“Congratulations, Your Eminence,” Leoral said.

After the baptism, Leoral and Yurine chatted over the sweets they had brought, while Yu stood next to them.

“I knew there would be a need for dessert, he's not just going to come to see the ceremony and then leave when it's over. I'm a great butler as well as a great man.”

The fact that he could think of something so simple that anyone could think of it was reason enough for him to boast.

“Many more will be baptized in the future. This is a small beginning compared to what is to come.”

Leoral replied with a chuckle. “I have full confidence in Her Eminence, I am sure you will succeed.”

When the two of them had finished talking about baptism and moved on to other topics, Yu's mind was still on baptism and he realized that there was an important problem:

“More people will be baptized. Is Yurine going to baptize all of them? We are not talking about ten, fifteen, twenty people, we are talking about thousands, maybe tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands! How will Yurine baptize them all? It is impossible. Let's say we are people she somehow knows, but she would be disgusted to baptize others, she can't wash hands and face of so many people.”

After her adventures in Rolderhelm, Yurine had begun to soften towards other people, but that was due to Yu's influence and she still looked down on other people. It was impossible for her to apply the same process to thousands of people.

“We need priests and priestesses. Not only for baptism, but also for religious services. Will Yurine be the only chaplain at Virgo Cathedral? We found knights, but we need priests. How are we going to find them? Do we need to open a seminary or something? But are we going to wait four years for that? Or will we recruit from other religions? It's hard to start a new sect, how hard would it be to start a religion? Should we make Ana a priestess?”

The cathedral's servants, Ana, Sivina, Kigaro, Dimen, Link, and the half-elf maid whose name Yu still didn't know, sat at tables in a corner of the hall far away from them, chatting.

“Girls are beautiful in this world, thanks to whoever created them.”

Elf ears had an inexplicable attraction for Yu, and knowing that she had elven blood made the half-elf maid even more attractive.

He had no fantasy about maid clothes, in fact he didn't like them at all, but Clara was attractive.

Sivina and Ana's attractiveness surpassed all the others here, Sivina's hair was long like Yu liked it and silver white like a waifu should be for him. Ana's growing hair also made her much more attractive than before.

“If I think independently of this whole story, I would like to have a waifu...” Even though he knew he couldn't do such things, he sometimes dreamed of it.

"There would be a world where I would have children and I wouldn't have to deal with war and fighting. People would say wo~w wo~w... Yu is such a great man. If it wasn't for this disease, I would have done a lot of things after I finished turning back time..."

He couldn't help feeling bitter when he compared his world with the worlds where even unqualified high schoolers had harems. Yet on his first night in this world, all he wanted was to live in a peaceful country, in prosperity and with a single beautiful waifu, to pass on his perfect genes to future generations as a contribution to the human race.

“Yurine wants to see me and Rie together...”

A bittersweet smile settled on his face.

“Rie was really beautiful, what they call too beautiful to die.” That was a phrase from this world. He wish it was true. “I thought I was going to be with her. I mean, I guess that's what anyone in my shoes would imagine. She seemed to like me too, but a bit ‘bruh’ happened to us.”

He tried to picture Rie's appearance as best as he could remember. She had white hair and red eyes. He compared her to the two-dimensional anime girls he had seen on Earth.

“Really, Rie is such an anime girl. It's a pity Yurine's wish won't come true...”

After Yu turned back time, he planned to stay by Yurine's side and prepare a life for them. In the meantime, Rie would be by his side and it wouldn't be surprising if they liked each other.

He liked her the first time he saw her, even if he wasn't in love with her. He knew that Rie liked him too. Maybe he would do something to make her dislike him in the new world. Otherwise, when Yu's inevitable death came, Rie would be sad too.

"If I upset her, Yurine will be upset, and she will be upset in the future. I should at least reduce the number of people I upset, but how can I stay with them if I try not to make them like me? I don't think it will be possible to help them from afar."

It was sad that he would not receive any reward for his work, but he was working for his daughter and trying to fix what he had broken, as he should.

“But if I find a way to save myself, then I can live a happy life. Everyone would happy. Anyway...”

