Translator: Silver  Editor: Namorax

「Prologue」

The Southern Continent beyond the Southern Sea.

While a majority of the continent remained unexplored by humans, the former united Leburan Empire had sent an expedition to settle the western cape of the continent.

After the empire had splintered into its western and eastern parts, the human colonies that had been built began to supply the mainland empires with highly valued spices and seasonings.

The largest and most prosperous of these human colonies had been the port city Tajiento.

A building that took up a considerable amount of s.p.a.ce in the city was the main church of the Hiruku religion with an attached mansion, to which the two major piers lead to.

However, with its red-bricked mosaics and other flourishes, the architecture of this church was different from that of the mainland churches. The sheer height and size of the building eclipsed the rest of the city.

Even the mansion built next to the church was more exquisite than the residence of Tajiento’s governor, who had been appointed by the Emperor himself.

In one of the three-story tall rooms of the mansion, an incredibly obese and rather ugly man was sitting in a chair with a displeased expression on his face.

The man’s overweight physique well exceeded that of an ordinary man’s, to the point where even the st.u.r.dy chair he sat in creaked whenever he moved.

The man’s bald head, beady eyes and plump cheeks gave him a frog-like appearance as he stared down at the two men kneeling before him.

“In order to carry out the will of the Pope, I and the man behind me have been a.s.signed to work under you, Charos-sama. We shall carry out the Pope’s wish as Charos-sama desires.”

The man dressed in the robes of a Hiruku priest gently smiled while maintaining a respectful bow toward the large man called Charos.

The man standing behind the priest was dressed in black had lowered his head as well.

The frog-like man was one of the seven cardinals of the Hiruku religion, Charos Acadia Industria.

He was currently the highest-ranking representative of the Hiruku church on the Southern Continent.

“I understand, I understand! Carry out your duty unimpeded, and get that beast behind you out of this sacred place! Hurry and remove it from the premises before its foul stench taints this mansion!”

Charos glared at the man in black behind the priest as he urged the two men to leave with a wave of his hand.

The man wearing the black hood showed no reaction to the insult, but the long black tail growing out of his lower back did wave back and forth a bit.

Charos seemed displeased by this and snorted at the hooded man before turning to the priest.

However, when the two faced each other, the priest met the cardinal’s foul mood with a smile and visible grat.i.tude before he and the hooded man left the room.

Charos snorted again as he saw them leaving.

“I thought I could indulge a bit while being away from the noisy mainland, but I can’t eat a thing If Tajiento collapses under my watch…… I’ve been here so long, though, that I have no idea what the Pope is thinking.”

Charos’ ma.s.sive protruding belly shook as he let out a grand sign and became silent for a moment.

Suddenly Charos’ stomach shook and he raised his head as if he’d thought of something good.

“That’s it! There are about 10,000 soldiers underneath this place, so it shouldn’t cost much to loan that man a hundred subordinates! That way Tajiento will be protected and I’ll be carrying out the Pope’s will. I really amaze myself with my own genius sometimes!”

Charos leaped from his chair with speed unexpected of his fat body while laughing a strange laugh after muttering his soliloquy and self-praise.

“Since it’ll be the church that prevents this decrepit Tajiento from falling into ruin, my reward should be rather substantial.”

In a coaxing voice this repulsive frog-like man continued to praise himself as he returned to his sleeping quarters and asked one of the servants to entertain him as he drifted off.