Miss Otto Has No Morals

"Bishop..."

Kallen sighed and put her hand to her forehead as she suddenly realized something.

"Your Excellency... Schicksal... Hey, Otto, has Schicksal become a cancer on all of Europe?"

Kallen's horizons were broadened by Liu Bai and her biological father Francis throughout her life, so she is not as naive as she was in the original timeline.

"Maybe?"

Otto was quite pleased with Kallen's awareness—or rather, Otto would have been troubled if Kallen hadn't been so aware.

"... Shouldn't we be an organization that protects the people?"

"That's ancient history, Kallen."

Chapter 265 Miss Otto Has No Morals

"Otto, you've come."

Archbishop of Schicksal Nicholas of Destiny looked down at the two young men with his cloudy eyes.

"And the head of the Kallen family..."

"Yes, Father."

Otto bowed slightly and waited for the old man, who was his father, to say something.

Over the years, his father has become increasingly frail and old.

Or perhaps it was the blow of this failed eastern expedition that made this warlord so old and decrepit?

"The Eastern Expedition has failed..."

"The immortals of Shenzhou are too powerful. Their history is even longer than that of the Heavenly Schicksal. Faced with such an enemy, the defeat of the Schicksal is only natural."

Otto answered calmly, while Kallen beside him kept a straight face, pretending to be a tree.

"... Yes, that's a reason that can convince me."

Nicholas nodded, but then Nicholas tone turned somber.

"But this reason cannot convince our allies... They don't care how strong the immortals of Shenzhou are; they only know that the strongest military force of Schicksal in a thousand years has suffered a crushing defeat in the East."

Rather than saying they returned in defeat, it would be more accurate to say they were completely annihilated in one fell swoop.

Otto was inwardly sarcastic, but his face still showed a respectful listening expression.

"Our allies could turn into hungry wolves at any moment and bite off a piece of flesh from our three families."

Nicholas's tone was very heavy.

"We also have Valkyrie," Otto replied, feigning ignorance.

"... You don't need to pretend to be like your second brother."

Nicholas coughed a few times. "You should know that if our allies really decide to attack us, they can bring out the so-called Valkyrie."

It was only in recent years, through the spread of the Black Death and the Honkai, that Schicksal came to control all of Europe; before that, Schicksal's influence was limited.

So these days, is it a big deal for kingdoms and duchies to keep Valkyrie at home? At most, they just don't have dedicated weaponry.

Besides, you can easily cobble together weapons after winning a couple of local skirmishes, right? Do you even understand what "captured weapons" means?

Moreover, in this day and age, Schicksal hasn't completely separated from worldly affairs by technological gap...

"... Has things gotten that bad?"

After being told that by his own father, Otto could no longer keep up the pretense.

"There has already been friction between Hungary and the Habsburg family."

Nicholas sat down in a chair, feeling somewhat exhausted.

"If it is not stopped, the war may soon spread to Vienna."

"Changing the puppet might not be a bad thing."

Otto said softly.

This made Nicholas look up at his daughter, who was usually the least noticeable person in the world.

In the past, I just thought she was intelligent and quick-witted... but now it seems that my daughter is much more ruthless than I imagined.

Why should we get involved in worldly struggles? Are we not strong enough to protect ourselves? Or have we lost confidence in winning within the rules?

With the Church's authority and military force, we may be too weakened to defeat the whole of Europe, but we still can't defeat you alone?

"...Good idea. Although there may be temporary losses, changing the puppet might not be a bad thing."

Nicholas lowered his eyes.

I'm sure I'm getting old and my eyesight is failing me; I've actually made a mistake.

Otto, his youngest daughter... not only inherited her mother's shrewdness and his own cunning, but was even more ruthless than him... the student has surpassed the master.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Nicholas changed the subject.

"I heard you had a conflict with Father Viktor over indulgences?"

"Yes, forcing people to buy indulgences is rather shameless."

Otto nodded, and Kallen, who was pretending to be a tree, had a slight change in her eyes.

"... This is a necessary step; Schicksal needs to recover its strength as soon as possible."

Nicholas spoke slowly; he had been burdened with too much on his shoulders lately.

"I'll remind him to tone it down a bit... Alright, you two can go back now."

"How..." Kallen couldn't keep up the act after hearing Nicholas's perfunctory answer, and immediately wanted to explode.

However, Otto grabbed him and dragged him outside.

"Otto, why are you stopping me!"

Once outside, Kallen could no longer contain herself and shook off Otto's hand, demanding an explanation.

It's clear that Kallen is really angry.

"Does what you say matter? Unless you're planning a rebellion, a rebellion against the entire Schicksal, a rebellion against your Kaslana family—the indulgences were proposed by the Apocalypse Family, but the benefit comes from the entire Schicksal."

"..."

Kallen paused.

Although she didn't believe her father would take advantage of her, she was realistic; her family wasn't just her and her dad.

