In Another World With My Smartphone_Volume 5 Read online

  “Anyway, I can’t just abandon her like this. I’m off to go save her.”

  “Then at least let us come, too.”

  “No, if we all rush in at once it’ll only needlessly agitate them. I’ll take care of this one myself.” Having said that, I decided to take Kohaku with me just to be safe. My decision must have seemed somewhat irresponsible for a head of state, but since we didn’t know what to expect, I figured it’d be safest for me to handle it alone.

  So long as everyone tries to be the hero, wars will never end.

  “Oh, so you’re the Grand Duke of Brunhild, are you? Sorry, kid, but I don’t have time for your games right now. Go play royalty somewhere else.” I made use of Babylon to go all the way to the capital of Ramissh, only to be turned away at the front door of the Isla Temple.

  It was only to be expected, really. I had no real evidence to support my claim, after all. If some kid turned up out of nowhere and introduced himself as a monarch, I’d probably look at them funny, too.

  “Look, can you just like, go fetch the pope for me or something? There’s something important I need to talk to her about.”

  “Fetch the pope...?! Insolent brat! How dare you talk of our pope like she’s some household pet!”

  “Sorry? I don’t believe in your religion, and I’m not even a citizen of your country. I don’t see why you’re getting worked up over something like that.” I’d wanted to resolve things peacefully if possible, but the knight before me drew his sword in a fit of rage. Whoa, this guy was quick to snap. I nimbly dodged the knight’s attack, following up with a chop to knock the sword out of his hands. The metallic clang of the sword hitting the ground alerted the rest of the knights, who were swift to react as they poured out of the temple in droves.

  “What happened?!”

  “We’ve got an intruder! Some insolent brat calling himself the Grand Duke of Brunhild. He insulted the pope!”

  “He did what?!” Two, four, six, eight... Around twenty knights in total. They had me surrounded before I could even react. They sure brought out a lot of people just to subdue one kid. For a group claiming to follow a God of Light and justice, they sure didn’t seem averse to using cowardly tactics. Though, when I thought about it, a team of heroes fighting together to defeat a single monster was actually fairly common in superhero shows. I decided to just stick these guys in that category for now. “I’ll ask one more time. I, the Grand Duke of Brunhild, wish to meet with the Pope of Ramissh to discuss an important matter. Would anyone be kind enough to escort me to her?”

  “We’re not playing along with your little game, kid!” I brandished my sword, and without hesitation fired a paralysis bullet at the first knight to charge at me. Seeing him collapse on the spot, the other knights faltered for a brief moment, but quickly pulled themselves together and raised a war cry.

  Mithril in my right hand, black dragon horn in my left, I shot my way through the throng of knights with my trusty twin Brunhilds.

  I immobilized their entire force in an instant. That’s what you get for not listening to me.

  “Truly a bothersome crowd, these people.”

  “You can say that again.” I instinctively met Kohaku’s analysis with a complaint of my own. Still, what was I to do from here? My options were to just continue like this and force my way in, or...

  Deciding that this was a better course of action, I cast [Recovery] on one of the knights to undo the paralysis.

  “There’s a priest here called Nesto-what’s-his-face, right? I want you to bring him to me. If he refuses, tell him I’ll spill the secret about his head to everyone. That’ll make him understand.” I was already acquainted with that baldy priest, so I decided to seek him out first. He was more likely to hear me out than these guys were, at least.

  The knight followed my instructions, taking off with a panicked dash into the temple. Before long, a group of what I could only call paladins came out of the temple fully clad in pure white armor, with Father Nesto leading the way. Oh hey, he got a new wig.

  “Your Highness, the Grand Duke of Brunhild?! What brings you to this place?! No, before that, explain yourself! What is the meaning of this?!”

  “I told the guard that I had important business with the pope. He refused to hear me out, and then a whole group of them attacked me without warning. I simply reacted in self-defense.” So I explained, pointing at the listless knights littered on the ground.

