Few were unaware of the name Kingdom of Heaven.

But even fewer knew about the Kingdom of Heaven in detail.

Even for countries on the same continent, it was normal not to know much if they were physically distant, but this was an existence in the sky that couldn’t be physically reached at all.

There were virtually none who knew its true nature accurately, and only rumors abound.

There were even quite a few who treated the very existence of the Kingdom of Heaven as fiction, calling it a lie.

However, this was only the story of ordinary people.

The situation was somewhat different for those high up.

“Adelaide. What do you think the world’s powerful people fear most?”

“Hmm, isn’t it losing their power?”

“That’s not wrong. But there’s something much more materialistic and desperate than that.”

“What is it?”

“Losing their health.”

“Huh?”

Adelaide blinked her eyes.

Finding her reaction amusing, Maris chuckled and continued her explanation, “There are those who spend on a single meal what common people earn by scraping their bones for a lifetime. There are those who enjoy pleasure surrounded by dozens of young, beautiful people of the opposite sex. There are those who can control over ten thousand people with just one word. But you know what? Even those with so much, it all ends when they die. That’s why they cherish their bodies so desperately.”

“Isn’t that natural?”

“It is natural. Because it’s natural, it’s desperate. But there are surprisingly few ways to satisfy this desperate desire. Magic? While there are countless means to harm people, it’s not very effective in healing people. Martial arts? Consistent training certainly keeps the body healthy, but even then, if you catch a bad illness once, that’s the end. Elixirs? Medicines that can heal people via consumption are extremely rare, and even among the powerful, they have to compete with each other, so the supply is overwhelmingly insufficient compared to the demand.”

Here, Maris paused for a moment, “But holy power is different. Just by receiving that light on the body, wounds are healed, fatigue disappears, and all sorts of diseases lose their power and retreat.”

Maris said that this was the source of the Kingdom of Heaven’s influence.

“The Kingdom of Heaven dispatches clergy to the powerful on the ground. The powerful who have clergy by their side are liberated from the fear of disease, and can even slow down aging. While immortality as in legends might be impossible, it means they can achieve longevity.”

Regardless of what was being said down below, the continent’s powerful didn’t doubt the existence of the Kingdom of Heaven.

No, far from doubting, they strived to interact with them even a little and gain their favor.

The more they had and the more aged the powerful were, the more this was true.

And the easiest means to gain someone’s favor was, of course, gifts.

“This Justitia is land that a king of the Locrian Federation offered to the Kingdom of Heaven. Nominally it’s treated as federation land, and the officials running the city are federation people, but the one in the position of lord is a priest of the Kingdom of Heaven. The rules I mentioned earlier were also established by that priest.”

“So that’s why wrongdoings committed here can’t be punished carelessly outside. Because it would be ignoring the authority of the Kingdom of Heaven.”

“Correct.”

Maris sighed deeply, dropping her shoulders.

“Because of that, the inside of this city is in utter chaos. Whatever wrongdoings you commit, you’re forgiven if you just pay money, and you won’t be questioned outside for things done here. The ones with some sense move carefully, but there are many moths in the world who don’t care about tomorrow and live only for today.”

At that moment, Sophia, who had been listening silently beside them, opened her mouth, “May I ask one thing?”

“Hmm, a companion of my cousin isn’t a stranger to me either. Go ahead.”

“I understand there’s one of the Lennart dojos in this city, is that correct?”

“And?”

“Then is explaining the city’s situation in detail to Adel because of that dojo?”

At Sophia’s words, Maris’ eyes changed.

With a gaze mixed with wariness and curiosity, with the latter proportion higher, Maris asked back, “Why do you think so?”

“I understand that Maris is in an important position within the Lennart ducal family. Compared to that, Adel is from a branch family, and even her succession rights aren’t clear. But your current attitude towards Adel seems excessive, no matter how I look at it.”

“Even with the Lion Duke’s bloodline and all, in the end, she’s a person with red blood flowing. Is it too twisted to think I’m just being kind to a cousin who got involved in trouble because of me?”

“Of course, that could be the case.”

Sophia didn’t deny Maris’ words and showed a faint smile.

“I just wanted to say that in this world, there are also people for whom ‘Can you help me?’ is more effective than ‘You should cooperate because of this and that.’”

Maris fell silent.

As she didn’t open her mouth easily, as if thinking about something, one of the guards behind her spoke instead, “Please be careful with your words.”

The guard’s eyes were very sharp, but considering that Adelaide’s party were “guests” invited by Maris, his tone itself was polite.

Hearing those words, the Tin Knight’s head turned sideways slightly.

Adelaide, who met gazes with the Tin Knight, waved her hand in surprise, and Sophia quietly shook her head.

The Tin Knight returned to his original posture again.

