400 Years Old Virgin Demon King - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – That time I appealed to the Pope but was asked to submit

The religion that appears in this story is a completely fictional religion that exists in a fantasy world . It is in no way connected to any real world religions .

Indignantly, I decided to go pay the Pope a visit…but first, I took a detour to a certain place and talked with a certain person . After that was finished, I went to the grand cathedral where the Pope lived, which was in the center of his lands .

“Huh, so this is the grand cathedral . It looks a lot like St . Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican . This world has more similarities to my world then I thought . ”

Suzuna said as she looked admiringly at the grand cathedral . She had been with me when the news of my excommunication had arrived, and upon hearing that I was going to meet the Pope in order to protest, she, for some reason decided to come too . From the looks of it, she wants to see different places in this world . Well, I wasn’t particularly inconvenienced by her, so I allowed it .

“Let us go and see the Pope then . ”

“What about the appo…I mean, don’t you have to make a reservation?”

“Such courtesies are not required from Demon Lords . ”

I boldly entered from the front of the grand cathedral . Of course, guards came to stop me, but they were quickly disabled and with a quick mind-reading spell I was able to find out where the Pope was and head for that direction .

“I am sorry to intrude at this busy time . I am the Demon Lord . I have come to make a protest to the Pope . ”

“Hellooo . ”

We said as we pushed our way into the Pope’s office . Suzuna, who was with me did not have a shred of nervousness in her voice . Perhaps it was due to being a heathen from another-world that she did not understand the importance of the people here .

There were several people in the room, but the one who sat in front of the desk was likely the Pope . He was a portly older man with a long white beard and wore lavish clerical robes .

“To protest, you say?

While I’m sure he was surprised, the Pope managed to answer without showing it, he was completely composed . Hmm, this Pope was a crafty old fox . This was not going to be easy .

“Exactly . This is about you declaring me as an ‘enemy of God’ and excommunicating me . I have no memory of ever turning my back on God . And so, I would like you to tell me, on what grounds have you determined that I am an enemy of God . ”

The Pope ever so slightly raised one eyebrow upon hearing this .

“Indeed . I have done nothing but worship the one true God . I have made no idols to worship . I have never used God’s name in vain either . Even while I was training with magic, I would take one day off for the Sabbath, even now I continue to rest on the Sabbath . I never disrespected my father and mother before entering the monastery . I have not once committed murder . And not only have I never committed fornication, I have stayed a virgin for four hundred years . I have never stolen something that belonged to another . I have never lied or deceived . I have never coveted my neighbor’s wife or fortune . And I have never broken any of the old testament . ”

The Pope listened to my declarations and widened his eyes a little . It seemed that he was very surprised . Most likely he had collected information on me in advance . That I have never killed anyone, that I’ve allowed the royal families to continue, he must have deduced that even if we became enemies, that I wouldn’t resort to such violent means as annihilating the Church . He also would know that I was but an ordinary human three hundred and eighty years ago . He probably thought that if I were the same as I was then, that he could force me to grovel to the Church’s authority . That’s why they started with such a forcible measure like ‘excommunication’ to threaten me . Normally someone who was under suspicion would receive a message from the Pope and there would be talks and accommodations made . That was how the Vatican did things .

However, it appeared that the Pope and surrounding cardinals had not anticipated that I would be knowledgeable in their doctrines .

“Oh…you call the ten commandments ‘the old testament . ’ And what do you mean by ‘before you entered the monastery’?”

“Hmm . I was once a monk in training for ten years at a monastery . It was before I made any official vows, and so I was not given a name . So even though I left the monastery, I did not commit the crime of abandoning my religion . And at this monastery, I learned not just about magic, but of course, ‘the teachings of the Savior . ’ And so I know that the ten commandments that I referred to earlier are of the ‘old testament . ’ I know that while they are intended to be kept, they do not count as turning your back on God should they be broken . ”

The ‘Orthodox Church’ that this Pope commanded worshiped the ‘one true God . ’ That name was holy and not to be spoken . And the basis of his teachings was told by ‘the Savior . ’  The ten commandments were given by God to a prophet before the time of the Savior . And it was considered the will of God that they were to be strictly observed until the advent of the Savior . And the Savior changed all that .

“I see… So you are saying that you believe the teachings of God and ‘the Savior’?”

“I do indeed . The basis of the Savior’s teaching is ‘philanthropy . ’ The Savior said that ‘God is love . ’ And so I believe that God loves everyone and will save us all . The Savior said, ‘love thy neighbor . ’ And so I will love all of my neighbors, and I will work for the good of the world . ”

Belief in these things is the basis of the Savior’s teachings . And this is the new promise made between God and man that the Savior brought, the ‘new testament . ’ Everything else is a mere trifle . That is what I believe . It is said that as a price for this new promise, the Savior took on the sins of humanity against God, and was executed . But a miracle occurred and after three days he was resurrected and ascended up to heaven . It is said that this was the proof of the new promise .

The truth of whether the Savior was resurrected or not is not important to me . I can only believe that a miracle happened . That is what faith is .

In any case, one thing that I have realized after putting all this into words is that behind my enjoyment of working for the good of the world, is my faith in God .

It’s not something that I am usually conscious of, and so it’s hard to notice .

“Well, that kinda sounds like Christianity… but a devout Demon Lord…”

Suzuna mumbled to herself, it seemed that there was a religion with similar teachings in her world . Well, her assertion that ‘Demon Lord’ did not quite fit the impression of someone who was devout was true .

Here the Pope, who had been contemplating began to speak to me .

“It seems that you really do properly believe the teachings of the Savior . It is quite different from the stories that I had been fed . We must correct this excommunication that was affected by false information . However…”

He closed his mouth once before continuing to address me .

“But you must prove to the Church that you are faithful . You will kneel before me as the representative of God and make a vow of obedience and receive my blessing . That is the condition of reversing the excommunication . ”

So there it was . In that case, there was only one answer I could give .

“Ridiculous! I am the Demon Lord . In other words, I stand on the top of common authority! I will allow for the separation of faith and the authority of the Church, but I have no intention of bending the knee before you!! I think that secular and religious authority should be divided . The separation of Church and State . And so I will not obey the Church . However, if the Church so wishes, I will recognize your vested interests . ”

I did have a faith in God, but that and the recognition of the Church’s authority and power were different matters . I have witnessed it for myself, through the ten years of monastery life, that the insides of the Church were rotted . I knew from the inside that there were many high ranking clergymen who were more interested in wealth and power than their own faith . But I am not so simple-minded as to declare them as evil and reproach them . If the Church would acknowledge me, I was willing to recognize their vested interests .

However, upon hearing my answer, the Pope’s facial expression hardened and he returned to making threats .

“So you have no objections to excommunication staying unreversed? Are you ready to make an enemy of the Church, no, of every believer in this land?”