  “Do you understand your position here? You’ve shot down soldiers of a foreign country, and are attempting illegal entry into our sacred temple. This is an international incident!”

  “And raising your sword against the ruler of a foreign country isn’t? Nice double-standards you’ve got there.” I could almost see the sparks flying as I met my eyes with Nesto’s. What a pain. This guy clearly hated me. The feeling was mutual. Whatever, I just need him to take me to the pope.

  “What is going on here?” This time it was a man wearing a gaudy robe who emerged from the temple. His hair was neatly swept-back, and he had a silly little mustache. He was the spitting image of a certain dictator. Ours would’ve been a little bit taller, though.

  “Cardinal Zeon...?” Nesto turned his head and muttered. Cardinal? If I remember right, aren’t those like a few really important guys who work directly under the pope?

  “Father Nesto, who is this man? It is most unpleasant to have him causing a commotion on our sacred temple grounds.” The cardinal clicked his tongue as he turned to face Father Nesto. Oh boy, we’ve got a live one here.

  “He, he’s... Err, I mean, this esteemed gentleman is His Highness the Grand Duke of Brunhild. He says that he wishes to meet with Her Holiness the Pope.”

  “This boy is...?!” The cardinal stared intently at me, looking me over as if appraising my worth. It made me realize something. When introducing myself as a leader, I should probably have been dressed the part. I made a mental note to ask Zanac to make me some kingly clothes next time I saw him. I honestly felt that too many people in the world judged others based on appearance alone.

  “Your Majesty the Grand Duke of Brunhild, was it?”

  “That’s me.”

  “What manner of business could a foreign ruler have with Her Eminence the Pope? If you’d like, I could relay a message to her on your behalf.”

  “Thank you, but I would much rather meet with Her Holiness in person. Could I trouble you to escort me to her, instead?” The cardinal and I clashed gazes with sly grins on our faces, each of us trying to sound the other out. I felt like I definitely couldn’t trust this guy. If my plea to rescind Phyllis’ execution were left in this guy’s hands, I didn’t think the pope would ever get to hear a thing about it.

  “...Right this way.” The cardinal invited me into the temple. I was led to a room and asked to wait there, with several paladins left behind to keep an eye on me. I sat obediently in a chair, keeping to myself as the paladins’ gazes bored a hole in my back. I was neck-deep in unfamiliar territory.

  They probably weren’t stupid enough to assault me while we were inside the temple, but doing as I was told seemed like the best course of action for the time being.

  After a short wait, the cardinal returned to the room.

  “Her Eminence the Pope will see you now. Please, right this way.” The cardinal led me around through several more corridors. The temple was unnecessarily huge. After climbing up a long staircase, we finally reached a fancy door with golden borders, beyond which was a large, spacious room.

  Lined up by the left wall were several men in robes similar to the cardinal’s, and to the right stood a row of paladins standing at attention. An elderly woman in pure white robes and a big, long hat sat with a sharp look on her face atop her raised platform. This lady was the popess, Elias Altra.

  “Welcome to my temple, Your Majesty the Grand Duke of Brunhild. I must admit to being rather startled by your abrupt visit, but as the pope, I have agreed to meet your request at an audience.”

  �
��A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Eminence. Please forgive my rudeness for barging in unannounced like this.” I lowered my head as I spoke. I wasn’t really at fault in the slightest, but I figured I should probably still apologize for beating up all their knights like that.

  “...There is much I would like to say, but let us get straight to this business of yours. Whatever has brought you all this way to my temple?”

  “Regarding the death sentence of one priest, Phyllis Rugit, I would request that the execution not be carried out.” The entire hall was filled with mumbled whispers the moment that name left my lips. The pope took note of this, and shot me an intense look.

  “What a farce this is. To think that a foreign leader would interfere in the death sentence of a convicted criminal... I cannot help but worry for the state of your kingdom.”