Yu looked at Ana and the idea of making her a priestess came to him. She had already refused to become a knight. If she had to choose between serving as a servant or serving as a priestess, which would she choose? She would have a higher prestige if she became a priestess. So she wouldn't mind becoming a priestess, Yu thought.

He decided to talk to her about it tomorrow morning. He didn't know how to find priests and priestess, he absolutely had to make Ana a priestess, otherwise their cathedral would be too empty. After making Ana a priestess they would still need clergy, but they would have taken the first step and the rest would be easy, he hoped, because the first step was usually the hardest part.

“The priestess clothes in the fantasy world are also nice. I don't like the ones in the world because they are black and too closed, but in the fantasy world, priestesses wear white things. We can make Ana wear a white priestess outfit, it would be nice.”

He imagined Ana in a mostly white dress with gold trim. She looked really beautiful.

Yu liked long hair better, so Ana's hair would look much better if it grew a little longer. Yes, that's what he was going to do. He was going to dress Ana in that white priestess’ habit.

Ana would look good in that outfit and probably Sivina would like it, even if she had no chance to touch it because of Ana's orientation. So Yu would be doing Sivina a favor in some way.

“I'm putting up with this because the yuris are beautiful in hentais, otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to this relationship. Even I don't have a waifu, but the girl who should be a waifu itself has a waifu... Fuck this bullshit.”

He imagined the two of them kissing each other, and as much as it pained him to see it, he also wanted to see it.

“I think it's time to explain what I'm really here for; I'm here to tell you that I'm going with you to Virgo.”

“Heh? When did it come to this? Hey! How many hours have I been watching girls?”

When he saw some beautiful girls, he was lost in thought and missed everything that was being said around him. How many minutes had he been looking at the girls? Had he been noticed? What did he think if the people he was looking at saw him staring at them for several minutes without moving?

“Why am I ashamed? No way, was I like this?”

“Shouldn't you rest?” Yurine asked.

Yu nodded even though they were not looking at him.

“Uncle, she's right, now go to bed and rest. You'll die of old age on the way, don't make trouble for us.”

From the productions he watched and the works he read, he learned that fruit grew on trees, vegetables in fields, and sons of bitches in such places.

There would have been someone who would have blamed Virgo Cathedral for Leoral's death. Perhaps Cecilus would even use it as an excuse to declare war on Virgo Cathedral when he became duke.

“It's not impossible.”

“Rest or no rest, I won't be able to prevent the end. I want to be with Rie's daughter and see as much as I can of what she has achieved, at least before the inevitable end comes. If I have any will to live a little longer, it's because of that.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Well, if that's the way you want it, that's fine with me.”

Yurine accepted Leoral's request while Yu thought about the possible scenarios that could happen to them.

“I'm grateful that he gave us the city, but I hope he doesn't die on us.”

He didn't think they should make Leoral happy in return, even if it got them a city.

“What is Her Eminence planning to do now that she has a city? I'm sure you have something in mind.”

“What could be in the mind of a little child? Stupid asshole.”

Naturally, Yurine was caught off guard by the question. Even though Yu shared with Yurine what he had planned for the Virgo Cathedral, Yurine would not be able to reconstruct what Yu had told her piece by piece on different days.

“If you'll excuse me, I can tell you about the young lady's plans.”

Yu came to Yurine's rescue.

“Yes, Yu, you tell it.”

“Excuse me.”

Yu nodded, bowed her head, then straightened his back and began to explain.

“Although our initial plans did not include obtaining a city, we had assumed and planned for the fact that we would be assigned to a city like the other cardinals at a later stage, now we will just have to implement our plans ahead of schedule.”

Leoral turned his attention to him. What Yu had to say was part improvisation, part reality.

“The first thing we need to do now is to fill the gaps in the cathedral. Although we have two strong knights who can represent us, we lack clergy to be the apostles of Virgo Cathedral. I don't believe our cathedral will be taken seriously if we don't fill this gap as soon as possible, so we will first appoint Ana from among our friends here as a priestess, she is an intelligent and cultured girl.”

“Ana?”

