I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

065. Investigation (2)

Among the things I had to sort out after my trip to Igrosia, the one I paid the most attention to was the identity of the dark force.

The one holding the lost blessing of fate is moving as the enemy’s leader.

And the blessing of a god is usually bestowed directly by the god, by giving a part of their power.

If that’s the case, one assumption becomes a fact.

The goddess has abandoned humans… more precisely, the empire.

Let’s bury the vastness of that truth for a moment.

If we have to fight the enemy anyway, we can’t just sit down and do nothing, no matter who they are.

So I thought about how to get closer to the enemy.

As a result, I concluded that the goddess of fate reached out to the humans who were being ‘raised’ in the outer realm.

Here arises the question.

“As far as I know, a god cannot bestow blessings on creatures that do not believe in them. Moreover, the outer realm does not know the gods of this land. So there must be those who left for the outer realm to spread the faith of fate. If we chase them, we might reach the dark force. That’s what I think.”

I told Historia about what happened this time and my conjecture.

Historia, who had been oddly sullen, became serious at my words.

Resting her chin on her hand, Historia narrowed her brows and replied.

“…Indeed, such an approach is possible. The exact time when the blessing disappeared is unknown even to Verheim, and if the blessing moved elsewhere during that time… yes, we could suspect a faction.”

Religion generally tends to split into factions based on the interpretation of its doctrines.

For example, the Church of Hope is like that.

Hope is a church without the response of a god, so the interpretation of its doctrines is important, and several factions have already formed.

Rather, the Church of Fate has been unusual until now.

Because the god’s response is quick, there has been no need to interpret the god’s will on their own, but even so, let’s assume there were those who decided to form a faction.

If the goddess took their side and sent them to the outer realm, and they spread the faith there, it would make sense.

However, Historia’s answer completely denied my conjecture.

“As far as I know, there are no factions in Fate.”

“Are you sure?”

“If there were, we would have been educated about it. It’s that unusual for factions to form in Fate. Isn’t it? There’s a saint who receives the god’s response, and if you go against that…”

“…you become a heretic.”

Is this the wrong answer?

So what are those guys in the outer realm?

It was a moment of deep contemplation.

“…Let’s consider another possibility.”

“Yes?”

“There is a way to make them believe.”

I listened to Historia’s words.

The answer returned was this.

“Descent, or the exercise of authority. The goddess reveals her presence first.”

“…!”

“There is already a precedent, isn’t there?”

“…The race war.”

“Yes, the last time Hope responded to humans. Although no records remain… there were definitely people who received Hope’s blessing by believing in Hope.”

Why not?

The first saint was made that way.

Uncertain, but the possibility of that case increased.

In the end, the answer lies in the outer realm.

This is quite troublesome.

‘It’s a place we can’t go recklessly.’

Leaving everything aside, the night races, creations of the foreign gods, are endlessly hostile to humans.

If they were just hostile small fries, it would be one thing, but those creatures would devour and destroy the army from within if we took a regular army.

So, go directly?

With this body that hasn’t even reached master level yet? Taking the undergrown crown prince?

‘…Suicide.’

That’s the only conclusion.

Historia asked.

“Have you heard from Verheim?”

“The communicator is operational. It reached the entrance of the outer realm last week… but we haven’t received any communication since.”

“It would be fortunate if they brought back any information…”

I nodded.

The saint’s journey to the outer realm, sent half in exile.

That has now become our lifeline.

My head became a bit complicated.

I closed my eyes and calmed my mind.

‘…Step by step.’

We can’t storm into the outer realm right away, but there’s already intelligence about a saint sent to the outer realm.

If we find out, they might do something for us.

Then let’s think about something else.

‘First, what’s left is the north.’

The priority is to unravel the Grand Duke’s temptation.

Thus, we elevate the empire’s national power while keeping all the golden knights intact.

Next, considering the black curtain has been revealed, it’s probably right to see the barbarian invasion as a story intertwined with the goddess of fate.

Just in time, Gilgore was there, so we need to hear this story too.

Lastly, one more thing, my gaze turned to the sacred tree.

‘…No matter how much I think about it, that’s it.’

The first Pharos arranged something.

That arrangement perfectly matched the enemies we faced after the regression, which means the first Pharos had already foreseen this situation.

‘What do they know?’

That part also needs investigation.

This is more clearly indicated than other things.

‘We must inherit Pharos.’

After completing the succession ceremony, heading to the World Tree might provide the answer.

After organizing the tasks in my head one by one, I stood up.

“Thank you for your opinion. Just in case, about the faction…”

“Ah, yes! I’ll investigate separately!”

Historia stood up and then suddenly, hesitantly asked such a question.

“Are you leaving right away?”

Is there still something left to do?

But that strangely regretful expression bothers me.

‘Hmm.’

What is it? What did I miss?

Or is there something I need to say?

I was deep in thought.

Then I remembered what I had forgotten.

“Ah.”

“Ah?”

“I said I would make you meat bread.”