At that moment, Maris’ silence broke, “I wasn’t particularly trying to deceive and use you. It’s just that the way nobles speak often goes around in circles like this. Can you understand, Adelaide?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

At Adelaide’s appearance, which seemed to say, “I don’t know what it is, but it’s okay for now” with her whole body, Maris burst into laughter again.

The more she saw her, the more she liked this cousin. It was a purity hard to find in the main family where all sorts of political maneuvering and scheming ran rampant.

Moreover, it seemed she had companions who would help prevent that purity from being exploited, which made her even more pleased.

“Thank you. Then, I’ll cut out the branches and get to the main point—at this rate, the continued existence of the Lennart dojo is in danger.”

Adelaide’s eyes widened as big as saucers.

***

The incident started a month ago.

While disciples of the Lennart dojo were having a company dinner at a tavern, a fight broke out with other drunk customers.

The dojo’s disciples believed in their skills and the name value of Lennart, but they met bad opponents.

The rough sailors who had come from overseas were excellent in both temperament and skill, and they didn’t know the extent of the influence the name Lion Duke had on this continent.

The tavern that became the stage for the fight turned into a mess, and one of the disciples lost his life.

The sailors’ side wasn’t unscathed either, but a defeat was a defeat, nonetheless.

The dojo’s instructors who heard this news had headaches.

It wasn’t a good look for them to intervene in their disciples’ drunken fight, but they couldn’t just let it pass silently when their disciples were half-crippled and one even lost his life.

The instructors tried to demand an apology from the sailors and the shipowner who employed them, but the other side’s move was faster.

The shipowner’s side reported the Lennart dojo, claiming “those thugs from that dojo committed violence against their ship’s crew”.

In a trial presided over by the lord directly, the rights and wrongs of the foreign sailors and the Lennart dojo were all put on the scale.

The scale tilted towards the sailors’ side. It was evidence that their crimes were greater.

The sailors involved in the incident were all sentenced to imprisonment, and the dojo people were relieved.

The problem came next.

The shipowner said he would pay for the sailors’ crimes instead and balanced the scale with money.

The priest lord accepted this, and with that, the settlement of the incident was over.

A situation where the dojo’s disciples died, but the other side paid a few coins and hushed it up.

The dojo raised an objection to the verdict, but this wasn’t accepted, and the shipowner and sailors quickly fled to the sea after loading their trade goods.

As it was an incident that attracted a lot of attention, it took only a moment for the process and result to spread.

Naturally, people began to talk.

“Even the mighty Lion Duke’s bloodline can only tuck their tails before the authority of the Kingdom of Heaven,” they said.

It was from then that all sorts of riffraff started flocking in and picking fights with people related to the dojo.

If they tried to endure and bear the insults and sneers, the level and rudeness increased endlessly, but if they responded with force, it was rather the dojo side that received punishment or had to pay fines. This was because the weight of physical violence was heavier than verbal abuse on the scale.

Moreover, unlike the dojo side with limited personnel, the other side seemed literally endless, which was also a problem.

With riffraff of unknown origin continuously picking fights, disciples and instructors alike were unable to live normal lives. Naturally, the dojo couldn’t operate properly either.

“Then, why did you come here, Maris?”

“A request for financial support came from the Justitia branch. I came in person to check the local situation, but…”

Maris sighed deeply.

“This won’t do. It’s just pouring water into a bottomless jar. In the past month, this dojo has spent over 800 gold coins. The old folks at the main house are saying we should bury all those who dare to challenge us to uphold the prestige of the bloodline, no matter how much money it takes, but from my view, the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t add up at all. We’re increasing the family’s notoriety by killing people, not only are no new disciples joining, but even existing disciples are running away one by one, and after all that killing, we’re still paying fines one after another, anyway? Why maintain this when even the authority built with blood and gold is all being taken away by the Kingdom of Heaven? We should just relocate the dojo.”

Maris wasn’t unaware of what kind of talk would circulate if the dojo was closed here.

But if they kept the dojo open here to save that crumbling honor, expenses would continue to increase endlessly.

Moreover, the more those expenses grew, the louder the voices lamenting the sunk costs would become, saying how could they withdraw when they’ve invested so much money so far.

Rather than seeing that, it was beneficial in many ways to just withdraw while it was still in the early stages.

Adelaide tilted her head at this point.

“Then, um, what exactly did you want to ask of me?”

“Creating a pretext.”

“A pretext?”

“I’d like to just pack up and leave quietly like this, but neither the local dojo people nor the old folks at the main house will listen. So, instead of fleeing weakly, we need to give a proper blow to those who looked down on this city and us. As provocatively as possible, so that the other side can get angry enough to say, ‘Are you kidding me!’ So, um.”

Maris, who had hesitated for a moment, said, “…Would you wear a mask? In my opinion, there’s nothing better to flip people’s minds than playing dumb.”

***

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