He hadn't yet told Yurine about Ana's ordination as a priestess, because he had just decided that.

“As agreed, young lady. Have you changed your mind?”

“No, keep telling me.”

Yu smiled at Yurine and continued.

“Once we are settled in Virgo, we will immediately begin work to train priests to serve the Virgo Cathedral, but as this is a long process, we will first look for priests who are willing to join us.”

“Will there be such priests?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it except hope.”

He had just made it up, even Yu himself didn't know they were going to do something like this until a minute ago. Anyway, it was just something he said to save time in choosing his next words, and he probably wasn't even going to bother. Attracting priests from different cathedrals could cause different problems.

“Will the priests bring more members to the cathedral?”

“Again, I regret to say that the success of the priests is uncertain. But that doesn't change the fact that we need priests. We need them to be able to open churches in different places.”

“What do you plan to do to make the cathedral grow?”

The question came from where Yu worked, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“The charisma of those who represent the Virgo Cathedral is important here. The unknown, like magic, either frightens or fascinates people. Both my little lady and Ana are powerful wind mages. Once we gain people's trust, their power will amaze and attract. The two knights we have are both very good. Sivina Ecues is a model knight and is quite famous in Rolderhelm. Link Yachi Long is, after all, a member of the Long dynasty. Their heroism could make for great publicity.”

“Heroism? Just because she's famous in Rolderhelm doesn't change the fact that people here don't recognize her. I don't want to overstep my bounds, but I have to say that the branch from which His Highness Long came is also underappreciated.”

Since it took Leoral two sentences as long as it took Yu five sentences, Yu had all the time he needed to invent an answer.

“There is a war, isn't there? While war has its downsides, it also means plenty of opportunities for knights to show their heroism. The noble Virgo Knights on the front lines of battle, terrorizing the enemy, will give us enough publicity to attract the masses.”

“Do you think they have the potential to do it, or do you think you have the strength to get involved in the war? You have just been founded, I am your only supporter, and even I don't have much strength left for the war.”

Yu first answered Leoral's first question.

“In battle, even if our knights are afraid and hide, people will believe what we say because we are on their side and they don't want to see the weaknesses of those on their side. Everyone wants to believe that the heroes saved them, no one wants to hear that the enemy prevailed, and people believe what they want to believe.”

“You plan to lie!”

Leoral's reaction was frightening. Yu answered calmly as those inside the room turned to them.

“History is full of thousands of accepted lies, one less or one more, it will make no difference.”

People would continue to believe what they wanted to believe, and Yu believed that it was foolish not to take advantage of this side of people.

“And you needn't worry because none of this will be a lie, both knights have performed exemplary feats before. They are not people who will run away.”

He didn't know Link, but he included him anyway. He trusted that Sivina would not be frightened and run away. Even wounded, a woman chasing after the Redchapel Killer would not run away.

And we have the strength to engage in battles. And apart from the support of House Vermia, the young lady is not to be trifled with, we came to the Mora prepared for anything.”

He hadn't planned to come to this topic so early. What he wanted to talk about was production and trade, but with the disadvantage of speaking extemporaneously, the subject turned to wars.

When you think about it, with the civil war, it was inevitable that it would come to this.

“How is that supposed to happen?”

Leoral's arms were on the table, listening intently to Yu.

"I have offered all my family's possessions to the young lady, so it is possible to raise an army. In fact, when we learned that the city of Vermia had fallen, we planned to raise an army to help you retake the city. Of course, it won't be a very large army, but I can tell you that it will help."

This wasn't a part Yu had completely made up. He thought of doing this when Ana told him that Vermia had fallen.

The support of the Vermia family was important to them, and if there was one thing that could make them taken seriously in the Mora now, it was that they were supported by a duke. If the duke who supported them had no land, neither the duke nor the cathedral could be taken seriously. Vermia had to be in the hands of Vermilia family.

Taking back Vermia also meant gaining favor with the people there. At the moment, Vermia was a place where different sects lived together because of its location, and their own sect was not even mentioned there.

But if the Virgo Cathedral saved the city, then things could change.

