Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 239:

Until the inquisitor’s smuggled documents arrived at his quarters, Isaac headed to the orphanage at Ultenheim Cathedral.

“Holy Grail Knight!”

A priest who cared for the orphanage children approached with a surprised look. Behind him, a few small children hid and watched Isaac. He felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

“Hello, Father. I was concerned about the children being frightened by recent events, so I came to check on them.”

“Oh… yes. They were quite scared. I never imagined Cardinal Camille would be involved in such….”

The priest, bewildered, patted the children’s heads. The fact that the news had reached even a low-ranking priest meant the rumors had spread widely. It was only natural since Camille’s personal artifacts were found inside the monster.

“I was also shocked to hear the news. I never thought the monster I beheaded was the respected Cardinal….”

Isaac’s gaze shifted to a girl who was staring at him intently. She was the girl he had rescued from the pyre.

Isaac spoke to the priest.

“For that reason, Father, I am concerned about the safety of the children here.”

The priest looked distressed.

The Ultenheim Cathedral’s orphanage was one of the best facilities for orphans in the empire. If even this place, considered a rearguard, wasn’t safe, where could be considered safe?

However, since monsters had appeared in the cathedral a few days ago and killed several priests, he couldn’t simply ask for trust.

“Then….”

“If it’s all right, I’d like to move the girl I entrusted to you to a safer place.”

Even though Isolde had carefully found a place for her, the possibility that the Church could use her as a hostage made him reluctant to leave her here.

Isaac planned to send the girl to the Issacrea estate for protection.

The priest explained various procedures and circumstances, looking troubled. He wasn’t worried about losing the child but genuinely believed that leaving her at the orphanage was the best option. Although Isaac knew the priest meant well, he couldn’t trust the Church’s upper echelons.

Furthermore, since Isaac intended to continue walking a dangerous line, he was even more cautious.

In the end, the priest couldn’t sway Isaac and agreed to let the girl go.

“Hmm, if that is your decision, there is nothing more to be done. Ah, we haven’t yet performed the ceremony to annul the death insurance contract. The cathedral scheduled to conduct the ceremony was severely damaged….”

Isaac was taken aback to learn that the death insurance contract had not been annulled yet, but he couldn’t wait indefinitely.

“There are priests in my estate, so I will ask them.”

“Hmm, then please take care of it.”

The priest, crouching to the girl’s level and patting her head, spoke.

“Angela, when you go to the Holy Grail Knight’s estate, you will live in a better place than here. Don’t forget to pray daily to the Codex of Light, read the scriptures regularly to purify your inner soul, and….”

Isaac felt a surge of anger watching a Church member, who had almost put the girl on a pyre, telling her not to forget to pray to the Codex of Light. In hindsight, it had been a mistake to leave her at the cathedral, but the insurance contract had left him no choice.

‘Whether it’s the Immortal Order that put death insurance on a child or the Codex of Light that tried to burn her at the stake, they are all filled with madmen.’

“Is the child’s name Angela? Does she speak?”

Isaac interrupted the priest’s lengthy instructions. The priest, flustered, nodded.

“Ah, she can’t speak yet, but I needed a name to call her by, so I named her.”

The name felt strongly religious. Isaac nodded and approached the girl, extending his hand.

“Angela.”

Angela stared at Isaac before grasping his hand. Other than losing her voice, she showed no other symptoms, which was a relief.

“Let’s go home.”

***

A village on the outskirts of Ultenheim.

A wandering monk sat in a small chapel, which could barely accommodate twenty people. Wandering monks were priests who retraced the paths of saints and angels, making pilgrimages to holy lands. They traveled to remote areas where priests did not settle, and were highly welcomed by residents who always yearned for miracles. Particularly, these monks were more respected as they endured hardships solely for their faith, without regard for money or power.

As the wandering monk recited the scriptures from beginning to end for the third time that day, a priest approached and sat beside him.

“We received a reply from the Inquisitor.”

The wandering monk stopped reciting but remained in a praying posture, motionless.

“What did he say?”

“He reported no peculiarities about the Holy Grail Knight. He even added that he is an exemplary paladin who sets a good example for others.”

The wandering monk let out a long sigh, and the priest murmured in frustration.

“This false prophet doesn’t seem as easy to deal with as Kalsen.”

The wandering monk raised his head and stared at the priest.

“Kalsen wasn’t an easy opponent either, brother.”

“I apologize. Indeed, it was difficult to lead Kalsen down the path of pride. He was like a lion, steadfastly believing in his path without wavering. But Isaac Issacrea… seems to possess the cunning of a fox as well.”

