Retaliation Begins.

World Era 1918, September 17.

Verona, the capital of the Bain Kingdom.

This capital, a large city with a population of 1.1 million, had fallen into stagnation. Taxes had risen excessively because of the reparations that would be drained away every year, and in this reality, many people had fallen into hardship, become debtors, and lived as if they were being chased around.

In this reality, the Rat Religion was able to grow greatly. So many people had fallen into the Rat Religion that it could be said half the capital’s population were believers of the Rat Religion. In order to forget the reality in which they had fallen into despair, everyone had no choice but to be drawn in without realizing it.

Since this was the reality, the royal family of the Bain Kingdom could not ignore the prestige of the Rat Religion’s Central Order. At a glance, they even seemed to be watching its mood, and that could be said to be because the other side was quite burdensome. Since this was the reality, openly parading through the main road also happened quite often.

“Long live the Pope!”

“May the Rat Religion be eternal!”

“Laughter is the cure for all diseases!”

Hahahahaha—!

A sight that could truly only be called peculiar was unfolding. With hundreds of thousands of people packed along the main road, they were cheering toward the Pope as he passed by in an open-topped car. Everyone was smiling. The one who created this grotesque spectacle was none other than Pope Bain of the Rat Religion.

The fact that there was one more person who claimed the title of king within a single country could not help but be a fairly unusual sight. The royal family seemed strange for not taking measures despite knowing this fact, but if one saw the scene now, one would likely think they had no choice.

Should it be called madness? Everyone was following the Pope as if he were the hope of their lives. In response to these people’s reactions, Pope Bain was naturally receiving their cheers. He could be called someone who was rational, but at the same time had a greedy personality.

‘How truly gratifying. If I see this sight, one day I will be able to become the pontiff of the Rat Religion. When that time comes, even the empires will have to watch my mood. Huhuhu.’

After being Pope, he was even aiming for the position of pontiff. He thought that if far more believers than now increased, then he would ascend to the position of pontiff without watching anyone’s mood, possess even greater prosperity than now, and hear even greater cheers.

‘First, to do that, I must completely place the Bain Kingdom within my influence.’

When he saw the sight of hundreds of thousands of people following him, he thought that was only a matter of time. To them, he was their final hope. Because he was such a hope, the royal family of the Bain Kingdom had no choice but to leave him alone and watch.

When he, the Pope, raised his hand, the Waaahhh—! cheers grew even louder. And soon after, it was filled with hahahaha! laughter. Even he thought it was a strange sight, but when he thought that such a thing gave him power, he naturally felt pleased.

“Pope, please look here!”

“O Pope, please bestow happiness upon us!”

“We believe in you, Pope!”

“For the happiness of this world! May the Rat Religion be eternal!”

Many people were shouting aloud. They said that the Rat Religion had to be eternal, and that they believed in the Pope. Seeing them like that, he waved his hand even more and moved along with a proud heart. Meanwhile, at this prestige, the nobles of the Bain Kingdom had no choice but to have displeased looks on their faces.

On a terrace located between tall buildings, nobles were drinking tea as if they were noble. As they did, they clicked their tongues. They were displeased with the actions of those people openly parading. They wanted to punish those who dared call themselves king, but to do that, the prestige of the Rat Religion was far too enormous.

How long did they have to watch such an outrageous thing? Inwardly, they wanted to mobilize the army and sweep them away, but to do that, the circumstances of the Bain Kingdom were difficult. Since the reality was so difficult that even the army was hard to mobilize properly, one wrong move could split the country in two and cause civil war.

If that happened, the kingdom’s situation would become even more miserable. Thus, many nobles were displeased with this reality, but they had no choice but to merely chatter with words like grumbling. Amid this parade where many emotions came and went, there was someone who suddenly targeted the place where the Pope was passing.

Someone was positioned on a rooftop no one knew how he had climbed. It was not a flat rooftop, but a rooftop in the form of a raised tower. Someone was positioned in a place where there was not even proper space for a person to stand. Looking closely, his feet were wedged between gaps, supporting him.

In the hands of the man who stood silently without making any sound was a sniper rifle. Without even his gaze wavering, what was visible in the scope was Pope Bain waving his hand. It was aimed precisely at his head.