Yu also wanted to meet Cornelia and offer his help in person. If he and Cornelia succeeded in taking the city together, he would be able to get Cornelia's support after Leoral's death.

And if he endeared himself to Cornelia, he could kill Leoral and Cecilus to put her in charge.

Yu needed to be involved in the war, both to grow the cathedral and to gain an important ally for their future. If the war was lost, the damage would be great, but if they won, their cathedral would begin to be taken seriously.

And taking their cathedral seriously meant taking Yurine seriously.

If Yurine started to have influence in domestic politics, the same could happen in foreign politics, so they could meet with the king of Ethalot and get permission to go to Nekoverine.

“We need to shine, even I can change the cathedral’s religion to Ishimba, which is Ethalot’s religion. Maybe this may please their king, and he give us to permission to be a pilgrim.”

And if they couldn't get permission, they would to force their way in with the army they had when they got stronger.

“What kind of family is this? I've never heard of you before, and what exactly is the amount of possessions you're talking about?”

“My family is not from around here, so you wouldn't know if I told you. As for your wealth, I apologize, but I am under no obligation to explain it to you. I gave everything I had to the young lady and now all my wealth belongs to her personally. We don't have to tell you and we won't tell you, even if you are a supporter of the Cathedral.”

They had about fifteen thousand gold pieces. With the money they have, it is possible to build a mercenary army of a few thousand mercenaries from elite units of different races, or a large army of human beings.

Leoral didn't seem to like what he heard and Yu felt the Andromeda Guardian's gaze on him.

Still, his mind remained unchanged. Their wealth was personal and they did not have to explain it to Leoral. Mora was a theocratic country and the clergy were at the top. Even if their opponent was a duke, he was ranked below the cardinal.

Virgo Cathedral had no obligation to answer to him.

***

“Yu, when are you going to stop taking that medicine?”

Leoral had decided to spend the night here. By the time he and Yurine had finished talking, everyone had gone to their rooms.

For Yu, dinner time was also after that moment. He didn't want to repeat the mistake he made yesterday, so he had to eat after taking the medicine.

When people scattered to their rooms, he prepared his medicine, drank it and then ate. This time there were no problems. He had a headache, but Yurine managed to make it go away.

Now Yu was brushing his teeth and had to wash his mouth before he could answer Yurine.

“I'll quit when I find a better solution.”

He was not happy with the medication, but despite yesterday's incident, it was still effective. Headaches and vomiting were preferable to having an epileptic seizure during the day.

“Come on, brush your teeth before you go to bed.”

He placed a stool under Yurine so that she was level with the mirror. Yurine stood on the stool and started brushing her teeth.

“I wanted to talk about how we were going to breed GMO chickens and cows and revolutionize the industry. The war thing was a little bit unplanned.”

“What about the Ana?”

“Don't talk while brushing your teeth, you'll swallow the paste.”

After a minute, she washed his mouth, got off the stool and repeated her question.

“What about Ana? You didn't tell me.”

“I thought of it today. I want to make her a priestess because we need clergy. You can't baptize everyone.”

Yurine's silence, which followed, showed her acceptance of the situation. She didn't want to deal with baptizing hundreds, thousands of people.

“You'll sleep next to me, won't you?”

“Yes.”

As they left the bathroom and went to Yurine's room, Yu realized that one of Leoral's guards was watching him.

“I'm sure something will come up...”

When they entered the room, he locked the door, dressed Yurine in her nightgown and they went to bed together.

“If you don't mind, there's something I'm curious about.”

“If that's like what you said at Rolderhelm, I think I'll be angry.”

“But I'm curious, I'll ask.”

At the risk of angering her, he asked his question:

“You think of me as your father and Rie is your mother...”

“SHUT UP!”

This was the answer he had expected, she hadn't even allowed him to ask the question. He didn't think she would answer differently anyway.

Yurine was about to pinch Yu when she noticed the seriousness on his face. Yu hadn't asked the question to annoy her.

“Then kiss me good night, come on.”

He turned his cheek to Yurine and waited for her kiss.

Yurine puffed out her cheeks. “Good night, idiot.”

She kissed him and then turned her cheek and Yu returned the kiss.

“Good night.”