The Devil Who Grants Wishes

183 – Faith (1)

“hahahaha!!!”

These days, Pierre is in a good mood.

Who in the world would have known that the nightmarish first meeting with Faust would lead to such great results?

At that time, she thought she was really going to die. He only thought that his life as a priest would end as he was accused of failing to control the exorcism priests.

The current prosperity feels as if all the bad luck of that time has been swept away.

Borrowing the name of Faust, borrowing the power of Faust, you can live such a luxurious life! To be able to hold such overwhelming power!

“Patriarch Pierre, this is a document about the church.”

“Oh, come in.”

Pierre, who had been laughing heartily for a while, soon controlled his expression when he heard a knock coming from outside the door and gave permission to come in.

Of course, it was useless because the laughter could already be heard outside the door.

“This is a report containing a plan to renovate the churches serving the evil spirit of Seraphia into Faust’s church. If things proceed like this, all the churches of the evil spirit within the Aquileia Empire will be converted into houses of true faith within three years. You will be able to do it.”

“Hoooh…”

After receiving the report from the attendant priest, Pierre places his hand on his chin and begins to think seriously.

No matter how much Pierre chased the path of false faith out of greed for power and wealth, Pierre is an expert in the field of spreading faith.

At the end of that purpose is greed for power and wealth, and the more the Church of Faust spreads, the more that greed will be satisfied. Since becoming the patriarch of the Church of Faust, Pierre has never once joined the Church of Faust. I have never handled things roughly.

Because of that, he was trusted by Flora, who was imbued with the spirit of light.

No matter how hypocrite one is, if one actually practices goodness, one is no longer a hypocrite.

Of course, the standard of goodness is focused on spreading faith widely, which is very narrow-minded and biased towards the good people, and there are many problems with it.

“Outside the Empire?”

“It is very difficult in the current situation. Faust’s apostles have stopped further expansion of military power, so excluding those places, the influence of the church that serves the Seraphia evil spirit still remains deep.”

“Tsk… Then I guess I’ll have no choice but to take direct military action.”

The places that can be called the heart of the Seraphia Church know very well what ugly things the Serapia Church has done, so it is not a big deal to turn the Church of Serapia into the Church of Faust by recruiting just a few members of the upper class.

However, in the border areas, there are many churches that have distanced themselves from the truth of Seraphia and its denomination and only engage in charity work.

In other words, there are many religious people who truly have a strong faith in Seraphia and are full of morals and ethics, and Pierre knows very well from his life experience that persuasion does not work for such religious people.

At the point where the other side had already refused to join the new church, the only option for the Pierre and Faust churches was force.

“Are you okay?”

After hearing Pierre’s will, the attendant expresses concern.

It doesn’t say anything about what it is okay to do, but Pierre knows very well what the servant is trying to say.

It is a matter of budget.

Currently, the empire’s finances are in a state of complete ruin, and it is very difficult to do something that costs a lot of money, such as war.

This is because places that can generate money, such as farmland and workshops, have been abandoned without repair, and only activities that will generate money, such as rebuilding churches or conducting charity projects to gain support from the denomination, are being carried out.

This was entirely led by Pierre, who took the crisis of the empire as an opportunity to spread the faith.

Of course, he did this not because he really believed in Faust, but simply because the more the belief in Faust spread, the more powerful and wealthy the patriarch became.

“It doesn’t matter if the empire collapses. No, it might be better if it collapses in the first place.”

“Yes?”

“Only then will our Church of Faust be able to absorb all the remnants of the ruined empire? If that happens… We can roughly call it the Church of Faust. No, it should be the Patriarchate of Faust. Shall we do it?”

The servant cannot follow Pierre’s ideas.

No matter how high-ranking clergy can be promoted, one needs to have more political capabilities than strong faith… But isn’t this too much?

If you have even the bare minimum of faith, no, if you have the bare minimum of ethics and morals that a human being cannot help but have, you will see that the lives of the people of the empire are falling apart day by day.

“…”

However, the servant does not say it out loud.

As he is a human being, he knows very well that his life will be enriched if he sticks to Pierre.

“Well, don’t be so sad. I just changed the property of the people of the empire, which had been exploited by the nobles, into donating it to the true faith. If you don’t donate it to the church, it will be taken away by the nobles, so it will be a big deal in the lives of the people of the empire. “There is no change.”

Pierre, who guessed what the servant was thinking by reading his facial expression, spoke like that, and upon hearing those words, the servant’s expression turned mysterious.

After really listening to it, it seems like that.

If the property was going to be taken away by the nobles anyway, it would be better to donate it to the church. It was a natural thought among clergy, and Pierre delved into that.

“…I see.”

“That’s right, so don’t feel so sad. Isn’t this all for the best?”

The servant nods to Pierre’s persuasion and feels less guilty, and Pierre, seeing this, sneers inwardly and laughs at him as hard as he can.

This ability, the ability to speak and get rid of guilt while committing evil deeds, is the driving force that allowed Pierre to rise to this position.

“Well then, let’s get moving. The noble duty to spread the faith-“

Roaring-

“ㅡ…”

However, the moment the order was given to resume work, Pierre had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

The sky is shaking. The ground is shaking. The air trembles.

All the lights present here, including moonlight, starlight, candlelight, and mirror light, meet the owner of light and take an attitude of worship.

“…Why on earth!?”

And that fact was enough to make Pierre astonished.

Faust’s family would be thrilled by their hard work and would give them a huge reward, but Faust himself would never want to do this.

Pierre, realizing that Faust has descended, immediately puts on his clothes and hurries towards the place where Faust’s energy is felt most strongly, the imperial palace.

**********

“Really… You really came…”

The emperor, who is looking up at Faust while lying on the ground, is shocked as his body trembles.

I just made a wish as if I could get my money’s worth.

Of course, this was the only way to solve the current empire’s problems, so I made a very desperate wish, but I couldn’t think that Faust would really come to grant my wish.

That’s right, there are a lot of problems in the empire that cannot be solved because of the Faustian Church.

If the Empire’s problems are to be solved, the Faust Church will have to be dealt with somehow, but will Faust, their god, really let that happen?

“You are the one who made a wish. Make your wish.”

However, an unimaginable scene is unfolding before the emperor’s eyes.

The emperor looks up at the horrified figure of Faust, who commands him to make a wish, and his mouth begins to tremble.

All kinds of worries are literally filling the emperor’s mind.

Really… Can I tell you?

How should I make a wish?

Do you want me to become a true emperor? Want to stop the religious order that is destroying the empire?

What should I do if Faust becomes angry after making a wish?

Will the empire that received Faust’s wrath be okay? Wouldn’t the people of the empire live as Faust’s slaves forever?

Which god in the world would abandon his believers and denomination?

After my soul is sold, what happens to me?

But, this is the only way, right?

“Please stop the tyranny of the Church of Faust.”

After putting an end to countless worries in an instant, the emperor finally puts his forehead to the floor and tells Faust the truth about his wish.

Anyway, from the moment Faust arrived here, the only option left for the emperor was to say his wish outright. The emperor had no intention of summoning Faust and then sending him away saying he had no wish.

“It’s tyranny… Your wishes must be accurate.”

‘Are you embarrassed…? Ah, I guess it’s because my wish wasn’t accurate.’

However, Faust’s subsequent attitude was enough to make the emperor have hope.

Faust does not show any anger, but he is embarrassed after hearing the wish.

Since the fact that he did not show anger is a big green light for the emperor, the relaxed emperor stops shaking his body and resolves to tell Faust in detail about the current situation of the empire.