Chapter 394
Day 92 – Evening
Apparently, it’s not the Church, but the Theocracy that’s sent its foreign minister for negotiations as a nation. They’re playing two roles, switching between Church and Theocracy as it suits the circumstances, applying convenient accusations while dodging all responsibility. But it sounds like Playking shot them down and demanded an apology instead, so negotiations broke down, and now both sides are just locked in a hostile standoff, throwing threats at each other. The Theocracy isn’t nice, but the Kingdom, or rather, Playking, is pretty damn immature too. I mean, the guy’s a total flirt? He’s got three wives, you know? Actually, at his peak, it was five!
Now, on top of that, an official envoy from the Church also came to the capital, shamelessly playing the victim, demanding the return of the archbishop captured in the last war, along with an apology and reparations from the Kingdom, and is now busy trading insults with Playking. On the other hand, Sisters who came not as representatives of the Church, but as individual believers, were welcomed with hospitality and escorted to the Frontier with a full guard, on the other hand, Playking apparently blocked representatives from the Church from going to the Frontier. Probably because Sisters were all beautiful. I bet Playking went all flirty and gave them special treatment. I’m sure that Sister Arenta-san was going That’s-totally-Aren’t-a-happening or something and having a fun time with him. So frivolous?
「「「It’s Arianna-san, stop muttering a wrong name with such confidence, even making up stories for it!」」」
…Oh. So I was wrong? Wait, was I saying that out loud?
I’d heard they were having some kind of dispute for a while, but since all of the characters involved were just Middle-Aged Men, it was way too boring to follow. Still, considering how influential people like Ariennai-san are, even in the Theocracy, there’s probably going to be a demand for her 『release from captivity』 too. They also seem to be demanding that Dancing Girl-san and the Black-haired Princesses be handed over to face heresy investigations… Should I send over two of the Dungeon Emperors too? Maybe toss in the hungry girls and even Slime-san for good measure? If I did that, the Theocracy’s food supplies would be destroyed in three days, causing a famine.
「This is the current reality of the Church, depraved and corrupt. Being one of its supporters, I’m also prepared to take any blame that may come. I will never forget the kindness you showed to someone like me. Thank you」
Looks like we have a Sister-san with a lewd body that says that she is ready to take any punishment. But! This is a trap! I can tell, my Detection is going off like crazy, and even without turning around, I can hear the whoosh of iron balls spinning through the air. Wh-what’s going on?! Wait, I know, it’s a beating, isn’t it? Yeah, I didn’t even have to ask.
「Tch, the shadow clones are more troublesome than I expected. Even with AoE attacks we can’t get all of them!」
「And when you hit a decoy, those damn shadow crows go 『KAW!』 , like they are totally mocking you, it’s so infuriating!」
「Is the real one even here? I don’t think I actually landed a single hit on anything?」
「I dunno if the real body’s here~ but a real pervert should be around~ so let’s just keep smashing ‘till we get him~!」
「Hey, it’s 『Mutation』and not Pervert, and it’s a skill name, no my name! Also, if the real body isn’t even here and only Pervert-san is, then that’s just some random pervert we don’t even know, right? Like, it’s entirely it’s own issue, but that pervert is a completely unrelated pervert that has nothing to do with me, okay?」[TL Notes: the skill that he got from the necklace, Hentai]
I was this close to having my real name permanently changed to Pervert-san. What a crisis. Honestly, giving someone a weird nickname like that is just plain rude. And besides, Mutation-san is some unspeakable aberration, an eldritch pervert that defies definition, so it’s not exactly something you can just casually label?
No, I mean, there are just way too many of them. So many freakish abominations appeared, each one with completely different traits, their colors, shapes, textures, all wildly distinct, and they’re all twisted in their own unique ways. Yet somehow, they cooperate, recognizing and complementing each other’s strengths, working in perfect harmony as they ooze with the sweat of their labor, writhing and curling around their restrained bodies. They slither across the soft skin, caressing, exploring, and stroking, slipping inside and out… They’re so coordinated, completely united in their teamwork, that giving each one of them a different name is kind of impossible? I mean, even if I did, they’d immediately change their color and shame again?
