If Commander Jin were already aware of this, it would mean he knew that the problem wasn’t limited to the Republic but extended to the Democratic Country as well. Of course, it wasn’t like I hadn’t suspected something either...

‘But it’s more rotten than I thought...’

I could tell the situation was turning into a more unpleasant direction than expected. Whether he understood what I was thinking or not, Ahn Ki-Mo, standing right in front of me, was muttering as if none of this was a big deal.

Given that he had wandered through countless temples and seen all kinds of extremists, it was understandable that he would take this lightly.

Just as he said, extremists existed everywhere at all times. Even among elves, who supposedly loved peace, there were extremists. There were those who claimed that Elune was a supreme god meant only for elves, insisting they ought to gather beneath the World Tree and create an elven continent.

They wouldn't stand out, but there were always people who twisted scriptures however they pleased to reach dumb conclusions.

To exaggerate a bit, perhaps three percent of the priests on the continent were extremists. The reason I hadn’t paid them much attention until now wasn’t any different from why Ahn Ki-Mo wasn’t treating them as a problem either.

‘There’s only a small number of them.’

No matter how loud they became, they had no real weight to change anything.

“It’s probably not something you need to worry about. Hehehe... in fact, it’s not like those extremists actually do anything,” Ahn Ki-Mo reassured me.

“...”

“Sir, I think people like them are a necessary evil,” he said.

“A necessary evil?”

“A necessary evil?”

Ahn Ki-Mo pulled the twins back into his arms again as he continued, speaking almost like a corrupt priest. Hearing those words come out of his mouth made them feel less convincing, but strictly speaking, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

In the first place, expecting all scripture to be interpreted in a single, unified way was unrealistic, and ironically, even those few extremists contributed to theology. More precisely, those idiots were useful for driving divine discourse. Through debating their claims and interpretations, theology developed, evolved, and changed.

That wasn’t all. Absurdly enough, these extremists were also among the least corrupt groups within the Order. Unlike the debauched man in front of me, some extremists would push themselves to the limit, restraining their desires and devoting themselves to discipline.

Some believers even found justification for their own interpretations through them and reached moments of enlightenment. The leaders of this continent probably knew that, or at least, they sensed it instinctively.

When divine revelations were delivered in vague, roundabout ways, it was probably due to the system's constraints or pride, but perhaps it was also because the gods wanted humans to grow on their own.

“Yes, a necessary evil. For an Order to function properly, you need all kinds of people, right? Of course, we have to prevent all priests from becoming extremists, but do you know how smart people on this continent are these days? It’s not just priests... You can easily find laborers who are smarter than me," he explained.

“...”

“It’s probably because information has been spreading rapidly thanks to the Goddess’s Mirror... but honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there are hardly any believers left who won't get swayed by those fanatics like before. Information isn’t restricted anymore, after all,” he added.

“...”

“Just look at it, you can go on the Vatican’s official page and watch the Pope as well as your prayer sessions in real time. People now have both the knowledge and the information to tell what’s right and what’s not,” he said.

‘Yeah, you’ve got a point.’

However, this wasn’t really about having more information or people becoming smarter. It wasn’t completely unrelated, sure, but...

‘It’s not like Earth doesn't have any idiots.’

Even back on Earth, where people weren’t just swimming in information but practically drowning in it, there were still plenty of idiots. People who ought to know better wrote garbage, got scammed, or fell into the hands of cultists.

If anything, too much information would dull the people’s ability to make decisions for themselves, and their confidence in their own intelligence made them forget how to listen to others.

This continent wouldn’t be much different. If anything, the faster it developed, the worse the side effects would be. The only reason things hadn’t become a problem so far was that extremists were a minority...

‘But more than that, there just wasn’t a trigger.’

There hadn’t been anything to bring those people together under a single cause, but now, there was. A ripple had formed in what used to be a calm lake.

“...”

“...”

‘I’ll know once I check.’

Naturally, I pulled out the Goddess’s Mirror. There was no need to dig too deep. Just skimming through Benigoa Net was enough to spot people trying to manipulate public opinion.

[Author: 0177]

[Title: Not really sure about the will of the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival... (Comments: 4113)] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

[Just to be clear, I’m not denying him or anything. I’m not denying that he’s the son of Benigoa, and I know how much the Saint has sacrificed for this continent... but honestly, this decision just doesn’t sit right with me... With all the large-scale investments already going into the Federation and the Union, isn’t it a bit too soon to suddenly push for a peace treaty with the Republic and even a joint city?

Do we really have to move this fast? And what’s even more annoying is that Commander Jin seems to be against it this time, like, why should we be the ones bowing our heads, asking for a treaty? And honestly, I don’t even see what’s so important about a treaty that’s just words anyway. Those Republic bastards could stab us in the back at any time... omitted...]

[UnknownUser: I gave you a like.]

[LindelVillager: Don’t doubt it~ and don’t pretend to agree while subtly stirring things up.]

[UnknownUser: That’s not stirring things up, sounds like a fair point to me?]

[AGLSLover: Unknown User at it again here.]

‘There it is.’

People pretending to stay neutral while quietly stirring things up were everywhere. The citizens of the Democratic Country, who had been influenced by extremists all this time, were finally speaking out. The Hero of Shadows had just made that negative statement as well, so posts like these were gaining a lot of traction.

[Author: Zed99]

[Title: 15 Atrocities Committed by the Republic, Revisited.]

