Familiar Person

Your Holiness, please forgive my early return.

My dear Holy Lady, your judgement is correct. You represent the Church's radiance, and it is against the majesty of God to engage in a head-on conflict with the rebels there.

And... Um, the rebels seem to have some hidden supporter.

(Interesting. An Echo Crystal with that much destructive power is definitely not something people in a remote village can own. Also, they targeted the people I sent over there...)

Leave this matter to me. Priest, bring the Holy Lady to her quarters to rest.

...Your Holiness, was there really an omission in the Church prophecies?

Who told you that? The divine prophecy conveyed by me is perfect, and those people are being punished because they have lost the faith they should have in God.

But... Did God really abandon those people?

Vivi, are you doubting God's decision, or doubting my communication?

No, I-I don't...

Looks like you have unnecessary impurities inside you. Very well, let's sweat a little and get rid of the unnecessary murmurings once and for all.

Hm...

Do not forget that the will of God is not to be questioned. My beloved Holy Lady, you just have to dance to the tune I play, for I am Saint Jupiter.

...Yes.

Very good. Priest, take our Holy Lady away.

(Alright, the rebellion issue is settled. Next, it's time to deal with the real trouble.)

Your Holiness?! You're here despite your busy schedule? Why...

I need to look up some information from the Inquisition. Your director... They seem to be out on a mission right now, so you will approve it.

Yes! What information do you need? Crusade records? Diocesan revenue? Confessions of heretics?

(These sources will indeed yield some clues, but they are too inefficient. Let's go straight to the core of the problem here.)

Bring me to the ''Forbidden Zone.'' I want to use that thing. Now, don't try to slow me by saying that it's ''not approved by the Council of the Three Sages.''

...Since it is the order of Your Holiness the Pope, we at the Inquisition will accede. I will have someone bring you there.

Your Holiness, the instrument you seek is here.

The All-Seeing Eye. I haven't used this thing in years. You have not neglected its maintenance and let it deteriorate or fail, have you?

We would not dare neglect it! This is a sacred instrument that has existed since the founding of the Church, and we have always maintained it with care.

The sacred instrument is still capable of automatically retrieving information by using ''keywords'' as an index. It hasn't been opened for a long time though, and the security code is no longer valid...

In other words, you're not able to activate it properly?

Yes. The resetting of the password requires the approval of the Three Sages to activate it. So, you...

(I don't have the time for that now...) Forget it, the sacred instrument is just an instrument without self-awareness. I'll force it to operate, and I will be responsible for the consequences.

It seems I can activate it even with the permissions of one Sage. However, it seems to have activated something extra.

Forced start-up... Complete information missing... Update failed... Anomaly alert! Anomaly alert!

Huh? Looks like this is a defense mechanism that's activated due to a forced start of the [All-Seeing Eye].

Warning! Shut down process [ASE-001] immediately, or this unit enters attack mode.

Looks like it's decided to attack. Good, I don't have to think of any additional countermeasures.

As a defense mechanism, it's barely good enough. Too bad it went up against me.

...Defense failed. Entering self-test mode... Administrator permissions detected. Starting up temporarily in safe mode.

I wouldn't have gone to this length if not for the outdated certification rules.

...Huh? I'm injured?!

Administrator [Jupiter], welcome. This machine is still in safe mode and can only provide basic functions such as [Range Search].

It's not as powerful as before, but it's adequate for now. Search by entries: Calamity, prophecy, personnel movement, and parish unrest as keywords.

Searching... Three highly-relevant matches found. Marking corresponding locations...

Good, let me see who's behind this.

Summary of Investigation Report on the Status of Calamities, Plan for the Adjustment of Church Affairs, and List of Parish Appointments and Removals... Heh, I see.

What are your instructions, Your Holiness?

There should be a ''quiet room'' in the Inquisition where no outside sound can be heard, right? I'd like to borrow one.

Also, invite Cardinal Gregory to come to me here, but do not use my name.

Yes, Your Holiness. Shall we say that the reason for inviting the Cardinal over is because there is something important to discuss?

Mm, that's right. To be precise, it is very important clean-up work.

Your Holiness? Did you summon me here?

That's right, Cardinal. I recall that you are responsible for the mission and administration of the border areas of the Empire. Have you encountered any problems?

Thank you for your concern, Your Holiness. The people are as faithful to the Church as ever, and as devout. Even if there were problems, they were solved under the watchful eye of God.