  “...A criminal, you say? Then tell me, what crime has she committed, exactly?”

  “Her primary offense is her advocation that our God, Lars, is a figure of make-believe. This is an unforgivable sin for a priest to commit. In addition, she is suspected of being a vampire who has already attacked several people. A being of darkness with such an evil soul must be dealt with appropriately.”

  What? Phyllis is a vampire? What’s that supposed to mean? Are they saying she hid that fact in order to become a priest and blend in?

  《Master, do not let her mislead you. That girl was, without a doubt, an ordinary human being. I would be able to recognize a vampire by the smell alone.》 Kohaku supported me through telepathy. I knew I could count on Kohaku. But still, things were starting to look pretty suspicious. Almost as if the whole thing was one big, convenient set-up.

  “That’s strange. Shouldn’t you be able to see through a vampire’s disguise like that with your God’s righteous powers?”

  “...Lars will never allow evil to go unpunished. All who defy him shall meet with divine punishment. Much like in this case.” This wasn’t “divine punishment” at all, it was just conveniently silencing dissenters. I began to suspect that this old lady already knew that Lars was a big old fraud.

  “So you claim, but haven’t there already been a number of victims? I feel that your God should have enacted his divine punishment before so many victims arose, don’t you think?”

  “Any such victims must have been carrying sins of their own. The truly devout would never have fallen prey to such evils.” This was pointless. She was making baseless claims with that backwards religious logic of hers.

  “...Then I assume you have no intention of rescinding Phyllis’ death sentence?”

  “No evil can be allowed to go unpunished. Worry not, for we shall purify the girl’s soul in the process. These very actions are naught but pure salvation for the girl.” I let out a heavy sigh. The whole thing was just so stupid. Non-believers are evil. When things go well, it’s all thanks to God’s guidance. When things aren’t going well, it’s because you don’t have enough faith. And when a system based on these beliefs allows legal murder of innocent people, it just leaves me dumbstruck and appalled.

  “This is stupid. Every one of you here is truly beyond salvation.”

  “Wha...?!” My words froze the room into total silence. Even the pope stared at me wide-eyed. I was done playing along with these jokers. Since it didn’t seem like words would be effective, I’d just do things my way instead.

  “I’ll declare it loudly for all to hear. Lars, the God of Light, does not exist. He’s a false idol, and Phyllis merely caught on to that fact. You’re free to have your own beliefs, but stop labeling anyone who disagrees with them as evil. Don’t think that being religious somehow automatically makes you better than everyone else.”

  “Silence! You will insult our God no further!” The paladins to my right all instantly moved their hands to the hilts of their swords.

  “I’m very sorry about that. So sorry, in fact, that I’d like to apologize to Him in person. Bring your god Lars before me, and I’d happily kiss his feet.” Not like they could, even if they wanted to.

  “I reject the very notion of your god, and all that he stands for. I reject any teachings that could possibly allow one to enact false justice in the name of a false idol, dooming an innocent girl to an unjust death. I’ll say it again. You have no God.”

  ◇　◇　◇

  Their religion was unusual to begin with. Despite having been around for a thousand years, it remained mostly contained within their own country. Even considering that the magic of this world made it nigh-impossible to determine an actual “divine miracle,” the fact that their religion had barely spread at all was plenty suspicious. If I were to use healing magic back in my own world, a new religion might spring up overnight. There would still be those who would call me a fraud, of course, but the fact would remain that I had healed a person’s wounds, leading at least that person to believe in me. However, in this world the most you’d get is a few thanks; it definitely wouldn’t be taken as a divine miracle. That was the nature of magic. That’s just how things were over here.

  They called it a religion, but living in this country you would naturally be surrounded and outnumbered by the devout everywhere you looked, leaving you with no choice but to follow suit. It wasn’t about whether you really believed in the god or not; it looked more like a form of mind control in this case.