He was moving gradually along the main road, and the more he did, the closer he came within the sniper rifle’s range. And just as the finger hooked on the trigger was slowly about to move, the eyes of the one holding the sniper rifle turned to the side as if he sensed something.

“You are truly an impure one.”

Someone was standing a little distance away. Looking closely, the shape of his pupils was a blue +. He was a holy knight of the Rat Religion. Somehow, he had discovered the assassin and appeared here. The one who saw this showed no agitation and only pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

The instant the gunshot burst out, the holy knight’s hand stretched into the air. In that instant, the mace cut through the air and deflected the bullet flying toward him. The man, having failed to accomplish his goal, immediately turned the muzzle toward the holy knight, quickly clack! finished reloading, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

“Holy Shield!”

There was shamelessness in the sight of him shouting after the barrier of light had blocked the bullet. Then he immediately kicked off the ground, clenched his fist, and charged in. At that sight, the man tried to dodge quickly, but the opponent’s movement was much faster. Puh-eok! Along with a strong impact, his body was sent flying.

At the sight of him falling as if plunging down, it seemed obvious at a glance that he would die instantly. But the falling man did not have even the slightest fear. As if resisting to the very end, he simply reloaded the sniper rifle in his hand again and shot toward the holy knight.

Bang!

The holy knight, who easily blocked the flying bullet, was looking at the falling man as if finding it strange. In his gaze, he saw the man plummeting toward the ground, falling straight to the floor and dying instantly. Below, perhaps because they were shocked by this situation, screams began to fill the area.

It was already a chaotic situation because of the gunshots alone. But at that moment, bang! A gunshot was heard again. When he turned his gaze at that fact, he saw someone standing on another rooftop holding a sniper rifle. There had been another assassin.

At that sight, the holy knight shouted, “You bastard!” and kicked off the rooftop, beginning to cross over the buildings. Amid that sight, the ground was filled with great chaos. In this confusion, the Pope had not been hit by the bullet, but someone protecting the surroundings had been hit by the bullet instead, causing a defensive response.

Amid the sight of the Pope hastily evacuating, hundreds of thousands of people had no choice but to scatter in panic with screams.

“Who on earth targeted me!”

Pope Bain was full of anger. In his expression, there was an emotion of fear that could not be hidden. Who in life would ever experience being assassinated? When he thought of the person who had died right beside him in his place, even now his heart could not help but grow cold.

“Pope, I think… you should see this.”

“What is that?”

“Well, it seems to be a note that was placed on a stone at the place where the assassin was. It seems to be openly delivering a message to you, Pope.”

It was a small piece of stationery. And on it was one sentence, containing a warning as if they knew they would fail.

『One must suffer the same thing one has done. From now on, await a time of fear.』

“What does this mean? What I have done? And that I must suffer the same thing? Who is doing this kind of thing!”

“We also did not know what it meant at first when we saw this writing, but it seems to be the work of the Polia Kingdom.”

“The Polia Kingdom?! Are you saying they sent assassins after me!”

“Yes, it seems so. If it says what was done, it seems they used what our side did as a pretext and did the same thing.”

“D-daring to target me, do they think they can do this and remain unharmed! On top of that, even though it was not something I did, they are doing this. I cannot forgive them!”

The Pope was greatly angry. Inwardly, he felt wronged. It had happened in a situation where others had acted as they pleased, not by an order he had given, and at the same time, his anger from having the same thing done to him could not help but be great.

“Send holy knights to the King of Polia at once! Tell them to assassinate him!”

“P-Pope, please calm yourself. If we send the few holy knights we have, they will fail like before.”

“Then are you saying I should stay still like this! They aimed for my life. This is something I absolutely cannot forgive!”

“First, we must attack step by step. First, we must let the whole world know the vile act they committed. It is necessary to publicize their vileness.”

“That is right. Everyone else must also know what they did! Everyone will know this fact and condemn the King of Polia!”

It was a fairly brazen sight. Were they saying this even while knowing that their side had targeted the queen first? From the start, because they thought the people below them had done it at will and not themselves, they thought it was not their fault.

