I Was Told to Drink Poison, So I Drank It - 23 - Temple and Priest
At that time, the temple─.
In the innermost room, a man sat alone at a work desk.
He seemed to be around his mid-fifties.
The man clasped his hands and asked the young man standing in front of the desk.
“How are the people moving?”
“Uh… well, that is…”
As the young man hesitated, the man furrowed his brow.
“…What?”
“We gave orders to spread the word that ‘Lord Aidan Lips, the former king’s younger brother, is the rightful next king’… but the results are not… very good.”
“What? Speak clearly!!”
Startled by the man’s angry voice, the young man answered reluctantly.
“…The people are suspicious of His Majesty, the current king, who executed Queen Chalize. And also of the temple, which caused that to happen.”
“…No way! They’re not speaking badly of the temple, are they?”
“That is…”
“Speak clearly!!”
Shouted at again, the young man gave up. Lowering his eyes, he spoke.
“The people doubt the temple, which claimed that Queen Chalize’s miracles as a saint were false. Now, they are beginning to think that perhaps her miracles were real…”
“Ha! For fools, they’re thinking a bit too much! Is someone behind this?”
“That… I don’t know.”
At that moment, the man─Aidan Lips─slammed the desk with a loud thud.
A statue of the goddess, carved from ivory, fell from the desk due to the impact.
Aidan glared at the young man and spat out his words.
“All you ever say is ‘I don’t know, I don’t know’… Useless!!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why do you think I made you Noah’s aide!? To pass their information to me!! And yet you…! You don’t even know where Noah is, and you say McGregor controls everything? And now, you can’t even control public opinion! Why do I even keep someone useless like you around!? Worthless good-for-nothing!!”
“…………”
“Cain… no, I should call you Luke. You became the priest Luke and got close to Noah. That was to break them from the inside.”
Aidan rubbed his temples in frustration.
Then, groaning, he spoke.
“Immediately increase the number of spies and control the flow of information among the people!! Got it? Numbers are everything. Those fools tend to believe the loudest voice. It’s all about numbers. Increase them!! You understand!?”
“…………Yes.”
Noah’s aide, Cain─real name Luke.
He was a spy sent by the temple.
He bowed deeply and left the office.
When did the temple’s office become so lavish?
Decorated in gold and diamonds, it no longer looked like a room of the temple at all.
The temple was supposed to be an organization that prayed to the goddess, wished for the peace of the people, and the safety of the kingdom.
But now, it had become a greedy organization, indulging in luxury and pleasure, and desiring nothing else.
(This… isn’t why I became a priest…)
Luke muttered to himself silently.
That strange feeling he’d had for the past few years.
It grew even stronger once he became Noah’s aide and started seeing Queen Chalize up close.
Was it really okay… for him to stay like this─?