Visit (2)
The Pantheon headquarters—he had not seen it since the time he had come to assassinate the Secretary.
Located on the outskirts of San Francisco, it had been built on land that had once been a vast forest.
It was unavoidable, given that clergy who served gods from various dimensions and of all manner of dispositions had gathered in one place.
The conditions each of them required were simply far too different.
After all, an environment for worshiping a god of fire and one for worshiping a god of water—two opposing elements—could hardly coexist, could they?
Within the city proper, where land prices were exorbitant, it was impossible to secure the amount of space they demanded.
But just because it had been built where a forest once stood, and just because less than twenty years had passed since the Pantheon’s establishment, did not mean its infrastructure was lacking.
No, on the contrary, the area around it was so prosperous that it was hard to believe it had been created only recently.
‘It would be fair to call it a small city in all but name. Not only the believers of each order, but also those hoping to benefit from divine power flocked here, and residences and commercial districts sprang up around it.’
Facing that peculiar scene again stirred a fresh wave of emotion in him.
However, what concerned him the most right now was something else entirely…
“The security is… extremely tight, isn’t it?”
The level of security was so tremendous that one could hardly believe this was a place where clergy gathered.
‘Was it this strict when I came last time?’
Heinrich, who had been looking out through the car window, quietly swept his gaze over the surroundings.
The number of security barriers they had passed through already exceeded ten.
And each one was of such a high level that even a transcendent would not be able to see through it easily.
‘And we haven’t even entered the interior of the headquarters yet.’
Since the outer area was open even to outsiders, it had always been thoroughly defended.
Wasn’t that precisely why he had waited for the target to leave the territory entirely before attempting the assassination in the first place?
“Mm, Brother Heinrich, as someone from another world, you may not be aware… but recently, a major incident occurred at headquarters. I was staying in Korea at the time myself, so this is my first time seeing it in person as well.”
At that, Priest Jason let out a deep groan and slowly opened his mouth.
The story he then told was the tragic news that one of the Twelve Committee members, who represented the Pantheon’s administration, had been attacked and gone missing at the hands of a certain “heinous criminal organization.”
“…I heard that afterward, all security levels were raised drastically. It is rather like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but we must do even that if we are to prevent further damage.”
“Ah, I think I heard about that while I was active in Korea as well.”
“It was quite the uproar, after all. They say that since that incident, not only our Pantheon but other organizations as well have all strengthened their vigilance.”
As if merely speaking of it pained him, Priest Jason sighed repeatedly, saying that he had been on fairly friendly terms with the missing priest.
Heinrich put on a sorrowful expression and offered a prayer of mourning for the victim.
‘Aha! So it was because of me?’
All while shamelessly feeling relieved that, thanks to 「Persona」, his true thoughts did not show.
“Priest Jason? It has been a while. Then the person riding with you must be…”
“Ah! We were informed in advance. Please go on in.”
After several inspections, the car Heinrich was riding in headed straight for the central district, where only clergy were allowed to enter.
On the way, aside from clergy, he also encountered many Awakened with various abilities, and one peculiar thing about them was that most were dressed in strikingly distinctive outfits.
“America is the land of freedom, after all. Unlike Korea, freer hero activities are permitted here. Of course, even that comes with a certain degree of responsibility.”
Heinrich turned his head slightly and looked beyond the receding checkpoint.
There was a giant man wearing a green full-body bodysuit that showed off his burly, muscular physique, and even a female warrior in bikini armor that, if this were a game, would probably have extremely high defense.
‘The land of freedom, is it…’
Compared to Korea, the Awakened certainly had a higher degree of freedom here.
Accordingly, the influence of the Awakened was far stronger as well, and that had greatly affected not only the Pantheon but also the World Returnee Association’s decision to establish its headquarters in America.
‘The problem is that it naturally created an environment where superpowered criminals could run rampant more easily.’
The beings that rose to prominence from that were the so-called “heroes.”
True to a country where private ownership of firearms was permitted, they went beyond using abilities to protect themselves and actively adopted a system of issuing licenses for vigilante activities in order to maintain public order.
‘They said excessive suppression, including killing, counts against one’s license issuance and renewal, didn’t they?’
They were called heroes, but considering they were paid according to results, they were no different from bounty hunters. Still, that sort of gimmick received an enormous response from American citizens who were enthusiastic about heroes.
It was not even particularly rare for famous heroes to release character merchandise afterward or enter the entertainment industry themselves.
In effect, it was a form combined with the entertainment industry.
“We have arrived. This is the Executive Committee, which decides the major and minor affairs of the Pantheon, the Alliance of Otherworldly Religions.”
As if cutting off Heinrich’s thoughts, the car that had been gliding forward came to a stop.
Then, following Priest Jason out of the car, he looked at the building before him with surprise.
