Arc 3 - Chapter 31: It's Great to See You Again (2/2)

"You gave information about Verryho, do you know anything about the others?"

Link was the one of them who knew the most about Mora, if anyone in this room knew them, it was Link.

"I don't know him, but Ravin is probably one of the dishonorable priests of the Aquarian Cathedral. He's probably involved in money laundering through the churches. I've been to this city many times before, but I've never heard of Leshua von Shimie. Probably he is one of the people who got rich after the war started. I don't want to judge people by their appearance, but when I see him among men like Verryho and Ravin, he doesn't inspire confidence. I don't know anything about that old man."

"Do some research on them."

If they had to have a council, he didn't want them to be its members. If he could, he would make Yurine the sole judge; if not, he would create a council he could control.

His first thought was to kill the current councilors at intervals. He thought of using the poison in his blood for this, but that would be risky.

The experiment they had done on the rinos using Bart's corpse had shown that the poison did not infect the rinos, but he still needed to do more experiments. He didn't want to accidentally poison his friends, especially Yurine.

So he would look for different ways to kill them.

"It is a stain on the Virgo Cathedral that the brothel whore is even in our council," Sivina said. Yu spoke after nodding his head in agreement.

"I want the roarons to stand guard outside this door and in the corridors at all times. I want a roaron warrior to stand guard wherever Yurine goes."

After telling Kigaro his wishes, he turned to Ana.

"I made you a priestess, but you don't have to do anything with the priesthood right now, you will be a guard with Yurine."

"What about me?" Sivina asked.

Their current priority was to build an army and to come out of nowhere and offer Cornelia their help. He wanted Sivina's help in building an army.

"We'll build an army, you'll help me. Link will help us when he's done with his own work. Our priority now is to retake Vermia, the city they lost. I think we have enough money to build an army, but we have to be fast, keep that in mind. It will be funny if we build an army and go to Vermia and Cornelia says 'we've already taken the city.'"

But the chances of that happening were slim. Sieges lasted for months, and Vermia was not even close to falling. On the contrary, there was enough food behind the city walls to last them until the end of summer.

No cathedral had ever supported Cornelia. Cornelia had built her current army by selling the family's possessions outside Vermia, and they had no supporters to provide them with food. Yurine would look like a hero for coming to Cornelia's aid.

"Are we even ready for a war?" Sivina asked.

"Vermia should be in the Vermilia family. The Vermilians are the only supporters of the cathedral. You see, neither they nor we are taken seriously when their city is in someone else's hands."

"And will the next head of the family support us?" asked Link.

"If we come to her aid, why wouldn't Cornelia support us? She had been abandoned by the whole country, I still can't understand why."

The Pontifex and Leoral were friends, but when Vermia fell, the Church of Andromeda did nothing to help retake the city.

"Because the Pontifex does not make all the decisions alone. The Pontifex, the people around the former Pontifex, have a huge influence on the decisions. It is because of those people that the Zodianist side has decayed."

"And one of those people is now the head of the country?"

Link nodded in agreement.

"Besides, by law, a son comes before a daughter, Cecilus dri Vermilia is the new head of the Vermilias. I know Cornelia has her supporters, but wouldn't supporting her cause war within the family? You said they are our only supporters, are we going to make them fight amongst themselves?"

"Not if I can help it."

Yurine gave him a puzzled look, but he didn't budge.

"What you said sounded a bit complicated," Kigaro said. "When you say no, if possible..."

"Cecilus is the prime suspect in Rie's death and I don't think he likes Virgo Cathedral."

"What did you say?" Link took a step towards Yu. "Cecilus dri Vermilia killed the previous cardinal?"

Everyone looked at Yurine for a moment. Yurine wrapped her arms around Yu's waist and tried to avoid the stares.

"Yes, but don't tell anyone. When Leoral appointed Cornelia to our council, he named Cecilus as his heir even at the last moment. The idiot... If Cecilus takes over, it's only a matter of time before he pulls support from Virgo Cathedral."

"When you said no, if possible, you meant to put Cornelia in charge without provoking a civil war. The only way I can think of to do that..."

"Yes, Ana. I don't think Cecilus will give up his rights voluntarily. The only way is to kill him."

Yurine rested her head on Yu's chest, listening to his heartbeat. When it came to killing Cecilus, she decided to speak.

"He has to die, we have to avenge my mother. My mother's blood will not stay on the ground."

Yu smiled at Yurine as he stroked her head. Link sat down on a table to avoid continuing the conversation standing up.

"Will Cornelia let you kill your brother?"

"I don't think it would be difficult to talk Cornelia into putting Cecilus on trial. After all, not having Cecilus means she will become a duchess. Why would she refuse? It would serve her interests too."

"Would you kill your own brother to become a duke?"

"If by brother you mean my sisters, no, I wouldn't do that. If by brother you mean Cecilus... I mean, I wouldn't care much if a brother like Cecilus. He is a person who just killed a woman because he was rejected by her."

He was studying Link's face carefully now. He wondered if he would tell Cecilus that they were going to try to kill him. It was a good opportunity to see Link's loyalty.

"Once we return from the siege and make Cornelia a duchess, we'll deal with the rotten eggs in the city."

"The rotten eggs here were brought here by the Church of Andromeda. It would be easier to take the city than to get rid of them. I'll be honest..."

Link lowered his voice, the roarons were standing guard at the door of the room, but Link wanted to make sure that what he said didn't reach the ears of strangers.

"The Church of Andromeda used to be a half-rotten apple, and the non-rotten part of it was Tauntis. Now both the Church of Andromeda and the Zodianist side are completely rotten apples. We were already losers in the war, the current government may be people who are only interested in lining their pockets and running away before they lose the war. I don't think the people who have already put the country in this situation will win the war."

"So we've suddenly joined the losing side..." Ana sighed.

"Do you regret accepting my job offer? I'm sorry, I didn't know the Zodyanist side would lose. Frankly, if I had known the Zodyanists were a rotten bunch, we would have joined the royal side."

"You think so?" Link asked.

He had never been interested in the interests of a religion. For Yu, joining the Zodian side was just a ladder on the way to his ambitions.

"I should have done more research before coming here."

He could not allow Zodianism to corrupt and degrade them too.

"I don't care about Azer, I don't care about the state of the great religion of Zodyanism. Yurine is here because she wants to fulfill her mother's dying wish and bring peace to the kingdom. I am here because Yurine is here. If peace comes to the kingdom, does it matter whether it comes from Yu Zao or the Pontifex? Cardinal Rie wanted to fulfill her wish under the Zodianism because that was the way things worked out for her. I'm sure she wouldn't have cared whose hand peace would come from."

He knew nothing about Rie's request, he was making it up as he went along. He was also wondering whether it would be right to tell Link, he seemed to be loyal to the old Pontifex and didn't like the newcomers, but if he turned out to be a spy they would be in trouble.

"Indeed, I think we chose the wrong side," Link said.

His comment made Yu smile.

"If the Church of Andromeda has a chance to win the war, I will support them, even if it means getting involved in dark deeds. After all, our goal is not to build a peaceful country, but to gain power to cross the borders of Ethalot and reach Nekoverine. If people who have accepted defeat and want to line their pockets before the war ends are in charge, I will have to think about new things."