「Why won’t you condemn me? I’m one of the nuns of the Church that turned so corrupt that it would attempt to abduct innocent people like you to torture them under pretext of heresy trials. I couldn’t even protect God’s teachings… If anything were to happen to you, I… I…」
「「「Well, it’s just… The moment we hand over the Black-haired Strategist, all we can see is a future where the inquisitors get tortured and butchered instead, you know? And they sound more inept than evil?」」」
「「「Yeah, for mere scummy priests to even dare to go against the King of Inhuman Cruelty, the Road Construction God, is so delusional it’s pitiful… In the first place, trying to violate a Sex King? That’s not even recklessness, but plain idiocy?」」」
No-n-no, wait a moment, I have zero interest in getting involved in any kinds of erotic heresy trials or tortures conducted by middle-aged men, okay? And I definitely don’t want to see, or worse, be in, some 『Aa~ah~!』」kind of scene where I’m the one torturing or violating middle-aged med, what the heck, I don’t even want to think of such a hellish scene! But, but what if, by some miracle, it was all beautiful women? Like an entire squad of gorgeous, female torture-inquisitor Sisters, doing all kinds of things to Highschool Boy in the name of punishment? Yeah, I should probably have a serious talk with Playking about this handover situation. There might be a lot at stake here.
「Why does everyone always insist on demanding stuff that’s clearly dangerous?」
「Last time the royal brother offered him up, the whole opposing party got wiped out, remember?」
「It’s the worst offering ever, and they are asking for it themselves, talk about incompetent…」
「And seriously, it’s the Non-black-haired Princesses they should really be worried about. And also Slime-san?」
「Imagine thinking you can torture those four? No idea if that’s brave or suicidal..」
「We don’t condone assault or anything, but… They are literally requesting the specialist in that sphere….」
「「「Demanding the strongest unit in all of violation warfare, they’re seriously overestimating their own 『Violation power』!」」」
「Like, all that talk about the dread of the Church, just doesn’t have an impact when it’s all that there is to it?~ True dread lurks in ordinary everyday life. Like the Sex King cooking dinner in the next room.」
「「「Anyway, Arianna-san isn’t even involved, so of course we wouldn’t be mad at you. Thanks for telling us.」」」
「…Even if our beliefs differ, I’m still part of the Church. If I can’t stop sinful depravity of the Church, then I too should be held accountable…」
「「「Please stop thinking that way! We’re around someone who commits massive depravity like breathing! If we get lumped in with that habitual sinner, we’ll all go down together! We’re begging you, no more guilt by association! We’ll take conspiracy charges if we have to, but no collective punishment!」」」
We all got dragged into this other world teleportation together, the entire class, didn’t we? I mean, aren’t these the very same people who gorge themselves on absurd amounts of food like they’re breathing? Ordering extra outfits non-stop, grabbing seconds like gluttons with zero restraint, throwing tantrums if refused and devouring all the desserts, then breaking into high-intensity aerobic dance. And then they’ll start fighting over pudding sizes out of jealousy, all while their feminine charm plummets from sloth… They’re practically habitual offenders, already at the finish line for perfecting all the deadly sins?
「And then there’s… the whole matter of transferring the Frontier’s magic stones. But the thing is, the person carrying the Frontier’s surplus magic stones around is someone who 『Magic stones = MP = Firepower』 so if that gets handed over in form of destructive force… that’s basically a nuclear strike, right?」
「「「The Theocracy is in danger! Like, atomically! On MWD scale!!」」」
Wow, rude. I only used it once, okay? And besides, an important guy back in the day even said that if it’s just one shot, it might’ve been accidental and insisted we should overlook it. So yeah, let’s misfire! A good, solid saturation accidental attack, and bam, most of life’s problems are turned to ashes. A conclusion with profound meaning. Probably?
「We, who should’ve been upholding God’s teachings above all else… the Church, as an organization, have twisted God’s teachings, using God’s name under false pretenses, committing atrocious acts. And we who couldn’t stop it, who couldn’t even rise against its power, we’re equally guilty, and are enemies of the Frontier…」
No matter how many good deeds you perform, they’ll just get hijacked for politics and used as a cover for further corruption. But if you rebel, even those little acts of kindness will be destroyed. If, after all that, someone still says trashy stuff like, well, I did the right thing, so I’m not at fault, everyone would rightly abandon them. But she’s not doing that, she’s fully accepting the consequences, calling them sins, and taking responsibility. And the girls aren’t the kind to attack someone like that. I, on the other hand, love going on offense with beautiful women, but those iron balls are still out! If I move, I die!
People like to say, hypocritical action is better than no action, but those nutjobs who go around doing stuff without even caring about the consequences are the worst. They don’t even try to find out what happened, and when their fake kindness causes tragedy, they feel zero responsibility. That kind of person doesn’t even deserve to be a hypocrite. They’re just accomplices to evil, plain and simple.