Brothers and sisters of the same generation, uncles and elders above, and followers of the Kaslana family below... This is a thousand-year-old noble family. It's obvious that it's not a single line of succession or that the one who didn't become the head of the family was killed.

She only understood this after she became the head of the family. Although it was coercion in a sense, what could she do?

"... I acted impulsively."

Kallen rubbed her forehead, looking utterly dejected.

"Life goes on. You can't stop the indulgences, but you can annoy them," Otto reassured him.

"Rob the rich to help the poor?" Kallen immediately laughed again. "Yes! Since they are so brazenly accumulating wealth, then I'll help them distribute it!"

Otto was also very satisfied to see Kallen's excited expression.

"I'm going back now. Kallen, remember not to talk about this."

"Don't worry, don't worry! I know what I'm doing!"

Watching Kallen skip and hop home, Otto shook his head with a wry smile.

"... Otto, you don't actually want the indulgences to stop, do you?"

Otto was startled by Liu Bai's sudden voice.

"... It's more accurate to say that you very much hope that Schicksal will continue to issue indulgences."

"No, Your Lord God, I..." Otto's face showed a look of panic.

"Don't forget who watched you grow up," Liu Bai said softly.

Upon hearing this, Otto immediately wore a helpless, bitter smile.

That's right, Liu Bai was right.

Compared to Kallen, who is full of morals and wants to stop the indulgences, Otto says that he has no morals at all.

Forget about forced buying and selling; Otto would rather the Schicksal lead its people to ransack homes and plunder the land, and then bring on natural disasters and man-made calamities, ideally leaving bones exposed in the wilderness and not a rooster crowing for miles—that way, the lower levels of the Schicksal would be in complete chaos!

"... Only Schicksal issues indulgences can the lower classes cause chaos."

Otto concealed his dangerous thoughts and expressed them as harmlessly as possible.

"That will be the best time to overthrow the corrupt Schicksal."

"Revolt? But you yourself are also a member of Schicksal."

"I'm just a powerless and weak woman, who would recognize me? Is it difficult for me to put on makeup, change my appearance, and infiltrate the rebel army? I can even bring Kallen along," Otto said self-deprecatingly.

If you really recognize someone, then find a pretext to kill them. Dying in the chaos of battle is not a new excuse.

"... What happens after overthrowing the Schicksal?" Liu Bai felt something was off.

"Find an excuse to clean up my act, get back on track, and start Schicksal."

Otto shrugged. This was her plan B. If her two older brothers and sisters didn't dare to lay a hand on their father, this was a way to make them look decent.

If she were re-established in this way, wouldn't she naturally become the Archbishop of Schicksal?

"... Is it that easy to clean up one's act and get out of trouble?"

"There are still people stupid enough to go bankrupt buying indulgences these days, so is it really that hard for me to clear my name and get out of trouble?"

Otto retorted naturally.

"..."

Liu Bai remained silent. The current Otto was becoming more and more like the Otto he remembered. Although he still possessed some arrogant and aloof qualities, his actions...

However, Otto actually had some things he didn't say.

He infiltrated the rebel army, created a new god for them, and incidentally established a new religious sect.

What? You're saying that the people who are oppressed by the church could never accept a new denomination?

No, no, no. Based on Otto's experience over the years, if there were to be a rebellion, the rebels would most likely accept a new denomination and a new god. To put it bluntly, the rebellion might even be anti-religious but not anti-god.

This is a spiritual refuge. The church is the church, but God still loves the world!

However, on the other hand, some people may believe in God their whole lives but still not know what kind of God they believe in.

So Otto figured that even if it might be difficult to establish a new sect, he could simply change the contents of Lord God's body so that the rebels wouldn't even notice.

Well, Otto's idea is that he doesn't treat ordinary people as human beings. Otto himself is aware of this, so he didn't dare to tell Liu Bai.

"... You're not human!"

Liu Bai couldn't help but say.

"Aren't you now a legitimate candidate for the position of Bishop of Schicksal?"

Otto's claim of being powerless and without influence is true—she really has no power in Schicksal.

The problem is that once Otto's talent begins to shine, no one can stop him.

If Otto hadn't been so fixated on Kallen in the original timeline, he would have been the Archbishop of Schicksal long ago, wouldn't he?

Nicholas had already begun grooming Otto as his successor, but Otto was completely focused on Kallen, which made Nicholas feel that the boy was wasting his time. So, Nicholas eventually had no choice but to pass the position to his grandson.

Moreover, Otto now has a bunch of strong supporters around him, such as Kallen and Cheng Lingshuang. One is power and the other is fist. With the two combined, who can stop Schicksal?

"If we really compete, then we'll inevitably end up following in the footsteps of Emperor Taizong of Tang of Shenzhou."

Otto's expression was quite strange.

She knew her own thoughts; from beginning to end, she never wanted to be a "family killer."

Not for any other reason than to maintain their image in the eyes of the Lord God.

According to her plan, Plan A should be to sit back and watch the two fight it out, wait for her sister or brother to kill her father, then have the two of them decide a winner, and finally she would clean up the mess.