The priest shrugged in exasperation as he continued.

“All our brethren in the Watchers’ Council know how careful Sister Camille was in her research on the Nameless Chaos. The Censorship Director deemed her cautious enough to pass on the information. The incident at the cathedral is clearly related to the Holy Grail Knight.”

“…”

“That the Inquisitor filed such a report means he had some means of coercion or persuasion. Kalsen wouldn’t have done that. He would have boldly declared, ‘I studied heretical doctrines and killed her’ after beheading Camille.”

“Kalsen was a great paladin.”

“But Isaac, by some means, turned her into a monster and killed her in front of everyone while pretending he had nothing to do with it.”

Although the outcome of Camille’s death was the same, the responses were completely different. Kalsen chose the path of a lion, while Isaac chose the path of a fox.

The troubling part was that Isaac’s power didn’t seem any less than Kalsen’s. If Isaac indeed had a hand in turning Camille into a monster, it indicated he was flexible enough to use forbidden knowledge willingly.

The wandering monk stared intently at the priest and asked.

“What is your point?”

“I… I’m not sure if choosing Isaac as the next false prophet was wise. Don’t you think he is too dangerous? Even within the Church, the atmosphere of reverence towards him is unusual. If this continues, he will be uncontrollable.”

“Uncontrollable, you say?”

“I fear he might break away from the Church altogether and form a faction like Elil. Look at the young priests whispering about the Owl and people like Cardinal Juan. Even now, they seem uncontrollable within the Church’s grasp….”

“Sigh…”

The wandering monk grimaced and let out a long sigh. The priest realized he had overstepped. Before he could apologize, the wandering monk spoke.

“Brother, it was the higher-ups who designated Isaac as the false prophet. As long as the Lighthouse Keeper has chosen, we need not imagine or worry about other choices. Our task is to help realize their will on this earth.”

“I, I’m sorry…”

“The Holy Grail Knight is uncontrollable, you say?”

The wandering monk patted the priest’s shoulder before gripping it tightly.

“Brother, as long as the angels’ wings blaze in the heavens, the balance of power has never wavered. Even the Elil faction was part of the grand plan towards the Millennial Kingdom.”

The priest winced at the strength of the grip and barely suppressed a groan as he replied.

“Y-yes, I’m sorry. I was just concerned.”

“You seem to be apologizing a lot today. Perhaps we called you to the Watchers’ Council too early.”

The priest began to apologize again but stopped and bowed his head quietly. The wandering monk nodded, seemingly satisfied by his silence, and released his shoulder.

“Brother, young priests, the Pope, Cardinals, none of them matter. Remember, we are the only ones in the Church who hear the angels and carry out their will. Our role is to ensure these prideful and greedy sheep remain within the fold.”

“…I will remember.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

The wandering monk stood up. The priest, bewildered, rose with him and asked.

“Where are you going?”

“I must meet this Holy Grail Knight Isaac in person. Surely he wouldn’t turn this feeble old man into a monster.”

***

Isolde had gone to Isaac’s quarters but couldn’t find him.

In the courtyard of the VIP accommodations provided by the palace, carriages were lined up, ready to depart for Issacrea territory. Baggage was packed as if they were about to leave, but Isaac was nowhere to be found. Isolde finally spotted him hanging upside down from a tree in the garden.

“What are you doing?”

Isaac opened his eyes at her question.

“I am trying to understand what the tentacle is thinking.”

Isolde thought he must have lost his mind from hanging upside down for too long, but she tried to understand his words, glancing at his left hand.

“Since the tentacle is attached to your left hand, you’re trying to understand its feelings by hanging upside down like it does?”

“Precisely. But it doesn’t seem to be helping.”

Isaac sighed and climbed down from the tree.

Despite the absurdity of his actions, Isolde found herself annoyed that he looked handsome even after hanging upside down.

“Why are you suddenly concerned about the tentacle’s thoughts?”

Isaac silently pointed to a pile of documents stacked beside the tree. Isolde examined them and quickly realized they were Inquisition documents, causing her to jump in surprise.

“These are materials about heretics!”

The contents were disorganized, but they ranged from information about the Nameless Chaos, rituals of ancient dead gods, to barbaric legends from apocryphal texts about exiled beings. Among them, the materials on the Nameless Chaos were the most abundant.

“Why do you have these?”

“I read a bit about the events, miracles, and rituals conducted by the Nameless Chaos’s cult before it was eradicated. But even after reading just a little, it made me feel uneasy. The contents were bizarrely cruel and infuriating.”

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