[Vol. 8] Chapter 88: What Is Right, What Is Wrong
“As for this place, it has become something like my personal resting room. Because of some special features here that can’t be moved, I usually spend most of my free time sitting quietly and meditating here, or sometimes handling… well, government-related matters. In short, this place is absolutely safe.”
“High and mighty, huh…”
Hearing this, which fit the personality of a certain Holy Knight, Violet just smiled. She didn’t say whether it was right or wrong, and quickly turned her eyes away from the busy crowd in the plaza below. Then, as if casually, she asked:
“By the way, those two Holy Knights outside… they’re not living people, are they? I couldn’t feel any signs of life or a complete soul inside them. It’s like their whole bodies are partly turned into holy energy. What are you doing, trying to keep powerful people around even after death? That kind of thing is what the [Eternal Throne] is known for.”
Hearing that, Edwina’s smile froze a little. Her eyes glanced at the dragon girl, who looked like she was silently saying, “Don’t look at me, I can’t help you,” then quickly turned back to the black-haired girl. Seeing that Violet didn’t look angry and just seemed to be calmly waiting for an answer, Edwina gave a helpless smile, shook her head, and answered honestly.
“Alright… I knew I couldn’t hide something like that from you, Miss Violet. Those two are known in the Church as Guardian Spirits. They’re a secret force the Church has built up since moving the capital and creating the Holy Order. They exist both in the old history and the current timeline you corrected.”
“Guardian Spirits are made from top-tier warriors in the Church, like Holy Knights, Cardinals, or even former Saintesses. Just before their deaths, and with their permission, their bodies are turned partly into elemental forms through holy magic. Then, through a complex ritual, part of their soul is kept in the body, creating these special beings.”
“They don’t age or die. They don’t have weak points like normal living creatures. They don’t get tired or feel fear. Their fighting power is even greater than before they died. They are the Church’s final trump card, only used in times of total crisis. Most of the time, they stay in a kind of half-sleep. The only reason they’re guarding this room is because it’s especially important.”
The black-haired girl raised her eyebrows slightly, then looked at her dragon beside her. The dragon gave a small nod, as if confirming something. Only then did she look back at Edwina, who now had her head lowered and clearly looked a bit uneasy.
“Guardian Spirits… do they still have their own thoughts?”
“Well… sort of. But it’s hard to talk with them properly. Their bodies are now partly made of holy light, and their souls are incomplete. So no matter the reason, they can’t return to normal life. Besides, in the outside world, these people are already considered dead.”
Edwina bit her lip and lowered her head even more, to the point where her chin was nearly touching her chest. She spoke honestly and without excuses:
“Miss Violet, I actually knew about this ever since I became Pope. I know you really dislike the idea of forcing the dead to remain in the world in such a twisted form. I knew that, and still chose to keep this group. If you think I should be punished for that… I won’t complain.”
“……”
Violet looked quietly at the Pope, whose head was still lowered and whose expression couldn’t be seen. After a moment of silence, she avoided the topic and asked something else instead:
“Can you tell me how many of these Guardian Spirits there are? And what level of power do they each have?”
Without any hesitation, Edwina shared what could be called one of the biggest secrets of the Goddess Church today.
“Hmm… including the two outside, there are a total of thirty-three Guardian Spirits. Thirty of them are at various levels within the ‘Legendary’ rank, and three others, who died young for different reasons, had already reached Transcendent level. They are…”
“Oh, no need to tell me all that. I’m not here to check attendance,” Violet quickly waved her hand and interrupted the Pope, stopping what was clearly going to be a long and detailed report. She and the dragon girl walked over to the sofa and sat down. Violet also patted the cushion next to her, signaling the still-stiff Holy Knight to sit too.
Impressive.
Even though Violet didn’t know about this before, it was shocking to learn the Holy Empire had hidden such a powerful force, thirty undead warriors at the Legendary level and three more at Transcendent level. That was already an incredible amount of strength.
Even among the five great nations of the world today, it would be hard to gather this many top-level fighters. And these Guardian Spirits, after years of rest, probably had trained together and developed advanced team tactics. Overall, they could be seen as equivalent to one or even two pseudo-god-level beings.
No wonder the world’s strongest nation was so powerful. Its hidden strength was clearly on a whole different level.
“Well, I think we’ve chatted enough. Let’s talk business now, how’s the list of chosen candidates coming along?”
“Ah? Uh… it’s ready…”
Edwina answered without thinking, then looked up in surprise at the two girls in front of her.
“Miss Violet… you’re not angry? What we’ve done with the Guardian Spirits is basically disrespecting life. It’s a kind of dark magic using the dead, and especially for us as followers of the Goddess, doing it on purpose is even worse…”
“Alright, alright, enough already. I didn’t even bring it up again, so why are you still stuck on it? You’re such a little old-fashioned rigid person…”
Violet shook her head with a helpless smile and explained casually.
“I only asked because I was curious. How your church runs itself, and what kind of hidden forces you keep around, as long as you’re not doing something truly horrible or evil and it doesn’t end up affecting me, I really don’t care.”
“Edwina, you are not my subordinate, you weren’t before, and you definitely aren’t now. You’re no longer that little Holy Knight. Now, you are the highest ruler of the Goddess Church and the Holy Empire. You have a responsibility to all the people of this land. The most important thing is that you act with a clear conscience and stay true to your heart…”
“If you can do that, you’re already a qualified leader.”
The priestess gave a small, warm smile.
“You’ve long since grown into a mature Holy Knight with your own sense of values and ability to make good choices. I trust your judgment. If Edwina Cecilia believes that the Guardian Spirits have a reason to exist and serve a real purpose, then I’ll respect that.”
“In the end, yes, I naturally dislike undead. But personally, I only really hate those who twist life and death for selfish or pointless reasons, especially when they hurt others to do so.”
“So then, in your eyes, why do you think the Guardian Spirits exist?”