บท 41: Unholy War - Part 6 - A Man's Greed

War is something grotesque in any world. Men and women always go to battlefields with a single goal.

They don't want to see their loved ones suffer at the hands of the enemy. It's always to protect something, someone or yourself.

If you ask a soldier why he fights, the answer will almost always be the same.

"I want to protect my family."

"To protect my loved ones."

"To protect my home."

The motif is always beautiful and honorable. It is always the strong desire for peace that moves the soldier, it is always the incessant quest to be the shield of his loved ones.

They leave their homes, arm themselves, say goodbye to their loved ones, march for something alien to them and die without protecting anything.

Honor? Let that be for the lords.

A soldier is not useful for that. All they want is to go home and what keeps him in this sea of death is his duty to the people he left at home.

At least it was supposed to be that way.

What is a soldier defending in a religious civil war?

God is?

No, gods can fight their own wars.

So what would a soldier be defending in a war between a religion and a kingdom?

They rise up, armed against their countrymen, their brothers, for what reason?

The soldier in this type of war does not know the answer to this question. But the answer is always the same, greed.

No matter the world, greed will always move armies.

Whether for good or for bad, men and women fought and died in someone's greed war.

Those who moved an army for this reason were now the high priest of a religion that preaches peace and salvation.

Poston was always a greedy man. He came from a bankrupt noble family and turned his back on her to become a servant in the temple of light at age ten.

His journey was difficult, but he endured it and at the age of thirty he became a bishop. That's when it all started.

Poston used his position as bishop to divert donations to a personal fund which he used to rebuild his family and in doing so lived a life of luxury with the excuse that his family had risen.

The bishop also used his position to 'discipline' young girls who came to the temple to be servants.

Poston's life was perfect until Serien showed up. At first, Poston tried to do the same to Serien as he did to the others, but...

On the night of the day following the princess's arrival at the temple, Poston called her into her room.

"Take off your tunic and kneel down."

Serien looked at him with lifeless, swollen eyes.

The young princess had been discarded by her beloved father and her mother had been sold by the queen on charges of theft, she had nothing left and no one else.

However, she still had her pride and her purpose.

Serien burned in her heart the promise to find her mother again and win her father's love no matter how long it took.

Serien cried a lot on the way to the temple and continued crying when she arrived, she was a child who was separated from her mother and father she just didn't see her, she cried not to lose her feelings, to remain human.

And that would keep her strong.

That child would not bend easily even if he were to be broken in half.

Serien looked at Poston, a man too thin and wrinkled for his age, and saw the corruption of the temple.

The young princess was used to seeing men like Poston and being seen by men like him, she would recognize a corrupt one even if he were disguised in the humblest robe.

"No." Serien replied in her scratchy voice. "Never, you pervert."

That night Serien took the first beating of her life and this was repeated several times until she reached the position of priestess after the test of magical affinity and then went to war.

Poston hated Serien and yearned to have her, but she was moving out of reach of her as she collected prowess on the battlefield, even being called a saint by the people.

When Serien returned from the war, she was already in a higher position than Poston who had then become an archbishop and had to obey Serien who was then a matriarch.

Serien was beginning to change the temple from the inside, starting with the low-ranking members of all the churches in the temple of light.

"Women will be chosen by women and men by men."

The temple was changing little by little, the corrupt who were proven corrupt were punished according to their sins and Serien tried his best to punish Poston, but he silenced victims and witnesses with various methods and so was never accused or sentenced to anything.

However, this did not stop Serien from punishing him, with her authority, she barred any promotions or awards that Poston should receive or would come to receive and also closed any loopholes and donation diversion routes that Poston might use.

Poston had stagnated and even though he was a high-ranking bishop, he barely had authority while Serien quickly climbed up and became the High Priestess, leader of the entire temple of light.

So all Poston could do was wait. He patiently waited for Serien to make a serious mistake in which he could glue her under her feet and subdue her as he wished.

A greedy man started a war for revenge against someone he could never subdue.

Men and women died because of him and all he saw was the real chance to have Serien in his domain.

With her in her possession, he could even start a war against Elsna's empire that they would win while Serien had the mana to heal the soldiers.

At least that's what he was told.

At the same time Serien was increasing his fame and prowess in war, Poston was visited by someone, no, something attracted to his corrupt soul.

This one taught Poston powerful dark spells, promised him fortunes, and encouraged him to continue on his path to a total downfall.

"All I want in return is for you to get rid of this girl who could be a problem for my future plans."

That's what this one told Poston that he agreed without flinching.

Their plans were moving in the same direction and Poston had a lot to gain if he pleases that.

A month after the beginning of the war, Basilica's army was basically composed of mercenaries, from the original army there were only three orders of knights who served the king directly and would only step on the battlefield if the king was.

Meanwhile, the army of the temple of light was holding strong and advancing towards Basilian after massacring the few troops who fought for the king, nay, for the kingdom.

From a ship in the sky, Athena and the Valkyries could see the battlefields going farther south and the soldiers marching in their white armor leaving corpses as they passed.

"This war may be harder than I thought." Lobana said when she saw the squad on the left wing of the army.