912
"A nobody who could learn news about the Patriarch?" Medici regarded him with amusement. "Although I really am short of people I can use right now, you should submit a logically coherent résumé next time."
Arnold answered frankly, "I made a mistake during the war against Loen. I was delayed, allowing people from the Church of Evernight to recover a set of Sequence 9-4 Beyonder characteristics and letting large numbers of Loen people evacuate Winter County safely with their property. We also lost a considerable amount of military supplies, and in the end, all we gained as spoils was a ruined city. Afterward, because of our defeat in the war, I couldn't be promoted in military rank, nor did I win the position of regional bishop, so I volunteered to give up all my military merits and follow the seniors from the Holy Cathedral in ascetic seclusion."
"That has nothing to do with my question."
Medici said, "You could follow people from the Holy Cathedral in ascetic practice and learn the Patriarch's movements. You must undoubtedly be a devout believer, perhaps even an ascetic—you even addressed him as the Pontiff just now. That isn't something a traitor about to betray his country should say."
"I sincerely respect the Pontiff, my seniors and mentors, and I also revere and love the God of Combat. He was once my Lord."
"I should have been a devout believer."
Arnold said calmly, "But my god died before I did."
"Mad! They've all gone mad!"
Hvin Rambis crushed a head whose features were no longer recognizable, cursing as he stood covered in blood.
At last, it was quiet around him, free of those clamorous screams, infuriating curses, and gunshots. By that moment, there was no longer anything in the banquet hall that could