Is that so? That's strange... If everything is going well, why have there been so many incidents recently of believers rioting in your assigned areas?

...Ah, I misspoke. The few riots are due to fools who doubt the accuracy of the Church prophecies, and they took the opportunity to riot. Please do not worry about it.

The accuracy of prophecies? Heh, you mean the prophecies of the Calamity that I make. After all, there have been many unpredicted Calamities that have occurred.

However, my dear Cardinal, could you please explain why the first people to spread such sentiment were all priests who have been removed from the Church?

... Why are you asking?

Did you think that by erasing their names from the diocesan list that I won't know they are your men? You underestimate the Inquisition.

...It seems Your Holiness is one step ahead in the game. Even if I'd been the one to instruct them to spread it, the lack of prophecy is your responsibility, isn't it?

You've been pope long enough. Since you are unable to complete your work as the one to spread divine prophecy, it is time for you to give up the position to someone else.

So you sent men to spread distrust and start a rebellion in the village to attack my position in the Church and seize power?

Hmm... Hehe... Hahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!!!, What a disappointment. There is no further need to ask questions. Die.

D-Damn it... Why didn't anyone hear the sounds of battle? Why didn't support come, !

My will is the will of God. The Church of Augustus has long since bowed at my feet. You underestimate my influence within the Church, and my determination.

Don't worry, your subordinates will soon follow you in hell, dear Cardinal.

Two days later.

Your Holiness.

Cardinal Guinevere, good work taking over Vivi's job. Have you finished dealing with the traitors in the Border Village?

Most of those who spread unfavorable news about the Church on purpose have been dealt with according to the severity of their impact. Only a small number escaped.

Good. There were indeed high-ranked people within the Church who secretly encouraged the discontent, but I have dealt with them. You can go ahead and finish the rest.

As you wish.

Oh, also, in about a day, there will be a new Calamity in the area you are in now. Remember to evacuate with our people before it occurs.

What?! But you didn't send a Church envoy... If there's just one day left, there's no way we can notify all the residents in time!

Mm, so the task of conveying this will be left to you. Notify whoever you can. Like before, only a small number can be saved by God.

Like before...? You mean the prophecies before... You...

I am just cleaning up the garden on behalf of God. I leave everything to you, Cardinal Guinevere.

(Closes communication) The favor of God must come with the punishment of God.

Your Holiness the Pope? Did you find the information you needed in the Inquisition?

That matter has been concluded, with the cleaning of the ''Quiet Room.'' I am very pleased with your efficiency.

But I can't believe I left the All-Seeing Eye alone for so long... It is time to reactivate it.

How do you mean...?

Take me to the ''Forbidden Zone.'' This time, I want to activate all user permissions.

Put the identification of the remaining two sages here...

Administrator [Jupiter], welcome. All administrator accounts have been detected. All permissions unlocked.

Good. There are many features I want to try, but I have to do one thing now.

All-Seeing Eye, cancel all other permissions except mine and upgrade my permissions to the highest.

...Processing... Your request has been accepted. According to core principles, the new permission bias will trigger the local defense system when computing. Continue?

What does that mean? ...Does it mean that it will activate some sort of robot again? Eh, I'll just defeat it again.

Understood. Processing has begun. [ASE-G002] activated.

...Entering attack mode.

It is stronger than the last, but still no match for me.

New permissions activated. Welcome, Super Administrator [Jupiter].

Your Holiness, Baphomet is out on patrol so I was asked to wait here. If you need anything, please give the order.

Just in time. The [All-Seeing Eye] has only just recorded the information on Augustine, right?

Inform the other dioceses throughout the Empire to transmit copies of important information and use it to consolidate them.

Huh? But this holy relic can only be activated by you and the other two Holy Ones...

All the senior Inquisitors have permission to enter content now. (Of course, the only one who can invoke the reading is me.)

Understood. Are there any other orders?

Let's set up the database first. (But... Information, huh? Heh. The actions, thoughts, and intent of all the members of the Church of Augustus are counted as types of information, right?)

(God is too forgiving. It is up to me, as representative, to recreate divine might on Earth. First, let's start by restoring the Eye of God.)

Your Holiness! The All-Seeing Eye is missing its backup power source. We need your help to recharge it.

This little thing... (Oh right, I am the only one with the permissions to operate the machine now.) ...Never mind, I'll do it.

Okay, it should be fine now.