Posts like that were racking up a ton of comments and upvotes, too. On top of that...

[Author: ForGoddessBenigoa.]

[Title: Is this really the will of Goddess Benigoa?]

Posts like that were showing up, too. At a glance, they looked neutral. It was like they were just trying to analyze the situation and open a discussion. Most of them were probably just people getting swept up in it, but I was sure there were others deliberately steering the narrative, like this one bringing up Benigoa’s will for no reason.

Naturally, I went straight to track the user’s info. I logged into a master account and checked what kind of posts they had been making...

‘Ah... looks like it’s not this one.’

[Our Saint of Sacrifice and Revival... How can anyone not feel bad for him?]

[How the Alchemist and the Genius Swordsman Loves side story is back!!! O Benigoa, thank you. O Benigoa, thank you. O Benigoa, thank you. O Benigoa, thank you. O Benigoa, thank you.]

[The Blue Guild Master showed up at the auction today! Looks like he bought Chanelia Hermes No. 96! Is this another addition to the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival’s collection? I'd love to see it!]

[Sorry to anyone selling Fallen Angels, but I’m going to block you. No bad intentions, just can’t help it ㅜㅜ]

[How come the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival’s prayer video has yet to be uploaded? I wish the Vatican would do its job... ㅜㅜ I should’ve gone to see it in person... This is what I get for being too busy...]

[This is driving me crazy. Ah! How did they know I’d like something like this... Aaaaah!]

‘Ah... this one’s just a harmless fan...’

I suddenly felt a bit guilty, like I was snooping on an innocent civilian. Spotting another suspicious post, I focused again, and this time, I resolved to catch the tail for sure as I started digging into the poster’s info...

[If you wanna tear every last Republic bastard to pieces, hit upvote lol]

Posts like that were appearing more and more.

[Shameless little vermin, lol, trying so hard to latch onto the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival lol]

[All humans are equal under Benigoa! Honestly my favorite line from the doctrine lol. There’s no one here who isn’t our equal, right?]

[That so-called Hero of Shadows is just some delusion those Republic bastards made up out of insecurity. That Jin Cheong or whatever, every time I see white hair I just want to rip it out lol]

[I’ll say it straight. Republic citizens are fundamentally inferior. The Federation and the Union... are not even worth mentioning... Anyone who hasn’t received Lady Benigoa’s blessing is basically inferior lol]

‘This is a complete mess.’

Compared to what I was seeing now, that guy’s posts almost looked tame. As soon as I entered the community he frequented, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow chuckle at the absurdity of it all. It was extremely closed off, and one had to jump through several hoops just to get in, but that wasn’t a problem for me with a master account.

‘Why are there so many edited memes of Commander Jin?’

It looked like a community that absolutely hated Jin Cheong.

“...”

“...”

“Um... sir?”

Meanwhile, Ahn Ki-Mo was staring at me with a visibly uneasy expression.

‘In a way, that’s really impressive.’

He looked like he instinctively knew that something was about to go down. Well, I had been asking so much about extremists, so it made sense he’d pick up on the possibility that they were about to cause trouble.

Perhaps the reason he kept brushing them off as nothing earlier was that he was afraid that things could escalate...

‘Wow... seriously...’

The way he nervously observed my reaction was almost pitiful. It was like he was afraid I would suddenly give him some kind of order.

Perhaps it was because I’d been staring at him the whole time, but Ahn Ki-Mo asked, “I-is something wrong? Haha... everything’s so peaceful... There’s no way anything’s going to happen... right?”

“...”

“H-how about a drink first?! We came here to relax, so why not enjoy ourselves a bit? Forget about all the stressful stuff! Music, start! Let’s loosen up!” he suggested.

“Yeah! Let’s have fun!”

“That’s right! Let’s enjoy it, Ki-Mo oppa!”

He was forcing the mood.

“Hahaha... w-why are you looking at me like that, sir? Ha... hahaha...” He laughed awkwardly.

He even went over to Jung Ha-Yan, who was laughing and dancing with Han Sora, and to Park Deok-Gu, who was singing his heart out at another table. He tried to lift the mood with the twins, but...

“You’re creepy... Mister Ki-Mo.” Kim Ye-Ri muttered harshly as she quietly stepped away.

“Ha... haha... Ye-Ri... didn’t you hear my passionate confession just now? I-I was serious. Right, Deok-Gu...?” he asked.

“Ahem... well... as a dating expert from Gangwon Province... I think... I still need some time to digest that... It’s not that you’re a bad guy, hyung-nim... I just... need time...” Park Deok-Gu wasn’t much help either.

“Haha... um... Miss Jung Ha-Yan?” he asked.

“Please don’t come any closer to Miss Jung Ha-Yan." Even Han Sora was wary of him now. If anything, his heartfelt confession earlier had backfired. At this point, he looked completely deflated, almost pitiful.

Seeing the way he glanced at me like he was asking for help, I had no choice but to say,

“Should we go check out the Benigoa Order’s Republic branch?”

“...”

“...”

“I, Ahn Ki-Mo, will stake everything on this mission. Even my girlfriends,” Ahn Ki-Mo said.

‘Maybe don’t stake your girlfriend's—no, your girlfriend and boyfriend's lives in this...'’

“Ha...”

I saw the twins, revealing a face that reminded me of the first life version of themselves.

“Do we leave right now, sir?!” Ahn Ki-Mo asked.