第１５７２堀：同盟全体で宗教の見直しへ (Part1)
**Chapter 1572: Re-evaluating Religion Across the Alliance**
**Side: Stasia**
Today, as on any other day, I finished my duties regarding the Intercontinental Exchange Alliance and headed to the office of our Queen, Seraria, to deliver the necessary paperwork. However…
“Come in.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
The one who greeted me at the office wasn’t Seraria or Quar, but Una, the usual maid in attendance. Normally, Una would be the last to speak, with Seraria and Quar offering their greetings first, but today the atmosphere was different. I could see them both at the desk, wearing expressions of deep concern.
“The two of you look unusually serious. Is there an emergency?”
“No, it isn’t quite an emergency, but it seems we have received a communication from Yuki-sama.”
“From my husband, I see.”
If that was the case, then as his wife, I was far from uninvolved. That was precisely why Una had ushered me in.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Yes.”
I said this to Una and walked over to Seraria and Quar. Once I was close enough, they noticed me and looked up.
“Oh, Stasia.”
“My apologies. I didn’t realize you were occupied.”
“Yes, I’m just here to deliver these documents.”
I handed the papers to Quar.
“Ah, these are from Findar, aren’t they?”
“The exchange school hasn’t had any issues requiring my direct attention as of late.”
“It’s been stable recently, hasn’t it? You were the one getting all the inquiries at the beginning, weren’t you, Stasia?”
“Yes. In the beginning, there were constant questions about Weed’s lifestyle and culture.”
Indeed, shortly after the International Exchange School opened, the students, their chaperones, and their guardians were all asking me to teach them about Weed and other nations to help them acclimate. Of course, the police were also holding exchange meetings led by Tori and the others, but that alone wasn’t enough to dispel everyone’s anxieties. I, along with members from various countries, had been working to bridge that gap, but those inquiries had dwindled significantly of late. It was a sign that everyone had finally grown accustomed to life here.
That said, the requests from my home country still arrived in droves. Requests for aid, and more aid, and yet more aid… Though, it was also true that Findar had very little to offer in return. But, setting that aside…
“So, Una mentioned that you received a message from my husband.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
“Yes. Yuki-sama sent us some books and data files, separate from his regular scheduled report…”
“Books? Files? Is it the location of a dark guild?”
If everything was going according to plan, my husband and his group should be searching the royal castle of the former Vinoshia Kingdom for documents and books. We were all aware of this, so that we might be ready to assist at a moment’s notice.
“I wish it were that simple, but this is something else entirely—and rather troublesome. One part is a charming local story, and the other is a record of financial transactions between Litea and Vinoshia.”
“Ah, I see.”
In my homeland, the Haiden region, the Haire religion—which worships Haire-sama—is the dominant faith, but dealing with them is, in a word, difficult. It isn’t that the Haire religion itself is evil, but as we saw with the recent Mad God War, there are always those who exploit faith to commit atrocities. Especially when money is involved. The Haire religion is the largest in our region; the flow of money is astronomical, and the scale of the corruption hidden behind it is equally vast. The sums involved are staggering.
And here on the Rogari Continent, there exists an equivalent to our Haire religion: the Litea faith. They worship the Goddess Lilishe and govern love itself, but their scale makes our Haiden region look small. If documents regarding their financial dealings—especially those involving a country that collapsed during a civil war—were to surface, it would be impossible to handle them lightly…
“Have those documents been passed on to Rurua and the others?”
“My husband has already forwarded them. I received word from him, and from Rurua as well. They told us to keep a copy here, just in case.”
“That is quite the massive bomb to be sitting on.”
“Indeed. Honestly, I can’t tell if the figures listed here are legitimate, but if there was corruption, the fallout will be monumental.”
Exactly. If these were proofs of corruption, the fact that parties other than the Litea home country held them was a grave situation. Of course, since Rurua, the former Saint of Litea, and Lilishe-sama herself were here, we in Weed recognized this as an insurance policy to rectify corruption within Litea. However, those on the Litea side who didn’t know our circumstances would surely suspect that we were trying to seize control of Litea. Especially those with something to hide.
But that line of thinking was easily dismantled by Quar’s words.
“No, in this situation, it would be impossible for there to be no corruption. Above all, Rurua-sama and Lilishe-sama said they would review and verify the documents themselves, didn’t they? It would be stranger if there were no irregularities in the records of dealings with Vinoshia, a nation that perished in civil war.”
She was right. If Rurua-sama and Lilishe-sama received them and made inquiries, the information would go straight to the current head of Litea, Saint Alstaire. In other words, everything would be investigated without concealment. And given the chaos of Vinoshia’s collapse, it would be foolish to assume there was no corruption.
“Well, even if there was corruption, there was likely ‘righteous corruption’ as well…” Quar muttered.
“‘Righteous corruption’?” Seraria and I asked in unison, tilting our heads in confusion.
“Yes. If one processes matters without waiting for official procedures, it is technically corruption. In a situation where you can’t wait for documents to be filed and approved, there are those who act out of malice, but there are also those who act to save people. Especially within the Litea Church.”
“Ah…” We both understood immediately.
It was true that while there were those who committed evil, there were also many who held their faith sincerely and strove to do what was right. If it meant saving many lives, they would likely bypass official channels and touch the funds, even if they knew they would be punished for it later.
“…It’s a difficult dilemma. We always tell them to follow emergency protocols, but…”
“The definition of an ‘emergency’ is also difficult to pin down. And there will always be fools who exploit that ambiguity.”
“That’s what it always comes down to. Well, Litea has been quite turbulent since the events with Suurus, so I just hope this doesn’t escalate into something extreme.”
“Ah, knowing Alstaire, that’s a possibility. Still, this is a matter from the Rurua era, isn’t it? I’d like to believe that those involved in the Vinoshia corruption have already been punished.”
If I recall, before I met my husband, there was a major conflict between Litea and Roschur that he had to resolve. I heard that those involved in corruption were purged then, but… I find it hard to believe that everyone of that ilk could have been rooted out. They are, after all, quite skilled at hiding in the shadows.