「Nah, you really don’t need to apologize or beat yourself up like that with us, okay? I mean, we kind of just assume that’s what religion is. If you start acting all tragic on top of it, we honestly don’t know what to do. Back where we’re from, we had this thing called the 『Product Liability Law』 if something caused a disaster, the people who made it or gave orders for it, were expected to take responsibility. But gods, religions, and governments? They were exempt, you know? That means gods, religion, and governments were basically considered rogue elements, outlaws, that the laws can’t reach? So we don’t really care? I mean, yeah, most of the worst stuff came from them anyway, right?」
「「「Wait, is that how they actually were treated?!」」」
Look, no matter how you look at it, whether it’s a corporation, a country, or a religion, if an organization keeps messing up and doing horrible things and still refuses to take responsibility, then how could anyone possibly trust it? If it won’t even follow the law, it’s just a band of outlaws. And yeah, I’d say treating it like that is the reasonable and sane stance. Anything that causes disaster without regard for human law, that’s what you call a natural disaster. It’s no different from a hurricane or a plague. So I’d appreciate it if people stopped throwing around such slanderous language about an ordinary Highschool Boy like me, okay?
「But… surely God… I mean, yes, the Church is corrupt, but God still…」
「Look, if God just sits back and lets the Church screw things up, then either he’s too useless to stop it, too much of a bastard to care, or he doesn’t exist. It’s gotta be one of those, right? At that point, what’s the difference it makes if he exists or not?」
「…But… I mean… God is… Wait… Huh, why…?」
「In the first place, it’s because you keep putting responsibility for the stuff you do or say on a god that things get weird. Like, Sister-san, have you ever met your god? Talked to him? Went LET’S PARTY with him? No? Then he’s just a stranger to you. And doing what a stranger says is already kinda dangerous, but doing what someone you’ve never even met or spoken to supposedly said? That’s absurd. Even if someone claimed God said something, or left something behind, since you can’t confirm who it came from or if it’s real, it’s kinda meaningless. So what is the Church then? Doesn’t it already have nothing to do with god?」
Deconstruction. That’s what this kind of mental process is called, removing embedded psychological issues. It’s a psychological method created to undo brainwashed thinking and beliefs. But it never became widespread. Not because it wasn’t effective, because it was too effective. It was supposed to target malicious indoctrination, but it ended up unraveling all indoctrination. So the groups that found this inconvenient shut it down, and the concept was pretty much buried. A technique that could dismantle even the common sense of society, because that, too, was just a form of brainwashing.
It’s a technique that simply makes people critically evaluate what they’ve always believed to be 『normal』. But once it’s used, that person’s entire worldview can shatter, and it can seriously disrupt their ability to function day to day. It’s a dangerous technique.
「But… God said「He told you personally?」 Ah… but there’s this ancient teaching that 「Did god write that? Who verified that he actually did?」 W-well, it’s been passed down since ancient times… 「And those people back in those ancient times were good people? Do you know them?」 I-I heard they were respected figures, yes… 「Said who? Have you met them?」 N-no, I haven’t, but… ah… huh…?」
(You can’t, push, too far. Is, is dangerous. Human hearts, aren’t… that strong.)
No, look, it’s not like I think Sister Girl is some villain or brainwashed cultist or anything. I’m not trying to break her. But blind faith is the same as not thinking at all, that’s a dangerous belief. Just believing what you’re told without question isn’t just foolish, it’s a regression from being a sentient being. And it’s cowardly. Giving up on thinking, and blaming everything on God, that’s a cowardly way to live. Even non-sentinent lifeforms known as the Idiots don’t do that. They might be unable to think, but at least they believe in themselves and take responsibility for their own actions. Even though they are idiots.
That’s why I’m pushing her to think. She doesn’t need to understand, just think for herself. That itself is the important point. The reason people end up in a dead-end saying 『there’s nothing I can do』 is because they don’t think through things logically. But that’s just giving up responsibility.
If she wants to apologize, I want to hear it from Sister Girl herself. I don’t care what god says, and I’m not interested anyway.
In the first place, modern people don’t romanticize religion anymore. We’re well aware of all the horrors and loads of nonsense buried in its history. So even if the Church is rotten and decadent, we’re not shocked. But Sister Girl probably can’t accept that.
Because religion is all about claiming to speak for a god you’ve never even met, right? Well, even if the Old Fart came here for a conversation I’d just beat him up?
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