival organization against the great beasts, and thus the demonic beings. Did Ariene tell me before that it functioned as a flag-bearer for humankind, and operated as an institution that brought together nations that were on the verge of collapse?

Perhaps the journey of salvation that I once took part…was the pilgrimage meant to create a Saint. Yes, a Saint as a means for that purpose.

After remembering that fact, I clenched my molars without realizing it. The distorted sound of my teeth rubbing against each other reverberated in the depths of my ears.

No. I should stop. The more I learned about the situation, the more I realized that everything was going according to the wishes of the God of Salvation, Altius. There was nothing easier to understand than this. After all, I knew that Altius was determined to accomplish those deeds no matter what happened.

Altius wrote a script that really scratched the nerves of the people.

I opened my lips as my heart rang loudly. My fingertips were holding the chewing tobacco that I put in my mouth.

「I can’t just sit back and watch. Sending a messenger to Gharast doesn’t make sense. So, there’s only one thing we must do.」

For the first time in a long time, I spoke in a place like this. To be honest, the number of times I opened my mouth in such a place could be counted.

After all, I didn’t have the wisdom of Matia or Ann, nor did I have the knowledge of Caria, Filaret, and Eldith. Besides, I thought that no matter what I said, nothing would change that much.

However, if I kept having those thoughts, it would be considered as a resignation itself. Only the petty thoughts of my denial would be entwined in my brain.

Rubbish. How foolish of me. My eyes lifted up with fever.

My will must be refined by holding it with my own hands. Those lowly thoughts had to be attached to the side since they would corrupt my will.

In this way, my intentions would be meaningful only when expressed in words and actions.

「However, pointing the spear at the person who sent the messenger means giving up on future negotiations. Is that okay, Lugis?」

Tilting her blue eyes, Eldith replied to my words. I didn’t know why, but her piercing voice was one pitch higher than usual.

What Eldith said was true. Even though the Gharast Kingdom sent a messenger in a twisted way, if this side used soldiers as an answer, they would no longer speak with words. With sheer military strength, the Gharast Kingdom would recreate the times when mankind was at its most barbaric.

It wouldn’t end until one kneeled before the enemy and surrendered.

The Heraldic Order didn’t have the power to continue a direct fight against the Gharast Kingdom or the Great Holy Church. If they wielded their spears and bows with all their might, the Heraldic Order would definitely be defeated.

Therefore, it was important to search for a way to create room for negotiations somewhere in the future, no matter what the Protector said to both Matia and Ann. For that reason as well, they tried to forge connections with the non-battle Gharast aristocrats.

In other words, invading the Gharast Kingdom meant tearing down that option with both hands. Retaliate with violence was equivalent to a declaration of war. It meant that we wouldn’t exchange words until the very end.

However, Eldith was not stopping me. Actually, she wondered if I had an idea. For some reason, there was an atmosphere that seemed to be aiming at my mind. Everyone wondered if I came up with a different path.

I shrugged my shoulders and spoke.

「…I’m not saying that we must attack the Gharast Kingdom now. In short, I think it’s a good idea if we were to recognize God in a way. Don’t you think it’s good? Let’s call ourselves people of justice once in a while.」