Unlike the temples with distinctive exteriors he had seen on the way here, this building had an exceedingly ordinary appearance.
“This place is essentially neutral territory. I heard it was built in this plain, flavorless manner because many people would be uncomfortable if it displayed the color of any particular religion.”
Just hearing that already made him feel tired.
Well, uniting this many religions under one roof couldn’t possibly be easy.
As someone who served a god himself, he knew that very well.
Simply using divine power caused one to be influenced by the god’s nature and become self-righteous, and once that happened, it became difficult to tolerate other ways.
“What’s this? Isn’t that Jason? I hadn’t seen you around for a while, so I thought you’d finally died, but I guess you were alive.”
As if to immediately prove that fact.
Just as they were about to enter the Executive Committee building, an unfamiliar voice blocked them.
Along with the sound of a tongue clicking, filled with irritation and unmistakably unfriendly to anyone who heard it.
“…Walter.”
At that, Priest Jason turned toward him with a stiff expression.
In contrast to Jason’s neat appearance, the man was dressed with his clothes loosened to the fullest, his hair was disheveled, and there was even a faint smell of alcohol wafting from him.
If not for the extremely well-trained body visible between the edges of his clothes and his bright, fierce eyes, he would have looked exactly like a libertine as he strode toward them.
‘He must be a former paladin too. Come to think of it, Jason was a paladin as well.’
Heinrich watched with keen interest as the man named Walter, who had just approached, and Jason engaged in a war of nerves.
The strength he gauged from the two of them was neck and neck.
On top of that, the gods they served seemed to have completely opposite dispositions, so it was not at all strange that they had ended up snarling at one another like this.
‘This sort of friction isn’t something for an outsider like me to interfere in.’
He was, strictly speaking, a guest who had been invited here.
If he took one side out of personal acquaintance, he might only make the problem bigger.
As he had done until now, he should let them resolve it among themselves this time as well—
“Pahah! Then… this guy here must be that self-proclaimed saint, huh?”
—That was what he had been thinking.
But out of nowhere, the arrow flew toward him.
“He certainly is impressive. Though I’m not sure if he’s impressive enough to warrant all that fuss to bring him here. Well, it was a mission that suited you perfectly. Running errands to some tiny country no one’s ever heard of, I mean.”
“…He is a guest invited here on behalf of the entire Pantheon, Walter. Show some courtesy.”
“The entire Pantheon? Who decided you represented us? At the very least, I… our Order of Quilladia has never acknowledged it.”
“Walter.”
The man sneered openly, as if he had decided from the beginning to pick a fight.
Heinrich had known from the start.
Not every member of the clergy had a good personality.
There were cases where the god they served was itself violent, and even when serving the same god, not everyone came to resemble that god with the exact same personality.
Even among humans, it was common to see such duality—cruel to others but gentle only toward their children. How much more so would that be for gods, who existed on a far higher plane?
“I hear you’ve been going around doing the good deed of volunteer work? Looking at you, it seems you’ve trained a fair bit too. Did you want to pretend to be a paladin? Pfft, come to think of it, your alias was White Knight, wasn’t it?”
“Walter, this is your final warning.”
Because this was his first official visit, he had worn the ceremonial robes of the Church of the Chief God, and it seemed the man had mistaken him for someone from a purely priestly background because of it.
Even so, Heinrich had not expected him to pick a fight so openly.
And against someone who possessed divine power clearly stronger than his own, no less.
‘No matter how much I’ve proven my deep faith, I’m still just a believer of another god, is that it?’
It was such a novel experience that he did not even feel angry.
In a manner of speaking, he could be considered a superior officer from a completely different unit.
No, from a certain perspective, it was even more than that.
He did not merely belong to a different nation; his very “dimension” was different.
“When I saw you in the footage, I thought you had quite a splendid body. Tch, was it all just because of the armor?”
…However, his calm attitude lasted only until there.
Perhaps displeased that Heinrich was not reacting to the provocation, the bastard had finally crossed the line.
“I said this was your final warning. A duel, Walter. Today, I will correct that attitude of yours once and for all…”
“…Wait, Priest Jason. Please hold on for a moment.”
“Brother…?”
He stopped Jason, who was stepping forward with a hardened face, and slowly regulated his breathing.
That one remark just now was something he simply could not overlook.
Because it was his… Heinrich’s reverse scale.
Heinrich glanced down at his own arm.
Then he looked at his chest, his abdomen, his legs.
And after confirming once more that, no matter how he looked at it, their volume had clearly decreased from before, he quietly closed his eyes.
‘To think that becoming an angel would have such a side effect.’
An angel.
A messenger who conveyed the will of god.
The change that had taken place in him was a kind of racial trait.
One that had been slowly, but steadily, progressing ever since he became an angel.