  One important thing to note was that not a single country had formed an alliance with Ramissh. This country — or rather, the ground that the country rested on — might have been hiding something.

  Taking Belfast as a comparison, the people there placed more faith in fairies than Gods. People who had met fairies could be found here and there, but nobody would claim to have met a God. According to the God that I knew, fairies were like the Gods’ servants’ servants or something.

  At any rate, it was pointless to compare this religion to any of those from my old world. Heck, I still couldn’t even be sure if this planet was round like Earth was.

  Compared to the religions I knew, this one felt obviously different and horribly warped. It didn’t seem like it was meant to lead people to salvation, or even just offer some peace of mind, at all. All I got from them was that they hated anyone who disagreed with them.

  Coming to the country myself had only helped solidify that impression. There was clearly more to this country than it seemed.

  “...And that’s why I let myself get caught on purpose.”

  “I... see.” I explained my plot to Kohaku as we sat together in an underground prison cell. I swear I’m not just trying to save face. After my outburst, I was one-sidedly labeled a villain. Naturally I’d be able to gather evidence after being caught. ...That was definitely my plan, yeah.

  “In that case... what do you intend to do now?”

  “...Wh-What do you think I should do?” Kohaku leered at me, eyes filled with doubt. I’m joking, it’s a joke!

  “For now, Phyllis’ safety comes first. After that, we’ll gather info. Let’s go.”

  The underground prison wasn’t especially big, nor was it especially bright. It was sturdy, though. The stone walls surrounding us held firm. Is this the kind of hospitality you want to give a neighboring monarch?! I found it all a little bit excessive really. I wondered if they were going to just act like I was some miscreant who had pretended to be Brunhild’s Grand Duke.

  If that was the case, they might end up seriously trying to execute me. If someone from my country came to investigate, they could always cover it up and lie about me ever being here, too.

  Welp, better break out already.

  “[Mirage].” I created an illusory image of Kohaku and myself, and set it in a dingy prison corner. I didn’t want them thinking we escaped, after all.

  I considered using [Gate], but they’d placed down a barrier preventing that kind of magic. That stupid baldheaded priest probably tipped them off about it. But that was fine, there were other methods to escape, after all.

  “Oh, right... better conceal ourse
lves...” I used [Invisible], a very convenient spell, to turn Kohaku and myself invisible. We could see one another, but nobody else could see us.

  I then used [Modeling] to twist apart the bars of the prison and make my grand escape. Naturally I restored the bars to their original appearance after we got out, though.

  I climbed up a tight stairway and found myself in a stone passage, lined with doors. At the other end, there were even more stairs going up. We were still in the underground section, so the guardsmen were still a bit ahead.

  Each door was marked with a number, the one I had just exited was clearly cell number four.

  “Map search. Phyllis Rugit.”

  “Understood. Search completed.” My Smartphone projected a small map and pointed out the location, it seemed to be cell number eight.

  I closed my map. Even if my Smartphone was concealed by my magic, the projected image it shot out was definitely visible. It’d be bad if somebody noticed that just floating around.

  I opened up cell number eight and slowly descended the stairs into the dank underground.

  After a while, the stairs were no more, and I saw Phyllis across on the other side of the dingy room. Thank goodness, she’s still alive... Doesn’t look injured, either.

  I quickly noticed another person in the room, lying on the ground. She wasn’t alone.

  “Phyllis... Phyllis...” I didn’t want to be too loud, so I gently called out to her. After a few moments, Phyllis slowly raised her head.

  “...Wh-Who’s there? Whose voice is that voice?” Phyllis began to look around, anxiety painted on her face. I had forgotten I was invisible.

  I undid the spell, and revealed myself to her.

  “Y-Your Highness the Grand Duke?!” I completely ignored her surprise and bent open the bars with my trusty spell. I turned to the side and slipped into the cell with her. Wait a second, this jail’s slightly larger than mine! Is this a form of discrimination? Am I being oppressed?