Chapter 58: A Heart-to-Heart Talk

A human body is quite sturdy; severed limbs can still survive if treated properly, but a human body is equally fragile, and the loss of a vital organ results in immediate death.

For instance, the heart.

"The heart... my heart...!"

In the final moment before death, this phrase echoed continuously in Beric's mind, yet at the same time, he felt a lingering sense of confusion. Could souls truly exist in this world? Why did he, already dead, still possess the capacity for thought?

"To answer your question, souls do exist, and furthermore, you are not dead."

So souls really do exist after all.

Wait, I'm not dead?

"That goes without saying! If you're awake, get up already. Why are you still lying on the floor!"

Facing this sharp reprimand, Beric slowly opened his eyes.

A familiar ceiling.

He lay flat on his back upon a soft woolen rug, catching the scent of earth and fresh blood.

"My heart!"

In a panic, he scrambled to his feet, frantically patting all over his body.

There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Was it an illusion? Was everything that just happened fake? Did he actually not die at all, but merely suffer a hallucination?

Yet, when he saw the torn hole in the front of his shirt and the blood staining the fabric around it, Beric could be certain that he had indeed died just moments ago!

"Beric, you are far too flustered. What kind of composure is that in front of His Excellency?"

A gentle admonition reached his ears.

Turning his head, he saw a familiar figure kneeling beside him.

"Lord Prelate?!"

Beric stared at him in astonishment.

At this moment, the direction in which the Prelate was bowing featured a luxurious long bench, upon which a man was seated.

It was the very man who had ripped out his heart!

"Demon!"

"Demon? I'd prefer you call me an envoy... of the gods."

Kobayashi looked at the panicked Beric with amused interest, thoroughly satisfied by his trembling display of terror and fear.

"Lord Prelate, he is a heretic! He's a demon! Quick! Order someone to kill him! Hurry! Rakshasa Four Ghosts, attack! Get him!"

Beric pointed frantically at Kobayashi, shouting at the Prelate and urging the surrounding temple guards and the Rakshasa Four Ghosts forward, as if only this could vent the terror raging within his heart.

Yet, everyone remained completely motionless.

They all knelt on the ground with expressions of intense devotion, hands pressed together in prayer, paying homage to the man upon the chair.

Instead, the Prelate offered words of dissuasion: "Beric, His Excellency has already told me all about your crimes. To atone for your past deeds, you had best accept the punishment of the gods obediently."

"The punishment of the gods... Hahaha, the punishment of the gods?! There are no gods in this world! No gods!! None at all!!!"

Beric's face flushed crimson, the blood rushing to his head as the veins on his forehead bulged. Spitting as he spoke, he shrieked in frantic terror.

No matter how much he refused to admit it verbally, deep down, his convictions were already beginning to fracture.

And right now, just a tiny push was needed.

Kobayashi curled the corners of his mouth and spoke with feigned disappointment, "Ah, what a disappointment. I shouldn't have bothered resurrecting you. I even went out of my way to cure your chronic ailments, what a waste of my good intentions."

Chronic ailments?

Beric checked his body, finding it brimming with vitality and overflowing with energy, completely devoid of the debilitating exhaustion previously hollowed out by wine and lust.

"Hahaha—fake, it's all fake! You must have given me some kind of stamina-boosting drug!" Beric stubbornly refused to acknowledge the truth, retreating into self-deception.

"Honestly, if you weren't still useful, I'd really send you off to meet the Goddess right now."

Kobayashi grew somewhat impatient, waving a hand at him. "Alright, alright, just stand over there and watch for a moment."

Then, he turned his gaze back to the Prelate.

His opening remark was a reprimand.

"Though you possess a pure heart, a charitable nature, and extraordinary personal charisma that makes you deeply beloved by your followers, you are also blind to people's true characters, allowing them to run amok under the Church's protection. I truly have to wonder if you possess any ability to see through human hearts at all."

"For that, I feel deeply apologetic; the fault lies entirely with me."

The Prelate could easily have shifted the blame, claiming he was misled by malicious slander and deceitful villains, or that Beric was simply too skilled at masking his true nature. Yet, he shoulders the responsibility squarely.

An exemplary leader.

Kobayashi nodded in satisfaction and said, "Very well, then I sentence you to death."

"Understood." The Prelate accepted his fate.

Kobayashi turned his attention back to Beric, a malicious smirk playing on his lips, causing Beric—who had been plotting his escape ever since—to involuntarily shudder.

"Beric, you shall be the executioner."

"What?"

"I said, you will execute him. If you refuse, then I'll have to speak to you straight from the heart once more."

Seeing Beric hesitate, Kobayashi slowly extended his right hand forward.

As that right hand drew closer, Beric could already smell the lingering stench of blood emanating from the palm, imagining once again that beating heart about to be grasped.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Beric hastily nodded in agreement.

Drawing a guard's blade from its scabbard, he turned to the Prelate and stammered, "Lord Prelate, I'm sorry!"

The two of them were now grasshoppers tethered to the same string; no matter how desperately he had once desired to usurp the other man's position, right now he felt only a profound sense of sorrow.

After all, the demon seated above was playing with their lives on a whim.

"It's quite alright, Beric. I shall die, but at the same time, I will welcome a new birth. So there is no need for you to grieve."

