I consulted with the Chronos researchers about the Parcion Religion.
"The Parcion Religion has not been very secularized," they informed me.
By secularization, they meant the process where a religion transitions toward scientific and rational values. The Parcion Religion was the type that preached, "Let us become members of society." However, in their case, "society" was strictly defined as "the society dictated by the Parcion Religion."
Consequently, there was immense pressure to start a family, have children, and work. Calling it pressure was an understatement; it was practically mandatory.
It made sense, in a way. To support a clergy—a profession that produced nothing—a larger population was better. The same could be said for politicians and kings, though scholars were a matter of debate.
However, when a society's secularization went too far, a strange phenomenon occurred where certain scholars began acting like monks and tried to rule society themselves. It all came back to the idea that giving anyone too much power was a bad move.
Even my side job as a king was bound by the law. I hadn't turned into a monk myself. Good.
The military required goods that only the military used, so in the end, its total productivity was incredibly high. Since my primary profession was a soldier, I was safe. Totally safe. The military was also under the rule of law.
Alright, I was in the clear!
In any case, within Parcion, religion stood above the law. The thought, "Isn't that rule by man or rule by virtue rather than the rule of law?" probably only occurred to us because we were Asian-descended descendants. One way or another, our society was influenced by things like the Hundred Schools of Thought and Western philosophy. What we believed to be correct wasn't necessarily a universal truth across the galaxy.
At any rate, from our perspective, the Parcion Religion was likely a dangerous cult religion. I had to be careful not to pick a fight with them unintentionally.
I paid a visit to the Head of the Religion, leading the Imperial Guard and the Chronos Garrison. We were guided to a place they called the cathedral.
As for the title "Head of the Religion," it was used because it functioned as a proper noun that defied simple translation.
The Kingdom of Chronos had a short history, so it was difficult to define what "kingly attire" should be. Traditional Japanese clothing was dismissed as a knockoff by the Lepsitolians. Therefore, I chose to visit wearing the Grand Duchy of Chronos Military Dress Uniform.
I had cleared this with the Parcion Religion in advance. If they had started whining about being "anti-war" or asking me not to wear a uniform at this stage, I would have never met with them again. I would have just used the ensuing chaos as a pretext to raid them.
I already knew those people were embezzling state funds. I was only letting them run free because I hadn't yet calculated the fallout of removing them.
And so, I began my talk with the Head of the Religion.
The Old Man High Priest was all smiles. I matched his expression with one of my own.
Ordinarily, etiquette dictated that I should kneel and offer my hand. But as a magic-modified Shintoist and Buddhist, I wasn't about to do that. I wasn't one of his believers. If he wanted to get huffy about it, that was fine by me. You shouldn't just cave to every single one of the other party's demands.
The Old Man High Priest wore robes interwoven with gold thread. It wasn't gaudy; it felt like he had simply put on his finest ceremonial gear because he was meeting a head of state. So far, there were no comedic elements to the encounter. He was completely incompatible with my usual rhythm. Lepsitol had actually been a much better match for me, it seemed.
"His Majesty the King of Chronos. I am Sergei."
"Head of the Religion Sergei. I thank you for arranging this meeting today," I said, speaking with an uncharacteristic air of importance.
"The pleasure is ours." He smiled.
God, I was already getting tired. This was no good. I wanted to shatter this atmosphere.
First, we held a session without the media present.
"I'll be blunt," I began. "If you want me gone, then pick a leader. Someone who isn't under the influence of the Zen God Race. I'm talking about a human untainted by them. I'm fed up with their harassment."
"That is impossible. For we are the servants of the Zen God Race."
Well... that was a sudden confession. He had gone and seized the initiative in the conversation.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"The Zen God Race are the Creator Gods who made us. Yes, and the Jesters—the 'Jesters' in Rosaria. That includes you as well," the Head of the Religion declared with utter confidence.
However, I had already reached a different conclusion.
"Actually, you're probably wrong about that."
"What?"
"It’s true the Zen God Race captured us and experimented on us. It’s true they suppressed us. They even conducted Esper Hunting in the Galactic Empire. Furthermore, the Zork they created possessed the technology to turn espers into more Zork. But it wasn't that Jesters were born because they were trying to create espers. It’s the other way around. The mutant species known as Jesters was born from humanity, and as a result of the Zen God Race’s experiments, espers were born. Your causality is completely reversed."
"Ha... haha. Wh-what are you talking about?"
"It’s a simple story. There was a natural predator of humanity called the Zen God Race, and humanity evolved to counter them. To be precise, those with the Jester factor were more likely to survive. Whether it was environmental adaptation or a sudden mutation, I don't know, but the mutant species survived."
In other words, it wasn't a Frankenstein scenario where a creator is destroyed by its own creation. It was more like they were terrified of some crayfish that had spontaneously appeared one day. I suppose it was scary for them, though. They thought they were the natural predators, only to find their own natural predator had been born right under their noses.
Though I say "natural predator," Jesters didn't actually go around eating the Zen God Race. They weren't destined to kill them. But the Zen God Race was panicking, convinced they had to kill the Jesters first.
Basically, we had the upper hand.
"Ha... haha... You devil, defying God..."
"Call me a devil or whatever you like. Just stop with the theatrics. I'm honestly sick of it." I felt composed. Was this what it felt like to be a king? "I don't care about the Zen God Race. My job is to look after my citizens. My job as a soldier is much the same. I think we can coexist, provided they don't meddle with us."
"Ha... haha. Y-you!"
"Don't get angry. Listen well. It was your people, wasn't it? The ones who scattered the Ghouls. You infected Lepsitol, and then the infection spread to the Taikyoku Nation and Chronos... though your real target was likely Latarnia. Your goal was to create a superpower like the current Chronos and hand it over to the Zen God Race."
"And if it was, what would you do about it?"
"Nothing. I am an existence bound by the law. I simply arrest criminals—provided there is evidence."
"Heh... hehehe... Do not think you can defeat us!"
"I'm not going to defeat you."
"What?" Sergei stared at me, looking foolish.
"I'm going to secularize your religion exactly as it is. I finished the preparations for that before I even walked in here."
"Wh-what are you..."
High-ranking priests began filing in from the back of the cathedral.
"Head of the Religion. Please prepare for the succession," one said.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"The times have already changed."
"God! Are you betraying God?!"
"No," the priest replied. "It is the Zen God Race who are the devils posing as gods."
That was essentially the end of it. As Sun Tzu said, the battle is decided before it even begins. Undermining them had been easy. All I had to do was elevate the relatively reasonable people to the top.
Carrots and sticks. Arrests and promotions.
"Well then, see you at the courthouse," I said.
"I'll kill you! You devil!"
The police arrived and took the Head of the Religion into custody. I wondered how many people would actually lift a finger to help him now.
Ah, look at me, making dictator moves.