"What's this? 'The Glorious History of the Distant Church Series'? And there are volumes from the first all the way to the hundredth!"
With the Holy Knights nearly wiped out and the Pope frozen solid, the church in a state of utter turmoil decided to temporarily shut down the cathedral.
But when dawn broke, mountains of books were piled up in the plaza before the cathedral.
Arranged so that the lavishly gilt-lettered titles were perfectly visible.
And next to the stacks of books, a sign reading "Please take as many as you like" had been propped up on its own.
The faithful, who had been told they could not enter the cathedral for some time and offer prayers, picked up the books out of curiosity, wondering what on earth could be written in them.
◇◇◇
"Is it true that the church has been committing atrocities since ancient times? I'm so disillusioned... I'm quitting the Holy Cruel faith!"
"Persecuting people just because you lost? How lame. I'm out."
Even more of the faithful flooded into the plaza before the cathedral in droves.
"Hey, isn't there still something they're hiding?!"
"Let us into the cathedral!"
The faithful who had read the exposé books pressed forward, convinced the church was hiding even more, and the situation descended into chaos on the verge of a riot.
But there were no Holy Knights left to restore order, and before long the cathedral's barricades were smashed through.
"How can this be... I believed that paying generous offerings would save me! They're nothing but common swindlers!"
"It's divine punishment! God has punished us! That's what we get for letting them make us buy the Pope's holy water — that's just bathwater, you know — for exorbitant donations!"
What the faithful who had crowded into the prayer hall — a space large enough to accommodate massive congregations — saw was the Pope himself, frozen in ice with an expression of bitter regret on his face, displayed like a piece of art.
◇◇◇
As for the books the Pope had been secretly hoarding, I used the [Replication] ability from [Truth Investigator] — the highest-rank skill in the Alchemy class — to mass-produce copies and stack them up like mountains in the plaza before the cathedral.
The [Replication] skill took care of it overnight.
Something like the crime of presenting inconvenient facts, I suppose?
Incidentally, in this other world, spreading facts that are disadvantageous to the nobility gets you executed without so much as a hearing, so it's really not something to joke about.
Also, the church was bound to descend into chaos, and dungeon raids and undead subjugation could end up falling by the wayside.
I was thinking I'd step in and handle things myself for a while if that happened, but adventurers must have caught wind of it from somewhere because they came flooding in and filled the gap on their own.
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"Marquis Mool, it sort of ended up with me taking care of the whole church situation."
"That's fine. I rather expected something of the sort would happen. The church's evil deeds have been brought to light, and that is enough for now. My son can rest in peace at last."
After the commotion at the church, I paid a visit to the Marquis Mool estate.
In truth, I never had any intention of doing anything about the church until I received the Marquis's request, but momentum carried me all the way through to the end, so here we are.
I figured I should at least let the Marquis know what happened.
Incidentally, the latest volume of "The Beautiful History of the Distant Church" series proudly documented how they had cursed and killed the previous head of the Marquis family to steal the position of Elector.
I mean, come on...
"What will you do now, Marquis?"
"First, a hunt for the remnants. I shouldn't need to borrow your strength for that much, at least. And then, Grow's education. It seems I still can't retire just yet."
The door to the Marquis's office swung open with a bang.
"Big brother, you came back?! Sign a contract with me and be my tutor!"
Grow's upturned, innocent gaze as he burst into the room was far too blinding.
Sorry, kid. My heart was already worn to shreds in my previous life, so I'm probably not cut out for that role.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
I've posted the third illustration from the book in my status update.
It's a cool illustration by Kōya!
Skills: [Reverse][Divine Eye][Sword God][Fist God][Spear God][Scorching Magic][Frost Magic][Clear Storm Magic][Rock Iron Magic][Holy Magic][Dark Magic][Space-Time Magic][Thunder God Sword][Phantom Thief Gentleman][Ninja Master][Seeker of Truth][Supernatural Strength][Pain Relief][Complete Status Ailment Resistance][Dark Spirit's Protection][Super Intuition][Heaven's Gate][Abyss Contractee][Magic Hand][Treasure Search][Seduction][Eloquence][Fortune][10× Growth Speed]
Rank: Orichalcum
Thank you for reading!