Rather than showing any fear, the Prelate uttered words that left everyone utterly bewildered.

Was this that whole routine about returning to the embrace of the gods?

As a cleric, Beric was naturally familiar with the platitudes believers offered to outsiders upon a person's death, but they all knew it was a lie. The Prelate couldn't possibly be naive enough to believe it!

Dammit!

Consuming rage and terror drove him forward, and he swung the blade fiercely, lopping off the Prelate's head.

Yet, as his head rolled to the floor, the Prelate neither wept nor screamed; instead, he gazed at Beric with a gentle smile before slowly closing his eyes.

Bright crimson stained Beric's hem, and the pungent reek of blood flooded his nostrils.

Beric was terrified out of his wits.

Yet his punishment was far from over. He heard the demon upon the luxurious chair issue another command.

"Beric, put his head back onto his neck."

"Th-the head... put it back?"

Why? Was this an insult to the Prelate's corpse? What an absolute demon...

Yet, yielding to the overwhelming pressure, he had no choice but to obey.

The Prelate had already stopped breathing, and the serene, smiling face had drained of all color. He had died the moment his head was severed—of that, Beric was certain!

Trembling, he cradled the Prelate's head and gently placed it back where it belonged.

He even straightened it up nicely.

"Very well. Next, I shall perform a divine miracle for you."

Kobayashi snapped his fingers lightly.

—Resurrection!

A blinding magic circle suddenly flared into existence, yet not a single person shielded their eyes except for Beric. Everyone else stared intently, tears welling in their corners, watching the impending miracle.

Three seconds passed...

The light receded, the magic circle vanished, and the Prelate lying on the ground now had a completely healed neck as he slowly opened his eyes.

"It seems I have been resurrected. No, perhaps 'reborn' is a more fitting term."

The Prelate rose to his feet, pressed his palms together, and knelt with utmost devotion before Kobayashi: "Thank you for your grace. May the favor of the gods be with you always, O Child of God!"

"May the favor of the gods be with you always, O Child of God!" xN

Witnessing this spectacle, the others felt an even more fanatical gleam ignite in their eyes. Just like the Prelate, they pressed their palms together and knelt in absolute reverence before him.

Wait, hold on—Child of God?!

Granted, children favored by the gods were called children of God, but no matter how one looked at it, wasn't he the one taking care of that idiotic Water Goddess?

"Call me Father!"

"...What?"

"Ahem, never mind."

Kobayashi gave an awkward cough and said, "Don't call me Child of God. Just call me Lord Kobayashi; I need to keep my identity hidden for the time being."

"I see, I understand."

The Prelate nodded, as if comprehending something profound, and bowed once more: "May the favor of the gods be with you always, Lord Kobayashi!"

"Lord Kobayashi!" xN

Splendid!

Turning to look at the dumbfounded Beric, Kobayashi asked, "Well? Are you satisfied with this divine miracle? By the way, you were resurrected using this exact method just now."

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Beric's worldview was utterly shattered.

The resurrection of the dead was something that defied all reason, something even emperors a thousand years ago could not achieve. The proof was simple: if resurrection were possible, why wouldn't they use it?

And yet, right now, a miracle had unfolded before his very eyes.

"Oh my, it seems you still don't believe it. Is there anyone willing to demonstrate it for him again?"

"Me!"

"Let me do it!"

"I will!"

"Please, let me be the one!"

Though it meant certain death, everyone present scrambled and fought for the chance, because they were all individuals who had just been resurrected, firmly convinced that doing so would earn them the favor and blessing of the gods.

Suddenly, a servant lunged forward.

This person was precisely the servant who had rushed into the hall to report to him moments earlier. Without waiting for Beric to react and stop him, the servant grabbed Beric's blade-wielding hand and plunged it straight into his own chest.

"W-what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?!"

Beric screamed in horror.

Yet the servant merely wore a fanatical smile as he gasped, "Lord Beric, I... I too wish to receive the favor and... blessing of the gods."

With a dull thud, he collapsed to the floor.
Dead.

"Oh my, you actually accidentally killed someone. The Goddess is going to be angry, you know."

"N-no... it's not like that! It wasn't me! It was him, he threw himself onto the blade! Please forgive me, Goddess, please forgive me!"

Beric fell to his knees in terror, pleading loudly for mercy. It seemed he now truly believed in the existence of Goddesses and feared retribution for his past sins.

"Don't be nervous." Kobayashi patted his shoulder, soothing him. "Today is a proselytizing day, the Goddess won't hold it against you. Besides, he's merely dead. Can't you just resurrect him?"

"R-resurrect..."

As he spoke, the magic circle flared to life once more. Three seconds later, the servant sprang back to his feet, full of life and vigor.

"See? It's that simple."

With a mere snap of the fingers, a person was brought back to life.

If this wasn't a miracle performable only by a god, what else could possibly be called a miracle?

To completely subjugate someone, one must first dismantle their worldview in one fell swoop, and then help them rebuild it.

Only then would they submit with genuine sincerity.

While such iron-fisted methods were excessively brutal and risked shattering a person's psyche, the simplicity, speed, and convenience of the process suited Kobayashi's pressed timeline just right.

"So, are you going to join us willingly, or would you prefer I speak to you from the heart a bit more before you decide to join?"

Kobayashi looked at Beric with a smile of supreme benevolence.