Chapter 41. The Smell of a Conspiracy
Undead, or walking dead.
The term usually referred to zombies, but sometimes included ghouls as well.
However, unlike zombies that had lost their humanity, ghouls were still considered ‘people.’
The problem was that they felt no guilt, and their bodies were already dead.
Ah, they also went around killing people.
And eating them.
Anyway.
I asked the priests of the Church of the Sun God again.
“Are you saying they turned them into ghouls?”
“Not quite ghouls, but I heard they’re similar. Apparently, they still retain their reason.”
They could maintain their humanity with mana?
Of course, that made no sense.
There had been countless experiments in my previous life too, and no matter what method was used, a dead person was still a corpse.
They must have used some kind of trick. Or maybe it was simply a scam.
Trying to defy divine providence in a world where gods actually existed, these people had to be insane.
Even ghouls, creatures permitted to exist by the gods, harmed humans.
What could the followers of Hela possibly gain by creating something like that?
They would be lucky if the other religions merely cursed them.
They might even be persecuted.
Either way, I should keep an eye on the movements of Hela’s followers.
I could not simply close my eyes and pretend not to notice something that smelled like a conspiracy.
At the very least, I decided to monitor them inside my territory.
There were still no openly visible followers, but I planned to order the knights and soldiers to stay alert.
Then I thanked the priest who had freely shared the information.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“Think nothing of it. Um... and we would appreciate it if you could decide which village the church should be built in.”
These young priests were impatient.
They were already thinking about starting construction.
Well, I had no intention of stopping them from volunteering for hardship.
Even without quoting that bullshit saying about ‘buying hardship while you’re young,’ youth was apparently supposed to hurt anyway.
“There’s a frontier village called Comanceville. I’ll write you a letter, so discuss it with the village chief there.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Ah, just so you know, that village chief attends the Church of the God of Abundance. He’s even an elder.”
“......”
It was not like I was discriminating between religions.
The village chief was a reasonable man, so I trusted him to handle things properly.
* * *
The establishment of the Marcel Diocese of the Order of the God of Abundance proceeded smoothly.
Construction began on a huge church on the empty land near the lord’s residence, while Bishop Daniel attended the existing church in the city.
The diocesan office was established in the former administrator’s mansion, and the number of permanent staff increased greatly.
They even brought their families with them when they moved here.
Simply designating Marcel as a diocese had somehow created the magical effect of increasing both our population and tax revenue.
Negotiations with the diocesan office were placed under the supervision of Pascal, Chief of Civil Affairs.
The administration would even monitor the weekly use of the diocese’s budget.
Pascal had gained more work, but he seemed excited by the authority that came with it.
“Monitoring a religious institution, isn’t this unprecedented?”
“Not unprecedented in history. There were plenty of times when religion existed under the shadow of kings.”
“At least on the modern Northern Continent, this is probably the first time.”
“Officially, we’re only monitoring their budget.”
However, controlling the purse strings was almost the same as holding someone’s life in your hands.
Pascal understood that very well, and the smile never left his face.
“I want to kick open the church doors and shout, ‘Hand over the accounting books!’”
“Haha! If you actually did that, your head might come off.”
Fanatics existed everywhere.
They might even visit him at night.
“I was only speaking figuratively. Hehe.”
Pascal laughed, then handed me a letter.
“Who’s this from?”
“A letter came from Chief of Foreign Affairs Chloe.”
“Finally.”
Chloe, who had been handling my marriage negotiations, had gone to the Veneto Territory of the Odoacer Empire.
The lord’s city of Veneto contained the second largest trading port on the Northern Continent and was also one of its wealthiest cities.
With only a little exaggeration, you could say that almost every luxury item on the Northern Continent passed through Veneto.
Its artistic culture was highly developed, and it was also a center where new trends began.
I personally disliked the depressing fashion currently popular there, where people covered their bodies from head to toe.
Did Chloe manage to secure a marriage alliance with Veneto?
Feeling slightly nervous, I opened the letter.
[To my respected lord.]
[I am honored to bring you good news.
I have successfully arranged a marriage proposal with the household of Viscount Chioggia, the second son of the Duke of Veneto.
Viscount Chioggia himself will soon visit Marcel in person.
He will likely arrive within a few days of this letter.
I sincerely hope...]
[From your loyal servant, Chloe Berbier.]
I looked at Pascal and raised my thumb.
“Chloe succeeded.”
“Haha! Congratulations on your marriage!”
“Congratulate me on the alliance.”
“Either way, you’re finally going to become a married man. Which noble family is it?”
“Viscount Chioggia, the son of the Duke of Veneto.”
“......What?”
Pascal looked suspicious.
“As far as I know, Viscount Chioggia is about twenty years old. And I believe he has no children.”
As the son of a Heraldry Officer, Pascal knew a little about nearly every territory.
If he said that, it was probably true.
“...Then the marriage itself is only a formality. The alliance is the real purpose.”
“But why would he want an alliance with us? Viscount Chioggia must be incredibly wealthy.”
The Veneto Territory was famous not only for its huge trading port, but also for its vast wheat fields.
The territory the Duke of Veneto’s second son received when he became Viscount Chioggia probably consisted of wheat fields stretching all the way to the horizon.
He had been born with the ultimate silver spoon.
“First, we need to think about why he wants an alliance.”
“Um, perhaps...”
“Speak freely, even if it’s only a guess.”
“Could it have something to do with inheritance? The Duke of Veneto is over seventy.”
Interfering in another family’s internal affairs was one of the most troublesome things in diplomacy.
“Let’s consider every possibility. If we welcome our guest without preparation, it’ll be difficult to respond properly.”
From that day onward, Pascal and I put our heads together and tried to determine the reason for the alliance.
We gathered every piece of information we could find about Veneto.
We even visited the harbor and questioned sailors about recent events there.
