Li Wei did not know much about the Holy Lord Church, but fortunately, Military Intelligence Section Seven had no shortage of experts on the subject.
A certain young nun, for instance.
"Samus... was it? Yes, I know of some records concerning that name."
Elizabeth Delaney's voice came through the receiver as calmly as ever, as though this were no trouble at all.
"However, the situation may be a little complicated..."
"That's fine. We have all night."
Li Wei watched Kia yawn and head back to her room to sleep, then sat down on the sofa beside him. Telephone calls were expensive, but he was hardly short of money. Besides, the Seventh Office would reimburse him, wouldn't it?
"All right, then... I assume you know something about the Ancient Faith, Sir Li Wei?"
"A little."
Li Wei knew what Elizabeth meant. The official, mainstream account was that the Holy Lord had defeated the other gods, then established his sole dominion for all eternity. But another version circulated among the common people: the gods could not bear to see humanity suffer from their divine wars, so they merged into one and became the Holy Lord.
Li Wei could now guess where that story had come from. Back then, Emperor Arthur had fought his way from south to north, crushing everyone he encountered, annexing other nations and absorbing their faiths. It was much like how many figures in the myths and legends of Li Wei's world had originated in conquered civilizations and peoples.
There were plausible reasons why this might have happened.
Perhaps Emperor Arthur himself had promoted this account to consolidate his rule. After all, the idea that the gods could not bear to see their worshippers suffer and had merged to form a new god was relatively easy for the defeated