Historia froze.

Soon, she lowered her head, lips tightly pressed together.

Her eyes, visible through her hair, seemed slightly sulky. It must be because I promised to make it and didn’t.

“Since I’m here, shall I make it for you? Can I borrow the kitchen of the Papal Palace?”

Historia, who had been silent for a moment, finally answered.

Her voice was mixed with a sigh.

“…Yes, then shall we have a meal together?”

“Sounds good.”

I nodded.

It was indeed the meat bread.

* * *

Fortunately, the kitchen of the Papal Palace had plenty of ingredients.

The utensils were also exactly what I needed, so making the meat bread was easy.

Historia wanted to try it herself, so she helped fill the dough with the filling, but everything she made burst during the steaming process.

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“……”

Feeling sorry for her, I ate those.

“This is delicious in its own way. Keep at it.”

“Was it okay…?”

“Yes, to my taste.”

Compared to eating dirt on the battlefield, this is paradise.

But still, it’s something made for people to eat.

“R-Really…!”

She smiled bashfully.

Seeing that he liked something like this, it was clear that his happiness threshold was low, both before and after the regression.

Anyway, the meeting with Historia ended there.

Before leaving the Papal Palace, I briefly visited the fake’s hospital room.

There was something to be resolved here as well.

Girgore greeted me.

“Ah, you’re here? Did you meet the saint?”

“Yeah, but how did you know that?”

“Haha, I just asked.”

Girgore waved his hand dismissively.

The fake bowed deeply towards me.

I pulled up a chair and sat down, intending to explain my purpose.

Then Girgore spoke first.

“Oh! I left the investigation of the Grand Duke’s side to Rabon. By the time I return, I’ll have all the information about their movements. I’ll organize it and send it to the mansion in writing.”

“What?”

“Huh? Isn’t it? I thought your purpose was to correct those who were tempted by the devil. So I was going to investigate the Grand Duke’s side. Did I get it wrong?”

Girgore tilted his head.

I blinked.

Then I shook my head awkwardly.

“No, you’re right, but…”

“Then why?”

It’s amazing how you do things without being told.

I flinched at the thought.

‘No, is this something to be amazed about?’

Shouldn’t everyone have been like this?

If you’re called a pioneer of the golden age, isn’t it right to do everything on your own and then say, ‘I did this’?

‘Why…’

Until now, haven’t I only heard ‘What should I do about this?’

I covered my mouth.

My eyes trembled uncontrollably.

Suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.

In fact, weren’t they more like discarded knights rather than golden knights?

Wasn’t this one the only golden one?

An indescribable emotion welled up.

But I didn’t face it deeply.

Sometimes, there are truths better left buried…

“Anything else besides that?”

“…One more thing.”

Actually, this is the main point.

I steadied my mind and faced Gilligo.

One must be cautious when broaching a topic.

I asked.

“You said you were with the barbarians for the past ten years, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, that’s right.”

“I have something to ask about them.”

“Oh, well. It’s not difficult. What is it?”

This needs proper confirmation.

In fact, thinking back now, the purpose of their conquest war was quite unclear.

At the time, I thought the barbarians were targeting the central fertile lands, but wasn’t it that the one who was blessed didn’t do so?

The moment the name ‘Pantail Dur’ came up, he committed suicide.

‘It seems like they’re doing something over there too.’

Depending on how you think about it, the war before the regression needed to be reconsidered.

A strong hypothesis is,

‘If it’s not a faction, then it’s the barbarians who spread the fate faith in the outer scriptures.’

Excluding the possibility of descent, that’s how it is.

But this part is also unclear, as the barbarians had their own faith.

‘The faith of freedom and struggle.’

The barbarians I know are gathered under that faith.

Why do humans believe in other gods?

The answer to that lies in the fact that the origin of the barbarians was a group that emerged within the sanctuary beyond the ley lines.

Even during the race war, they were treated as a separate group and avoided the fire demons, so there’s no need to explain how rugged the ley lines are.

However, I am considering the possibility that the goddess of fate intervened in that land, aside from the faith I know.

What if they used demons or other tricks to make those guys attack the empire?

There was a question that could directly solve such doubts.

“What was the faith of the barbarians like? Did any of them know about the faith of fate?”

To that question, Gilrogo answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Well, they do know about fate, right?”

“Then…”

“Oh, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Definitely not.”

My eyes narrowed.

Gilrogo scratched his head for a moment and sighed.

“How should I explain this…”

Tok, tok.

Gilrogo, who was tapping his temple, soon continued his answer.

“First, I should tell you this. Do you have some time to listen? About what I experienced in the land of the barbarians.”

I nodded.

Since there were no other plans for today, I thought I should definitely listen to this story.

The words that followed.

They were,

“To put it simply, they also know about our faith. Fate, hope, things like that. But the reason they know is because they hate it.”

“…What?”

“They hate it. I don’t know about hope, but they absolutely hate fate. It seems their gods don’t get along well with it.”

It was truly a bewildering statement.