Of course, only the volume had decreased; it was not as if his physical abilities had fallen.
Thanks to extreme compression, the force he could generate per unit area had increased, and the shape of his muscles had also changed into something more ideal, so it would be fair to call it an evolution instead.
But this was by no means what he had wanted.
‘Muscle loss! Muscle loss, of all things! My magnificent muscles that I worked so hard to build and cultivate!’
Heinrich’s attachment to his muscles was only natural, in a sense.
Unlike Harley, who could freely control his body and sculpt it however he wished, Heinrich’s muscles were the result of his own efforts from beginning to end, were they not?
‘Do you know how much time I spent!’
—Thanks to divine-power doping, it had not taken all that long.
‘The fruits I achieved after bone-shaving hardship!’
—Thanks to 「Mind Hub」, it had been neither painful nor boring.
‘It’s already infuriating enough that I lost them like this… and he dares make it a subject of mockery?’
—That was undeniably true!
How much had he suffered afterward in order to bulk up again?
Yet this damned racial trait refused to allow his body to return to the same form as before.
And now, the words of this man named Walter were an act that denied all the effort he had put in until now…
“You mentioned a duel, didn’t you? Would it be all right if I handled that myself?”
“…Of course, it is possible.”
“Are there any procedures required for it?”
“Despite how we may appear, we are all people who serve gods. Before the name of god, there is no procedure required other than to swear that we will compete fairly and accept the result.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Indeed, he liked how straightforward it was.
Perhaps this was the secret that had allowed the Pantheon to endure over the long years.
Of course, for that, he needed to make his opponent accept it willingly.
“Ha! A duel? Do you think I’d accept something like that? Whether I win or lose, I take a loss, so why would I?”
Even if the other party’s divine power was higher than his own, for a Holy Fighter—a combat profession—to duel a healing priest of a noncombat profession was, in and of itself, a tremendous disgrace.
To the Holy Fighters of Quiladia, priests were people to be protected, not opponents to be fought and defeated.
And Heinrich, a paladin, knew exactly how to provoke someone at times like this.
“Hmm, it seems you’ve gotten frightened. Well, I understand. I suppose I should be considerate. By the way, the Quiladia Order’s doctrines must be quite lax?”
“Hah?”
A provocation made in the name of the order to one who represented its military might was something that could never be overlooked.
Forgetting entirely that he had been the one to pick a fight first, Walter furrowed his brow and let out a hollow laugh.
And then—
——!
He thrust his hand toward Heinrich’s face like lightning.
Of course, he had no intention of actually hitting him.
He merely intended to show this fearless, self-proclaimed saint the true power of a Holy Fighter—the terror of a martial artist who had reached the very edge of Master level.
That was why…
Thwack—!
He had no choice but to stiffen at the sensation of impact at his fingertips.
‘What?’
For the first time since arriving here, he was flustered.
Again, he had intended to stop right in front of him, not actually strike him.
‘Did I fail to control the distance?’
No, that couldn’t be.
As always, his senses had been perfect.
Then had the other party deceived his senses… No, could that even be?
At the sudden situation, his thoughts were thrown into momentary disarray.
‘Damn it, this wasn’t part of the plan.’
This was on a completely different level from the provocations so far.
The duel hadn’t even properly begun, yet he had suddenly thrown the first punch into the face of a guest who had come to the Pantheon.
Judging by the recoil in his hand, the divine power seemed to have kept him from suffering any serious injury, but what mattered right now was the fact that he had been the first to use his hand.
‘…For now, I’ll withdraw from this place. I need to come up with countermeasures again. Damn it, I’m going to get chewed out badly.’
The Pantheon was a collective formed by the gathering of numerous orders.
Naturally, within it were various factions made up of those with similar inclinations and doctrines, and even those who belonged to the Twelve-Member Council were no exception.
A fair amount of time had passed since Adeline Schneider, the First Seat of the Twelve-Member Council, had gone missing, so the selection of the next council member would soon take place.
If they wanted to fill that seat with someone from their own faction, they needed to start laying the groundwork properly from now on…
That was why, in his confusion, he failed to think deeply.
About what method the other party had used to disrupt his sense of distance.
And before long, even the time to think about it disappeared.
Kwaaaang—!
“Keuhuk!”
Because a sudden physical impact had shaken his head.
At the blow that transcended perception, his mind momentarily went distant.
“You struck first. Then this is self-defense, yes?”
Beyond his thoughts, which were slowly beginning to return.
A single voice came through faintly.
‘How?’
One question rose in his mind.
He would soon be able to learn the reason.
“Come to think of it, you said you were curious why I went around wearing armor, didn’t you?”
Not through his head, which had grown stiff and could barely function.
“From now on, I’ll engrave that reason into you, step by step and unmistakably.”
But through a dialogue with his body, which was still perfectly lively.