But did they know? The path of retaliation had only just begun. The retaliatory operation of the Polia Kingdom’s intelligence department, the Mauter, had only just begun. At that moment, Kuuung—! they heard a roaring explosion. Since it was an explosion that even shook the building, everyone had no choice but to be flustered.

“Wh-what is this?”

“It seems to be an e-explosion.”

“For now, it would be best to avoid it!”

“Y-yes, let us do that.”

For now, it seemed they had to leave this building. All kinds of screams were already being heard outside. Everyone was trying to take refuge outside, and amid this, he, the Pope, was leaving the building while being escorted.

Was it the moment when everyone had just come out of the building like that? Someone beside him suddenly blocked the Pope’s front. Ting! Something bounced off and embedded itself in the ground. On the face of the holy knight, who was watching one place while holding his mace, anger settled. The people around them also had no choice but to be horrified.

What had flown in a moment ago was clearly a bullet. The assassin’s sniping had begun once again.

“What!?”

“R-run away!”

“Where are you telling me to run!?”

The building had exploded, and fire and smoke were rising, so they could not enter it, while the surroundings were chaotic with many people. Amid this, bullets were even flying in, so the situation had no choice but to become even more chaotic. As the holy knight seemed about to shoot out immediately, someone nearby stopped him.

“Do not go anywhere, and the holy knight must protect the Pope!”

At this shout, the holy knight who had been about to rush out had no choice but to hesitate. At that moment, another bullet flew in. In response, he raised his mace and blocked it. However, it was not one or two shots; several bullets kept flying in from several directions.

Against this attack, the holy knight had to quickly swing his mace and block the bullets. As for the Pope, he had no choice but to be horrified by the fact that those bullets were targeting him. At the fact that he could die if something went wrong, he had no choice but to show the ugly sight of collapsing to the ground.

If someone took a picture of this sight with a camera, the expressions of the believers would be worth seeing. In any case, amid the situation where all the bullets had been blocked, before long no more bullets flew in. Perhaps they could no longer shoot because they had a limited number of bullets.

Even if the holy knight wanted to run out at this fact, he had to protect the Pope, so he had no choice but to keep his position quietly. No bullets were flying in, but only after they formed a human wall and entered another building could everyone feel relieved.

Even in this situation, the holy knight had to protect the Pope, so he had no choice but to stay quietly at his side. In such a situation, the mercenaries hired by the Rat Religion began moving in large numbers belatedly to chase after the assassins.

When they arrived at the rooftops from which the bullets had flown, the assassins were already nowhere to be seen. However, this time as well, a note had been placed there on top of a small stone. This was immediately delivered to the Pope, and the contents were like this.

『The time of fear will continue until death approaches.』

“Th-these bastards! I cannot forgive them!”

The Pope of the Rat Religion shouted as if having a fit. And immediately, he showed movement to inform the public of this fact. Starting with the Bain Kingdom, this fact was also made known to all the kingdoms and empires where the Rat Religion was established. Before long, all newspapers across the continent contained content related to the assassination.

「The King of the Polia Kingdom Sent Assassins Toward the Pope of the Rat Religion!?」

「Pope Bain Strongly Condemns King Polia, Who Gave Such an Order!」

「A Boycott Movement Against Polia Kingdom Products Blows Within the Rat Religion!」

「Rat Religion Believers Pour Fierce Condemnation on the Polia Kingdom. Stop This Madness at Once!」

At these newspaper editorials, many people initially felt, What is going on? The actions of the king of the Polia Kingdom, sending assassins toward the Pope of the Rat Religion, were unprecedented in themselves, so everyone had no choice but to be bewildered.

However, they were soon able to realize the hidden meaning. Everyone knew what had happened previously in the Polia Kingdom. This fact meant that the mastermind was the Pope of the Rat Religion. Naturally, when rumors spread that the Pope of the Rat Religion might be the mastermind behind the assassination incident targeting the queen, the believers strongly denied it.

Rather, they showed the appearance of protesting fiercely. However, the leadership of each nation was able to realize to a certain extent that it was true. Once they came to know why this act had been done, the act of sending assassins itself could not help but be understood.

Instead, the gazes of each nation toward the Rat Religion had no choice but to grow cold. That was how much targeting royalty itself was the worst thing for them.